Mizuki stared down at her first pie, which appeared to contain some sort of raspberry filling. Then she glanced around the table. Umeda had already finished half of his first slice.
Wait…slice? He's even taking the time to cut his before he eats it! Does he honestly care whether he wins or not?
Suddenly she felt a hand on the nape of her neck. It was Sano.
"He said to begin, you idiot!" he yelled at her through a mouthful of pie. Then he shoved her face right into the center of the waiting pastry.
"S-Sano!" she yelped, lifting her head in an attempt to breath. "What was that for?" Clumps of sticky filling clung to her cheeks and nose.
Sano chewed his mouthful quickly, and it seemed he barely hesitated before digging his hands in for another bite. "Hurry up, will you Ashiya? I didn't put myself through this so we could lose."
Slowly, Mizuki licked a bit of extra filling from her upper lip. She peered to her opposite side. Umeda was nearly done with his first pie, a rather large gooseberry. He held his fork daintily, napkin placed on his lap, as he shoveled in the last of the crust.
At least Doctor Umeda competes with some style…
Nakatsu raked his fingers through his bleached hair in anxiety. "What's he doing?" he raged to Nakao, whose eyes were glued loyally to Nanba in admiration. "Why isn't he eating yet? COME ON, MIZUKI," he hollered at the top of his lungs. "GET GOING!"
"I wouldn't be surprised if he's given up," commented Nakao snidely. "After witnessing the boorish table manners of everyone around him, he's probably lost his appetite."
Mizuki looked up upon hearing Nakatsu's shout, and she threw him a cheerful wave before turning back to her first pie. With a determined huff, she dug both her hands into its gooey center and lifted them out, flaky crust and fruit spilling over her fingers.
"'Bout time," Sano said, sounding muffled from around the food in his mouth.
"Yup," Mizuki agreed, thrusting her handful into his face with stunning accuracy.
Sano let out a surprised wail and wobbled in his chair, fighting hard to keep from falling over as he felt the cold filling drip down his face and neck.
"Why'd you do that!" he growled at her before retaliating with a handful of his own meaty substance.
The disguised female stuck out her tongue when it hit her nose. "Payback."
"THIS IS AN EATING CONTEST," Nanba roared over the microphone, "NOT A FOOD FIGHT!"
"Children," Umeda grumbled, rolling his eyes in their direction, "Can't even handle a pie eating contest." It was then Mizuki noticed he had moved onto his fourth pie.
The two friends stared at each other. Mizuki burst out laughing, and to her delight Sano cracked a smile soon afterward. Everywhere their classmates were stuffing their faces, some being catered to with glasses of water as they choked in their great haste.
"We'd better get started for real this time," she decided, and the high-jumper nodded his agreement.
She dug into her pie with gusto, shoveling the delicious pieces into her mouth as Sano did the same beside her. By the time she'd finished half of her raspberry treat, she had begun to feel sick. If all else fails, she thought to herself, At least we have Doctor Umeda on our side to help us win.
"Seven pies and counting," the elder man announced gleefully, motioning to one of the students on standby to bring him another. "I think I may have a chance at dominating after all."
"You do that," Sano cut in. The athlete was starting to look a bit sickened himself. "Your win will give our dorm the points we need to beat the others."
"Depending on me now, are we?" the doctor exclaimed, neatly slicing his next section of blueberry with ease. "Keep it up, and I might just feel the need to give you every detail of my sexual encounters from last night."
KYAAAA! "No, no," Mizuki interrupted hastily. "We'll keep going." She ate away at her first challenger and moved to the next victim, a tart rhubarb dish. The minutes passed like hours and she discovered she was only halfway through. Sano had eaten six. Umeda was on his twelfth.
If I eat any more, I swear I'm going to throw up!
"What's wrong?" Sano asked her, a look of concern crossing his handsome features.
Don't talk to me, I might barf on you! "I can't eat any more," she gasped.
"Three minutes to go," came the warning from Nanba, who had taken the mic and turned to milling about the aisles in an authoritative manner.
Sano let his seventh empty pie plate clatter back onto the tabletop. "I'm done too. I never want to see a meat pie again." He clutched at his stomach in agony. "This is barbaric."
"Barbaric, yes," Umeda responded easily from Mizuki's other side, "But a necessary evil, to be sure."
"Two minutes!"
"Look," Nakatsu goggled, "Now they've both stopped. I can't sit by and watch this happen!"
Nakao yawned indifferently. "Let them be. It's only pie." He eyed one of the tables belonging to a rival dorm. "Besides, no matter what they do, they've lost. That Kujo has already finished sixteen pies. All strawberry. I was watching."
"I'll show you pie," Nakatsu gritted, flinging aside his books and trudging toward Mizuki's table with a vengeance.
The smaller boy glanced around, realizing the soccer player had flown. The bleach-haired boy had taken Izumi by the shoulders and tore him from his seat, hefting him aside and taking his place at the table while Mizuki stared in shock.
"I don't know him," Nakao assured a group of sniggering seniors. "Never met him before in my life."
"Move over," Nakatsu ordered, hurling Sano aside and picking up where his classmate had left off.
"I thought you were too sick to eat anything," Mizuki recalled absently, watching as he devoured the remaining two thirds of what was left of Sano's eighth attempt. "At least you've come to save us. There's about a minute left now."
"Don't talk," the blonde insisted, as crumbs flew from his mouth.
"Fabulous," Umeda observed with a caustic flair as he set his silverware respectfully down. Nanba had begun counting. "You can get sick again and I'll attend to you. Give it up. You've got ten seconds."
Sano hadn't said a word the entire time, and Mizuki, beginning to feel quite nervous, suddenly noted the murderous look that was spread across his countenance.
The boy simmered, a volcano on the verge of eruption. "You're a dead man," he told Nakatsu as the guilty culprit strove to continue scoffing. "Too sick to compete, my ass."
Nanba was counting down with his fingers in the air. "Three…two…one. Time's up! Get some people out there to count those empty plates. NAKATSU, I SAID 'TIME'S UP'! THAT MEANS PUT THE PIE DOWN!"
The blonde obeyed, as Sano and Mizuki glared at him. "H-hey guys, why the evil stares?"
The two hollered in unison. "You liar!"
Umeda broke them apart and nudged them. "Results will be announced soon, so listen up. Let's see who won, shall we?"
A/N: One more chapter to go in this odd little saga. Hope you enjoyed it. Stay tuned for the ending :D