Running Out of Time (1)

Chapter 16: Episode 8 - Running Out of Time (1)

Our gazes met with each other but we both quickly looked away, uninterested in each other.

'What's this guy doing here?' I had a puzzled look on my face.

It was too late to go back because I'd already shown myself to him.

Since I showed myself, I walked inside and went to an open station behind him.

"Is over here okay?" I asked him, trying to keep the talking minimal.

.

.

.

Kashino didn't say anything and continued to focus his attention on his tempering.

I assumed it was alright and positioned myself at the station behind him.

'All I have to do is pretend that he's not here. That's right. Since he's always ignoring me, why should I have to talk to him?'

"Are you skipping dinner for your nightly crash courses?" Kashino suddenly asked and my eyes widened in surprise.

"You knew?" I asked, setting up my materials and ingredients.

"Ah," he gave a short reply, continuing on with his tempering.

I turned around to see him tempering and noticed that he moved so gracefully so that the chocolate wouldn't set.

'Though he acts like a jerk and is harsh, I have to admit that he works quickly and efficiently in the kitchen. The task of polishing chocolate that even professionals find difficult, he can do with ease. His movements aren't stiff or slow, instead, he's elegant and fast when he works with chocolate.'

"Do you always come here early in the morning to temper?" I asked, observing his motions.

"... I do this every day so that my body remembers it. But, it's a pain if even the atmospheric temperature and the room's temperature are different…" Kashino responded as he transferred the tempered chocolate into a bowl.

'So he's just like me, coming in here everyday to practice. But, I've only been here for 3 days so far and he's been practicing this whole time even before I got here. No wonder he's seen as one of the top students.'

My eyelids felt heavier than usual and I felt drowsy.

'Maybe I should've gone to bed earlier...'

When Fraise and I finished up at the kitchen yesterday, I stood up all night trying to come up with something that could fix what was wrong with my cake. Even though I only slept for 3 hours, my body refused to sleep more and I still got up at the usual time of 5 AM anyway.

As I zoned out, I wasn't paying close attention to what I was doing.

"Michiko, you… why is that boiling?" Kashino pointed to a bowl of chocolate in front of me under a pot filled with water.

Without even realizing that the pot was boiling, the water had already gotten into my chocolate.

"Are you serious?" I muttered under my breath, turning off the fire and checking my bowl of chocolate.

'Ugh, the water got in and my chocolate split because the temperature was too high.'

"You don't even realize the mistakes you're making. Do you even know the basics of chocolate? It'd be troublesome if Group A's grades drop due to someone's negligence," Kashino coldly directed his words at me and turned away.

The sound of the cooking lab's doors opened and then closed. I'd turned around to see Kashino's station cleaned up and that he'd just left.

'Pompous jerk! I don't like him at all! I will definitely make a better-tasting chocolate cake than him!'

* * *

Classes had finished for today and I went back to my dorm room to complete any homework.

Once I was done, I looked at my cooking notebook where I'd written down recipes, tips, and drawings. I'd written down the measurements and proportions of my torte cake so that it would be balanced, but there was nothing else I could fix.

My progress today was zero to none and I had only fixed the sweetness of the glaze so that it wasn't bitter. I still couldn't figure out what was missing in my cake.

'This is so frustrating! What's wrong with my chocolate torte cake?!' I scrambled my hair around anxiously as I thought about it.

"Keiko, what's wrong?" Fraise asked as she sat in front of me at the desk in my dorm room. Her bright blue eyes fixated on me were serious.

"It's just… I can't find anything to fix my chocolate torte cake," I stressed over, looking back at my notes. "Something's missing and I don't know what…"

"Shall we go to the kitchen and figure it out together?" Fraise suggested, giving me a kind smile that was hard to turn away from.

"Sure," I responded, giving in to her request.

So, we went back to the cooking lab to work on my chocolate torte cake.

'Maybe, Fraise can give me more tips this time now that she's with me.'

When we walked over to the cooking lab, I noticed that a light was turned on at one of the stations.

'Again? Someone else is here when it's usually me at this time?'

I was surprised because, for the past 3 days, I was the only one here during dinner time.

I peeked through the door to see who was there without showing myself. A familiar boy's figure shone in the light.

'Kashino?! Again? I thought he would only be here in the mornings?'

A scowl appeared on my face and Fraise noticed my expression.

"Why? What's going on?" She asked, trying to also peer through the door.

"Fraise, we have some unwanted company so I don't think you should come out," I instructed and she willingly nodded.

"Okay, I understand. I'll come out when they leave."

Fraise hid in my pocket and I walked into the kitchen. Kashino had already noticed me but we didn't look at each other or say anything.

He stood at his station and got his ingredients and materials out.

'By the looks of it, it seems like he just came in not too long ago.'

I noticed how he was starting to measure out his ingredients and was still prepping his things up.

'I feel like he's going to be here for a while. Sorry, Fraise, but you'll have to stay in my pocket for now.'

I, too, got ready with my ingredients and materials.

It'd felt like second nature to work on this cake since I'd spent yesterday and today working on it. I could easily follow through with my movements and produce it much faster than before.

As I worked on my torte cake, Fraise popped out of my pocket, observing my actions silently. She was aware that Kashino was right behind me so she only whispered quietly to herself.

I'd finished stacking my cake and spreading the chocolate whipped cream in between. Finally, I varnished the cake with the chocolate glaze and let it set for a bit.

While I was waiting for the cake to set, I turned around to see what Kashino was doing. Right in front of him, his dessert was complete.

'He also made his cake today.' I observed from a distance.

From what I could see from afar, a beautiful cake shaped like an opera was in front of him. The decorations on top were intricate chocolate coils that shone brightly from the distance.

I moved closer towards him and quietly peered over his shoulder.

'He made an opera cake?'

*An opera is a French cake with an almond sponge cake soaked in coffee syrup, layered with chocolate ganache, coffee buttercream, and covered in a chocolate glaze.

"Is this your cake that you're going to make for the exam?" I asked him and he looked indifferent to me.

"... I arranged it like an opera," Kashino responded, which didn't entirely answer my question.

'So, I'm assuming that it's a, "Yes, I'm going to make it for the test"?'

Regardless of his short response, Kashino's cake gleamed brilliantly under the light due to the chocolate glaze covering it. I couldn't help but stare at it.

"Want some?" He offered bluntly and I glanced at him.

"Is that alright?" I questioned, looking at him.

"Go ahead."

He kept his aloof face on as he cut a piece of his cake for me. I bowed my head thankfully as he handed me a fork and the cake on a plate.

I took a small bite, closing my eyes.

'It's… an entirely different flavor than the chocolate cake that we made in class yesterday… Bitter glaze, lots of coffee syrup on the sponge, white chocolate cream ganache. There's a nuttiness from the almond sponge cake that sits easily on my tongue. Amazing… it almost feels as if I'm floating in a chocolate universe.'

The flavor of the cake lingered softly on my palette.

'Unlike my cake, it seems like nothing is missing in Kashino's. The flavors he displays through his cakes can be easily expressed while I can't sense what's wrong with mine. The flavor of his opera and my torte cake can't be compared. My cake is no match against his…'

I clenched my fist in irritation when I came to this realization.

I wasn't angry at Kashino and I wasn't angry at my cake. I… was angry at myself.

* * *

Kashino left soon after he was done with his cake and I could only stare bitterly at my torte cake.

'I only have today to work on this chocolate cake before the exam tomorrow.'

Fraise finally popped out of my pocket and I let her have a taste of the chocolate torte.

"I think this tastes good, Keiko! I can tell that you added more sugar to the glaze this time," Fraise pointed out but it wasn't enough for me to change my mind.

I gritted my teeth angrily and grabbed my torte cake, walking over to the trash can.

"Keiko! What are you doing?!" Fraise frantically flew over to stop me but I had already done it. I trashed my torte cake and closed the garbage lid.

"I'm trying something else," I said bitterly, walking away from the trash.

'This cake just won't do. I have to try something else!'

* * *

It was already late into the night and I was still working on my new cake.

"Keiko, why did you want to change the cake? The chocolate torte was fine," Fraise watched as I focused only on what I was doing.

"It won't do. My cake is nothing compared to Kashino's," I responded, piping on some chocolate whipped cream.

This time, I was going for a chocolate layer cake with a dark sponge cake this time. I would have two layers of milk chocolate sponge and two layers of dark chocolate sponge. It would have white whipped cream in between the layers and decorated with chocolate whipped cream and chocolate candy on the outside.

"I'm really tired," Fraise confessed as she rubbed her tired eyes.

"Go ahead and sleep first. I'll keep at it," I offered.

"Okay, make sure to get some sleep, too," Fraise said tiredly, slurring her words.

She drowsily flew out of one of the open windows of the kitchen and toward the dorms.

"Finally, I finished," I said as I observed the appearance of the cake. It looked appealing to eat but I glanced over at the large clock on the wall. It was almost 12:00 AM and I'd been going for a few hours.

Assuredly, I grabbed a cake knife and tried to cut the cake. As I inched forward to cut the cake, my arms trembled and I lost grip of the knife, dropping it onto the table.

SHAKK~

'I'm too tired to eat or even cut the cake. My eyes are spinning…'

Suddenly, my vision turned black and I lost balance, dropping onto the floor in exhaustion.

'What should I do? I don't have any more time…'