@sastio13: is Paruru really that salty? I wonder...
@Snaux94: forgive me for killing Atsuko so early...
anyways... thanks for reading and i hope you support this story till the end.
@Megumi: ehehehe. I haven't watched all episodes of AKBingo... i apologize...
demo... thanks for the comment
@phoenix0i: yeah, more and more characters... I guess.
@giotuyet: ehehe... here i am. ^_^ and an update...
here's an update...
i was about to post it yesterday... but because it's my birthday yesterday i decided not to. 
anyways... here it is.
Chapter 7: Scorched Hearts
(Haruka’s POV)Mayu and I are now sitting, waiting for our cookies to be baked. I’m not really sure if it will taste good. Well… I doubt if it will taste like food. But still cookies will still be cookies.
I started to observe the other girls, same as what Mayu does.
Sayanee and Milky seems to be doing fine but they’re still bickering just like what they usually do. On the other hand, Jurina, Rena and Yukirin seem to be okay. Rena was mostly doing the cooking. Jurina and Yuki assist her, though.
My thoughts were put to an end as Mayu let out a sigh.
“Are you bothered with our cookies?” I asked her.
“Yeah…” She looked down to the ground. “I mean… I don’t know if it’ll be edible.”
She said it in a really serious way. I can’t help but to let out a light laugh. “I feel the same.”
“Wow. A—are you… laughing?” She suddenly looked at me.
Is that a big deal if I laugh?
“I think so.” I said, bringing out my normal facial expression and monotonous voice. “Is it… unusual?”
She nodded in affirmative. “Quite.”
Then, we were engulfed by a moment of silence. I secretly observed her from the corner of my eyes. She was a really cute girl. At first sight, you won’t think that she’s a video game addict. She looks like a normal school girl. But, yeah, you can never judge a book by its cover.
“It’s done, I guess.” She pronounced.
“What?”
“The cookies…” Mayu stood up and walked towards the oven with light footsteps. I followed her and helped her in getting the cookies off the oven.
It smelt weird… and looks weirder.
Brown blobs of irregularly-shaped cookies. I wonder… is this really edible?
The door soon opened and a lady entered the room, Yokoyama-san, to be more specific.
“Hello, ladies…” She greeted with a slight smile. “I’ll be the one to judge your baked goods…”
Bad luck for her. I wonder if these brown blobs can be considered as baked goods…
I was looking at these really irregular cookies when Mayu raised her hand.
“Sato-san, we’re done!” She said with much confidence.
Is she trying to poison Yokoyama-san?
The three older ladies went towards our table. I am observing their facial expression as they drew nearer. As soon as their gaze fell on the cookies we baked, I saw a sudden expression of worry on Sato-san and Masuda-san. But it doesn’t apply to Yokoyama-san. She still has same expression as she had when she entered the room.
“Are you sure you’ll eat it, Yui?” I can faintly hear Masuda-san’s whisper to the assistant headmaster.
She nodded her head. “Irregularly-shaped cookies doesn’t totally mean that they cannot be eaten, Yuka. We’ll judge based on the quality and not on its appearance.”
She reached for a piece – the darkest colored one. “If you don’t want to try it, then don’t. I will.”
She was about to eat the cookie when…
“Wait!” Mayu stopped her.
“What’s the matter, Mayu?” Yokoyama-san inquired.
“In any case… here’s some milk.” She said as she handed her a glass of milk.
“It’s so nice of you, Mayu. Thank you.”
Mayu went beside me and whispered. “I just can’t take it if she’ll be poisoned. It will bring me a sense of relief in doing so.”
Yokoyama-san proceeded on her task and slowly, she took a bite of it. She munched it without changing her facial expression.
Does it taste okay? Or… is she just good in hiding what she really feels?
“H—how’s it, Yui?” Sato-san asked her.
“It tastes quite bitter. I wonder if these girls put enough sugar. The cookie is a bit overcooked, though... But it isn’t that bad.” She commented before taking a sip of the milk.
Mayu leaned in closer and whispered again. “I wonder if she noticed the eggshells on it… or maybe not?”
I just shrugged my shoulders in reply to her inquiry. Eggshells? I didn’t even notice it myself…
“For the meantime, you two can sit there and wait for the other girls to finish.”
“Hai…”
After a few minutes…While the two remaining groups were still waiting for their goods to be baked, Mayu and I just sat silently beside one another.
“I wanted to try our cookie… but something inside my head keeps on telling me not to.” She just said it all of a sudden.
“Then don’t.” It was my brief reply. It never even entered my mind to take even the smallest bite from those toxic-looking brown blobs.
Mayu looked at me seriously. “Why don’t you try it?”
I can’t help but to scrunch my eyebrows at her truly stupid question. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Why not?”
“I believe we have the same reason not to.”
She stared at me with those eyes of her. So innocent, I thought. She let out a sly smile. “I guess you’re right.”
As soon as she said that remark, we noticed Yokoyama-san slightly twitching on her seat.
“Hey, Yui, what’s happening to you?” – Yuka
“This is n—nothing…” – Yui
“Is something wrong?” – Natsuki
“You look a bit pale…” – Yuka
Her face twitched in pain as she put her hands on her abdomen. “Ittai…”
Sato-san and Masuda-san exchanged looks. They knew it.
These cookies are… toxic.
(Yui’s POV)I was immediately brought to the infirmary because of this twitching pain I’m feeling in my stomach. Is this because of those cookies made by Haruka and Mayu? I guess so. It was what I have eaten aside from the breakfast meal…
Natsuki and Yuka remained in the baking room while they asked Haruka to accompany me here.
“So… what have you eaten aside from breakfast meal?” Megumi asked me, her thin eyes looking straight at me.
“She ate the cookies we made.” Haruka answered for me.
“Can I see those cookies?” – Megumi
“Here.” Haruka handed her another piece of the weird blob of cookie. Megumi’s eyes almost gawked at the sight of the thing.
“Are you not in the right mind, Yui? Who would think of eating a thing like this? It doesn’t even look like it is edible…” Megumi lectured me.
“I never thought it would be this bad.”
I stole a glance at Haruka. She doesn’t seem to be affected nor moved by Megumi’s seriously negative statement.
“Next time, you should be more careful with what you eat. For now, drink this pill. It’ll wear the pain away.” She handed me a pill. Then, she stood up and headed for the door. “I’ll be leaving the two of you here. I still need to meet with Itsuki-san today to ask about Arika-sama’s condition… and also to tell her what’s happening here.”
“Thank you, Megumi. Have a safe trip.”
Megumi soon left the room, leaving Haruka and I together inside the infirmary. Silence enveloped the room for she wasn’t speaking, so I wasn’t, too.
Another wave of pain flushed through my abdomen. I gritted my teeth and maybe my face flinched.
“Yokoyama-san, I suggest that you drink that medicine now.” Haruka said with the usual tone of her voice… and still without any facial expression. “Here…”
I was a bit shocked when she swiftly handed me a glass of water. I accepted it and drank the bitter pill.
“I’m sorry, Yokoyama-san.” The girl looked at the ground.
“It’s alright. It’s not really totally your and Mayu’s fault. It was my fault.”
“No, it isn’t. It was mine.”
I don’t know if I fancy that she said it apologetically… or is it real? I mean, I haven’t even seen her laugh. I saw her smile once, when she greeted me yesterday…
I was suddenly out of words.
“If only I can do even a simple baking... It was my fault that there were eggshells on it… and there weren’t enough sugar. I’m sorry for being incompetent.”
Her hands trembled.
“Don’t say that. A single mistake doesn’t mean that you’re incompetent. If you think you’re incompetent then you’ll forever stuck in being an incompetent one… It’s just a matter of changing your vision of yourself.”
After hearing my words, she looked at me with her teary-eyes… “Yokoyama-san… I—”
I reached for her hand and held it tightly. “What is it? Tell me…”
“I—I’m afraid… of everything. I can’t do anything right. Ever since before…”
“What do you mean…?” I looked at her inquiringly. Her gaze met mine, and it was in her eyes that I saw a hint of a deep sadness.
TBC...
thanks for reading!
if you may leave comments... then, I will take high appreciation of them. thanks so much, minna-sama!
Topic: The Rosehouse Ladies (POLL; I need your opinions, dear readers~) [19.02.2017] (Read 64438 times)