Chapter 52: Episode 26 - Reminiscing Memories (1)
Remembering that day's events had really disturbed me and I looked at the hand that Ichimatsu kissed.
"Sadly… yes," I admitted and the girl's attention rose.
"Really?"
"Is he hot?"
"How did it feel when everybody was looking?"
The girls pestered me with questions and I sighed, trying to think of a way to calm the situation down.
"We were supposed to give a handshake to the opposing team but the leader decided that it was a good idea to embarrass me in front of the school by kissing my hand," I explained, continuing to work on the rose cake.
"That's bold."
"Why would he do something like that?"
"You don't even know him, how could he do that to you?"
I nodded my head along to their claims in agreement.
"But… I heard there was a bet that you guys made. I think it was… if his team won, you'd have to go on a date with him," one girl recalled.
"That's true… " I admitted hesitantly and the girls' eyes opened wide in shock.
"You agreed? Why would you do that? What would happen if you guys won?" Rumi asked curiously and everybody's eyes fell on me to answer.
"We agreed that if his team won, I'd go on a date with him, but if my team won, he'd leave me alone and apologize for his actions," I stated seriously and the girls' faces turned to amazement and awe.
"As expected from the Ice Princess."
"If a guy that I didn't know did that to me, I would've slapped him!"
"He seems like a prick! I really hope his team loses!"
Every girl seemed to defend me for Ichimatsu's actions and I could see that even the Sweets Princes were nodding along to their claims about the opposing team's leader.
"I noticed this before, but where's the last pound cake?" A girl asked and I looked over at Hanabusa's station.
"Ah… Hanabusa's cake isn't ready yet," I told them as we all looked over at Hanabusa making his rose cake with some girls admiring him from up close.
"Kyaa! I heard Hanabusa was going to make a rose cake!"
"Wow! It fits your image perfectly!"
"Hey, aren't you done? I want to taste it!"
The girls who gathered around the sweets princes berated Hanabusa with a lot of questions as they observed him making his cake. Hanabusa didn't seem to be bothered before, but with them in his way, he seemed a bit annoyed.
"Tasting?" Hanabusa said, rubbing his head as if he was going mad from the mere sight of the girls. "If you'd like to, go ahead with those." Hanabusa pointed over to a tall pile of his failed rose cakes that stacked up 1 meter high. As he walked away, the cakes fell on top of the girls' heads.
"KYA!" The girls screamed as the pound cakes rained on them.
I rushed over to help them out.
"Are you okay?" I asked one girl, helping her up.
"Hey, Hanabusa!" Kashino called out after Hanabusa who went over to another station to get away from the girls bothering him.
All of our classmates figured that we needed some time alone to work so they left the cooking lab right after the fall of the pound cakes.
We rushed over towards Hanabusa who worked at another station. His green hair was scrambled around and he was focused on perfecting the pound cake.
"Geez, for that guy to ignore a girl's existence," Andou muttered.
"It looks like he's reached the end," Kashino observed.
As I saw how focused Hanabusa was, I already knew that his drive to make this rose cake was strong.
'He still can't seem to make use of his father's perfume in the pound cake… I feel useless since I can't remember Mom's rose cake recipe or what she did with it to make it perfect!'
We presented our failed trials to Hanabusa who looked at us in anticipation.
"I tried injecting rose jam on the inside right after I was done baking it but there still isn't much aroma to it," I presented mine first, holding out the failed pound cake.
"I tried spreading rose jam on top but the aroma's only on the outside," Andou presented his.
"I tried mixing perfume into chocolate and coating it, but it turned out just like Andou's," Kashino presented, though Hanabusa's anticipated gaze fell to disappointment right after we showed him our results.
"It's impossible after all, unless the aroma is affixed to the batter," Hanabusa stared at the rose water emotionlessly. "I'm going to cool my head a bit."
He took off his apron and turned away from us, walking out of the cooking lab.
'Hanabusa…' I saw his sad expression as he looked at the rose water. 'I already know, he's given up.'
I watched his figure exit the door, his head facing toward the ground in hopelessness.
'Geez, what did you do Mom, to get the rose aroma to stick to the cake?! Why can't I remember what you did so I can help Hanabusa?! I know that Hanabusa's given up but I don't want to give up just yet… Reading from his expression, he looks at the rose water as if it's a burden to him.'
Suddenly, my eyes opened wide at a thought.
'No way… don't tell me…'
I ended my thoughts there and ran out of the cooking lab after Hanabusa.
"Michiko, wait!" Kashino and Andou ran after me and followed.
"Where are you going?!" Andou asked though I didn't answer.
'No, Hanabusa. You can't give up this rose cake… not now…'
I knew that nearby, there was a pond right beside the flower garden. If he looks at the gift his father left him as a burden, he's never going to forgive himself if he does 'that.'
~
Hanabusa stood at the edge of the flower garden's pond, gazing at the rose water left by his dad and reminiscing the memories.
"Satsuki, I got a hold of natural rose water. You said you wanted to make a rose cake, right?" The call from Hanabusa's father haunted his mind as his eyes lingered over the bottle.
"Satsuki… your father… he…" Hanabusa's mother cried when she had to deliver him the dreadful news, hours after Hanabusa received the last phone call from his father.
Hanabusa's eyes never left the sight of the rose water he held in his hand.
"It's a perfume that doesn't bring up decent memories… why did I say it?" Hanabusa asked himself, remembering the words he told Keiko and why he was inspired to make the rose cake. "I told her and the other two that I wanted to make a cake with this, but all this rose water does is bring up bad memories!"
Hanabusa gritted his teeth in frustration, holding up his arm and getting ready to toss the rose water into the pond.
"NOOO—!" A girl's voice interrupted his actions and she came dashing towards him at full speed.