It was hot. Peak summer. Kazuhiko looked up at the sky with the relentlessly shining sun. He had to close his eyes. There was little greenery around, but the cicadas were annoyingly loud.
“Not the weather to stand around.”
He adjusted a small folder under his arm and headed for his usual café, LycoReco.
Ding-a-ling, the doorbell rang pleasantly as Kazuhiko stepped into the pleasantly cool café, letting the staff know they had a new customer. Except that nobody called out in greeting this time.
“…Huh?”
Doi, who hadn’t been coming for some time, was back, sitting at the corner seat at the counter. He laughed like a broken toy as if he were making an impression of Robert De Niro’s laughing through tears. Next to him, Chisato was on her knees, bowing her head to the floor in the most formal apology. Other regulars and Mika were staring at their hands, clearly uncomfortable.
Takina was there too, standing next to Chisato with an annoyed look on her face. She turned her head toward Kazuhiko.
“Ah… Welcome.”
“Is…something wrong?”
“No. Will you have your usual? Cold brew with ice?”
“…Yes, please.”
“Boss, one cold brew with ice.”
“Er… Right. Won’t be a moment. Mr. Tokuda, please take a seat…”
Kazuhiko uncertainly made his way to the counter. Not understanding what was going on made him wary.
Kurumi came in from the back, her hair messy as if she’d only just gotten up. She glared at Doi, who was still laughing.
“Doi, enough. You woke me up.”
Doi finally stopped laughing and hung his head.
Mizuki came to the café floor and went over to console Doi. She left a bowl of shaved ice on the counter. Kurumi sat down and started eating it without doubt that it was hers.
“Say, Kurumi… Did something happen? Before I came in?”
“No? It’s just a regular day here at Café LycoReco, with its usual ups and downs,” Kurumi said nonchalantly, glancing at Chisato.
Whatever had happened, it was considered normal at LycoReco…
Kazuhiko guessed that Chisato had made a bad mistake of some sort. Well, he’d turned up at just the right moment to cheer her up.
“Chisato! Guess what I brought! It got okayed!”
“Oooh! For real?!”
Chisato straightened up and jumped to her feet. She zoomed over to Kazuhiko. Other regulars, except Doi, got curious and came over to see what had gotten Chisato so excited.
“I’m not supposed to show it to anyone yet, but… Well, what’s the harm?!”
He took out a women’s magazine from his folder. Hot off the presses, it was a special issue focusing on Kinshicho and Kameido, with the café feature written by Kazuhiko. It had taken a long time, but his work was finally in print.
Mizuki stuck her head out from the kitchen.
“We’re not featured in that, though. What’s all the fuss about?”
“I didn’t write about LycoReco, but…”
Kazuhiko opened the magazine and everyone gasped as one, Chisato the loudest. She and Takina were in almost all shots showing off different cafés.
“This looks amaziiiing!”
“Ah. Interesting to see how you used those photos.”
There were photos of Takina and Chisato sitting at café tables, drinking coffee, eating sundaes or pancakes, or standing outside stylish cafés. It looked as if they were the feature of the article.
Kurumi craned her neck to see the pictures.
“I’m surprised your publisher approved this.”
“I thought I’d have a good chance if I pitched it from the angle of showing the readers that Kinshicho is somewhere young girls can go out for a nice day all by themselves, and my publisher said yes easily.”
“Mr. Tokuda, this is fantastic! Thank you! I’ll treasure this magazine forever!”
“Glad to hear it!”
As Chisato flipped through the pages, everyone around muttered in appreciation. Kazuhiko was pleased, but at the same time, he felt a bit disappointed that they were only looking at the pictures without reading the article he’d written. Then again, he could’ve guessed as much.
The magazine was taken to the tatami area so that more people could look at it at once. Only Kazuhiko and Mika stayed at the counter. No, there was Doi too.
“Good grief… How many times do I have to say we don’t want attention?”
“If you had agreed for me to write about LycoReco, I would have kept it more low-profile…”
“Is this some sort of payback?”
“Oh, no, I didn’t mean that… I now understand why you don’t want to draw attention to LycoReco. At first, I wanted to tell the world about you no matter what, but not anymore.”
He was being honest. Going from telling everyone about the café to wanting to keep it secret was proof that he’d become a true regular.
Café LycoReco was amazing. It had a lovely, lively atmosphere enjoyed as much by regulars as first-timers. The decor was stylish, the staff was wonderful, and the coffee was incredible. Anyone felt welcome here and had a relaxing, enjoyable time. It was a rare gem of a café.
The childish desire to be the first to tell everybody about this extraordinary café that he, Kazuhiko, discovered all by himself had faded away… Or at least, it had faded into the background. He no longer had this need to be a special customer. It was enough that the café was special to him.
Besides, if he wrote about the café, it would become so popular that people would line up to go in every day, and the peaceful sanctuary that was LycoReco would be no more. It had become so important to him that he wouldn’t be able to accept that, and that was what he told Mika as he watched the customers and the waitresses chatting and laughing together in the tatami area.
“I see,” said Mika. “I’m grateful you’ve changed your mind. I, too, would like ordinary days like this one to continue… Here is your cold brew.”
The ice cubes floating inside the glass were black—they were frozen coffee cubes. A black beverage with black ice cubes.
Invigoratingly bitter but still light, the cold brew went down smoothly. On a scorching day, it was pure pleasure.
“You girls look like professional models in these photos!”
“Right?! That’s what I was thinking!”
“I like the one where you’re feeding Takina a pancake. It’s so cute!”
“Wait…that was taken after the shoot was already finished…”
“A candid shot! That’s why you look so natural. I love it!”
“I like how one of you looks calm while the other’s smiling. It’s a well-composed photo.”
“Oh, in this picture, you can see the table where I always sit!”
“Where is this? It looks so nice. I think I’ll go and check it out!”
“Why don’t we all go together someday?!”
“You shouldn’t encourage our customers to eat elsewhere, Chisato!”
Everyone burst out laughing.
It really was a lively place, unlike any other café. It was Kazuhiko’s favorite. There was always some fun to be had, but it was also very peaceful… Sometimes unusual little incidents occurred there, as had happened to Doi, who looked as if he were about to give up the ghost.
Café LycoReco was a special place, blending the ordinary and the extraordinary.
Ding-a-ling, rang the bell as the door opened. Another customer had come in. A regular or a would-be regular?
“Takina! Come on!”
The two star waitresses quickly went over to greet the newcomer.
“Welcome to Café LycoReco!”