Chapter 138: S2 Episode 37 - One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
Before she knew it, she agreed to something that she didn't have the right mind to consider. All she remembered was a compelling man's deep voice telling her what would happen on the day of the Grand Prix, yet she knew exactly what he was implying and even agreed.
Her phone was in her hand, and she looked dazed out.
But as she thought about this, there was a feeling of excitement that flowed through her body. She no longer felt nervous about going against Michiko Keiko and her team. Instead, she felt pretty confident.
'I will win this. To be next to you, Mr. Henri….'
* * *
Michiko Keiko had finished baking her genoise, and Tennouji Mari followed up behind a few minutes later. Next, the cameras turned to the two chocolatiers of the groups, Kaidou Rui and Kashino Makoto.
As Kaidou Rui was busily putting his dirty dishes into the sink to clean, he felt propelled to see what Kashino was trying to make. From the looks of it, it appeared to be a 2-foot tall chocolate figure of a beautiful, majestic angel. Kashino was in the zone as he intricately detailed the Angel's body as he'd practiced multiple times before. Each time came out better than the other due to rinse and repeat.
Even Kaidou Rui was so interested that he took a gander at Kashino's chocolate angel.
"Hmm, you're making an angel?" Kaidou Rui asked Kashino, who paid no mind to him. Kashino was known for being aloof towards others he wasn't comfortable with, so it even applied to Kaidou Rui, who was just his senior.
"It doesn't matter what it is. Just mind your business," Kashino said with sharp words, not even sparing a glance at the handsome boy who was trying to distract him.
On Kaidou Rui's station, Kashino could see a beautiful, black and white chessboard being sculpted. But, for some reason, although Kaidou Rui's chessboard was beautiful, even Kashino thought the chocolate angel he made was far more superior than the former's board.
After practicing each night to get every detail of that angel right, Kashino improved with his strategy and speed. Following Michiko Keiko's rigorous training helped him improve significantly. It appeared that Kashino's skills were even more prominent than his senior, and with this, even Kaidou Rui seemed a bit intimidated by the 14-year-old middle schoolboy.
Trying to distract him again, Kaidou Rui spoke up to the aloof boy, who quickly took a glance at his black and white chocolate chessboard that was about 1.5ft in both length and width.
"Our motif is "The Flower of Dreams." That flower is Mari herself, so we're putting forth our all to make it, and then we'll win and go to Paris together," Kaidou Rui calmly explained with a lax smile.
As Kashino heard this, he could do nothing but hold in a smirk as he carved out the Angel's figure.
"Sounds great," Kashino said briefly as if he shared no interest.
"Hey, don't ignore me!" Kaidou Rui worked up a short fuse after realizing that Kashino ignored him.
'I think our "Stairway to Dreams" seems to hold a bit more meaning than their "Flower of Dreams." After all, our Angel is the one guiding us up that stairway,' Kashino thought to himself as he took a glance over at Michiko Keiko, who had busied herself with something else at her station.
After noticing that the chocolate angel he made looked a bit similar to Michiko Keiko, he always found himself observing her as they practiced. Just like this, he would constantly look over at the girl and take note of the small facial expressions she didn't even know she made.
There were times where she gave small smiles at the cakes she made, and he would use her as his reference to making their ethereal Angel.
Michiko Keiko always seemed to gaze at the Angel whenever they finished making their practice cakes, but it seemed as if she didn't realize just how similar the Angel was to her. In a way, he intended to make her that Angel from the very start when Keiko presented the idea. And each time, it would turn out more real, more beautiful, more encaptivating—like how he viewed her in his eyes.
Seeing that talking to the boy with few words was pointless, Kaidou Rui focused his attention back on his station and continued to form more of the chocolate elements for his team's cake.
~
On the other side of things, Andou focused on the team's petit gateaux. They would be placed around the cake's main elements as they guided the viewer through that "Stairway of Dreams." He never spared a glance at Takigawa Reiji, who continuously tried to distract him with his carefree attitude.
Andou's aura was much more different than before. He was more strict and thorough when it came to making their cake. After seeing how much Michiko Keiko pushed herself every day to make notes about what to fix on their cake, he also felt like he needed to try harder for her.
He felt like she wanted her dream more than anyone, which made her willing to go out of her way to help criticize her teammates when it came to something they needed to improve on. She didn't sugarcoat her words; instead, she told it to them straight because that was the only way they could improve.
Michiko Keiko often helped Andou out when it came to the mini elements he had to make for the cake. Although his job was making more petite sweets, it was also one of the more demanding parts of their cake. She coached him side by side when they practiced together about how he could do several things differently. Each suggestion she gave him made him grow more and more.
There were times when he felt insecure against others, but she would constantly reassure him to focus on the task at hand. All that mattered were the smiles of the people who ate their cake.
She only spoke when she needed to, but she had very informative points to give each time she did that could quickly help her teammates. She had as much trust in them as they did with her.
He snuck a glance at Michiko Keiko, who wondrously moved around the kitchen with light feet.
'This one's for you, my Angel. I'll make sure to do my very best to win this with you and the others!' Andou energized himself to keep pushing forward as he thoroughly piped some macaron batter onto parchment paper.
~
Hanabusa and his sweets spirit focused on kneading a large piece of sugar. The long piece of candy was a gold color with shimmering sparkles mixed into it. Even the flowery boy seemed lax working in his element.
"Sweets Prince Hanabusa is kneading a large piece of sugar. Let's see what he's making," the MC brought up, and the peoples' attention looked towards the handsome boy with green hair.
Suddenly, Hanabusa started pulling the gold sugar to stretch it into a helix shape. This ornament would play well with their cake's "Stairway to Dreams''. As stated, he was in charge of making the grandiose, magical staircase their cake called for.
In order to show that the staircase was shimmering from within, he had the help of his sweets spirit Cafe, who used his sweets magic to make the sugar road glow from within. It truly looked majestic and it was a sight no one had ever seen before.
It was almost like warm Christmas lights shone from within the gold staircase.
As Hanabusa pulled the sugar, it looked as if his performance could be in a famous painting that people would run up to buy for thousands of dollars.
Against him was Team Tennouji's Saeki Ryou who was more level-headed than the other males in his team. He didn't really speak often because he spent most of that time concentrating on his element.
The audience could see that Saeki Ryou was quietly making sugar flower petals for his team's "Flower of Dreams" cake. He moved fast with each petal he made, creating one after another as he wore gloves to shield his hands from burning as he worked with the hot sugar.
He was in his own world and had such a peaceful aura around him…
But that didn't distract from the fact that even Hanabusa Satsuki was in his world. He trained every day with his team and they were never able to catch a break due to their team leader, an extreme workaholic nut.
Hanabusa noticed just how much time she spent doing things, and he realized that with every action she did as they practiced, she paced herself with each of the elements that she was in charge of. She wasn't like any other person who moved in the kitchen.
Each time she baked, she was in her own world, not to mention the ideas she always came up with. Behind every cake Michiko Keiko thought of, there was a story behind each. And with every cake she baked, she always put herself into the consumers' perspective to see their surprised and excited reactions.
Because of that girl, Hanabusa also wanted to be in his own little world as he did things. He was inspired by Michiko Keiko to just let loose whenever he baked as if he was the only one living in the world.
The shiny gold pathway Hanabusa and Cafe made together gave the wow factor before finishing it. No one knew what Team Michiko was making or what they were planning to do with the helix-shaped candy, and whatever it was, there was no doubt that it would be amazing.
'It's just us in our own little worlds, Michiko Keiko. I'll put in all my effort so we can both reach our dream with the others, no matter what!' Hanabusa pumped himself up with a sweet smile as he focused on sculpting the many steps of the staircase for the cake while the sugar was still hot.
~
It was clear as day to see each member's development in Team Michiko. By the looks of it, it seemed as if these four 14-year-old students were on the same level as their seniors—no, they were actually much better.
After the Christmas Party they attended where they made the small children's cakes, Team Michiko felt intimidated by their seniors' skill level and palettes, to the point where they even questioned themselves if they could even win the competition.
Each member of Team Tennouji was either better than them, or just as skilled as them.
The person who helped them climb the stairs into believing themselves was none other than Michiko Keiko, their Ice Princess, their Angel.
She hadn't doubted their skills for a second, instead, she pushed them forward when they felt hesitant to. If they couldn't push themselves to improve, she would be there to help them climb the stairs, and for that, they admired her as their team leader.
Although it had only been two weeks since the Christmas Party, the development in the Sweets Princes' and their sweets spirits' skill was like night and day. No longer did they feel inferior to their seniors—they now felt like they were the ones on top.
But as Michiko Keiko pushed her team towards that light signifying their dreams, they hadn't realized that their team leader gave everything within her to push them to that point. As they took steps forward, she took steps back. Every time the boys climbed the stairs, Michiko Keiko was getting further from that light.
In the midst of it all, she was ready to push herself to the point of destruction.