Coffee ya no Hitobito (Ippai no Coffee / 珈琲屋の人々)

Ouch!

- Are you okay? - I think so.

After all the trouble that Shigeru-kun went through, to get the tickets,

... the main star, Kosuke-san didn't come.

It couldn't be helped. Something important cropped up.

Something important... aahh!

Keiji, keep your eyes on your opponent. Timing! Timing!

Work hard, Keiji! After all, I'd come all the way to support you.

Oi! You're a man, right? Let us see some good boxing!

- That's right! Go for it, go for it! - Waa~ Enough already!

- Go for it! - Go Go!

Keiji-kun is truly trying his best. People can really change.

- I guess so. - Even Kosuke, he is resembling more of the old Kosuke.

- Come! - Go for it!

That's it, that's it!

Keiji! Have you forgotten my promise to go out with you should you win this round?

- Wow! - Yes!

You didn't go together? With Coffeeya-san.

- He had something else on. - Oh dear.

What was I thinking?

I'm sure it was just a casual invite.

I can never erase the time I'd spent with Aono.

I need to remind myself of that.

What a horrid person. To have stood up such a woman like you.

It wasn't exactly that I got stood up...

Your clothes are nice today. Are they new?

It wasn't like I had bought them with today in mind.

- I have been wanting them for a while. - They look good on you.

I'm sure you had wanted to show it to Coffeeya-san too.

Like I had said...

... forget it.

I now know where we stand.

So, I shall not be going to Coffeeya-san's anymore.

- You're woman after all. - That's enough.

Please stop teasing me.

- Well, we've all worked hard today. Cheers! - Cheers!

Yay. You've worked hard.

When will you know if you had passed the Pro Boxing Test?

- Next week. - Pro boxer?

- It's my dream. - If you make it, Shoko-chan will go out with you?

If he passes.

- That is one big carrot dangling in front of him. - Yes! That's youth for you.

I wish I had a carrot too. Oh, Yuko-san, shall we place a bet?

- Eh? - If I win, Yuko-san will go out with me.

If Yuko-san wins, then I will go out with Yuko-san. What do you think?

Whether she wins or lose, Yuko-san will lose out in the end.

Shut up!

- Yuko-san, do you have that kind of partner? - "That kind of partner"?

- Boyfriend. - Who knows?

- She's doing it again. Evading the question. - That's how she maintains her mysterious air, no?

- It's good, right? - Good! It's good.

Confirmed it is good.

- Chika-chan! - Long time no see.

- What's this? What happened? Your arm. - I tripped while skating.

- Skate? - I had gone skating with Kashiwagi-san.

- Kashiwagi-san? Why? - I don't know why!

What? What's wrong?

You had invited her yourself. And yet you had chosen boxing with Keiji instead.

- I am so sorry. - Don't apologise to me. Please go apologise to Kashiwagi-san.

- Sorry. - Could it be my fault?

- No. - But Kosuke-san.

You should cherish Kashiwagi-san more.

- That's right. - That's right.

Women? They are very delicate beings, Kosuke.

I don't want to hear Shimaki-san saying such things, though.

Is that so? You had turned down skating with Kashiwagi-san,

... in order to spar with Keiji?

The timing happened to clash.

Well, I guess you had wanted to watch Keiji-kun grow.

Although I understand where you are coming from...

...women, they would have preferred to be given first priority, that's for sure.

- What should I have done? - Let's see...

... you should have brought her along to the boxing.

It was like your first date, right?

She will probably not come to the shop anymore.

What are you going to do?

I finally found you, Yuko. You look well.

- How? - The flower shop over at the shopping street?

I started working there.

You like these right? Sweetpeas.

Take them.

Akie-san...

Aah! That still needs to be preserved. Take it back in. - Yes.

He must be the playboy...Shimaki-san.

- Dear, these tulips should be displayed at the storefront. - Got it.

The broadminded wife. Hisako-san.

Amano Laundry.

The one who had a love affair with the Bentoya. Naomichi-san.

Wait...you'd left these behind. Take them too.

- Yeah yeah. - Go safely.

Motoko-san. Another persevering lady. She has endured much.

- Welcome. - Welcome.

Here you go, Eiji-san. Your usual blend coffee.

"Akimoto Eiji-san".

I wonder if his wife has recovered...

- Sorry to have kept you waiting. - Thanks.

Just as I'd thought, you're a handsome one, aren't you?

I'll drink now.

The beans have been roasted really well.

The beans are from Guatamala's Bolsa plantation?

Yes.

Do the beans change depending on the way it is roasted?

That's right. Even if the beans come from the same place, the roast makes the beans.

That's why it is delicious.

You seem to have indepth knowledge. Are you in the same business too?

How can that be?

A long, long time ago, during my schooldays, I had part-timed at a Jazz coffeeshop.

And you are?

Me? I am Minamino Chika.

You're Chika-san? You've started part-timing here?

Err... yes. Since last week due to various reasons.

- Here. Please take care of it. - Aah, yes.

I have been wanting to drink a cup of your coffee.

Erm... have we met before?

This is our first time meeting. I am Kumagaya Akie.

I am Soda Kosuke.

Actually, I am supposed to be staying at the hospital still.

I sneaked out.

I have heard a lot about this place from my nurse.

And so, I had really wanted to come here.

A... nurse?

Akie-san...

Welcome.

- You had me all worried. - I am sorry.

- Let's go. - Why don't you have a cup too?

- Since you've come all the way here. - Well...

- Kashiwagi-san, a colombian? - Yes.

What a nostalgic fragrance. If only I could turn back time.

To your school days?

Yes. That time would be nice too. I was contented at work then.

I had worked really hard.

You were probably much admired by the other women then. What did you worked as?

- I was an editor at a publisher. Art & Literature. - Eh? That's so cool!

I had lived the way I wanted. That is why I do not have a single regret.

However, having said that...

Perhaps there could have been a different life for me?

I've wondered sometimes.

It's so carefree to be alone.

And yet... it could get lonely. - Akie-san...

I have something I wished I could have told the me of days past.

Live life a little more disarmingly.

Your coffee makes the drinker chatty, right?

Well then, I'll make a move.

Make a cup of coffee that this person will enjoy well.

Yes.

- Thank you. - Thank you.

Here you go.

Erm... about the last time, I am sorry.

I was the one who had invited you...

No, it's fine. I had enjoyed myself with Chika-chan.

So please don't think anything of it.

Kosuke-san, have you given her a proper apology?

Kashiwagi-san was really disappointed back then.

That wasn't the case...

Welcome.

- Eh? You guys seem to be having fun. - It's nothing...

By the way, Chika-chan, you seem all settled here.

Thanks~ Could you be the new person at "Aruru"?

Yes. Chika-chan's replacement. Sagawa-kun.

- I'm Sagawa. - He was asking me for some advice on life.

2 cups of blend. Sit down.

- Advice on life? - Yes. Everyone, please listen up.

- Actually, this Sagawa-kun... - What is it?

- ... is Yuko-san's husband. - You're kidding!

- "Iroha"'s Yuko-san? - Yes.

Ehh?! Yuko-san is married?

- We are separated at the moment. - Separated? Why?

It's my fault...

You did something terrible.

Yes... because of my retrenchment at work,

- ...nothing was going well for me. - How long have you been separated?

2 years.

These 2 years have been filled with regrets.

And then, when he got a job at our shop,

He bumped into Yuko-san along the shopping street.

So, what are your plans?

I would like to start all over with her.

Although it feels a little too convenient for me, I know.

But, us human, we can start all over again.

Unn... that's right.

Kashiwagi-san!

Shall we go for a drink?

Why not?

- That person... - Yes. He came to Coffeeya.

Yuko-san, you've never once mentioned you are married.

I was so shocked.

- I had failed at it, that's why. - Failed?

But you're not divorced, right? Until now.

That is why Sagawa-san is still hoping.

To start over... Yuko-san.

Why did you not break it cleanly? It's been 2 years.

Yuko-san, you still harbor some feeling for him, right?

I'm sure there are lots of things that none of us can understand.

It's between the couple.

What are you going to do now?

We have never once kept in touch.

Eh! In these 2 years? Not even once?

The world is full of all sorts of couples. They come in all sorts of conditions.

I guess... but that person said he is filled with regrets, for the past 2 years.

Even so, some things, once broken can never be mended.