Tom Kaulitz

Tokyo. A huge aquarium, bathed in soft blue light. Stingrays and sharks swam slowly past the glass, and somewhere in the depths of the aquarium, colorful corals shimmered.

Tom Kaulitz came to Tokyo with his twin brother, Bill, and his friends, Georg Listing and Gustav Schäfer. They were members of the German rock band Tokio Hotel: Tom played guitar, Bill was the vocalist, Georg was the bassist, and Gustav was the drummer. The band had come to Japan for a concert, but before the show, they decided to take a break and visit an aquarium.

Tom brought his twin children, Emma and Leo, with him. He'd raised them almost single-handedly since his divorce. He'd separated from his ex-wife after discovering she'd cheated on him, so his children were now his most important priority.

The twins ran excitedly from one aquarium to another until they suddenly stopped near a huge glass.

"Daddy! Look! A mermaid!" Emma exclaimed, pressing her palms to the glass.

Tom looked up.

Behind the glass was Akimato, a girl who worked at the aquarium in the guise of a mermaid. She was quiet and calm, almost unperturbed, as if the goings-on around her didn't bother her at all. But as soon as the children swam up to the glass, a soft smile appeared on her face.

Akimato began waving her arms playfully, spinning in the water, and performing little tricks. Emma and Leo immediately burst into laughter and began mimicking her movements from the other side of the glass.

“They like her,” Bill remarked with a grin, standing next to Tom.

"Of course," Tom replied, watching the children. But he wasn't only looking at them. His gaze kept returning to Akimato. She lacked the ostentatious flamboyance Tom was used to seeing around him. She wasn't trying to attract attention and didn't seem impressed by celebrities. She was simply going about her business—quietly entertaining the children, occasionally smiling at them.
Leo suddenly turned to his father.

• Dad, she's beautiful. Can she be our mermaid every day?
• It seems... I need to meet her (Tom answered)