The Unexpected Confession

“Okay, first of all, I did not know I would be living with someone other than Miho,” the raven-haired boy defended himself. “And second of all, I think you’re not the one who should be asking questions here, Miss Oh-I-Just-Randomly-Announced-That-I-Am-Abroad-Just-Like-You!”

“Yeah, Madoka-chan. How come you decided to come all the way here?”

“Oh! Well, my dad was invited to a weekly event as a representative of the Japanese embassy. He asked me if I wanted to tag along, so of course, I took this opportunity.”

That’s right. The thing Satoru was most jealous of when it came to Madoka—her dad’s job as an ambassador made it possible for her to travel every summer.

Also, how is it that when he asks her a question, she asks him something instead of answering, but when Miho does it, she gets an answer immediately?

“And of course, I remembered you were here, so I thought it would be more fun if you showed me around. After all, you’ve been here for quite a while, so you could… you know, take me somewhere nice…”

“Phew, how bold, Madoka-chan~”

At least now everything was clear about how she ended up all the way in München, but still, it felt so bizarre. Being abroad for so long had detached him from his Japanese life, so seeing someone he used to sit next to in class felt like two different worlds colliding.

“So?” Madoka brought him back to reality. “Will you? Show me around, I mean.”

Satoru looked at his childhood friend dumbly for a moment before shaking his head to focus again. “Sure, let me just get ready real quick.” But before grabbing some clothes from the cupboard, he turned to Silke. “Wanna go too?”

“Ja!”

After the situation on their hiking trip, Satoru didn’t feel as relaxed around his German friend. The tension wasn’t unbearable, it was just that… he really wanted something more from their relationship but was too scared to take the leap.

Still, he didn’t want her to feel left out just because Madoka had suddenly appeared. They had planned on going out anyway.

But wasn’t it a bad sign that she wasn’t bothered about some girl joining them? Did that mean she never considered their outings as dates?

The raven-haired boy tried hard not to dwell on such thoughts, but overthinking almost always won against his perseverance.

Once Satoru was ready, he stepped out of the bathroom and almost bumped into Silke, who was already dressed but, just like every morning, wanted to do her bathroom routine. He simply put a hand on her shoulder to slow her down before she could run right into him and smiled gently.

He could have sworn he saw the blonde girl’s cheeks redden, but in his current state of mind, moments like these felt like illusions—desperate attempts to find any signs of romantic interest from her.

Stepping back into the main room, he alerted Madoka, who immediately got up. “We’re going?”

“We’re still waiting for Silke, chill.”

“What a playboy~” Miho muttered.

“What?” Satoru asked in confusion.

“Nothing~ Enjoy your little playdate!” And with that, the older woman got up from the table and went to her room, closing the door behind her.

“Weirdo…”

“Ich bin fertig!”

Suddenly, the blonde girl jumped out of the bathroom and jogged to the entrance door to put on her shoes and grab a bag. It never ceased to amaze Satoru how she could go from a total sleepyhead to a bundle of unlimited energy.

“Okay, let’s go, Madoka.”

It was funny how, just a few weeks ago, Satoru had been the one discovering all the spots in München, and now he was confident enough to act as some sort of tour guide.

“This is where I ate a pretzel for the first time. Silke was the one who recommended this place.”

“And this here is Marienplatz. When I saw it for the first time, I couldn’t believe how different it felt to see European architecture with my own eyes. I was so shocked, I nearly bumped into people while looking up at it. Silke laughed at me when she heard about it.”

“Toru, du bist manchmal so komisch.”

“You can’t tell me it’s not breathtaking! I was just busy admiring it!”

“Uh, sure…”

The three teens walked around some more while Satoru shared anecdotes and stories about his trip, pointing out different places and landmarks. That was until the blonde girl suddenly held up her phone.

“Guild meeting, sorry, Toru!”

Guild meetings were nothing more than college integration events. Recently, there had been many more of them, considering the semester would soon start. The raven-haired boy tried his best not to show it, but he was disappointed every time Silke left for those meetings.

But what else could he do? It was natural for her to want to get to know the people she would be interacting with daily, and he couldn’t tag along—it would be awkward having to explain every time that he was still a high schooler.

Moving forward with the trip, now just with his childhood friend, Satoru continued sharing stories.

“And here, Silke—”

“You talk a lot about her.”

“Huh?”

“The German girl, Silke. You constantly talk about her.”

Satoru stopped in place, feeling a bit embarrassed and confused at the same time. The English Garden, where they had ended up, was oddly quiet, as if no one else was there besides the two of them. The loudest sound was the gentle evening breeze.

“I guess… It’s just—we spent a lot of time together, so…”

“You like her, don’t you?”

“What?”

That question caught him off guard. Maybe because it wasn’t even a question—it was more of a statement coming from the short, brown-haired girl.

“It’s pretty obvious,” she continued, not minding the lack of a clear response from her childhood friend. “You know she’s older than you and probably thinks of you as a younger brother at most?”

“Yes…”

“She barely understands you if she doesn’t have any context for what you’re talking about.”

“I know…”

“After this summer, you’ll probably never hear from her again, and—”

“You don’t know that!” Satoru finally snapped. “I know all of that. And so what if I like her, anyway? I have the right to! Even if she never feels the same way… Why are you so set on reminding me of all that, anyway?”

“Because it’s frustrating to see you like this!” This time, it was Madoka who raised her voice. “You can barely talk to her, and yet all she has to do is look at you, and you’re already swooning, while I—” She stopped for a moment.

“I have known you since birth. We’ve been together forever. I know you better than she does. So why do you not like me instead?”

“Wh-why are you asking me that?”

“Isn’t it obvious, Dumboru? It’s because I like you…”