New Year’s Day, early morning—
“Wow… this mochi is really delicious.”
Arisa widened her eyes as she took a bite of isobeyaki. Grilled mochi wrapped with soy sauce and seaweed.
Yuzuru had been the one to grill the mochi—
Though of course, that just meant leaving it to the oven. It wasn’t like he’d displayed any genius-level cooking skill.
The mochi itself was simply high quality.
“Well, I guess there’s a reason they say ‘leave it to the specialists’…”
Nodding at her words, Yuzuru took a bite of his own.
It was the same mochi he ate every New Year at home.
His family bought it from a specialty shop every year—
And this time, they’d had it delivered to his place.
“More importantly, your ozoni is what really impressed me.” Traditional New Year soup with mochi.
Yuzuru said that as he savoured the clear broth.
The Kanto-style soy-based broth carried a rich flavour and aroma of bonito and kelp.
The grilled mochi was familiar—
But once in the soup, it became something entirely different.
Soaking up the broth, it tasted several times better.
“I’m glad you think so. …If we get the chance, I’ll make it again next year.”
“Why wait until next year? I’d rather you make it every day.”
At that, Arisa gave a small laugh.
“Oh really…? Don’t blame me if you get tired of it.”
“I’d never get tired of your cooking… but I might miss miso soup.”
Hearing that, Yuzuru reconsidered.
Ozoni was great—
But replacing her miso soup entirely would be a real loss.
“Speaking of miso soup… Kansai-style uses white miso, and it’s delicious. It’s a bit different, though…”
“…Kansai-style? Wait, you can make that?”
“I don’t know if it’ll be exactly like the authentic version, but… I can make it. At home, we rotate things daily so we don’t get bored.”
“I see…”
Yuzuru had grown up in Kanto, so he’d never had Kansai-style ozoni.
Which made him all the more curious.
“…Do you want to try it?”
“I do.”
“Then let’s have it tomorrow.”
“We don’t have round mochi, so it won’t be completely authentic though,” Arisa added with a small smile.
That detail might matter to her—
But to Yuzuru, the only question was whether it tasted good or not.
He doubted the shape of the mochi would make much difference.
“By the way, Arisa… how many different ways are there to eat mochi?”
“…Different ways?”
“I can only think of isobeyaki, soy sauce with sugar, or kinako…” Kinako—roasted soybean flour.
No matter how good it was, eating it every day would get boring.
And every year, there was always too much mochi to finish over New Year.
Even at home, they struggled to get through it—
And the amount sent to him this time was far too much for one person.
“Freeze it and it’ll last,” his mother had said—
But while Yuzuru didn’t dislike mochi, he didn’t love it either.
Getting tired of it was inevitable.
“Well, the ones you mentioned are classics… but there are others too.”
“…For example?”
“For something more common—wrapping mochi with bacon and cheese and grilling it.”
“Oh…”
That definitely sounded good.
Bacon and cheese alone were already delicious—
There was no way it could go wrong.
“Anything else?”
“Hmm… how about eating it with raw egg?”
“Raw egg!? …Well, actually, that might work…”
There was egg over rice, after all.
A simple, reliable meal Yuzuru himself turned to sometimes.
Egg and rice paired perfectly—
So there was no reason egg and mochi wouldn’t.
“Butter and natto is also good.”
“I see… so basically, anything that goes well with rice works?”
If raw egg worked, natto would too.
“Though it takes a bit more effort, you can pan-fry it until crispy and make something like a mochi pizza.”
“Oh! That sounds great.”
It might lose the typical “mochi” feel—
But that could actually be perfect once he got bored of the usual texture.
He made a mental note to ask for the recipe later.
And so, chatting about different ways to eat mochi, they finished their meal.
“Well then… I have some preparations to take care of, so I’ll head off first.”
After cleaning up, Arisa said that.
She’d already told him beforehand they’d meet up separately—
So Yuzuru wasn’t surprised.
“Preparations, huh…”
He smiled wryly.
He had a pretty good idea what she meant.
It wasn’t hard to guess—
But pointing it out would be in poor taste.
“Alright, I’ll head over later at my own pace.”
“Yes. …Look forward to it.”
And so, they parted for the time being.
After some time passed, Yuzuru headed to the station nearest the shrine.
Soichiro was already there.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.”
“You really did.”
“…Shouldn’t you say ‘I just got here’?”
Yuzuru chuckled at his friend’s grumpy expression.
“I’m not your boyfriend. And definitely not your fiancé.”
“Well, fair enough.”
At Soichiro’s reply, Yuzuru laughed—and so did he.
The grumpiness was just his way of joking.
There was still plenty of time before they had to meet—
And two people hadn’t even arrived yet.
“By the way, you didn’t come with Arisa-san?”
“She said she had preparations to do and went ahead. Looks like it’s taking a bit longer than expected.”
“I see… well, same here, actually.”
Soichiro nodded in understanding.
As they chatted for a while—
A cheerful voice called out from behind.
“Soichiro-kun, Yuzurun, sorry! Did you wait long?”
Appearing in a bright red kimono was—
Yuzuru’s childhood friend, Tachibana Ayaka.
She seemed to be wearing light makeup as well.
Her naturally mature features looked even more refined today.
“Sorry to keep you waiting… it took a bit longer than expected.”
From behind Ayaka, another girl stepped forward with a gentle smile—
A girl with flaxen hair.
Yukishiro Arisa, Yuzuru’s fiancée.
She wore a green kimono adorned with red flowers.
Her hair was styled, and with light makeup—
She looked just as beautiful as ever, though in a different way than usual.
“Sorry to keep you waiting,” the two girls said.
The two boys shook their heads in unison.
““Not at all, we just got here.””
Then Yuzuru took Arisa’s hand—
And Soichiro took Ayaka’s.
“Shall we go?”
“Yes.”
“Let’s go.”
“Mm.”
The four of them began walking—
Matching their pace to the girls in their geta.
