In Germany, there is an otaku that loves Japan, she works hard in her school, she loves drawing and writing she is a great mind of the anime world. Her name is Griselda and she lives in Berlin, she got high grades and makes a lot of effort in her life. Her whole life is effort and results, or failures, but if that occurs she gets her weapon and she raises her and fight until the results come.
Because of the fact that she got the best grades in her school she got the pleasure to go in an Erasmus program. Her educational trip would be to Japan, she was so happy, she felt like everything she fought against was worth, all her non-slept nights, all her hours wasted on doing something she would rather procrastinate, and all her effort towards the "monsters" that wanted to crush her, but she was stronger and prevailed against them.
The day before the Erasmus program…
She couldn't still believe in her eyes, she was getting herself ready for a trip to japan. "Japanese-German dictionary, check, extra pair of high socks, check, books, check (…) alright everything is here, time to go to sleep" (Griselda) , as she laid in the bed her heart rate goes up and she felt desolated, she felt like she was in a osen in Japan, but at the same time she felt like she was in inferno, close to Satan, she felt like she would have to go now to the airport, she was anxious, and meanwhile all those feelings, the times runs, runs and flows. She doesn't sleeps at all… All she does think about is what if… and what if… She is insecure and very unconfident also extremely shy and introverted. But that isn't a genetic problem…That comes from a thing or two happened in the past.
She grew in a closed ambient, surrounded by books, she didn't really had much contact with other children; she got really closed to herself by that fact. People who really don't know her, call her antisocial, but she deep inside just wants to talk with everyone, she just cannot do it.
The school kind of gave the Erasmus for her because of that fact; they thought that a foreign country could help her, and her closed policy towards people she doesn't know.
"Morning dear, are you ready to go Japan? I'm going to miss you so much!" (Griselda's mom), "Good morning mom, I'll miss you and your breakfasts too" (Griselda). She makes a run for the kitchen as she knows that a delicious breakfast is awaiting her. Bacon, bread with butter and a cup of milk, nothing like a good German breakfast to start the day better.
She bites the bread, drinks the milk and gets herself a banquet, as she knows that she won't be getting a German breakfast every morning, as good as this one. They days in Germany slowly are going to an end, not really a end, more like a pause.
Griselda picks her suitcase and get her bundle pack ready to fly. She had a contradictory feeling of wanting to stay but still wanting to go, she wanted to go to Japan, because of obvious reasons, but still she will gonna miss her mom so much. Since her dad died when she was 2 years old, she doesn't remember him so much, and because of that, she tends to be more attached to her mom, which is great, but in this situation is kind of an "annoying feeling". A tear fells from Griselda's eye as she got the shoes to get out of the house. "I'm not going out forever!" (Griselda thinking).
Griselda's mom was in the bathroom while her daughter was getting ready to go out. "I should probably go out and say to her to have great trip with a smile" (thinks Griselda's mom). Right at the moment that she thinked that, a tear escapes from her eye. In any way, she camouflaged her sad face, and got the courage to get out of those 4 walls.
Griselda and her mom gave their "final hug", both of them were crying and Griselda felt even more guilty for going to Japan, but it was dream, a dream that could come true, even if it can hurt someone, but still isn't easy hurting someone to get your dreams accomplished. "Call me every day!" (Mom), "Of course I will, mom! How could I not!" (Griselda). Griselda looked into the watch and saw that was the time to go catch the flight. "Mom, I got to go" (Griselda), "Okay, have a nice flight, call me when you are going to take off" (Mom), "Okay." "Then bye" (Griselda), "Bye" (Mom).
Griselda caught a taxi to go to the airfield, while the transit, she only thinked about staying but has she unlocks her phone, she saw a anime picture that she had in her phone, she wanted to go, her logic art was temporarily stopped working, and she was finally for the first time of her life guided by her heart. She never felt any emotion, actually she felt, but she didn't show to other people and her mind would be like filter weather you could or could not show what your emotions wanted, but this time emotions prevailed and her mind could not filter it.
After the confusing transit, she was in the airfield, she was ready to take her flight to Osaka, and in the airfield was her teacher that guided the teens through the airfield. "Okay Griselda, your host family will be the Nagatomo family in Osaka, did you study Japanese properly?" (Teacher), "Hai, Hai (Yes, Yes)" (Griselda), "Good, then have a nice Erasmus" (Teacher). She went to the departure area, was to be the last foot that she put in German land in one year, she will miss Oktoberfest and his happy and careful drinking, her mom's breakfast, the German sunshine, the bread fresh from the oven, the pets lying around the city, the friendly people. All those big little things were lying in her heart, she could not forget, not a single one of them, and that she never, ever could delete from heart, even if her visit to Japan was great enough to forget her country.
She went to the plane she felt the plane taking off; it was like an elevator, after the noisy take off, a loud silence comes to the plane, not even a single word she was listening; she felt asleep, the room turn dark, her surroundings looked like the depths of the ocean, she listen to a voice "HELP ME!" (?) , "Who is there?" (Griselda), "Why do you help other and forget me?" (?), "Who is there?" (Griselda), "You know who I am!" (?). In the moment that that voice said that, her breath stops for a moment, her eyes start to blur and she slowly starts to be unconscious, and she with her final breath ears "So, do you remember me now?" (?), yet she falls and doesn't remember that voice. As she dies, the light of the airplane comes back again; it was like she got reborn, "What was that? A dream? A nightmare? A flashback?" (Griselda thinking).She goes to the bathroom, she washes her face, and in the silence of that plane she hears "I will miss you too" (?), she is stunned by the voice coming alive, "What is this am I a schizophrenic?" (Griselda thinking) , "Do not worry I am a friendly voice, and for certain you are not schizophrenic, I am voice that you know well." (?), "Just tell me who you are already!" (Griselda), "I will assure that u know who am I later on, but for now just remember my voice as I am going to be guiding you to your trip" (?).
She pulls back to her seat, and she remembered that she had to call her mom, although she had to use a phone from the airplane, because her phone wouldn't work in the airplane. "Beep, Beep" goes the phone, as a Beep comes, her heart pounds, "Who is this?" (Mom), "its Griselda." (Griselda), "Oh my god *sniff* I was starting to worry for a second, because I called you 10 times in the past 20 minutes and you wouldn't call me back" (Mom), "Oh, that's because you can't call me while I am in the airplane, I just can use the phone that is in the airplane, it functions differently from the regular ones" (Griselda), "I see" (Mom), "This is your Capitan speaking, please come back to your seats, we are going to be landing in Osaka, in this moment" (Capitan), "Sorry mom I will land now, I will call you later" (Griselda) , "Okay, bye" (Mom), "Bye" (Griselda). Griselda turns back to her seat and she thinks, "For how long did I sleep? Like 7 hours or something?" (Griselda thinking).
The landing felt like the plane was crashing, the sounds of the plane's engine felt like were failing and the wheels of the airplane receiving the impact "BOOOM", after the impact came the silence, and after the silence came the euphoria, as she landed in Osaka, her excitement to visit famous places in Japan was growing, but she wanted to remain Zen as the excitement was busting through her mind. As she gets off the plane, the light came, not the artificial "pseudo light", but the true light, the true light that we always had but never acknowledge, the light that gave the life. "So this is why they call Japan the Rising Sun" (Griselda), "Soda yo (certainly)" (?) "Are you the girl that came by Erasmus (speaking in Japanese)" (?), "Yes I am (speaking in Japanese)" (Griselda), "Welcome abroad to Japan, I am an Erasmus council member, my name is Hana Yamaguchi." (Hana), "Thank you, my name is Griselda nice to meet you" (Griselda), "Come with me, let's have a lunch" (Hana). (From now on the talking is only in Japanese).
They got of the airport and the city's euphoria was turning to excitement in Griselda's heart, as she puts a step forward she wants to put the other one instantly. "So Hana, what will we gonna eat?" (Griselda) "Yakitori, a traditional one" (Hana), "I… I always wanted to eat that!" (Griselda), "I was worrying that would have been too simple for a person from Europe" (Hana), "Sometimes simple is better" (Griselda). They arrive at a restaurant called "Nikuya (肉屋)" were it was a wooden bar-like restaurant, were you could even see the cooker grilling the meat "Two Yakitoris, please" (Hana), "Coming at ya" (cooker). "Itadakimasu" (Hana and Griselda), "Oh so you do know about our culture" (Hana), "Yeah I researched some things and I have loved Japan since I do like anime " (Griselda), "Oh, I see, a lot of people come to Japan because of anime, I won't say it's a bad thing, I mean they do get a nice image about Japan, and they tend to be less xenophobic, so yeah, I personally believe it's not a bad thing" (Hana), "This meat is nice and sweet" (Griselda), "Say that to the cooker!" (Hana), "This meat is 100% natural and pure, we in Japan value a lot our meat, and its quality" (cooker).
After the lunch they went to a park, while Griselda was waiting for the Nagatomo family. The park was really good, the green prevailed on that area, were you could year the birds singing and the wind whispering a small breeze to Griselda's ear. In the horizon they saw an adult aged women "Hey there Hana, so is this the girl from Germany that you talked about?" (Women from Yamamoto's family), "It is, she will be here 1 year or so, she loves our culture so she will be easy to fit in Japanese customs" (Hana), "Hi, I am Ikeda Nagatomo, nice to meet you" (Ikeda) , "Hi, I am Griselda, I came from Germany, nice to meet you.", "Germany, isn't that a famous place for his beers?" (Ikeda), "Yes, our beers are one of the best in Europe and contesting to be one of the best in the marketplace" (Griselda), "Alright, then I will have to go receive another student, hope you have a nice image about Japan." "Bye" (Hana), "Bye" (Griselda and Ikeda), "So let's go home?" (Ikeda), "Ok." (Griselda).
They across the street slowly, talking about some customs in Japan what they can and can't do, some respectful measures towards Japanese people. Griselda cannot still believe that she is in actual Japan, as a breath is taken and a breath is wasted, she feels inspired, as each Sakura flower falls she feels filled, she feels like this was going to be her future, even though she was just here temporarily she felt like she belonged here. "Are you listening, Griselda-san?" (Ikeda), "Oh, I am sorry. I was focused in the Sakura flowers lying around" (Griselda), "Oh, that happens a lot, the smell the pink texture, they just grab our attention and enslaves our mind" (Ikeda), "This happens a lot when I am working and Sakura flowers start to fall" (Ikeda), "Oh right, since you love Sakura flowers, want to go in the Sakura Hana Matsuri?" (Ikeda), "That is…", "That is awesome, I always to be in one, like really? This is amazing, *cries* Thank you so much for the opportunity. I am so glad I came!" (Griselda), "Calm down it's just a simple festival" (Ikeda) , "What do you mean it's just a festival, it's one of the best things here in Japan!? (Griselda), "Right, how about we call also Hana?" (Ikeda), "Please do it, she was so nice to me when I got to the airport" (Griselda).
After a chat or two, they reach home "I am back" (Ikeda), "Welcome back" (?), "I have another person to go with us today." (Ikeda), "Who is she?" (?), "Come here" (Ikeda). The girl voice comes to the hallway and is kind of surprised by the long shiny golden hairs and the German look that Griselda was emitting. "Mom, who is she?" (?), "It's somebody who will know real well in a couple of time" (Ikeda has she gets 3 cups of tea ready).
The mysterious girl takes a sip of tea. As she was drinking Griselda looked better to her. Long black hair, strapped has a ponytail, with a well-shaped body, medium-size breasts (who want that information though), and at that moment was dress with a shirt and a skirt with a pair of long knee-high socks (fan service). "I am Mio, Mio Nagatomo, nice to meet you" (says Mio with a smooth calm voice), "I am Griselda, and I came from Germany." (Griselda), "Oh, Germany, land of the pagan mythology, a land were brave people took action and most importantly a powerhouse in world economy of today. I bet that by your name "Griselda" you must be a person who fights and takes much effort into things a, as your name means Grey Maiden Warrior, although it's just a supposition" (Mio), "Wow, you are so cult, were do you learned such things so far away from Germany?" (Griselda), "Well I do read a lot" (Mio), "Oh right, mom do you prepared my Yukata for tonight?" (Mio), "Yes I done", "And for Griselda too" (Ikeda), "For me?" , "I am speechless!" (Griselda).
The excitement had to wait a second has the festival was 3 hours later, and first she would had to have another taste of Japanese food. After having dinner, she was going to get ready, putting on the Yukata. She goes to the bathroom for some privacy. As she closes the door, a voice appears from nothing "Hey there, again" (?), "You had a nice voyage?" (?) , "I am having a blast with this Japanese traditions; don't fear me I won't do anything against you, in fact I came just for help." (?), "If you came for help, why do you just keep tormenting me?" (Griselda), "Okay then, I'll give a present, in form a information that is quite helpful for you; That girl hasn't got a boyfriend" (?) , "What do you want to say with that?" (Griselda), "I bet you'll find out later on; Now it's better you to put that Yukata on" (?). As she was dressing they Yukata and getting the hair strapped in a traditional way, she thinks about the words "What did he means with that, helpful? Although the information is that she hasn't got a boyfriend? And is a information that I will love to have in the future, what kind of paradox is this. What is this voice anyways? Why do I listen to it? Why it does only appears when I am alone? What are these paradoxes?" (Griselda thinks).
After a moment or two Griselda was ready, she goes to the hallway wanting Ikeda and Mio. After another moment comes Mio. Her beautiful Yukata suited greatly in her beautiful body, her hair wasn't strapped and it was with ribbons in each of the sides, Griselda was surprised by how great Mio looked. "Mio, you are so cute "(Griselda), "You too Griselda, you look amazing with that Yukata" (Mio), both girl stare at each other with a embarrassed look. Then came the mature one. Ikeda came with a more mature look, with the hair strapped in a bun.
"So everyone is ready, let's go?" (Ikeda), "Sure" (Mio and Griselda). They make their way to the Festival were they see other people also going for the same thing, other people with Yukatas and Kimonos, they spot in the silence and the darkness of the night a brightfull area, were everyone follows that light, yes it's the Festival. "Ahhh, that walking after the dinner sure felt good" (Griselda) , "Oh, how do I understand you, Griselda-san" (Mio), "Okay, girls I am going to dance Taay ho hey, Taay ho hey , be nice to each other" (Ikeda) , " Okay." (Griselda and Mio).
Griselda and Mio were now alone in the darkness and silence of the night, they were in a place that people weren't abundant, and as soon as Griselda realized that, she becomes nervous and even blushed. "Wait why am I blushing and why am I so nervous? She is just a girl like me!" (Griselda thinking), "It's the first time I am alone with someone by my side even though it's just a girl, with my age, I only was like this with my mom" (Mio thinking). The time flows and the silence rages on, but it's challenged by someone, it's a stomach growling for food. "Oh are you hungry?" (Mio), "Ahhh, yes" (Griselda), "Let's buy something to eat?" (Mio), "Yes" (Mio). Then across the booths in the Festival, there is a shooting range where you can win prizes, there is a place where you can get fish, and a yakisoba booth. "Let's get some yakisoba?" (Mio), Griselda stomach growls once again, "Okay then let's get yakisoba" (Mio). "How are you still hungry even though we had dinner some moments ago?" (Mio), "I don't know but this is so good!" (Griselda), Mio spots a bit of sauce in Griselda's cheek, "Don't eat too fast" (says Mio while she cleans Griselda's face), "I eat like this when the foods are awesome!" (Griselda).
"Oh it's already time for the fireworks" (Mio), "Okay, let's go?" (Griselda), "Yes!" (Mio). They go to place where almost no person knows, like a secret place. It has a nice view for the firework; Griselda and Mio were the only ones in that location. The firework starts to blow, the violence of the atoms being freed into the space is hidden by the lighting, the beautiful lighting that they free. "Fiiiii, Poom" "Fiiiiii Pooom", there goes other two fireworks, but meanwhile all that violence Griselda falls asleep in Mio's lap. Mio didn't felt it until the firework ended, when the firework ended and has she looks down, her heart beat rate rises, and she starts shaking, her face turns red rose. "Will I wake her up, that's bad... Should I let her sleep, well that's embarrassing… Ahhh I don't know what I should do!"(Mio thinking), "I want to go to Hokkaido" (Griselda dreaming and speaking), "What a strong willed girl!" (Mio thinking). Shortly after Ikeda comes with Hana, meanwhile Griselda still is sleeping over Mio's lap. Ikeda and Hana spot Mio and Griselda from distance, and watch kind of a romantic background with Griselda having some sleep in Mio's lap and Mio looking down with a kind of embarrassed look in his lap, "What are they doing?" (Ikeda, while still being far away from Mio and Griselda) , "Do not worry, it is normal to have some skinship between two girls is normal" (Hana).
"We are back"; "Want to go home?" (Ikeda), "Let's go home both of us Ikeda-san, these two girls will have still a good time in the after-party" (Hana), "What do you mean by that?": "Well whatever, let's go" (Ikeda). Not knowing what happened, there stood the two girls, at each moment that passes Mio wants to stay there more time, and stay like that forever now and again, but that can come to an end as Griselda can awake at any moment, she stays sad when she thinks about that, but when she looks down, for a reason she is happy again, "What is this?"; "This is so contradictory and immoral, I should wake her up" (Mio thinking); "Good morning" (says Mio when Griselda finally wakes up), "Wait a second."; "I fell asleep in your lap"; "I am so sorry!" (Griselda) "Don't worry about it!" (Mio), "It's so comfy"; "Can I use it a bit more?" (Griselda), Mio's hearts skipped a bit for some reason "Why is this?" (Mio thinking), "Why am I so nervous" ; "I mean it is just a girl" ; "Why would I…" ; "Why am I"; "Huh" (Mio thinking), "Okay, but just a little bit more!" (Mio), "Yay!" (Griselda).
Mio feels Griselda's head impact in his legs, it felt heavy and soft, hard and sweet, loud and silent. Mio was shaking and Griselda was embarrassed, "Actually, forget" (Griselda while quickly pulling up), "Let's go home?" (Mio), "Sure." (Griselda). In the way home the air felt strong, both of them were kind of feeling weird, the time felt like it would not pass, and they were in a walk to the infinite. "Griselda, want to go see the landscape in Mount Ikoma? As it is still too early to go home" (Mio), "Sure I accept any sightseeing! Is what I am here for!" (Griselda).
"Where is it? I am kind of tired" (Griselda), "Don't worry a few steps and we are there! (Mio). "Let's stop a bit!" (Griselda almost breathless), "Here it is"; "Look forward" (Mio), "Is it that great?" (Griselda while turning its head), Griselda and Mio had a surprised look, they were delightful by that sight, "This is sublime" (Griselda) , " Come sit over here" (Mio). They sat in a nearby café, where the amazing sight was aligned with calm music and calm ambient. "So, what do you think about Japan, Griselda?" (Mio), "Nature, honesty and humility, and the fact that I am here with you (Griselda).