Banri Settsu/Gangster in the Back Alley

Xuě Huā Bīng Making

Backstage Stories

Part 1Part 2

Banri	It’s about time for us to meet up, huh?
	*notification sound*
KAZUNARI MIYOSHI☆ My lecture’s dragging on so I’ll prob be a teensy bit late! My bad!
Banri	“Got it”, and send…
	Guess I’ll wait here like this if it’s just a bit.
	(‘Cept… I didn’t think we’d end up going out of our way to go eat shaved ice at that café.)
	*flashback starts*
Café worker	We have a new menu item starting tomorrow!
	We’re handing out flyers, so please take one~!
Kazunari	There’s a new type of xuě huā bīng!
	Doesn’t this mango flavour sound delish!?
Banri	You snatched a flyer before I realized…
Kazunari	They said a new menu item, so I got curious!
Banri	Xuě huā bīng’s like shaved iced, right?
Kazunari	Yep, it’s fluffier and sweeter than shaved iced!
	The way it looks is cute af so it’s been popping off.
Banri	The photo on the flyer’s real flashy too.
Kazunari	I know, right~!?
	Oh, hey!
	Wanna go eat this together tomorrow?
Banri	Xuě huā bīng?
	I mean, I don’t have plans tomorrow so I guess I’ll tag along to the café.
	*flashback ends*
Kazunari	Sorry I’m late, Settzer!
Banri	S'fine. I didn’t wait that long.
	Come on, let’s head out already.
Kazunari	Ok!
	Hmm, all of them look tasty…
	But yep, as expected, I’m ordering the new mango flavour!
Banri	‘Kay, same here then.
Kazunari	Eh, are you sure you don’t want coffee flavour?
Banri	Yeah. I’ll get the new flavour since I came all the way here.
	Plus, I’m getting a single coffee.
Kazunari	Ah, I gotchu~!
Store clerk	Sorry for the wait.
Kazunari	Woo, it’s here! It’s hella instablammable~!
	I’mma go ahead and snap some quick pics!
Banri	It’ll melt if you do that, y’know?
	…Oh, it tastes pretty good.
	It really is totally different than regular shaved ice.
Kazunari	So true!
	The ice itself is sweet, and the mouthfeel is fluffy too!
	It goes perfectly with the mango so it’s super delicious!
	I could prob eat, like, a gazillion of these!
Banri	Nah, I think just one is enough.
Kazunari	Hahh, that tasted so good~!
Banri	Yeah. It's hard to find shaved ice that melts in your mouth like that.
Kazunari	Hey, hey, do you think we could make ice that fluffy with the shaved ice machine back at the dorm?
Banri	I wonder ‘bout that. I won’t know unless I try, but the ice shaving is the same. So it might turn out ok?
Kazunari	That’s true! You can’t know unless you try… AH!
	Can we pop by the supermarket, Settzer?
Banri	Don’t tell me you feel like makin’ it yourself?
Kazunari	Yep, I kinda wanna give it a try.
	And we could make it look even more trendy, don’t you think?
	Soo, won’t you make it with me, Settzer?
Banri	Hah, me?
Kazunari	Uh huh. Do it with me, dude.
	I just know it’ll be tastier if we make it together!
Banri	…Well, sure.
Kazunari	Yay! Alright, let’s head to the supermarket first!
Banri	I see; you don’t make the ice for xuě huā bīng with water, but with milk that has sugar added to it.
Kazunari	That’s why the ice itself is sweet and tasty~!
	Say, I made lots because I know everyone’s gonna eat some, but I wonder if this is enough?
Banri	This much is fine.
Kazunari	‘Kay, we can't do anything until it hardens. So we’ll continue the rest tomorrow!
Banri	Yeah, sounds good.

Kazunari	Huh… where’s the shaved ice machine?
Banri	Ain’t it on this shelf?
	…Oh, it’s not.
Izumi	Are you two looking for something?
Banri	Oh, Director-chan, good timin’.
	Do you know where the shaved ice machine is?
Izumi	Ahh, that thing’s not used except in the summer, so it’s sitting in the storage room.
Kazunari	The storage room, eh~!
	I’ll go fetch it!
Banri	Got it.
Izumi	Are you making shaved ice?
Banri	Well, sorta.
	It’s xuě huā bīng, to be exact.
Izumi	Eh, you’re going to make xuě huā bīng?
	The ice for that is fluffy and tasty, right!
Banri	Heh, you’ve eaten it before too, Director-chan?
Izumi	Yep.
	I ate it with Juza-kun in the past.
Banri	Ahh, it seems like that guy Hyodo would like stuff like that.
Kazunari	Sorry for the wait~!
	I’ve brought the shaved ice machine.
Banri	Oh, thanks.
	Oh, right, Director-chan.
	If you’re free, wanna make it together?
Izumi	Eh, are you sure?
Kazunari	‘Course, feel free!
Izumi	Alright, I’ll make it with you guys then!
	What should I help with?
Banri	It’d be great if you could cut the fruits.
	I’ll shave the ice.
Kazunari	Then I’ll do the toppings and finishing touches!
	Alright, success~!
Banri	M’kay, wanna give it a try?
Izumi	Itadakimasu.
Banri	…Ain’t this just regular shaved ice?
Izumi	Yeah, you’re right. The fluffiness of xuě huā bīng isn’t…
Kazunari	The flavour’s on point, and it’s close to xuě huā bīng, but the texture’s super off!
Banri	Maybe this shaved iced machine can’t make it like that.
Misumi	Ahh, it’s shaved ice~!
Muku	We heard a loud sound, so we came to take a peek.
Juza	Was that the sound of the shaved ice machine?
Banri	This asshole came too?
Juza	What of it?
Kazunari	The truth is, we were making xuě huā bīng, not shaved ice!
Muku	The ice for xuě huā bīng is fluffy, isn’t it!
Misumi	I wanna eat a fluffy triangle~!
Izumi	Unfortunately, this shaved ice machine didn’t make the ice fluffy like a shop’s. But is that alright with you, despite that?
Juza	Doesn’t matter to me.
Muku	I’m fine with it as well.
Misumi	I’ll eat it too!
	Can I put some triangle fruits on it?
Kazunari	Of course it’s ok!
Banri	Then you guys can choose the toppings you’d like.
	I’mma shave the ice now.
	*churns machine*
	Aight, it’s done.
Muku	Thank you very much!
	What should I put on top…
Misumi	I want the triangle strawberries and triangle pineapples~!
Muku	I’ll go with chocolate sauce!
Juza	I’ll add cream, red bean, warabi mochi, and…
Izumi	Juza-kun’s is like anmitsu.
Juza	I referenced the shaved ice at traditional Japanese sweet shops.
Banri	You can have this one, Director-chan.
	Why don't you put whatever toppings you want on this ice and eat it with Muku and ‘em?
Izumi	Eh, is that ok?
Banri	Yeah.
	You did your best to cut the fruits for us, didn't you?
CHOICE 1: Thank you. [+] Izumi I was totally fine with cutting the fruits, but thank you! Banri You’re welcome. Izumi By the way, why did you two think of making xuě huā bīng? Banri I went to eat mango xuě huā bīng with Kazunari yesterday, and it tasted really good. And then since we were so into it, we talked about recreating it back at the dorm. Izumi Ah, so that’s what happened! Banri Oh, right, Director-chan. Won’t you go to that shop with me? They have a bunch of different kinds of xuě huā bīng apart from mango that sound good. Izumi Sure! I’m looking forward to being able to go together.
CHOICE 2: Isn’t it tough? [+] Izumi But Banri-kun, you’ve been shaving ice this whole time. Isn’t it tough? Banri It’s nothin'. Also… I've been trying different ways of shaving it to see if I can get it a little closer to xuě huā bīng. Izumi So you mean you got better and better at it? Banri Yeah. So that’s why the one I shaved last should be the best one. Izumi Oh, really? I can’t wait! Banri Well… even so, this machine has its limits though. Izumi Fufu. Don’t worry, I understand. Then I’ll have this ice that’s the tastiest for now!
	Now then, which toppings should I use?
	I'm pretty sure I have leftovers from yesterday in the back of the fridge... there it is!
Banri	Don’t tell me…
Izumi	I've been wanting to try this since I saw it on TV: side dish ice!
	I’ll cover the ice with curry and…
Banri	Are you for real?
	It’d definitely be better not to eat that…
Izumi	Ah, it smells great! I bet it’ll be delicious…!
Banri	(…Well, Director-chan’s the one eatin’ it.
	And she looks happy, so I’ll just let her do what she wants.)

Anna