The Missing Day

The last plate belonged to Yamashita Saki. Her cookies were the most inexperienced of everyone's.

They were misshapen, some thick and some thin, some round, others squeezed into irregular little lumps.

Their surfaces were uneven, and the patterns were patchy, like clay figures molded by a child.

Ichinose Honami picked up the smallest one and took a small bite. The sweetness was a little uneven—some parts were sweeter, others blander—but the texture was quite soft.

She smiled at the slightly nervous Yamashita Saki. "Saki's are cute too, like little clouds—soft and fluffy. For your first time, this is already amazing."

Yamashita Saki's cheeks turned red as she awkwardly twisted her fingers together. "I can't pipe the designs properly... My hands keep shaking."

"It's okay, everyone's like that their first time!"

Kushida Kikyo immediately leaned over, linking arms with her as she smiled reassuringly. "My first attempt was even uglier than yours. Just practice a couple more times. Yours are already really cute—I can barely bring myself to eat them."

At that, Yamashita Saki couldn't help smiling, her eyes curving into crescents as much of her embarrassment faded.

The eight plates of cookies had been sampled one by one.

Everyone returned to the Control Console and stood there, their eyes falling on Ichinose Honami as they waited for the referee's final scores.

Ichinose Honami considered it for a moment, then smiled and spoke. She gave a reason for every ranking, leaving everyone convinced.

"Then I'll announce the rankings!"

"First place goes to Kikyo. Her designs were the most creative, she had different filling flavors, and her texture was consistently good. She balanced appearance and taste, so first place is well deserved."

"Second place goes to Kazehara Tetsu. His designs were the simplest, but his control over the texture was the most