Thinking of a Theme (1)

Chapter 71: Episode 33 - Thinking of a Theme (1)

The next day, Rumi and I saw each other in the hallways and decided to walk to class together. The words that Kashino said to me made me stressed out and Rumi could notice that I was bothered and began consulting me.

"What's causing you to feel so stressed out?" Rumi asked worriedly and I sighed.

"Well, the subject for the 2nd round was announced yesterday and my team's trusting me to think of a theme," I explained as we continued to walk down the hallways.

"A theme, huh…" Rumi pondered. "He's saying some difficult things."

"I know," I replied dejectedly. "As if I don't already have enough on my plate, Kashino's putting more pressure on me just because I'm the leader. Geez, that guy…"

Just thinking about Kashino was making my mouth turn bitter.

"Oh yeah, I heard that the results for the Middle School Division Interim test ranks are out," Rumi brought up as I tried to busy myself with thinking about our theme for the next round.

"The ranks are already out?" I asked her, my face brightening up a bit in anticipation.

"Why are you so excited, Keiko? It's just test results," Rumi looked at me with confusion.

'Do I look that excited? Maybe I am…?'

"Well, it's just that, I only transferred to this school a few months ago so I haven't been ranked yet out of the middle school division. I wonder what place I got?" I wondered.

"Now that I think about it, you're right! You haven't been here too long for the middle school division test ranks so this would be your first. I wonder what kind of student Keiko was at her old school?" Rumi asked, wanting to know. She grabbed my hands and looked at me, her light brown eyes shone with interest. Her sudden actions made me falter.

"Um… Well, since I study a lot, I'd usually get a high score at my old school," I explained nervously.

"Really, a high score? I know Keiko's smart so you probably made it to a high place on the list but Kashino's hard to beat," Rumi stated bluntly.

"Kashino?" I asked in bewilderment, clocking my head to the side.

"Kashino's the prodigy that's been on the top for eternity. The level for St. Marie Academy's lessons in the general education department is pretty high, you know. But no one's been able to steal first place from Kashino since he entered," Rumi explained. "Oh look! Here are the test results! Let's go check them out!"

Closeby, we could see a crowd of people at a bulletin board with a large list of names at the end of the hallway.

As we walked closer to it, we viewed the paper to see where we ranked.

It read:

Middle School Division Interim Test Rank

1. Kashino Makoto - 899

1. Michiko Keiko - 899

"What in the…" Rumi said unbelievably, taking a closer look at the test results. "Oh my god—You and Kashino got the same score?! Both of you are 1st!!!" Rumi pointed out in amazement, freaking out.

"I guess you were right about Kashino being on top," I noticed, continuing to look at the paper.

"Well, he's the son of a doctor who works at a huge hospital—but that's beside the point! I've never heard someone matching up to Kashino when it comes to ranks, but not only that, I've never heard of two people tying 1st place at this school…"

'Well, I was always used to getting the top rank at my previous school and nobody could take my place… By now, it shouldn't be a surprise to me since I study everything but it feels a bit weird sharing 1st place with someone else for once…'

"Wow, Keiko! You're amazing!" Rumi highly praised me who snapped out of my thoughts.

"Thanks, Rumi…" I said with a small smile, unsure of how to respond.

I thought about what Rumi said about Kashino for a bit.

'Kashino's a son of a doctor who works at a huge hospital? Why would a doctor's kid want to be a patissier…? What's the reason behind this? No, there's no time to be thinking about that. Right now, I have to think about the theme.'

* * *

St. Marie Marketplace

To gather some inspiration, I arrived at the St. Marie Marketplace where they displayed and sold fresh fruits at stalls.

I was still a bit bothered about trying to pick a theme but nothing was coming to mind. I picked up a gleaming apple at one of the stands and looked at the beautiful ruby color that gleamed in the sunlight.

'What a pretty apple,' I thought, cupping the fruit in my hands.

"Oh? Is that Keiko?" A girl's voice called out to me and I turned my head their way.

From behind, I saw Natsuki with a wide smile plastered on her face while holding a brown paper bag in one of her hands. Her short black hair almost covered her auburn hazel eyes that looked at me with anticipation.

"Natsuki," I said, noticing her presence.

"Good thing I met you. Could you come with me for a bit?" Natsuki asked and I nodded my head.

"Sure…" I responded and she guided me to the high school division's cooking lab.

Cooking Lab 2

I was a bit confused as to why I was at the high school division's cooking lab until Natsuki and her group members, Mika, Emi, and Rina, brought out a beautiful plate of *mille-feuille.

*Mille-feuille is a rich dessert consisting of many very thin layers of puff pastry and fillings like whipped cream, custard, fruit, etc.

"This is a tropical mille-feuille we made for the second round. Would you mind tasting it for us?" Natsuki asked as I looked at the mille-feuille filled with whipped cream, various assortments of fruit, and glazed with a fruit jam.

'They're allowing me to eat their dessert even if I'm their competition?' I furrowed my eyebrows at this thought because of how open they were being.

"Are you sure it's all right for me to eat this?" I looked at them unsurely and they gave me anticipated grins.

"Well, of course! Team Michiko is using different fruits, right? So we want to hear your thoughts from your great palette!" Natsuki assured.

"Umm… thank you. I shall partake," I said, cutting into the mille-feuille. The 4 girls gathered around me as I cut into their dessert and they seemed very nervous.

I could see the many layers of the puff pastry and the even layers of the filling in between it as well that contained whipped cream and fruits.

Once I put a piece into my mouth, my eyes lit up in surprise.

"Kiwi, papaya, and mango… I can taste the various fruit flavors and the crispy Feuille melt together. It's… as if I can feel all of your passion you put into making this dessert," I said, analyzing each flavor.

'Their skills in sweets are amazing, too…'

I still felt quite hesitant to try out my competitors' dishes since I still hadn't come up with an idea for what my team and I were going to make yet.

"It's funny how you say "passion" because "Passion" is our theme this year," Natsuki explained.

"Is there anything we should do to fix it?" The twins, Emi and Rina, asked in unison.

At this question, I pondered for a bit.

'I don't know if I should help my competitors for the sake of winning this round, but it's not like I can turn them down after how nice they've been to me…'

Many thoughts appeared in my mind, troubling me because I wasn't too sure of what I should do. I didn't know if I should help the competition to make their dish better, or pretend that nothing was wrong.

As if noticing that I was thinking for quite a bit, their anticipated looks quickly turned to dejection.

"Oh, we're sorry… It must be hard since we're the team you're going against…" Mika said sadly. Thoughts continued to cloud my mind but I came to a consensus.

'I could say that their dish tastes fine to downgrade their dish, but I'm not like that. If I want to win this competition, I have to go all-in and take risks! If they win this round because of my help, at least I'll know me and my team went down trying.'

I shook my head in response and their eyes turned gloomy as if I was saying that I wasn't going to help them.

"I noticed that you guys layered cream on top of the fruit in between each layer, but… I suggest that you only put the cream below the fruit since the pastry can get soggy from the whipped cream if it's in direct contact with it. Try doing the puff pastry, then the whipped cream, and then the fruit, this way, your puff pastry on top will still be crispy," I suggested and they nodded their heads along, listening to my every word.

"Now that I think about it, putting the fruit before the cream will make the puff pastry on top, soggy. Wow! We never thought about this before, Keiko! Thank you so much for your advice!" Natsuki praised and I nodded my head with a smile.

"No problem."

"But why did you choose to help us?" Emi and Rina asked together and I faltered on my words for a bit.

"It's because… I don't want to win this round without a challenge. If giving you advice helps you win this round and advance to the next, then my team and I will only know that we weren't ready. I gave advice because I want your dessert to be at its best," I said with a confident smile.

Their eyes glued to me and they didn't blink at all. I was a bit puzzled at how quiet the kitchen was even if it was just the 5 of us in it.

"But we're who you're going against," Mika replied after a short amount of silence.

"I know… and that's why my team and I aren't going down without a fight, no matter what. I could say that your dish didn't need any adjustments, but I'm not like that. If Team Natsuki wins, then that's because Team Michiko is incompetent. If Team Michiko wins, then that's because we tried our best to get past our strong rivals," I explained calmly.

"Awww!" The 4 girls had joyous smiles on their faces as they ran up to hug me.

'Huh, what's going on?'

They all hugged me and I was a bit confused.

"We also wish for the best for Team Michiko, even if we're your opponents!" Natsuki smiled brightly.

"Good luck!" Emi and Rina encouraged.

"May the best team win!" Mika added.

"We look forward to your creation, too!" Natsuki said after they finished hugging me.

At her words, I froze in place.

'Ah, shit! I still haven't decided on the fruit or the theme yet!'

Panic started to run through my mind and all I could make out was a nervous chuckle.

"Haha, thank you… Now that I think about it, I have an errand to run. See you!"

I waved goodbye to them and dashed out of the high school division's cooking lab.