Itsuki/Shiratori's birthday 2019 - 3

A birthday closer to soba - 3

[Jukai]

Its: I caught it! Utano-san, please!

Uta: Nice, Itsuki-san! And you're finished!

Uta: You know, the way the Vertexes perish... It reminds me of badly-made 100% buckwheat soba.

Its: If I remember correctly, soba made with no wheat flour falls apart easily, right?

Uta: Well remembered. A skilled hand is a must for good 100% buckwheat soba. It's not easy.

Uta: We've only started climbing it, after all. This infinitely big mountain named soba!

Its: Yeah! Talking about it suddenly made me want to pound some soba right now.

Uta: Let's get to it immediately after we come back!

Yuu: And they're gone.

Kar: She had good teamplay with Utano, so maybe Itsuki really will end up joining the soba faction.

Fuu: It's okay, Karin. Her love for udon won't be swayed by something like this!

Tou: That's our Fuu-senpai. Soba might be delicious, but in the end, udon is always there for people. No mistake about it.

Fuu: Our udon party should just hold fast. So, time for us to go back too.

[Sansuu Middle - Home Ec room]

Uta: First of all, we need to decide what grade of buckwheat flour to use.

Its: Not first grade?

Uta: First grade flour is the first one you get out of the mill. You might think it'd be the outer part, but it's actually the insides of the grain.

Uta: First grade flour is mostly starch, so it doesn't smell of buckwheat that much, but it has a sweetness to it, like rice.

Uta: As you get to the second and third grades, the outsides of the grains start to get milled and give it that powerful rustic feel.

Uta: Simply put, it's a matter of preference. Itsuki-san, which do you want? I can vouch for the taste of them all.

Its: Um... I'm not sure about the details yet, but can't we use all of them?

Uta: Sure we can! There's a flour called hikigurumi, it's a mix of all the flour grades I just explained.

Its: I'm looking forward to finding out how it tastes and smells.

Uta: And we'll be kneading our dough in this lacquered kneading bowl!

Its: It really is huge.

Uta: Making soba is all about strength! If we want to feed everyone the best soba this year, it's going to be a bit of hard work.

Uta: Are you ready?

Its: Of course!