Unexpected Competitor (1)

Chapter 69: Episode 32 - Unexpected Competitor (1)

It was time for dinner and I joined the Sweets Princes over to the cafeteria to get food. As we were getting our food, we saw that there were more people in the cafeteria than usual and it made me a bit uncomfortable being around a large crowd.

"Wow, there's a lot of people in the cafeteria today," I noticed uncomfortably.

"It's because they'll announce the 2nd round matches soon," Kashino explained, holding his lunch tray.

As I was grabbing some food to eat, I heard some familiar voices.

"Mister, the pineapple core's left on."

"This is a rough cut."

"The kiwi still hasn't ripened."

"And the banana's brown, too."

I turned around to surprisingly see a girl with short black hair with twin girls and a girl with plump lips in our school wearing the school's uniform. They'd been complaining about the fruits' quality to the chef in the cafeteria.

"Excuse me… is that Natsuki?" I asked surprisingly and the girls looked at me in astonishment.

"Keiko?! ...You're a student here?" Natsuki came up to me in shock with her lunch tray in her hands.

"Oh, yeah… Me and these three guys," I said, pointing to the Sweets Princes as well who looked at the girls in surprise, too.

After deciding that we'd talk after sitting down, the 4 girls quickly prepared some freshly cut fruits out of nowhere and presented them to us.

"Well, eat up, eat up. I'm happy you guys are our juniors!" Natsuki said with a bright smile.

"We're in our first year of high school, so that makes us two years apart," the girl with plump lips, named Mika, explained. The Sweets Princes and I couldn't believe that they'd pull the fruit out of nowhere and already prepared them so quickly.

"Thank you for the meal yesterday. I couldn't forget the taste of the fruits you girls prepared for us," I praised them gratefully.

"Well, Keiko helped us as well! And about the fruits, that's because we get a direct delivery from the producing area from our parents' homes in Okinawa," Natsuki explained.

"Your parents' home?" Kashino asked.

"Yep, we're daughters of Okinawa fruit plantations. We came to the capital aiming to become patissiers," Natsuki said, holding a pineapple in her hands.

"We're all childhood friends!" The twins, Emi and Rina, said cheerfully, their eyes brightening up.

'Okinawa? Did they come this far for this school? Although my home is far away, Okinawa is further away, about 4 hours or so…'

"Why'd you go out of your way to come this far out?" I asked them and Natsuki gave a small smile.

"That's because this school produces lots of famous patissiers. Our dream is to open a sweets shop in the future, making sweets with Okinawa fruits," Natsuki told us heartwarmingly.

"And to make a huge impact in Tokyo!" Mika interjected.

"We've been cutting fruits since we were little, so we're used to it," Natsuki continued but I pondered a bit.

"No… it's because you know each and every fruit thoroughly that you can do this," I responded, looking them in the eyes.

'Though they've grown up on plantation farms, their skills are quite difficult to replicate if you don't work with fruits quite often. I can only match up with them in skill because my mom worked with fruits quite often as well and began teaching me since I was young. Because of this experience, they can cut fruits and present them easily.'

"Awww! Keiko says such sweet words! You know, you should come work at the Fruits Paradise cafe with us! The chef wants to hire you as well after seeing your skills!" Natsuki pointed out, winking at me as I clocked my head to the side.

"Hahaha, I'll think about it," I chuckled nervously.

"I know I've heard the name Michiko Keiko before but I just can't think of where your name was brought up…" Mika pondered for a bit, thinking thoroughly. "Wait. Maybe—"

The sound of rustling paper interrupted Mika's sentence. Up at the front of the cafeteria was a bulletin board and we saw a man putting up a large paper.

"The matches for the second round are out!" The man announced which caught everyone's attention. People began rushing up to the front to see who was paired up with which team. We too went up to the bulletin board to look for our name.

"MS2 Team Michiko vs. HS1 Team Natsuki."

'What the…? Natsuki and the others are participants of the Grand Prix as well?'

I was taken aback for a moment to see that Natsuki and her team were looking at me with wide eyes as if they weren't expecting this outcome.

"Keiko's group… is in the Grand Prix, too?! So, the middle school team that won through is Keiko's?" Natsuki wondered in confusion.

"I thought it seemed weird at first when I first heard your name. She's the "Ice Princess" of the middle school division," Mika announced to her team members and the girls' eyes widened up even more in shock.

"Didn't she and her team get a perfect score in the first round?" Emi pointed out.

"Not only that, but they won against a high school team as well…" Rina added on.

At this realization, they gulped in nervousness.

'I didn't think that nickname meant that much…?'

"Regardless if you're the "Ice Princess," we're aiming for victory so be prepared!" Natsuki spoke confidently, disregarding this information to remain indifferent.

'We were getting along so well but now we have to fight against each other… But, my team and I won't give in, regardless of who we have to go against.'

I gave a quick glance to the Sweets Princes who had a confident smirk on their faces. Seeing how fearless they were made me smile.

"We won't lose to you and your team," I spoke confidently to them.

As I could still see the worry in their faces from the revelation, Kashino walked up to the bulletin board to get a closer look.

"Hey," Kashino grabbed our attention. "Look, this is the round's subject."

I walked up to the bulletin board to read: "2nd Round - Subject: "A plated dessert and glass sweet using fruits as the main ingredient."

"Are you serious?" Andou said unbelievably and I could see the confident faces of the Sweets Princes turn to nervousness at this information. Natsuki and her team's faces livened up with this information, their expressions turning to relief.

'Natsuki and the others are our opponents and they clearly have an advantage this round when they can make such beautiful servings of fruit… Though the Sweets Princes have different fields where they specialize, I can only do my best to aid them this round with fruit as something I specialize more in…'

Though confidence was apparent in Team Natsuki's faces and Team Michiko's was in pure anxiousness, I gave the Sweets Princes a confident smile, telling them not to give up and I could see their expressions ease up.

'No matter what, we have to win against Team Natsuki this round. If not, we won't be eligible to continue through the Grand Prix. For us… for our dreams… We can't give up just yet!'

"Well, Team Natsuki," I said courageously, without showing any ounce of nervousness to the team specializing in fruits. "We look forward to what you will bring to the competition. Good luck."

At this bold claim, the girls looked nervously at me once again. The confidence they had before when they read the topic disappeared for a moment after my words.

"Same to you, Keiko," Natsuki said with a cheerful look on her face, trying her best to restore her team's positivity. She analyzed me and the Sweets Princes one by one.

"I guess the name "Team Michiko" isn't just for show. When I first heard about you guys, I thought it was just a princess being protected by her three princes, but I know you all have skill. I look forward to meeting you in the second round." Natsuki shot us a peace sign before turning away.

"See you around, Rose Prince, Specs Prince, and *Petit Prince," Mika said, blowing a kiss at Andou, Hanabusa, and Kashino who pondered at their weird nicknames.

*Petit means "small" in French.

The girls said their farewells and walked away.