Ichigo POV

"Fine."

Kashino's acceptance shocked his three teammates, who stared at him in horror. "Kashino!" Ichigo shouted, but her cry was ignored by Koshiro, who was giddily turning back to her two loyal attendants and shrieking with joy.

What Kashino had just agreed to was the Devil's deal. Koshiro had stated that if his team were to lose, then he would join her team. Ichigo never, in a million years, would've thought that Kashino would agree to any plan that involved Miya Koshiro, but it seemed that she was proven wrong this time.

"Kashino, what are you doing?" Ichigo asked. "If we lose, then wouldn't this just make everything worse? Stop being so prideful!"

Kashino frowned, narrowing his eyes. "We'll win as long as you aren't holding us down."
Ichigo gasped, "Kashino, you--"

"Amano Ichigo!" Koshiro said, smirking, "Makoto-kun is mine now."

'What do you mean? Why are you talking to me about that?' Ichigo wanted to ask, but what left her mouth instead was, "Hey, the match hasn't even begun yet! You can't call him yours when he was never on your side to begin with!"

"Hohohohoho, is that so? Makoto-kun, I'll see you at the Grand Prix~"
Ichigo could barely contain herself as she stomped away from the arrogant ojou-sama, fuming.

-x-

Ichigo flipped through the pages on her sketchbook, tapping the end of her pencil on the table. She had created a few designs for the cake, but none of them had been good enough yet. As she flipped to the beginning of her sketchbook to review her earlier sketches, she heard a loud knock on the window.

Ichigo looked nervously at Vanilla, and Vanilla stared back, sweating. "You heard it too, right? That sounded like knocking..." Vanilla said. "But... this is the second floor."

Ichigo gulped. "Do you think it's, a, a, ghost?"

Vanilla shook her head, but her face was pale. "We have to check it out."

As the two approached the window, they froze in place as soft footsteps were heard behind them.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" They screamed in unison, eyes shut tightly as they turned around.

"Shh..." A girl with blue hair placed her finger on her lips, frowning. "You're being too loud."

"Oh, it's just you, Ayukawa-san!" Ichigo let out relieved laughter, "Thank goodness, I thought you were a ghost."

Ayukawa looked surprised, but the words on her lips died as she noticed the sketchbook on the table. "This." She pointed to the design on the current page. "Is this the cake you're making for the Grand Prix?"

'Well, it's one of many designs but I guess I am thinking about it...' Ichigo thought as she nodded enthusiastically. "Yep! I'm considering it. I've been having a lot of fun designing these cakes and making them, don't you think it's fun too?"

Ayukawa suddenly glared at Ichigo, "Being a patisserie is not just about fun."
Ichigo blinked, surprised. "Oh- oh, right..."

Ayukawa frowned as she turned and walked away. Vanilla floated out and said, "What's wrong with her?"

"Hmm, it looks like she's in a bad mood. I hope she's fine... anyways, I need to refine my ideas so I'm going to keep designing the cake." Ichigo shrugged, walking back to her sketchbook.

-x-

"And now, we'll start the Cake Grand Prix semifinals!"

As Kashino began issuing orders to his teammates, Ichigo overheard Koshiro say to her teammates, "Let's go, Satou, Shiotani. We'll make delicious Sachertortes."

Ichigo flustered and shouted to them, "W- wait, you're making Sachertortes too?"

"Does it concern you?" Koshiro closed her eyes, smirking, "I'll give you a big service then, and show you the cake we'll make~"

As Satou and Shiotani unfurled the paper they had just seemingly conjured out of nowhere, Ichigo gasped. Wasn't this one of her designs that she had been considering yesterday?

"B-but that's my design! How do you have that?" Ichigo clenched her fists, nervously staring at the piece of paper.

"Oh my, but do you have any proof? Such accusations are slanderous, you know."

Suddenly the door opened, and a blue-haired girl came running in, her breath hurried and her countenance flushed. It was... Ayukawa-san! She stopped in front of Koshiro and clasped her hands. "I'm sorry I'm late, Ojou-sama."

Koshiro announced Ayukawa's attendance to the judges, while Ichigo stared at Ayukawa, her eyes drooping. Why was Ayukawa on Koshiro's team? And, had she stolen the design that Ichigo had shown her last night? Why would she do that?

"What's going on, Ichigo?" Andou asked, concerned about Ichigo's sudden silence. "What do you mean that it was your design? Didn't you give us a different design this morning?"

"Well, yes, but yesterday while I was sketching up a bunch of designs, the one Koshiro-san showed was one of them." Ichigo unconsciously looked in the direction of their rival team, "And... the only person I showed them to was Ayukawa-san."

Kashino sighed. "What's done is done. Be thankful that you didn't show her your final design or we really would be screwed over." He glared at Ichigo. "And I would be the one to suffer."

"Alright, alright, I get it! Sorry already..." Ichigo mumbled, "But you were the one to make that stupid bet to begin with..."

"Hahh? What did you just say?"

"Maa, maa, let's just calm down." Hanabusa chuckled. "I'm glad that everything worked out fine, so let's just focus on the competition for now."

When the battle began, they started working in their own stations, but they soon came across a problem. For some reason, there was a problem with the chocolate Kashino was heating. When he took a look at the thermometer, he shouted in shock, "The temperature's over 38℃! It shouldn't be over 32℃, but I calculated how long it took to reach the right temperature before. There's nothing wrong with the stove either."

Ichigo worriedly looked over to Kashino, only to see Caramel almost fall to the countertop. "The wind is so strong that it blew me away... it's a really warm wind too."

Ichigo looked up. It did feel rather warm here, but Ichigo had thought that her body temperature had heated up from the nerves from participating in this match, but there seemed to be another factor. "Kashino," Ichigo said, "Don't you feel that it's warm here? I think the air conditioning is the problem."

However, when they tried to bring up the issue with the judge, Ayukawa interrupted. "Taking into account all of the environmental factors before cooking, isn't that a requirement for becoming a patisserie? It isn't right to excuse them for this."

This sort of reasoning couldn't be faulted, but Ichigo still felt as though it was unfair.
Hanabusa muttered, "Is it possible that Ojou was behind this?"

"Dirty." Andou shook his head, disbelief filling his eyes, "This is a dirty trick!"
However, even with this setback...

"What? Impossible!" Koshiro cried out loud, staring in horror at the scoreboard, which broadcasted their score: 32 to 35. She turned to look at Ayukawa, who was looking back with trepidation in her eyes. 

"What happened to the design?" She hissed furiously, "I thought you said that they were planning to use that design, but they ended up with an entirely different one!"

Ayukawa shook her head, "...I don't know. Last night, this was clearly the design that Amano-san showed me."

"Forget it!" Koshiro snapped, gesturing to her cousins. "Satou, Shiotani, come with me. You, backup... you don't need to bother coming for practice tomorrow. I'll find someone more useful."

Ayukawa's eyes widened, but she didn't resist. "Okay." She looked down, biting her lips.
Ichigo couldn't help but feel bad for her. Although Ayukawa wanted to sabotage them, it seemed like she had her own reasons for doing so.

After the competition, the group walked to the gardens. Ichigo thought over the day: it was a close battle, but Ichigo felt as though her skills in handling chocolate had improved vastly from before when she didn't even know how to warm chocolate correctly. It was all thanks to Fumika that she was even able to properly handle the situation today. After the mess with the chocolate overheating, she was able to take up some of Kashino's tasks so that there was time for him to re-temper and heat the chocolate.

"Hey, Kashino, don't you think my chocolate skills have improved?" Ichigo questioned Kashino. When he didn't reply, she pouted and said, "I'm asking you this since you're the chocolate guru."

Kashino's deadpan expression didn't change as he said, "No, it's as bad as ever."

"What? I was taught all about it by Fumika-chan! And she had this great teacher from France that taught her, so how can that be?"

Kashino raised an eyebrow, curious. "Great teacher from France? And when did she teach you?"

Ichigo smiled. "Well, you see, it was during Valentine's Day..."

FLASHBACK TO VALENTINE'S DAY

"Ichigo! Let's go shopping for Valentine's day chocolates! You should bring Fumika-chan too, she probably has someone special in her life." Rumi giggled. "That girl is so calm and collected, but even someone like her can be flustered, I bet."

Ichigo nodded in agreement, eyes glimmering as she dialed her phone, "Yeah! Let's do that! I'll call Fumika and asked her,"

"Hello?" Fumika yawned as she answered. "Do you need anything? It's only 8 a.m."

"Yeah! Let's go to the supermarket to get some chocolate for Valentine's day! I'm sure you'll want to make something for a special someone... hehe." Ichigo waggled her eyebrows, even though Fumika couldn't see her through the phone.

"Chocolate? Valentine's day?" Fumika repeated, confused, still half asleep, "What is that?"

Ichigo gasped. "What are you saying? You don't know what Valentine's day is? I don't know anyone who doesn't know what it is. Do you French people have different customs?"

Fumika was silent for a moment, gears turning as she processed, "Ah, oh right, it's Valentine's day already?"

"Yes!" Ichigo said. "Come with us to the market! We're going there before it gets busy."
"....No thanks, you can go ahead though." Fumika mumbled groggily, "I'm going to hang up now."

"W-wait!" Ichigo shouted, but it was too late. All she could hear was the dial tone and sudden silence. "Rumi... what should we do? Fumika hung up."

"Do you know what her dorm room is? Let's go wake her up and drag her there." Rumi suggested.

"Ohh, you're so evil. I like it." Ichigo smirked.

"Then, what are we waiting for? Let's get going!" Rumi exclaimed.

They rushed to get ready, throwing on their backpacks and slamming the door in a hurry to get out of the room. Fumika wouldn't know what was coming to her.

Fumika's POV:

Fumika snuggled into the blanket, dozing off as she enjoyed the silence and warmth of her blanket.

BAM.

Startled by the loud noise Fumika lifted her head and squinted at the door. She groaned in complaint, "I should've known. Go away."

"NO! I'm going to bring you with us if it's the last thing I do." Ichigo huffed.

Rumi nodded "It's a girl's mission to make Valentine's chocolate on this sacred day for her loved ones."

Fumika sighed, "No thank you...it's not like I have anyone I want to make chocolates for anyways."

Rumi stared at her suspiciously. "Are you sure about that? I've seen the look of a maiden in love on you so many times... and it's only when a certain sensei is here."

"HA?! WHAT IS THIS NONSENSE?!" Fumika jolted up.

Ichigo tilted her head. "Who are you talking about, Rumi?"

Fumika shook her head, "Shut up, Rumi. I'm getting ready now so don't you dare tell Ichigo anything!" 

"Why am I always the one getting left out?" Ichigo wailed.

Fumika sighed. Why couldn't they be boys instead? Girls were so nosy. And noisy. "Now get out so I can get changed." She would have to get that lock fixed.

Ichigo's POV:

"Hn... I would buy these premium chocolates, but it might be too much for obligatory chocolates." Ichigo muttered. Before she came to Saint Marie, she would've never thought these little pieces of chocolate could be so expensive. Even though she had bought expensive sweets before, these were the Louis Vuitton of chocolates.

"But if you're going to make delicious chocolate, Couverture is the way to go," Rumi stated

"Alright, I'll just use the leftovers from the chocolate that I'm going to make for my dad to make them. It's 10% off anyways." Ichigo took a few bars and placed them in the cart.
"Is there anyone else?" Rumi raised her brows. "Like... yanno, a certain Sweets Prince?"

"Eh?! They're just friends!" Ichigo sputtered. "And who are you talking about... they're all the same to me." 

Rumi lamented to herself "Why is my roommate so dense? I thought I would be able to share the girly talk with her but even though she's with the princes all the time she doesn't feel anything." She turned to Fumika. "So.. what about you?"

Fumika blinked, "What about me?"

"You know who I mean. Blonde, tall, sensei..."

"I'll make it but I definitely won't give it to him," Fumika stated

"It's a chance to impress him. You never know, maybe he'll like your chocolates so much he falls in love with you." Rumi grinned.

Fumika snorted, "Please. As if that's possible. If I give him chocolate, the most he would give me is his judgment."

Ichigo squawked. "Who are you guys talking about!! I wanna know too. I knew her first, Rumi!"

"There's nothing you need to know," Fumika said

"I heard you guys say that he was blonde... it can't be! Are you guys talking about KASHINO?"
Fumika sweatdropped, "Ha?"

"He's like the only blonde person that's around all the time! Don't like him, Fumika, you're too good for him." Ichigo glowered.

Rumi sighed, "Oh Ichigo, did nothing I said catch your attention besides that he was blond? Of course it's not Kashino. Besides, how do you even know if we're talking about a student that goes to Saint Marie? It could be literally anyone else."

"Eh? well...I...um...g-good point." Ichigo stuttered

"Come on. Let's go, it's starting to get crowded. I'm sure the customers don't appreciate a loud girl shouting in their ears." Fumika started walking away when she was stopped by an obnoxious laugh.

"Ohohoho, is this who I think it is? I was wondering who it could be, but it's you, Amano Ichigo-san. Are you planning to buy that discounted chocolate for your Valentine's chocolate? I guess that's what commoners have to resort to." Miya laughed

"What's wrong with that, huh?" Ichigo narrowed her eyes.

"Well, doesn't matter, discounted chocolate does suit cheap love. In case you were curious, I'm buying Couverture chocolate directly from France." Koshiro sneered.

"Good for you. Buy all the unnecessarily expensive chocolate you want, but to me, the only thing that matters is the pure feelings for who you're going to give it to." Rumi stated

"But if the chocolate doesn't taste good, then won't it be a bother to the one you're giving it to?" Koshiro smirked, flicking her hair back.

"Even without the high-quality ingredients, you can make delicious chocolate," Ichigo exclaimed.

"Oh? Is that so? How about you prove you can make that to me? Let's have a contest for Valentine's Day chocolates. I'm sure you won't have a dime on me, but you can try all you want."
"Sure. Let's do it!" Ichigo agreed. Even as she said it, she felt regret seeping into her. Why did she always drag herself into these kinds of situations?

"In four day, Chateau Confectionary will be hosting a party. We will settle who's chocolate is better there. We'll tally a vote at the end." Koshiro stated

"I understand."

"Just so you know, Valentine's Day is a girls special day, so getting help from boys is forbidden. So don't go getting help from them, especially Makoto-kun~" Koshiro said

"I know that!" Ichigo shouted back, insulted. "I wasn't planning to get help anyways. I can do it myself!"

"I see. Well then, I will see you all at the party in four days. I can't wait." Koshiro let out a high pitched laughter as her lackeys followed her away.

"Ichigo. I see you haven't learned your lesson from last time." Fumika couldn't help but sigh.

"I have a really bad feeling about this." Rumi groaned.

-x-

Fumika's POV

Fumika sighed as Ichigo dragged her to the kitchen. She had reluctantly agreed to help Ichigo in order to get the girl to stop shouting and begging.

"Alright then, to start off with, you have to choose the proper chocolate for which type of sweet depending on how you want it to taste. You also have to take into consideration how sweet or bitter it is. Do you have an idea what you want to make for the competition?" Fumika asked.

"Well...not really, but I thought that maybe if I just practice making chocolate first and then go from there," Ichigo said.

"Okay then let's start with preparing the chocolate. I don't think you're ready for tempering yet, so I'll handle that part and teach you how to prepare the chocolate properly," Fumika said.
Ichigo nodded, going to get the chocolate they bought at the store from the bag. Fumika tied her hair and apron and washed her hand.

"Chocolate has certain boiling points that are best and you shouldn't exceed that point, otherwise it might end up tasting not good. Every chocolate has a certain temperature they shouldn't exceed. For example, the boiling point for milk chocolate would be around 45℃ while dark chocolate would be 48℃. Some have way lower boiling points, like glacage fondant chocolate that boils at 32℃. You need to know what chocolate you are gonna use and the boiling point of that chocolate to get the best effect." Fumika explained.

Ichigo nodded, sweatdropped, "That's a lot to think about, making chocolate sure isn't easy either."

"No, it's not. That's why a lot of chocolatiers take things very seriously, especially when it comes to chocolatiers that temper their chocolate," Fumika stated, "Which chocolate do you wanna use?"

"Um...I think I'll just practice with milk chocolate for now," Ichigo answered.

"Alright, now let's start by preparing the chocolate and then boiling it. Start by chopping the chocolate into tiny pieces so it will be easier to melt," Fumika said.

Ichigo nodded. Fumika demonstrated how the chocolate should be cut and Ichigo watched before trying it herself, getting it after many tries.

While Ichigo was practicing cutting the chocolate, Fumika prepared the pot they were gonna boil the chocolate in.

Afterward, Fumika scooped the chocolate they could use into a bowl and put it over the pot, slowly turning up the heat.

When the milk chocolate turned liquid, Fumika stirred the chocolate with a spatula while also testing the temperature with a thermometer.

Fumika stirred constantly while also making sure the temperature didn't exceed 45℃ and that the chocolate remained smooth.

"Now comes the tempering part. The hardest part of it that's not easily explained and advanced so I will just show you until you are ready for it," Fumika said.

Fumika started demonstrating by tempering the chocolate, "This is done to make the chocolate more smooth and glossy so that it will taste really great."

Ichigo watched Fumika's skillful hands as Fumika moved fast yet with grace. Ichigo gasped, amazed, "Sugoi, you're so skillful with chocolate."

"How do you know so much about chocolate anyways? You seem like you're really talented with it," Ichigo said.

"Well, it comes with years of practice, but I also had a teacher from France teaching me how to prepare the chocolate and how to temper," Fumika said.

"A teacher from France?" Ichigo repeated.

Fumika nodded, "Yeah. In France, he is a very famous chocolatier and he taught me for a certain amount of time. All my knowledge about chocolate comes from mostly research and his teachings."

"Wow, that's really cool," Ichigo stated.

Fumika nodded as she dragged the tempered chocolate into the bowl with her long spatula. Fumika grabbed a spoon and held a little bit out for Ichigo, "Try it."

Ichigo nodded as she took the spoon and tasted the chocolate, eyes sparkling, "Amazing. It's so smooth and silky and the chocolate is sweet. It feels like it's melting in my mouth from how soft it is! This is amazing Fumika! I'm sure the sweet we make from this will taste delicious too!"

Fumika took a spoon and tasted it herself, "It's not smooth enough yet, I guess I messed up a little and didn't temper it properly otherwise it would be a lot smoother and silkier like it's flowing down your throat. I guess I still have a lot of practicing to do."

Ichigo gasped and turned to Fumika, "Eh? Even though it tastes so great?! I think it tastes awesome though. It's so smooth and silky."

Fumika shrugged as she continued practicing her tempering, "Compare to my teacher's chocolate, this is nothing. I still have a lot to learn and this is a start. Now then, practice preparing and heating the chocolate, you also have a lot more to learn."

"Hai!" Ichigo sighed, sweatdropping as they continued practicing and Fumika kept correcting and making Ichigo do it over and over again as they practiced over the 3 before the bet with Koshiro would commence.

END OF FLASHBACK

Ichigo shivered at the thought of what Fumika put her through during those days she trained with her. Although she was thankful, she never wanted to have Fumika as her teacher again. She was just too strict!

Chocolat popped out from Kashino's pocket. "That girl studied under a professional? No wonder~ this is the difference between people with a future as patissiers and an amateur like you."

"I knew that she had the skill, but I never expected that she had that under her belt." Hanabusa commented.

Andou nodded. "Yeah, it's impressive."

The sun was starting to set. Kashino looked at the sky and said, "It's starting to get dark, we should head back in."

The three got up, and with their sweets spirits following them, they walked back in the direction of the kitchen. However, a familiar voice stopped them in their tracks.

"It's been a while hasn't it, Leon-sensei?" Fumika said.

Ichigo perked up, and she snuck up behind the bushes to listen. Was Leon the french teacher that she had been talking about?