First Round (2)

Chapter 55: Episode 27 - First Round (2)

"As expected of the high school division, they make no unnecessary movements," Rumi noticed as she looked at Team Ichimatsu.

"H-hey those ingredients…" One girl beside her pointed out the ingredients Team Ichimatsu was using.

"Whoa, they're using that many nuts," Rumi said in surprise.

"More importantly, look at those chestnuts Ichimatsu Matsuya is using! He's using those big ones so liberally."

"The coffee by that guy smells really wonderful…"

"It'd be nice if the lemon-blueberry or green tea could compete with those."

Rumi shifted her attention towards Keiko and the Sweets Princes. She saw that Keiko was slicing up peaches.

"Eh, peaches? I thought she was doing lemon-blueberry?" Rumi muttered to herself in shock. "Wait, Kashino's using white chocolate and Andou's cake became black tea… They changed their menu in one night… Why?" Rumi pondered at this sudden change in ingredients, not understanding their decision.

~

"Mm~smells great," the student announcer walked around the kitchen, observing the different teams and their choice of ingredients. "Most teams are baking their cakes now. Let's take a look around."

The announcer's gaze fell towards Team Ichimatsu and so he quickly ventured over there to observe.

"This is HS Year 1's Team Ichimatsu. He and his team members are the owners of various sweets that have been displayed at Salon de Marie. Lots of people are anticipating this battle against their opposing team."

The announcer looked at their resting pound cakes, each with a discernible appeal and smell.

"Ooooh! Go-gorgeous! This one here is a chocolate pound; I just can't get enough of this sweet smell. And this one here is a full-of-nuts pound; the caramelized nuts are fragrant. The coffee marble, wow, uses Kilimanjaro coffee and gives off a wonderful aroma… And finally, the leader, Ichimatsu Matsuya's chestnut pound. He used the highest grade of Japanese chestnuts." The announcer analyzed each of their pound cakes before stepping closer toward Ichimatsu.

"Say, Ichimatsu, I heard you made a bet with the middle school's 'Ice Princess.' Do you think she'll go on a date with you if you win that bet?" The announcer handed over the mic to Ichimatsu who had an arrogant smirk on his face.

"Of course my team is going to win. Since we shook hands on it, she and I will have to go on a date," Ichimatsu gave a snarky smile though I furrowed my face in disgust.

'This sly jerk, running his mouth again. If he weren't my senior, I'd punch him in the face.'

"Okay then! Let's move on to Team Michiko! Oh, Team Michiko is done as well." The announcer turned his head in our direction.

As he saw our cakes, he went silent at the sight of them.

"Th-this is plain-no, pretty simple?" He said unsurely as he looked at our pound cakes. "The known Ice Princess and Leader Michiko Keiko just has a pink peach pound. It's rare to see the chocolate specialist, Kashino, use white chocolate. Unexpectedly, the user of Japanese ingredients, Andou, has a black tea pound. And finally, Hanabusa who turns sweets into something splendid made—"

BEEP--

"—Oh, time's up! Stop working!" The announcer instructed and everybody stopped what they were doing after the 2-hour timer went off.

"The tasting will follow. The judges will come around so please place 4 cakes on 1 plate. First up will be Team Ichimatsu."

Team Ichimatsu seemed calm and collected as the whole room went silent. This really was one of the more anticipated rounds with my team going against his.

Ichimatsu elegantly cut up the pound cakes he and his team made and presented them on a platter, each one shining brilliantly under the bright lights.

"Thank you for waiting." Ichimatsu moved the platter towards the judges who had stunned looks on their faces.

"Ooh, even the plating is gorgeous!" The announcer interjected.

'I swear to god if this announcer can't stay quiet for one second, I will pull my ears out.'

I was beginning to grow irritated from the announcer's constant commentary, though I couldn't hate him since he was only doing his job.

"We did it with the image of 'An autumn night for a family to enjoy.' Please try it," Ichimatsu kindly instructed and the judging panel happily partook in the pound cakes, tasting each pound cake presented.

"Hmm, the aroma of nuts that spreads around in my mouth… the flavor widens as I chew thoroughly," Chairman Moriyama happily said.

"It goes well with the chocolate and coffee ones. This "richness" has an adult flavor." Mr. Karashima stared at the pound cakes as he took a bite.

"The chestnuts, these Japanese chestnuts scattered all over, oh no-I can't get enough," our cooking class teacher said, losing herself in the pound cake.

The three judges gathered around privately to discuss Team Ichimatsu's results.

"Each one has a mellowness when eaten. It's an autumn midnight tea-time for adults," the judges talked together.

On the electronic grading panel shown at the front, the score was up for Team Ichimatsu.

Under Taste: a regular circle ⚪ (high), Technique: a double circle ⦾ (highest), and Theme: a regular circle ⚪ (high).

"Oh! Team Ichimatsu has received high appraisals all of a sudden. They've got a seldom seen Double Circle!" The announcer announced the score.

"Yeah, Team Ichimatsu!"

"Get a date with the girl!"

"They'll definitely win!"

Rumi and the girls from our class had worried looks on their faces once the score was shown and I could see their concerned looks shift over to me. I gave them a small smile to reassure them that everything was going to be alright. I wasn't going to give myself up to that high school jerk.

Ichimatsu turned his head towards me and we met gazes. His lips curled into an arrogant smirk but I put on a fake smile that read: I'm not going out with you, you weirdo.

"Now then, next is Team Michiko!"

The judges walked over to my team with their clipboards and saw our plain pound cakes. Chairman Moriyama shot me a worried glance at first but I gave him a small smile that assured him that he didn't need to worry.

"Please wait a moment," Hanabusa instructed as he got ready a carving knife to cut the pound cakes. "I will now guide you to a rose garden."

Hanabusa began gracefully cutting our pound cakes, quickly arranging and moving the slices of pound cakes around.

"W-wow, he's cutting the cakes so fast and so elegantly. This time, he's arranging the food with splendor. What's born from those supple fingertips is… A rose, a large-flowered rose! This is a graduation of a cross-colored rose! Furthermore, it's beautiful!"

Hanabusa had cut our pound cakes and formed a stunning cake that was shaped like a rose. His rose pound cake that he'd worked hard on was placed in the middle, Andou's black tea was placed just outside it, my peach pound layered just under the black tea, and Kashino's white chocolate pound layed on the outer ring. Each slice of the pound cakes gave the illusion of a rose's petals.

"Wow… stunning…" Mr. Karashima's mouth gaped wide open in shock.

"Unbelievably ravishing," our teacher complimented our work.

"This is beautiful!" Chairman Moriyama peered closer at our cake with his glasses. He took a glance at me and he gave an approving smile. I shot him a confident look back and stepped forward to explain our image.

"We had the image of "A family playing in a rose garden," I explained.

"Please enjoy the tastes and aromas," Hanabusa finished and the judges nodded.

Our cooking class teacher took a piece of Hanabusa's rose pound and smelled it.

"Roses is it? That is quite a difficult thing to…" She took a bite of the cake and chewed. Before completing her sentence, her eyes dazed out in reminiscence. "Th-this is… it's the natural aroma of roses as it is, fermented butter and rose jam is kneaded into this. It's moist and fragrant and it's kind of heartrending. It's the first with this kind of cake…"

Chairman Moriyama took a bite of my peach pound cake.

"This peach pound is also fruity and very refreshing. The juice from the peaches is still bursting in my mouth," Chairman Moriyama analyzed.

"Nuts with white chocolate, a sweet and gentle texture…" Mr. Karashima ate Kashino's pound cake.

"The taste of this black tea is refreshing and braces all the flavors," Teacher took a bite of Andou's.

Once the judges finished tasting, they went away to discuss the results of our team privately. They nodded their heads as if they came to a consensus and told the people in charge of the scoring what we'd received.

"Did Team Michiko receive high marks, we'll see shortly!" The announcer spoke after the judges finished up.

Suddenly, starting off from Theme: we'd received a double circle ⦾. Next was Technique…

'What? How is that…?'