3rd Round (5)

Chapter 89: Episode 37 - 3rd Round (5)

"Can I have 2 orders of your pumpkin cake?" A small girl's voice asked next in line. It felt familiar hearing this girl's voice as if I had heard it before.

I looked down and noticed that it was Ringo [from Piyo Piyo Kindergarten] and her mother that was up next.

"Ah, R-Ringo! You came!" I noticed in awe and she and her mother smiled brightly at me.

"My daughter loved your birthday cake that you made her last time and I heard all about it. It almost brought me to tears to learn what you did for my daughter to help her get along with her classmates. Thank you!" Ringo's mother told me with a warm smile.

"It was my pleasure. I'm also new at this school so I could only do my best to help those who were in the same situation as me," I explained calmly and her mother nodded her head approvingly.

"When I heard that Onee-san was serving their dessert today, I asked my mom if we could get some and we made it here as quickly as we could," Ringo explained and I gave a light-hearted chuckle.

"Well, thank you. I hope that our dessert is to your liking. Please enjoy it," I said gratefully, handing them over two of our pumpkin cakes.

Without any hesitation, Ringo took a bite out of our pumpkin cake and I could see a wide cheerful grin form on her face.

"It's delicious! Although it's not apples, I like the sweet pumpkin flavor and fluffiness of the cake which makes me think of Halloween!" Ringo complimented as her rosy red cheeks puffed up as she spoke.

"Wow! It truly is superb!" Ringo's mother said as if almost taken aback by the flavor of our dessert.

"Thank you for coming and I hope you have a nice day!" I said, bidding farewell to the sweet mother-daughter duo.

"Next please!" I announced.

"Yo, Outcast!" A strangely familiar boy's voice said to me which I recognized. I peeked down to see a small boy with black hair and a straight face look up at me. It was this boy which pushed my buttons when I was at the Piyo Piyo Kindergarten. Ikkun.

"Oh, Ikkun. I've taken that you've come as well," I said with a strange grin on my face.

"I'm here too!" Another boy popped out from behind him. It was Ikkun's accomplice who caused all sorts of trouble at Piyo Piyo Kindergarten.

"Oh, and uh, you too," I said faintly. To be honest, I didn't really know his name, I just associated him as Ikkun's friend.

"Get me two orders of your pumpkin cake," Ikkun said forcefully and I shook my head with a smile.

"Only if you say please," I teased as he and his friend furrowed their eyebrows at me.

"Fine. Please," Ikkun and his friend said relentlessly, giving in to my tease.

Handing them over two dishes of our pumpkin cake, I could see the boys' eyes widen at it.

"What is this? A real pumpkin?" Ikkun asked, pointing at the main element of our dish, the pumpkin-shaped cake.

"It's nice to know that it looks realistic, but it's a pumpkin-shaped cake so there's cake on the inside," I explained to him. "Thank you for coming and please enjoy it."

One by one, as if they were taking a field trip, some kids from Piyo Piyo Kindergarten were all lined up at our booth, ordering the last of our desserts. It warmed my heart to see these children again and how they came here specifically to wait in line and eat our dessert.

"Thank you for your support!" I said to each customer that came through the line.

At last, we had finally sold out all of our pumpkin cakes for today.

"We have sold out of Pumpkin Cakes! Please come again tomorrow!" I announced out loud at the endless line at our shop. After making this announcement, I could see the disappointment on people's faces but also some determination as the line dispersed.

"Tomorrow, I'll just make sure to run here quicker!"

"I'll definitely get some of their pumpkin cake!"

"What?! They've already sold out in just under 35 minutes?"

As I had announced that our pumpkin cakes had sold out, I could also hear another team announce their progress.

"We've sold out of tarts for today! Please come again!" Kaidou Rui announced at their Tart booth, waving goodbye at the crowd of people gathered at their booth. Tennouji Mari was also at the front, bowing her head respectfully at their crowd dispersing.

In reality, I honestly couldn't tell which shop had sold quicker than the other. It looked like it took just about the same time for their team's dessert to be sold out.

'As expected of Team Tennouji. It's almost as if we're on the same page.'