Once it managed to get outside the factory, the mochi was shocked to find the everything was so bright, bright, bright out, with lots of clouds outside hanging in the sky like some sort of fluffy marshmallow buffet...mmm, marshmallows are good (like bananas!). Slowly the little pastry edged out into the open, big blue eyes wide with childish delight at the gorgeous sky, not looking to be well into the late afternoon period, if the slowly appearing orangish and peach tints were anything to go by. The clouds rolled slowly along by a gentle breeze, and patches of weeds and wild grasses had sprung up alongside the long road parallel to the factory main entrance. The road itself stretched far, far away, until it became a long, chocolate brown ribbon of dirt snaking out into horizon, where the mochi could faintly make out the blurred outlines of a city (Osaka, to be exact.).
The mochi was very bored as it hopped along the road (being an 'American' mochi, much like its creator, it didn't quite grasp the concept of long periods of patience yet...), and so began to try to figure out how to get to the 'blurry place' faster. Luckily for the mochi, the factory it was born in was located on the outskirts of Osaka city's west side, which opened to Osaka Bay (partially blocked from the Pacific Ocean by the Kii Channel and from the nearby western part of the Inland Sea by the Akashi Strait). This allowed for much marine life to be found near the coastal city, including birds of prey to feast on the fish, such as seagulls. Seagulls, as the little white-grey rice cake soon discovered, were both very hungry and helpful.
Blue eyes looked wonderingly at the first of many dark, winged shapes fluttering overhead, darting about in crazed formations in the blue expanse of the sky. Suddenly one darted downwards. Being a mochi, the little white-grey blob was emitting the smell of food (granted, being a mochi with America's DNA, the little fellow smelled a bit like fast food, coffee, leather, and heroism, which was not a very good combination if one wanted to keep their sense of taste intact), and seagulls are hungry enough to not be picky; after all, if they were picky, they would starve.
So when the seagull suddenly seemed much closer than before, the mochi was very confused; what did the funny dark shape things want with it? But then another thought-memory flickered to life: an angry male shouting for 'that stupid bird to GIVE BACK THE FRECH FRY RIGHT NOW!', the screech of triumph from the villainous, feathered fiend, the crunch of salty fast food in an undeserving beak and the man's dramatic wail of misery...and then the sharp 'THUD!' on the man's head as another male voice, this one sharply accented, let out a bark of 'Shut up, you bloody oaf! It's a FRENCH FRY for pete's sake!'
The mochi snapped out of its dazed state as is the 'THUD!' occurred, just in time to realize the gull was less than 3 feet from it, beak wide and beady coal eyes cruel and hungry. With a heroic 'MEEP!' of sudden surprise and fear, the little rice cake jumped up in an attempt to not get snatched up in the narrow orange mouth's grip of death. However, the mochi had not yet realized something else crucial: America's DNA had given it a super boost, allowing it the perform feats of strength, speed, and agility like no mochi had ever done before (Though, being the only animate nation-mochi currently in existence, the little creature didn't know this...)!
As a result, the jump it made to escape death was much more like 'a leap of Prussian-level awesomeness'. The white-grey wad of living mochi paste catapulted itself high into the ear, to the immense shock of the hungry seagull, which had an almost comical look of "What just happened?', before it realized that the mochi, while now airborne, was still potential snack food. So it shot upwards into the sky, wings beating furiously as it attempted again to catch itself a meal. The mochi, which was having the time of its (so far rather short and supposedly impossible) life, looked down slightly and saw the seagull rapidly closing the distance between them. 'Uh-oh!' thought the mochi, 'what do I do now?'
Then it saw the seagull's back, feathery white and just large enough to seat itself on, if it aimed very, very carefully...heroic plan forming in its little head (well, sort of, more like the top of its squishy, roundish body), the mochi took a leap of faith and didn't resist as the seagull approached. But right when the hungry bird
was only a beaks worth away from its newest meal, the mochi sprang into action, angling itself so that it fell not into the predator's beak, but right on top of it. For a split second, two sets of eyes, one big and blue, the other small and black, stared into one another as the seagull's small brain attempted to figure out how its food had somehow ended up on top of its beak instead of in its mouth where it belonged.
But alas (at least for the bird), for luck was not favoring the hungry avian today, it was favoring the mochi currently smiling victoriously at it, cowlick bobbing cheerfully in the summer wind. The unfortunate bird was further surprised as the mochi then proceeded to hop over its head and land on its back, eliciting a 'squawk!' as the little rice cake made itself comfortable on the feathery 'seat'. 'Haha! Score one for the American!' thought the mochi.
Angry at itself and its unwanted passenger for the bad luck, the seagull decided attempting to barrel roll to dislodge the mochi, catch it as it fell, and then eat it was a bad idea; even with its hunger hampering its judgment, the bird knew it would not be able to eat the mochi. So, mind made up, the seagull headed towards Osaka city instead, knowing from experience that the scraps, abandoned lunches and snack leftovers, and day-old dumpster leavings were better pickings than trying again to eat its new passenger. Thus the mochi found, to its delight, that not only had it managed to outsmart its 'villainous' avian adversary and hitch a ride on it, but its new method of transportation was taking it right to Osaka!