A/N: Digimon belongs to Akiyoshi Hongo, Toei Animation, Bandai, and whoever. Since my name isn't Akiyoshi Hongo and I don't work at Toei or Bandai... well, obviously, I don't own Digimon.

Dango, for those who don't know, are sticky Japanese dumplings made from rice flour. They are often served as three-four dumplings on a skewer. The most commonly seen type of dango in anime is hanami dango, which is red, yellowish-white and green, but this is not what the kids are making in this fic.

Cooking Frenzy

"Remember when we had a picnic on my birthday? That was the best birthday ever!"

"You were lucky your birthday was after all the drama. We had to restore an entire village on my birthday!"

"And we had to knock down like a hundred Dark Towers or something on my birthday. So?"

"It's not as hard as restoring a village."

"What're you complaining about, anyway? We got to eat the best ohagi ever in the end of the day. It's not like you worked and worked and didn't get anything to make up for it."

"Daisuke-san, be careful!"

"Beh, I know what I'm doin', Iori," muttered Daisuke as he placed the skewered dango on the grill. "I'm awesome at making ramen, remember? Dango are a piece of cake!"

Miyako smirked. "Yeah, and that one time when you tried to make a chocolate cake went so well," she said, adding a tablespoon of starch to the sauce.

The goggleboy frowned. "Well, I wasn't the one who mixed the batter! Wasn't my fault V-mon stirred too hard."

"Daisuke! Are you making chocolate sauce for the dango?"

Daisuke gave an unenthusiastic look at V-mon, who was watching a game show with Hawkmon and Armadimon. "No, V-mon, we're making mitarashi dango."

"That doesn't have chocolate in it?" V-mon asked, leaning on the arm of the sofa.

"Mitarashi dango is made of soy sauce, sugar and starch," Iori explained, taking the bowl of sauce from Miyako.

"So no chocolate?" V-mon's face fell.

"I thought Koushirou would want chocolate on his birthday da'gya," Armadimon piped in.

"Koushirou-senpai isn't a big fan of chocolate," Miyako said loudly, making it sound like a very important detail. "We must consider senpai's taste!"

"Don't worry, V-mon, I'm sure Daisuke will buy you a chocolate bar later," Iori smiled.

"You will?" the small dragon Digimon looked at his partner with bright eyes.

Daisuke gave Iori a sideways glare and sighed. "Yes, V-mon, I'll buy you a chocolate bar."

"Yay!" V-mon cheered.

"There goes my allowance," Daisuke muttered, putting another skewer on the grill. "Are you tryin' to make me suffer on purpose?"

"It'll make him happy," said Iori as he stirred the sauce. "Armadimon is always happy when I buy him sweets."

"Well, you're not saving for a guitar!" Daisuke pouted. "With all the chocolate V-mon eats, I'm never goin' to save enough money!"

"You're going to be a terrible guitarist, anyway," Miyako waved him off. "I heard what a terrible noise you made in the Music Club last week when Akazawa-kun let you borrow his guitar."

"Hey!"

"Daisuke-san, turn the dango over please," Iori said. "We don't want to burn them."

Daisuke muttered and turned the dango over. Miyako turned to Iori. "I really didn't know you knew how to make dango, Iori-kun! You really managed to surprise me."

"It's nothing, really," the boy said, sheepish. "Mom said that I'm old enough to cook for myself a little before we became Chosen... and she taught me how to make dango after I got a 100 on a Math exam. It's as simple as that."

"Simple as it is, you seem to really have a talent for it!" Miyako smiled. "I'm certainly impressed."

"Yeah, you know, these dango do look really good," Daisuke noted, eying the skewered dumplings on the grill hungrily.

Iori blushed. "Thank you, Miyako-san, Daisuke-san... I really appreci-GAH!"

Startled, Daisuke and Miyako jumped. They looked around, trying to see what made the younger boy yell, and finally fixed their eyes on the bowl he held in his hands. In the bowl was a semi-transparent green yo-yo, which flashed green every couple of seconds.

"The sauce..." Miyako breathed. The three Chosen looked at the Digimon on the couch. The Digimon looked back, smiling apologetically.

"Apologies, Miyako-san," Hawkmon bowed. "We didn't mean any harm."

"You didn't mean any harm?! You ruined our sauce!" Miyako cried, her expression furious.

"D-don't worry," Iori mumbled, pulling the yo-yo out of the bowl. "We could make more sauce in time. I think..."

"Iori, are you going to make steamed buns?" Armadimon asked, taking his eyes away from the television.

The Chosen blinked. "Armadimon... we're making dango," Iori said, a bit confused.

"You should make steamed buns too, da'gya!" Armadimon exclaimed cheerfully. "Steamed buns are good for parties."

"Yeah! Steamed buns! Steamed buns!" V-mon jumped on the sofa happily.

Daisuke cried out. "Waaah no, stop that, V-mon! Mom's gonna kill me if she'll see you jumpin' on the sofa like that!"

"And we're not making steamed buns," Miyako said decisively. "This is Koushirou-senpai's birthday party, and Koushirou-senpai calls the shots! He said he likes sweet things, and that's what we're having!"

"But steamed buns do sound like a good idea..." Hawkmon hummed, rubbing the bottom of his beak thoughtfully. V-mon and Armadimon nodded enthusiastically.

Miyako scowled. "No steamed buns," she hissed. The Digimon were silent.

Daisuke crossed his arms and pouted. "Great, now we're goin' to have to make the sauce again."

Miyako sighed. "At least it's the easy part. Making the dango is the hard part."

The goggled boy nodded. "Yeah, at least that's over," he agreed.

Iori yelped. "Daisuke, the dango!"

"...oh, crud."

At the couch, the Digimon giggled to themselves. "I knew our plan was going to work," said V-mon, crossing his arms and nodding.

"Too bad the dango are ruined. They seemed really tasty da'gya!" Armadimon exclaimed. "I can't wait to eat the new batch once they're done making it!"

"Well, now they will be occupied enough time for us to see who wins this game show," Hawkmon said, smiling at his comrades.

"Yeah!" the Digimon cheered and turned their attention back to the game show.

After a few moments of relative silence (as silent as it could get with Daisuke, Miyako and Iori trying to salvage the dango), V-mon spoke up.

"I still think dango with chocolate sauce would be nice."