An awkward encounter

“Soooo… Are you gonna go out or not? If you don’t decide soon, I might just cave in and find something else to snack on…”

Fuku gave Komugi a look of exasperation. Komugi cocked his head and raised his brows in turn, looking for all the world like someone who wasn’t trying to subject their best friend to an unpleasant experience. And yet….

“You’re not going to let this go, are you?” Fuku asked, pouting.

“My best friend in all of Burrowgatory is leaving me to move in with some shady yakuza type—”

“—Former yakuza, there’s a difference!—”

“—and he won’t even grant me my dying wish of picking up some mochi to celebrate Mochi Moon with me one last time. Ugh, how awful. My heart is in little pieces here, Fuku. I’m never gonna recover from this….”

With a dramatic sigh, Komugi tossed his head back and placed the back of his hand on his forehead. “I thought my best friend would do anything for me, and here he is refusing to do something as simple as picking up food. I’m in shambles.”

Fuku heaved a sigh of his own, shaking his head as he got up. “Fine, fine. I’ll go pick up something to eat.” That got Komugi to stop his dramatics, and the calico bun grinned as Fuku continued, “But after this, no more bullying until I move out.”

“Ah ah, you won’t just pick up something to eat. You’re going to Dan’s Dango and you’re getting the seasonal mochi. You’re not getting out of this one.” Komugi wagged his finger. “But y’know, if you’re craving anything else to eat you can get some after you get the mochi.”

“First, you have to promise! No more teasing me—”

“—Until you move out, yeah yeah, Cross my heart and hope to die. Now go get dressed, before I start up my complaining again.”

____________________________________________________________________

Fuku trudged along the sidewalk, burying his face in the thick scarf wrapped around his neck. Luckily, the holidays hadn’t deterred most buns from shoveling snow, so the roads and walkways were relatively clear. In no time at all he had made it to Dan’s Dango, and he stopped to stare at the storefront for a moment, chewing on his lower lip.

Fuku’s strange aversion to Dan’s Dango was a topic that came up often when speaking with Komugi. It was to be expected, naturally; Fuku was a glutton for dango and mochi and ate them nearly every day, so the fact that he didn’t want to visit the most popular dango joint in Burrowgatory was a bit of a head-scratcher. He was always happy to order delivery from them, but actually going inside…?

“I tried going in once. It stinks in there,” Fuku had said during a conversation many moons ago.

“Huh? Maybe your nose is just fucked. Smells perfectly fine to me,” Komugi had replied, looking at Fuku in disbelief.

It was only days later, after Komugi came back home from visiting the shop, that he had imparted his findings to the white-haired bun.

“You know, now that I got a good look at them… I think you look a lot like Shibani and Dan. Maybe that stink you’re talking about…is because you’re related? That’d explain why you like dango so much.”

No way. Fuku refused to believe it, and waved it away as nonsense. But then Komugi had looked at the marking on Fuku’s belly, then back at his face, and grinned.

“It’s okay, you can be a little stupid for now. You’re still cute.” 

+++

A chilly breeze brought Fuku back to reality, and he sighed. Well, he was already here… It’d be stupid of him to turn back now. After bracing himself, he entered the shop…and was immediately greeted by…no one…?

He blinked and looked around. All sorts of tasty-looking confectioneries were housed in display cases, many of which looked like they were just made. They smelled heavenly, but Fuku couldn’t ignore the undertones of that unpleasant scent that seemed to permeate the very walls of the shop. There was no way anyone else couldn’t smell that when they entered the shop, right…?

“Ah, a customer! Welco—oh!”

Fuku turned his head to see two buns entering from a side room that he hadn’t noticed earlier, and practically felt the hairs on his body stand on end as the smell got worse. The other two buns looked at each other; the smaller, sloth-horned bun smiled sheepishly, while the taller, pride-horned bun’s expression morphed into something indiscernible.

“Mmm, on second thought. You can handle this one Dan,” The smaller bun said. “I’m gonna finish cleaning up in the back! Be back later~”

The other bun was gone before “Dan” could even reply. With an expression now tossed up between annoyance and uncertainty, Dan approached the counter, looking down at Fuku for what felt like ages. Fuku glanced awkwardly at Dan, immediately honing in on the vibrant red markings under his eyes and on his forehead, and tried to stop thinking about how similar they were to his own. Oh, Murmur, I think Komugi is right...

Fuku was just starting to consider turning around and running out when Dan finally spoke, his brow twitching. “What can I get you?” He asked in a tone that practically screamed ‘I’d rather you be anywhere but in my presence right now’. Clearly, someone liked the smell of blood relations even less than Fuku did. For someone as dedicated to his craft as Dan was, he was sure the smell might even get in the way of his mochi preparations.

“Dango,” Fuku said without thinking, quickly adding “mitrashi and red bean please” as his face grew hotter. This was so awkward. He couldn’t believe he’d been in denial about something so obvious! For once, the younger bun was grateful for dressing up so conservatively to ward off the cold; he dug his face deeper into his scarf as he watched Dan moving about the shop, packaging up the dango. And then he remembered—

“Oh, and some glittery and gold-dusted mochi too. Maybe five of each… I think that should be enough,” Fuku said. Dan only paused briefly—probably surprised at the amount he was requesting—before grunting out an acknowledgement. Fuku was glad most of his face was hidden by now.

He watched as Dan approached the case displaying seasonal and limited-time confections, growing a little more relaxed as he eyed his prize inside. There were only a few of each mochi left, and they sparkled tantalizingly underneath the bright shop lights. Shuffling closer to the counter to look at the mochi inside, Fuku idly began to wonder what other treats he should get for Komugi before returning home. Zenzai and isobeyaki were a must—there was nothing as satisfying as grilled mochi on a cold day, and pairing them with sweet warm red bean soup or savory soy sauce would be perfect… It was a shame that grilled mochi wasn’t a thing that Dan offered in his shop. Fuku would’ve bought it in a heartbeat if it was. Speaking of Dan…

The pride-horned bun cleared his throat as he looked at Fuku with a brow raised. 

“Huh?” Fuku blinked sheepishly, tearing his gaze away from the remaining mochi in the display case. 

Dan was situated by the register with the dango and mochi neatly bundled up and ready to go. He drummed his fingers against the countertop, his tail swaying behind him as he repeated, “Is that all?”

“Oh. No, that’s it I think…I-I mean, yes! That’s it.” Fuku must have been spacing out. If he dug his face any further into his scarf he’d be covering his eyes, so instead he quickly fished Komugi’s credit card out of his sleeve and handed it over to Dan, who took it without complaint.

After a quick and relatively painless checkout, Fuku took his sweets and bowed, muttering out a hurried ‘thank you’ before rushing out of the store.

+++

Once the front door had closed, Shibani shuffled out from the side door again and looked around. “Is he gone?” he asked, propping an elbow onto the counter next to Dan.

“Yeah.” Dan exhaled like he’d been holding in his breath for too long. “White-haired and scatterbrained as all hell. That’s definitely your blood.”

Shibani laughed, unbothered by the jab. “Aw, but he definitely has your eyes, and he even likes dango. That makes him yours, too! Guess you like the scatterbrained thing, huh?” He leaned on Dan as he looked up at him with an innocent smile, as if he wasn’t slyly bringing up the fact that Dan knocked him up and that that other succubun was most definitely one of the results of said knocking up. His words earned him a cute blush from the prideful bun, who looked away with a hmph. Pleased with his reaction, Shibani changed the subject.

“Anyways, let’s go clean up the back and close up for the night. I’m getting sleepy…”

Dan turned to look at Shibani with narrowed eyes. “You…. Isn’t that what you were supposed to be doing while I was ringing up customers?”

“Well…."