Mochi Ice Cream
Mochi ice cream (mochi for short) is a delicacy that comes in at least four flavors: Green Tea, Strawberry, Vanilla, and Chocolate. The dough is squishy and sticky even thought it is covered in some kind light sugary-flour coat. The ice-cream inside is very sweet, having the person eating it want to relish the rich flavor within.
That is, if you are not six-year-old Akaito Shion.
Simply put, this boy does not like mochi…or rather…he has a self-diagnosed himself with "mochi-phobia". He has never tried it and does not even want to, sometimes even bonking the top of his younger twin, Kaito, with a big inflatable habanero bat if he ever saw him eat it. Akaito does not like mochi, mainly because he is afraid of its small and gooey appearance; when he saw green tea mochi for the first time, he thought is was some kind of mushy rock alien from space and cringed.
And yet, his twin seemed to love this stuff.
Hearing the word 'mochi' seems to upset little Akaito's stomach. He almost gagged one time in public when his mother asked him if he wanted mochi from a mochi stand. The word is banned to be mentioned in front of Akaito.
That is, if you are not six-year-old Haku Yowane.
She is the typical shy girl who lives next door to the two boys who carries a stuffed onigiri toy. The two boys often play with her, each time rotating "who-gets-to-choose-what-game-to-play-next". Sometimes, the games that Kaito and Akaito choose wind up becoming battles to compete for the girl's heart, whether they were wrestling matches, pretend sword-fight, or some other game. Also, Haku is not aware of Akaito's detest towards the little dessert treat, so she throws the word around really when Kaito is present when the three play outside on the yard.
And today is Haku's turn to choose what game the three should play.
"What game did you choose this time, Ha-chan?" Kaito asks the girl, getting a bit excited.
"U-um…," Haku mutters something as she twiddles her thumbs.
"Louder Ha-chan! Can't hear!" Akaito says in an impatient tone.
"T-tea p-p-party," the girl speaks up with all her strength. Her face is all red.
"Ooooooh sounds cute! Akaito and I play that with our older sister Kaiko. Sometimes, we even get to play with her friends!" Kaito exclaims, getting a bit jumpy.
Akaito scoffs at his twin's statement, "Yeah, like dressing up in weird outfits and drinking tea is even that fun. Then she gets bored and then plays makeup party! That black pencil for around the eyes stings like heck! I don't need something like that to happen!" After he says those words, Akaito then notices Haku clutching her onigiri toy tightly, kind of forcing him to say something positive. "I-I'm sure that tea party will be different with Ha-chan. I'm sure it will be even better than Kaiko-nee's."
Haku's face brightens up after that sentence. She then turns to her toy and talks to it, "Mr. Oni-Oni, did you hear that? Your party might be even better!" The girl hugs her toy with happiness, almost having the two boys want to hug her because of how cute she was acting.
"So, ummmmm…how are we going to play? We need a table, some chairs, a tea set, tea, cakes, guests, and a idea for what we should wear." Kaito lists off all of the missing components to actually play this little role-playing game.
"Well…me and Mr. Oni-Oni have the tea stuff and some sweet stuff," she tells him.
"We have a table that's big enough for the three of us…" Akaito scratched the back of his head.
"Four! Mr. Oni-Oni is also playing too Aka-kun!" Haku shoves the smiling onigiri toy in his face.
"Okay, okay…four of us…and tea is too hot for this hot day. Mom makes good icey-tea." The red-head admits, a little annoyed by the fact that Haku considers a toy an actual animate object.
"All we need are costumes. A tea party is fancy; we need to look fancy. Like in those picture books Mamai-nee reads on the couch!" Kaito says.
"Then it's all good. We'll meet here in thirty minutes with everything." Akaito sets it as final.
Haku and Kaito both nod at this.
XxXxX
After about twenty minutes of setting up the party and wearing costumes, the three little kids and stuffed toy play their little game of tea party at the frint yard with warm weather surrounding them…
"Would you like some tea Madame Feather?" Kaito asks Haku.
"Why yes Earl Aisu, I would love some. And how about you King Habanero?" Haku turns to Akaito.
"I will have some, Madame Feather. Thank you." He replies, holding out his cup for some "tea"
"Oh! And can't forget the Duke of Oni." Kaito remembers.
"You're right!" Haku exclaims. "I also have some treats to go with our tea." She says as reaches her hand under the table to pull out a small box.
Akaito feels like he could throw up at any minute with what Haku has just pulled out. His worst nightmare and enemy has turned this innocent "play pretend" game into a serious matter where (his) life is at stake. His enemy? Mochi.
"Would anyone like some? They are fresh from the bakery. They my favorites too, besides soda." Haku sets the mochi in the middle of the table.
"Don't mind if I do!" Kaito says as he happily takes one for himself.
"Duke of Oni also wants one as well." Haku says as she puts a mochi on the toy's tea plate.
"How about you King Habanero?" Kaito tells his brother cunningly. He knows of Akaito's weakness when looking at mochi.
Akaito glared daggers at his brother. He then looked at the bashfully happy girl sitting next to him. Clearly this boy does not want to disappoint a girl, let alone make her cry. He inhaled deeply before giving his answer…
"I'll take one, but only one. I ate a little earlier so I am a bit full." Akaito reluctantly takes a mochi from one of the slots. He takes one very long look at the dessert treat before putting the whole thing into his mouth.
One chew makes one difference, a cold one that is. Once red-head's teeth sink in and penetrates the dough, the ice-cream takes on its role.
Akaito tries to keep the treat in his mouth, but it is too cold. It is so cold that the flavor could not sink into his tongue. Kaito giggles a little but Haku is extremely worried. The girl is right to be worried because the boy clearly looks like he is choking on mochi!
"S-s-somebody save A-aka-k-kun! H-h-he is c-choking!" Haku cries in her chair.
"Uh-oh! Um uhhhhh I'll go get someone! Stay here and uhhhh make sure he doesn't do anything" Kaito says with great panic before running from the play area to find an adult.
XxXxX
"Aka-kun, I'm so sorry! Uwaaaaaaaaah!" The little white-haired girl cries.
Akaito is lying down on his bed, completely red-faced out of embarrassment and shame. Clearly, the boy is fine and has been saved by an adult. However, he feels guilty for making Haku cry about something she was not even told about. He simply tells her, "I-it's not yer fault, Ha-chan. I didn't tell you before that I never eated mochi or like it. I still don't like it…but I'm not afraid of it."
"Ha-chan, don't cry! H-how 'bout we eat something together later and pretend this didn't happen!" Kaito tries to console her, but clearly it does not work when wails louder. Akaito glares at the blue-haired boy, using "twin telepathy" to tell him to back off because it would make the situation worse.
"Hey, stop crying. Seeing Ha-chan cry makes me feel bad 'cause that means I did something to make her sad…" Akaito says as he sits up and tries to get out of bed. He pets Haku's head, messing up her hair a bit. This makes the girl feel better. She rubs her eyes to get rid of the tears and tries to smile.
Kaito hugs Haku from behind and says in a happy tone, "That's more like it, Ha-chan! Smile! Or else you might end up like Aka, who almost never smiles unless yer around."
"I-I smile! And stop hogging her in yer hug Kaito! That's not fair!" Akaito says, clearly jealous. He hugs the girl too, pulling her into his arms while still having Kaito cling onto her.
"No! You already pat her hair!" The blue-haired twin retorts, pulling Haku towards him this time.
Thus begins a pulling war for the little white-haired girl. This makes her feel really dizzy and really confused as to why the both of these boys wanted her for themselves. At least Akaito can look at and even hear the word "mochi" without feeling sick. That's the thought that counts!
XxXxX
Weak ending is weak and story was too obvious lol. I'm not that great of a writer but I like to write when I have time because I like making up stories like I did when I played with barbies when I was younger :3 I wanted to do something cute and something a little outside of what I usually do (AKA "romantic" (and cliché-"funny") stories under the rating "T"). So it was fun writing this XD and what was going through my mind when I thought of this? I don't even know…
I hope you enjoy it! :D