Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/2912051603008595869
A coffee shop that takes in people who’ve had their hearts broken.
It seems a rumor like that—full of good intentions and misunderstandings—is circulating around school.
Naturally, “Anemone” doesn’t offer any such service.
There’s no special menu for the heartbroken, nor is there a loyalty card based on the number of times you’ve been dumped. To begin with, I, a mere employee, wasn’t the kind of person capable of helping others mend their broken hearts.
“So… can you take me in?”
“First, let’s hear the details of that rumor.”
Shiina Koyori, still clutching her paper bag, lowered her gaze in distress.
Her black hair was cut straight across her shoulders, and she wore silver-rimmed glasses. Combined with her petite frame, she looked like a frightened little animal.
“I heard it from a friend in the Literature Club. They said that at the café where Kasugai-kun works, people who’ve been jilted in love gather to lick each other’s wounds…”
“That’s a pretty graphic way of putting it.”
“They also said that if you come here, Kasugai-kun will treat you to sweets and listen to you talk until morning.”
“Natsume.”
“It wasn’t me!”
A denial immediately flew from the seat by the window.
“I haven’t said anything yet.”
“The look on your face said you were suspecting me!”
“Kasugai. I don’t approve of you being alone with a woman after closing time.”
Himuro, sitting next to me, set down her cup of tea.
“Especially spending the night until morning with a woman you’ve only just met is completely out of the question.”
“It’s just a rumor, right?”
“I’m just warning you not to do it under any circumstances.”
“Don’t worry—the manager will kick me out anyway.”
I led Shiina to an empty table.
She sat down at a two-seater table a little way away from Himuro and the others, but she refused to let go of the paper bag she was clutching.
“What’d you like to order?”
“Just some water…”
“Don’t turn this place into a free counseling center. Order at least one thing.”
“Then, the cheapest thing on the menu.”
“Don’t be so shy. I’ll pay for it today.”
It was Himuro who offered to pay.
She’d just paid for Natsume’s parfait, and now it seemed she was going to cover Shiina’s bill as well.
“Himuro, you’re rich, aren’t you?”
“I’m just not heartless enough to turn away someone who’s hurt.”
“You told me to go home, didn’t you?”
“Because you wouldn’t have gone home on your own.”
“That’s right!”
Natsume puffed out her chest.
This wasn’t really something to brag about.
What Shiina ordered was hot milk.
When I returned from the kitchen, Himuro and Natsume had moved to sit across from Shiina.
They were practically meeting for the first time, but it seemed their wariness had faded simply because they’d both just gone through a breakup.
“So, who did you lose to?”
“Natsume-san. That’s not something you ask someone you’ve just met.”
“But we can’t get started without asking that, can we?”
“You should use a more tactful way of phrasing it. For example, ‘Under what circumstances did your romance not work out?’”
“It’s just a longer way of saying the same thing.”
With both of them staring at her, Shiina took a thick booklet out of her paper bag.
The cover was printed with the title, The Place Where You Put the Bookmark.
“A novel?”
“Yes. I wrote it.”
It was a handmade book, made by stacking sheets of copy paper and carefully binding them with string.
In terms of thickness alone, it was thicker than a textbook.
“I gave this to Shinozaki-senpai, a third-year student in the Literature Club.”
“Did you confess your feelings through a novel?”
“To be precise, I tucked a letter inside at the end of the novel.”
Shiina traced the cover with her fingertip.
Shinozaki-senpai was the president of the Literature Club, and apparently the person who had been teaching Shiina how to write novels ever since she entered the school.
For Shiina, who struggled to speak in front of others, this senpai—who read her work and shared his thoughts—was someone special.
Unable to express her feelings directly, she spent half a year writing a romance novel.
A story in which the young female protagonist confesses her feelings to the upperclassman she admired.
Although she had changed the characters’ names, the story reflected Shiina’s own feelings exactly.
“Yesterday, I received his feedback.”
“So he actually read it, then?”
“Yes. Very thoughtfully.”
Shiina took a few sheets of stationery out of her bag.
They were densely covered with his thoughts on the story, written in fine handwriting.
“Your writing has become easier to read than before. The way the protagonist expressed her emotions was good. The confession scene toward the end really stuck with me… That’s what he said.”
“Isn’t that a success?”
Natsume tilted her head.
I had the same question.
She’d had the senior who served as the model for the story read the romance novel she’d spent half a year writing, and he’d praised it highly.
There aren’t many ways to go from here and end up with a broken heart.
“What did you write in that last letter?”
In response to Himuro’s question, Shiina looked down.
“‘I like you. Please take this as my own feelings, not those of the novel’s protagonist,’”
“I think that gets the point across just fine.”
“He didn’t read the letter.”
“Huh?”
“He… thought it was a bookmark.”
Silence fell.
The letter had been tucked into the very last page of the story.
Normally, you’d notice it as soon as you finished reading.
“Apparently, his girlfriend found it lying on the floor,”
Shiina’s voice trembled slightly.
“I got it back today.”
The white envelope she pulled out of the paper bag she’d been holding was still sealed.
It was addressed to Shinozaki-senpai.
But he never got to open it himself.
“Did he have a girlfriend?”
“Yes. Apparently, they’ve been dating since last month.”
“Didn’t you know, Shiina?”
“He’s not the type to talk much about himself…”
It seemed Shinozaki’s girlfriend had returned the letter without Shiina ever reading it.
And in a gentle tone, she’d told her that they were dating.
Shinozaki himself still doesn’t know that a confession was hidden in his novel.
“I could have told him if I’d wanted to.”
Shiina clutched the envelope tightly in both hands.
“I didn’t know he had a girlfriend. Since this was a letter meant for him, I wanted him to read it… but I couldn’t bring myself to say anything.”
“Why not?”
“Because I saw him happily going to pick up his girlfriend.”
Just seeing that scene was enough, I suppose.
Even if I’d confessed my feelings, the outcome wouldn’t have changed.
On the contrary, it would only put the person she liked in an awkward position.
So Shiina couldn’t say anything and took the unopened confession home with her.
“At least he praised my novel.”
Shiina smiled.
“It seems my feelings were beautiful—as long as they were just a story.”
It was a smile more heartbreaking than tears.
“But in reality, I… couldn’t even be the protagonist of my own story.”
“That’s not true.”
Before I knew it, those words had slipped out of my mouth.
Shiina looked up, her expression one of surprise.
“Just because your feelings didn’t reach the other person doesn’t mean the emotions you poured into that book over half a year are fake.”
“But…”
“I liked someone for five whole years, yet I didn’t leave anything behind. At least you finished writing a whole book, Shiina.”
“Kasugai-kun. Is that supposed to be encouraging?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re still so clumsy!”
Natsume laughed at me.
I don’t know how to properly encourage others.
Still, compared to myself—who hadn’t been able to do anything—I didn’t think it was right to call the six months Shiina had put into it a failure.
“Can I read that novel?”
“Huh?”
“You went to all that trouble to write it. It’d be a waste if no one ever read it.”
“Kasugai-kun… are you going to read it for me?”
“Yeah. But I’m not really into novels, so don’t expect a proper review.”
Shiina clutched the booklet to her chest.
“…Please read it all the way to the end.”
“Got it.”
“If you stop halfway through, I won’t forgive you.”
“You’re suddenly getting pretty demanding.”
“I also want your thoughts after every single page.”
“That’s the whole book, right?”
“Let’s exchange contact info. I’ll check your progress every night until you finish reading.”
“Does this feel like I’m being watched?”
A faint glimmer of light had returned to Shiina’s eyes, which had seemed on the verge of fading just moments ago.
I’m glad she’s feeling better, but I can’t help feeling like I’ve awakened a strange obsession in her instead.
“Kasugai-kun.”
Himuro called out to me quietly.
“I don’t think you should just readily give out your contact info to a woman who asks for it.”
“It’s just so I can send her my thoughts on the novel, right?”
“Do you exchange contact info with anyone as long as they have a reason?”
“If it’s necessary, yeah.”
Before I knew it, the café had become noisy.
Rena Himuro.
Natsume Hinata.
Shiina Koyori.
Three people who each tried to sit next to the one they liked—and failed in their own ways.
And me—who ended up not even being able to confess.
“That makes four of us, then.”
Himuro scanned the room.
“What?”
“The number of romantic losers, including you, Kasugai-kun.”
“Isn’t there a nicer way to put that?”
“The Four Heavenly Kings of Heartbreak!”
“Natsume-san. That name can’t accommodate any new members, so it’s rejected.”
“The Losers’ Alliance…”
Shina suggested quietly.
“Isn’t that putting ourselves down a bit too much?”
“Then how about ‘The Hangout for Love’s Losers’?”
When I said this half-jokingly, the three of them looked at me in unison.
“Approved.”
“That’s easy to understand!”
“It sounds like the title of a story—not bad.”
“Don’t go using that. This isn’t even my shop to begin with.”
After closing that day.
A small piece of paper that Shiina had made had been posted at the shop’s entrance without anyone noticing.
‘The Hangout for Love’s Losers’
I tore it down right away, but the next day, Himuro brought me a laminated version.
Natsume started promoting it on campus all on her own.
And I, without giving it much thought, accepted them—on the condition that it would only be for as long as it took these three to get over their heartbreaks.
Of course, I didn’t know it at the time.
That Himuro had my work schedule mapped out a month in advance.
That Natsume would start taking a detour every morning just to walk to school with me.
That in Shiina’s next novel, the love interest would share my name.
That the more they forgot their past loves, the deeper their feelings for the next person would grow.
I hadn’t noticed a single thing.
I just thought we were a bunch of losers licking each other’s wounds.
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