Taking the Lead (2)

Chapter 142: S2 - Taking the Lead (2)

The five judges were served both teams' petit gateaux at their judging table.

"Team Tennouji's petit gâteau, mm… this flower cake was made with mont blanc cream," Mr. Hisashi ate the small flowers fastened on the chess board piece. "Inside is whipped cream and white paste… soy cookie, mm… a refined taste."

"This flower is a cookie, inside is matcha chocolate; it's a great pairing," Chairman Moriyama grabbed a taste of a different flower.

"Inside the baked sweets, a rich cafe aroma… this is… brown sugar syrup? A meaningful petit gateau," Henri Lucas tasted his, complimenting the unique taste of it.

From how the judges put it, we could tell that Takigawa-senpai used Western fusion sweets, which is Andou's specialty.

As the judges each had a plate of Andou's petit gateaux, we could see our teammate hold his breath while they tasted it.

"A chocolate hazelnut praline cake… it's vivid," Henri Lucas tasted.

"A strawberry and white chocolate flavored macaron tastes quite good," Mr. Hisashi said.

"This is a caramel crémeux, but the taste is just right and isn't too sweet," Mr. Moriyama said.

"Not to mention that the lychee jello inside the chocolate mousse really matches well," Teacher Ameya said with surprise.

"But… is there really a theme going on with the petit gateaux for Team Michiko? They all look aesthetically pleasing to the eye, but the desserts don't match," Mr. Karashima broke the ice, which caused the other judges to agree to his claim hesitantly.

"I agree. Compared to Team Tennouji's petit gateaux that had a flower theme, Team Michiko's petit gateaux seem a little misplaced when it comes to theme," Henri Lucas added to the latter's point.

We could all see the judges nod their heads as if agreeing.

"Team Tennouji vs. Team Michiko in the battle of the petit gateaux… Here are the results!"

Watching the screen, 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 our faces froze.

"No… How could this be?" Andou asked himself, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists.

"You did all right, Sennosuke," Kashino tried to comfort Andou, visibly disturbed by the results.

At this moment, I didn't know how to comfort Andou. Instead, I spent that time tallying all the scores so far in my head.

'After calculating both of our scores… We're tied—266 to 266. How is this possible?'

I felt an immense dread wash over my body after noticing the total of both scores.

I glanced over at Mari and her team to see that Takigawa-senpai was receiving congratulations for the sudden twist.

"Although Team Michiko had beautiful confections that looked pleasing to the eyes, it didn't follow a definitive theme with your cake, whereas, Team Tennouji's confections had," Henri Lucas explained, holding up Takigawa-senpai's petite flower-shaped desserts and Andou's petite desserts.

I couldn't believe it. A lower score on our end… for that?!

I was enraged, but I couldn't lash out at them. Even though I wanted to get angry at that moment, I couldn't disagree with them because they brought up a valid point. Even though ours looked pleasing to the eye, it didn't follow the theme of the cake.

"The scores are now tied, 266 to 266! An unexpected turn of events! Who will win the competition for their team?" The MC announced with people at the edge of their seats.

We thought we would win this without a doubt, but now, Team Tennouji caught up with us, and we are now tied. I could see the nervousness in our opposing team's faces fade away.

Now, everything was fair game.

"Last are the entremets. First is Team Tennouji. The outcome depends on leader Tennouji Mari's white cake."

As the judges cut up a slice of Mari's white cake, they all dug in to judge its flavors.

"Pineapple mousse, sponge, white chocolate cream… coconut meringue? Honey gelée… It becomes a taste that goes deep down," Teacher Ameya said with her eyes closed, envisioning the many flavors within the cake. "A gentle and nostalgic taste. It takes me back to my childhood days when I had a bunch of dreams…."

"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 my cake.

The layers in between were vivid as my genoise cake layered below the other elements.

"Wow, a moist genoise base with a peach coulis jelly, honey mousse, and panna cotta all layered on top. Above it all is a white chocolate mirror glaze decorated with white chocolate feathers…." Mr. Hisashi Ito listed out and brought a spoonful of my cake to his mouth.

"The refreshing scent of peaches and milk spreads in my mouth. It's as if I'm traveling up a staircase with my deceased friends and family guiding me up towards the top..." Mr. Hisashi reminisced as he tasted my cake. I noticed that when he explained the flavors, he looked at the angel centered on our cake, and a sad expression formed when he looked up at her.

When he did, I noticed some small tears forming in his eyes as he gazed at the beautiful angel that helped guide him to where he is today.

"This cake really does remind me of those who've passed, guiding me up this staircase," Mr. Hisashi Ito said, rubbing away the tears in his eyes. And with that, I could tell our message got through.

* * *

"Team Tennouji's entremet gives shape and taste to the dream in our hearts. And Team Michiko's entremets encourage us to remember those we've lost to fulfill our dreams," Chairman Moriyama summarized the two ideas behind the cakes.

Next to him was Henri Lucas, mesmerized by the "Stairway to Dreams" cake, as if he couldn't remove his eyes from the uniquely constructed piece of art a young group of kids made.

"Indeed," Henri muttered quietly.

"This is the battle between leaders. Here are the scores…." The MC announced as everyone clung to their seats in nervousness and anticipation.

Team Tennouji remained emotionless, trying to hide their ever-growing nervousness, while Team Michiko had a look of concern written all over their faces.

"This decides it all…." Michiko Keiko said to her teammates as they all grabbed each others' hands and gripped them tightly.

'Everything is riding on this… Please God! For Kashino, Andou, Hanabusa, the sweets spirits… and me!' Keiko thought as she closed her eyes as the scoreboard before them listed out each of the judges' scores.

As Team Michiko's leader closed her eyes in nervousness, each score was being displayed for both teams' entremets.

All that mattered was the end score.

Both teams clasped their hands tightly together, praying for whatever god was out there.

"God, Buddha, Queen! Anyone!" The sweet spirits from both teams prayed.

.

.

.

Team Tennouji—[92] = Total [359]

Team Michiko—[99] = Total [365]

"Fascinating! Team Michiko receives a near perfect score of 99 points while Team Tennouji is only 6 points behind! TEAM MICHIKO IS THE CHAMPION!!!"

After declaring that news, the crowd erupted into wild celebration and cheers.

[BOISTEROUS APPLAUSE!]

"UWA—A!!!"

"YAYAYAYA! THEY WON!"

"GOOD JOB, TEAM MICHIKO!"

"I KNEW THEY'D WIN!"

Team Tennouji had gone numb after the final scores were relayed on the screen. They were just 6 points behind Team Michiko…

"HAHA! WE DID IT, GUYS!" Andou cheered ecstatically as if nothing else mattered in the world besides his team. His tenseness eased away when the final results came out, and the earlier mishap no longer bothered him.

"YEAAAAAH!" Hanabusa chimed in, pumping up his fists in the air.

"WE WON!" Kashino even showed a happy smile on his face.

The only one who remained quiet was Michiko Keiko, who froze in place after the results.

She always pushed herself hard to win, but why wasn't she reacting like the others? They finally won, but she stood completely still as if she'd just seen a ghost.

Her bright blue eyes were glued on a man obscured in black who sat in the audience. She couldn't remove her attention from anything else when she saw a bright grin on his face when his eyes met hers.

Her face grew unbelievably pale by the second, and she could feel her heart racing uncontrollably. A stinging pain grew in her chest, and she felt like she had been stabbed in the heart hundreds of times.

At this moment, they knew… something was wrong with her.

As the mysterious man in black smirked at her, she felt a pressuring weight dragging her shoulders down. While people celebrated around them, the man got up and walked out of the auditorium.

Any life left in her blue eyes perished to darkness, and she swayed left and right as if she were in a trance.

[*THUD!*]

And finally, she shot toward the ground, losing all strength in her body like a lifeless doll.

"MICHIKO?!" The boys and the sweet spirits called out to Keiko, who collapsed.

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?!"

"OI, OPEN UP YOUR EYES!"

"COME ON! STAY WITH US!"

Panicked screams drowned out in her ears, and she could barely make out their faces or voices.

'I… finally… won....'

The pain in her beating heart didn't alleviate. Instead, it only got worse until finally—

—It stopped.