Welcome to Heaven | ✓

48: Frozen Lime Cake vs. Creamy Mocha Dessert

"These past few months, we've framed our focus to overcoming our weaknesses. There was a higher chance he'd bake a warm dessert, and since he was awful at that, we whipped him into shape until that issue was resolved."

"In other words," I summarized, "Koyuki brainwashed it out of him?"

"It's all Yuki's fault," Hayate agreed.

Nori clapped his shoulder. "Apologize."

"I will not!" He ripped away from us. "Chiaki's been a genius at frozen desserts for as long as I've known him. He put in zero effort and still followed any recipe he got his hands on to a T. Think about it. If he didn't put effort into it then, imagine now—"

"Participant Setoguchi appears to be mulling over what frozen dessert to make," Mr. Oto noted, as if on cue. "A full ten minutes have passed, you know..."

"Nyaha. If you don't hurry up, Chichi, Eru will leave you in her dust," Eru proclaimed as she mixed ingredients into a small bowl.

Her provocation was secondary to his concentration. Eyebrows furrowed, Chiaki remained rooted to his spot.

"Is—is Eru being ignored?"

"He can't think of a recipe?" Nori suggested.

Hayate whipped his head from side to side. "Aki's incredibly knowledgable."

"It's not that he can't pick a recipe," Koyuki agreed. "He's struggling to decide what recipe would be good enough to win. What an idiot. Just go with your gut like you usually do."

"Chiaki isn't that same baker," I said. "Back when he simply went with the flow, baking and eating whatever he was interested in..."

"He isn't baking for himself anymore, is that it?" Koyuki mussed his hair.

"In my opinion, this wouldn't have happened if Koyuki wasn't so pushy," I said.

"It all comes back to Yuki." Hayate nodded.

"Koyuki is the root of our problems," Nori concurred.

He fumbled, gritting his jaw. "You guys! Stop shoving the blame onto me! You equally egged him on. Especially you, Teruhashi. If I remember correctly, he said and I quote, "I'm doing this for Teru.""

"I'm innocent until proven guilty."

"Pouting doesn't automatically get you off the hook."

"It should. I'm cute."

I heard no objections.

If it wasn't against the rules, I'd tell Chiaki not to feel pressured for my sake and bake whatever he deemed appropriate.

Frowning, I gandered ahead.

Eru Onitsuka. From our first encounter, she'd been a puzzle. Out of the entire Cooking Club, she was the friendliest. Her spontaneity was off-putting, but more often than not, her intentions were pure. Maybe because of that, compared to the other members, I'd always found her to be inferior.

"The rest of us don't stand a chance," Ryoma answered.

My heart leapt to my throat. He'd separated from his team members to get a closer look. Slouched against the wall, arms crossed, his attention never left her.

"When it comes to frozen desserts, at least," he added. "It's the one thing that airhead excels at."

Koyuki hitched his chin at him. "Is that supposed to be a warning?"

"Aida let her personal feelings get involved. That's why she lost. The rest of us won't be so easy."

"Where does your bottomless confidence come from?" Nori asked.