First Sparks of Connection

Three days in München had already passed, and Satoru was more than delighted that he was slowly getting the hang of walking around the city on his own.

The first time was quite confusing, but with the help of Miho (unfortunately accompanied by constant teasing about his cluelessness), he quickly understood how commuting worked. By the next day, he was already able to go on his own.

She was right. This city was beautiful in its ugliness, but it also held beautiful secret places that Satoru hoped to discover more of in the next few weeks.

In such a short time, he had already made a lot of progress on this trip.

Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said about his situation with the attractive German girl who was his flatmate.

Well, maybe she didn’t glare as much as she did at the beginning, but the staring was still there—present even when he was doing the most casual things, like eating food or watching local TV in the evening to grasp as much of the language as he could from the given context.

So, Satoru decided that it would be best to give up on trying to get closer to the girl, no matter how much he wanted to. If every interaction only worsened her perception of him, he would rather end this summer with her at least tolerating him.

Avoiding her was a good tactic to achieve that, but—oh, the irony—his luck once again ran out when he woke up to see an intense storm outside the window. According to what his sister translated from the weather report, it wasn’t going to stop anytime soon.

Which meant he would have to skip his little trip around the city. Which also meant that Silke wouldn’t be going anywhere either. Who would in this kind of weather?

To make things worse, his sister had actually decided to go to work anyway, so once again, he was all alone with the girl who, from what he could tell, wasn’t much of a fan of his.

Then again, she could just stay in her room and only come out to get something to eat during the day, so it wasn’t like he would be an eyesore for the entire day. There was no need to be overly dramatic.

There was still the issue of how to spend the day without feeling like it was entirely wasted. Thankfully, one thing Kimura Satoru was good at was making plan Bs, and this time, his plan B included playing his favorite game, Rainbow Sun.

It was, in a way, a tradition for him to replay it each summer. He wasn’t sure why, but the game gave him a sense of comfort. The funny thing was that it was actually developed in Germany, so playing it in the country it came from felt like it would become a unique memory.

Also, this was the game where, for the first time, he had developed a crush on a girl. A fictional one, but it still counted, right? Call his preferences basic, but he would never betray the blonde elf girl Selene. Not even once had he taken her out of his party—she was just that special.

Good thing Miho had taken her old console with her the last time she visited home. Now Satoru could boot up his favorite game and enjoy a lazy day on the couch.

“Here we go again.”

With the gray sky outside and his focus fully on the gameplay, the black-haired boy lost track of time. If it hadn’t been for the sound of the wooden door opening in the corridor, he wouldn’t have even thought about how much time had passed.

Quickly reminding himself of the decision he had made, he glued his eyes back to the screen, giving no sign that he had noticed the girl entering the main room of the apartment.

The sound of an electric kettle… She had just come for some tea. Good.

Feeling a bit safer, he let himself relax. Or at least, he would have—if he hadn’t suddenly heard quick footsteps approaching. Before he could process what was happening, an enthusiastic cheer reached his ears.

“Rainbow Sun!” Silke was now standing right above him, gripping the backrest of the sofa slightly. “Ich wusste, dass ich einen vertrauten Soundtrack gehört habe!”

“E-eh, you know that game?” So surprised by the girl’s reaction, he automatically spoke in Japanese.

The German girl didn’t mind that at all as she kept on chattering. Satoru didn’t know what she was talking about, but he didn’t care. For the first time, Silke actually looked happy around him, and he was not going to lose that moment no matter what.

“Moment mal!” she suddenly exclaimed before running excitedly to her room.

Satoru didn’t have to wait long. Soon enough, the girl returned, this time carrying something that looked like a binder. Without hesitation, she plopped down right next to him, not minding the closeness, and opened the binder.

What was now in front of the Japanese boy’s eyes were art prints of two characters from the series—Dark Elf Feyrith and the human paladin Jareth.

Were they her type?

Ignoring that thought, Satoru tried to ask a question in English while Silke slowly flipped through the foil-covered art pages, showing more of her collection. “Do you like them?” He hoped she would understand. After all, they had to have some basic English in schools here. Even if she was bad at it, simple short sentences should work.

“Like…” She looked focused, trying to answer. “Yes! I like!”

“I like Selene.”

“Selene cute!” Silke beamed once again.

It was nice. Finally, Satoru had managed to find a way to talk with her—despite neither of them understanding everything—without making her angry or confused. They continued flipping through her collection of fan art until they reached one that was… spicy.

There were theories among fans that there was something more than just camaraderie between Feyrith and Jareth, but Satoru had never delved into that part of the fandom.

So she liked them together, not just as individual characters… Interesting.

The artwork must have flustered her too, as she quickly closed the binder and got up.

The urge to ask her to stay and sit with him was strong, but he didn’t want to push his luck. This was already enough progress. He should be content with what he had achieved.

That was until Silke returned to her previous spot—this time with two mugs of warm tea in her hands. She held one out for her flatmate.

“D-Danke,” Satoru managed to stutter out one of the few German words he knew.

“Bitte!”

Suddenly, the disappointment of the rainy day was forgotten. This moment felt surprisingly more special than two days of trips around the city. Maybe he did have a chance to get to know Silke better.

For now, he was just happy that, despite him speaking in mixed Japanese and English while she spoke only in German, he felt at peace.