Chapter 125: S2 Episode 24 - Isn't It Funny?
I stretched my arms and legs out as I sat on the stool and I began writing notes on my notepad. I looked at my phone seated on the counter in front of me and zoomed in on each element and angle I took of the cake.
"Are you seriously taking notes right now, Keiko? It's 3 in the morning!" Fraise said beside me as she watched me take down notes.
"I can't rest right now. I have to make sure that everything goes well, Fraise. If I don't correct any sloppy parts of our cake, I'll fail my team," I muttered.
"But is it that hard to sleep or even eat once a while, Keiko? You barely even ate anything throughout the day—"
"—Like I said, I'm fine! If you don't want to be here, you can just rest in my room!" I said with a lot of irritation in my voice.
I was so sick and tired of Fraise nagging me to eat and sleep. Why couldn't she understand that my health didn't matter in this situation? All that mattered was that I and my team produced the best Dream cake to surpass Tennouji Mari and her team.
Whether it be staying up for a while longer, I didn't care. As long as it meant winning.
Fraise remained silent before speaking again.
"Keiko, why can't you understand that I'm worried for you? I know you find me annoying to be telling you this but you have to understand that what you're doing right now isn't healthy… If you don't give your body a break or pay attention to your health, I'm afraid that you might… y-you might…"
She couldn't say the words but I already knew.
"What? Die?" I said with a disturbing, nonchalant smile.
She looked at me as if she couldn't recognize the person she was talking to. As if I wasn't… normal.
"You've changed… Just what happened to that joyful young girl that I watched years ago?! Is she gone, too?" Fraise questioned, raising her voice at me.
"Well, so what if she is?! It doesn't matter anymore! If you're still looking for that kid who enjoyed life years ago, then I'm sorry to say that she disappeared!" I raised my voice back, feeling my throat get a bit itchy.
"Your mother wouldn't want you to be this way, why can't you just understand that?!"
"What do YOU know about my mother? She's been dead for 6 years now! Why can't you just leave me alone?!"
I almost got choked up at the moment but restrained my tears from showing.
"If that's what you want, Keiko… Then we can just terminate our contract…" Fraise said sadly which made me widen my eyes in surprise. I finally eased my burning anger and did a quick breathing exercise to calm myself down. I could feel the blood escape from my head but disregarded the lightheadedness.
"Just stop worrying about me already. I'll be fine," I responded emotionlessly, continuing to write down notes.
It was then that Fraise looked at me seriously with her bright blue eyes. And at that moment, I felt completely and utterly petrified… as if I was facing another version of myself.
"All I know is that if your mother was here now… she'd be greatly disappointed in you," Fraise said, before turning her body around to leave through an open window.
.
.
.
All that remained was me sitting in the large, cold cooking lab. Not a sound of noise and not a hint of life.
Just like how I was always used to…
I looked down at my notes with a somber face.
"That's right… just like how it always was… Quiet, dull, and…"
'Lifeless... If that's how it is, I don't need anybody… I don't care about anybody… All that matters is the final dream.'
"Hehehe…" A quiet chuckle escaped my lips but it didn't stop there."Hahaha! Kuekhahahaha! Hahahahahahahaha!!!"
I was in a burst of endless laughter yet I couldn't recall why I was laughing in the first place.
Just what was so funny?
"HUHUHUHUHU! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
'What was I laughing for? I forget, but it's quite funny, isn't it?'
As if to hide my emotions, my laughter filled all of the grey areas I never wanted to admit.
"~Hueeek! KUEH—KEUPH—KEKE!"
All of a sudden, I began coughing violently into my arm and it wouldn't stop.
"~HUEK! HUAF—KAKAKE!"
It continued for about a minute more until it finally stopped. And when I turned to look at the arm that I coughed into—there was a large pool of fluid that saturated my entire right sleeve…
Bright red blood.
'Oh no. I need to wash this out.'
The blood that covered a majority of my arm didn't bother me as much as people finding out about my bloody coughing fit. As of now, *I* didn't matter. Nothing else mattered in this world besides our 'final destination.'
I quickly took off my white chef's jacket and ran it through a sink with some cold water, doing my best to scrub it out. After scrubbing a majority of it off, I wrung the jacket out and threw it into the laundry bin with all the other soiled jackets, only to sit back at Group A's station and continue where I left off.
* * *
~Clip clop! Clip clop! —SLAM!
A door to an office slammed and a woman entered hurriedly, breathing profusely as if she had something important to say.
"Sir, did you see the recent news?" The woman directed her words towards someone in a large, business office.
The office was quite spacious as it had a small kitchen and lounge area placed in the center. It was modern and well lit with many spotlights and backlights covering the bookshelves and everywhere else around the room.
The theme of the room was dark and mahogany.
The woman had platinum blonde hair kept in a tight bun and she wore a black skirt with a white blouse. She had rosy red cheeks and bright plump lips while carrying a clipboard and smartphone in her hands.
The attendant stood in front of a broad black desk where a man faced the vast window, sitting in a black office chair.
Although the room was well lit in the kitchen and lounge area, the office area was kept completely dark.
The man's figure couldn't be seen because of the lack of light, but he could be visibly seen leaning back on his comfy office chair, staring into the vast abyss.
"Speak up, Amelie," the man spoke in a deep, low voice, referring to the attendant who hurriedly came to him.
"It's just, um—You should probably see for yourself, Sir," Amelie, the attendant, suggested to the man as she put the smartphone on the desk for him to grab.
Turning his chair around, he reached out to the phone and scrolled through the contents. As he did so, not a mere sound escaped his mouth.
While he looked through the phone in silence, he played a video that had an older-looking man, around his mid-60s, speaking to the audience.
The video wasn't too long, but once it finished, the man put the phone back on his desk and the attendant could barely make out the expression on his face.
She wasn't sure what his reaction was, so she gulped in nervousness.
"S-sir?" Amelie asked the man, fidgeting with her troubled fingers while he remained silent.
Finally, words escaped his mouth.
"Get the tickets as quickly as possible. I'll be making a very *special* trip to St. Marie Academy," he ordered which made Amelie nod her head in response.
"Y-y-yessir! R-right away!" Amelie complied.
"Amelie," the man called out to his attendant which made the woman shudder in place.
"Y-yes, sir?" She inquired, trying her best to hide her nervousness with a smile.
"What did I tell you about stuttering? It annoys me, so you either think about your words before you speak or… I'll give your job up to someone more *capable*," he threatened.
Behind that darkness, Amelie could feel the man's piercing glare, causing goosebumps to crawl down her skin.
She did her best to calm down but he had such a demeaning aura to him that it made it hard for her to speak right. It was only in front of him that she stuttered—nobody else.
Trying to pretend that she was talking to a trusted colleague made her able to speak right.
"Yes, sir. I will do my best and follow your orders," Amelie corrected herself and bowed her head down.
"Good. Close the door on your way out," the man said and turned his chair to face the window behind his desk yet again.
When Amelie left the room, a large grin formed on his face.
'Huhuhu… How interesting.'