“You certainly have aged,” mumbled Shuichi, his expression softening a little. It was a sign that he was letting his defenses down.

“I guess I have,” replied Gohtaro a little self-consciously.

Here he was, a middle-aged man of fifty-one, acting like a shy child in front of this twenty-nine-year-old. For Gohtaro, he was once again meeting his guardian angel, who had helped him get his life back.

“But you look fit and well, yeah?” said Shuichi, whose eyes were bright red. “Hey what’s up?”

Gohtaro almost got up from his seat, surprised by the look on Shuichi’s face. He had imagined that Shuichi would be shocked suddenly to see him old like this, but he hadn’t expected a reaction like this.

Shuichi moved closer. Keeping his eyes locked on Gohtaro’s, he sat down opposite him.

“Shuichi?”

The pit-a-pat of tears falling could be heard. Apprehensively and hesitatingly, Gohtaro began to speak, when Shuichi said with a trembling voice, “Dapper suit you’re wearing.”

Again, the pit-a-pat continued. “Looks good on you.”

Gohtaro had appeared there in front of Shuichi, the future form of the close friend whose life he was about to turn around. The Gohtaro he had just encountered on the street outside was ragged and forlorn. This was why Shuichi was now experiencing a deep heartfelt joy at the sight of Gohtaro before him.

“Twenty-two years? I bet there were some tough times along the way?”

“Not really, it’s flashed by pretty fast.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah.”

Shuichi, his eyes still red, beamed a broad smile. “Thanks to you,” Gohtaro said softly to this smiling face.

“I see, ha.” Shuichi laughed with embarrassment and pulled out a handkerchief from his jacket and blew his nose. But the pit-a-pat of tears falling on the table continued.

“So, what is it?”

Shuichi stared questioningly at Gohtaro as if to ask, Why did you come? He didn’t mean it to sound like he was interrogating him. But he knew this café’s rules, particularly the limit on their time for reunion. He also couldn’t imagine Gohtaro coming to see him without reason. So rather than wallowing in sentimentality, Shuichi felt he had no choice but to get straight to the point.

Gohtaro, however, wasn’t immediately forthcoming with an answer.

“Are you okay?” Shuichi asked in the same tone one might use to address a crying child.

“To be honest...”

As he slowly reached out to check the coffee’s temperature, he tentatively began to explain.

“Haruka has decided to get married.”

“...uh?”

It must have been a shock even for ever-sharp Shuichi to hear this from Gohtaro. The smile instantly vanished from his face. Perfectly understandable. For Shuichi back in this time, Haruka was just a newborn.

“What—what? What does that mean?”

“Er, don’t worry, everything’s okay,” said Gohtaro in a relaxed tone. He had imagined Shuichi might get agitated during the conversation.

He brought the coffee to his lips and took a sip. He wasn’t sure what temperature counted as cold, but it was still clearly warmer than skin temperature.