Dovewing: Alrighty! Trying to get as many chaps done as possible. What do you guys think?

Kasume: Wow. Are you really her...

Dovewing: Gah! Yes!

Hiroshi: Just get on with it.

Dovewing: Right. Right. Let the chapter begin!

Kasume: Hold on, are we going to get an A?

Dovewing: Shh! No spoilers!

I do not own Yumeiro Patissiere!

"And...start!"

Something none of us knew.

Lemon-chan was going to time us! I thought we would have the whole class period!

Technically, we did. But based on how fast you are compared to the rest of the class is a pretty good average of the grade you'll receive for next week. I felt sweat trickling off my forehead as I stirred the raspberry jam as fast as I could, scoping the foam out as well. Karin looked worried as well. Ibuki and Hiroshi on the other hand looked pretty calm. I'll bet they went home and studied it or something.

"Karin! Kasume! You two done yet?" Ibuki yelled.

I shook my head as I put the jam in the fridge.

"The jam still needs to cool!" I yelled loudly.

The whole class stared at me. I ducked down my head and started to work on the cake batter with Hiroshi. He was the one who had to deal with two stations. The whip cream and the batter.

"Hiroshi! What can I do?" I asked.

He glared at me for a moment, before considering the offer and sighing.

"Alright. Fine. You can help me put all the ingredients together and stir it. If I do a huge proportion, it won't turn out as well. So we'll split the job. You know how to make the cake batter right?" he asked.

I froze, but nodded.

"Good. Now go!" he shouted.

I just copied him.

No, actually, I wasn't listening to Karin explaining about the batter. I only listened to the bits about the jam and putting the cake and raspberries and lemons together. The rest is a blur of words and movements.

"What are you doing?"

I snapped out of my trance and glanced down at my apron. A smashed egg was stuck on it. I tried again.

Stop worrying...

I have to make sure at least we have a passing grade for this once.

One thing I didn't inherit from my mom, was that if I just followed someone in doing something, it would work. But it also came with a sacrifice. Because of that talent, I didn't bother to create my own things. Not until a few months ago when my mom insisted I make my own recipe.

With the exact same motions, I placed the batter into the oven. Hiroshi didn't open it, so I didn't. It was another ten minutes before we even took it out or peeked inside it again.

Finally, everything was complete.

"Go, go, go, go!" Karin hissed.

We all scurried over to a counter and started putting the cake together. Karin spread the jam out evenly while Hiroshi and I stacked the cakes on top of each other. Finally, as a finishing touch, Ibuki added lemon shaped candies and raspberries.

"Done!" Karin cheered.

Lemon-chan glanced at our creation and smiled. "Nice job. Your group was the first to finish."

That means...we probably got an A...if our cake tastes okay and nothing went wrong.

"I'm sure we did fine," Ibuki assured me.

I paused for a moment.

"I'm not worried. When did I ever say I was worried? I'm fine. Seriously, I promise."

Karin and Ibuki cracked up while Hiroshi just sighed and face palmed his forehead.

Hiroshi patted my back and I jumped forward from the force of it.

"Ouch!"

"We should relax for once! How about we go and have some fun," Hiroshi offered.

...

"Wha-what's with that look on your faces. Guys?"

"GUYS...?"

We all stood there in shock. All I thought Hiroshi did was work work work. And now he's suggesting to take off a day? Is he sick or something? Should I be concerned?

Karin and Ibuki started laughing while I sighed and stood back.

"I guess, but that's a weird suggestion coming from you," I said stiffly.

Hiroshi glared at me. "So you don't want to go."

"No!" I said quickly.

They all just laughed harder after that.

"But where should we go?" Karin asked thoughfully.

"I want to go somewhere warm, with fun things to do..." I mumbled.

Ibuki thought for a moment. We really forgot how to have fun in these last few days. I wonder what'll happen next?

"How about a museum?" Karin said.

A museum? They've always creeped me out a bit, but I supposed that would be better than standing around and doing nothing but staring at cookbooks and our materials and waiting for the scores to come out.

Hiroshi, Ibuki, and I all seconded Karin's idea.

The museum, tomorrow afternoon. Right after class.

"Hi guys!"

Candy popped out from behind me.

"Where were you?" I asked her.

Marshmallow, Cream, and Fudge grinned. "In the Sweets Kingdom! We're having a few exams going on to make sure our skills are still sharp as they used to be, and that we're definitely not slacking off here. Although, we have sent quite a few recipe cards to the queen," Cream mumbled.

Candy smiled, "It'll be fine! Are we going to the museum tomorrow?" Candy asked.

We all nodded, and the Sweet Spirits all agreed with our idea.

"Museum, here we come!" I cheered.

Where...is everyone?

I was standing there in the cold, alone with Candy, staring off into the distance. No one else had arrived yet, and they didn't send me any text messages saying they wouldn't be here either.

Candy sighed. "I'm sure they're just running late..."

I was late!

"Hey! Kasume!"

Hiroshi and Karin were running towards me, at least they were here.

"Hi guys! Ibuki isn't here yet-"

Hiroshi interrupted me. "Ibuki caught a fever during class and had to go back to the dorms during our last period. He says he's sorry he won't be able to make it," he explained.

Ah. But that doesn't explain why they're late! I mean, Karin...well, she sometimes oversleeps, but Hiroshi never does!

"Shall we go?" Karin asked

Cream and Fudge pushed Candy inside, while Hiroshi and Karin pushed me into the museum as well.

"Wow."

There was a special display today. A special fossil they found in the ground a few feet away from the museum itself! Although it was buried quite deep. The rocks were crumbling, but you could still tell what it was.

A giant cake.

From around Marie Antoinette's time. Who knew why it was here? Shipped? Some people say it was definitely inside her palace, but no one is certain.

"This is amazing..." Karin mumbled

I started looking around other parts of the museum. I can't just stare at a cake statue all day now can I?

There were several paintings, and lots of sculptures as well. I wonder if the museum bought these for an expensive price. I didn't know our museum had such a nice collection of paintings.

That's when the lights started crackling.

Before they went out.