Chapter 63: Sweets Garden (1)
Chapter 63: Episode 31 - Sweets Garden (1)
I was walking around the gardens of the school with Fraise who followed me around. I held my school books in my hands by a tall tree that had a bench in front of it. I decided that this was a quiet place for me to sit down and think.
'Classes are finally over today so maybe I should give my family a call. They should be back from vacation by now…'
I placed my books down on the bench that I sat on and brought up my father's contact on my phone, calling him.
"Ah, hello?" My father's voice said from the other line.
"Father, it's Keiko," I responded and his voice lit up.
"Keiko?! It's been a while! How are you?" He asked and a small smile formed on my face.
"I'm fine. How are you and the others?" I asked curiously and he hesitated to respond.
"Well, Kaori and I are doing well but… Eiji still cries every day because you're not there and Haruto has been hanging out in his room a lot ever since you left…" Father replied, chuckling nervously.
"Oh, is that so… Are they with you now?" I asked him.
"Kaori is here but the boys… they're still at school," Father said and I furrowed my eyebrows.
'I at least wanted to say hi to them since I'm not busy right now…'
"Is that Keiko?!" I could hear Kaori's energized voice in the background. "Let me see the phone!"
"Wait, I'm trying to talk to her—" Father tried to reject but was quickly interrupted.
"—Hi, Keiko! How are you doing?" Kaori asked excitedly, snatching the phone away from Father.
'Her bubbly personality is still the same…' A smile formed on my face at this thought.
"Oh, Kaori, I'm doing fine. How about you?" I asked her and she hesitated.
"Not well… Your brothers are missing you and your father and I have been feeling awfully lonely since you're not here. I'm sorry we couldn't see you during break, but make sure you come home sometime," Kaori said and a smile appeared on my face.
"Of course. Actually, something nice happened recently," I began to speak.
"Oh, wait, let me put this on speakerphone so your dad can hear as well," Kaori paused me. "Okay, you can continue."
"My team won the first round in the academy's Cake Grand Prix. The opponent was a high school team," I explained to them whose voices rose in excitement.
"You won against a high school team? Your team must be really good!" Kaori pointed out and I nodded my head.
"Yeah, my team is really good. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't have been able to find my place in school. I also don't think that we'd make it past the first round it wasn't for those boys—" I admitted but my father's voice interrupted
"—Boys?! Do you have boys on your team? All of them are guys?" My father voiced worriedly.
"Uh… yeah. It's a team of 4 and I'm the only girl on my team. Is that bad?" I said hesitantly.
"Only girl?! Have those guys tried to make a move on my beautiful daughter?!" Father's voice rose but Kaori was trying to calm him down.
"Chill out, Honey. Keiko's old enough to be in a relationship, don't you think?" Kaori asked him.
"Have they done anything to you, Keiko? Tell me if they did anything to you because I'll knock some sense into them—"
"—Honey! Don't say that about hurting young boys! You're a prosecutor! If anything, they'll sue you, then who's gonna be your defense attorney?" Kaori warned and I could hear my father calm down.
"Don't worry, you two. I don't think me and my teammates' relationships will ever reach that level…" I admitted.
"You said something about a Cake Grand Prix, right? What's the reward if you win?" Kaori asked interestedly.
"If you win the Cake Grand Prix at this academy, you get to study abroad at the St. Marie Academy in Paris," I explained to them.
"That's just like your mother who studied at the Paris branch!" Father brought up and I nodded my head.
"Yeah, if we win… I want to study at the Paris branch just like her…" I smiled at that thought.
"Will those boys be coming with you?" Father said passive-aggressively.
"Um, yes, they would," I responded nervously.
"Sweetie, would you mind going away so I can talk to Keiko for a moment? Thanks."
I could imagine Kaori smiling at Father while pushing him away to a different room.
"Bye, Keiko! Come visit us soon!" Father said from a distance.
"Now that he's gone… are the boys that you teamed up with good-looking?" Kaori asked me interestedly and I was taken aback for a moment.
"W-what? I mean, I think everybody at the school thinks they're handsome," I stuttered.
"Hmm… do you have an interest in anybody yet?" Kaori asked.
"An interest? What do you mean by that?" I responded with confusion.
"I mean, do you like any of the guys you hang out with?"
"Like, as if I can tolerate them?" I clocked my head to the side in confusion and I could see Fraise facepalm her head.
"No, like, as if you'd date them," Kaori explained and I remained speechless.
'Do I like any of the Sweets Princes…? I guess I haven't thought about dating anyone yet…'
"Hmm… I don't know… I've been so focused on my studies that I haven't been thinking about dating anyone," I admitted but I could hear the disappointment in Kaori's voice.
"Really? Oh, that's a bummer… You know, if you get the chance, I want to see these boys for myself and I think your father would like to as well," Kaori stated bluntly. "I want to see which one is a good fit for Keiko."
'Geez, what the heck is she saying?'
"Um… if we get another break soon, I could ask them…" I responded nervously.
"Great then! Well, Keiko, it was nice talking to you again! Make sure you introduce those three guys to us and also, make sure you take care of your body and don't stress yourself out too much," Kaori lectured.
"I understand. Make sure you say hi to Haruto and Eiji for me."
"Of course I will. Now then, bye Keiko! Have a nice time at school!" Kaori said farewell and hung up the phone.
BEEP BEEP—
The sound of the phone hung up and I stared at the screen, thinking about what Kaori had said to me. I looked down at the ground and thought about her words.
'Would I date any of the Sweets Princes? No… they probably see me as just a friend… That's right we're…"
"We're just… friends—" I began until I heard rustling from behind the tree I sat at. Both Fraise and I seemed startled by the sudden noise.
"—Hey," a boy's voice said from behind the tree. "If you have free time to make a report then think about the second round."
His voice sounded familiar by how he scolded me. He revealed himself, appearing from behind the tree.
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