A/N: The other chapters are currently in the process of being rewritten, but here's an omake!
Disclaimer: This chapter (omake) does not operate on the same timeline as the main story.
"When did you first realise you liked Kitashirakawa-san?"
Mochizou blinked a little before scratching the back of his head in habit. "What kind of question is that?" He mumbled.
"C'mon, Mochizou. You're always talking about her, just say something." Momotarou urged from behind the camera while Inuyama nodded in the background.
"This is different. I can't say it, not on film." Mochizou protested. "It's so embarrassing. Plus, it was such a long time ago…"
"A long time ago?" Momo pressed on.
Mochizou shot a glare at him. "I'm not falling for that." He said, before letting out a large sigh. "Do you really need this footage?"
Momotarou nodded enthusiastically while Inuyama turned the lock on the only exit. "You devils." Mochizou muttered dryly.
Momo smiled. "I think I can take pride in that statement." Sitting back on his director's stool, he repeated the question once again. "So, Mochizou, when did you first realise you liked Kitashirakawa-san?"
Mochizou sighed again. "Well, it first began when…"
The young child shook his head, shaking the light brown hair out of his eyes. His two hands clutched the straps on his red backpack while he whistled a cheerful tune. It's coming, he thought, a large smile beginning to form on his lips. October 10th is coming!
For as long as he could remember, Mochizou's birthday had always been overshadowed by Mochi Day. His parents would cook his favourites for breakfast, but the rest of the day would be all about mochi; his father making competition with the neighbours outside the shop while his mother prepared the ingredients indoors. And every year, they'd always be too tired at the end of the day to have a proper celebration.
But this year was going to be different.
That was because this year, Mochizou was turning 10; and not on just any day – on the 10th day of the 10th month of the year. His parents had promised they would have a big celebration. And that meant, for once, it wouldn't just be Mochi Day, it would be Mochizou Day. The young boy twirled around on his heel, a small burst of laughter escaping from his lips as he thought about the possibilities.
"…Mochizou?" A small voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts.
Little Mochi stumbled mid-spin and lost his balance. Before he realised it, he was sitting on the ground, staring up at his twin-tailed neighbour.
"Tamako!" He blinked a few times before exclaiming. "What took you so long?"
The little girl touched the edge of her glasses nervously. "I was—"
"Hey, where's your mother, Tamako?" Mochizou interrupted, popping his head out on either side of his childhood friend.
"Uh, my mother wasn't feeling very well this morning so she couldn't come see me off." Tamako said quietly as Mochizou pushed himself off the ground.
"Isn't this the third time this has happened?" He eyed her curiously, but Tamako avoided his gaze, the grip on her school bag getting tighter and tighter. There was a silence. Mochizou opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again when she began to reply.
"My father said she will be fine, so it won't happen again." Tamako said quietly.
Mochizou stared at her for awhile before decidedly poking one of her mochi-shaped hair ties. "Mochi girl." He announced.
Tamako blinked. "Wh-what did you call me?!" She yelped.
Mochizou winced at the shrillness of her voice before repeating himself. "I said, mochi girl. You're a girl, you live in a mochi shop, and you like mochi. Look, even your hair bands look like mochi." He said, smirking as he poked it again.
Tamako's face began to turn slightly red. "B-but you also live in a mochi shop!" She protested.
"So?" Mochi teased.
"And don't you like mochi?"
"Not as much as you…" He shrugged. "…mochi girl." He added, giggling.
"Don't call me that!" Tamako puffed her cheeks.
"Mochi girl!" He teased, this time skipping ahead of her. Frustrated, she began to chase after him. Mochizou giggled mischievously. Tamako was so easy to tease—
"Mochi boy!" She yelled from behind him.
Mochizou stumbled in his steps, falling face first onto the sidewalk. For the second time that day, he found himself staring up at her twin tails. "H-hey, what did you call me?!" He yelled.
"It's because your name begins with Mochi…" She said, with more hesitance than her exclamation had given credence to. Still, he noticed a small smile beginning to tug at the edges of her lips. Letting out a small sigh, Mochizou pushed himself off the ground again so that they were at eye level with each other.
"Fine. I won't call you mochi girl anymore, but you have to stop calling me mochi boy too." He offered, crossing his arms.
"But your name has the word mochi—" Tamako began.
"Mochizou. Then you should call me Mochizou."
"But I was already calling you Mochizou."
"Now you can only call me Mochizou."
There was a silence as Tamako seemed to contemplate his statement. After awhile, she found her response. "I can't call you Mochi?" She asked.
He shook his head.
"Uh, Mochi-kun?"
"Definitely not!" He exclaimed, making an X with his hands.
"What about Ooji-kun?"
"You've been calling me Mochizou since we were born, Tamako." He commented dryly.
"Ooji-san?"
"Am I being downgraded in friendship ranks?!"
"Mochi-san?"
"Adding a '-san' doesn't change anything!" Mochizou raised his pinky finger in frustration. "C'mon, do we have a deal or not?"
He thought Tamako would agree, or in the worst case scenario, refuse. But he didn't expect her to burst out laughing. Mochizou blinked dazedly. "Wha—" He began, but was swiftly interrupted.
"Your face, it's so red!"
He immediately covered both cheeks with his palms. "T-that's not funny!" He protested, but Tamako continued giggling. Frustrated, Mochizou began to walk away in the direction of their elementary school. It took awhile, but he began to hear another pair of footsteps join his own.
"Wait…" She was panting. "Wait for me, Mochizou!"
Despite himself, he slowed his pace. When he eventually turned around to look for his childhood friend, he found instead a pinky finger being held right in front of his face. "I'll only call you Mochizou from now onwards, I promise." She said as soon as she caught her breath. The young boy eyed his friend before wrapping his own pinky tightly around hers.
"And I won't call you mochi girl anymore either... I promise." He said. "Though I guess I could call you Tama-chan instead." He added cheekily.
Tamako whipped her head up to glare at him. "Definitely not!" She exclaimed, her face turning a bright shade of pink.
This time, it was Mochizou who burst into a fit of laughter. Not too long later, he heard Tamako's lighter giggles joining his own, and he breathed an inward sigh of relief. "You look much nicer smiling, Tamako." He thought.
"What did you say, Mochizou?" She asked, cocking her head to one side curiously.
His eyes widened in realisation. Did I just say that out loud? He scratched his head and looked away. "N-nothing, it was nothing." He stuttered. "Let's go to school, Tamako."
The mochi girl nodded her head happily and the two continued their journey to school, albeit one of them a bit more bashful than usual; not that Tamako noticed that. After all, she had never been known for noticing things. And for the first out of the would-be many times in his life, Mochizou was thankful for that fact.
"So, was that your big moment? The time you realised that you like – or at this point, I should say love – Kitashirakawa-san?" Momotarou interjected excitedly. In the background, the camera turned off with a click.
Mochizou, who had a dopey smile on his face, suddenly snapped back into reality. He stared blankly at his friend for a few seconds before responding slowly. "No, that wasn't it." He said.
"Huh, are you serious?" Momo couldn't help but exclaim. "But it was all there, the emotional origin, the first unintentional pang of affection, that bashful feeling! In film school terms, that was the moment."
"This isn't film school, dude." Mochizou remarked dryly. "Plus, I know what you asked. You asked me when I first realised that I liked Tamako, and I hadn't realised yet, at the time." If Mochi and Inuyama could see beyond his curtain of hair, they would have seen Momo cocking one eyebrow at his friend.
"Then when did it happen?" Inuyama asked.
"Hold your horses, I'll get there..." Mochizou stretched in his chair. Sighing happily at the sound of his bones cracking, he settled down in a more comfortable position. "Eventually, that is." He added.
Momotarou and Inuyama looked at each other and groaned.
Mochizou smirked. "For the record, you two wanted me to do this. I'm ready whenever you are."
"You devil." Momotarou repeated him from earlier.
"I think I can take pride in tha—" Mochizou began, but was instantly cut off.
"Camera rolling in 3… 2… 1…"
Author's Note: Hello! Sorry for the lack of updates in the past few months. The starting of the new year has been crazy for me. I was working, then I started university, so I didn't have (and still don't have) any time to write. Don't worry though. I do plan to see to the end of this series. I just hope you can bear with my slow update pace, especially in the next few months.
Not just because I'm busy, but because I'm planning to rewrite all the previous chapters that I've already uploaded. The story just didn't have enough direction imo, so I want to change some things to make it more exciting for you to read and also for me to write!
I also intend to continue posting these types of chapters once in awhile as a way to flashback to Mochizou and Tamako's development during their childhood. They will join back up to the main story in the end, but that won't happen for a very long time. I'm open for any guesses or suggestions for future chapters!
P.S. Thank you for all the reviews, favourites and follows even during my inactive stages. They really motivated me to get back to writing!