"You were the better part of every bit of beating heart I had."
-You're Somebody Else; Flora Cash
Mikala POV
[30 hours ago,...]
"Come in." A voice on the other side of the door called out immediately after I knocked.
Slowly, I turned the handle before stepping into the room. My eyes scanning the space as I closed the door, I nodded my head towards Isshiki-senpai along with Erina and the teen behind the desk.
"Park Mikala," The boy spoke, my eyebrow twitching slightly at the words. I had been addressed this way many times in my life yet I still can't get used to the last name, first name order Asian counties have. "First off, congratulations on the 98-point score you received in the elimination round."
"Oh, um thank you." My words were awkward, it had been almost a week since then, yet people were still bring it up. I never really felt comfortable in the spotlight, contrary to many people's beliefs about me.
My eyes flickered over to Isshiki-senpai who flashed me a comforting closed eye smile. Strangely enough, the action eased my nerves slightly. A beeping sound bought my attention back to the person behind the desk, I watched as he read something off his phone, free hand moving up to push his glasses back up his nose.
Sitting his phone back down, he looked back up to me, "I have something important to tend to so let's make this quick. I'm sure you can figure out the rules tomorrow, if not ask Satoshi. Your bout will be the fourth one, the theme you are to follow is dessert. As for your opponent..."
[Current]
"At last we face off, Mikala." The familiar voice of Takumi reached my ears. Turning my head, I looked away from the match I was viewing on the television to look at the Italian boy, a smug grin on his face. "Although I would have preferred to defeat Yukihira first, you'll do as well."
I didn't move as the blond boy walked closer and closer until he was standing right in front of my sitting form, hands on his hits as he looked down at me. Closing my eyes, I let out a small hum, "Yeah, let's both give our best, Takumi!" I gave the now flustered teen a small smile before once more placing my focus back on the screen just as Akira was going up to present his dish.
"O-oi you're supposed to talk down your opponent not encourage them." He huffed out, moving to flop down on the sofa beside me, also watching the outcome of the match.
I watched as they declared Akira as the winner, not all that surprised. While Hisako is a great chef, she has developed a 'second best' mindset, believing she shouldn't be on the same level as Erina. Hisako has grown comfortable staying in the shadow of her childhood friend, she is content in her position, something no chef should ever be.
Shaking my head, I grabbed the remote to turn off the T.V before standing, "I don't see why I shouldn't, we may be competing, but we are still friends right?" Grabbing my hand towel, I walked over to the door, "But that being said, I won't go easy on you, surely you'll have the same courtesy?"
"Of course, it's an insult to hold back your skills against another chef."
I didn't turn, instead I opened the door to the waiting room stepping back slightly when I saw the teen from yesterday standing in front of me, hand reached out as if he was about to grab the door handle. Blinking, I watched as he moved his hand back to his side, his other going up to push his glasses back on his nose. "It's time for you both to compete, the match starts in ten minutes. Get ready and be at the entrance in eight."
"Got it, Eizan-senpai." Takumi responded as the teen walked off. The Italian boy walked up, stepping past me to exit and make his way down the hall to his waiting room I'm assuming since the entrance was in the other direction.
I made my way to the corner I was told to wait in earlier, watching as some people cleared the stage and set out the ingredients, we both would need for our dishes. It was a few minutes later when Takumi appeared just as the judges started to take their seats.
"And now for the fourth bout!" A voice echoed off the walls from the intercoms. "Cooking their dishes with the theme being dessert, we have Takumi Aldini vs Mikala Park!"
Upon hearing my name, I stepped out of the shadows and onto the stage, Takumi to my left. As soon as I did, I hear the loud chants and cheers from my fan club. Still not use to their chants, I felt myself stumble slightly from embarrassment.
"Ah, I thought they were loud last time. Did they increase?" Takumi joked, his blue eyes looking around the room.
"Now that you mention it, Brianna messaged me and told me they had some new members." I looked up at the crowd, wanting to curl up in a ball when I saw the posters and banners. "Oh god, what do they think I am, an idol?"
I felt the blond pat my back, "Are you gonna do that snap thing you did last time, prince Mikala?" Shaking my head, I looked back up to the crowd my eyes squinting in search of the purple haired girl in hopes she'll get them to quiet down.
"Eeekk! Prince Mikala is glaring at me!"
"No, obviously he's glaring at me!"
"Dream on! God his gaze is electrifying."
I let out a disappointed breath when I heard them confusing my expression again. At this point, there's nothing I can do to correct them.
"Everyone quiet down!" The room went silent upon hearing the shout from the chairman. He sure is loud, patting my hand against my chest as if telling my heart to settle down from the fright it just experienced. Once he realized the space was in complete silence, he nodded his head towards the announcer before sitting back down.
Realizing what just happened, I quickly gave the man a small bow in apology, "Sorry about them." The chairman waved off my words.
"It's fine, they're young after all." I nodded, not showing my confusion about what age had to do with anything.
"They have three hours to cook their dishes. The time starts...now!" With her words, a loud ding went off signaling the two of us to begin. Letting out a breath, I grabbed my hair tie, tying my hair up so it's out of my face. After re-washing my hands, I began to start my prep, taking my time as I organized and measured everything. Once everything was in place, I looked up at the timer, setting about a half and hour had passed already. Nodding my head, I grabbed a saucepan and began to work on the raspberry sauce.
The sauce took another thirty minutes to complete, once the sugar dissolved into the mashed-up raspberries and powered sugar all that was left was the drain it before placing it in the refrigerator to cool. Since I was making a parfait, the next step was to work on the mousse, which I decided to make using white chocolate as it's base. Chopping up a white chocolate bar so it'll melt faster, I set it in a bowl on top of a pan of boiling water to melt. Whisking it I waited until it was lump free before moving on to the next steps.
BUZZ.
"And time's up!" I looked down at my completed parfaits before looking over at Takumi who was also looking over at me. Once our eyes met, he flashed his usual smug smile before looking forward at the judges. "Takumi Aldini will present first since he completed his dish first." He finished around ten minutes before I did, his plates already made.
I watched as he bought up his dish, a four-layer semifreddo, to present to the judges. I watched with my hands laced behind my back as the judges ate his creation, all five giving him praise as they broke down his dish. Once they were finished their evaluation it was my turn, after hearing my name I grabbed the try that held all five parfaits on it and walked up to the judges panel, sitting the glass cups down.
I ignored the cheers from my fan club as I began to introduce my dish, "I have made you all a white chocolate-raspberry parfait with three twists." I held up three fingers, yet I didn't explain what they twists were, curious if the five could recognize them.
"Oh, so you want us to guess them?" Judge Oizumi asked, his fingers in a thinking position on his chin as he looked up at me.
Silently, I nodded at his words gesturing to the dishes, "As mentioned there are three, I shall explain them whenever you guess one."
The blading man looked like he wanted to argue but was stopped by the principal speaking, "Very well." I watched as the five grabbed their spoon and scooped up some of the parfait before bringing it up to their mouth to take a bite.
I watched as they chewed slowly, barely holding back a startled flinch when the principal opened his eyes with a shocked grunt, the other four judges following with looks of surprise on their own faces.
"Boy, did you add soy sauce to your mousse?" Judge Saotome asked, his spoon raised as he observed the white mousse on his spoon, eyebrows lacing farther after smelling it and getting no scent of the soy sauce.
I nodded my head at his words, "Correct. Rather than vanilla extract, I used soy sauce. An idea I got from the mother of a friend of mines."
"You did?" Oizumi asked, his head tilted in confusion.
"Yes, you see she had been about five months pregnant and would always crave chocolate in soy sauce. My friend had told me about it and curious I decided to test it out, as she said the mixture was an oddly satisfying one." I explained.
"I see, but if you used soy sauce rather than vanilla extract, where exactly is the vanilla flavor and scent coming from?" Saotome asked.
"Ah, you realized the second twist." Walking over to my station, I pulled out the cream I had used before walking back to my spot showing it to the judges. "Twist number two was instead of heavy cream I used vanilla creamer. Once you form it and add the other ingredients there's not much of a difference."
"Hmm, I see." The principal spoke, looking down at the parfait, a grin on his face, "Based on the conversation we just had, I would guess the third twist is hidden in the sauce."
"Right, I don't remember seeing him add any lemon juice tot eh raspberry sauce yet there's a lemony taste with a hint of mint- "'
The sound of a hand slamming the spoon down on the table bought all eyes to a slightly chubby judge who sat at the end, "Lemongrass?!"
I stared at the man, sweat dropping upon realizing I didn't know his name, "Oh, um that's correct. I used lemon juice in the mousse, but I knew If I used it in the sauce the dish would be taken over by the citrusy taste of lemons, yet it was missing something. I actually got this idea from one of my dormmates, he plucked some lemongrass from our garden and added it into some peanut butter-apple-toast thing, it was gross but you would faintly smell and taste lemon." I was glad I could mask my emotions so well because if not I was sure my face would be covered in disgust at the memory of Soma's dish.
"Normally you wouldn't use lemon grass to do such a thing, but you took a leap of faith to mix it to such a dish." Oizumi awed, looking up at me.
"Now that the dishes had been judged, we will allow the judges to discuss the winner- "
"Wait, you said there are three twist from a traditional raspberry parfait." The announcer was stopped by the principal's words. "Yet, I tasted four."
Hearing his words, I felt my eyes widen slightly in surprise. So, he noticed? Unable to stop myself, I felt a smile stretch across my face as I looked up at the man. "Ah, I thought for sure no one would notice, but I guess someone like you would. That's really cool, especially since it was so small."
"It's not even in the dish so it was easily overlooked, honestly even I almost missed it if not for the fact I had scrapped against the glass." The chairman nodded. "But once you take the first step it's noticeable what the taste is. Park, did you smear Frangelico inside the glass?"
"What?"
"But I didn't taste it."
The other judges muttered before taking a finger and wiping inside the glass before tasting it, eyes once more widening in surprise. "He's right, it's so small and can be easily overlooked, overpowered, yet once you realize theirs something more it's obvious what it is."
"Actually, even so you wouldn't think twice because you'll wonder why Frangelico is in a dish made by a 15 year old." Saotome added before looking up at me, "Actually, were did you get Frangelico. You should have access to it as a minor."
Blinking, I answered honestly, "Chef Russo, I asked him for some, and he gave it to me." I didn't understand what was so wrong about it, we attend a cooking school and obviously they would have alcohol that could be used in cooking. "Don't worry, I didn't drink any if that's what you're wondering."
Sitting back down, the chairman closed his eyes, "I see, I'll speak with him about that later but for now let's wrap things up."
Nodding, I walked over to Takumi standing next to him as we waited for the results. It took about a minute or so before the chairman stood up, taking off the arm part of his robe as he grabbed the giant paintbrush. A hand on my shoulder bought my attention to Takumi who wasn't sporting his usual smug look but rather a soft looking smile.
"Listen up, I already know how this will end so just know this isn't the end, one day I will challenge you and win more than the match. Just you wait." Takumi spoke before turning and walking off the stage, I opened my mouth to call out to him only to be over shadowed by the loud echo of the announcer, "And the winner is, Mikala Park!" followed by the loud cheers of the crowd.
***
White Chocolate-Raspberry Parfait
This chapter is probably the longest I've written for this book with almost 3,000 words. Also, I bullshitted this recipe and like always I have no idea if it actually tastes good but this is a fanfic and I'm the author so it should be okay.
~Lilah