Day of the Grand Prix (1)

Chapter 44: Episode 22 - Day of the Grand Prix (1)

Many days had passed and it was finally the day of the Grand Prix. We'd spent the past couple of weeks practicing together in the cooking lab and going over key information.

The Sweets Prince and I walked to the main school for the Grand Prix and we noticed a sign right outside the school that said: "St. Marie Academy Cake Grand Prix."

Lots of students wore their chef's uniforms and walked inside the school toward the main gymnasium.

"Whoa, there are a lot of people," I said out loud as flocks of people surrounded us.

"I heard 53 teams are participating this time," Andou said and I furrowed my eyebrows.

"53 x 4 people means that there are 212 people." I quickly did the math in my head and thought about a large number of people.

"Rather than that, look! It's the high school division's Sujino from last year's remaining best 4. He makes unique cakes," Andou pointed out a tall blonde guy a bit further away from us.

"Over there is Takagi. He has an established reputation for the merit of taste," Hanabusa pointed to a stout boy with a joyful smile and round glasses.

'I heard that not many people participated in the Grand Prix before since the majority were high school students. Lots of groups from the middle school division seem to have signed up but something about this seems… strange. Just like during my entrance exam, this doesn't seem as simple as it looks. The school board must've been surprised to see that more people joined this year so they might have decided something to get rid of some of the dead weight…'

I thought to myself about this situation. Fraise seemed to notice that I was deep in my thoughts.

"Keiko, what's wrong?" Fraise asked me from on top of my head.

*The sweets spirits hid under our tall chef's hat (like Ratatouille) since we don't know who can see them.

"Hm… I don't know if you were watching me during my entrance exam for the school, Fraise, but it feels like there's something more to this than what appears on the surface," I spoke with confidence.

"What do you mean? What happened during your entrance exam?" Andou asked me, hearing our conversation.

As we walked, I spoke to the sweets princes and the sweets spirits.

"For my entrance exam, I was given the instruction to make whatever I wanted before I performed for the judges the next week. Since I was testing at an elite school, how they thought wasn't so simple. I'd already guessed that they were up to something and when I was getting ready to make my dessert, they already had my ingredients set up as if they expected me to make what I'd originally planned to make. But, I quickly caught onto their game and made something different from what they were expecting. Their goal wasn't to see if I could make the same dessert I had planned, they wanted to see if I would break under the pressure or change my idea," I explained to them and they gazed at me in awe.

"Wow… you went that far to change your dessert?" Hanabusa asked and I nodded.

"But what does this have to do with the Grand Prix?" Kashino asked seriously as I voiced my thoughts.

"As you figured out before in Salon de Marie, one of the judges of my entrance exam was the chairman himself, and seeing him, he's more complex than he appears. This year, nobody had expected that this many people would participate, so it would only make sense if the school board hosting this competition would do something to get rid of some of the dead weight," I explained and their eyes widened in shock.

"And what do you mean by that?" Andou asked nervously.

"If my suspicions are correct… they're going to test our knowledge and decide who gets to enter or not," I said seriously and we all stopped at my words.

"A test because there are so many people?" Kashino asked and I nodded my head.

"It's only an assumption but please keep this idea in mind," I said before we continued walking again.

"Geez, what's with all of these middle schoolers. They never joined this competition until those "Sweets Princes" or whatever made it past the first round," a boy's voice complained from nearby.

"Calm down, they'll be removed in the first round anyways."

A group of high school boys walked next to us in the crowd.

"Damn, these brats are determined."

Unexpectedly, I met one of their gazes but I quickly turned my head away.

"Look, right beside us! Isn't that the rumored "Ice Princess" of the school? Isn't she kinda cute?" The guy who I met eye contact with pointed to me and his team members all looked at me who walked by their side.

"Hm… I guess those rumors are true about her beauty…"

"They were right as well when they talked about being able to notice her at first glance. Her beauty is incomparable to all these other young girls…"

"Yeah, I think she's kinda hot with her seriousness but I also heard that her skills are extraordinary for someone so young… I heard that she could even rival up to Tennouji Mari's skills!"

"Maybe I should ask her out, huh?"

"I spotted her first so I should ask her out!"

The high school boys kept arguing and I widened my eyes at their conversation.

'What the hell are they talking about? Asking me out?!'

The Sweets Princes all glared at the guys angrily with a look of distaste on their faces. The sweets spirits in our hats popped out, too.

"Geez, what's with those guys?!" Kashino gritted his teeth angrily.

"They're disgusting!" Chocolat popped out for a split second.

"How could they say those things when Michiko is right next to them?" Andou furrowed his eyebrows.

"It's revolting how they're even able to participate in this competition," Hanabusa muttered.

'How they talked about me was gross but even so, this isn't a simple competition. Their upfront arrogance is showing that they have the skills to be in this competition.'

I shook my head to get rid of my thoughts and we all continued to walk to the gymnasium, still clearly bothered by those guys' words.