This Is My Win (1)

Chapter 26: Episode 13 - This Is My Win (1)

We exited the convenience store and were making our way back to the academy. I only grabbed a few bags of chips and snacked on some as we walked.

"Wow, this steam meat bun is delicious!" Andou said as he stuffed his face full.

"This is the new cafe latte that they're selling. Try some, Cafe," Hanabusa offered to Cafe who took a small sip from his straw.

"You want some chips, Fraise?" I asked her, handing over a chip that she could eat.

"Geez, you guys. Just wait till we get back to school," Kashino scolded us as we continued walking over to the academy.

"You eat too, Maa-chan!" Andou said, stuffing Kashino's face with a meat bun.

"I'm going to kill you," Kashino said in irritation as Andou forced a meat bun into his mouth.

'It's kind of strange… Not too long ago, I was just a regular middle school student who was only preoccupied with my grades and nothing else. My dad and Kaori would often be worried about me because all I did was focus on school. Now, I'm here making cakes with… my friends… if they will allow me to call them that.'

* * *

A month passed and it was the day of the birthday meeting at the Piyo Piyo kindergarten.

The Sweets Princes and I walked into the cooking lab together to prepare our birthday cake for Ringo.

'Finally, today is the birthday meeting. I wonder if Ringo is eagerly waiting…'

"The marzipan and base are done; all that's left is to decorate it," I claimed, looking at the list in my notebook.

"We've practiced making it so many times we could do it with our eyes closed," Kashino added as we walked over to our stations.

While we made our way over to our stations, we walked past the girls from Group B holding a cake that looked exactly like ours.

"Let's put our cake in the fridge," one of the girls from Group B directed.

We stopped dead in our tracks and our eyes shot open.

"Wait, that's our cake!" Andou pointed at the cake one of the girls from Group B was holding.

"What?" The girl raised her eyebrows, clearly taken aback.

"... It looks the same as the one I thought up…" I said, analyzing everything they had on the cake.

'Everything looks exactly the same! This can't just be a coincidence! They stole it!' I furrowed my eyebrows at this thought.

"No way! Don't say such weird things, Michiko. This is my design. Aren't you the one who copied me, Michiko?" The girl accused and the Sweets Princes looked at me.

"No, you're wrong!" I gritted my teeth and my fists trembled. "I gave it my all to come up with that idea for Ringo's sake…"

"Oh well, lucky for us, Ayu's birthday is on the 4th so ours will present first. It's pretty disappointing to bring out the same cake. She'll be called a copycat," the girls snickered.

'No… This can't be happening…'

"You're one to talk when you've clearly stolen the design," Kashino spoke up, voicing his disgust for the girls' antics.

"There's no way that Michiko would do that. She's a hard worker who always comes up with her own ideas," Andou defended angrily.

"We made it at night, I wonder when they saw it," Hanabusa pondered.

'Everyone… believes me…'

The girls snickered when they looked at me and walked away.

"U-um…" Caramel's voice hesitated to speak and so she came out to face us.

"I'm soooo sorry! Those girls were taking photos of the cake but I thought they were taking it because it's great… I forgot to tell you guys right after you came back from the convenience store that day…" Caramel cried in fear as she confessed.

"Geez, Caramel! You're such an idiot!" Chocolat voiced her displeasure, scolding the crying sweet spirit.

"Saying that now when the cake meeting is just in an hour..." Cafe avoided eye contact with Caramel.

"WAA-AH! Cause *hic*~cause *hic*~" Caramel continued to cry, snot coming out of her nose.

"Don't cry, Caramel. The ones at fault are those girls," Fraise tried to calm Caramel down and hugged her.

"Miss Fraise is so nice… huhuhuhu," Caramel cried even more from Fraise's kindness.

I gritted my teeth angrily and my blue eyes flared up in irritation.

"I won't forgive them. Making kids who are looking forward to their cakes sad just because they don't like me… It's repulsive!" I expressed, my eyes trembling in disgust.

'But right now… Will we even have enough time?'

We all looked at the unassembled cake staring right at us at our station.

It was close to 11:00 and the meeting is soon.

"The birthday meeting is at 12…" Hanabusa stated tensely.

"We have no choice but to change the design in an hour," Kashino declared with a frustrated look on his face.

"But how do we…" Andou couldn't even finish his sentence.

I couldn't help but feel stressed by this situation. A lot of things were going around in my mind that I couldn't think clearly. My body started wobbling to the side, but I knew I had to gather myself and clear my thoughts… I closed my eyes and cleared my mind.

'Mom… If you were in this situation? What would you do to solve it? I need your guidance… please…"

My mom got along well with others and lots of people loved her, not only for her baking but for her personality. Her goal, whenever she saw someone, was to see their happy faces enjoying her company and sweets.

Then, the thought of Ringo smiling appeared first in my mind when she talked about her old school.

'Ringo will be pleased with a cake that will make everyone get along. Hmm… what about everyone getting along on one cold, snowy day?'

Suddenly, my eyes flew open when I came to a realization.

'That's it!'

"I have an even better design!" I announced sternly but with confidence.