Good evening!
The poll for your favourite OC characters in A Touch of Saffron is still up. Come visit my profile and vote for your favourite characters and have a look at what others have chosen :) just a bit of good fun.
Okie dokies, now that I've got that off my chest, here's the next chapter!
Chapter 27 - Elite Ten Reshuffle Competition: Akira vs. Megumi part 2
"Next up is Tadokoro Megumi! Please present your dish!"
The blunette chef shivered on the spot. Seventeen, nineteen and eighteen were really high numbers! How could he ever hope to beat Hayama-kun's score? Megumi gulped and her throat felt dry. She steeled her resolved and tried not to get too bogged down by it. She made it this far afterall. Numbers didn't mean everything and numbers didn't define who she was as a chef. She carefully hooked her fingers under the stainless steel handle and placed it on the trolley, along with her selection teas. She gently pushed the trolley and walked smoothly and confidently towards the judging panel, making sure that her petite morsels didn't slip or slide. Condescending whispers filled the stadium but she blocked them out, concentrating on how she was going to explain her high tea platter to the three esteemed judges. She counted her treats again. One… two… three. Thank goodness. There were three of each of the many morsels she'd made. Perspiration began to build again on her forehead and she tried to quell the bout of nerves and butterflies causing a ruckus in her gut. She could feel Hayama-kun's eyes on her, watching her every move like a ravenous hawk. This was her moment now and she was confident that she will be impressive.
Finally, she made it and placed her high tea platter steadily before the judges and proceeded to pour them her selection of teas. The judges' eyes widened as they drank in the vibrant colours of her treats. Their mouths started to drop slightly and tilted their heads, analysing what is in front of them like they had done with Hayama-kun's dish. Megumi hoped she had enough to show off her skills as a chef.
"Sweet. They all look so pretty, ojou-chan! Talk us through the elements on your platter" said the CEO of TopRamen with awe.
"Umm… I-I've concentrated more on desserts than savoury. Although! I d-do have a savoury dish which is rosemary shortbread with goat's cheese topping. So… the desserts I have include the lime curd and coconut tapioca pudding in this v-verrine, some hazelnut praline tarts, white chocolate raspberry profiteroles and the chocolate popsicle s-surprise…"
The judges hummed in appreciation. The CEO of Igakono senbei leaned back and crossed his arms has he listened to her mousy voice with a small upturn quirk in the corners of his lips, whilst the more orange and bright CEO grinned from ear to ear, scratching the back of his head. Dr Haruno continued to rest her chin on her interlaced fingers, elbows propped on the table. She was smiling brightly also.
"A-Also… I've made mini strawberry shortcakes, chocolate tiramisu crumble, blackberry verrine, some spiced-carrot orange cakes with white chocolate g-glaze,and lastly is the passionfruit curd meringues…" Megumi lost all the breath at the end. This was so daunting. To think she was standing this close to these famous judges.
She was met by stony silence.
"… and your tea selection…?"drawled the masculine and terse voice of the CEO of Igakono senbei. His facial expressive remained cold and tense.
"Oh yes! S-Sorry, I forgot! Umm…" Megumi flinched in the spot. She forgot to talk about her chosen tea! How stupid and inattentive she was.
"I have a selection of T-Turkish pear- I MEAN APPLE t-tea and Irish afternoon…" Megumi stuttered. Her face burst into flames and the sounds of mocking audience laughter reached her ears. She wished the ground could open and swallow her up, saving her from this humiliating ordeal. She looked up behind her and saw the viewing box in the air. There was Souma-kun standing there smiling at her. He was a speck in the distance, but she knew it was him. She turned back around to the judges.
'Whatever happens, we'll always be proud of you Megumi'
Her dorm-mate's words rose from the murky depths of her swirling negative thoughts. All of a sudden her chest started feeling warm as if the presence of all her precious Polar Star dorm friends were filling her heart. Souma-kun always knew what to say to her, whether he was there or not, to bring her from the abyss.
"Don't worry about Sasuke-teme, ojou-chan! He doesn't mean to be a tight-arse. He's always looking like somebody's put too much starch in his underwear anyway" chuckled the CEO of TopRamen.
Megumi looked up in shock at the tanned and friendly face in front of her. His blue eyes sparkled with cheek and his smile looked utterly mischievous. He flashed her his white shiny teeth as he chuckled like a little child and winked at her. He must have sensed that she was feeling terrified and awfully anxious, and so he was trying to dispel her nerves and cheer her up by cracking a joke about the fearsome CEO of Igakono senbei. Megumi was curious as to why all the judges were calling each other by their first names with such affectionate honourifics. Perhaps they've all known each other for a very long time? His face then relaxed into a gentle smile and Megumi gave her own shy smile back, her cheeks still feeling flushed, but not as embarrassed as she was before.
"Mou, Naruto. Do you always have to use Sasuke-kun as your punch-line like that?" Dr Haruno scolded the blonde CEO beside her.
"Look at her! She was scared stiff as soon as he opened his mouth! I had to say something before Sasuke-teme could vaporise her with his posh attitude, dattebayo" the CEO of TopRamen whinged held his hands up in defence as the beautiful doctor rapped her nails on the bench threateningly.
"Ano… I'm alright—"Megumi attempted to calm down the two over-zealous judges.
"Naruto… you are here to be a taste-testing judge. Act like a professional just as Sasuke-kun is doing already"
"Even that prick over there isn't denying it aren't you—WOAH HEY! Don't just dig in by yourself, you jerk!"
The CEO of TopRamen suddenly gasped with incredulity at the raven haired CEO beside him who was already halfway through the spiced carrot and orange cake with white chocolate gaze.
"Too slow dobe. I'm not here to waste valuable time listening to your petty words. Don't be mistaken that I would humour your low grade insults like my brother does" said the CEO of Igakono senbei curtly. He didn't even look to his left at the other judges at all, choosing to keep his eyes closed as he spoke. She didn't even see him take anything on any of her three tiers and already one of the spiced carrot orange cake is missing!
"Yeah well, at least I don't have a brother that ran away from home to be a saxophonist and join a jazz band—"
"Stop it Naruto! Eat before we eat your share too. I apologise on Naruto-no-baka's behalf, Megumi-chan" Dr Haruno pulled the corners of her lips in dismay as she poured herself some of the Turkish apple tea. The CEO of TopRamen grumbled and his face slowly turned red as he grabbed one of the strawberry shortcake and popped it into his mouth.
'What just happened?'
Megumi twisted from left to right. Oh no! She was supposed to be serving them on little plates, with each of her petite desserts, but they were just helping themselves. Oh what would okaa-san say about her for neglecting her customer service skills in such a crucial moment such as this? She quickly fetched the plates and the tongs and only realised that it was too late and just held them in her hands awkwardly. They didn't seem bothered at all with using their hands and none of them except the CEO of TopRamen was dropping crumbs onto the panel. Megumi held her breath as she watched the three guest judges sample each of her desserts.
"When I look at your platter Megumi-chan, I get excited and there's a sense of fun to its presentation. I kept smiling as I saw this because you've seemed to incorporate everything there is to know to a high tea dessert platter. Here, there's a great variety of techniques, texture, colours and flavours. They're all different and it's really exciting" Dr Haruno beamed as she wiped her mouth delicately with her napkin.
Megumi smiled too, feeling relieved that her presentation had impressed the female doctor.
"Hear, hear. When I tried the chocolate popsicle surprise, damn It was a sure-fire treat in the mouth dattebayo! The mousse centre was so soft and the chocolate outer shell cracked beautifully. The popping candy in the chocolate was the best surprise I could've hoped for" laughed the CEO of TopRamen.
"I agree, I love the popping candy. It's so fun!" Dr Haruno joined in too.
"The creamy mouse and the chocolate shell is so simple, but so effective and perfect" said the CEO of Igakono Senbei.
"It was a good idea to freeze the mouse, ojou-chan. Good job" said the CEO of TopRamen.
"I really enjoyed the white chocolate raspberry profiteroles. The dried crumbed raspberry pieces on top was a nice touch and added that extra texture. From the outside, it looked really good and each piece rose up very well"
"Yeah, the flavour's not bad. It's like a little choux pastry encased raspberry bomb in the mouth" smiled the CEO of TopRamen.
"With the strawberry shortcake, I think the use of the little biscuit base is what makes it and lifts it from being just berries-and-cream into a new level. When it's cooked into that wonderful golden brown, it gives a hint of savouriness to it as well. Well done" said the CEO of Igakono senbei.
"Now to my favourite part. For the lime curd and coconut tapioca pudding, it's such a good idea to use a verrine to display all the lovely layers of this dessert. It's great to whet the appetite because I can see the layers of the golden toasted coconut at the bottom, the silver pearliness of the sago in the middle and on top is the green lime curd with mint on top!" The CEO of TopRamen held up the tall shot-glass sized jar into the air. "I love coconut and sago and the crunch at the bottom. I love all these light flavours and the mint at the end just lifted everything. I think it's really fun and these are the sorts of things I really enjoy"
The other judges nodded too. Megumi was reeling from their praises.
"For the blackberry verrine, kudos for using the verrine again, it gives the whole platter definition. The blackberry puree was quite good, it's sweet and this morsel is full of blackberry flavours" said Dr Haruno. "With the passionfruit curd meringue, this was a standout for me. The texture was really good, there were no lumps in mine at all!" she continued.
"So next with the tiramisu" followed up the CEO of TopRamen. "I love the idea of eating a tiny tiramisu hehe" he rubbed the back of his head. "When it comes to high tea, people talk about making things dainty and surprising, so this is a really cute idea"
"The rosemary shortbread with goat cheese was excellent. It was fresh, light and there was a lovely friability about it and the sliver of orange on top of the goat's cheese was a nice balance against the rosemary. I think the pastry was really crumbly, beautiful texture, well baked and perfect thickness. It was a nice little bite" said the CEO of Igakono senbei.
For the first time that evening, he looked at Megumi straight in the eyes and she didn't feel scared at all. His lips were upturned ever so softly and she had to really squint to see that hint of a smile. There was a hidden gentleness and mellowness in his dark eyes that told her he genuinely enjoyed her high tea.
"Finally Megumi-chan, the Turkish apple is winning selection that compliments all the flavours you've presented to us. High tea isn't high tea without the well… tea!" said Dr Haruno.
"Nah, I like classic old Irish afternoon better. But it's nice that you've included two types for us to try, dattebayo"
"So let's give our scores" said the raven haired CEO. He was back to being cold and calculating and straightening his suit.
Each judged bowed their heads to type in their numbers onto the keyboard beneath the panel.
Eighteen from CEO of Igakono Senbei, Uchiha Sasuke
Nineteen from CEO of TopRamen, Uzumaki Naruto
Nineteen from Tenure professor of Toudai, Dr Haruno Sakura.
She
Could
Not
Believe
Her
Eyes
"I… I w-won…?" squeaked Megumi. She scored two points above Hayama-kun's?!
Megumi couldn't move a muscle and everything just overwhelmed her. Was this a dream. She pinched herself and the stinging pain was as real as the audience's applause. She looked at the faces of the judges and each of them were smiling at her. Suddenly her vision started to warp and the colours before her started blending together like a psychedelic dream. Tears were filling her eyes. They slowly dripped onto her cheek. Why was she crying? Had she lost? No, they were tears of joy. For the first time in her life, she was crying because her efforts had finally paid off. She had done this. She had done this all by herself. She didn't have Souma-kun standing behind her, assisting her in the kitchens like before, but only his words encouraging her from her heart.
"The Winner of the first match of Round One is Tadokoro Megumi!"
The announcement echoed through her bones and it bounced around in her head. She'd won. She'd won.
"Hey"
A deeper voice reached out to her and Megumi turned around and was surprised to see Hayama-san was standing there. She was still trying to catch up with what had happened. He had the most displeased looking face. His eyes were burning into her and the furrows of his forehead was deep as he frowned at her dangerously. His muscles were incredibly tense as if he was bottling all his pain and anger. The corners of his lips almost snarled, but they didn't.
And yet, he still held his hand out for her to shake.
'Hayama-san…'
Megumi patted down her uniform and grasped his hand. His hands were clammy and so were hers. They were also calloused, proof of the blood, sweat and tears he invested in his cooking.
"Don't think this is over Tadokoro. You still have yet to face the actual Elite Ten members in Round two. If you cough up in your next match and fail miserably like you usually do, it will be an insult to me and I won't forgive you. Got that?"
"Y-Yes sir!" Megumi squeaked.
Hayama-san released her hand and stormed off. He packed up his things and walked off without looking back.
"Oh my gosh! Megumi-san won!" Ayame-chan bounced up and down. She grabbed Chizuru's hand and shook her about like she was on a sugar high. Ayame-chan was about as happy for someone else's success as she was for her own.
Chizuru smiled back and she wrangled back her hand. She continued to look at the large TV screen high above the stadium and watched Tadokoro-san weep shamelessly. Well, she had every reason to cry for happiness. Yukihira-san had regaled her the adventures of Tadokoro finding herself and her road to success as a chef. He made it sound like her road was trashed with broken glass, tacks and rust encased nails and she had to walk to her goal in nothing but socks. Chizuru still felt happy for Tadokoro-san. She was similar to Ayame-chan, except Ayame-chan had a hell of a backbone.
She replayed the images from the huge TV screen of both Hayama's and Tadokoro-san's high tea platters. She hadn't salivated in a long time. A very long time. So it was interesting to feel extra liquid pooling into her mouth and her stomach started yearning for food, but not out of hunger. The abundance of colour and the visually stunning presentations of both platters took her breath away. How was it possible that these crazy kids could accomplish such a feat? It was like this school pumped out genius chef. When she stared at each morsel through the TV screen, she could already feel the textures of each treat in her mouth. The crunch, the crackle, the crumble, the mushiness, the creaminess, everything. She could already imagine the level of acidity from the more fruity and citrusy dishes dancing across her tongue and the coolness of it sliding over the insides of her mouth. She didn't bother with the gustatory senses like sweetness and sourness because they all tasted standard to her, but as soon as the judges mentioned popping candy on the chocolate surprise popsicle, she had to have it. Popping candy was her naughty food.
"No offense guys, but Hayama was the winner of the Autumn elections last year and he beat Yukihira-kun, so how was it that Tadokoro Megumi won?" asked Nakiri Alice.
She stood off to the side with her bodyguard, Kurokiba. She crossed her arms beneath her bust and had a thoughtful but condescending facial expression like the thought of Tadokoro-san winning was mentally taxing and she needed a cold compress.
The brunette guy she came to know as Isshiki Satoshi stepped forward "Because, Alice-san. Modern day high tea is all about variety in the technical sense. There has to be a variety of techniques incorporated into it, variety of flavours, textures, colour, presentation. High tea isn't something you can hold back your skill. People pay good money to attend a high tea and they expect the highest standards and the finest petite morsels for a social get-together. Tadokoro-kun and Hayama-kun ticked all the boxes in that regard. However first and foremost people go to high tea for the experience. That is where Hayama-kun wasn't able to quite fit the mark" he said
Chizuru was weirded out by him as soon as she saw him on the stairs and was still weirded out by him now. Sure he was a scrumptious looking hot piece of arse but she never trusted anyone in a perpetual smile. Not to mention whenever he opened his eyes, it was like looking at a fox hiding a knife behind his back. Chizuru didn't know whether she should give him a thumbs up or a thumbs down sign.
"Yeah, I can see Megumi's got the upper-hand in that" said Yukihira-san. All eyes turned to him. "Her special skill is customer service and warm hospitality. She always wants to make sure that you are enjoying yourself, looked after, thoroughly content and are experiencing the most that you can from her dishes. To have that skill, she has to be very perceptive and intuitive, which is either a rare gift, or takes years to build. Again she's tapping into the judges memories of fun and incorporating that back into her high tea platter like the popping candy chocolate popsicle. Everybody likes 'fun'. The judges want an experience to remember" said Yukihira-san, waving his index finger around.
'Damn… he's got brains'
"Precisco. A customer might forget what they ate, but they will never forget how you made them feel" said Benedicto as he nodded sagely beside the red-headed student chef.
'Okay, so does Benedicto… apparently'
She supposed they were right. When Chizuru, Ayame-chan and Kuchiyose-kun were taken around Polar Star dorms and their plantation during their summer holiday visit, Tadokoro-san was nothing but nurturing and thoughtful. Sure she was clumsy and stubbed her toe against every possible thing, but she never stopped making them feel welcomed and at home. Chizuru actually quite treasured her time out in the plantation because it was a unique experience.
"If you look at Hayama-kun's Japanese-Western fusion high tea platter, each individual piece is something you could find in any sushi place like the karaage, nigiri, dango and whatnot. They are just put together on a three-tiered platter, arranged like the classic high tea, nothing more. It's lacking that level of complexity, daintiness, befitting of somebody who would ideally pay a lot of money to experience a real high tea. I honestly commend Hayama-kun for his diversity and his original approach in incorporating the funamori boat, but high tea is a uniquely British experience. It is steeped in hundreds of years of tradition and culture. Even the fast-moving world and time itself cannot entirely change the values instilled into high tea. That is exactly what the judges are looking for. It's more than who's got the best flavour combinations. It's also about respect, appreciation and understanding for an age old tradition. One has to pour in all their resource and their knowledge of the theme and present to the customer the greatest of their skills, which is what Tadokoro-kun had proved. She had taken the classics like profiteroles, strawberry shortcake, savoury biscuits, tiramisu, cakes and puddings and twisted them into a new level of fun petite treats that is befitting of a high tea. Think about it, if you were taking your family or friends to high tea, which shop would you go to: Tadokoro-kun's or Hayama-kun's?" said Isshiki-san.
'Damn. He got brains too'
"I guess… I would go to Tadokoro-san's" said the girl named Hisako.
"Why is that?" asked Isshiki-san.
"Because… I want the real high tea experience…"
"Exactly. We go to eat out for the experience. If you'd gone to a place that serves high tea and it feels the same as going to a sushi shop, then it's not high tea." Said Isshiki-san.
"I see…" whispered Ayame-chan.
Chizuru looked out the large floor-to-ceiling window again. She could still see Hayama's funamori high tea boat sitting there.
'I don't know… But I'd go to Hayama's high tea place too…'
Chizuru's phone buzzed a few times, signalling that she was receiving a call. She pulled it out and saw that it was Okaa-san calling her. She made a quick dash outside into the hallway to answer but found that it was still too noisy. She looked around and saw the end of the corridor, which was a T-junction. It would probably be quieter. She ran down the corridor and suddenly collided into a large and warm body at the end of the T-junction.
"Ah!"
"Watch it"
'What the hell?!'
Chizuru shook her head and was about to open her mouth to chew them out and stopped.
It was Hayama.
Chizuru instantly flew back into the wall and steadied herself. Hayama brushed himself off and threw a heated glare her way before continuing on, leaving the short girl slumped against the wall with her phone abandoned on the floor. Huh? Oh right… he lost his match, didn't he… He definintely wasn't in any forgiving mood. But he could've at least said 'sorry'! She picked up her phone, glad the screen didn't crack. She'd noticed she'd missed the call from Okaa-san too. Oh well, she'd call later and stuffed it back into her skirt pocket. She looked up and continue to stare inquisitively at Hayama's back as he trudged away. He had already released his long silvery hair from its hairband and it swayed loosely against his shoulders. It had probably grown a bit longer since she last saw him. This was the first time she had seen him in his chef's uniform and she admitted that it suited him rather well, the navy purple-blue and the silver trimmings was quite nifty and the design was form-fitting. She watched the way he had his hands stuffed into his pockets and the way his feet dragged across the floor.
He was walking away from the room his classmates were in. Chizuru could tell, he didn't even want to show his face to them.
"Hey, I think you did an amazing job on your dishes!" she found herself calling out to him before he got too far away.
He stopped for a moment and grunted before resumed his walk of shame.
Chizuru felt her eyebrow twitch. Really now? She followed after him. "Hey, don't be like that. You gave it as good as you got, right?" Chizuru caught up finally and skidded to the front. "I thought you- oh okay, you're crying…"
Chizuru had never seen a high school boy cry that wasn't her fault. Chizuru thought he was a handsome looking guy, even from the first time she'd met him and the sight of his eyes with a thin sheen of redness and slightly puffed didn't nothing to assuage her thoughts. She wasn't above herself to think a guy crying appeared less than who they were as a person in her eyes.
"I'm not" he fumed and snapped his head away and dodged passed her.
"You're absolutely right, you're not crying. Your eyeballs are sweating" she said, she walked beside him. He was picking up the pace and she had to extend her strides a lot more to keep up with him.
"Why are you following me?" he growled back at her.
"You know how when people say they're 'okay and going to be fine', but really they're not on the inside?" said Chizuru.
"Yeah? What about it" he countered with disinterest.
"You're okay and going to be fine"
He stopped again. Chizuru craned her head and tried to peek at his face from a bottom view. Hayama gave a big sigh and lifted his head towards the ceiling. The key to comforting people is that one had to acknowledge the frustration, the pain, and the stress. There was no point in slathering them with gold-plated words of comfort and counsel because all that did was bury and suffocate the hurt inside until it festered and explode. Hayama seemed to be the proud type, someone who was unaccustomed to failure and probably required a more 'roundabout' way of saying things so that he didn't lose face whilst being comforted. If Chizuru thought of an ability she had to make up for her congenital anosmia, it would be that she could 'read the subtext'. He breathed in deeply through his nose and Chizuru bet he could probably smell everything in the hallway as he did so with that amazing skill of his.
"You're part of Takumi Aldini's group. Namikaze Chizuru"
"Please, he's part of my group. He's the one practically married into my little fambam" chuckled Chizuru.
"You're the one who can't smell or taste too" he quirked his brow.
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"If you're going to pick on me to make yourself feel better, I'm out of here" Chizuru shook her head and rolled her eyes. She felt deflated and turned on her heels, disappointment lingering over her.
"Wait—"
Suddenly a firm grip and a tug on her wrist halted her movements. She spun her head around to see what the big idea was and give him a piece of her mind, but found Hayama was holding onto her. She glanced down. His hand was big and his fingers were long, easily encircling her own smaller wrist. His thumb and fingers were even overlapping, securing her tightly. It felt extremely warm and it spread tingles across her skin and up her arms. Chizuru hated people touching her without permission, but for some reason… she was quite alright with this, just this one time.
"I wasn't going to talk shit about it or anything. That would be low of me" he said. Finally their eyes met. His were a brilliant shade of green, just like Ayame-chan's. Then he released her. Her arm fell back to her side limply. He placed his hands on his hips and gave another exasperated sigh, with his head turned away again.
"…Right. My bad…" Chizuru wished she was wearing a long-sleeve shirt so that she could hide her hands in and just wring them together. Instead she tucked them behind her out of anyone's reach.
"What are you doing here anyway?" he asked. He trailed his eyes up and down over her Karakura high school uniform.
"We were invited to watch the match. Thought it was a good day to jig school too, so why not?" she shrugged her shoulders. "That was a pretty tight shokugeki in my opinion. I was impressed. I heard that you won first place in a really big competition last year" she commented.
"Yeah. Nobody wins for long, huh" he said sarcastically. His eyes glazed over in thought.
The short girl blinked and tilted her head. She stepped towards him tentatively. Chizuru tugged a lock of her short hair. She really wasn't one to console people except her close friends, often she was the reason why people needed consoling. One only needed to ask the Queen Bitch of Karakura High school and ask how many hours of therapy she was still attending because of her to get the idea. But when Hayama was standing in front of her, a person she could clearly tell had never seen defeat in his life as a Tootsuki student, pulling the most distraught and bitter expression, thinking he could hide it by gritting his teeth and turning his face away…well… she was a sucker for those sorts of things. After all, she was too familiar with that kind of expression. She only had to revisit those times when Ayame-chan was bemoaning about giving up her dreams to be an engineer every time a failure came her way.
Chizuru reached forward and gently patted his arm once before retracting it back quickly. That got his attention.
"The wheel keeps turning. Everybody will have high points and low points. Everybody wins and loses sometime. It's called life. Look, losses are not a crime, otherwise planet earth would be one big intergalactic jailhouse by now. Think of it as a minor setback" said Chizuru.
Hayama narrowed his eyes at her "I don't want your pity"
"Good. You're not having mine even if you begged" she countered.
He furrowed his brows.
She continued on "Getting to the top is easy, but staying there is the hard part. Now you know that being at the top of the mountain means you've got to watch yourself from all sides because you're not the only person to want to hog the breath taking views. But now you're knocked down on the last ledge you were on by another competitor. But hey! You've still got your oxygen supply and your mountain climbing gear. Climb up? Or climb down? Climbing down is easy, and climbing back up will be hard work. If you want it bad enough, to own that glorious view from the top of the mountain again, you learn from your mistakes and devise a new strategy to climb back up and knock down the one's already on top. You can own that view again" said Chizuru.
She didn't expect him to reply straight away, so she was comfortable to let the silence pass between them. The hallways echoed with laughter wafting from the view box the rest of Benedicto's friends were in.
"How do you know I don't already know all that?" scoffed Hayama.
"Look at yourself. We're standing only a few metres away from your classmates and you don't even want to see them and say hello" replied Chizuru.
Hayama regarded her coolly and smirked "You have a way with words, Namikaze-san"
'Well… shit, that thing he's doing with his mouth on his face is making feel… strange…'
Chizuru suppressed a smile and settled for a shy grimace. She had always visualised the journey to success and winning as 'mountain climbing' and so, tried her best to shape it into a metaphorical analogy for him to understand. It looked like it worked, he wasn't telling her to bugger off or anything. She wasn't sure what the hell was happening to her body but she could feel her blood rushing to her face as she couldn't tear her eyes from his. Yeah, he was too good-looking to be standing comfortably near him. Her heart began beating a bit more strongly against her will and she finally forced herself to look away.
He sniffed the air.
"What's that perfume you're wearing?" he asked out of the blue.
"Wh-What?"
"You're wearing perfume that smells like several types of orchids" he said like it was nothing.
Hayama leaned forward, closing the distance in front of her face and Chizuru reflexively leaned back. Her eyes widened in confusion and disturbance from their close proximity and it made the hair at the back of neck stand on end. His face was too close to hers and her mouth opened and closed in protest, but no sounds came out. Aww god, she better not be blushing like Ayame and Benedicto did around each other! Gross! Chizuru remained glued to his eyes and were they… was that gold flecks in his green coloured irsises? She'd never seen anything like it! Her affinity for colour told her that was pretty cool and it was mesmerising. She finally took a few steps back and remembered that she was completely flustered. She frowned and crossed her arms over her chest, making a big show of how inappropriate she thought he was with her personal space.
"Uh… Yeah, I guess?" she bit out a random response. He said 'perfume'. He must be talking about that fancy bottle of clear liquid she sprayed on herself every morning. Her mum told her to use it because it made her 'smell nice'. Whatever that meant... Chizuru just thought of it as colorful undrinkable magic potion with invisible powers to make people turn their heads and look at her. What was he trying to say?
He leaned back and his face was completely unreadable.
"Hmph. You'd smell a lot more tolerable if you wore cinnamon instead"
He turned on his heels and strode away.
'...the fuck? How do you...'wear'...cinnamon...?'
"Hayama-kun! How long are you going to sulk in your room? Come out here!"
Akira rolled over on his bed at the sound of Jun's muffled voice on the other side of his door
"Who's sulking?!" he yelled back.
"It's nothing to be ashamed of! Come one, open up. You have classes for the rest of the day!" Jun continued knocking on his door. Akira let her keep doing as she pleased. Soon she will tire and leave him alone that was exactly what she did.
He honestly wasn't sulking. He was just… thinking. He'll get up and go to class whenever he was fucking ready. He mulled over what Namikaze had said this afternoon, after his match. The way she tried to comfort him gave him the impression that she really didn't want to and was duty-bound to do it anyway. What duty had she place don herself? It wasn't like she was obligated to. It wasn't her business, she was just being the audience. It was as if she had done this many times before and it became a natural thing she did and here was another sordid opportunity she and himself had landed each other with. She didn't even have to speak to him or had any reason to acknowledge him. But she still went to great lengths to try to console him.
She didn't sound 'annoyed' nor did she sound like she felt sorry for him. She was just calmly telling him her thoughts and opinions about his predicament as if they were just the facts.
He clearly remembered the way her eyes darkened and grew downcast when he mentioned her lack of her ability to smell and consequently, taste. He wished he could take back those words because whatever the reason, he was uncomfortable with that miniscule flash of bitter dismay across her face as soon as he said it. He even reached out without thinking and grabbed her arm before when she turned away from him!
'Namikaze Chizuru'
She sure as hell was something. Akira rummaged through his bedside drawer and pulled out his security. It was a bag of cinnamon sticks. It's sweet, spicy and earthy aroma had a unique effect on him, always successfully calming him down. If he took a deep breath of the heady scent heavily, it overwhelmed his sensitive nose and made him cough, but if he sniffed it lightly and gently, it was beautiful.
'Yeah. Cinnamon suits her'
Well done Megumi! I hope her dishes sound delicious. I thought long and hard on who would come out victorious. I thought Hayama winning was too predictable. Megumi could possibly win over Hayama, although close to impossible! It's my job to make the impossible sound believable and I hoped that worked!
Oh my! Hayama, your expertise in scent seems to go beyond the kitchen aye? ;) As you know, Chizuru has a VERY BASIC scientific understanding of 'smell' and is still completely lost over the social, emotional and spiritual implications of 'Smell' and 'Flavour' in human interactions and experiences. Then again, not that she tries very hard to understand it to begin with...
I hope you've all enjoyed this chapter, so that's a two parter down and a few more to go! Let me know what you think and I'll see you soon.
Signing off
- TripWire-dono.
