I Like Yours Better

It had been so long since Cerise had a day to themselves— They were always out and about with friends, paying visits to the popular shops and boutiques in town (mostly for fun, but sometimes for business), or working on a project that no one seemed to know the exact details of. It was rare for them to find a few free hours, but free time never really stayed free for long. Having heard that their favorite confectionery artist Dan was looking for someone to pass his craft down to, Cerise decided to pay a visit to the most popular sweets shop in Burrowgatory, Dan's Dango to see if they could snag a free lesson on pounding mochi from the man.

Tossing their long bubble braids and ears back over their shoulders, they exuded their usual charm and self-assuredness as they strode down the street toward Dan’s shop, despite knowing full well that they wouldn’t be able to assist the mochi maker for more than a few sporadic hours at a time every great once in awhile. This would be more of a test of Cerise’s strength than anything, but they did hold a genuine desire to help the busy bun out, since they truly had the time. Smiling up at the shop’s sign once they had arrived, their tail whipped once behind them with confidence before they crossed the threshold, calling out a cheery greeting.

As Cerise stepped into the shop, the delightful scent of sweet treats enveloped them. Dan, as handsome as ever (and maybe a little more tired-looking), greeted them with a nod, silently acknowledging their presence, though he didn’t look up from his task of stocking the dango in the displays before him.

"Cerise. What brings you to my shop today? Did your sweet tooth start talking to you again?" Dan chuffed, trying to conceal his curiosity.

Cerise flashed a confident smile at the man, "Your mochi is top-notch, Dan. You know I like to stop by as often as I can for a treat.” They hummed thoughtfully, making their way over to the opposite side of the display as Dan in order to grab his attention. “I was actually hoping you could teach me how to make mochi."

Dan chuckled, trying to mask his amusement at Cerise’s request, "Mochi-making is an art that takes time and dedication. You already know I do most of my work early in the morning. …Unless that was a poor attempt at an innuendo?” The taller bun cocked his brow in question, seeming to let his guard down a little more when Cerise shook their head and waved their hand to rid the thought from the conversation. “Well, sorry to disappoint, but I'm not pounding any more mochi today.”

There was a slight weight of disappointment that settled across Cerise’s features, but they sighed and shrugged it off. “Aw. That’s fine, I guess. I just thought I’d try and help, since I have some free time today.”

Sensing the smaller bun’s disappointment, Dan sighed, finally looking up to regard Cerise once he had finished organizing the shop’s display. “…Well, since you made the effort to come see me, I suppose I'd be willing to show you how to make dango instead. It's not as much of a time-consuming process as pounding mochi, but I know you enjoy my dango, just the same."

Cerise couldn’t help themselves but hum, quirking their own brow at Dan’s unintended innuendo in his offer, just as a playful tease. Confused for only a second at Cerise’s reaction, Dan sighed, his expression deadpan when he spoke again.

“Not an innuendo, Cerise. Do you want to learn, or not?”

Cerise let out a laugh, their tail flicking playfully behind them in their good mood, "Sorry, Dan. Couldn’t help myself. I really would like for you to teach me how to make your dango."

Simply gesturing with a small wave tossed over his shoulder, Dan silently invited Cerise behind the counter and into his workshop, a place not too often seen by his customers, where he kept all his cooking supplies and ingredients neatly organized in cabinets and on open shelves. Cerise didn’t miss Dan’s little glance toward the back of the shop before they moved rooms, knowing full well that that was where Shibani was lazily snoozing on his pillow pile. Those two really were pretty cute together.

Turning their attention back to the workshop, Cerise took in the sight of the organized shelves, each ingredient carefully labeled and arranged. They couldn't help but notice the stark contrast between Dan's meticulous setup and Shibani's laid-back approach, which amused them. Opposites really do attract, or so it seemed.

"Wow, Dan, your workshop is way more organized than I thought it would be," Cerise remarked, gesturing vaguely at the neatly arranged supplies.

Dan smiled faintly. "I like to keep everything in order for the sake of efficiency,” he remarked. And as though he was reading the other bun’s mind, he tacked on, “Shibani prefers to take a more... relaxed approach."

Cerise chuckled, "It's quite the yin and yang dynamic you two have going on here." Dan couldn't help but nod in agreement, though it was obvious that he was eager to change the subject.

"You could say that. Now, let's get back to making the dango."

Back at the work station, Dan had set out all the necessary ingredients, pre-measured and ready to use. He gestured for Cerise to join him, offering them a pair of thin, plastic gloves, and set out to work.

"First, we soak the skewers to prevent the dango from sticking," Dan reminded Cerise, handing them a jar of water and a handful of dark bamboo picks. Cerise placed the skewers in the water, nodding in understanding as they set the jar off to the side of the counter in front of them. Dan flipped the switch on a nearby, large electric kettle to start boiling the water he had already filled it with.

"Got it. So, next, we… mix the two rice flours and adzuki bean powder, right?" Cerise pointed to the powdered ingredients that had already been measured out for them (damn, Dan had been fast at prepping those), looking to the expert confectionery artist for permission to pour them into the wide, empty bowl on the counter.

"Exactly," Dan confirmed. "Mix them thoroughly until they're well combined." Handing Cerise a set of saibashi, Dan watched as they stirred the mixture diligently, ensuring an even blend. They had once told the shop owner that they had no cooking experience whatsoever, but to Dan’s trained eye, that seemed to be a bit of a stretch.

“Good enough?” Cerise tilted the bowl to present the mixture to the man, who simply nodded and moved to pluck the kettle off of the heat. The water wasn’t quite near to boiling yet, but that was just fine.

“Keep stirring, Cerise. I’m going to add the water a little bit at a time so we don’t flood the dry ingredients. I think you’ll know when you can stop.” Dan mused, posing the smallest of challenges to the smaller bun, just to see if they had the sense of when the dough’s texture would be right to start combining by hand.

Though silence passed between them, Cerise was happy to concentrate on the task at hand, beginning to hum a soft melody to themselves as Dan continued to stream in the water, bit by bit. After a time, Cerise stopped, noticing that the texture of the red mixture had become more sticky and solid. Looking to Dan, they smiled, asking for permission to move on to the next step.

"Alright, now it's time to mold the dough, right?"

Dan smiled, impressed by Cerise's quick grasp of the process. "You've got it. Go ahead and use your hands to mix the dough the rest of the way. It should feel like soft clay when you’re finished. Then you’ll want to roll it out into a long cylinder. I already floured the bench, so you shouldn’t have any problems with it sticking to anything.”

Cerise focused, kneading the solidly red-tinted dough with their strong hands, content to massage and roll it out like Dan had instructed.

"The texture is fascinating. It's like playing with edible art." Cerise noted, wondering if they would find actual sculpting just as soothing.

Dan nodded, pleased with Cerise's observation. "Cooking is an art indeed, and each step is just as important as the last in order to achieve the final masterpiece."

With the dough perfectly rolled out, Dan continued, "Now, let's start boiling some water in a pot while we cut and shape it all." Grabbing his bench scraper from nearby, he handed it to Cerise with the instruction to cut the dough into segments just large enough to be molded into the individual bites of dango. Happy to oblige, Cerise cut the dough as Dan took care of filling a large pot with water and setting it to boil on the gas stove next to the counter.

As they rolled the sections of cut dough into bite-sized spheres while waiting for the water to boil, Cerise couldn't help but let their mind wander to the white bun in the other room. Listening over the sound of the gas flame, they picked up a soft little snuffling noise—Shibani, of course—indicating that the other bun was still comfortably snoozing in the back of the shop.

"Looks like Shibani is really enjoying his time back there." They smiled, finishing with molding their last sections of dough.

Dan chuckled, "He certainly knows how to take relaxation to a whole new level." It was hard to miss the fondness in the shop owner’s eyes when he spoke. He was well known for being a grump, but Cerise enjoyed the glimpses of the man’s more tender side when they did make an appearance.

Once the water was ready, Cerise brought the plate of dough balls over, watching as Dan carefully dropped them one by one into the boiling pot.

"So… we just wait for them to rise to the top like when you fry donuts, right?"

Dan nodded, "Exactly. Once they rise, I just let them cook for another couple of minutes. They’ll let you know when they’re ready."

As the dango cooked, Cerise was happy to be able to just have a casual conversation with Dan— About his day, about how the shop was doing, about any planned seasonal mochi that they promised they would keep on the down-low (that was met with silence and an unamused stare). Joking, of course, Cerise apologized again when Dan shuffled to the freezer to scoop some ice into another bowl, filling it up part way with tap water.

Finally, the dango was ready to be cooled. After being handed a spider strainer, Cerise quickly transferred the dango balls to the bowl of ice water Dan had set by the pot, feeling the satisfaction of having done well with each step.

"Good," Dan praised. "Now, let's spear them onto the skewers I had you soak, and I’ll grab the sweet soy glaze to drizzle on top."

Cerise happily followed the instructions, once again humming to themselves as they speared the dango, arranging them into stacks on a wide plate. When Dan returned to their side with the glaze, they brightened, rather proud of how the dango came out, almost appearing as large matte cherries. The mochi master poured a decadent sweet soy glaze over the stacks, and Cerise could already feel their mouth begin to water.

"These look so delicious. I can't wait to taste them!" While adzuki wasn’t their most favorite flavor of all time, they could never say no to something sweet. Especially if it had been made (with love and care) in Dan’s shop.

As they began to tidy up their work space, Cerise couldn't help but thank Dan for sharing his expertise.

"I really appreciate you taking the time to teach me, Dan. I had a great time. I’m so glad I decided to come visit today."

Dan grumbled, "Well, you caught on quicker than I thought you would, and… You're welcome. It's pretty refreshing to teach someone who's genuinely interested in the craft." Plucking two of the dango sticks off the top of the plated stack, Dan handed one to Cerise, taking a satisfactory bite of his own.

The two took a silent moment to enjoy the fruits of their labor, savoring the delightful, gentle sweetness of dango they had made together. When they had finished, they stepped back out into the front of the shop, and Dan chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned back against the front of the display case.

“You think you’ll be making these on your own, now? You’ve got the basics down well enough, I’d say.”

Cerise shook their head, offering Dan a bright smile, “No way. There’s something special about the dango you make, Dan. I wouldn’t dream of getting it anywhere else.”

There was a special sort of pride Cerise felt at the slightly flustered expression on Dan’s face at their words. With that sense of satisfaction pocketed, the smaller bun waved as they headed to the door, calling out behind them.

“Though you really gotta show me how you pound mochi properly next time, okay?”