What started as a bakery AU turned into a Cupcake Wars AU after I watched an episode...
A very happy birthday Signel! I hope you enjoy!
"I'm done. I can't do this. I'm out." Maki pressed the heels of her hands to her face. Nine in the morning, and already she was exhausted and ready to go home. Which, of course, she couldn't do until the weekend was over. The world just hated her.
"Quit being so dramatic, you just need coffee." Like Kokichi was one to talk about being dramatic, or coffee. She knew for a fact that his was more cream and sugar than coffee. An absolute shame, since caffeine would make him a lot less annoying than sugar. The only thing keeping her from strangling him was that she didn't want to be arrested.
Especially if he kept playing that stupid horror/comedy podcast while they waited for the other bakers to arrive. They'd had the shortest drive, apparently, but the two hours felt like twenty. That stupid podcast… She could not be held accountable for her actions if he didn't turn it off. She cut a sideways glare at him, careful not to spill any coffee on herself. "Do everyone a favor and don't make any trouble when the others get here. I'd hate to have to fire you."
He stuck his tongue out at her, joining her by the coffee bar. "I'd hate to have to remind you that you can't do that."
Well, he had her there, but a girl could dream.
"Just shut the crap off so we can get ready." She pressed a lid onto her steaming cup, sealing the heat in. Black coffee always tasted the best.
"Buzzkill." Still, he made a show of switching to earbuds, pouring half a cup of coffee, half of creamer, and stirring in three sugar packets. He didn't even need to wait to drink it. One of his earbuds lay at his side. "We came here to win, might as well have fun with it."
"Mm." She still wasn't solid on his reasoning for taking her here, but she didn't have much choice so there she was. Probably it was the same reason she was hired in the first place: she was an excellent baker. She sat down on the couches again, glancing around the room.
This was where they were meeting the competition for the first time. The room was a bit on the small side, but then, there'd only be eight people in there max. The couches were comfortable enough, but she was sure she'd be more uncomfortable once the others arrived. She was not a people person, contrary to her career. The sunlight from the window kept her warm; maybe she should've brought a sweatshirt like Kokichi did, but she definitely looked more professional in a short-sleeve shirt and nice jeans.
She rotated between watching the door and the steam coming from her cup for a good five minutes before giving into the silence and snatching Kokichi's free earbud. "Not a word," she muttered in the most threatening tone she could muster. He flashed her a thumbs-up, lowering the volume a touch so it was no longer blaring. The way he listened to this, he almost had an excuse for his seemingly selective hearing.
Two episodes and a half a cup of coffee later, the next team of bakers walked in. Maki cracked open her eyes just in time for them to meet with women who were even more polar opposites than her and Kokichi. She didn't even think that was possible.
They couldn't be much older (or younger, for that matter) than she was. The shorter one was dressed more like Kokichi in a sweatshirt and leggings, though her red hair was more neatly brushed than Kokichi's purple-tipped waves. The only remarkable thing about her was the pure exhaustion clearly written on her face, a stark contrast to the other woman's obvious excitement, paired with loose braids and a bright t-shirt and jeans. "Nice to finally meet you!" she said, bowing in greeting to Maki. "I'm Tenko, that's Himiko, and we're ready to crush the competition!"
The barest hint of a smile appeared on Himiko's lips. "I'm still surprised that we're even here. We're gonna win for sure."
Kokichi snorted, and already Maki recalled that he never promised to not make trouble. "Don't count on it! Maki Roll and I have this in the bag."
She scowled at him, tossing his earbud back at him. Satisfyingly, it hit his cheek. "I told you not to call me that."
"I'm your boss, I can call you by an embarrassing nickname if I want." Not the first time he'd pulled the I'm-Your-Boss card, but she still hadn't found a way to trump it. Just because they'd gone to the same college and shared a lot of classes, he thought they were closer than they really were. She wasn't the one miscalculating.
The two women sat down next to Kokichi. He and Tenko started chatting while Himiko dozed off with her head against Tenko's shoulder. Maki trained her eyes on the door and assessed whether or not her now-cold coffee was still good. She opted to refill it, if only to give her something to do.
She checked her watch when she was half done with her refilled coffee. It was only ten-fifteen or so; another hour and everyone was sure to be there. The competition itself was being filmed the next day, but all of the bakers were supposed to be there today to get situation and get to know each other. Even though he didn't look it, Kokichi was getting into the competitive spirit. She knew- thanks once more to college- that he liked getting close to his competitors. It really made him a beast in trivia competitions and review games.
Tenko and Kokichi remained the only people talking for a long time. Himiko always seemed dazed when Maki glanced over, half out of sleep. Was she maybe sleeping with her eyes open? Either way, once she sized them up, she couldn't imagine them as huge competition. She was confident in her and Kokichi's skills; otherwise, they wouldn't be there, would they?
One of her favorite things about the bakery was that there were only three or four other people who worked part-time as opposed to her and Kokichi's full-time. They were good company, at least, a lot less annoying than Kokichi himself, though she supposed she didn't know them as well. Kokichi did, though, otherwise he wouldn't have hired them in the first place. He was very picky about who he trusted with his bakery.
It was eleven when the third team came in. Maki almost had to do a double take before she realized that she wasn't, in fact, seeing double. The women were obviously twin sisters, both tall and blonde. She glanced over at the others; Kokichi was obviously intrigued by them. "Hi, nice to meet you all!" one of them said after a beat passed. "I'm Kaede, and this is my sister, Erika." Erika waved, and already Maki was working on compiling the differences between them. They were small differences: Kaede was a tad taller, Erika was wearing a touch of makeup while Kaede wore none. Things like that stuck out to her, but then, Maki had always been detail-oriented. It was in her nature.
Introductions were made again, and already the room was more lively than before. She couldn't pass judgement on whether she liked or disliked that. "Who do you think the guest judge is going to be?" Erika asked, creating a new conversation. She seemed a little more relaxed than her sister, who was drumming her fingers on her thigh. "There are only so many people it could be."
Right, the elusive guest judge. As if presenting cupcakes to experts wasn't enough, there was always a guest judge. And because the winner of the competition would be going to a prestigious art showcase, there was a huge chance that one of the featured artists would be the guest. Although, she had no clue what kind of showcase would want cupcakes. Once she and Kokichi won, she'd surely find out.
"I don't know who the artists are at this showcase," Himiko said in a lazy drawl. "It could be any one of them."
"There's no use in guessing," Maki added with a shrug. Maybe it was a bit pessimistic, but she at least had a point. "Whoever the judge is doesn't matter as much as what we put into the competition."
Kaede smiled at her brightly. "That's the spirit! We need to give it our all! And as nice as you all are, Erika and I aren't going to go easy on you."
That wasn't at all the point she was going towards, but okay. She left the conversation alone after that, though it wasn't long, maybe ten minutes, until the door opened once more. First walked in a man in a dark shirt who immediately looked out of his element. If it were just him, she would've said that they'd have no problem outbaking him. Then she saw who the other half of his team was.
"Hey, Kokichi, Maki Roll!" Kaito waved at them, his voice overtaking the room as it always did. Immediately upon hearing him, seeing him, her frown deepened. If he kept his mouth shut, she might've been able to trick herself into believing that this was somebody else. Why did the world hate her so much?
She stole a glance over at Kokichi, fully expecting him to have that fake smile on his lips that only she noticed. To her surprise, his smile still seemed genuine as he flew up from the couch and gave Kaito a hug. "Kaito! We haven't seen you in forever!"
The man with him looked between the three of them after taking a step back. She pretended not to notice everyone else looking at them. "You know each other?" he asked Maki.
"Unfortunately." She refused to say more than that. This stranger didn't need to know their history. In fact, she'd tried hard to forget it.
Kaito disconnected himself from Kokichi, as that was the only word that described it, and thumped the man on the back a bit too enthusiastically, making him stumble forward a couple of steps. "This is Shuichi, my sidekick! Shuichi, this is Kokichi, and that's Maki Roll."
"Don't call me that." She didn't pull any punches with her glare, making Kaito's smile slip just a touch.
Everyone else in the room was silent, watching them. The entire room just smelled awkward and it was all because Kaito had the audacity to show his face. She was perfectly happy having gone a year without seeing him. To meet again here of all places? Not cool. "Everyone, this is Kaito!" Kokichi said to the other women in the room. Only a fraction of the awkwardness dissipated as introductions were made for the last time. Maki could tell that some of them were already put under Kaito's charm, but to her credit, Tenko didn't look too impressed. Maybe she and Tenko would be able to get along.
She finished off the last of her coffee, but kept the cup in her hands to give her something to look at as an excuse to ignore him. There had been times in the last year that she almost caved and texted him back, but her willpower was strong. She wouldn't subject herself to what had already happened once before.
"Long time, no see, huh?" he asked in a quieter, more suitable voice, taking a seat on her other side. Nice of him to trap her in conversation. "How's the bakery been?"
"Decent, no thanks to you." She crossed her arms over her chest, looking anywhere but at him. She wondered when the producers of this were going to come in to explain the competition again and put her out of her misery. Before he could say anything more, she pushed herself up and went back to the coffee bar. A third cup of coffee wouldn't do her much good, so she instead poured hot water and a packet of hot chocolate mix into it. If the caffeine wouldn't do anything, the sugar in this would. When she sat back down, she elected to sit with Kaede and Erika to avoid Kaito and his new "sidekick."
The twins looked between her and Kaito once before smiling knowingly. "Some kind of lost history between you two?" Kaede asked, just once question away from prying. Maki nodded with tight lips; thankfully, she got the message. "I'm just excited for us to start baking tomorrow, even if we have to get there early."
Erika nodded in equal excitement. "We didn't have the time to bake anything today, and there hasn't been a single day in the last few years that we haven't baked anything."
"How long have you been in the business?" she asked, if only to keep the conversation going.
"Oh, we opened out bakery about three or four years ago. It's a few hours away from here, kinda small. We're hoping that if we win, we'll be able to expand our business!" They seemed to have everything figured out. Then again, isn't that what everyone there was going to do if they won? The only way to grow in the bakery business was to get word of mouth and advertising out. "How about you and Kokichi?"
She actually had to think about that for a second. How long had it been? "Around five years. He opened the bakery right out of college, hired me soon after." Even though he was a nuisance at times, he was kind to hire her. She'd worked with him the longest out of everyone in the bakery, even though he knew the other part-time workers longer than her. "We're only two hours away."
"Aw, lucky! I had to deal with Kaede's classical music playlist for the entire car ride," Erika complained, though Maki suspected she was mostly joking. They seemed like the kind of siblings who didn't fight often. She couldn't relate to that, being an only child.
"Don't worry, listening to a horror podcast all the way here has got to be worse." They laughed at that, and she couldn't help but smile just a touch. Maybe this wouldn't be all bad.
She was prepared to talk to them more, but the producer, a short man with white-blonde hair, chose that moment to come in, stealing everyone's attention. He smiled, clasping his hands in front of him. "Welcome to Battle of the Bakers! As you know, my name is Kiibo Iidabashi, and I'm the head producer. It's good to see that you all made it here, and I'm sure you're raring to go! Taping will start tomorrow at six in the morning, so we ask that you gather here at five forty-five, just to be on the safe side. Be sure to wear shirts repping your bakery! Everything else has already been discussed in the email correspondence- you'll have all of today to prepare, get to know each other, or sightsee, and the winning bakers will be attending the art showcase with their cupcakes next Sunday! This episode in particular won't be airing for a month or so. Is there anything else you want to know?"
Maki only had one question cross her mind, but that was only why Kaito was there. She had a feeling the producer wouldn't appreciate a question like that while everything was being sorted out.
Nobody else had any questions, so Kiibo left with a few final words of good luck, leaving them to their day until they could check into the hotel at three. Maki wasn't really one to roam cities like this; their bakery was in a relatively small area, though bigger than a typical small town. She'd much prefer to stay where she was and go over the recipes again, even though she memorized them from years of use already.
Everyone else was starting to get up; she heard some of them making plans to explore together. It looked like, through a joint effort of the twins and Kokichi, Kaito's sidekick would be going with them. Tenko and Himiko left, promising to meet up in an hour or so. Which just left…
"Maki, can we talk?" Already this was the most serious he'd been since coming in, his tinier smile tight and about to slip.
"No." There wasn't more for her to say.
Still, he sighed, running a hand through her spiked hair. "Look, I know I screwed up before, but you and Kokichi seem to be doing fine! Can we really not bury the hatchet after a year?"
Doing fine, huh? She supposed he didn't know that they floundered for a while while they were looking for more part-timers. She supposed he didn't know that they only had an uptick in sales once one of the new workers helped design a website and Instagram page. (Not that Kokichi didn't know how to use Instagram; rather, he didn't know how to use it for business.)
She supposed, above all, that he was lucky she didn't "bury the hatchet" in him.
"I'm not talking about this with you," she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. A small headache was already starting to form. She just wanted him to leave her alone.
"You'll have to sometime! Don't you wish we hadn't- you know." Of course he avoided saying it specifically. Of course he had to bring it up. Ridiculous.
She stood, already starting to walk over to Kokichi, Shuichi, and the twins. "I'm going to go for a walk," she told him quickly before walking away. "My phone's on if you need me."
Now all she had to do was hope that Kaito didn't follow her.
The sun was even warmer outside than it was in the studio's green room. There was a bit of a breeze, enough to keep her from overheating. Already she was glad she decided against her super-formal attire of flats and went with sneakers.
There really wasn't much around to sightsee. She hated crowds, though she tended to blend into them, so she didn't stray more than a couple of blocks away from the studio and hotel. Maybe it would've been worth it to wait for the others, maybe talk some more, but this gave her time to prepare herself mentally.
A couple of blocks over was a smaller street of what looked like family-owned stores. Most of them were gift shops, and probably all held the same kinds of items for tourists. If only to kill time, she wove in and out of them, mentally comparing prices of trinkets she wasn't going to buy. She wasn't much of a shopper to begin with, but she flat-out refused to buy anything touristy.
An hour had already elapsed by the time she was done perusing the stores. She made a mental note to text Kokichi the name of one of them; they carried some magnets and stickers he would likely be interested in.
Her phone hadn't chimed at all, leading her to believe that nobody had tried reaching her. Just as she liked it, really, though she was almost surprised that Kaito hadn't called after her like he did before. A blessing, since she didn't want to bother with him anyway. A curse, since now she couldn't get it off of her mind.
"Tell me again why I'm going out with you," she had said the year before, trying for a sort of joke. She was never good at telling them.
"Because you can't stop thinking about me" was his joke of an answer, grin and all.
She absolutely despised how right he was, even a year later.
She bought a quick lunch at a ramen shop before starting to wind her way back around to where she started. Everyone else would be out and about, leaving her the only one there. Checking the time, she shot a quick text to Kokichi, letting him know that she was going to check them into the hotel. Might as well go somewhere she was guaranteed to not be disturbed.
Thankfully, since it was her car they took, she didn't have to wait to bring their bags up. Once she was settled, she took out the recipe cards she'd photocopied. It was better to be over-prepared than under-prepared. Regardless of Kokichi's mindset on this, she refused to be the first to go home. At some point, when she was tired of the silence, she turned on one of her favorite cop shows to listen to in the background.
Kokichi didn't return for another hour or so, knocking to be let in. "Coming to dinner with us?" he asked, flopping down on his bed. They'd spent too many all-nighters both in college and the bakery to be icky about sharing a room with two beds.
"Define 'us.'" She flipped over the card for a basic chocolate cupcake, mentally reciting the ingredients.
"Literally all of us, so you may as well come. You can't avoid Kaito forever." He laid on his back, stretching out his arms. How he could say that so lazily, so offhand, she had no clue.
"I'm not avoiding him."
He stopped stretching and turned his head toward her. "You're really trying to lie to me, of all people. You're going to see him all day tomorrow, so why not get the awkwardness over with? Besides, I need my wingwoman. His new sidekick is a cutie!"
While that was a more selfish reason than anything, his first point held some merit. "How can it be awkward if we're not going to be talking to each other all day?"
"Duh, in between challenges when we're not filming! I don't want to be the only one being civil." Like he usually was, though he was much more so when it came to his bakery. Now, though, he seemed completely serious. "We're here to win, and in order to do that, you can't be distracted thinking about him. Get over what happened and be done with it already."
She exhaled slowly, lowering her cards. "So you're not mad at all that he left and is doing just fine without us?"
He threw his hands up. "I didn't ask you two to break up, so no, I'm not mad! Even though he left, he's still my friend. If you decided to open your own bakery, you'd still be my friend. So stop being dramatic, get off of your ass, and talk to him."
"...Fine. I'll come to dinner. But I reserve my right to be mad at him." She couldn't believe she was even agreeing to this. She was supposed to be the voice of reason, not him.
"Good, 'cause we're leaving now!" He grabbed one of the key cards, practically dancing out of the room before she could react. She shuffled the recipe cards around before putting them to the side and turning off the television. All she needed then was her phone, wallet, and the other key card- just in case- and she was off to meet Kokichi and the others in the lobby.
Shuichi and Kaede, strangely enough, were the only ones already there. She'd taken her time; she thought everyone would be ready to go. "Wasn't Kokichi down here already?" she asked, interrupting their idle chatter.
Shuichi shook his head. "He said he was going to grab Kaito. He was spending a while on his hair again…" He trailed off, adjusting the cap that suggested to Maki that he had the problem of having not combed his hair. By the way Kaede was looking at him, she seemed not to mind.
Of course, she was used to waiting on Kaito for him to get his hair right. It seemed nearly as important to him as work or his friends. Possibly even more, in some situations. So she took a seat and checked her email while they resumed their conversation like she wasn't even there. There wasn't anything new in her inbox, but at least it killed time until the others showed up.
Time to get this over with.
X-X-X
Maki would say that normally, she was a patient person. After all, she was somehow still able to deal with Kokichi after so many years of knowing him. Waiting for him to get back from filming his introduction segment only wore on her patience a bit. But since all of the bakers were in the same room-
"I'm excited to see which one of us ends up on top." Kaito, naturally, was seated next to her. They'd decided almost without words to try to have a casual pre-friends relationship, so small talk was to be expected. "I bet you and Kokichi have come a long way since I was there."
"Well, may the best team win." She subtly side-eyed his new sidekick, busy again talking to Kaede and now Erika as well. If she wasn't as intuitive as she was, she would wonder why they talked to each other so much. But she was, despite how early it was. Obviously, they were attracted to each other. Given that this was a competition and they likely wouldn't see each other after this, it would likely not last.
Kokichi came skipping back into the green room, wiggling in between Maki and Kaito and throwing his arms around their shoulders. "Well, well, two of my favorite people!"
"Well, well, pain in the ass." She elbowed him lightly, and he retracted his arm. He was at least respectful of her boundaries after she reminded him of them. "How much longer do you think we have?"
He shrugged. "I'm pretty sure Himiko's the last to go. Then they just need to finish the lighting or something." Good to know, though she did wish they could start. She wasn't one to be nervous, but she'd been itching to start, to just do something in a kitchen, all morning. He squirmed a little, bumping into her. "I wanna start already so we can win."
"Please! Himiko and I are going to win!" Tenko declared, having apparently heard him. She sounded and acted like she already had four cups of coffee, though Maki hadn't seen her have any. Maybe that was her regular amount of energy, in which case she felt bad for poor Himiko. "We've been preparing for today for years!"
"Yeah, well, Kaede and I are no joke either!" Erika grinned at all of them with a competitive air about her. "We've been baking forever, and we've known each other longer than all of you have, so bonus!"
Kokichi stuck his tongue out. "Maybe, but Maki and I are the best of the best!"
She kind of tuned out the banter- or whatever that was- to get in the baking mindset. By now, she and Kokichi would already have the kitchen open and cupcakes in the oven. She barely noticed when Himiko came back in, already yawning. She supposed this was still relatively early, only a couple of minutes past six. Kiibo came in shortly after, and she sat up straighter. It was nearly time to start filming.
"I'm here to go over some last minute housekeeping things," he said with a small, relaxed smile. "I know you're all raring to go, so just bear with me for a couple more minutes."
All it really was was him going over when they moved to judging, what should be said, things like that that really only applied to half of the people in the room. Still, she paid attention, since it was good information to have. They'd soon be told to enter the kitchen, and it was then that the competition would start. She tugged a loose strand of hair back around her messy bun. While she usually preferred her hair in pigtails, she didn't like risking getting batter or frosting in it while baking. "Ready?" she asked Kokichi moments before they walked out.
He shook his arms a bit and took a breath. "Let's do this."
She stayed in their part of the kitchen as Kokichi, Himiko, Kaede, and Kaito stood in front of the host and judges. She couldn't say that she recognized the guest judge, though she did the other two (confectioner Ruruka Ando and food critic Akane Owari), but it was evident that the guest was an artist given her colorful clothing.
"Welcome, bakers! Today you will be competing to have your cupcakes be the centerpiece of the Hope Springs Art Show, a prestigious art show featuring many well-known artists, as well as the cash prize." The host, Tsumugi Shirogane, grinned at them as they all smiled. "Round one is most focused on taste and is something a lot of the artists at the show love: thinking outside the box. You'll be required to use at least two of the unconventional ingredients in your cupcakes." Maki glanced over at said ingredients; among other things, there was cayenne, bacon, kiwi, oatmeal, tomatoes, zucchini, and avocados. Some were obviously easier than others. "You have forty-five minutes, starting… Now!"
Kokichi barely looked at the ingredients before running into their kitchen. "Kiwi and zucchini," he said, the wheels turning behind his eyes. Definitely not in the realm of easier ingredients, but definitely manageable. "Zucchini cake, lemon and kiwi buttercream. Help me grab the ingredients?"
She usually did a lot of the heavy lifting with the ingredients, since she had substantially more muscle than him. "So, zucchini, lemons, kiwi- what else? Just the usual?"
He thought for a second as they rushed over to the pantry. "Almond, and buttercream ingredients, obviously. I've got the cake base if you can start shredding zucchini."
"Got it." This was already so much more high-speed than the bakery, but she had no doubt they'd be able to keep up. They both worked well under pressure, and this was surely the ultimate pressure.
Once the ingredients were back in their kitchen, she grabbed the zucchini and washed it quickly before using the box grater. They'd made zucchini bread cupcakes before- or tried, at least, they weren't too popular- so she probably only needed a cup and a half. If she concentrated hard enough, she could trick herself into thinking that she was at the bakery. Just her, Kokichi, and the part-time workers.
She could hear Kokichi humming under his breath as he measured and mixed. It was a habit of his she'd noticed before, when neither of them felt much like talking or were too busy to. If she wasn't mistaken, today's song was something by Taylor Swift, not that he would ever own up to it.
She finished with the zucchini almost exactly when he needed it. Years of being in sync did that. "Are we doing a decoration?" she asked as he mixed it in. They'd need to watch this batter carefully to make sure it wasn't too dense or dry.
"Maybe not this time?" He took a couple sample spoons and tasted the batter, handing one to her to try. "It's good, but I can't taste the zucchini much..." He looked up at her, almost panicked. "Should we have chosen something else for the base?"
"Too late now, we need to get these in the oven." She started lining the cupcake tin while he filled the baking cups. Barring any catastrophe, they'd finish on time and make it to the next round.
"How's everyone doing?" Kaito called out after the thirty-minute warning. It looked to her like their cupcakes were in the oven.
Kaede called back immediately. "Good!" Maki glanced over; they were already starting on their frosting.
Himiko's "Alright" was a bit more delayed. She was just getting her cupcakes in.
Kokichi started in on zesting a lemon while Maki went on autopilot for buttercream frosting. "Fantastic, thanks," he said, sending a wink when he was sure Shuichi was looking. Given what she'd seen of Shuichi and Kaede earlier, she wasn't sure any amount of wingwoman action would get them together. "We've got this one in the bag."
He sure knew how to put on an act for the audience. "We're good," she muttered as he leaned in to add the lemon and kiwi to the frosting. "Let's focus on getting this perfect."
His nod was almost imperceptible, but she could easily tell that some of the tension in his shoulders dissipated. She zeroed in on the buttercream while he checked on the cupcakes. Once they were done and had gone into the refrigerator for a couple minutes, they frosted them nice and high. Thankfully, they had a touch of extra time to make sure everything about them was perfect. Then onto the plate they went, and everything there was made perfect, too.
"One minute!" Tsumugi called out. Maki and Kokichi were already plating their cupcakes, making sure there were virtually no crumbs or imperfections. This challenge was just easing them into the competition. They already stepped away by the time the final seconds were being called. Once time was up, Kokichi gave her a high-five. Now came the hard part.
The cupcakes were shuttled to a small table just off-camera of the judging table. Moments later, the head bakers assembled in front of the judges. "You already know Ruruka and Akane," Tsumugi introduced, "and here is our guest judge, featured artist at the art show, Angie Yonaga." Angie waved at them with a gigantic smile. Though this was their first time being introduced, they'd probably end up talking more in-depth during breaks. "Kaito, you're up first."
He stepped forward as the judges were given his cupcakes. "The ingredients we decided on were peppermint and dates, so what you have in front of you is a devil's food cake with a date cream filling and peppermint buttercream frosting."
She watched intently as the judges cut into his cupcake. She couldn't see much from where she was, but she could at least tell that the judges liked it. "The flavor of the cake itself is good," Ruruka started, "but I'm not getting enough of the dates. The peppermint is almost overpowering that flavor, I'd maybe add less to the frosting next time."
He nodded and shifted his attention to Akane. "The flavors definitely work well together," she said through a mouth full, "but it's a bit dry for my liking if you can't get any of the cream in the bite."
Angie hummed, tilting her head from side to side as though trying to see it in a new light. "I thought they were simply divine, if a bit dry. I do like how the flavors work."
"Thank you, Kaito. Himiko?"
Himiko stepped forward, her hands twisting behind her back. "I made tomato soup cupcakes with a basil cream cheese frosting."
The judges almost seemed confused when they cut into her bold choice. "I don't think these are fully done," Ruruka remarked, sounding both disappointed and gentle. That must've been why she seemed nervous.
Akane, on the complete other hand, ate hers anyway. "Tastes alright, I guess. Lotta spices in here, but not as much tomato." The other two, wisely, did not try the cake.
"Thank you, Himiko. Kokichi?" Well, she supposed they couldn't do any worse than that.
"What we have for you today is a zucchini cake with a lemon and kiwi buttercream frosting," he said. Under the counter, Maki crossed her fingers. They likely didn't need luck, but a little extra couldn't hurt.
She watched eagerly as they cut in and took a bite. "Very nice texture, and the flavors blend well," Ruruka said first. "I could use more of the zucchini flavor."
"Really good," was all Akane said at first, barely waiting to finish her bite. "Lemon and kiwi apparently go together really well, I like that choice."
"I love the overall look of it and the taste. Bright and sunny!" Kokichi nodded, obviously satisfied with their comments. As he should be; they were all good.
"Thank you, Kokichi. Kaede?"
Kaede stepped forward, her voice confident. "What you have in front of you is a Mexican hot chocolate cupcake, made with cayenne pepper and cinnamon, and whipped cream frosting with a sprinkling of cinnamon."
Akane's eyes lit up before she even tasted it. "That kinda kick is what I like to see!"
"Chocolate and cayenne is a bit of a safe choice, but it's good nonetheless. The cake's nice and fluffy, with that warm sort of taste you only get with this combination. You have a good execution here." Ruruka shrugged with a kind smile.
"Maybe less cinnamon? I can't taste the cayenne in mine," Angie said after a couple of bites. "Very yummy, though."
"Thank you, Kaede. Bakers, the judges have a long deliberation ahead of them. We'll call you back in when they're ready."
Long? There was barely a decision to make. Still, as the rules dictated, she followed Kokichi to the back room. He automatically got a high-five from Kaito. "Kiwi and zucchini, I never woulda thought of that!"
"I think it's obvious who's going home this round," Himiko sighed with more or less her same tired expression. "It would take some serious magic to help us win."
"Aww, Himiko!" Tenko put her arm around the smaller girl, who leaned her head into Tenko's chest. "We did our best, and at least we got the cupcakes on the plate! We could've done a lot worse."
Not much worse. Maki glanced around, looking for someone to talk to. The twins were chatting quietly and Kokichi was attempting to chat up Shuichi, leaving only Kaito. His eyes sparkled as he noticed her looking at him. "I have a proposition for you."
She quirked an eyebrow, not yet impressed. "And that is?"
"If Shuichi and I win, I want to take you out on a date, as an apology for last year." Naturally, the word "date" got everyone's attention. Her cheeks burned both of anger and a blush at their stares. "Whattaya say?"
She had two options here. She could either turn him down because she didn't want to dredge up the past, or she could accept because she was a good sport. "If it'll get you off of my back, then fine. There's no chance of you winning, anyway."
Obviously, he took that as a win. His thousand-watt smile came back on. "I wouldn't say that!"
She would. And if she had anything to do with it at all, she and Kokichi would cream the competition. They could not afford to lose now.
"Bakers, the judges are ready," Tsumugi said from the main room. A quick glance was exchanged between the eight of them before they filed out, just as they had before.
Maki was already getting used to their little corner of the kitchen, since that was the only place she went. They didn't have anything to worry about this round. She stood back and listened only half-heartedly as Tsumugi made her speech on who was going home, giving a polite nod to Himiko and Tenko as they left the room. She wasn't sure if she would see them again before they all left, but now was not the time to think of that.
They had a break then, in order to make sure the kitchens were clean and ready for the next round. They'd only been in the kitchen for a minute or two of taping at that point. She didn't know why they didn't just clean the kitchen while the deliberation was happening.
"Still want your bet?" she muttered to Kaito once the six of them were back in the room, settled into the couches. She hoped to keep it more low-profile this time. It wasn't like she wanted everyone else in the room snooping. The only one who would, Kokichi, had already gone to an interview about the first round.
His smile was there, if a little more nervous than earlier. The second round hadn't even started yet. "I feel good about my odds. I have to tell ya, I still have feelings for you."
She froze, thinking she misheard. "Sorry, what? You're just going to drop that on my without warning?" She shook her head; she couldn't deny that this was just like him. "You're going to be lucky if-"
"Kaito, your turn!" Kokichi said, coming back in and taking the seat on Maki's other side. He waited for Kaito to be completely out of the room before addressing Maki, the playfulness in his eyes shifting. "You still like him."
Her mouth fell open at his blunt statement, hoping that nobody else heard him. "I-"
"Don't try denying it. You wouldn't have agreed to the bet in the first place if you didn't."
She crossed her arms, her back arching a tiny bit. "That doesn't matter. What matters is that he shouldn't have-"
He put up a hand to stop her. "You both shouldn't have done a lot of things. Don't make me be the mature one, you know I hate being the mature one."
Usually, that would make her lips twitch into a smile. Not now. "Trust me, everyone hates you being the mature one." She stood and went to talk to Erika after Kaede and Kaito switched places. She noticed for the first time a scar curling along the back of Kaede's hand by her pinky and ring fingers. She averted her eyes before she could be caught staring.
"So you and Kokichi already have a storefront, right?" Erika asked, nodding towards Maki's black and purple D.I.C.E. Cupcakes shirt. She smiled as though she didn't have a care in the world. "You seem to work well together."
"Yeah, we do. It's small, but comfy." She shrugged. It definitely wasn't much, but it was popular with the locals, and that's all they really needed. After all, they were doing what they loved. "It'd be nice to have more room."
"Amen to that. I've had to share room with Kaede since before we were born." Erika laughed, tossing a curious glance to Shuichi. "Why doesn't she just ask him out? She's been making eyes at him and I'm pretty sure he's interested in her."
She peered over at Shuichi herself. "Seems it." Why did this conversation have so much to do with boys? "The worst that could happen is he says no."
Erika sent her a knowing smile, though she really didn't know what the smile was for. "Every time she gets a crush, I kid you not, this entire cycle starts over again. Maybe she'll actually be able to make something out of this one."
Kaede came back in then, looking between the two of them. "What did I miss?"
"Just talking about your love life," Erika teased, flicking her sister's shoulder. Kaede groaned into her hands, making her stifle a laugh. "C'mon, composure. We're gonna be called out there soon enough, and we need to look normal."
Maki caught another glance of the scar on Kaede's hand. "If you don't mind my asking, where is your scar from?" Normally she wouldn't ask, since she didn't like her scars being questioned, but she could tell that this one was a surgical scar.
Kaede looked at it briefly. "No, it's alright. See, I used to be an aspiring pianist, back in high school, but I broke my hand pretty badly in gym class and had to get surgery on it. I didn't get the right dexterity back, so I fell back on baking, and, well, here we are! So not all bad." She did look a little wistful, though. "I haven't been this determined about something in a while, so Erika and I are going to win for sure!"
Right. Maybe she should be a bit more concerned with the next round. Even if they went home before the final round- which she didn't think they would- everyone would still be in town until tomorrow morning. There'd be that much more time to talk to the other bakers.
Not too long after, they were called back in to start again. Tsumugi greeted them with a bright smile. "Bakers, congratulations on making it to round two. While the last round was focused on taste, this round is focused on both taste and presentation. Make sure your cupcakes fit in with the theme of the upcoming art show: nature. Remember, you have seventy-five minutes to make three cupcakes, starting… Now!"
Kokichi ran over to their kitchen, almost running her over with a small hug for the camera. "Okay, we have to think like an artist here. What do artists like?"
"Color," she said right away, her mind already turning. "We could do those cupcakes we did for Pride, the ones with the rainbow marble? Vanilla bean and orange buttercream."
He lit up at that. Those cupcakes had been wildly popular. "Yes! Those go with the nature theme, too. And maybe, like, cupcakes that have to do with artists tools, maybe a strawberry cake with white chocolate ganache and pastels? Like those oil things?" She nodded, already thinking of how good a combination that was. "And for the last one, maybe a watercolor pond? What do you think of flavor-wise for watercolors?"
She chewed on that for a second. "Maybe watermelon? And we could do coconut buttercream."
He considered that before nodding. "Alright! Let's start on the batters!"
This was going to be hectic at best. Measuring three sets of ingredients, minding three different timers… It was literally a recipe for disaster.
They decided without even using words that the vanilla bean rainbow cupcakes would go last, since that was the longest to deal with but baked relatively quickly. She tackled the watermelon cake, cutting and pureeing the watermelon before mixing it into the white cake batter she'd prepared. They'd only made cupcakes like this a handful of times at the bakery, but she at least knew how to do it.
The batter came out a nice pinkish shade, perfect. She tasted a small bit of it, reveling in the flavor. These ones were good to go. She quickly lined a tin, spooning the batter in so the cupcakes would be uniform. Her laser-focus as on her kitchen and her kitchen only; she was only aware of her actions and Kokichi's and Kaito's.
No, that wasn't right. That was how the bakery was before he left. She mentally berated herself for even allowing her thoughts to go back to then. She didn't need the reminder that he was right across the room competing against her, nor did she want to think about his proposition.
Going on a date with him now would only make things worse, right? After all, they'd mutually decided to break up when he left, after one argument too many. That was how it should be. She should be fine to win, leave, and never think of him again.
"Ah, shoot." She realized, too late, that she dripped some of the batter onto the counter. She'd have to take care of that after these were in the oven. "Going in," she told Kokichi on her way over, setting a timer for them before starting on the vanilla bean cake. It was Kokichi's idea to make these the first time in their bakery, and they were really a smashing hit. They were simple enough to make, just a hassle because of all of the colors and mixing it just right so they didn't turn out brown.
"Strawberry's going in," he said a minute later, rushing by before coming back to help her. "I've got the cool colors, you get the warm ones."
With his help, they had all of the six colors done in a matter of a couple minutes, mixed to be light but not overpowering. He glanced back towards the ovens. "I've got this if you want to check on those quick, maybe start the frosting?"
"Got it." She hurried over to the oven, tapping the top of the cupcake closest to her. They still had a few minutes to go, but it was good to keep an eye on them to prevent them from overbaking. They already had the basics for buttercream frosting, so all they needed to do was flavors and decorations. She doubled the ingredients so she only needed to make a batch of regular buttercream once. Once that was done, she split it between bowls and mixed in whatever else was needed. "The rainbow cupcakes are going in, then I can start on the white chocolate ganache."
For a moment, she was almost envious of the judges before remembering that there would always be extra if they weren't ruined by the stage lights. Maybe she could snag one of the thousand at the end, given that they advanced that far. "Time to brush up on your skills, bakers! Thirty minutes!"
Not long. "Everything going well?" she called over her shoulder to Kokichi. It looked to her like he was finishing chopping up white chocolate.
"Fine, keep going! We have to get everything ready so we can get the presentation points!" He was starting to get a bit frantic, she could tell. As much as she wanted to reassure him, she didn't want to make their team look frazzled in front of the other teams or the cameras. Their bakery's reputation would only be as good as they made it.
She ran back to check on the cupcakes. The watermelon cakes were done, so out they went into the fridge. The strawberry and rainbow still had a minute or two to go, enough time for them to cool before being frosted and decorated.
Decorated.
"We need to get moving," she said out of the blue, kicking it into high gear. They still needed to make decorations along with frosting the cupcakes.
"I'm making pastels with the white chocolate here," Kokichi said, "and I have an idea for the watermelon ones. Can you handle the rainbow?"
She'd have to think on her feet. Fondant would be easy to mold, but not great to taste. Maybe marzipan? "I'll handle it, don't worry." Maybe she could mold it into a paintbrush, since there were colors inside the cake. Yeah, that could work!
By the time Tsumugi called time, she almost didn't know what was on the plates in front of her. To her quick assessment, it all looked good, not that she would be able to fix anything now. Kaito shot her a smile from across the room before he and Shuichi brought their plates over to the side table. Maki followed Kokichi with a frown, leaning towards Kaito as she turned. "Don't get your hopes up."
She returned to her kitchen before he could respond, or probably even process, what she said. This was do-or-die.
"Bakers, you've been tasked with baking three cupcakes that not only taste amazing, but are decorated to connect to the art show's theme of nature. Kaito, you're up first."
He stepped forward, and she could just imagine his confident smile. Back when they were dating, that was one of her favorite parts about him. She'd be lying if she said a little part of her still didn't. "The first cupcake is a banana cupcake with mango Swiss buttercream, which acts like a canvas to the abstract art. The next is a coconut cupcake with piña colada buttercream and edible sand, colorful as well as part of nature with an overall beachy taste. The third and final cupcake is red velvet with cream cheese frosting and a chocolate frame, for the art show itself."
Hm. Not a bad play of flavors, but surely the judges would say something about his decorations not being focused around nature. "Overall, the flavors are great," Ruruka started, "but the banana cake is a bit dense, and red velvet, I feel, is overdone. You definitely could've stepped outside the box a bit more with the final one, and the decorations aren't as in line with the theme as I expected."
"I didn't like the texture of the coconut cake. It was a bit dry, and the sand definitely takes away from the flavor." Akane took another bite, frowning. "Yeah, it feels like I dropped my cupcake in the sand and continued to eat it."
Wow. Harsh. "They were all very good, but I get the same feeling with the coconut cake. Plus, that's the only one with nature themes! Color me disappointed." Angie giggled a little at her own pun.
Kaito nodded and stepped back. Even from behind, Maki could tell that he was disappointed with his own performance. He won't be getting that date out of her. "Thank you, Kaito. Kokichi?"
"Hi, judges! The first one we made is a watermelon cupcake with coconut buttercream and a watercolor pattern like the sun reflecting off of a lake. The next is a classic vanilla bean cake with orange buttercream, but you'll notice that inside it's a rainbow of colors stemming from the marzipan paintbrush. The third is a strawberry cake with white chocolate ganache and oil pastels made from white chocolate."
He really put a favorable spin on those. "Everything here looks and tastes wonderful, though the almond of the marzipan is a bit overpowering to the orange in the buttercream. Maybe add more orange zest next time. And the edges of the colors in the rainbow cupcake started to look a bit muddied brown from slight overbaking." Ruruka Ando, ever the critic, though she supposed that review wasn't too awful.
"They taste so good," Akane raved with a smile, "but I have the same issue as Ruruka: the almond is strong in the marzipan. Good way to connect to both nature and art, though."
Good, that was good. Angie nodded. "Delicious, and they do look amazing as well! Very elegant and colorful."
She closed her eyes and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Those were all favorable, perhaps more than Kaito's. "Thank you, Kokichi. Kaede?"
"What we've made for you are a honey cupcake with lime buttercream and a fondant painter's palette, a rose cupcake with vanilla buttercream and a floral painting, and a blueberry cupcake with blue-tinted honey cream cheese frosting and a fondant paint tube that the frosting is coming out of." Pretty impressive, but Maki had to wonder if it would hold up to the test.
"The honey cupcake is a bit overdone, in my opinion, and I can't taste much of the rose over the vanilla. The blueberry cupcake was lovely, perfectly done and the perfect blend of bittersweet with the honey in the frosting. The flavors definitely connect to nature, but other than the floral painting, I can't see much of it in the decorations," Ruruka said after a moment.
Angie nodded. "They all taste amazing, though. Honey is one of my favorites!"
"Cupcakes are one of my favorites," Akane cracked with a hearty laugh. That seemed to be the end of that.
"Thank you, Kaede. Bakers, we'll call you back when the judges have come to a decision."
That was their cue to file back into the back room, sinking down on the couches and waiting. "That was definitely more brutal," Erika said as soon as the door shut. "But Kaede and I have been through a lot worse."
"So have we," Kokichi assured her. "At this point, I think it's a coin toss as to who goes home."
Tsumugi called them back in only a minute or so after sitting in silence. "Bakers, you've given the judges an amazing palette of color and flavor, but one of your works of art just wasn't a masterpiece. I'm sorry…" She paused for dramatic effect. "Kaede."
Kaede nodded, turning and walking out of the room with Erika right behind her. It took Maki a moment once they were in the back room waiting again to realize what that meant. "This has been fun," Shuichi said, breaking the three-way silence with Kaito out of the room in the interview.
"That's one way to put it." Maki sighed, her posture straightening. She always straightened instead of pulling into herself. Kokichi obviously wasn't going to say anything, and it looked like Shuichi only had the one thing to say, so she found herself continuing. "Do you...like working with him?"
Shuichi blinked at the question. "Um, yeah. It's a lot of work, but it's enjoyable. He talks about you two a lot."
That was news to her. And news to Kokichi, apparently, or it at least managed to catch him off guard. "Good things, I hope," he said after breaking into an easy for-show grin.
Shuichi's mouth formed an answer- likely "yes"- as Kaito came back in. "You're up, Kokichi," he said, happy but slightly more exhausted than he was going in. He settled on the couch on Shuichi's other side. "How long do you think we'll be in here?"
"I'd be surprised if it took less than five more minutes." She crossed her ankles, vividly aware that she was now the last girl in the competition. "Any chance all eight of us will be seeing each other before parting ways?"
"Kaede mentioned wanting all of us to get together," Shuichi answered, toying with a small strip of napkin he must've tucked into a pocket. No doubt it had Kaede's number on it. He glanced at Kaito quickly. "We're also getting coffee tonight."
Suddenly, Kaito seemed less tired and more ecstatic. "Hey, good for you! You'll have to let me know how that goes."
Maki deliberated with herself for a moment before smoothing down any stray hairs and sighing again. "Kaito, meet me in the hotel lobby tonight, around eight." Half of it was mumbled, but still coherent.
His eyebrows raised in surprise, but she knew him. She could tell he was game. "Alright, sure."
Kokichi came back in, trying to sit on Maki's lap before she shoved him off, only half annoyed. Back in college, that was a regular occurrence. "Did I miss anything good?"
She shook her head at the same time Kaito said "Shuichi's got a date!" As stealthily as she could, she reached behind Shuichi and flicked Kaito's arm. At the same time, she watched Kokichi for a reaction. His expression stayed level, playful, but forced to the trained eye.
"We-ell! Looks like you win anyway. 'Cause it'll be me and Maki going to the art show."
The fire returned to Kaito's eyes. "We'll just have to see about that, won't we?"
Not a minute later were they out in the kitchen again. "Kaito, Kokichi, congratulations on making it to the final round. You've held yourselves to high standards so far, but now you're up to the ultimate test: baking one thousand cupcakes in just two hours. Now, to make this somewhat easier, we have two master carpenters-" said carpenters walked into view- "and four baking assistants each." Kokichi and Kaito turned to wave at them. "Remember, two hours to wow the judges, starting… Now!"
This time, Kokichi took just a second longer to celebrate the fact that they made it to the final round. "Okay okay okay, we need to get to work. Okay." He turned to address the baking assistants. "Hi! How about…" He started delegating bases of cakes to work on, assigning one to each assistant. "Maki and I will start on decorations and buttercream."
The kitchen was utter chaos, especially when Kokichi was discussing the stand design with their carpenter. For the cameras, of course; the carpenters already knew what they were doing. Maki kept on with answering questions and preparing a good portion of the decorations. She nearly cheered out loud when the first batch of cupcakes went into the oven.
Again she went on autopilot, mixing and molding and frosting and, when the display came, shelving. She threw her hands up when time was called, glad this was over. Now came the hardest part: waiting for the judges to decide.
She looked over at Kaito's display for what felt like the first time. There was a large frame around the "painting" of shelves. Kokichi went more of the nature route, so the display itself looked like an artistic rendition of a tree.
This round, the judges offered no critique. They would only know when they got to the final elimination what possibly went wrong. In a way, she hated that. She hated not knowing, even though it wasn't her competition to win. It was Kokichi's. At least he'd always been good about a poker face; he almost never showed when he was nervous.
She admitted to herself and only herself that it felt kind of nice to have the three of them in the same room with a comfortable silence. Shuichi seemed cool, too. Maybe she'd have to try harder to keep in touch. "Bakers, we're ready for you," Tsumugi called. They exchanged one final glance before standing and filing out.
This time, she was able to stand to the side of their display with the baking assistants. She clasped her hands behind her back, as tight as she could. She wasn't nervous. She was never nervous. No, she should pay attention to Tsumugi, but she was zoned out, waiting intently for the announcement.
"The baker going to the Hope Springs Art Show is…" Maki held her breath, straightening just a touch. "Kokichi. Congratulations!"
The first thing she felt was Kokichi wrapping her in a hug that she, for once, reciprocated. She glanced over his head- she was still about an inch taller than him- to see Kaito and Shuichi, both smiling and clapping for them. Kaito, of course, had disappointment laced in his eyes and smile, but it took her a moment to gather that part of it was because his bet was lost. They wouldn't be going on a date.
Surprisingly, somewhere beneath her euphoria of winning, she was a little disappointed, too.
X-X-X
The rest of their time in the studio passed in a blur. They returned to the hotel hours later with a couple of boxes containing some of the thousand cupcakes; the rest would be packaged and donated.
"I'll be back in a minute," she told Kokichi at five minutes to eight. He was a bit busy, filling their part-time workers in on what happened, so he just nodded. The less questions, the better.
Kaito was already waiting for her in the lobby, which almost surprised her, until she saw the coffee in his hands. "You know having caffeine this late isn't good for you."
He regarded it for a second. "I don't think that's gonna stop me. Congrats again, for the win."
She shook her head, tentatively stepping closer. "Listen, I gave it a thought, and- even though it wasn't part of the bet, do you want to go out anyway? No pressure, just a do-over of sorts?" She couldn't live in denial forever.
His thousand-watt grin returned. "With you, Maki Roll, I'd go on a million do-overs."