And Then There Was One

It was so empty and quiet.

That was the first thought Miho had—not only had her brother already flown back home, but Silke had also packed up all her things and left for her freshly renovated dorms.

For the first time in forever, the raven-haired woman felt lonely.

What an irony. She was never an introverted girl, never one to fear contact with other people. And yet, quite recently, she felt like she just couldn’t click with anyone.

As much as she was happy for her brother getting along so well with Silke, seeing them create this special bond despite the language barrier made her feel a pang in her chest. An ugly feeling of jealousy had sneaked into her brain and did not want to let go.

When she told him that she had gone through a similar situation with a person, she was not lying. Though, she did twist a certain element of the story. It’s not like she withheld the full truth out of malice. She was just still not ready to reveal that to anyone, really, and maybe part of why she decided to change one fact was to avoid taking away Satoru’s remaining hope.

She truly had been in a situation where she thought someone liked her as more than just a friend. But it was not a guy—it was a girl. And to make things even worse, it was Silke’s sister, Katrin, the one and only ex-flatmate of hers.

That’s why she decided to keep that one detail out.

Miho wasn’t ready to openly talk about it, and she didn’t want Satoru to think that being so nonchalant ran in the family. After all, the two sisters weren’t very similar to begin with.

When the raven-haired girl first arrived in Germany, she knew nobody at all. That did not scare her, though—she felt an adrenaline rush at the thought that how things would go depended entirely on her and her alone.

But, as always, she managed—mostly by pure luck, but still!

The story of how she found an apartment after being unhappy with the dorms was the most random thing that could happen to anyone.

Imagine being a Japanese person in Germany. You don’t know anyone here. You don’t speak the language. So how can you possibly convince someone to rent you an apartment when even locals struggle with it?

Satoru always repeated that if Miho had a character profile in a game, the only statistic she would have maxed out was luck—but the older girl always denied it.

Though, how could she argue against such an allegation when one day, as she was walking around the city, trying to figure out a plan to find an apartment, she saw an older woman nearly get run over by a car?

Nearly—because she ran in just in time to pull her away and angrily scream in Japanese at the man behind the wheel of a black BMW, who had the audacity to drive when the red light was clearly on. She didn’t care if he didn’t understand—she was sure her gestures and angry tone were enough to send a clear message.

It truly had to be some kind of fate that the older woman understood her. She was German, but her late husband had been Japanese. Talking with Miho—whom she insisted on thanking for the rescue—reminded her of past times. So when she heard that the young girl was in search of a nice apartment, she immediately offered one of the properties she had bought and renovated for rent.

The older lady seemed well enough off to insist on taking only a small amount of money for rent, with just two conditions: she could have a flatmate, but only someone she could truly trust, and there would be no huge parties. Apparently, her late husband had been an interior designer—if anything had been destroyed by rowdy students, it would have broken her heart.

Of course, Miho agreed to those conditions with no problem. Being the social person she was—and also because she couldn’t imagine having to clean up the entire place by herself—she invited the one person she knew she could surely trust to live with her.

Katrin.

Despite being quite a closed-off person—the total opposite of Miho—she was the only one patient enough to help the Japanese girl with almost everything. Explaining German grammar, helping fill out necessary documents, even answering the dumbest questions she had.

How could you not develop feelings for such a kind soul?

Though the truth was, only after they had both moved into the old lady’s apartment did Miho start looking at her differently. She couldn’t even pinpoint what the triggering moment had been. Maybe it was simply the domestic setup—being the one to greet her after a tiring day at college and vice versa. But in reality, it felt like a compilation of many small moments and situations—things that, to Miho, felt more romantic than simple acts of friendship. Things that made her heart beat faster whenever she thought about Katrin.

Imagine her surprise when, at one party—the one where the raven-haired girl had promised herself to start being more forward with her feelings—her flatmate introduced her to her new boyfriend.

There had been no signals before that she was dating anyone. All this time, Katrin had been so nonchalant when it came to kissing her cheek or even going as far as cuddling on the couch. Sure, some platonic girlfriends did that, but to Miho, it had felt much more intimate.

And yet, she had misinterpreted the situation. Now, she was left heartbroken before she had even mustered the courage to push their friendship toward something more romantic.

In the blink of an eye, time had passed, and before Miho could mentally prepare herself, Katrin announced that she would be moving out—to live with her boyfriend, or rather, now fiancé.

In a way, Satoru’s arrival had helped her not feel so alone. She had to put her confident mask back on. Showing her little brother an uncool side of herself was unthinkable, after all. But when the situation with Silke escalated, and she approved of her moving in for the summer as well, she had not expected things to go the way they did in the end.

Watching the two teens grow closer reminded her of the good times she had shared with Katrin. And although she was still on good terms with her—otherwise, she would not have let Silke move in—it wasn’t the same. Some of the things they used to do together were now unthinkable.

She was jealous that Satoru still had a chance to achieve what she couldn’t. But she pushed those nasty feelings aside because, no matter how annoying her younger brother could be at times, he was still part of her dear, loving family, and she would do anything for him.

And maybe he was right with his teasing. Getting to know someone well enough to introduce them to the family at Christmas wasn’t too bad of an idea.

But for now, lying on the couch in the quiet, empty apartment, Miho let herself feel lonely for just a little bit longer.