Her Side of the Story

Silke did not expect to end up in the situation she was in right now.

Sitting in the café with her friends, Johann and Reiner, standing above her table, all three of them were confused.

Toru had run off, and she didn’t exactly know why.

It was one of those times she wanted to kick herself for not learning English properly, having focused more on history and math—a combination that confused everyone, but she didn’t care.

The boy was still a walking mystery to her.

When her sister informed her that her flatmate would have her brother around for the entire summer, Silke played it cool, saying she didn’t mind. But the truth was, she was dying of nervousness.

Being social was never a problem for her, but being social with someone who did not understand her language? That was hard, even for an extrovert like her.

So, the first days of living with Toru were full of awkwardness. She couldn’t even muster up a single smile, and she swore he flinched every time she entered the room.

Was she scary or what?

She couldn’t let that go, so she asked Miho about it. The older girl just laughed and said she had noticed that almost all Germans had a habit of putting on a glaring face by default—something uncommon in Japan.

She really tried not to do that, but after many failures, the blonde girl accepted that this was a habit she was born with and was going to die with as well. The misunderstanding with the bread cutter also didn’t help the boy feel more comfortable around her—that much she had noticed. It was as if he was walking on broken glass around her.

To a certain extent, Silke was aware that it wasn’t her fault they couldn’t find a common language, metaphorically and literally, and yet she put a lot of blame on how she had reacted in her first few interactions with the black-haired boy.

When it seemed like the entire summer was going to be awkward living with Toru, a glimpse of hope appeared in the form of an extremely rainy day. Originally, Silke had planned to just sit in her room, read some books, and look up upcoming parties in the city. But when she came out simply to make herself some tea and possibly grab a snack, only to see that the Japanese boy was playing her favorite game ever, it was as if she had suddenly been presented with a clue on how to get out of a labyrinth filled with mistranslation traps and cultural differences.

Finally, the invisible wall between the two teens disappeared. She showed him her fanart collection—he didn’t judge her. Why would he?

Toru understood her love for Rainbow Sun.

It took a lot for Silke not to immediately show him the photo of herself cosplaying as Selene when he said that was his favorite character. But since it was a bit revealing, she stopped herself at the time.

Poor guy thought that she was only showing him elements of German culture out of pure kindness, but the truth was that she was acting quite selfishly. She loved seeing his reactions—full of amazement or shock. He looked so innocently adorable, unlike any guy she had gotten to know in her country.

Then the embarrassing moment in the bathroom happened. With a beet-red face, Silke tried her best to calm down. It wasn’t like Toru had been peeping—he wasn’t that kind of guy. Still, being seen in only a towel was not an experience she had wanted to go through.

She immediately tried to reason with herself. Why would he do that? Had she used the wrong word? If only she knew English better, she wouldn’t need so much time to think of how to answer his question.

Thankfully, Miho was there to clear up the situation while Silke felt bad for the black-haired boy. He had felt so guilty for no reason at all, and a simple apology was more than enough. Later on, when she lay in bed, it dawned on her that, despite being exhausted from his full-day trip, he still hadn’t hesitated to muster up the energy to rescue her from drowning—even though she hadn’t been drowning. But just the pure fact that he cared so much made her heart skip a beat.

Damn her and her German accent for letting this situation happen…

Well, at least through that moment, Silke finally mustered up the courage to show him her cosplay photo. After all, it wasn’t as revealing as her short pink towel.

She regretted not showing it earlier. If only she could have taken a photo of Toru’s reaction to that picture so she could enjoy his slight blush and gaping mouth in amazement anytime she wanted.

Everything was going well. They casually spent time together, played the game together, and even came up with ways to use words from RPGs to communicate better. Toru had even gone so far as to start learning German.

She wondered if he was doing that just to be able to understand her better but was too shy to admit it.

So now that he had run off in such a rush, leaving half of his spaghetti ice cream uneaten, Silke was worried about him.

She had to excuse herself from Johann and Reiner, who had only come over to ask if she would be attending a party in three days. The blonde girl couldn’t care less about it, so she simply told them she would think about it.

It was a bit rude that she had left them like that. Those two were the first people in Munich that Silke had managed to get along with and stay in contact with. By pure coincidence, they were also going to start studying at the same university, so she wasn’t worried about feeling like an outcast, thanks to them.
But she wouldn’t say her bond with the two boys was the same as the one she had with Toru. They didn’t know Rainbow Sun. They didn’t enjoy the city as much as the Japanese boy did.

They just weren’t him.

Those were the only thoughts that accompanied her on the way back to the apartment—the place that had become like a safe zone for her, where she could nerd out with Toru and joke around with Miho.

Stepping into the main room, she immediately spotted the black-haired boy lying on the couch, covered with a blanket—something very unlike him. Filled with worry, she walked closer, squatting down so she could be at eye level with him.

“You okay, Toru? Zu viel Eis?”

The boy simply nodded, averting his gaze.

She didn’t like that.

The blonde girl got up, went to the kitchen, and soon returned to Toru’s side, placing a glass of water on the nearby coffee table. She simply patted his head and walked away.

If he truly felt bad, it was better to let him rest. She really hoped he would get better soon.

Silke’s heart would break into tiny pieces if he kept avoiding her gaze like that all the time.

Toru might not have realized it, but she cared too much for him to let their bond break.