New Year's Prep

Ranshoseki puffed out aer cheeks. Rather than conveying the intensity of their anger, though, it more served to make ae look very cute. Ae did not wear emotions very well at all.

“You can give me that look all you want; it isn’t going to change my mind,” Dan said. He turned his attention back toward his own mochi project.

“But this is- this is so important to me!” Ranshoseki insisted.

“That doesn’t change the fact that the last time I let you in my kitchen, I wound up stuck cleaning up your mess for the next week,” he retorted. “My answer is no.”

“But you said that I made the best dango!” ae protested. “Out of everybody else, you said that mine were- you said that they were the best.”

Dan sighed. That was true. For whatever it was worth, Ranshoseki, after careful coaching, had somehow managed to produce the best dango in the small class he had run. From shape to taste, ae certainly had amazing instincts for what one should do with one’s hands in the kitchen.

Ae was not skilled; not in the slightest. Ae left a mess everywhere ae went; and ae had a serious risk of damaging equipment– or worse, aerself– while working. But damn, ae produced some amazing product.

It was so difficult for Dan to turn away Ranshoseki knowing the full potential ae had; it was too bad that ae demanded more patience than he could possibly give– than maybe anyone could possibly give.

Still…

“I promise to clean up afterward!” Ranshoseki exclaimed. “Please, please, please teach me to make mochi!”

Dan sighed. How was he meant to say no?

“Fine.”

Ranshoseki’s face lit up completely. “Thank you! Thank you so much! You don’t know how much it means to me!” Ae threw aer arms around him.

“Alright, none of that, thank you,” Dan said, gently pushing ae away. “First step is to-”

“Wash our hands!” ae interrupted. Ae headed over to the sink. “I remember!”

“Good.” 

Dan continued to give instructions– how to get started, making sure one’s area was clean; information did not stick very well in Ranshoseki’s head, so he found himself having to reiterate simple points multiple times. Aer eagerness to learn and excitement for the main event nullified any frustration he felt at their slow pace.

“I’ll pound the mochi,” Dan said, “and I want you to turn it and wet it between strikes.”

“I want to pound it!” Ranshoseki exclaimed. “That’s the most important part!”

Exactly, Dan thought. He took a quick look around– it wasn’t as though there was any mess yet. And- honestly, maybe it was better if ae set the pace. He was so used to this kind of work that he was liable to accidentally hurting ae if ae wasn’t quick enough.

“Okay,” he agreed.

Ranshoseki beamed as he handed ae the kine.

Like most other techniques ae had to do with aer hands, Ranshoseki took very easily to pounding the rice– which was a surprise, given aer small frame. Ae used the force of someone that had been making mochi for many, many years; albeit with none of the aim. Ae missed the dish several times; but gradually the rice flour was pounded into the correct texture.

When Dan told ae to stop, ae gently pulled the kine down with a wide smile on aer face. Ae was sweating from the effort– aer arms trembled if ae moved them too high– but if ae was in any real discomfort, the pure, unadulterated joy ae felt far outweighed it.

“What do you want to fill these with?” Dan asked.

“Hm? Oh…” Ranshoseki frowned. “Hm… Just the normal kind, I think.”

“The normal kind,” Dan repeated.

“Yeah, you know, with the strawberries.” Ae smiled. “Or maybe blueberries… I don’t know; which do you think Allocer would like more?”

Dan blinked. There was so much to unpack. He sort of wished ae had said sooner that ae was making mochi for Allocer-- maybe then, he would have offered better-quality ingredients. “Blueberries aren’t a very traditional filling.”

“Oh, okay. They’re my favourite, is all.”

“Right. If you’re making these for Allocer…”

“Mhmm?”

“I should warn you that you should not expect them to appear just because you made mochi.”

“I know! I just… want to give it a try. I thought… Well, I don’t know… I love the stories about the moon and the sky and all that. I don’t really understand it; but it’s just… so…” Ae faltered. Ae didn’t know how to express the emotion ae felt when ae thought about the real sky; not the caves; not the glowing stones. Ae picked at some of the rice dough. “It feels like… like this. And… I want to share a part of me, just like they shared a part of them when they showed us the moon.”

Dan nodded slowly.

“I was- I’ve been really nervous, really shy, about doing something like this, but after you showed me how to make dango- and how good I did– I just… I thought maybe I could do this, too. And even if they don’t come, maybe I’ll try next year, too. And the year after that. There will be a lot of years!”

“There will, indeed,” Dan agreed. “Well, then. If you want these to be an offering for Allocer, I would recommend making something more traditional. If you really wanted to make a blueberry filling, we have enough to do both.”

“Really?” Ae smiled again, bright and wide. Aer face when ae received good news was so uplifting.

“We do. Why don’t we get started on the anko filling first?”

“Okay!”