Second Round (2)

Chapter 76: Episode 34 - Second Round (2)

We worked into the night and hadn't even noticed that we fell asleep at our stations.

"Achoo!"

The sound of somebody sneezing began to slowly wake me up from my slumber.

'Why is it so cold?'

The surface I laid my head upon was cold like ice and my thin hands were freezing. I opened my eyes to look at my surroundings and saw Hanabusa and Andou sleeping at their stations.

'It's already morning?'

"Oh no… we all fell asleep. At this rate, they'll catch colds," I said, coming back to my senses as I lifted my head up from the counter.

When I looked to my right, I jolted up in shock—a handsome boy with shiny dirty blonde hair that almost covered his eyes, long eyelashes, and a slender, pale face with sharp eyebrows and straight lips—laid his head right next to me on the counter. We were so close that I could practically feel the warmth emitting from his body.

As I took an exceptionally long time to admire his features, I could feel blood rush to my cheeks in embarrassment.

'Gosh, what the hell is wrong with me?'

I quietly stood up to not wake him but I felt something brush down my back onto the floor. When I went to pick it up, there were three chef jackets that were on the ground. I looked around the area to see that Kashino, Hanabusa, and Andou weren't wearing their chef jackets.

'Don't tell me… they all put their chef's jackets over me?'

A small smile formed on my lips when I picked up their jackets and looked at the three of them.

'How sweet…'

Once I picked the jackets up, I gently laid each jacket on their designated owners once I looked at the name tag embroidered on the left chest pocket.

'It's usually colder in the mornings but it is October. I guess I'll make some *Chocolat Chaud. Kashino made it before when I was struggling with my chocolate torte cake…'

*Chocolat Chaud, also referred to as "Parisian hot chocolate," is a luxuriously thick and phenomenally rich hot chocolate that isn't overly sweet. It is usually made with milk rather than cream.

When I finished making the Chocolat Chaud, I poured the rich hot chocolate into three mugs for each of the Sweets Princes.

'This will warm up the cold body when they feel cold… Wait, that's it! I think I've figured it out!'

* * *

"Did you hear, Tennouji? It seems like Team Michiko is going to face off against the Okinawa daughters," said a tall boy with shiny, blue hair up to his neck that covered his ears and parts of his eyes. He had particularly handsome and sharp features which resembled that of an easygoing yet cunning guy.

"I did hear about that," said the calm and collected Tennouji Mari whose long, honey-blonde hair was tied up into a high ponytail.

Four people stood at a station in the high school's cooking lab as they practiced perfecting their confections. Of those four was the easygoing and handsome Kaidou Rui, the high school division's student council vice president, Saeki Ryo, a level-headed and analytical person, Takigawa Reiji, a well-informed and outgoing boy, and lastly, Tennouji Mari, the composed and serious student council president. The four of them together made up the acclaimed and intimidating group, Team Tennouji.

"They can't beat Natsuki's team when it comes to fruits," Takigawa Reiji said, doubting Team Michiko's abilities.

"Even Natsuki's team is better than us," Saeki Ryo said with a straight face.

"At any rate, our Princess Mari is serious this year, isn't she?" Kaidou Rui said to Tennouji Mari with a mischievous smile but she shot him a calm face.

"Well, pardon me, Rui. I am always serious," she said with a confident smile without faltering on her words.

Rui looked at her and he scoffed at her words.

"Now then, it's time to try it. Tomorrow's the second round," Tennouji claimed, finishing their dessert for the upcoming round.

"Huh, I guess it's real unfortunate for our opponent to go up against us that I almost feel bad," Reiji said, laughing to himself without a bit of guilt in his tone.

Team Tennouji laughed together, their expressions remaining serious yet relaxed. Just from their composure, it could already be said that they were going to win the Grand Prix, no matter who they faced. They were, after all, the best 4 students in the high school division, let alone the entire academy.

But little did they know that they were underestimating an up-and-coming competitor whose popularity was shooting at a staggering rate.

* * *

In the middle school division's cooking lab

"It's time. Is everybody ready to head out?" I asked my group members. We stood in the cooking lab, pumped up and ready to face our challenging opponent.

"You spirits should get into our hats," Andou instructed the four spirits who willingly followed, sneaking under our tall chef hats.

'The stage for the second round will be set in Salon de Marie and many people will be watching us… I just hope that what we've done so far will be enough for us to go on to the next round…'

I suddenly began to worry that maybe we couldn't make it past Team Natsuki. I may seem calm and composed on the outside, but I guess it really is just me putting on a face.

I was really nervous.

"Keiko, you look a bit… down…" Fraise noticed which snapped me out of my thoughts and back to reality.

"I'm fine, really," I told Fraise, confirming it with a small smile and she eventually dropped the topic.

In reality, I wasn't fine. If we were to fail this round, that would mean that I failed me and my teammates… I really want to go to the St. Marie branch in France where my mother trained, but I'm just concerned that the opponents are too good for us to get through. Not only that, but it still felt like the dessert was missing something, no matter how hard we tried to revise it. I still couldn't figure it out.

'No… what am I thinking? We did our best to perfect our dessert with practice. Like I told Team Natsuki, if I and my team fail, that would only mean that we are incompetent, so that's why… I need to work even harder!'

After this thought, I began to gain a little bit more faith that my team and I worked hard to get to where we were right now. Although I was worried about failing, I wasn't ready to go down without a fight.

"Ugh, why do we have to hide?" Chocolat asked in distaste as she hid under Kashino's toque.

"Yeah, I don't like hiding under these stupid hats either!" Caramel complained in irritation when she peeked out of Andou's toque.

"I know it's a bit cramped up there but please hold on for a bit longer," Andou chuckled hesitantly, trying to calm his pouty sweets spirit down.

"That's strange. Other spirits should have come here by now," Cafe said, peeking out of Hanabusa's toque.

"I can feel their presence," Chocolat admitted.

"That's right. I never saw spirits last year when we advanced to the third round. They probably don't participate in human contests," Kashino said.

'They don't participate in human contests? I guess it could be because they want their human partners to display their skills themselves in these contests without their help,' I thought to myself.

"Instead of that, you all should concentrate on this match. I won't forgive any of you if you make a mistake against our opponent," Kashino directed at us coldly, walking away to leave the cooking lab.

"Geez, Kashino. Lighten up a little bit," Andou said nervously, quickly following after him.

'Well, he's right. If we make even a tiny mistake, that could cost us the entire Grand Prix. Our opponents are tough.'

"All right. Let's go to Salon de Marie," I instructed, putting on a more confident expression on my face.

* * *

Once we made it to Salon de Marie, which was a famous patisserie that the high school division ran. Many students quickly gathered around the salon to observe the upcoming match, along with a crowd of curious outsiders who paid to observe the match.

In the center of the elegant salon was a long table where 5 judges sat. Two of those judges were students and the other 3 were Chairman Moriyama, Teacher Ameya, and Mr. Karashima who previously judged the rounds before.

Two stations were set up in the center of the salon as my team and Team Natsuki waited on standby for the round to finally start.

I looked around at the many people gathered there to watch us, but for some reason, I didn't feel nervous.

I stood face to face with Natsuki and I could see that she didn't look that energetic or bubbly when she faced me. Her face stood still like a statue as if she was either nervous or serious. The other 3 girls on her team also had an anxious look on their faces when they looked at me but I couldn't figure out why. It didn't feel like we were much of an obstacle to begin with, but even so, it looked like they felt intimidated by our calmness.

I looked at the Sweets Princes to see that they weren't the least bit nervous. Kashino had a smug look on his face, Hanabusa was busy combing his green hair back to get it out of his eyes, and Andou had a light smile form on his lips… Did we look that intimidating?

"Without further ado, the Grand Prix 2nd Round, Team Natsuki vs. Team Michiko will be starting!" The student announcer from the commentary club said which got everyone's attention.

"The subject, as written on the bulletin board in the cafeteria, will be a plated dessert and glass dessert using fruits as the main. The time limit is 4 hours. The categories will be the same as Round 1: Taste, Technique, and Theme, BUT… two students have been added to the judging panel by lottery for today's matches. This time, scores from FIVE people in total will determine the victory. Are there any questions!?"

The room went silent and the announcer looked around awkwardly.

"It doesn't seem like there are any questions SO… both teams, TAKE! YOUR! PLACES!"

Once directions were set, we quickly moved to our stations and designated places.

"I'm looking forward to your dessert, Keiko," Natsuki said to me with her bright smile that I was more used to.

"I, as well, Natsuki," I responded calmly and she gave me a crooked smile that spelt out confusion. I was even more bewildered by her look when I finally arrived at my place.

'Natsuki is usually cheerful and energetic, but what was with that look just now?'

When I glanced over at her and her team again, they all had crooked smiles on their faces.

"Hey, what's up with their faces?" Kashino asked the three of us who stood at our stations, more confused than before.

"Hmm, I don't know either," Andou said.

"Didn't they look intimidated a second ago?" Hanabusa brought up.

'Hmm… they did look a bit nervous a second ago but why are they putting up smiles now? What are they trying to prove?'

I was a bit stuck on the thought for a bit but when I looked at the confident smiles on their faces, I could see the twins, Emi and Rina, the girl with plump lips, Mika, and Natsuki herself—all of their hands were… trembling.

'Could it be?'