Before the Coffee Gets Cold

A high-school-age girl sits in the time-traveling seat. She is from the future, but apart from her unseasonal cold-weather clothes, nothing makes her stand out. Nagare, who is running the café alone while Kei is at the gynecology clinic, asks who she has come to meet. The girl answers “no one in particular” and refuses to engage with him (111). However, she eats the breakfast he prepares without changing her expression.

Kazu enters, and although she is used to visitors from the future, the girl’s youth and beauty startle her. Nagare wonders if the girl came to meet him. The girl emphatically says this is not the case. When Kei comes back, Nagare asks her how her gynecology appointment went. Kei pats her stomach and gives him the peace sign. Nagare is happy but can’t show it, as he struggles to express his emotions. The girl watches this exchange and says that she wants to take a photo with Kei, whom she has expressly come to see. The girl’s camera is futuristic, transparent, and wafer-thin. The girl drinks the coffee and turns into steam. After the steam rises to the ceiling, the ghost woman in the dress reappears.