Thinking of a Theme (2)

Chapter 72: Episode 33 - Thinking of a Theme (2)

After I quickly exited the high school division's cooking lab, Fraise noticed that I was a bit dazed by what they said.

"Keiko, let's go change your mood!" Fraise instructed and I clocked my head to the side unsurely.

"How so?" I asked.

"Follow me!" Fraise exclaimed, flying away in another direction.

"Where are you going, Fraise?" I asked, trying my best to match her pace.

"To St. Marie's Orchard! You'll surely find something!" Fraise said as she continued to fly away.

'The St. Marie's Orchard? Geez, just how big is this school?'

After walking for a few minutes, we made it to St. Marie's Orchard.

I spotted grapevines that had ripe red grapes dangling from them and we continued walking down a path filled with many types of fruits.

"Wow, grapes, pears, persimmons… Everything's here." I noticed, turning my head in every direction.

"The students grow all of these fruits," Fraise said proudly.

'Fraise was worried about me… that's why she took me here…'

I looked at Fraise with a smile as she continued to fly ahead of me.

"I told you! For the time being, I'm not going back!" A boy's voice said from nearby which caught me and Fraise's attention.

'Strange. His voice sounds familiar.'

We walked over to the sound of where the voice was coming from and from nearby, we could see Kashino leaning against a tree with his phone to his ear. He held a piece of paper in his hand and I could see a sullen expression in his eyes.

It was strange to see Kashino with a gloomy expression because he always showed no emotion on his face to the point where you couldn't read his thoughts.

"... It doesn't matter who else is at the top if I'm still there… Who are they? Why does it matter?" Kashino said coldly, furrowing his eyebrows.

'What are they talking about?' I thought to myself.

"I've kept my end of the deal by remaining at the top. You shouldn't have any complaints… Bye," Kashino said with no emotion in his voice, bringing an end to the call.

I couldn't help listening to their conversation.

'I've never seen Kashino with this kind of face but he seems even more annoyed than usual.'

"Geez, that old woman," Kashino said out loud.

"Old woman?" I interjected in curiosity.

"My mother," he said nonchalantly as if not noticing that I was there.

When he turned his head to see me, he froze in place.

"Were you fighting with your mother?" I asked, walking up to him who didn't move a muscle.

"M-Michiko, why are you here?" Kashino said in surprise.

"Well, Fraise said that I might find something so I followed her here," I explained and he quickly gathered himself and began to walk away. "What about you?"

"Same," he responded bluntly.

"Actually, just now, Natsuki and the others let me eat their new creation," I began. "It was beautiful and delicious after all."

"Hm, they're pretty calm over there," Kashino said, continuing to walk away down a path of bushes.

"The calm one is you, Kashino," I pointed out.

"Did you come up with a theme yet?" Kashino asked but I stopped my tracks and looked up.

I noticed that the greenhouses were right in front of us so I thought that maybe there could be more fruits in there to inspire us.

"Now's not the time to be talking about the theme! We've got to search for a fruit that can compete with theirs," I said, pulling Kashino by his sleeves, rushing with him to the greenhouse.

We entered the greenhouse and we could see a variety of tropical fruits.

"There are a lot of tropical fruits but I don't think that we could win against Team Natsuki with these," I pondered out loud, taking in the sight of any fruit I could see.

Kashino continued to look around quietly but then he suddenly stopped in his footsteps. I was already doubting that we could win, despite telling Natsuki and the others that I wanted more competition.

I rubbed my head in frustration since nothing was coming to mind about what dish we could make.

'Anything fruit-related… we can't win against them. They grew up on plantation farms and have been around fruits their whole lives, while I, on the other hand, only had my mom to teach me. Though our skills could match, they have the upper hand this round…'

Uuooop~

Without watching where I was going, I accidentally bumped into Kashino from behind who just stood there.

"O-oh, sorry, Kashino," I apologized quickly to him but he continued to just stay still as if bumping into him didn't mean anything.

Suddenly, he turned around to face me and lowered his eyes down at me.

"I don't think we can make anything decent by unreasonably making something," Kashino spoke up once I took a step back.

"What do you mean?" I questioned further.

Kashino sighed and walked towards the greenhouse exit.

"Michiko, come with me," Kashino said, leaving the greenhouse.

I was still confused with his words but decided to follow him as we walked to an area filled with apple trees. The apples were ready to be picked and we saw high school students wearing outdoor work clothes harvesting them.

One guy took notice of us when we walked towards him.

"Are you guys middle school students?" One of the student harvesters asked.

"Yes." I nodded my head straight away.

"This was just picked, would you like to eat it?" He asked, offering me and Kashino an apple.

"Is that okay?" I asked unsurely and he nodded his head.

"Of course!" He assured me.

I took the bright red apple from his hands and smelled it.

'I know it well; bittersweet with the aroma of a Jonathan apple.'

"It reminds me of Ringo's cake," I said, remembering the time we were at Piyo Piyo kindergarten. It hadn't been too long since we'd last been to the kindergarten though it feels like forever since I'd last seen the kids. I've been too preoccupied with my studies and this Grand Prix that it feels like time is passing by quicker than usual.

"That cake was good," Kashino muttered, holding his apple to his face to look at it. "The witch's house for Ringo and even the moon cake we made for Ichita were cakes made from ideas that were from you. Everyone was… happy."

I glowered my eyes down at the apple and looked at it in a daze. Though I only focused on the ruby red color of the apple, I never looked at anything else on it. My eyes for seeing intricate details were clouded with burden and stress.