Chapter 1

Emily and Akito first met four years ago—when they were in their first year of middle school.

“Akito, I… I’m getting remarried. To an incredibly beautiful German woman,” his father, Haruto Tatekawa, announced.

“…”

Akito’s chopsticks slipped from his hand, falling with a clatter. He looked at his father with a gaze that unmistakably said, “Are you serious?”

“I’m absolutely serious, Akito. This is real.”

“…I mean, I know you wouldn’t joke about this, but…”

At that time, Akito lived alone with his father. His mother had divorced after being caught cheating. Haruto had fought hard, taking as much alimony as he could and winning custody of Akito. However, the betrayal had left its mark on him, and he went through a period of distrusting women.

Seeing his father like that had influenced Akito as well, leading him to develop his own, albeit mild, distrust of women. Though he wasn’t bad-looking, he didn’t have a girlfriend, and that was the main reason why.

So right now, the only concern Akito had about his father’s announcement was whether this woman could truly be trusted not to betray them. His rule when dealing with women was: assume the worst first. That was one of the life lessons he’d learned in his 13 years.

“Well, I met her purely by chance…”

To summarize, his father had been aggressively hit on by her.

“I see. So, did she try to sell you a vase or anything afterward?”

“Look, I know it’s partly my fault you think that way, but don’t you think you’re a bit too suspicious?”

Akito couldn’t shake his skepticism, wondering if she was some kind of scammer. To be fair, his father, who was only forty, looked remarkably youthful and was quite handsome—an example of the “cool older guy” type. Akito himself had inherited his father’s good genes.

And it wasn’t as if he hadn’t seen it happen—Akito had even witnessed his dad being hit on in public before.

“At first, it was just emails… but wow, German women sure are something. She kept coming on strong—really persistent—and before I knew it, I’d fallen for her too.”

Haruto laughed, scratching his head as if he couldn’t believe it himself, his cheeks faintly red as he recalled those memories.

Seeing that, Akito finally stopped giving his father a skeptical look. Since the divorce, his father, who had a more severe mistrust of women than he did, had never once talked about another woman like this.

“Well, if you’ve made up your mind, I won’t say anything.”

“Are you sure?”

“I trust your judgment more than mine,” Akito replied, sipping his miso soup.

“I see. Thank you, Akito.”

“It’s fine. If it makes you happy, it makes me happy too.”

For eight years, they had faced life together, sharing both small and big joys. Akito wanted to continue sharing those moments.

“Man, I sure have a good son…” Haruto said, nodding with satisfaction as he crossed his arms. Akito watched this, chuckling as he continued sipping his miso soup.

“…Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention—you’re getting a little sister.”

“Wha—!?” Akito spat out his miso soup.

“Cough! Cough!Cough”

 Are you okay?”

“Of course I’m not okay! Cough!” Akito gasped, choking as miso soup went down the wrong way.

“Ugh… When’s the wedding, anyway?”

“In two weeks. There’s a lot to prepare. Oh, and don’t worry—she’s already got Japanese citizenship.”

“When did that happen…? Ah, a true German, huh…”

Akito assumed that conversation at home would probably be in German. Though she might have learned some Japanese, it wouldn’t hurt to pick up some German himself.

“…Alright, once I’m done eating, I’ll head to the bookstore.”

“The bookstore?”

“To study German… not that I’ll get far in just two weeks…”

After intense studying, Akito managed to grasp basic greetings and simple conversations. Following his father to the airport, he was about to meet his new family member for the first time.

“Haruto!”

“Flare!”

While their parents joyfully embraced each other after a long separation, Akito and the girl standing in front of him silently stared at one another.

They held each other’s gaze for several long seconds, neither looking away. Finally, Akito scratched his head with an awkward “Uh…” which made the girl flinch a little.

“Guten Morgen, ich heiße Akito… ich freue mich, Sie kennenzulernen… Is that right? I’m super nervous…” he muttered anxiously after his best attempt at broken German.

The girl’s eyes widened in surprise at his attempt to speak German. Slowly, she reached out and took his hand.

“…Ko.”

(Ko? And why is she holding my hand?)

“Kon’nichiwa, watashi wa Emiri desu… korekara, yoroshiku onegaishimasu,” she replied in halting Japanese. 

[He-Hello, I am Emily….from now on, I’ll be in your care.]

Akito’s eyes went wide in surprise.

“…So, you’re Emily.”

“Akito…”

And thus, their encounter began.

(TL: should’ve just inserted the english there or leave the Jap alone?)