“Uh-huh,” he replied without hint of doubt or hesitation. Sensing something in the corner of his vision, he turned to see Kaname looking at him. She simply blinked once, subtly.

You’d better go very soon.

Kiyoshi understood exactly what that blink meant. He looked at Kaname with a hand on her large stomach and remembered Kazu.

Kazu and I, our situations are similar.

Kiyoshi gave a small nod to Kaname and looked down at the cup.

“Well, I have to return now.”

“Kiyoshi...”

Kimiko called his name as he brought the cup to his mouth. She had realized from the exchange between him and Kaname that it was time to say goodbye.

“And were you happy...?” she asked, her voice trailing off.

“Of course,” he replied and drank the entire cup in one gulp. As he tasted it, his heart skipped a beat. The coffee was already cooler than body temperature.

If Kaname had not distracted me right now, the coffee might have gone cold.

Kiyoshi looked over at Kaname, and she returned an indescribably wonderful smile.

He was engulfed in dizziness. His surroundings slowly started moving past him. A moment later his body was turning into white vapor.

“Thanks...”

He saw Kimiko clutching the necklace to her chest. “...for this.”

She was looking at Kiyoshi, smiling happily.

“It suits you!” he remarked in his bashful way. But he never knew whether his words reached her.

“He’s back!” Miki exclaimed loudly as Kiyoshi regained consciousness.

Miki looked around and smiled broadly at Nagare. The first customer she had sent back to the past had returned. She looked immensely pleased with herself. Nagare too let out a sigh of relief. He gently fondled Miki’s head. “Good job.”

Only Kazu maintained her always cool expression as she started to clear away Kiyoshi’s cup for Miki, who was still very excited.

“How was it?” she asked.

“So, you’re pregnant?” he replied.

Crash, clang-clang-clang...

The noisy sound of a tray dropping onto the floor rang through the café. The culprit was Nagare.

“Daddy! Don’t be so noisy!” Miki scolded him.

“So sorry,” he said, quickly picking up the tray.

Kazu’s expression hardly changed. “Yes, I am,” she answered.

“How did you know that?” asked Nagare.

“I met your mother while she was pregnant with you,” Kiyoshi explained, looking at Kazu. “Your mother told me that she couldn’t act as coffee pourer while she was pregnant.”

“Oh, did she?” Kazu said as she walked off to the kitchen to take away the cup that Kiyoshi had used.

At that moment, the woman in the dress, Kaname, appeared from the toilet. Kiyoshi stood up and gave her a short bow. As he gave up the seat, Kazu returned from the kitchen carrying a coffee for Kaname.

As she placed the coffee down in front of her, Kiyoshi said to her softly, “Your mother looked happy.”