Yes?
Yes!
Yes?
Yes!
Yes?
Yes!

　There was an open space on the side of the salon where Emily and I were pounding rice cakes.
　Emily was pounding rice cakes with a pestle like in a dungeon, and I was kneading the rice cakes with my hands in the mortar at the right moment.

　The members of the family gathered around me to see what I could do.
　Incidentally, only Sakura, who made the mortar and pestle in the Genesis, knows what she can do, and she's in the kotatsu, which she also brought out to watch.

Ok.
Yes, sir.

　At my signal, Emily stopped putting it on.
　I lifted the rice cakes and poked at them with my fingers.
　Yes, thanks to the powerful Emily, the freshly made rice cakes were wonderfully sticky.

"How is it?
'It's perfect, Emily. Do you have what I asked for?
Yes, sir!

　Emily pattered off, carrying the pestle, and then pattered back again a moment later.

'We're waiting for you,'

　Emily brought a small bowl of kinako and anko and some grated daikon.

'Yes, perfect. Come on guys, put this on and eat it.
I'll take it. ...... And then there's ...... what kind of magic is this?

　Celeste received a slice of rice cake and stared at it seriously, not eating it.

''It was rice just now, but it's turned into something completely different.
That's what mochi is for. Better yet, try it while it's hot.
Oh, yes. I'll take it--it's delicious!

　Celeste, who first dipped her kinako in it, put it in her mouth and as soon as she chewed a bite, she held her mouth and her eyes started to glow.

'Let's see which one ...... is true.'
I didn't know there was anything so delicious in the world.
That's what I'm talking about, Ryota. I didn't know you knew how to make this stuff.

　Alice, Elsa, and Ena chewed on the freshly made cakes one after another and spoke fondly of them.

''Eve-chan, you're welcome to join us.
Bunnies aren't interested in that kind of thing.
I've got some grated carrots for you, Eve.
Then I'll eat it.
"Please go ahead and--oh!　We can't have only one grate!

　Emily stops Eve in her tracks in a hurry.
　My rabbit wasn't blurred as usual.

　The freshly made rice cakes were a hit not only with the human group, but also with the spirit group like Aulum and Vanadium.

'You should try the carbon too, look.'
I'm fine!　I'll be happy to watch from here.

　She was also, as usual, drunk on the ordeal of being left out of one person's life.

'Actually, this is just delicious for the young, but for the old, it's an ordeal.
What?
Isn't that right, Sakura?
Yeah. There's a horrible death toll from it every year.

　Sakura, who was getting warm in the kotatsu, kept up with me.
　It's nice that she let me along, but to be scared is an exaggeration.

　...... That's an exaggeration.

Really?
Yes. Spirits are much older than us, right?　Think of it as an ordeal, and try it for yourself.
Yeah, I see.

　He came up to me and accepted a freshly made rice cake.

Then go to ...... and take this black one.

　I watched her sip the mochi, thinking that the color looked dangerous ...... that I chose the anko.

'..................'
How's that?
Oh.
"Oh?
'Delicious ......'
Right?

　Apparently, it was good for Carbon's mouth.
　She flashed her eyes and puckered up one after the other.

'Alright, now let's bake it. 'Sakura,'
Here you go, seven rings and a net.
Emily would like some soy sauce.
Yes, sir.

　I had each of them prepare it.

　They placed the rice cakes on the charcoal lit shichirinawa.
　They were all "huh" at that, but when they saw a spot of soy sauce in the middle of the shaped rice cake, they were all "what? It was replaced by.

'Is that all you need, Mr. Lyota?'
Yeah, watch this.

　As I said this, my friends and I all looked at the mochi.
　Shortly after, the rice cake puffed upwards like a balloon from a point in the middle of the soy sauce drizzled over it.

'Suh, it's amazing!'
'What?　Only in the middle?
You just dropped some soy sauce on it. Why is that?
What would happen with a carrot?

　Everyone got very excited about the puffy mochi.
　It was not only funny, but they started to get even more excited when they found out that the baked stuff was delicious too.

　The mochi that Emily and I had made were soon gone.
　Then my friends wanted to get involved in the mochi making, too.

　It was Sakura's idea, the New Year's mode was in full swing, and everyone was having a great time.

　I crawled into the kotatsu with Sakura while they were having a good time.
　I was going to show everyone the magic of the kotatsu afterwards.

I'm glad it worked out for you.
Yeah. ......
What's going on?

　I turn to Sakura, who seems to have noticed something.

'Everyone looks like they're having a great time!
Yeah.
If they did this with Nifongnium, they could have come up with Nifongnium like they did with Skyrocket.
No, no, no, no, no.

　It wouldn't be a hardship if they came out with that.

Little did they know that they had just missed the easiest chance to meet with Nifongnium.
Don't make it sound like a voiceover.

　He laughs and plunges in.

'Huh, I guess so.'

　Sakura stuck out her tongue, probably because it was just a joke, and that's where the conversation ended.
　After that, I gave Emily a variety of recipes, mainly for mochi pounding, and asked her to make ozoni and stuff, and my friends lifted it up even more.
　Seeing them enjoying themselves, I thought it would be nice if Nikonium was with them next year.

　　　　　☆

　The Lyota family was lifted up in the New Year's spirit with rice cakes.

　Little did they know at this time that they had missed the easiest chance to meet with Nihonium.