Down to the Wire (2)

Chapter 96: S2 Episode 2 - Down to the Wire (2)

'We… lost?'

As we finished serving all of our pumpkin cakes, I was at a complete loss for words. The only thing I could do was look over at Team Tennouji's Egg Tart shop which had the four high school 3rd years stare confidently in our direction.

I met contact with Tennouji Mari and her honey-gold eyes showed no sign of fear or anxiousness.

They had done it. They had gotten 1st.

It was the first moment of my life that I felt hopeless after the death of my mother. I did my best to live a quiet and peaceful life so that I could succeed, but joining this school made my head completely flip over. We didn't get 1st place.

"W-we… lost…" I said faintly, drooping my head down to the ground. I clenched my hands into a fist and I could feel Fraise's small hands rub my cheek.

"It was just 1st place, Keiko. We didn't lose!" Fraise reminded me but I shook my head in regret.

"But we DID lose. If only I'd been faster at serving, we would've gotten first and immediately admitted into the finals!" I exclaimed, agitation running up my throat to the point where it felt like thorns were pricking me.

'It's all my fault… I'm was incompetent in serving these people that I took my eyes off of the task at hand. If only I hadn't paid attention to anything else that was going on at Team Koshiro's shop or Team Tennouji's shop! I cost us this admission…'

I couldn't help but feel guilt from this. I usually wouldn't care about trivial things, but I could understand why some people could get so worked up about something they cared so much about. In this instance, I was the same as them.

*FLICK!*

"Geez, Michiko. You're acting like we lost this whole competition!" Kashino scolded in annoyance, flicking my forehead with his fingers.

"Ow! What was that for?!" I complained, rubbing my aching forehead.

"We got 2nd place out of 9 teams. Isn't that already an accomplishment?" Hanabusa asked me but I didn't know how to answer.

"..."

"Team Tennouji got 1st but so what? We'll still be making it to the semi-finals," Andou added but I couldn't help but furrow my eyebrows in frustration.

"But you guys aren't getting it! I-If we got first place this round, then we'd go straight into the finals! If I hadn't directed my attention towards what the other two teams were doing, I could've served the customers faster," I explained harshly, gritting my teeth.

"Keiko, calm down. It's ok—" Fraise began.

"—No! It'S NoT oKAy!" I said, my voice becoming scratchy.

I hadn't had this feeling in a long time since I would usually disregard my emotions, but the familiar feeling of tears formed in my eyes. This competition was really changing me.

"I'm leaving for now so none of you even think about following me! You too, Fraise!" I announced in our shop that no longer had customers crowding it.

The boys, their sweets spirits, and Fraise froze in their place like statues and I quickly left the empty shop to take a breather.

Once I had left, I could feel water trickling down my eyes and I quickly wiped it away.

'Geez, what is wrong with me?'

* * *

Michiko Keiko quickly retired to her dorm and curled up in a ball on the floor by her bedside. She refused to lay down and she refused to even make a sound.

Her crying was as silent as a mouse to the point where she looked so helpless. If anybody were to hear her, they wouldn't even think that she was crying.

Her teammates had never seen her cry before and she would make sure it would stay that way. Keiko viewed crying as a useless emotion she hated feeling. She believed that if she cried, it would show weakness to the people around her.

She truly hated when people worried about her that she tried to do her best in everything so that nobody would show their concern. But, she didn't know that as much as she tried to push away the people who cared about her, their concern for her would only grow the more she tried to force herself.

Her dream about becoming a world-famous patissiere was serious, but to have an unexpected outburst like this was unheard of from her.

Meanwhile, at Team Michiko's Pumpkin Cakeshop, the three boys, their sweets spirits, and Fraise were completely silent where they still hadn't moved from their places. They could still remember Michiko Keiko's cold glare from her bright blue eyes that she never exposed towards them.

They didn't know what that meant or whether they were the ones who had angered her. Truly, in their eyes, Michiko Keiko's expression had frightened them out of their wits. The usual flowery Hanabusa had a hardened expression. The smiley and calm Andou had blank eyes. The serious and firm Kashino Makoto had shown his first obvious expression of worry.

The quiet and aloof new girl who slowly became known as a confident, intelligent, cautious, and strong-willed girl to them—had done something that everyone in the empty cake shop could all admit.

Just when they thought that they were starting to learn about Michiko Keiko down to her expressions and thoughts, this revealed to all of them that they didn't know her at all. The face she put on back there was something she'd never shown to anyone and it only guaranteed the fact that there was a lot of conflict behind that glare, whether it be a conflict with herself or with her teammates.

They knew that this Grand Prix meant a lot to Keiko because she aspired to become a world-renown patissiere like someone she knew, but didn't she also know that this Grand Prix meant a lot to her teammates as well?

They believed that not getting 1st place wasn't such a big deal for her to become angry over, but none of them could muster the balls to calm her down or follow her. That was why they remained unmoved from their places.

"What's wrong with her?"

It was Kashino who broke the silence.

"Truthfully, I don't know either. I've never seen her like that," Fraise spoke next.

"I mean, we still got 2nd place which means we qualify for the semi-finals," Andou added, trying to sound optimistic.

"After they announced the sudden change during service, it meant that if a team could get 1st place, they'd be in the finals. Even if we got 2nd place, it means that we still have to fight," Hanabusa explained.

"But who knows what they'll do for the semi-finals. They might change up the situation like they did today." Kashino scoffed at this thought and crossed his arms. "We can still win this."

After their brief discussion, they nodded their heads in agreement and carried on with cleaning up the shop without their other teammate.

They wouldn't question her actions further, but they eagerly waited for her return.