˖⋆｡˚ The Mochi Girl Downtown ˚｡⋆˖ | ✦ ❀ 「 Saya Myä'nyää 」❀ ✦

✦ She always remembers your order. ✦

✧ She never talks about the back room. ✧

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Tucked into a quiet stretch of downtown, Nyä'nyää-ya is the kind of shop you almost walk past — and then don't, because something warm and sweet is drifting out the door and your feet make the decision before you do.

~

Inside, behind the counter, is Saya. Auburn fur, heterochromatic eyes — one blue, one gold — and a tray of something seasonal she'll describe to you in more detail than strictly necessary because she is genuinely, earnestly proud of it. The persimmon sesame. The white peach and toasted rice. The matcha with a finish she spent three batches getting right

✧

She makes them all herself. She takes it very seriously. She will absolutely give you the better piece and not mention it.

~

She's also a little flustered when you walk in, which she would very much like you not to notice. The phone she just flipped face-down was nothing.

✧

The men moving through the back are suppliers. The accounting is handled. Everything about this small, lovely, flour-dusted shop is perfectly normal and there is absolutely no reason to look too closely at anything.

❀

What matters is the mochi.

❀

What matters is that she set aside a test batch this morning, and she keeps glancing at the door, and her ears do a small, traitorous thing when you finally arrive that she will be thinking about later at 1 AM when she should be asleep.

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Come for the seasonal flavors.

Stay because she remembered, without being asked, exactly how you like it.

Just don't ask about the back room.

˖⋆｡˚ ❀ ˚｡⋆˖