Before the Coffee Gets Cold

Autumn has come to the café. Hirai has returned to Sendai to take over her parents’ inn. She intends to “lead a life that creates a more wonderful legacy for Kumi’s life” (166). Hirai has sent the café staff a photograph of herself as the Takakura Inn’s owner, where her hair is in a conservative bun.

To everyone’s surprise, Fumiko returns to the café and stares at the ghost woman in the dress. Since spring, she has only occasionally visited and taken up the space opposite the ghost woman. Fumiko asks Kazu whether it is possible to visit the future. Kazu bluntly affirms that it is possible; however, no one goes there. Fumiko declares her wish to travel three years into the future in order to meet Goro and ascertain whether they will be together. Kazu says that while it is possible to go three years into the future, Fumiko has no way of knowing whether Goro will visit the café. While travelers can target past moments and easily go there, the “future is completely unknown” and only a miracle would allow them to meet their loved one before the coffee cools (171). Nagare teases Fumiko about wanting to be reassured that she will get married.

There is also a rule that states that a person who sat on the chair to time travel once is forbidden from doing it a second time. Kazu cannot be bothered to tell Fumiko about the rule. The bell sounds, and Fusagi appears. Kohtake greets him and reminds him that she is his wife even though he insists he does not know her. The café’s staff have seen numerous iterations of this conversation over the years, and mostly Fusagi refuses to believe her. Sometimes, however, they talk happily about memories of travel, with Kohtake affirming that she has been to all the same places as Fusagi.

Kei appears, looking bluish-pale. The café staff express concern. Kei’s life, after being born with a weak heart, has been a history of going in and out of the hospital. She met Nagare during a hospital stay when she was 17. He appeared wrapped up in bandages after a traffic accident. Kei nicknamed him the “mummy man” and developed a full-blown crush (176), even declaring that she wanted to marry him. He told her that she would be working in a café for the rest of her life if they married, which they did, three years later.

Kei is four weeks pregnant and has already begun talking to the baby. She is thrilled at the prospect of becoming a mother, even as her condition worsens while the baby grows. She is also having hot flashes and mood swings. Nagare has had a separate conversation with Kei’s primary doctor, who forecasted that the likelihood of a healthy pregnancy and survival of both mother and child is low. When Nagare gives Kei the doctor’s report, she just tells him that she is aware of the risk.

Kei admits that she is scared and wonders whether her child will be happy, especially if she dies herself. The ghost woman in the dress gets up, and Kei decides to take her seat. She requests Kazu’s coffee in order to get “just one look” at the future (186). Nagare objects, afraid that if Kei goes to the future and discovers the child does not exist, she will die of devastation. Kazu, on the other hand, cooperates with Kei’s wish, saying she will make sure the child will be in the café at the appointed time in the future.

While Kazu normally adopts a dispassionate attitude to people’s time-traveling wishes, she wants to help Kei and knows that “her actions [are] having a direct influence on Kei’s future” (190). Kei affirms that the date should be 10 years from now, on August 27, Kei’s birthday, at three in the afternoon. As the steam rises, Kei looks forward in anticipation of meeting her child. She thinks back to her own childhood: How her father, Michinori Matsuzawa, had a weak heart. When he collapsed and died, she entered a dark place emotionally. She recalls her mother telling her that she needed to be happy in order not to hurt his feelings, emphasizing that “[their] smiles allow him to smile” (192). Kei understood that her mother’s words arose out of deep love for her dead husband.

Kei arrives at a point that she thinks is 10 years into the future. She finds that “the retro atmosphere of the café [has] a comforting effect” (193). She spots a new staff member who is unsurprised to see her there. The man, who she does not recognize as Fumiko’s partner Goro, has a large burn scar from above his right eyebrow to his right ear. He informs Kei that he is the café manager. Meanwhile, Kei desperately wonders what happened over the course of 10 years. She asks about Nagare, and the man informs her that Nagare is in Hokkaido. The man asks if she is there to meet Kazu, who is also in Hokkaido. Kei is dejected, thinking that if Nagare and Kazu are in Hokkaido, her child must be with them too. She resigns herself to the fact that she will not meet them. Just then, the bell rings, and a 14 or 15-year-old girl enters. Kei recognizes her as the girl who visited the café the other day. She reminds the girl that they took a photo together, but the girl looks confused. Kei realizes that she must have come after this meeting. She vows to befriend the girl before the coffee gets cold. The girl puts on Kei’s old wine-colored apron and offers to help out in the café. The phone rings, and the manager says that it is Nagare for Kei. Over a strange, “terrible racket,” Nagare asks Kei to confirm that the schoolgirl who asked for a photo with Kei is there. Nagare reveals that the girl is Kei’s daughter. Mother and daughter look at each other, “completely spooked” (203). Nagare says that while Kei planned to travel 10 years into the future, there was a mistake and she traveled 15 instead. There’s no time to explain why he and Kazu are in Hokkaido; all Kei has time for is a good look at her daughter. Kei does not know how to talk to the girl, but she sees her own question in her daughter’s somber expression: “Can you forgive me that all I could do was to bring you into this world?” (204). Kei asks the girl her name and she replies that it is Miki. Kei senses that her daughter does not want to talk to her.

A woman comes in with the sound of the bell, and Kei recognizes her as an older, rounder Fumiko. Fumiko insists that Miki has always wanted to meet Kei and has looked forward to this day. Fumiko tells Kei not to leave Miki with the impression that she regrets giving birth to her. Miki approaches Kei and explains that her job is to make the coffee for the people in the time-traveling seat, like Kazu did. Kei wants to ask for Miki’s forgiveness for dying after she was born, but realizes that she has already caused the girl so much sadness. She notices a lack of rising steam from the coffee: It is already getting cold. Miki says that she had many things to say to her mother but was overwhelmed in the moment. She affirms that she has been sad without a mother, but that she is grateful for the life Kei gave her. She calls Kei “Mum,” and Kei is overjoyed, her eyes filling with tears (211). She realizes that her daughter has grown up surrounded by love and that seeing her healthy is the best gift. She tells Miki, “Thank you, for the honor of having you” (213).

While Kei returns from the future in tears, they are tears of joy. The next spring, a healthy baby girl is born. Kazu concludes the novel with the thought that the time-travel chair has a purpose, if only to “change someone’s heart” (213).