Sudden Fame?

Chapter 122: S2 Episode 21 - Sudden Fame?

'We got here by pure luck.' Keiko admitted inwardly to herself.

She considered all of the events that went on throughout this competition so far and just how close she and her team had made it through the rounds. Although her team had surpassed the others to get past them, there had been some instances that weren't part of the plan, yet all of these instances were the reason why they could move forward.

Pure luck.

If something had been missing from their plate, it was luck that got them there—at least, that's what Keiko thought. But, she couldn't just say that to her teammates and the adults in the room.

What would they make of her? Just when her team made it this far, she was now saying that it was due to pure luck? What about all of the skills and talents they showed? Were all of them not capable enough?

As Keiko looked at the boys she befriended after transferring to the school, they'd been on a wild roller coaster ride with all of their ups and downs. Seeing how they still believed in themselves when they looked each one in the eye, that was why she'd shut up. She just didn't want to ruin the confidence they had.

"It's nothing. I forgot what I was about to say," Keiko said and completely disregarded her words. An air of silence filled the room which made it awkward for everyone.

"Ah, w-well then! I forgot to say this earlier since it only came up recently but… Have you guys checked the news recently?" Andou's father spoke up to ease the awkwardness of the situation.

The teenagers all raised their eyebrows.

"What do you mean, Dad?" Andou asked his father who brought out his smartphone to show it to them.

"When you guys left the table, I saw something posted on the news not too long ago," Andou's father began, trying to bring something up on his phone. When he found it, he showed it to the four of them.

"Apparently, your school is going to air the final round of the Cake Grand Prix throughout all of Japan!"

"W-WHAT?!!!" Team Michiko raised their voices in surprise after hearing that, even the sweets spirits by their side couldn't believe their ears.

When Andou's father clicked on a video on the news article, they could see it was titled:

"St. Marie Academy's Finals Go Live in Japan!"

In the video, there was an old man dressed up in black formal attire, with slicked-back grey hair and glasses standing on a podium with a microphone in his hands. It was hard not to recognize this old man since it was the academy's chairman himself, Moriyama Masaomi.

The chairman faced the screen talking directly to the viewers and a serious expression was plastered on him when he was about to talk. It was much different from his regular, jolly appearance so it was unfamiliar to see him that way. Not to mention the amount of flashing lights from the audience and paparazzi that took a picture of his every move.

They watched the video to hear him say:

["After seeing how much popularity our two team finalists have been receiving from the media, the St. Marie Academy's Board of Directors has discussed and concluded that its Cake Grand Prix Final Round will be broadcasted all over the nation! This is the first time in St. Marie Academy history that the nation will be able to see our two talented teams compete live in the finals! For those of you watching now, please support this live broadcast by tuning in to your local news channel on your television or other electronic devices. For those of you who want to view this round in-person at our prestigious academy, tickets will be sold online on our website, so please get them while you still can! Our top students will not disappoint you as we look forward to their final creations. Thank you."]

As if what they heard had been a mere illusion, all of their faces had been distorted with bewildered expressions that didn't suit any of their personalities.

"W-what the hell is going on?!" Team Michiko said in unison after the video ended.

All of their mouths had gaped open and there were no signs of them being shut. This was obviously the first time they'd seen or heard about this.

"A-and you said this was posted not too long ago?" Hanabusa asked Andou's father with a contorted face that was different from his usual flowery appearance.

"Yup. I was scrolling through the news after you guys left for a bit and saw that there were a ton of articles with your names and faces on them. I was also shocked to see that y'all had gathered quite a lot of attention at school!" Andou's father responded, chuckling nervously.

"Can I see it?" Andou asked, pointing to his father's smartphone. Without hesitation, his father handed his son his phone which allowed Andou to scroll through the top media stories of Japan. The rest of Team Michiko peered over his shoulders to see what his father had been talking about.

Right there in front of them were articles with the faces of all the members of Team Tennouji and Team Michiko on the front cover. There had even been separate articles about each team and its members.

Keiko, Kashino, and Hanabusa had each gotten their phones out to view this unbelievable news.

They saw one article addressing Team Tennouji's Kaidou Rui, the 2nd son of the rich merchant who founded the Kaidou Group. Another about Saeki Ryou, the son of a top-class food critic. Then, Takigawa Reiji, the son of a long-standing French confection shop. Lastly, Tennouji Mari; even her beautiful and elegant face was captured on the cover of the article which talked about her being the famous Hotel King of Japan's daughter.

This article was titled: "The Blessed Group of Elites." Their appearances weren't for show.

But besides those articles, Team Michiko also had a large following that could equal Team Tennouji's popularity. Even they hadn't expected that they garnered this much attention from the public.

On one of the front covers of an article was a picture of Andou Sennosuke. They caught a nice picture that greatly accentuated his humble yet handsome features with his dark brown hair, brown eyes, and glasses. In his article, it said, "The Handsome Son of the Well-Known Japanese Confection Shop, Yumezuki."

Andou couldn't help but read through his article which detailed even the smallest parts of his life.

"Wow… it's scary how they know so much about me…" Andou said as goosebumps crawled up his skin after reading.

When Hanabusa skimmed through his phone, he also found an article about him with a cover of his flowery and attractive face. His article said, "The Suave Son of the Well-Known Herbalist."

As Hanabusa read his article, it also detailed his life story, as well as writing down about his herbalist father who passed away many years ago.

"Y-yeah, it's disturbing…" Hanabusa added.

Following suit, Kashino saw an article with his face as well, and on the cover was a fierce but smooth picture of him that detailed his dirty blonde hair, brown eyes, and sharp but attractive features. The article was called, "The Heir of the Top Hospital in Japan Aspires to Become a Patissier."

When Kashino read through the contents of it, it detailed his life story as well as what had transpired in his grandfather's luncheon not too long ago. It was implausible how the media was able to get this information when it just happened a few hours ago!

"Just what the hell is this?!" Kashino exclaimed in astonishment after reading everything that was written down about his life and a few hours ago.

And to top it all off, the three boys all saw the three of them on the cover of another article titled: "The Sweets Princes of St. Marie Academy."

The boys all had their mouths covered as they read each and every sentence that detailed their lives to the littlest detail. Just how did the media get so much information about them?!

To the side stood Michiko Keiko who quietly scrolled through her smartphone, and to her surprise, it was just like the sweets princes—only, it was much MUCH worse.

Through the articles she scrolled through, there were many articles that had her face and name on them that it couldn't even compare to her teammates. How did this happen?

She clicked on an article that read, "The Beautiful Ice Princess Who Caught the Hearts of the Public." On the front cover was a beautiful picture of her with a small yet kind smile on her face. She looked skinny, yet the other features of her face distracted people from her body like her luscious brown hair that was combed over to the side, her bright blue eyes that hid a sense of mystery yet could make others melt, and her proportionate face that emphasized her elegant facial features.

In it, she read about how they talked about her father being one of the top prosecutors of Japan, how she recently transferred to St. Marie yet managed to gather the public's attention, how creative and talented her skills were for the famous Henri Lucas to watch her entrance exam and more… The number of details about her was endless and the number of pictures of her on the covers kept going.

She even scrolled through the comments section of the articles to see so many things like:

[8.1k+] —Uwah! She's so pretty!—

[4.3k+] —Didn't she just transfer not too long ago? I heard she's amazing!—

[10.5k+] —The fact that Henri Lucas judged her during her entrance exam—I could never manage to bake in front of him without failing miserably!—

[2.4k+] —I ate her team's Pumpkin Cake at the Halloween Fair, and it was astonishing to taste! I went back there the next day but they'd sold out… It was truly amazing.—

[1.2k+] —I'll make sure to watch them on TV when it airs! Fighting, Team Michiko!—

[7.8k+] —Marry me, please!—

[5.7k+] —Next to the Sweets Princes, they look like they all came out of a fairy tale!—

How had she become that famous? It was inconceivable how they were able to attain that much fame, despite only competing in three of the rounds so far. She mainly believed that most of the fame they received was from those who'd tried out their Pumpkin Cake at the Halloween Fair who told others about it or shared pictures.

Just what the hell was going on?