Something Doesn't Seem Right (1)

Chapter 14: Episode 7 - Something Doesn't Seem Right (1)

"Hey, has anyone seen Michiko?" A girl named Rumi with medium length, straight orange hair asked the few girls she sat with at the cafeteria. She held her lunch tray and sat down at the table.

The 3 Sweets Princes sat just a few feet away from them, listening in on their conversation.

"I don't know... I haven't seen her since classes ended. Maybe she didn't know that dinner was at 5:30?" A girl responded to Rumi's question.

"Hmm… maybe? But I think she would've seen it on her schedule or was told by Miss Narumi at the dorms when lunch and dinner were served. I think that she might not be hungry," another girl stated, thinking thoroughly.

"I don't think I saw her at lunch either."

Rumi had a worried look on her face.

'Is she purposefully skipping out on meal times? Is it because she's not hungry? Or is it because she thinks she might be a nuisance?' Rumi thought, furrowing her eyebrows.

The girls continued to talk and the Sweets Princes heard their conversation and talked among themselves.

"She only showed up to a few of the classes and skipped out on lunch. Now she's skipping out on dinner as well?" Andou asked confusedly.

"Well, I guess if you transferred in the middle of the school year, it'll be hard to talk to others because everybody has already formed their friend groups. Maybe she thinks she doesn't belong," Hanabusa said worriedly, taking a small bite of his food.

"What do you think, Kashino?" Andou asked Kashino who took a sip from his cup.

"Hmph," Kashino remained indifferent, not saying anything in response.

The night passed on and the lights turned off.

* * *

It was the next morning and Fraise and I had gotten up early.

I got ready and changed into my school uniform while Fraise twirled her magical staff around to quickly change into her pink dress.

Just yesterday, I met Fraise, a sweets spirit from the Sweets Kingdom. Together, we'll aim to achieve our dream of becoming well-known patisseries in our world.

"Okay, let's try our best today and work hard!" Fraise motivated and I nodded my head.

I fixed the ribbon on my uniform so that it wouldn't appear crooked and I brushed through my long brown hair.

When we finished getting ready, we made our way to the school for my first class which was French.

* * *

Classes were typically longer at this school than my previous school but some of that time was used up for self-studying. I went through my other classes and finally, it was time for my cooking class.

Getting my chocolate genoise from the oven, I walked towards my station where the Sweets Princes were.

"Oh, today's chocolate cake," Fraise peeked out from my chest pocket to observe.

"Shh, you can't come out," I quickly glanced down at her and then she popped back into my pocket.

"Sorry," Fraise apologized but I couldn't help but feel bad.

"It's fine," I whispered quietly so that others wouldn't think I was strange for talking to myself.

"Ah, Michiko, you're already ahead of us? Observing from here, I can already tell that genoise is baked perfectly," Hanabusa said while giving me a comforting smile.

"You've only been here for a day but your technique and adjustments are excellent," Andou complimented.

I didn't know how to respond to the handsome boys' compliments so I bowed my head.

"Thank you," I hesitantly accepted their compliments though it still felt strange.

I always stood quiet in my previous school and analyzed how people treated each other because I had gotten bored and it wasn't like I talked to anyone either. I could easily tell when people were being friendly or fake.

It felt strange because I couldn't tell whether Hanabusa or Andou were genuinely trying to be nice, or were only trying to be friendly to me because I'm the new girl and they still had their suspicions of me.

"Don't chit-chat in the middle of work," Kashino interrupted my thoughts, giving me a harsh look with his brown eyes.

Though it's harder to tell with Hanabusa and Andou, Kashino has no trouble expressing his dislike for me.

"Just because people are praising you and these two are being nice, doesn't mean that you can get arrogant with all of the attention you've been gaining," Kashino finished, continuing to focus on his chocolate cake.

'Since I transferred here yesterday, this Kashino guy has been giving me cold glances and running his foul mouth whenever Hanabusa or Andou say something to me. Kashino is truly a jerk at heart.'

We all finished our chocolate cake and so the teacher came over to grade us.

"Hmm, as expected of Group A. Good job. Try some of each other's and everyone else's," the teacher instructed and walked away and towards the next group.

We all cut off a slice of each other's cakes and went down the line.

Cutting into Kashino's chocolate genoise cake first, I had little hope for what I was going to taste.

'So this is Kashino's cake,' I observed the slice I cut, expecting that it wasn't going to taste that good.

With my fork, I cut off a small piece, put it in my mouth, and closed my eyes—trying to envision the flavors. Reacting quickly, my eyes popped open.

'The chocolate cream is sweet and rich in aroma. The sponge is moist and it allows the chocolate to infiltrate throughout the cake. Although I don't typically like chocolate all that much, the chocolate isn't too strong and it's not bitter either. No wonder his specialty is chocolate… Though I don't think nicely of him, his manners in the kitchen with how he works isn't as bad as his personality.'

"Did you taste Michiko's cake? It has a nice subtle taste to it," Andou persuaded Kashino to take a bite of my chocolate genoise cake.

I gazed over at Kashino who took a bite of my cake and he stared back at me with a straight face. Kashino kept the same indifferent face that he's given me since I transferred.

"The genoise is too sweet and the cake is too plain," Kashino said blatantly and I could feel my face tense up though I tried my best to conceal my dissatisfaction.

"Is—is that so… Thank you for your feedback," I gave a small smile, trying my best to pretend that it didn't bother me.

'How unlikable…'

Class was coming towards an end and the teacher had us gather at the front of the room to discuss our next task.

"Now then, in 2 days is your practical cake test. The subject is an original cake using chocolate. You can make it the way you want to," the teacher explained and she looked over at me.

"Michiko, every month we will have a practical dessert test to see the results of what you've learned throughout the weeks in class. Though you just transferred yesterday and you're still new, you will still have to participate in this test. Much is expected from you," the teacher explained to me who stood at the front of the class.

"Okay, I understand," I nodded my head.

DING! DING! DING!~

"Other than that, have a nice day!" Our teacher dismissed us just when the bell rang. It was finally time for our next class.

'Though I said I understood, why do I have to bake with chocolate? My knowledge in chocolate is only average and I haven't worked that often with it. But wait—what if I improve upon making chocolate cakes? What if I make a chocolate cake that is more delicious than Kashino's? Watch out, Kashino Makoto, I will impress you this time!'