Naturally, facing the past that she’d run away from was a frightening prospect. But she couldn’t keep running away, and she didn’t intend to.
If that was how she felt, it made sense that she seemed calm.
“I see… Yeah, okay,” I offered meekly. I’d been thoughtless, and I regretted it.
Sayu looked at me and giggled.
“That aside…cafés are great, aren’t they?”
“You think so?”
“Yeah. The drinks are delicious, and you can just sit back and pass the time…”
Sayu put her lips to her straw and sucked up some matcha au lait, then smiled.
“I feel like my battery’s all recharged. Thanks.”
“…No problem.”
I nodded vaguely and took another sip of my coffee.
It’d been piping hot when it first came out, but it was already lukewarm.
Now that it’d sat there for a while, it didn’t taste quite as nice.
I tipped the small milk pot at our table and added a little to my cup.
The instant the bright-white liquid struck the pitch-black surface of the coffee, it dispersed into a fluffy white cloud, dancing like a waft of amber smoke.
Just watching it gradually calmed me down.
“…You’re right. Cafés are nice,” I said.
For some reason, this made Sayu very happy. She smiled again and nodded.
“Right?!”
It felt like the most innocent expression I’d seen her make all day, and I couldn’t help but grin in response.
Sayu giggled and stirred her drink.
“…I want to do this again someday,” she said serenely. “I wonder if going to cafés will ever become second nature to me.”
Her wish filled my heart with an indescribable mixture of warmth and sadness.
I took a sip of lukewarm coffee to buy some time to choose my next words, then sighed.
“Once you get used to life here and make some new friends, you can go with them.”
Perhaps this was more of a personal wish than a future prediction. Still, the simple thought of Sayu going to a café to have a fun chat with a friend filled my heart with warmth.
That was what I wanted for her.
“…Yeah, I think so. I hope so,” she said gently, her eyes downcast.
She seemed to fall deep into thought as she began stirring her drink again. Her gaze stayed fixed on the tabletop.
I thought she must be imagining the future that awaited her, in which she’d come and hang out at cafés with people I’d never know.
What we were doing right now was like a rehearsal. All so that one day Sayu would be able to return to an average, everyday way of life. The kind where you went into a café for no particular reason, just to kill time.
“Maybe…I’ll turn into one of those cool older guys who go to trendy cafés on their own,” I said.
I was joking, but Sayu looked at me with wide eyes, clearly shocked by this suggestion.
Her reaction made me start laughing.
“…Nah, you’re right,” I said. “That’s crazy talk.”
“Ah-ha-ha! Right? Pigs might fly!”
Sayu had looked so incredulous, I’d ended up shutting down the idea myself. That seemed to release the tension in the air, and she had a good laugh.
We sipped at our drinks, enjoying a nice moment of calm and relaxation.
But something big was about to change in both our lives…and very soon.
This was the last time that Sayu and I would spend a day like this together.