“Let’s go to ‘Bell’ again today.”

There was a man who couldn’t drink alcohol, but that didn’t stop him from visiting Nishiura with his friends every week. They would enjoy a 50 yen meal from any local diner, watch a movie if they felt like it, and explore every corner of the town of Nishiura.

One of their usual spots was a bar called “Bell”, which was tended by a group of women. But there was only one girl he had eyes for.

Waiting for her shift to end, he’d sit at the bar sipping his non-alcoholic cocktail until he’d be unable to wait any longer and closed up shop with her. Then they were out on the town, hitting up the dance halls or visiting a festival or two.

But their story ended as suddenly as it had started. While they had never labeled their relationship or told anyone about it, she suddenly became jealous when the man was seen holding hands with another woman. “I see I’m not enough for you,” is the last thing she said to him before she left town and moved far far away.
A few decades passed, when one day he got a phone call from the Mama-san of Bell.

“That girl, she’s back.”

When he opened the door of Bell there she was, as mesmerizing as ever.