Takina still didn’t quite understand what was expected of them, but since Chisato accepted this request, she’d have to take part, too. She guessed the task might take until morning, since after they changed out of their café uniforms into Lycoris outfits, Chisato went to get their sleepover essentials. Meanwhile, Takina returned to their customer, who folded her hands as if in prayer.
“Thank you… I really appreciate you doing this for me…”
Mika set down a cup of coffee and a plate with a dessert in front of Itou.
“Why don’t you try this while you wait for Chisato to get ready?” he offered.
The dessert was exactly what Takina had thought of earlier.
“What is this…?”
“A grapefruit daifuku,” Takina explained, laying down a moist towel for wiping hands next to the plate. “With chunky red bean paste inside. It helps reduce fatigue.”
Japanese-style red bean paste sweets were low in fat, making them easier to digest. The skin of adzuki beans was rich in vitamin B1, which facilitated the conversion of sugars into energy and aided the recovery of muscles, which also helped with problems such as a stiff neck. Smooth red bean paste did not have the same effect, as the skins were discarded in the production process. It had to be chunky paste.
The citric acid in the main ingredient of this particular daifuku—grapefruit—also had a fatigue-reducing effect.
It was the best dessert to serve to the tired Itou.
“A grapefruit…daifuku? This?”
The customer’s confusion was justified. Normally, daifuku were round, but this one was shaped like a crescent.
To make daifuku with grapefruit inside, you could either cut out a small piece and make a bite-sized daifuku with it or make a bigger one stuffed with many grapefruit chunks. The problem with the former was that it would make for an unsatisfying red bean paste to grapefruit ratio, and with the latter, the fruit chunks would easily fall out while eating, the juice spilling all over. The solution was to make a daifuku in a crescent shape, with a whole piece of grapefruit, minus the peel and the internal translucent membrane, wrapped in a layer of mochi with a dollop of the red bean paste. This was a proud Café LycoReco original.
“This one’s for you, Takina. And give this one to Kurumi,” said Mika, handing Takina a tray with a coffee and two grapefruit daifukus. They had an even shorter shelf-life than the strawberry variant, so he was probably just using up unsold stock that would have had to be discarded otherwise.
Takina carried the tray to the tatami area, noticing out of the corner of her eye how Itou’s face lit up when she took a bite out of the daifuku. That was a satisfying to see.
“Wow… I can’t believe how delicious this is…!”
Itou’s reaction was especially gratifying to Takina because it was she who prepared the pieces of grapefruit that morning.
She sat down next to Kurumi at a low table and sipped her coffee, enjoying a moment’s break. If they were going to be up all night, she’d really need that coffee. Then she turned her attention to the daifuku. She’d eaten one that didn’t turn out well that morning, but it would be her first time eating a fully presentable grapefruit daifuku. It wasn’t too big—she could easily hold it between three fingers and finish it in two or three bites. The outside was soft like a baby’s cheek and had a dusting of starch on it. Takina picked it up carefully so as not to squish it, but it turned out to be quite firm thanks to the grapefruit segment inside.
The crescent shape made it easier to eat than round daifuku. Instead of eating it in big bites, you could gracefully nibble it, starting from one of the narrow ends.
It was still one of Takina’s early days at Café LycoReco, but she already knew that the owner, Mika, was a very delicate man. Sure, he was of a tall stature, with an athletic build, and he had an air about him hinting that he was a veteran of countless battles, but he was delicate and meticulous when it came to work, especially when it came to making desserts. Not only were the sweet treats he crafted truly delicious and remarkably compatible with coffee, but they were also thoughtfully designed to make the entire experience of eating them pleasant and relaxing.
The grapefruit daifuku was a prime example of this. There was no need to open wide to eat it, so even customers with carefully applied makeup could enjoy it without worrying.
“Let’s see,” Takina said to herself.
She brought it to her mouth, holding it in her right hand while keeping her left underneath to catch any starch that might fall. She felt the starch lightly cling to her tongue and lips. The mochi layer was so soft she felt guilty about biting through it, and then she reached the moist chunky red bean paste and the juicy piece of grapefruit inside. The way her teeth cut through all those layers was very satisfying.
Takina covered her mouth daintily with her hand to hide the bits of starch while she chewed. Crushed between her teeth, the grapefruit vesicles popped open, freeing the juice. The invigorating firmness of the fruit, with its crisp scent and pleasant tartness, danced with the delicate red bean paste, resulting in a bold and exciting texture.
Then came the refreshing sweetness unique to citrus fruits, and the rich sweetness of the red bean paste…two types of sweetness that didn’t detract from one another, nor did they clash. The delightful contrast simply elevated both.
Unlike many Japanese desserts, this one didn’t make you feel thirsty as soon as you swallowed a piece. The aftertaste could be said to resemble jelly.
Japanese desserts were rarely refreshing or juicy, while fruit was rarely filling to eat, but this dessert combined the best of both worlds in every single bite, satisfying both the body and the soul.
But the surprises didn’t end there. Mika had put even more consideration into devising this treat.
Usually, white bean paste was used for daifuku with citrus. White bean paste was supposed to look more elegant when paired with fruit, and it was thought to subtly enhance the sweetness of the fruit filling…but Mika had chosen chunky red bean paste for this crescent-shaped grapefruit daifuku. It was immediately clear why after a sip of coffee.
White bean paste and citrus fruit paired well with green tea, but Café LycoReco’s focus was coffee. Hence the red bean paste. The refreshing sweetness of grapefruit and delicate white bean paste would pale in comparison with the richness of coffee, but chunky red bean paste had a depth of flavor that let it stand on equal footing.
Mika didn’t say anything, but Takina noticed that the coffee he had served with the dessert was a little stronger than usual, less astringent but richer and bitterer, which paired extremely well with the daifuku.
“Mmm. This is good,” said Kurumi.
She shoved half of the daifuku into her mouth and chewed happily. Takina could never get tired of watching the way Kurumi’s cheeks jiggled when she ate.
Neither of them had eaten dinner yet, so they were quick to finish the desserts. Takina felt like she could eat another one, but she knew they had no more left in stock, and besides…
“Sorry to keep you waiting! Let’s go!”
The enemy of calm had returned. Resigned to her fate, Takina got up from the table.
“Are you ready, Ms. Itou?”
“Yes.”
Itou stood up. Takina thought that the artist seemed far less despondent than when she’d entered the café.
✦ ✦ ✦
It was a ten-minute walk from the café to Itou’s workplace, which was also her home. She lived in a two-bedroom apartment with tatami floors. The building looked old from the outside, but Itou’s apartment wasn’t shabby at all. That said, it was terribly cramped, mainly due to the countless cardboard boxes filled with books, other miscellaneous items piled up by the door, and the bookshelves lining practically every wall.
The innermost room contained a desk and an office chair, with a protective mat underneath. On the desk was a monitor for a desktop PC, a keyboard, and an LCD tablet. Chisato eyed the setup curiously.
“You’re a digital artist, Ms. Itou? But I’ve seen you drawing on paper at our café before.”
“I use both. I’m not ready to go fully digital yet, but doing everything on paper is too much of a drag nowadays. Besides, it’s not so easy to buy screentone sheets anymore. I still ink lines manually, but backgrounds and other finishing touches? Those I do digitally.”