Hmmm. Is she really?

Yes ma�am. She�s a cook in training for the Suzaku clan.

And we are Genbu. Enemies since the dawn of the wind clans. Enemies until the eve they fall into ruin. Ruin brought on by me, of course.

Yes. She seemed nice though

Nice? Nice is only on the outside. Those Suzaku clanswomen; they�re all the same. She�s a manipulative bitch mark my words. I want you to get close to her, enough so that she trusts you. Then, we will crush her.

Why? She�s just one person in the Clan.

She�s destined to be clan leader. I�ve seen it in my dreams.

Yes Cassandra.

�Calm. Calm. Peace. Quiet.� Rika said, gritting her teeth. Her nerves acting like mice. If mice had suddenly taken a liking to consuming vast amounts of sugar and dance around with tambourines.

It was the day of the contest, so Rika�s nerves had an excuse to act the way that they were acting. Rika scowled at the sky. In most of the stories she�d read, the weather behaved during an important day. But no, in Amay, the weather had to be contrary and produce rain. Stupid weather. Rika glared at the sky again.

�Why are you making faces at the sky?� Kaori asked. She was seriously doubting her friends� sanity at this point. Making faces at the sky was a sure sign of insanity. Right?

�The weather deserves it.� Rika said, and made a very rude gesture in the direction of a particularly obnoxious cloud.

The rain promptly got heavier.

Kaori, Rika, and Lynne ran for the blessed cover of the closest overhang. Which happened to be the one everyone else was heading for. Rika stomped around the perimeter of the overhang, glaring menacingly at all the nice dry people standing under it. Soon, three of the weaker ones ran off to hide from Rika�s deadly gaze.

�Well.� Kaori remarked. �So Rika�s bad moods are good for something.�

Rika glared at her.

�You know, Rika,� Lynne said happily. �You�re face may get stuck that way if you continue.�

Rika glared at her.

By the time the three arrived at the door of the Gymnasium, where the contest was being held, Rika had glared at a total of ten elderly people, five babies, and six couples making out. Rika was having a very prolific day.

�Asai, Rika?� The man at the check in desk asked.

�Yes.� Rika said. �That�s me.� She pulled out her entry form and handed it to the man.

�Go on in.� The man said, nonchalantly. �You are number three.� The man glowered at her. Then, he glanced at her companions in a menacing way.

�And who are you?� He asked, raising his eyebrows forebodingly. �You don�t seem like cooks. You seem like good-for-nothing teenagers out to a kegger.�

�We�re her friends.� Lynne replied. Kaori chewed on her Pocky thoughtfully. She was not liking the way the man was looking at them�as if they were lame antelopes and he was a savage lion waiting for the kill.

She was tempted to kick that savage lion in the nuts.

�Only cooks are allowed.� He thought for a moment. �Cooks and lackeys.�

�L�lackeys?� Kaori asked. Her eye was twitching in time to the raindrops; it was her turn to do some glaring.

�Yes sir.� Rika cut in quickly. �They�re my lackeys. Can we go in now?� She glanced worriedly at Kaori, who was now being help back by Lynne.

�Yes, yes.� The man said. �Go on in then.� He waved them in with a bored look on his face. Though Lynne and Rika both heard him mutter, �Teenagers.� They thought it wise not to mention this to Kaori.

The Gymnasium had been transformed into a literal temple. There were posters covering all the walls. There were stand up cardboard figures, there were TV commercials showing on large screen TV�s. All of this paraphernalia was centered on one person. Martha Stewart.

It was an amazing, if twisted, room of adoration.

Kaori shuddered, all her hatred at the doorman was eaten away by the sheer terror of the room she was now in. But her loyalty to Rika was strong, and so she stayed. It wasn�t as if this was the biology room, after all.

�Wow. Rika.� Lynne said. �This sign says that we can�t go out of the Gym until after the contest is completely over. That�s pretty intense.�

�There�s also a time limit to this contest.� Kaori read. �You have five hours. Starting from ten o� clock and going until three o�clock. That�s a loose time restriction, isn�t it?�

�No.� Rika said, worriedly. �Since this is a bake off, most people will be using the whole time limit. It takes a long time to bake things. My recipe takes a total of four hours of baking time.�

�That leaves you with one hour to prepare.� Lynne said. �You think you can make it?�

�Yes.� She replied. �I have to.

Rika stared at her assigned workstation in determination. No matter how hard this contest was going to be�pretty hard by the looks of it (they were a bunch of Martha Stewart worshippers!), she would come out on top. She had to; it had been her goal to be a master chef since se was five.

No Martha Stewart wannabe was going to stop her now.