“Yeah, that’s right,” continued Gohtaro, growing increasingly impressed with Shuichi’s perceptiveness.

“Okay, I think I get the idea.”

“So, what do you say? It’s pretty out there, don’t you think?”

“For sure, it’s very strange.”

“Yeah, isn’t it just.” Gohtaro pulled out a newly bought ultraslim digital video camera, nothing like what had existed twenty-two years earlier.

“And that is?”

“It’s a camera.”

“That tiny thing?”

“Yeah. It records video too.”

“Video too?”

“Yeah.”

“Awesome.”

Shuichi was looking hard into Gohtaro’s face as he searched for the on button of the camera he was still not used to.

“It looks like you just bought it.”

“Huh? Er, yeah, that’s right.” Gohtaro answered Shuichi’s question without much thought.

“You’ve still got to work on your endgame, you know,” Shuichi muttered with a serious face.

“Yeah, sorry, I should have worked out how to use the darn thing before coming,” Gohtaro replied, his ears blushing.

“I’m not talking about the camera,” said Shuichi, maintaining his stern tone.

“Huh?”

“Oh, never mind.”

Shuichi reached out and put his hand on the cup. Familiar with this café’s rules, he must have been worried about how much time was left.

“Right, let’s do it!” he exclaimed. He stood up with a burst of enthusiasm and spun around so that his back was to Gohtaro.

“We’ve just got a single shot at this, right?” he asked.

Based on the temperature of the coffee, Gohtaro didn’t think there would be time to reshoot either.

“Yes. This will be great,” he replied. “Okay then, I’m taking it.” He pressed the record button.

“You know...you’ve always been a terrible liar,” Shuichi muttered.

His words must not have reached Gohtaro, as he didn’t seem to react. He simply continued to point the camera at Shuichi. “To Haruka, twenty-two years from now. Congratulations on getting married,” said Shuichi. Then he grabbed the camera and quickly stepped away from Gohtaro’s reach.

“Hey!” Gohtaro yelped and stretched out his hand to get it back.

“Don’t move!” Shuichi said.

Gohtaro didn’t. Hearing Shuichi’s strong tone sent a chill down his spine. If that warning had come a split second later, he would have leaped up from his seat. Luckily he remembered just in time. If he had stood up, he would have been returned to the present immediately.

“What did you do that for?” he asked.

His voice echoed loudly in the room, but luckily they were the only two customers. Aside from them, it was just Nagare behind the counter, and he didn’t seem to care about the to-and-fro between them. He stood motionless with his arms crossed, showing not a hint of surprise.

Shuichi let out a deep breath, turned the camera to himself and started talking.

“Haruka. Congrats on getting married.”