Kiyoshi raised his tattered hunting cap politely. “Thank you,” he replied and sat on a stool, leaving the one between him and Nagare vacant.

Nagare carefully gathered together the paper cranes and asked, “Will it be a coffee as usual?” as he stood up and started heading for the kitchen.

“Er, no, actually. Today...” and as Nagare paused on his way to the kitchen, Kiyoshi looked over at the woman in the dress. Nagare followed Kiyoshi’s gaze and narrowed his eyes.

“Oh?”

“Actually, I’ve come to give this,” he said, pulling out a small box, the kind a pen might come in, wrapped up like a present, “to my wife.”

“Is that...?” asked Kazu, recognizing it.

“Yes. It’s the necklace you helped choose for me,” replied Kiyoshi bashfully as he scratched his head through his hunting cap.

The previous autumn Kiyoshi had asked for advice on what would make a good birthday present for his wife. Kazu had suggested a necklace. In the end, unable to decide by himself, Kiyoshi took her along with him to help him choose it.

“I had promised to give it to her here, but when the day came, I was called in for an emergency and I never did.”

Listening to Kiyoshi’s words, Nagare locked eyes with Kazu. “So, are you saying you want to return to your wife’s birthday?” he asked.

“Yes.”

Nagare bit his lip and went silent. Two or three seconds passed with no one saying a word. Sitting in the quiet café, it must have seemed a very long stretch of silence to Kiyoshi.

“Don’t worry, it’s all right. I know the rules well,” he added quickly.

Even with that, however, Nagare maintained his silence as the crevices in his brow deepened.

Kiyoshi could tell there was something strange about his reaction.

“What is it?” he asked uneasily.

“I don’t mean to be rude, but I don’t see why you have to return to the past just to give your wife a present,” he said, in a soft apologetic voice.

Kiyoshi nodded, as if he now understood the reason for Nagare’s awkward silence. “Ha, ha, ha. For sure... I see what you are saying...” he said, scratching his head.

“I’m sorry.” Nagare bowed his head hastily.

“No, no. It’s fine... It’s my fault for not providing a proper explanation,” Kiyoshi said, reaching out to pick up the glass that Kazu had served him. He took a small sip.

“Explanation?”

“Yes,” Kiyoshi replied. “It was exactly one year ago when I found out that you can return to the past in this café.”

Kiyoshi’s explanation was going right back to when he first visited this café.

clang-dong