"Old Clock Cafe" Episode 4: "Searching for the Welwitschia" (13)

Read from the first episode.
Click here for the previous episode (Episode 12).

* * * Confession * * *

"Sorry to keep you waiting."
Keiko places a coffee and a small white porcelain dish with three chocolates in front of Taro, who is spreading out his newspaper at his usual seat at the counter. The steam from the freshly brewed coffee rises, swaying as it embraces the cold February air that had quietly remained. A rich aroma, reminiscent of ripe fruit, wafts through the air. As he folds his newspaper, Taro shifts his gaze from the chocolate dish to Keiko with a look of surprise.
"It's Valentine's Day, isn't it?"
"Is it Valentine's Day today? I forgot because Ruri got married. Thank you, Keiko-chan."
The February morning in Kyoto is still cold. The air warmed by the potbelly stove makes the windows hazy and white.
Clatter, clatter, clatter.
At the sound of the lattice door opening, Keiko and Taro both turn their faces toward the entrance.
"Isn't that Tamaki-chan? Good morning."
"Uncle, you really are here every morning, aren't you?"
"It's my daily routine. My day doesn't start unless I drink coffee here."
Wondering if she came with Ruri, Taro stretches his neck to peek behind Tamaki. He wants to see his daughter's face. But if they meet at the cafe, he'll be scolded for slacking off again, and he'll have to leave early, which he doesn't want. While spreading out his newspaper to hide his face, he glances behind Tamaki.
The person who entered, teased by the noren curtain caught in the wind, was a man.
Oh, that's rare for Tamaki-chan, Taro thinks, lowering his newspaper to the tip of his nose.
It was strange that such a beautiful woman had no romantic prospects, but I'm glad she found someone good. Still, he's a rather dull-looking man.

The man who followed Tamaki in peels the noren curtain off his face, turns his back to close the lattice door properly, and when he turns around, he freezes with his mouth agape and his narrow eyes wide open behind his glasses at the sight of the interior, which is filled with wall clocks. He stands perfectly still, as if under a freezing spell. The sight is somewhat amusing, and Keiko lets out a small laugh.
"Welcome."
She leaves the counter and bows.
"This is the manager, Keiko-chan."
When Tamaki introduces Keiko, the man hurriedly takes a leather business card holder from his inner coat pocket.
"I am Masataka Tokito from the City Tax Division of the Uji City Hall General Affairs Department."
He hands his business card to Keiko with textbook manners.
Keiko looks back and forth between the business card and the man's face, her cheeks softening at his almost comical earnestness.
When she says, "Please, take any seat you like,"
Bong, bong, bong.
The No. 16 clock chimes.
"There's a mysterious coffee here called 'Time Coffee' that only those chosen by the clocks can drink."
Tamaki says as she turns around.
Masataka, whom she assumed was standing behind her, is gone. When she shifts her gaze left and right, she sees him by the wall on the right, bringing his face close to a cuckoo clock, stretching up, and peering at the pendulum. His hands are clasped behind his back, fidgeting. He must want to touch it. She has never seen Masataka like this. With a suppressed smile, Tamaki sits in the seat in front of the No. 16 clock.

"Do you like clocks?"
Keiko, carrying a tray, calls out to Masataka's back.
"Yes. They keep time accurately with the movement of pendulums, mainsprings, and gears. It's amazing."
Tamaki thinks it's just like Masataka to be drawn to precision. While watching Masataka's back, Tamaki traces her reunion with her mother after 22 years.

Her mother was living in a residential area about 10 minutes by taxi from Otsu Station.
Deep nasolabial folds are carved into her cheeks as she sheds tears, and her foundation is cracked from the wrinkles running from the corners of her eyes. Her cheeks and eyelids have given up on fighting gravity. She is certainly her mother, but the sense of discomfort from the subtly distorted parts is impossible to shake, and she cannot connect her to the young, beautiful mother in her memories. The 22 years were merciless.
She says her life with Takato fell apart in three years.
Aya's father, who was furious at her unfaithfulness in leaving her husband and young daughter behind to go to America, strictly ordered his daughter upon her return, "Do not set foot in Kyoto," and gave her a house in Otsu instead. I can't forgive your foolish actions, but I worry about your future—that parental love is painful. I made everyone unhappy. I know an apology isn't enough, but please forgive me.
Her bowed head did not rise for a while.
An apology of that level cannot wipe away 22 years.
"Why did you go with Takato? Was it because you still loved him? If so, why did you come back after three years?"
"I don't really know if I loved him. The longing I felt had faded, but my feelings for Jin remained in limbo. Maybe there were still embers left. What is certain is that I had a greedy ulterior motive that day. If I go with the successful Jin, maybe I can stand in the same place. Maybe I can become a jazz pianist. I had such a sweet dream."
However, that dream didn't seem to be entirely a dream, as Jin pushed Aya into the band as a member. But.
A pianist knows if they don't play for a day, and the audience notices if they don't play for three days. I had been away from the piano, and even if I played for two hours between chores, that was on the good side. My fingers wouldn't move. I couldn't keep up with professional performances. I was showered with merciless abuse. Even so, Jin let me play, but that was painful. After about half a year, I left the band and practiced like a madwoman. I had sacrificed Tamaki and Yuto, so I thought I had to do my best. There wasn't a day I didn't think about Tamaki. I wondered if you had a cold, if you had a fever, if today was your birthday. Even though I was the one who abandoned you, it's really selfish, but thinking of Tamaki helped me work desperately hard. But, my way of practicing was wrong, and I got tendonitis. Eventually, I drifted apart from Jin, too. With my arms and heart in tatters..."
Her father continues after her mother, who choked up there.
"Takato contacted me, asking if I could come pick her up."
Huh? Tamaki was confused, unable to grasp the situation.
"Her piano skills were being berated. Even if she wanted to practice, she couldn't because of tendonitis. Takato, who she relied on, was often away, leaving her all alone. Your mother cornered herself and became depressed."
"Takato said he wanted to send her back to Japan himself, but his schedule was packed and he couldn't move. He was also worried about leaving her alone while he was on a nationwide tour. He knew he wasn't in a position to ask me for such a thing, but he said it anyway. You remember when I went on a one-week business trip to America? That was me going to pick up your mother."
Come to think of it, Grandma from Kitayama had stayed over for a week. It was before summer vacation in sixth grade, and I went to the Gion Festival's Yoiyama with my grandmother.
"Takato apologized, saying he was sorry. He said he had been stubborn, thinking it was only natural for him to take her back since Yuto had betrayed him first, and that that was what had made Aya like this. He bowed his head many times, saying he was sorry. Takato admits his faults without making excuses. I felt the difference between him and my own cowardly self keenly."
Her father twists his cheeks. Her mother sits with her head down, her hands clutching a handkerchief on her lap.
"Wouldn't it have been better if Takato hadn't gone to America in the first place?"
"Yeah, maybe so. But then, Jin of the world and Jin's music wouldn't have been born. And, Tamaki, neither would you."
That might be true, but. Is it impossible to fix a single misbuttoned button?
"On the plane bringing Aya back, I asked her if we could start over, but she told me that such a convenient thing couldn't happen. At the time, Aya's mental state was unstable, and Tamaki was entering puberty, so I thought I'd wait and see a little longer."
"And that took such a long time. Tamaki, I really did a bad thing to you. I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry, Tamaki, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
Her mother continues to mutter in a voice that seems to fade away.
"I don't want you to make mistakes, like your father and I did."
Her mother's "I'm sorry" overlaps with her father's phrase in syncopation, and it wouldn't stop ringing.

Bong, bong, bong.
The No. 16 clock pulls Tamaki back to reality.
Masataka was just about to sit in the seat opposite her.

(to be continued)

Continued in the final episode (14) →

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