Toshikazu Kawaguchi - Tales from the Café

‘On the contrary, thank you,’ Kazu replied with a gentle smile that she ordinarily didn’t show.

Kyoko felt she had dampened the mood, but she seemed pleased to have had the chance to share Kinuyo’s wishes with Kazu. ‘Oh, my pleasure,’ she replied with a happy nod.

‘Excuse me, if I might interrupt…’

It was Kiyoshi. He had been quietly sipping his coffee, obviously waiting for a break in the conversation.

‘There is something I would like to ask…’ he said with a terribly apologetic expression.

Who he had directed this question to was unclear, but Kyoko replied instantly, ‘Yes?’ as did Nagare with, ‘What is it?’ And Kazu, rather than responding, simply looked directly at Kiyoshi. Removing his shabby hunting cap, Kiyoshi scratched his head of mostly white hair.

‘Actually, I’m struggling to come up with an idea for what to buy my wife for her birthday,’ he muttered, sounding a little embarrassed.

‘A present for your wife?’ asked Nagare.

‘Yes.’ Kiyoshi nodded. Perhaps, on hearing the conversation about Kazu choosing a present for her boyfriend’s mother, he had thought that he might learn something useful.

‘Aww, how romantic,’ Kyoko said teasingly, but Kazu took the question more seriously.

‘What present did you get her last year?’ she asked.

Kiyoshi again scratched his head of white hair.

‘Well, I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I’ve never actually bought my wife a birthday present. So, I don’t know what to buy her.’

‘What? You’ve never bought her anything? But even so, you suddenly want to now… Why’s that?’ Kyoko asked with wide-eyed curiosity.

‘Oh, I don’t know, there’s no particular reason…’ he replied, pretending to take another sip from the coffee cup he had clearly emptied. Kyoko could, as plain as day, see through his attempt to conceal his embarrassment. She desperately tried to hide her spontaneous chuckle, giving away how adorable she found it.

Nagare had been standing with his arms crossed, listening to the conversation. ‘How I see it…’ he muttered, then went on enthusiastically, his face completely red, ‘…is that she would be pleased with anything.’

Kyoko was quick to dismiss his suggestion. ‘That would have to be the least helpful advice you could give him!’

Feeling well and truly put in his place, Nagare conceded, ‘Er, sorry.’ Then Kazu, with the coffee flask in her hand, refilled Kiyoshi’s cup.

‘What about a necklace?’ she asked.

‘A necklace?’

‘It isn’t the flashiest of things…’ As she spoke Kazu showed her necklace to Kiyoshi. It was so thin, it hadn’t even been noticeable until she held it in her fingers.

‘Which? Show me. Oh, yes! Very nice! Women have a weakness for that type of thing at whatever age,’ said Kyoko, peering at Kazu’s neckline and nodding emphatically.

‘By the way, how old are you now, Kazu?’ asked Kiyoshi.

‘I’m twenty-nine.’

‘…Twenty-nine,’ Kiyoshi muttered as if thinking something over.

Noticing Kiyoshi’s expression, Kyoko sought to reassure him. ‘If you are worried whether it is age-appropriate, don’t worry! It’s a wonderful gesture. I think your wife would be pleased with such a gift.’

Kiyoshi’s face brightened instantly.

‘I see. Thank you very much.’

‘Happy shopping.’

Kyoko was both surprised and impressed. She never would have guessed that a ham-fisted ageing detective like Kiyoshi would be planning a birthday present for his wife. She was fully committed to supporting him in this endeavour.

‘Yes, thank you,’ Kiyoshi replied, returning his shabby hunting cap to his head and reaching again for his cup.

Kazu was also smiling happily.

‘ I can hear the lion roar!

Roar-roar, roar-roar ROOAAAARRR! Roar! ’

The sound of Miki’s singing drifted from the back room.

‘I don’t remember that verse,’ observed Kyoko with her arms folded as she stared into space.

‘It seems to be her latest thing.’

‘What, replacing the lyrics?’

‘Uh-huh.’

‘Now that I think about it, kids love doing that, don’t they? When Yohsuke was Miki’s age, it didn’t matter where we were, you wouldn’t believe what he would swap lyrics with, I remember it being so embarrassing.’

Smiling nostalgically, Kyoko looked towards the back room where Miki was.

‘Speaking of Yohsuke, he hasn’t been coming in with you lately,’ Nagare remarked, changing the subject.

Yohsuke was Kyoko’s son. He was in grade four at elementary school and a regular football nut. While Kinuyo was still in hospital, Kyoko and Yohsuke had often come to the cafe together, to take one of Nagare’s coffees to her.

‘Huh?’

‘Yohsuke.’

‘Ah… yeah,’ Kyoko muttered, reaching for her glass.

‘He only came because Mum asked for coffee,’ she explained and downed the remaining water.

Yohsuke had stopped coming to the cafe immediately after Kinuyo had died. After a six-month battle with illness, Kinuyo had wet her mouth with a coffee brewed by Nagare and taken her last breath as if falling asleep.

When Kinuyo passed away, the non-coffee-drinking elementary-school-aged Yohsuke no longer had a reason to come.

At the end of summer, six months after Kinuyo had first been hospitalized, Kyoko had said that she was ‘preparing herself’. But one month had passed since her mother’s death, and she was unable to disguise the grief in her expression.

Nagare hadn’t meant Yohsuke’s not coming to the cafe to lead to the subject of Kinuyo’s death, and he seemed to be regretting bringing it up.

‘Ah. Sorry to mention it,’ he said bowing his head slightly.

Then suddenly…

‘ I can hear the cockerel crow!

Cock-a-doodle cock-a-doodle COOCCKK-A-COCKOH! ’

Miki’s energetic singing could be heard from the back room.

‘Pmph!’ Kyoko erupted at Miki’s alternative lyrics. The serious atmosphere she had created transformed instantly. Saved by Miki , she probably thought. Kyoko let out a raucous laugh.

‘I think she just crossed a cockerel with a bush warbler, though,’ she said looking at Nagare. He seemed to be thinking the same.

‘Hey, Miki, you’re starting to sing some pretty odd lyrics!’ he said, and, sighing heavily, he headed off to the back room.

‘Miki can be so cute sometimes,’ Kyoko muttered to herself.

‘Well, I must be going… thank you for the coffee,’ said Kiyoshi, taking advantage of the change in atmosphere. He carried his bill to the cash register where he pulled out some change from his coin purse and placed it on the tray, nodding politely.

‘Thanks for the wonderful advice today, it really helped,’ he said, and with that, he left.

Only Kyoko and Kazu remained in the cafe.

‘And how’s Yukio getting along?’ asked Kazu softly as she picked up the coins from the tray and pressed the clunky keys on the cash register. Yukio was Kyoko’s younger brother. He was living in Kyoto, training to become a potter. Surprised that she had raised the topic of Yukio, for a moment Kyoko just stared wide-eyed at Kazu. Kazu simply maintained her usual detached expression and poured some water into Kyoko’s empty glass.

Kazu sees everything.

Kyoko sighed, realizing that she would have to explain.

‘Yukio didn’t know Mum was in hospital. She wouldn’t let me tell him…’

Kyoko reached out for the glass of water, lifted it few centimetres off the counter, but rather than bringing it to her lips, she slowly swirled it.

‘So, I think maybe he’s angry about that? He didn’t even come to the funeral.’