Welcome to Heaven | ✓

33: Chiffon Cake vs. Sachertorte

"We're finally here, ladies and gents. The final segment of the first round. Our bakers have really put their skills to the test—baking extremely creative and tasty desserts. But who will advance to the second round? Who will throw in the towel here? This segment decides all!"

In accordance with Mr. Oto's proclamation, the stands filled with extraordinary heaps of cheers and chants.

"Yashiro! Minamoto!"

"Go Team Elite!"

"You can do it, Saint! And... whoever the rest of you are!"

"'The rest,'" Koyuki echoed, bitterly. "Since when did this team become his?"

Nori, who'd been waving at the ones rooting for him in the crowd, paused to send him a half-hearted smile. "My apologies. I wasn't aware my overwhelming popularity would cause you to display such jealousy."

"I'm not jealous!"

Ignoring Koyuki's blatant malice, Nori approached me. Hand over his chest, he performed a mannerly bow. "I hope I'm not overstepping my boundaries, Angel. But I guarantee that no matter how brightly I may shine, I will never, ever outshine you."

I hummed, trying my hardest to fight a grin. "You're forgiven."

Koyuki groaned.

"Jealousy is not a good colour on you, Koyuki," I noted.

"I'm not jealous!" he retorted. "I just don't understand how you trust this weirdo so easily. Simply because he comes strolling in the moment we so happen to need him, running his mouth like some kind of holy creation. So what if he can bake decently? Even if you may be on board to have this lunatic in our group, Teruhashi, the rest of us aren't. Right, Chiaki?"

He dramatically turned only to find Chiaki stuffing his face in a finely wrapped sandwich.

"Speak for yourself," Chiaki muffled via a full mouth. "Nori can stay with us forever if he wants."

"Wha— Dude! I thought you hated him?"

"That was before Nori snuck me a sandwich to eat." He chewed blissfully. "Not only can this man bake, but his ability to make a sandwich..."

"Th-that's..." He was sputtering. "That's against the rules!"

"Only if you get caught." Nori extended a carefully concealed sandwich for me. "For you, Angel. I figured you might've been fatigued and planned accordingly."

I squealed, gleefully unwrapping it. "Thank you! I was getting hungry."

Koyuki's jaw was literally hanging limp at this point. He swerved, desperately. "Hayate?"

But crouched with his back against the wall, knees huddled to his chest, he nibbled on an identical sandwich between occasional blinks.

"What the hell," Koyuki hissed, gesturing wildly to our surroundings. "Do you guys realize where we are right now? We're in the final segment! A segment we need a full forty points to advance to the second round! This is no time to be enjoying a sandwich! Especially when outside food or drinks aren't allowed and we could very well be disqualified if we're caught!"

We all watched him explode in silence, gnawing softly on our respective lunches.

"You have a lot of anger for such a small person," Nori said.

Koyuki's glower was chilling.

I hurriedly stepped between them. "Okay, sandwiches aside, Koyuki's right. We need to bring our best game to this segment if we want to advance to the second round."