Second Round (5)

Chapter 79: Episode 34 - Second Round (5)

I locked my eyes on something that I prepared at my station. I recalled that I made a lot more than intended because I had nothing else to work on at that time—the strawberry coulis that was still warm!

Without hesitation, I quickly grabbed a small pouring cup filled with the warm strawberry coulis (5 for each person) and began setting up a cart, putting our desserts on top.

"Team Michiko, are you not ready yet? It's time," the announcer instructed just in time for me to finish up.

"Ah, yes. Thank you for waiting," I said, slowly rolling our desserts on a cart over to the judging panel.

Our chocolate flower and glass dessert could be seen rolling in and everybody's eyes widened in surprise. The cart had a white tablecloth on top with some red and white strawberries scattered randomly as well.

"Oh, Team Michiko has brought out a wagon full of strawberries. It's as if a strawberry field has appeared!" The announcer said in amazement.

I made eye contact with the three sweets princes as they looked at me in confusion after the sudden appearance of a strawberry cart with our flower desserts placed on top. Although it was not part of the plan, the desserts were neatly organized on the cart in a short span of time, which made the judging panel and the audience's eyes look at it in curiosity.

Everyone thought that Team Natsuki had the upper hand but no one had expected that Team Michiko would also make the eyes of the onlookers curious.

Andou, Hanabusa, and Kashino began to gently place our desserts in front of the judges and people from the sidelines peered over their shoulders to get a better glimpse of our dish.

"Hello and welcome. Today's dessert has strawberries as the main fruit. We wanted to "Show Our Love" to you, so please enjoy it," I introduced our dish at the front with a calm and collected smile.

"Ah? Is it just a chocolate sphere with some gaps in between?" A student from the judging panel asked.

"Though it may appear that way, we have called this type of dessert the "Chocolate Blooming Flower". If you may, I recommend using the warm strawberry coulis sauce seated at your side to 'bloom' this flower by pouring it along the outside of the bent chocolate," I said calmly with a small smile on my face without fully revealing my intentions.

The judges looked over at the pouring cup plated next to them and peeked inside to view the contents inside the cup. It contained a sort of dark red sauce that resembled the color of ripe strawberries.

The three sweets princes looked at me in confusion as I brought up an element that was not originally intended. Where I got it and what it was used for was questionable but they didn't forwardly bring it up. I could tell that in their eyes, they trusted me.

Listening to my recommendation, the five judges grabbed the cup of warm strawberry coulis and began pouring the contents around the chocolate petals. As the warm heat of the strawberry coulis hit the chocolate base stationed at the bottom, the petals began slowly unfolding, revealing our main dessert inside.

"W-Wow! That's amazing!"

"This is a brilliant idea! I've never seen this before!"

"The coulis sauce melts the chocolate at the right temperature to bloom the flower!"

"In the center is a strawberry cheesecake mousse and heart-shaped macarons garnished with blueberries, raspberries, and the red and white strawberries. Please enjoy," I explained, revealing the center of the flower.

After the reveal, the sweets princes looked at me in astonishment after creating the wow-factor that we didn't have before.

"The center is so cute! A white strawberry on a red heart macaron. There's also strawberry ice cream in between. This looks amazing!" The student from the judging panel exclaimed in excitement, quickly digging into it. "The crispy macaron and the ice cream match well—and it tastes good!"

"I see, it's not just ice cream that's in between. The thin layer of chocolate cream in this one draws the attention," Teacher Ameya, our cooking lab teacher, claimed with satisfaction as she ate a different macaron.

"Because this verrine* has a lot of layers, it's not just entirely strawberries," Mr. Karashima said, taking a bite of our glass dessert.

*Verrine: a small, thick-walled glass container with no base, whose purpose is to hold a solid or liquid dish (starter, main course, or dessert). Kind of like a parfait.

"Ah, inside this white heart macaron is a white chocolate cake and a coulis sauce flowing from the middle. Ho ho, it's still hot!" Chairman Moriyama said with a happy smile on his jolly face.

"The sweetness of the white chocolate cake and the sourness of the strawberry sauce does its work," a student from the judging panel brought up. "Now that I think about it, it's sweet, sour, and a little bitter but the balance is just right. When I think it's hot, there's an element that chills it. And the blooming of the flower petals—I see now… this is the message of "Showing Your Love" that you wanted to express where it's like you're presenting your heart out of a blooming flower!"

'The message got across!' I smiled at this thought and nodded my head.

"This is a pretty good battle! Now then, it seems like the judges are deep in thought. Just how will it turn out? Will it be Team Natsuki's "Waves of Passion", or will it be Team Michiko's "Show Your Love?" The announcer asked the audience as everyone began voicing their opinions about who would win. The cameras panned back to both teams as tension filled the air.

Glancing over at Team Natsuki again, their once smirk-filled faces turned into serious expressions with their hands slightly trembling. Well, I could say that my hands were trembling as well due to the stress.

"As we're pressed for time, we'll announce the scores as they're totaled," the announcer began, holding a slip he received from the judging panel.

'I just hope I did enough to keep us in this competition. Our dreams are on the line so if we don't make it past this round… I don't know what will happen…' I began to grow anxious and I could feel my breathing grow heavy from the anxiety.

"First is Technique… Team Michiko received—95 points! In comparison to Team Natsuki's Technique, Team Michiko is only 1 point off of Technique!"

"We got 95 points in Technique? What the hell—Just how?!" Andou asked us as a light soared in his eyes.

"We're only one point off from tying to Natsuki's team in Technique. Who would've expected that?" Hanabusa commented but Kashino and I kept quiet.

Peering over at Team Natsuki, I could see that they were holding their breaths along with us.

"Let's not get too excited yet. They still have two more categories to announce," I reminded them calmly while silently gritting my teeth.

"Next is Taste. Team Michiko received… 92 points!"

"Yes! We're leading by 3 points overall!" Andou exclaimed in excitement but I didn't plan on celebrating early.

'Though we're just leading by 3 points, if we receive less than an 86 on Theme, it will be all over and Team Natsuki will win this round…'

Due to the stress of the announcement, I unknowingly grabbed someone's hand right next to me and gripped it. I could feel them grip mine back in anticipation as we awaited our results.

"And last but not least, for Taste, Team Michiko received… 94 POINTS!!! Team Michiko earned a total of 281 POINTS!!!"

"N-no way…" I mumbled to myself. "J-just how?"

"Congratulations middle school 2nd-year Team Michiko! You have won with an 8 point difference between Team Natsuki! You are now qualified to go through to the next round!" The announcer exclaimed as the room went silent.

'What...?'

.

.

.

"YEAH! TEAM MICHIKO!"

"GOOD JOB!"

"YOU DID AMAZING!"

"TEAM MICHIKO! TEAM MICHIKO! TEAM MICHIKO!"

"AWESOME JOB, ICE PRINCESS AND SWEET PRINCES!"

"They won against a high school team with an 8 point lead? It was close but Team Michiko received all of their scores in the 90s."

"They're amazing for a middle school 2nd-year team!"

I guess it hadn't completely hit me as cheering could be heard throughout the salon. I was still stunned at the numbers on the electronic screen at the front.

"Hey, Keiko! Congrats! Your team won!" Fraise said from inside my chef's hat which had completely snapped me out of my thoughts. Since I heard it one more time, I now finally realized that we'd won.

I loosened the grip on the hand I was holding and let go. My hand covered my mouth and I looked at my three teammates who I worked alongside with.

"Guys… We did it…" I told them who stood completely still as if they hadn't fully registered that we'd won either. In comparison to Team Natsuki's dish, our dessert couldn't have even been compared to theirs at first but somehow, we pulled through.

Without realizing it, I hugged the three sweets princes separately which seemed to have shaken them out of their daze.

"M-Michiko? What are you—?" Andou, Hanabusa, and Kashino asked in unison as I gave them hugs of relief.

"I just want to stay like this only for a moment longer," I said to them as we gathered around to form a circle. I held their hands and gripped them tightly.

"Congratulations, Team. We won."