One Hit to the Ground
Chapter 147: S2 - One Hit to the Ground
["Before judging, we'd like to hear an explanation on each creation… hohoho..."] The chairman chuckled out loud through a microphone he held to his mouth.
Seeing the surprised students' faces, they were taken aback by the chairman's request.
Keiko looked at her teammates, who encouraged her to explain, so she had no choice but to do it.
["First, Tennouji Mari. Please, step up!"] The MC instructed the leader of Team Tennouji, who had a neutral look on her face. She seemed perfectly calm as she stood up to face the 3,000 people in front of her, the cameras recording her, and the five judges.
She was handed over a mic to explain their cake.
["I am Team Tennouji's representative, Tennouji Mari,"] Tennouji Mari said calmly. ["When I first heard the theme was "Dream," I immediately thought of this flower floating in midair."]
She then pointed to the beautiful white candied flower that was the centerpiece of their cake.
["This flower opens quietly inside our hearts. Inside their hearts, everyone has a hidden dream, isn't that the case? We are puzzled by the scent of so-called "aspiration," and it continues to give us drive… We've expressed "Dream" as a white flower titled "Flower of Dreams."
With this, we could see the audience in awe after deeply explaining the idea behind their cake.]
[APPLAUSE!]
["Thank you for your lovely explanation, Tennouji-san. Next up is Team Michiko's representative! Please come forward!"] The MC advised, calling Keiko up to the stand.
The many cameras focused on her, who walked up to where the MC faced the audience.
As she received the commentator's microphone, she took a slight breath.
The beautiful girl looked around the room and made eye contact with the 3,000 people who watched her.
She had a brilliant, courageous aura around her as she readied to explain the idea behind their cake, but as she was getting ready to speak through the microphone, nothing came out of her mouth.
It was almost as if… she was distracted by something?
She tilted her head in confusion before snapping out of her daze.
As she was about to speak, her family members could notice a slight discomfort on the girl's face. It was almost as if she was in pain.
"Is she alright?" Kaori asked worriedly, to which the three males didn't have an answer to give. They didn't know if she was alright or not because they only noticed that discomfort for a split second before she returned to her usual self. It was like an illusion.
She grabbed at her stomach and clenched her apron.
["I am Team Michiko's representative, Michiko Keiko. After hearing that the theme was "Dream," I realized that everyone had a dream inside of them that they wished to fulfill, whether they were young or old. When I thought of "Dreams," I envisioned a heaven that signified the thrill of trying to achieve that dream, where we are all little creatures flying up that staircase and into the light at the end. The celestial Angel placed in the center shows those who've died, encouraging us to reach that dream we work so hard to achieve."]
As she beautifully explained this, she looked back at the angel.
Seeing how she wasn't done yet, she clenched her stomach even harder and gritted her teeth. Even so, she kept explaining.
["...The bumps on the staircase are there to show the many obstacles that will come our way to stop us from reaching that light at the end, but no matter what, we all find a way around it to attain our dreams, so we call our cake, "Stairway to Dreams."] She finished, bowing her head to the audience watching her.
She brought her head down to the ground, which covered her face.
As she brought her head back up, she put on a smile, and with this, claps erupted throughout the room.
[APPLAUSE!]
["Just from seeing the cake, she guided us through that journey."]
["Isn't it truly inspirational?"]
["A-amazing!"]
She handed back the microphone and made her way back to her team.
["Thank you for your explanation, Michiko-san. Then, let the judging begin!"] The guy said with a joyful smile.
The five judges automatically got up and went to both cakes, observing each element and writing notes on a clipboard.
["This time, each separate part will receive 5 different marks and be added together. First is the sugar sculpture,"] the broadcaster explained as the 5 judges thoroughly observed the elements of Team Tennouji's cake. ["Team Tennouji's sugar sculptures include the white flower, the crescent moon, and the sugar plate."]
As the judges observed the eye-catching flower, they brought up how it was pointed at an angle that looked at the viewer.
When the judges were done filling out their sheets for Team Tennouji, they walked to Team Michiko's "Stairway to Dreams" cake and closely examined it.
["The shimmering gold helix staircase, the butterflies, the spiral pillars, and the white pearls were all made by Hanabusa's hands. It truly is an amazing sight to see,"] the MC commentated while he looked at the cake.
After closely examining Team Michiko's cake, the judges input their scores.
["And, the scores are out!"] The MC said, bringing everyone's attention to the scoreboard on the screens.
["You can do it, Team Michiko!"]
["Let's go, Team Tennouji!"]
"Ack! Here it comes!" Eiji and Haruto braced themselves, covering up their eyes with their hands but still peeking to see the results.
Everyone in the crowd held their breaths as the scores for the candy sculptures tallied up.
On the screen, where the judges were named, and the teams were named, there it was:
Team Tennouji—Ameya [17], Karashima [18], Hisashi [18], Lucas [17], Moriyama [16] = [86]
Team Michiko—Ameya [18], Karashima [18], Hisashi [19], Lucas [17], Moriyama [18] = [90]
["86 vs. 90! Amazing! Team Michiko is leading with 4 points in sugar sculptures!"] The MC said in amazement.
"Hey, they won against Team Tennouji! Yaya!" Eiji exclaimed in joy.
"Sh! They still have three more rounds!" Haruto quieted down his brother.
["Next is chocolate sculptures. Team Tennouji's shiny chess board is impressive. The white doors as well are white chocolate. The one in charge of this is Kaidou Rui!"] The MC introduced as the judges repeated their steps in judging, walking over to Team Tennouji's cake and then to Team Michiko's.
["Team Michiko's chocolate sculptures include the ethereal angel that looks like it can come to life at any second, and the gold stand it's standing on top of. The wings are large but welcoming, enticing the viewer to join hands with this angel guiding them up this staircase."]
Soon, the judges input their scores yet again.
["Here are the scores!"]
On the screen in front of them, they saw:
Team Tennouji—Ameya [17], Karashima [17], Hisashi [18], Lucas [18], Moriyama [18] = [88]
Team Michiko—Ameya [18], Karashima [18], Hisashi [18], Lucas [19], Moriyama [18] = [91]
["88 vs 91! In the battle of the chocolate sculptures, it seems like Kashino Makoto managed to score high with a 3 point difference in chocolate! He really is Team Michiko's chocolatier!"] The crowd erupted to cheer for the leading team.
["The taste testing of the petit gateau will now commence!"]
The judges were served both teams' petit gateaux at their judging table and tasted both teams' mini cakes. As they tasted, the judges talked among themselves as if trying to come to some consensus.
["Team Tennouji vs. Team Michiko in the battle of the petit gateaux… Here are the results!"]
Watching the screen, they could see each judge input their scores:
Team Tennouji—Ameya [19], Karashima [19], Hisashi [18], Lucas [19], Moriyama [18] = [93]
Team Michiko—Ameya [17], Karashima [16], Hisashi [18], Lucas [16], Moriyama [18] = [85].
["93 vs. 85! It seems like Team Tennouji has won in the petit gateaux!"] The announcer announced, to which all of their faces froze.
"Gah! They caught up!" Kaori pulled at her hair, stressed out in this situation.
They could see that both teams were nervous since they had an equal chance of winning.
Now, it was fair game.
["Last are the entremets. First is Team Tennouji. The outcome depends on leader Tennouji Mari's white cake."]
From their reactions, they visibly enjoyed it.
["Next is Team Michiko. Team leader Michiko Keiko's entremet is a Milk Peach entremet. It's pure white and is decorated with white chocolate feathers on top,"] the MC explained as they cut into Keiko's cake.
Similar to the opposing team, the judges all seemed to enjoy the taste of Keiko's cake visibly. It was hard to see who was going to win.
["This is the battle between leaders. Here are the scores…"] The MC announced as everyone clung to their seats in nervousness and anticipation.
The Michiko family all stood up from the sofa as they all gripped their hands together or hugged each other.
"Keiko's has to be better, Keiko's has to be better, Keiko's has to be better…." Haruto and Eiji chanted together, hugging each other in nervousness.
"Come on, Team Michiko! You can do this!" Kaori and Kenji said together, closing their eyes.
As both teams held hands or closed their eyes, each score was displayed for their entremets.
.
.
.
Team Tennouji—[92] = [359]
.
.
.
Team Michiko—[99] = [365]
.
.
.
["Fascinating! Team Michiko receives a near perfect score of 99 points! Team Michiko has the greater score while Team Tennouji is 6 points behind! TEAM MICHIKO IS THE CHAMPION!"]
After the declaration of that news, the crowd erupted into wild noise and cheers.
[BOISTEROUS APPLAUSE!]
"THEY DID IT! HAHA!"
"I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT!"
The Michiko family also erupted into cheers after hearing the results. They each hugged each other once Team Michiko was declared the champion of the Cake Grand Prix sought out by the public.
["HAHA! WE DID IT GUYS!"] Andou cheered ecstatically as if nothing else mattered in the world besides his team.
["YEAAH!"] Hanabusa chimed in, pumping up his fists in the air.
["WE WON!"] Kashino showed a happy smile on his fierce face.
As the boys celebrated in joy, the only one who remained quiet was Michiko Keiko, who froze in place after the results.
"Wait, why isn't Onee-chan celebrating? She knows that she won, right?" Eiji noticed Keiko, who remained stationary. And with this, everyone in the living room noticed she remained still.
Her bright blue eyes were glued onto something that stood behind the camera. It was like she couldn't remove her attention from anything else.
Her face was growing unbelievably pale by the second.
At this moment, they knew… something was wrong with her.
Any life left in her blue eyes perished to darkness, and she swayed left and right as if she were on a rocky boat.
[*THUD!*]
And finally, she shot toward the ground, losing all strength in her body.
"MICHIKO!" Her teammates called out to Keiko, who collapsed to the hard ground.
She struggled to keep her spiritless eyes open as people rushed to her side, calling out her name left and right.
["MICHIKO KEIKO! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!"]
["HEY, OPEN UP YOUR EYES!"]
["COME ON! STAY WITH US!"]
Panicked screams bolstered all around her, all while the cameras caught everything.
It was then that her eyes finally failed to open again.