Awkwardness and Misunderstandings

Miho didn’t even have to walk up to Satoru to wake him up. Her roaming around the apartment was loud enough to make his eyes snap open.

At first, the black-haired teen was confused. It was a typical reaction—after all, for most of his life, he had woken up in the same bed every day. The first night in a completely different place can be a shock to the mind, so he had to take a moment to analyze the situation and adjust to his new environment.

That’s right. He was already in Germany, in his sister’s apartment.

That realization helped him fully wake up. The urge to go out and explore the streets was so strong that he immediately jumped out of bed.

“Huh? You’re awake already? I thought you’d be totally dead,” Miho’s surprised voice rang out.

“How can I sleep when there’s so much I wanna do here?” the teen retorted.

“Okay, okay. Someone’s excited.”

Ignoring his sister’s movements, Satoru quickly grabbed some clothes and walked toward the bathroom, eager to get ready and start the day as soon as possible.

“By the way, you can use the cupboard by the TV to put your things from the suitcase!” Miho yelled before he disappeared from her sight.

She really loved being loud. The black-haired teen just hoped she hadn’t woken up their other flatmate.

That’s right—Silke…

For some unknown reason, the girl had occupied his thoughts far more than he cared to admit. She was still here, and she wasn’t leaving anytime soon.

In a perfect world, he’d be able to chat with her, ask her to walk around town together, and maybe—after a few hangouts—he’d work up the courage to show his interest in turning their friendship into something more.

But this was reality. He didn’t know German, she didn’t know English or Japanese, and the only available translator was his sister—which wasn’t ideal. It wasn’t that he doubted her ability to translate, but rather, he worried she’d intentionally mess around and twist his words just for fun.

After a few minutes of making himself look presentable, he was ready to step out and start the day. He would grab a quick bite to eat and then head outside.

A simple plan with a simple execution.

Or so Satoru thought—until he opened the fridge and realized that the only familiar-looking products were eggs and milk.

So not only had Miho forgotten to mention Silke, but she also hadn’t thought that stocking up the fridge would be a good idea.

Never mind that. Grocery shopping was just one of the many things he wanted to experience abroad anyway, so at least he’d get the chance sooner rather than later.

Deciding to keep things simple, he grabbed two eggs and a slice of toast. Searching for the right ingredients and utensils took him a few minutes, so he shouldn’t have been surprised when, just as he was finishing up, a voice called out quietly from the direction of the corridor.

“Morgen…”

“M-morning!”

Of course, it was none other than Silke—still in her pajamas, her messy blonde hair sticking out in all directions as she slowly stepped forward, letting out a few yawns.

At that moment, Satoru realized, unfortunately, that he had it really bad for her. Even with her disheveled appearance, he still thought she looked cute.

And yet, she was glaring at him as if he had just stolen her puppy.

Was his response in English rude? He didn’t want to attempt German, just in case it didn’t mean what he thought it did.

Luckily, the awkwardness of being alone in the same room with a girl he couldn’t communicate with was cut short when his sister loudly announced her return.

“Whew! Next time, I have to start an hour earlier. It’s already getting warm in the morning! Ah, Morgen, Silke! Hast du gut geschlafen?”

The way she could switch between languages so effortlessly the moment she noticed Silke was awake was quite impressive.

“Ja, ich würde wahrscheinlich länger schlafen, aber ich wurde hungrig, haha.”

If she was speaking so cheerfully with Miho, then it had to be something about him that put her off. Maybe she just didn’t like guys?

His thoughts didn’t last long, as the German girl suddenly exclaimed something quick and loud before running back to her temporary room. Her disappearance was brief, though, as she soon returned, carrying a rather large, colorfully wrapped box that looked like a present.

Satoru hadn’t noticed her having that with her yesterday, but to be fair, he wouldn’t have been able to tell what color her suitcase was either. He had been far more focused on her specifically than anything beside her.

“A gift?” he unconsciously said aloud in English.

“Was!? Ich würde nie jemandem Gift schenken!”

And just like that, Kimura Satoru had once again managed to anger the girl for reasons unknown. He looked at his sister for help, but she was too busy laughing her butt off.

“Don’t laugh! What did I say wrong?” At this point, the teenage boy was desperate for an explanation.

After Miho finally calmed down, she spoke. “’Gift’ in German means ‘poison,’ so you kind of just accused her of trying to give me something deadly.” She then turned to Silke and said, “Sei nicht böse auf meinen Bruder, er dachte, Geschenk ist auf Deutsch dasselbe wie auf Englisch.”

“A-ah, so…” Silke responded, suddenly looking a bit embarrassed about her outburst.

With the awkward moment behind them, Miho casually accepted the package, which, from what Satoru could gather, was a thank-you gift for letting her stay over the summer.

And soon enough, in front of his eyes, there it was, standing in full glory…

Satoru had no idea what it was, but it scared him. There was something menacing about the sharp, round blade that was part of the machine.

“Come, Toru. We’ll test it out on you!”

“H-huh? How exactly?”

Without his permission, Miho grabbed his hand and placed it on the board near the blade. “And now we’re gonna cut your fingers~”

“WHA—NO WAY!” Satoru immediately yanked his hand back, holding it close to his chest with his other palm covering it protectively.

“Hyahaha, I was just joking around!”

The fact that she was so proud of her prank was infuriating.

“It’s a bread cutter. Well, you can also cut meat or cheese with it. Very handy. I’ve wanted one for a while. It’s as important to Germans as rice cookers are to us!”

“A-ah, I see… You still could’ve cut my fingers with that, though…” he muttered the last part under his breath.

“Now, wait for me. I’ll take a quick shower, and then I’ll show you around the city so you’ll be able to move around freely on your own next time, okay?”

“Okay.”

Miho said something to Silke, likely thanking her for the gift, but when Satoru heard the beautiful laughter that came out of Silke’s mouth, he started to suspect that his sister had explained her not-so-funny (at least in his opinion) prank.

Blushing from embarrassment, he busied himself with unpacking his suitcase and putting his things into the cupboard.

He needed to get out of the apartment as soon as possible. He didn’t want to embarrass himself any further in front of the girl he was attracted to.