Never!

It was a shock for Fumiko to hear him confess this for the first time. But now that he mentioned it, it seemed to make sense. The more she loved him, and the more she thought about marriage, the more she could sense some kind of invisible barrier.

When she asked if he loved her, he would nod, but he never said the words I love you . When they walked down the street together, Goro would look down sometimes, almost apologetically, and stroke his right eyebrow. Goro had also noticed that men walking down the street were always gawking at her.

Surely he hadn’t been hung up on that .

Yet, as she thought that, Fumiko regretted her own thoughts. While she saw it as his little hang-up, for him it was a painful, long-standing complex.

I had no idea he felt that way.

Fumiko’s awareness was fading. Her body was engulfed in a wavering, dizzy sensation. Goro had picked up the bill and was making his way to the cash register with his bag in his hand.

Nothing about the present is going to change. It’s right that it is not going to change. He made the right choice. Achieving his dream is worth much more to him than I am. I guess I have to give up on Goro. I’ll let him go and wish him success with all my heart.

Fumiko was slowly closing her bloodshot eyes when—“Three years,” Goro said with his back to her. “Please wait three years. Then I’ll return, I promise.”

It was a faint voice, but the café was small. Although now only vapor, Fumiko could clearly hear Goro’s voice.

“When I return...” Goro touched his right eyebrow out of habit and, with his back to Fumiko, said something else that was too muffled to hear.

“Huh? What?”

At that moment, Fumiko’s awareness of that place became shimmering steam. Just as she was slipping away, Fumiko saw Goro’s face as he glanced back before leaving the café. She saw his face for only a split second but he was smiling wonderfully, just like the time when he had said, “Perhaps you could buy me a coffee?”

When she came to, Fumiko was sitting in the seat, alone in the café. She felt as if she had just had a dream, but the coffee cup in front of her was empty. Her mouth still had a sweet taste in it .

Just then, the woman in the dress returned from the bathroom. When she caught Fumiko sitting in her chair, she swooped silently up to her.

“Move,” she said in an eerily powerful low voice.

Fumiko started. “I... I’m sorry,” she said, standing up from the chair.

The dreamlike sensation had still not dissipated. Had she really returned to the past?

Going back in time didn’t change the present, so it was only normal that nothing felt different. The aroma of coffee drifted from the kitchen. Fumiko turned to look. Kazu had appeared carrying a fresh cup of coffee placed on the tray.

Kazu walked past her as if nothing had happened. When she got to the woman in the dress’s table, she cleared Fumiko’s used cup and placed the fresh cup of coffee in front of the woman in the dress. The woman gave a small nod of acknowledgement and began to read her book.

Returning to the counter, Kazu asked casually, “How was it?” On hearing these words, Fumiko finally felt sure that she had traveled in time. She had returned to that day—one week ago. But if she had...

“So I’m just thinking...”

“Yes?”

“It doesn’t change the present, right?”

“That’s right.”

“But what about the things that happen later?”

“I’m not sure what you’re saying.”

“From now on...” Fumiko chose her words. “From now on—what about the future?”

Kazu looked straight at Fumiko. “Well, as the future hasn’t happened yet, I guess that’s up to you...” she said, revealing a smile for the first time.

Fumiko’s eyes lit up.

Kazu stood in front of the cash register. “Coffee service, plus late-night surcharge, that’s four hundred and twenty yen, please,” she said quietly.

Fumiko gave a big nod and went toward the cash register. She felt light-footed. After paying, Fumiko looked Kazu in the eye.

“Thank you,” she said and bowed her head low.

Then, after looking around the entire café, she once again bowed, not to anyone in particular, more to the café itself. Then she left without a care.

clang-dong

Kazu started putting the money into the cash register, with her deadpan expression, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. The woman in the dress gave a slight smile as she quietly closed the book, a novel titled The Lovers .