Theme for the First Round (2)

Chapter 47: Episode 23 - Theme for the First Round (2)

'These guys again? Why does it have to be them out of all people? Fate really is pulling the strings around here, huh…'

"I heard that your skills were quite good for a middle schooler but I'm interested to see how good you really are," Ichimatsu said with a mischievous smirk.

"Ah, is that so?" I faked a smile as his team looked at us. "It's nice to see you again, Mr. Ichimatsu Matsuya."

His face flushed red as I recalled his name and he quickly looked away from me.

"Huh? What's wrong?" I clocked my head to the side, looking at Ichimatsu's red face and he continued to avoid eye contact.

"Y-you remembered my name…" Ichimatsu stuttered in surprise.

"Opponents, shake hands," Mr. Karashima directed and I held out my hand to him. He looked down at it but a smile appeared on his face.

Suddenly, Ichimatsu grabbed my hand and placed a soft kiss on the tip of my fingers.

My face opened wide in shock from his sudden actions and his purple eyes never left my gaze.

Everyone in the room saw it and even the teachers seemed shocked by his actions.

"I said shake your opponent's hand, not kiss it!" Mr. Karashima scolded heavily on the microphone but Ichimatsu didn't let go just yet.

"Though you seem nice and pretty, don't expect me and my team to go easy on you. We'll do whatever we can to defeat your team since we can easily make pound cakes with our eyes closed. We've been baking confections for Salon de Marie since our last year of middle school and we'll get through this round without a problem," Ichimatsu explained to me as he gently let go of my hand.

"Oh, really? Then my team will do our best to defeat yours to make sure we win this round," I said confidently and he chuckled.

"Hehehe, I like your confidence, Ice Princess. But, do you wanna bet? If my team wins, you—Michiko Keiko—will go on a date with me!" Ichimatsu said arrogantly and I pondered for a bit.

Everybody's eyes wandered over to me who still had to give him an answer.

'Gosh, what's up with people making these bets against me? There was Koshiro Miya and now it's this guy! But, I can't give up a challenge, especially when everybody's looking at me.'

I shot him a confident smile before I answered.

"I will accept, but if my team wins, you'll leave me alone and apologize for your actions today," I plastered a fake smile and offered my hand out to shake again.

"Now, let's do a proper handshake," I instructed as he thought about my words.

"Hmm… deal," he finalized and he reached for my hand to shake.

"Hey! What are you doing? Don't put yourself up like that!" Kashino stepped into our handshake but Ichimatsu looked at him with a smirk.

"Since we mutually shook on it, it can't be taken back now." Ichimatsu gave a mischievous look at Kashino and smiled at me. Kashino gritted his teeth angrily at him but he never noticed. Instead, he and his team members walked away.

"Let me see your hand," Hanabusa said, quickly reaching for my hand that I shook with Ichimatsu Matsuya. He used his sleeves to rub off my fingertips.

"Why? Are my nails dirty?" I asked him and Hanabusa shot his green eyes towards me.

"Yes… Very dirty," Hanabusa gave a smirk as he finished wiping my hands off.

"Geez, for a guy to do something so bold in front of the school." Andou glared at the distant Team Ichimatsu. "Why did you do that? If we lose, you'll have to date him!"

I gave him a small smile and shook my head.

"No, I won't have to date him, I'd go on one date with him. And besides, we're not going to lose, Andou. Do you really think I'd give myself up that easily?" I reassured him and he nodded his head.

"Right! We definitely won't lose to those pricks!" Andou regained confidence while Hanabusa and Kashino remained pissed off.

'I just hope that nobody ever does something embarrassing like that to me again, especially in front of the school.'

* * *

We made it back to the cooking lab right after the teams were announced and we'd changed back to our casual clothes and decided that it would be best to see what we were up against. We visited Salon de Marie to grab Team Ichimatsu's pound cakes to try, and we eventually made it back to the kitchen. The sweets spirits seemed happy and relieved that they could finally get out of our hats.

"Congratulations on passing the test!!!" The sweets spirits all congratulated us in unison.

"Oh, thanks, and thanks for hiding in our hats as well. But I guess we should try their cakes now," I suggested, holding Ichimatsu Matsuya's pound cake.

"Geez, I feel bad for Keiko for experiencing something so embarrassing," Chocolat brought up and I tried my best to hide my disturbance.

"Well, at least you weren't in front of that guy. If I didn't have to hide, I'd punch him and he'd never know what hit him," Fraise smiled cynically, recalling those events.

"Miss Fraise, violence is not the answer… but if I were there with Miss Michiko as well, I'd definitely want to get a hit in, too. Hahahaha!" Caramel gave a murky, deep smile that surprised all of us and the room went silent.

'Huh, who'd ever think Caramel would have such dark thoughts?' I briefly chuckled to myself at her response though the Sweets Princes were still clearly disturbed at today's earlier events.

"Instead of remembering what happened, we purposely went to Salon de Marie to buy Team Ichimatsu's cakes for the sake of research, didn't we?" Cafe tried his best to focus our attention back on our main task and we nodded our heads in agreement.

We all took a bite out of the pound cake labeled with everyone's name on Team Ichimatsu.

"Hm, the coffee marble is moist and done well," Hanabusa brought up after taking a bite.

"This one is full of nuts in each bite," Andou said, trying the pound cake he got from another one of Ichumatsu's team members.

"This chocolate pound cake… is… delicious." Kashino faintly admired the cake as he took a bite.

Once I took a bite out of Ichimatsu Matsuya's pound cake, the first thing I could taste was chestnuts.

"This cake has wondrous depth yet it's got a mature taste from these chestnuts," I brought up after tasting it.

We all remained silent as we acknowledged how good their pound cakes were.

'That guy really wasn't joking when he said he wouldn't go easy on us…'

"It's fine to just make something better than your enemy's," Cafe said furiously as he ate a piece of a pound cake.

"That's right! After what their leader pulled today on Keiko, our drive should be full of fury!" Chocolat exclaimed indifferently as she took a bite of hers.

"That being said, what will everyone make?" Caramel asked us.

"I was thinking that I should make a lemon-blueberry pound cake, sweet enough for children," I brought up.

"I'm making a cocoa pound cake with chestnuts in it, curbing the sweetness for adults," Kashino pondered.

"I'm going to make a green tea pound cake with sweet *natto in it, for the elderly," Andou said.

*Natto is a traditional Japanese food made from soybeans that have been fermented and are often considered an acquired taste because of its powerful smell, strong flavor, and sticky, slimy texture.

"I'm making a ro—No, I'll make a black tea cake," Hanabusa said after faltering on his words.

He plastered a chill smile that bothered me because it felt less sincere than how his usual smiles were.

'Just now, he said "ro-" something. Knowing that Hanabusa is more into flowers, he was definitely going to say rose just now, but why did he change his mind?'