End of the Round (1)

Chapter 80: Episode 35 - End of the Round (1)

My teammates and I were standing still as the crowd began cheering our name. Though I felt relieved that we won, I knew that it would only last a moment.

'Although we won against Team Natsuki this time, now that we can advance into the next round, it doesn't mean that we've won the whole thing. Even now, our competition will only grow harder and harder. We can't let our guard down now!'

I could feel the smile on my face quickly fade away as I took this into consideration. We've won the second round but then again, it was only the second round. If we even progress past the third round, just how hard will our competition be?

"Yo, Keiko! What's with the sad face?" A girl's voice that I've come to recognize called out to me. I flinched after realizing that she was the leader of the team that we had just won against—Natsuki.

I looked up at her to see that she was smiling along with her three other group members. There was tension during the competition, but it was as if all of that had faded away once a winner was announced. Team Natsuki was taking their loss surprisingly well as if it didn't matter if they won or not.

"You guys won. Congrats!" Emi and Rina, the twins, congratulated the four of us. We all nodded our heads but I was still caught up in a daze.

'Yes… we've won but what if it will only last a second? What if our victory is short-lived and we can't win this whole thing? What if we fail—No! this is foolish thinking! The only way to know if we can win is if we try hard enough. These pointless thoughts will only prevent us from getting further.'

My mind was clouded with assumptions but it was hard to admit that these thoughts only solidified one fear I had—the fear of failure.

"Keiko! Snap out of it!" Fraise exclaimed, waking me up from my delusions.

"Oh—yeah. Sorry. I guess my head just isn't in it today," I apologized sincerely and I could see Team Natsuki and my other team members looking at me strangely.

"Oi, Michiko. What is wrong with you today?" Kashino asked as if he was disturbed by my behavior.

"Nothing really. It's just taking me a while to fully register that we won against a talented team like Team Natsuki," I said, smiling at Natsuki and her team members. Behind that smile, I was lying behind my teeth. I feared my thoughts and I feared that if I ever told anybody about what I was thinking, it will only bring the morale down.

"To be honest, Keiko, I was really scared of competing against your team. My hands were trembling and everything! I noticed how calm you guys were and that only made me feel even more intimidated! Just wow—you guys are awesome!" Natsuki complimented us with her bubbly and contagious smile.

"I think we could all agree that we were frightened to go against you guys. Just when we thought that we had the victory, Keiko came out with something so stunning that even I knew that there would be no way that we could win," Mika, the girl with the plump lips, said.

"Well, truthfully… I was nervous as well. Once you guys presented your dessert, I was sure that we'd lost. Out of desperation, I had to come up with an idea to go fairly against your dessert and so I quickly thought of using some leftover strawberry coulis to make the chocolate flower bloom on its own," I admitted but their eyes widened. Not only did Natsuki and her team's eyes widened, so did the boys on my team.

"Y-you thought of that all while our dish was being presented?! That was only like, 5 minutes while our dish was being judged… Amazing…" Natsuki said in awe.

The sweets princes couldn't remove their eyes on me and I could feel their piercing stares.

"Just imagine if Michiko hadn't thought about that idea, we definitely would have lost this round," Hanabusa admitted and the two other boys nodded their heads along.

"It was a group effort. As the team leader, I had to make sure that our dish was perfect to be judged," I said calmly.

"Hm, so it was a good thing that you made a lot of strawberry coulis," Fraise admired from inside my toque.

Not too far away from us, I could see an intimidating group of high school students walk towards us. The well-known student council president of the high school division and her teammates walked up to my team and Natsuki's.

"It was a good battle between your two teams. Good effort, Team Natsuki, and congratulations to Keiko and her team," Mari said with a small smile to us.

"Thank you, Mari. I guess in the next round, we may have to compete," I brought up and she and her team members nodded their heads along.

"Yes, we will have to compete. Although it is not our intention, good luck and may the best team win," said Kaidou Rui, the high school division's student council vice president.

"Hm? This guy sort of smells… familiar?" Fraise brought up randomly as Kaidou Rui stood in front of us. From him was a nutty perfume coming off of him that I guess even Fraise could smell from inside my hat.

I wanted to question her but it would be too awkward to say it out loud.

"Keiko, just remember that although we are friends, Team Tennouji will not go easy on you," Mari said sternly and I nodded my head in acknowledgment.

"Of course, I never expected that you would. Team Michiko won't back down against you so bring it your all," I said confidently as Tennouji Mari and her three other team members nodded their heads in amusement.

"I like that attitude of yours," Kaidou Rui said with a smirk.

As Kaidou Rui stood in front of me, I could feel Fraise becoming restless from inside my hat. She was pacing around crazily and I could feel her footsteps trampling my head.

'Geez, Fraise! Can't you just stay still for a bit?!'