Episode 52 - Visiting My Mother in Germany, Part 3: Masako and Hans

【The door swung open, revealing a towering German man.】

He looked over 190 cm tall, with muscular arms, a completely bald head, and a rather intimidating face.

“Whoa!”

Shota instinctively took a step back. But in the next instant, the man broke into a huge grin and wrapped Ryoko in a bear hug.

“Ryōko! Guten Morgen!”

“Hans! It’s been a while!”

Watching this man chat with Ryoko like an old friend only added to Shota’s confusion.

“Umm… who is this?”

“That’s Hans. He lives with Masako.”

“...Seriously?”

Just as Shota was trying to process this, a woman’s voice came from deeper inside the house.

“Welcome, Shota-san.”

The one who appeared was a refined, serene-looking woman—Ryoko’s mother, Masako.

“So you're Shota-san? I feel like we've met before...”

Masako smiled, a knowing glint in her eyes. The moment her gaze locked onto Shota’s, he felt a chill run down his spine.

“Um… nice to meet you. I’m Shota Sasaki.”

Shota awkwardly introduced himself, and Hans, still beaming, held out a hand.

“I’m Hans! Tokyo Banana—suki!”

“Oh, yes. It’s a banana-shaped sponge cake—super popular in Tokyo.”

As Shota handed over the box, Hans eagerly opened it with a cheerful “Dankeschön!”

“This, my favorite!”

“Wait, you're eating it already!?”

Before Shota could react, Hans suddenly started patting him on the back—hard.

“Hai-sen-koku! Hai-sen-koku!” he shouted, using the Japanese phrase for "defeated country"—a reference to both Japan and Germany losing World War II.

“Ow—! What!? What’s going on!?”

As Shota reeled from the unexpected assault, Masako chuckled softly.

“That’s Hans’ original greeting. He feels a bond with Japan because both Germany and Japan were defeated in World War II.”

“That’s your reasoning!? And it seriously hurts!”

“Hans, maybe go a little easier on him?”

Ryoko looked exasperated.

“OK! Shota—tomodachi!” Hans declared, using the Japanese word for “friend,” then gave a big thumbs-up with his usual smile. Shota could only slump his shoulders.

“…This house is something else.”

“You’ll get used to it—it’s fun,” Ryoko said with a smile.

After the raucous welcome finally settled down, Masako smiled again.

“Since you’re here, how about grabbing a beer?”

“Huh? Beer, in the middle of the day?”

“Where do you think we are? This is Germany.”

Ryoko, Masako, and Hans all smiled like it was the most natural thing in the world.

“…Right, of course.”

Shota had no choice but to surrender to the chaos.