Chapter 128: S2 Episode 27 - Snowy Morning of the Final Round
On a snowy winter morning, the sweets princes and their sweets spirits had gotten lots of sleep for the day of the final round. They were aware that many people, like their families and friends, including the entire nation, would be watching their performance today. They made sure that they would be in their best shape so that they could give it all they had.
It was 5:30 AM and the boys and tiny partners slept soundly in their dorms. Michiko Keiko had gotten up early that morning, preoccupied about the final round.
She'd barely gotten any sleep for many days and it was evident when dark circles showed under her eyes. The eyebags had gotten so serious that she began hiding them with light makeup she barely ever wore.
Her relationship with Fraise remained tense and they hardly ever spoke to one another. There were times where the tiny fairy wanted to speak up about Keiko to her team, but would always remain quiet. There were even times where Fraise wanted to tell Keiko to stop pushing herself for this stupid competition. Ever since she entered this competition, Keiko's health has declined drastically.
She prioritized everything else over herself, and Fraise hated having to see her human partner like that. She would see Keiko look through her dressing mirror and cover up the dark circles under her eyes with light makeup. In fact, Fraise was scared for Keiko—not knowing what could happen to her because of her deteriorated health.
Her arms had become even bonier than before, her spine protruded out from her back, her face had shriveled to naught, her legs were as thin as sticks, and she had absolutely no sign of life in her eyes—All while this young teenage girl masked everything with a strong smile.
Keiko had gotten up at 5:30 in the morning and put on her winter coat and boots as it was visibly snowing outside. She grabbed a small package of something before leaving her room. Not wanting to get in her way, Fraise was still curious about where Keiko was going, so she decided to tail her from behind.
'Just where is she going so early in the morning?' Fraise asked herself while she also changed into her petite winter outfit to stay warm from the outside. When she followed Keiko, she saw that she was making her way to the front of the academy's courtyard, near the black front gates.
To her surprise, Keiko stopped in front of a large figure. No matter how anyone looked at it, it was completely encaptivating each time one saw it.
It was about 2 meters tall and they held their large gold staff with a spoon on one end, and a cursive "M" on the other. Their hair was exquisitely curled with a crown on her head, and a large frilly dress that exudes the air of royalty.
It was none other than the statue of the Sweets Kingdom's Queen.
Keiko stood before the Queen's statue and placed a small offering at the Queen's feet. It was a pink macaron she'd made the night before, wrapped in a small plastic bag and a ribbon.
The human girl clasped her hands together and closed her eyes.
"Today is the final round of the Grand Prix. My teammates and our spirits have gathered our strength together to do our best to win this competition. I made this macaron as an offering to you. Although it's not much, I just hope that…" Keiko spoke to the statue in an unusually frail voice.
Fraise witnessed the standing girl who bowed her head to the Queen's statue. Since Fraise viewed her from behind, she couldn't see the expression written on the girl's face.
"...When this is all over… I promise to do my best to help Fraise find your lost sister, Sucre. I pray that you watch over us, Your Majesty," Keiko finished, raising her head and unclasping her hands.
Fraise was shocked at her statement.
'What did she just say?' Fraise questioned.
Despite Keiko and her team being busy with preparations for the final round, she still promised that she would help Fraise find her lost master. They hadn't talked for quite a bit, but sensing the determination in the human girl's voice, Fraise wanted to burst out in tears then and there.
'Even now… She still wants to help me…'
Fraise witnessed her partner turn into a walking corpse, preoccupied with other things in her life, yet she was still pushing herself to fulfill that promise she made to her.
She thought back to when they met up with Tennouji Mari and her sweets spirit, Honey.
---
"Well… I don't know if I'll be of help, but I will try hard with Honey to find Sucre," Mari said confidently and Fraise's expression brightened.
"I will try hard as well, Fraise. We'll find Sucre together, I *promise*. We don't want to stop the sweets spirits from coming to our world and finding human friends," Keiko said to her assuredly and heartfelt tears started to form in the pink fairy's blue eyes.
"Really? Thank you all so much…" Fraise's high-pitched voice became squeaky from her crying, but she wiped the tears away, giving them a small smile.
---
How committed was this girl that she was willing to throw herself for the sake and problems of others? Even now, Keiko was still trying to fulfill her promise to find Sucre.
'Geez, Keiko… Why are you pushing yourself so much?' Fraise quietly sighed to herself, rubbing the temples of her head.
After all of the practice Team Michiko had been doing these past few weeks, it had better be worth the effort.
Fraise looked at the statue of the Queen that had completely encaptivated her human partner's eyes. In Fraise's eyes, she had a look of determination and encouragement.
'Don't worry, Your Majesty. We'll work hard to find Master Sucre together. Please watch over us.' Fraise did a curtsy in the air to the statue. She, too, would fulfill her promise to the Queen!
*Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!*
Nearby, they could hear footsteps coming closer to them. Immediately, Keiko and Fraise retreated behind the statue to avoid the onlooker's eyes from a distance. They hid behind the statue, but Fraise obviously tried to remain out of the sight of her partner, so she hid behind the head of the 2-meter tall statue, enough so that Keiko couldn't see her up above.
Both poked their heads out a bit to see who was coming closer to the Queen's statue.
"I didn't think you'd be up this early in the morning," a male's voice spoke as he walked closer. From a bit up close, they could see a man, around his late 20s, who had bright blonde hair, baby blue eyes, and an attractive face approach them.
It was none other than Henri Lucas himself.
They thought that it was just him but it was obvious that he was asking that question to someone else. They could hear another one's footsteps walking beside him.
"Haha… I'm sorry for intruding on your morning walk," a female's voice responded.
A girl with long wavy, honey-blonde hair and honey-gold eyes smiled brightly at Henri Lucas as if she was a girl in love. That girl in love was none other than the high school division's Tennouji Mari.
It was strange to see this sight because everyone had always seen her with such a serious face. Even Keiko and Fraise were taken aback for a split second.
'THAT was Tennouji Mari?' They questioned inwardly to themselves at the strange spectacle.
Finally, the two people stopped right in front of the Queen's statue as if noticing something.
"Oh, there's a macaron here," Henri Lucas noticed in surprise at the macaron Michiko Keiko left as an offering.
"Students leave them here as an offering before tests," Tennouji Mari explained, observing the pink macaron that was neatly wrapped in a small plastic bag.
"You're not going to leave one?" He inquired as she looked at the macaron in deep thought.
"No. I won't," she said with a slight hint of determination.
"Oh? You seem pretty confident. I'm really looking forward to your match today against Michiko Keiko," Henri said, glancing up at the queen's statue, completely mesmerized by the 2-meter figure.
"I… made a declaration to Michiko Keiko," Tennouji hesitated, also deep in thought at the queen's statue. "I made a declaration to an opponent 4 years younger than me… that I'd fight with my all, win, and go to Paris. I declared that I would study by your side."
In her honey-gold eyes, she looked up at him innocently, but she also had a look of motivation on her face.