Farewell and Goodbye (2)

Chapter 9: Episode 4 - Farewell and Goodbye (2)

I walked through the tall, black school gates and it slowly closed behind me.

The St. Marie Academy, Japan Branch. It's hard to believe that this school was founded over 100 years ago. It looks just like a huge castle due to its large scale.

"You must be the new transfer student," an old woman directed towards me just as I entered. She had short grey hair and small glasses to the tip of her nose. I hadn't noticed her at first since I was still awestruck with the giant castle-like school that could make anyone speechless.

"Ah, yes ma'am," I responded, bowing respectfully.

"Not only are you a beautiful young girl, but you have manners, too," the old woman noticed as I kept a straight face. Her wrinkles curled to her eyes when she smiled at me.

"Thank you, ma'am," I bowed my head to her gracefully.

'Me? Pretty?' I thought a bit to myself but shook out my weird thoughts.

"I am the head of the girl's dorm, Miss Narumi. The female dorms are in that building," she pointed to the right side of the large school and I spotted a large stone building with countless large windows the sun hit. The scale of it was still big even if it was smaller than the main school.

"Your room number is 42A and if you have any questions or need any help, come to me."

She handed me a grey key with "42A" engraved on it and I thanked her again. Miss Narumi then walked off toward the girl's dorms.

'Even the school dorms are large, too.'

Once she left, my attention turned toward the beautiful statue of the fairly like woman who stood in the center of the main school that could grab anyone's attention with its majestic figure. I went over to view it closely.

"The Queen of Sweets Spirits…?" I read aloud, observing the exalted statue.

"There's a legend at this school where if you see a sweets spirit's true form, your dream will be granted," a boy's voice said behind me that caught me by surprise.

I slowly turned around to see a handsome boy about my age with green hair and whose bangs almost covered his bright green eyes. He wore the school uniform and he stood in front of me with a lovely red flower decoration made from icing sugar. His beauty almost made my mouth drop because I'd never seen any guy my age as pretty as him before.

"You must be the new transfer student, Michiko Keiko. I have come to welcome you. I am class 2-A's Hanabusa," the pretty boy introduced himself as I gazed at his flowery appearance. To me, it looked as if sparkles gathered around him out of nowhere.

'Where the hell are these special effects coming from?!' I shook my head to throw away my thoughts.

"Thank you for welcoming me..." I said quietly gathering myself again. The boy, Hanabusa, began to walk toward the school, hinting that I should follow him.

"I heard you went through the baking test for your entrance exam in front of the prestigious Henri Lucas. You really are something if you were able to catch his attention! Henri Lucas is a genius among patissier geniuses," Hanabusa explained.

"Is that so…" I pondered as we kept walking.

'So Henri Lucas is more of a big shot than I thought?'

I glanced at the bouquet of flowers he was holding. It seemed too shiny to be a real rose so I already figured that these roses were candy sculptures.

"May I ask if these roses are candy sculptures?" I asked, gazing at the intricate work on each flower.

"That's right, I tried making the *royal highness (*name for a type of rose) that blooms so beautifully at my home. A present for you, Miss Michiko," Hanabusa handed me the flowers with a kind polite smile that almost made my nose bleed.

"Umm… thank you," I hesitated to accept it but I didn't want to be rude and refuse.

'The work on these flowers is so beautifully done. But why would he hand his hard work to some outsider like me?'

We entered the school and walked up a long flight of stairs.

"Why don't you try some, Miss Michiko?" Hanabusa looked back at me who was following him from behind.

I stopped on one of the steps and looked at the bouquet I'd just received from him.

"I don't want to ruin it—"

"—Hey, don't just stand there. Keep moving!" A boy's voice interrupted me from behind, sounding clearly annoyed.

I stood along the side of the wall to make way for them and finally got a look at them.

Two more handsome boys. One had dirty-blonde hair that held a chocolate sculpture. His bangs almost covered his light brown eyes and he had sharp features that looked a bit fierce.

The other boy had dark brown hair and brown eyes. He wore glasses and his hair was a bit shorter than the other two. He had long eyelashes and his features seemed a bit more relaxed and calm. They truly looked like they were princes who came out of a fairy tale.

When I looked at the boy with the dirty-blonde hair, a sense of familiarity rushed through me because it felt like I'd seen him before.

'Have I seen this guy before? No, that can't be possible. I just saw him today.'

Standing quietly to the side, I had nothing to say in particular besides thinking of how lucky I was to be meeting three handsome guys on my first day of school. But, for some reason, I still couldn't put my finger on where I'd seen the fierce-looking boy with dirty-blonde hair before.

"Why are you staring at me weirdly?" The fierce-looking boy asked suspiciously, furrowing his eyebrows at me, and then I suddenly realized that I was only staring at him.

"Oh, I guess I didn't realize," I spoke faintly.

'I must be losing my mind to think that I've seen him before.'

The boy with the dirty blonde hair held his chocolate sculpture in a glass case with intricately designed chocolate flowers inside.

"I can carry it myself," the fierce boy said to the boy with dark brown hair and glasses who offered a hand.

"Kashino, Andou, this is the new transfer student, Michiko Keiko," Hanabusa introduced as I blatantly stared right at them.

Kashino completely ignored me and continued moving past us.

"Sorry, Kashino is a blunt person," the boy with glasses, named Andou, explained to me.

"It's fine." I paid no mind to Kashino's rudeness.

"Here, open up," Andou instructed and so I opened my mouth. Tossing a green candy into my mouth, I could immediately tell what the flavors were.

'Green tea caramel. It tastes nice…'

"This is a green tea caramel I made. Also, nice to meet you, Miss Michiko," Andou gave me a warm smile and turned away to follow Kashino.

We all followed after Kashino who walked in front of us.

'They all seem to have distinct flavors they reside well in. I think Hanabusa's specialties are flowers and decorating, Andou's specialty is traditional Japanese desserts, and that other boy, Kashino, specializes in chocolate—if my assumptions are correct.'

I analyzed the three boys' specialties at a first glance due to my curiosity, hoping that I'd be correct when they later explain to me what they specialize in. For some reason, I felt excited for my first day of school.