Sachertorte Cake

Chapter 118: S2 Episode 17 - Sachertorte Cake

I followed her out of the room and back to the lobby to fetch Andou, Hanabusa, and the sweets spirits.

We climbed into an elevator and reached the top floor where his family's home was located. Once Asa entered the code to the front door, we all stepped in to see Kashino dressed up in a formal suit serving an older man, who was seated at a table, a cup of tea.

Surprisingly, Kashino looked pretty good in a suit but I was more stunned by the calm atmosphere even after he'd been kidnapped.

"Oh, Michiko," Kashino noticed as I was the first one to step in.

We all stepped him, including Asa, to observe the strange atmosphere.

"Oh, um, you must be Kashino's grandfather. It's nice to meet you." I bowed my head respectfully to the elder.

"Yes, that's right. What's your name, young lady?" His grandfather asked me with a friendly smile that could make a person calm.

"I'm Michiko Keiko, Makoto's classmate & teammate," I introduced but I could feel the old man eyeing me up and down as if he was trying to gather something.

"You look strangely familiar…" the old man pondered to himself for a bit before snapping his fingers as if he'd figured it out. "Ah! You kind of resemble Ella Fournier!"

Not knowing how to react to his claim, I chuckled nervously.

"Hehehe... is that so? I seem to be getting that a lot recently…" I unsurely responded.

'Now that I think about it, this must be Miss Asa's father who helped my mom pay for the St. Marie Academy after being kicked out by her parents. From the looks of it, I don't think my mom has ever told him that she had me.'

"I didn't think that more people would be joining my birthday luncheon, but come and sit down!" The grandfather said with joy, inviting us to sit down at the table.

"Maa-kun, are you okay?" Andou asked Kashino who seemed calm.

"Despite getting punched in the stomach and kidnapped by my family, I'm doing great."

"I'm confused. What's going on?" Hanabusa asked him.

"*sigh* Because I didn't want to come back home, my mother… took extreme measures to bring me here," Kashino explained. After glancing at Asa who stood beside us, it was believable.

"It's fine if you call me a cruel mother, but it's my role to make sure my child doesn't regret the path he chooses," Asa said to her son with an icy tone.

"What's wrong with choosing the path I like?" Kashino inquired.

"Becoming a successful patissier is hard and only a few people can find true success. You'll struggle to try to find fame and customers if you're not good enough. If you become a doctor, at least you'll be guaranteed success because of the family business. There's no wrong in listening to your parents' words," Asa strictly explained.

"Makoto's still in 8th grade, he doesn't have to decide right away," his grandfather defended. Instead, his attention switched between Kashino and me who were standing right next to each other.

"Are you Makoto's… girlfriend?" He asked, which only made me speechless to his presumptions.

I could see Kashino getting red in the face but he was probably just infuriated that someone thought that *I* was his girlfriend.

"N-No, I'm not! Isn't it too young for us to be dating anyway?" I tried to reason with the old man but Asa stood right behind his chair.

"S-She's right! If anything, I might allow it in a few more years," Asa added which only made my mouth gape open.

"M-MOM!" Kashino exclaimed in embarrassment, turning his head away while his mother smirked back at him.

'Why does it seem like I always encounter these kinds of situations?'

"Oh, I pity you, Keiko," Fraise muttered by my side.

"Same here." I agreed.

Instead of getting more involved in the conversation, I decided to redirect the conversation elsewhere.

"Today's your birthday, right, grandfather?" I referred to the old man who continued to look between me and Kashino. "Won't you let Makoto make your birthday cake? I think you'll understand how skilled Makoto is."

Asa looked at me as if her face asked "What are you doing?" but I gave her a small smile telling her not to worry.

"Ah, yes! I'd like to eat a cake made by my grandson!" Grandfather said ecstatically after taking up the offer.

I began pushing Andou, Hanabusa, and Kashino away as I replied.

"Really? Then we'll get at it, right, Makoto? Okay, we're going to borrow the kitchen for a bit, Miss Asa."

I hurriedly pushed them into the other room where the kitchen supposedly was. As I did, we saw just how big Kashino's kitchen was.

It had a whole bunch of advanced technology when it came to stovetops, ovens, blenders, etc. Even I personally wouldn't mind marrying into this family if it meant baking in a beautiful kitchen like this. It had a modern appearance with white marble countertops and tiles, and there was a ton of space for more than 20 people to move around in.

"Wow, what a pretty kitchen," Fraise complimented as Kashino was in the middle of putting on an apron.

"It's because my mother doesn't cook meals. Today's luncheon is also catered," Kashino said as we all looked around inside the fridge and cabinets.

After hearing that his mother didn't cook, we were surprised to see a lot of dry baking ingredients in the pantry.

"Hm, I guess all of the ingredients I practiced with are still here," Kashino mumbled in surprise.

Fraise and I also looked around and in another cabinet, we found a fresh *couverture that was still in its package.

*Couverture is chocolate made with extra cocoa butter to give it more gloss, and it's used for covering sweets and cakes.

'It's still new.'

Once I grabbed it, I showed it to Kashino and handed it to him.

"Kashino, this couverture is still new."

When he took it, I saw a lonely gaze in his eyes.

"I thought she hated even the sight of chocolate…" Kashino muttered.

"Maybe it's Miss Asa's way of saying you can come home whenever you want," I said, trying to ease his thoughts.

When I was talking to Asa, I could tell that she loved him, even though she couldn't bring herself to show it. She even told me that she wasn't going to force him to be a doctor, but she did still oppose it.

"I think she means well like most mothers, even though she's not the best at showing it," I explained while Kashino continued to look at the chocolate.

For some reason, a confused expression formed on his face and he looked directly at me.

"Since when did you get so close to my mother? She's usually hard to get along with," Kashino interrogated, but I decided to keep my answer short.

"A long time ago, when I was 8, I was actually a patient at your family's hospital. An accident happened and your mom was one of the surgeons who performed surgery on me," I said curtly ending it there.

"But still, she doesn't like meeting new people my age," Kashino added, further interrogating me.

"My mom and she used to be friends—can we stop talking about this and decide what kind of birthday cake we're going to make?" I quickly changed the topic and Kashino decided to drop it as well.

"Fine, let's see… How about we make a cake arranged like a *sachertorte. We'll add something to the sponge in the middle," Kashino suggested.

*Sachertorte is a classic type of chocolate cake with chocolate cake layers, apricot preserves, and a shiny chocolate-glaze finish.

"Okay!" We all enthusiastically agreed.

"The design will be like this," Kashino drew out a rough draft for us to see. "I'll be in charge of the decoration. Andou will make the chocolate sponge…"

After delegating everyone's tasks, we quickly got to it.

"By the way, what kind of cake is 'Sachertorte'?" Caramel asked Chocolat who was working right beside her.

"Sachertorte is a Viannese cake. It was originally a heavy chocolate sponge with apricot jam spread on top and coated in chocolate," Chocolat informed us.

Generally, I wasn't a huge chocolate cake fanatic, but even I had to admit that this cake is one of the best out there in the world.

"But making the chocolate coating is hard, right?" I asked Kashino who looked at me with a smirk on his face.

"Just who do you think I am?" I asked stubbornly which made me want to retract my question.

'Of course, why did I ask the chocolatier of the group?'

After a little while, Asa and Kashino's grandfather stepped into the kitchen to watch as we baked.

He already had what he needed and so he quickly began tempering the chocolate as usual. His movements were smooth and elegant as he diligently worked in his desired field.

Although I'd seen him temper in the morning, I'm still astonished by how quickly he could move and produce such glossy chocolate.

'That's right… He practices every day. This specialty really does suit Kashino the best,' I thought inwardly to myself, quietly admiring his skills.

If I practiced with chocolate more, I could probably get there, but I knew that there would never be a day where I would be able to surpass Kashino in chocolate.