Midnight POV
"The rules are simple." Mika begins. "We will have 3 hours to bake something. Whoever bakes the best tasting, and looking, item wins."
"Sounds simple enough....And who are they?" I ask, pointing over to 3 people in suits.
"Oh, them? They're our judges." She says innocently.
"Something seems fishy. Look at their jackets, they're all embroidered with the same logo." Cyan pointed out. He was right though, each jacket had a pink rose stitched to the right lapel.
"Quick question. These 'judges', do they happen to work for you?" I ask.
"Why yes..." She smiles mischievously at me. "...they do."
"Fuck."
"Now then..." Mika took out a cooking timer and set it to three hours. "...We can start...1, 2, 3. Now!" She yells, beginning to gather ingredients from everything she's brought with her.
"Why the hell did I agree to this?" I ask myself as I walk into the kitchen.
5 Minutes later
"...I can't take this anymore." I tell Cyan, whose sitting on the counter in the kitchen.
"Take what?" He asks. Moments later, a cameraman and some reporter get right besides me.
"So, what are going to make to combat the Neko Queen of Baking?" She ask, putting a microphone in front of my face.
"This is what I can't take. It's been five minutes, and I've already had, like, 7 of these people get in my way."
"I'm making a cake." I answer coldly.
"What kind?"
"Wha--I don't know. I'll figure it out."
"You mean you don't have a plan?"
"I have a plan. It's to destroy that tiny Neko at her own game. Now if you'll excuse me..." I begin to push them towards the door. "I have work to do." I pull the door shut behind me, unfortunately, there's no lock on them. One after another, the reporters flood in, bombarding me with questions. Because of this, I haven't even started making anything.
"Alright! That's it! I can't take it!" I yell as I run out of the kitchen, making my way up stairs. I get to the door at grasp the handle and glance over my shoulder. "No cameras, or people, in here." I say coldly to the following reporters. I open the door and slam it shut behind me, making sure to lock it.
"What the hell was that about?" Cyan asks.
"I can't handle all that. It's distracting. I need my headphones." I go to open the door to my room, but it's locked. "...What the hell? Whatever..." I give the doorknob a hard turn. Since it isn't a very good lock, a hard turn will make it unlock. I push the door open to find 3 sleeping, naked, catgirls in my bed.
"...I don't even wanna know." I say to myself as I open my nightstand's drawer. I dig around for a second to find my black headphones, with red and gold accents on the actual piece that covers my ears.
"Wait a minute...If you wear those, then all those reporters will know you're a catboy."
"I know...I think I should let the world know about me..."
"Why? You've been trying so hard to hide it! Why stop now?"
"If I can get the world to know about me, Dominick won't come after me. It'll draw in too much suspicion if the world's only catboy 'suddenly' goes missing. And if anything happens at the bakery where this catboy works..."
"...Then that would raise a lot of suspicion too...He won't be able to keep our disappearance a secret." Cyan finishes.
"Exactly." I stand up and pop my ears up, slipping the headphones over them. "So lets kick that tiny neko's ass." I leave my room, closing the door behind me.
"What do you wanna listen to?" Cyan asks.
"You know what I like." I reply. Cyan begins to make some light techno music play, blocking out almost all the sounds around me. I open the door leading back downstairs, only to be greeted by, yet again, a ton of reporters. They're asking me question, but I can't hear them as I make my way back to the kitchen.
"Alright..." I think to myself as I begin to gather ingredients. "...Time to win." I crack my neck and hands, before rushing around the kitchen to gather up my tools.
Mika POV
"Ms. Mika, what do you think of this boy you've challenged?" A reporter asks me. I set down the bowl I've been mixing everything together in and smile.
"I think he's very brave for taking on a challenge like this." I say cheerfully.
"But a complete moron for thinking he could win against m-- Huh? What's that smell?" A sweet, divine scent has caught my attention. I begin to sniff and find the direction of the smell to be coming from that boy's kitchen.
"That bastard!" I finish mixing everything and begin to pour it out into the baking tray. I slip it into the preheated oven and set myself a one hour timer. "Time to see what that dumb boy is doing." The reporter still had some questions, but they aren't anywhere near my top few priorities. "I have to win...I have to..." I leave my station and push open the doors leading into the bakery's kitchen. That boy is nodding his head to, what I assume, is the beat of the music he's listening to. "Why are his headphones so high on his head...Whatever..."
He goes to pick up a bowl and begins to mix it. With each stir, that fragrant, delicious smell fills the air. "So rich...yet so delicate...What the hell is it?!" The smell infuriates me. "How did he make something that smells this good?!"
"What are you making?" I ask. He completely ignores me. "Hey!" I yell, trying to get attention. Again, no response. I take a deep breath. "HEY!" I yell again. Still, he doesn't even notice me. I grab the back of his apron and tug on it, hard. He glances down and slips the headphones off his cat ears. Wait...Cat ears?!
"What's up?" He asks.
"What's with your ears?!" I yell out of confusion and surprise. He just nods and turns back to the bowl he's been using.
"Nothing, they're just ears. Now if that's all you wanted..." He reaches his hand towards his headphones.
"Wait!...What are you making?" I ask.
"Why would you care?"
"Because I wanna know!" I yell.
"And because it smells amazing...But I''ll never let you know that."
"Fine then..." He opens a draw and pulls out a spoon. He dips into, what I assume is, cake batter and hands it to me. "Here, try some."
I take the spoon and lick it.
"Oh my god....It's incredible!...That Bitch! How dare he make something this amazing!"
"Now if you're satisfied..." He sets the bowl down and reaches into one of the cabinets. "Could you go? I'm working."
"What is this..." I whisper quietly. "It isn't batter..."
"You're right." The boy replies.
"How did her hear me?"
"It's a special raspberry sauce. I'm gonna use it to dress the cake once I get it to the consistency of frosting."
"Oh..." I turn around and begin to push the doors open. "Hey..." I call out before I leave. I glance behind me to see the boy look up from his mixing bowl.
"Yes?"
"What's your name?"
He grins.
Midnight POV
"Don't be a dick." Cyan says in the back of my head.
"Fine." I sigh and drop the grin. "My name is Midnight." I give her a polite nod and turn back to face the counter. She doesn't respond. I only hear her heels as they clink against the tile, followed by the opening and closing swings of the kitchen door.
"Now that that's all done..." I glance back down to everything I have laid out on the counter. "...Time to win."
Kashou POV
"*sigh* Those boxes were heavy!~" Coconut said stretching out her arms.
"I know, I know. But we're that's everything for the next couple days. I need to make some more of everything for the bakery if we wanna open back up soo---Wha?" I begin. Upon coming up to the bakery, I can already see news vans and people crowded around the area.
"Kashou, what's going on?" Cinnamon asks from behind me.
"I don't know."
We all begin to approach the crowd, having to push our way through to get to the bakery.
"What the hell..." The bakery's been completely rearranged. All the chairs and tables are stacked up against the walls, while there's some baking equipment taking up most of the floor space. I glance to my left to find myself staring at a panel of three judges. I approach them.
"What's going on?" I ask the woman in the middle.
"This is a bake-off between Ms. Mika and whoever that boy is." She points into the kitchen. I follow her finger to find Midnight cooking with a his headphones on, and a smile on his head. It almost looks like he's nodding his to head to whatever he's listening to. I look back at the judges. "Well, you can't just set up this competition without my con--"
"The boy agreed to the terms and conditions that were presented to him. If there's an issue, take it up with him."
I walk into the kitchen with Cinnamon and Coconut following behind. I start to notice Maple trailing off away from us.
"Where are you going Maple?" Cinnamon asks.
"Upstairs. I figure you three can handle this." She responds in a dismissive tone while continuing upstairs.
"Midnight! What did you do?!" I yell. He doesn't react. His headphones are probably too loud. I tap his shoulder, making him turn around.
"Oh, Kashou..." He started to glance around the room, slipping his headphones off. "Welcome back...?" He says with a forced smile.
"Don't give me that."
"Damn." He hangs his head, but soon turns back around.
"What's happening?" Cinnamon asks.
"I kinda, might've, sorta...agreed to bake-off with some tiny, yet irritating, neko baker named Mika." He finishes that last part quickly. "Now if you'll excuse me...I have a competition to win." He picks up the bowl on the counter and pours the mixture into three circular baking trays. He slips them into the oven and turns back to face us. "I have about 30 minutes till those are done...And everything else is ready for when the cakes are finished....So, how did the delivery go--"
"Hey! I never said you could have any help!" I see a small neko begin to yell at Midnight after barging through the kitchen doors. I'm going to assume she's Mika.
"They aren't here to help." He responds. "I already put the cakes in the oven."
"So then why are they back here?" She asks in a condescending tone.
"...I don't actually know. Why are you guys back here?"
"There's a news crew outside, the entire bakery has been rearranged, and those judges said something about terms and conditions. Speaking of which, what are those terms ad conditions?"
He turns away from all of use and slowly starts to slip his headphones back on. Coconut grabbed his wrist and slowly shook her head no.
"*sigh* Fine...If I lose, this place gets destroyed." He said in a completely normal and carefree tone.
"What?!" I yell.
"But don't worry...I got this." He says with a grin.
"Don't be so sure~" Mika cooed with a smile on her face. " My signature Dark Chocolate Lava Cakes will completely outclass anything you could make."
"Oh really..." He began to walk over to the oven. "Then what about this..." He opened the over door every so slightly, allowing for the smell of his cakes to fill the area. A warm, sweet scent, with a hint of tartness, filled the air. It's scent was incredible, and everyone's face showed that they were having the same reaction. Cinnamon, Coconut, and Mika were practically drooling.
"Tha-That doesn't mean anything!" Mika yells, wiping her mouth as she storms out of the kitchen. "Presentation is a big factor in this too!" She slammed the door shut behind herself.
"She thinks she's sooo damn good." Midnight began. It sounds like he's really talking to himself. "Just cause she's 'a world renowned neko baker', please." His faked smile has now been replaced with a grin of annoyance. "I'll put her in her place. Then we'll she how the 'Queen' feels when I dethrone her in a single instant." I can feel the air grow tense as he keeps rambling like this. It's almost like he's completely forgotten we're here, and he's become enveloped in his own world.
"Oh...Sorry about that...I'll finish this up and then we can relax for the rest of the day." He says giving us a nervous smile. "The timer ends in an hour, so just chill upstairs I guess. I'll come get you when it's time to taste everything." We nod and begin to leave the kitchen, but he grabs the back of my shirts and pulls me back a bit.
"FYI..." He says in a quiet tone. "My sisters and Azuki are asleep, and naked, in my room." He lets go and pats my back a few times. "That's all. Now get outta here." He says in a playful tone. I leave the kitchen, only to be surrounded by reporters bombarding me with questions. I just ignore them and get upstairs, locking the door behind me.
45 Minutes Later
Midnight POV
"Finished!" I hear Mika yell.
"Oh great."
"Remember. Don't be a prick." Cyan says.
"Yeah, yeah." I reply. The cakes have been cooling a bit before I add the finishing touches. But I feel like now's a pretty good to time to finish these up. "The end starts now."
Mika POV
"Here you are." I say with a bright, shining smile. I set down a dark chocolate lava cake in front of each of the judges. Each one has a slight indent on the top, filled with a strawberry sauce flowing off the sides of the small cakes. They also have a little powdered sugar to help balance so of the chocolate.
"These looking stunning Ms.Mika!" One of the judges cries out.
"Indeed...And this chocolate smell. It's making my mouth water." Another judge follows.
"Then why wait any longer? Dig in!" I say, extending my arms out towards the cakes. I watch as the judges plunge there forks into the cake, then the shock on their faces as they watch the liquid chocolate pour out of the cake's center. They take a bite, and their faces are covered with nothing but pure delight.
"It's incredible!" The three judges exclaim.
"Thank you!" They set there plates aside.
"Hehe...Looks like I've already won." I walk back over to my station and glance at the timer. "5 minutes left...Let's see what his pitiful dish looks like--" The kitchen doors swing open, while Midnight comes out with his cake covered by a metal lid. "He's hiding the design? But why?"
"Judges...I present to you..." He sets the cake down and removes the lid. I watch as the judges jaws drop in awe. "My Magic Chocolate Dragon Cake!" I go over to the judging table and glance at the cake.
"What...It's just white frosting." I say.
"Well...That's how it is right now." He begins to walk away. "Give me a second. I have to go get a few people...Don't touch the cake yet."
"A-A-Alright..." The judges respond. A few reporters and cameras have gathered around the area, taking a look at the cake as well.
"What the hell are you planning?"
Midnight POV
"Everyone! Cakes finishe--Gah!" Chocola and Vanilla tackle me before I can even finish my sentence. "Hey girls...What's up?" I ask in a dazed tone.
"You made cake!" Chocola exclaimed.
"Yes. Now come on." I respond, standing back up. "Everyone else, you're all coming too."
Back Downstairs
"Finally!" Mika exclaims as I reach the bottom of the steps. "We've been waiting forev--"
"It's been no more than three minutes you impatient--"
"Don't be a dick." Cyan reminds me. I don't finish my sentence.
"Now, for the competition of my Magic Chocolate Dragon Cake, I need some fire." I pull a lighter out of my pocket and get a flame started. "So lets begin." I touch the flame to the cake, completely engulfing it in flames. After a few short seconds the flame burnout, leaving behind a beautiful imperial purple icing with a black, wyrm dragon spiraling up the sides of the cake.
"Woah..." Everyone says. They're all stunned by my creations drastic change in appearance.
"Enjoy." I slice the cake and give everyone a slice, excluding Mika, who seems uniterested at the mere sight of my creation.
I watch as everyone takes their first bite, followed by their second, then their third. They seem to eat quicker and quicker the more they eat.
"It's amazing!" One of the judges yell. "The cake is so moist and soft! The chocolate is so rich, but this frosting...It's giving the perfect balance to the chocolate's richness."
"It's a special raspberry sauce. Mixed with some other berries, a little cream, and a touch of sugar." As soon as I finish my sentence,I look up to see that the judges' plates are clean and their eyes show that they're hungry for more.
"Is there more?!" The judges exclaim. That statement immediately showed that I had won and this brought a sly smile to creep across my face.
"Of course there's more.~" I slice a few more pieces, handing them back to the judges. They ate even faster than before. I glance over at Mika, staring with a horrified look in her eyes. "But before we get to that...I believe the winner should be announced."
"Oh, yes! Of course!" The judges rise from their seats as the cameras around the room began to focus on them.
"Ahem! The winner of this bake-off is..." She stopped and leaned down a bit to whisper into my ear. "What's you're name...?"
"Midnight." I reply quietly.
"...Is Midnight!"
The reporters in the room went wild, filling it with cheers and confusion.
"Whose Midnight?" I hear someone ask.
"I guess it's that other kid."
"Kid? Do I look young?"
"Why are you asking me? I don't even have my own body. I just live in your head." Cyan replies.
"Oh yeah."
"That's not possible!" Mika yells. "My cooking has to better than his!"
"I'm sorry Ms.Mika, but his abilities surpass even your's."
"That can't be true!" She yells again.
"She's acting like a spoiled brat." I thought.
"That's probably because she is one." Cyan replies.
I walk over and slice a piece of cake. "If you don't believe them, why not try a piece yourself." I extend the plate to her.
"Why would I ever eat something someone like you would cook."
I can feel an aggravating feeling inside me slowly building up. "What would, 'someone like me' mean?"
"Easy." I can hear Cyan say in the back of my mind.
She turns to face me and scoffs. "Someone with no talent.
"Easy."
"No skill."
"Stay calm."
"And stuck in a low-class establishment like this one!"
"I'm gonna kill her." I tell Cyan.
"Don't. Please don't." He says in a somewhat serious, yet joking tone.
I groan and stab the cake with a fork, pulling off a piece and pointing it towards her mouth. "Just take a damn bite."
She scoffs again. "*sigh* Fine. Only because you're being so pushy." She opens her mouth.
"I could totally just ram this fork into her mouth."
"Like I said earlier, don't."
I place the fork in her mouth a she slowly closes her lips around it. I pull it out and set the plate down on the judges table. She chews, then her eyes shot open in surprise and delight, with a hint of pure rage.
"So, how is it?" I ask. She glances up at me and immediately shifts her gaze to the floor. The remaining reports and cameramen began to gather around us. A few extending microphones to her hanging head.
"It's...It's...delicious..." Her voice is quiet. The reporters begin to barrage her with questions and comments. She tries to answer them in her snooty, high-class voice, but she just sounds so defeated. Her voice begins to stutter a bit, and I can tell it's slowly beginning to break.
"Oi!" I yell into the crowd of reporters. "Leave 'er alone." I begin to push through, grabbing her wrist and pulling her out. I stand in front of her, protecting her from any other questions.
"Her attitude...It's completely changed."
"You have to be strong to stay at the top...I don't think she's ever had to deal with someone better than her." Cyan replies.
"Did I go to far..."
"Maybe...But, maybe she needed a little reality check."
The reporters start to swarm me, along with Kashou and the girls.
"I need to draw their attention...So now's the perfect time."
I get up on a table and whistle, gathering the attention of everyone in the room. "Hey, everyone!" I pop y ears up and slip my tail out of my pants. "Ever see a male neko?" The crowd is silent, their eyes filled with wonder and amazement.
"A male neko..." I hear a reporter murmur. She instantly runs up to me, asking me questions about myself, where I came from, the usual stuff. The other soon followed taking pictures, and asking questions. I glance up to Kashou, moving my head to have him take the girls upstairs. He nods and leads them away from the crowd that's been growing in the bakery.
"No going back now." I tell myself as I continue to talk to reporters. I look up to see Mika, still staring at me in amazement.
"I guess now the baking industry has a new champion for the crown! Midnight has swept a victory from the grasp of out previous queen, making him the new, King!" A reporter yells.
"King...I like that."
"Good." Cyan says. "Cause you better get used to it. Thanks to this stunt, once the bakery opens again, it's gonna be packed."
"What are you going to be doing with your newfound title?!" Someone asks.
"I honestly don't know. But what I'm going to do now is relax..." I get off the table. "So everyone...Get out." I point towards the door. "And that wasn't a reques--"
"Wait!" A female reporter yells. "When are you reopening?"
"I don't know...It'll probably take a few days to restock and prep everything...Why?"
"Cause the whole world's going to want to taste the found of the new, neko, king of baking." She said as she left. Soon after, the others in the room followed. This just left Mika inside with her goons or whatever waiting outside.
"I imagine those guys are gonna come fix this mess?" I ask. She just sits in a chair and nods. She brought her legs up to her, kinda flat, chest and start to rock back and forth gently. I kneel on the floor besides her.
"Are you alright?" I ask.
"No...I just got dethroned by you...And the whole world's gonna know about it." She begins. "This is going to spread like wildfire, the queen beaten by some lowly peasant." She sounded a bit better calling me a "peasant", but that glee soon faded. "It wasn't supposed to be like this..." Her voice broke at that point. She sniffled and wiped away her tears, but they just kept coming.
"How was it supposed to go?" I ask calmly.
"I was supposed to win. The I'd secure my spot at the top." She sniffled again.
"Even if you did win, do you really think I'd let you destroy this place?"
She looked towards me, her pink eyes glistening from her tears. "Do you think you'd be able to stop it?"
"Maybe not. But I'd sure as hell try." I answer with a playful tone. I can her hear giggle a bit, but it's still mixed with her hicks.
"I'm sorry..." She says quietly.
"It's...It's alright..." I stand up and get in front of her, lightly placing my finger against her chin to tilt her head upwards. There's no resistance when make her look up at me. "Dry your tears. You don't wanna leave looking like a mess now would you?" She nods with a faint smile cross her face.
A few minutes later, she's calmed herself and she started to leave.
"Oh, wait." She says, walking back to me. "Here." She hands me a business card with a phone number. "Whenever you wanna call in your favor, just call...or whatever..."
"Thanks."
She leaves. "Alright boys, let's clean this place up!" She yells. I just walk upstairs, leaving this mess to them.
"Now the world knows." Cyan says.
"Yeah."
"Still think it was a good idea?"
"As of now, yeah. Now he can't do anything drastic to us, at least, for now."
"We'll be okay in the end Midnight, you and your family."
"I hope you're right Cyan." I open the door, only to be greeted by the warm smiling faces of my family.
"I'm home...I'm finally home."
Hi everyone, sorry these next parts have coming out so slowly. I just finished my summer plans, so I'm going to dedicate more time to writing this story and some more for my other stories as well. If any of you have any suggestions, feel free to let me know. I'm not a very good writer, so any feedback is appreciated. Until next chapter, I'm out.