Sig’s Secret Chapter 2 - Trouble with Practice?

Sig's spacing out like usual. But that's besides the point here. While everyone's bustling about, he's always going step by step making an image for himself. He rarely ever shows emotion or expression. When he catches sight of bugs, which he really likes, he gets a bit too serious about them and has a "Appears to be laughing?" kind of face. As for me, I'm always the cheery but hasty one, and whenever something goes wrong, everyone says "Amitie is really easy to read." Uh~m, Sig really needs to work hard as the Sub-Leader, huh. I'm already worried.

...that's ’cause since I was chosen to be the Leader that day, I'd have to talk about a bunch of things with Sig on the way home...

---

"Let's do our best to make it a success, Sig!"
"Uhh..."
"We gotta set up the tables and chairs...Oh, and decorate it too! This is so exciting. What kind of decorations would look nice?"
"Anything..."
"And of course, the sweets! They've gotta be handmade too! What kind of sweets do you like, Sig?"
"...will the bugs like them?"
"Uh- well..."

Sig's got this rhythm through and through. As I look at him walk blankly from the side, I wonder, is he not interested in this cafe business? Is being a Sub-Leader too hard on him? I want the cafe to be a hit. I feel like Sig isn't on the "fun bandwagon" with everyone... Sig and everyone else...everyone else... Ah, I got it! What if I do this?

---

“Today, we’re all going to practice making sweets and confections!”

In my left hand is a bowl with some eggs, and in my right is a whisk, held high with vigor. Right here is the Primp Magic School Cooking Practice Room. I even asked the teacher if we could borrow the room for this. Once classes were done, everyone gathered up here. Of course, that includes Arle, Ringo, and Carbuncle. Everyone's bustling about what sweets to make, and seem to be having lots of fun with it♪ With that happening right now, maybe Sig is actually enjoying it too? I'd like to think so!

"U-fufu♪ Pastry making is something fitting a pretty lady like me. Let me show you what I can do!"

Raffine's all psyched up got the frilly apron on.

"Oh really? Making pastries is a calculated skill. Quantity, temperature, time, and if handled carefully, it will not fail spectacularly...Therefore, I should have the honor of doing it."

Klug, despite his hard-to-understand wording, is unmistakably into this too!

"Making sweets huh...I wonder if we can do it? How about it, Carby?"
"Gu gu~?"

Off to the side, Arle and Carbuncle are being close as ever...

"Flour, eggs, sugar...These ingredients create a scientific reaction that results in sweets. In other words, it's the science of confection creation!"

And Ringo's showing off that she's not the most normal girl in here.

I take a quick peek at Sig...huh. He's standing and starting out into deep space. I didn't explain it to him did I? But we've gotta get moving!

"C'mon, let's get cracking on that cake!" I called for him cheerfully. "Sig, hey Sig, try mixing with this whisk. If you keep at it, it'll turn into a fluffy cream. Can you do it please?"
"...kay, sure."

I handed him the bowl with the fresh cream, and he lazily nodded. Yep yep, If I keep up the tempo like this, I'm sure it'll suddenly burst with so much fun!

...but then...

"Hey- Raffine! What the heck are you doing!?"
"What does it look like...I'm beating the egg whites into an airy meringue. Yah- yah- HIYAH!"
"S-Stop it! You're splattering the stuff everywhere and you've only got half of it left!"
"One step at a time! Cooking requires lots of love a little bit of power!"
"But aren't you putting too much power into it!?"

Raffine's beating living heck out of the eggs, but maybe Klug can stop her. When I went to talk to him, he's focused on something else...

"Heya, what'cha doing over there, Klug?" I timidly opened my mouth.
"Me? I'm doing flour measurement..."
"Geez, haven't you been doing that for forever!? And you're still not done!?"
"Hmph, you don't understand! Accuracy is very important. If it is off by even a tiny bit, the scales will tip...whoops, the temperature's key too! Where's the thermometer, Amitie?"
"Get really real, you're such a nitpicker!"

And on some other table, Arle and Ringo are working together on something. Ah, looks like they're cooking up something! Arle's got a pretty-looking sponge cake straight from the oven. Mm~ Nothing beats the smell of oven-fresh cake. Smells pretty spicy too......wait.

“Arle! Why does that cake smell all spicy and stuff!?”

I rushed on over in a hurry into the weirdness. As I looked at Arle, I noticed that the cake she has isn't a soft yellow, but a vivid red!

"Ah, Amitie. Well~, I arranged it so it's loaded with spices. Doesn't it look good, Carby?"
"Gu gu~♪" Carbuncle hopped about.

Geez, I don't get Arle and Carbuncle's sense of taste at all!

"Uh, has it baked yet? We need to be able to apply the cream, you know~"

I heard Ringo from behind. Oh goody, you're a life saver!

"Aaaah, Ringo! Look, Arle's cake is looking all crazy and stuff...and..."

I stopped myself to take a look at the "cream" Ringo's got in her hands.

"Ringo...what's that?"

The bowl in Ringo's hands has some really syrupy, green-colored stuff in it.

"Why, this is corchorus olitorius!"
"C-...cor-what?"
"It is a highly nutritious plant. So I finely ground it into a thick cream...and I ground it quite well!"
"Y-You didn't have to do that! Making a regular cream would've been just fine!"
"Fufufu...After seeing your bold arrangement, I got a spark of ambition to create something. I hope this cream is suitable..."
"Are you seriously saying that cream is sweet?"
"Let's get frosting then, Carby...Wow! Red and green actually look pretty together!
"Gu guu♪"
"Arle! Can't you say something normal for once! It doesn't even look like a cake anymore~!"

The two of them are moving right along without a care. Everyone seems TOO into the cooking part, and everything I'm seeing is just scary bad!

"Sigh~...Gah, get real with me guys..." I muttered something in the distance.
"Amitie?"

The voices I heard were Raffine, Klug, Arle and Ringo's, all at the same time, looking this way.

"Amitie...we were baking perfection. Why, do you have something to say to us?"
"Eh?"
"I couldn't quite understand what you said, Amitie."
"Uh..."

O-Oh that's right. The thing is, even if I am excited for this, I wanted to take the lead with making a cake....and yeah. The eggs were clearly cracked into the bowl. Then they were beaten to heck and splattered everywhere, and they smeared all over the nearby flour. I hurried to clean up the mess, but then I slipped up and took a dive into it. I got up without skipping a beat, only to bump my head on the table, and causing the milk and bowl of cream to topple one right after another... Great, now they think I'm responsible for this clumsy combo of a mess.

"Come on, don't you dare do a thing, Amitie!" Everyone told me...
"A- Ahahahahaha...guys, chill out...how about we get back to baking practice?"
"I am not willing to do so, mainly because the glasses kid is so slow, we're not making any progress." Raffine scoffed. Of course, Klug had to react to that.

"Wh-! And how many eggs did you use earlier!? So much of it splattered in every direction, near and far!"
"Hey!"

Oh fiddlesticks, I feel a fight coming on. Then Arle and Ringo cut in between, telling them "Come now..."

"Stop being so crabby and get along! We're here to help out."
"Right. I'm here to cooperate!"

...but...

"No thank you."
"I refrain from such."

Raffine and Klug told them, straight-up.

"What!?" Arle and Ringo replied with shock.
"Considering you two put out that red-green lump you insist calling a 'cake', I am quite concerned asking for your assistance."
"Have you misunderstood the wording arrangement? The spice-like aroma from earlier is burning my eyes."
"Oh come on, we tried our best making that!"
"Y-yeah! While it is a little novel, this is unmistakably a suitably nutritious cake!"

And like usual, with Arle and Ringo's attempting to break up an argument, the place is starting to heat up. I'm getting real nervous here, almost about ready to give in too. Don't tell me that stream of events is happening? I can just feel it...Sure enough, they said it.

"You asked for it...Let's play Puyo!" Raffine declared.

Yep, I called it!

Puyo pop when you group four or more of the same color together. These moments where this power awakens and spells compete are known as "Puyo Matches". They do take a bit of getting used to. If a stack of Puyo pop, the Puyo that were right above it, fall and cascade in place. And if they're the same color, they also pop. Popping Puyo one right after another like this is called a "Chain". So if you stack a bunch of Puyo and make a big chain, you can cast a really powerful spell. And on Raffine's signal, a four-player Puyo Match started.

"Here we go...Ice Storm!"
"Guguguguguu gu!"

Arle and Carbuncle are firing their combined power.

"Too easy! If I may return it with this quality chain...Décharge!"

But Raffine managed to fend it off and fire off a counter attack. Right behind her is Ringo...

"And now...Tangent!"

Once that chain finished up, the next spell fired up right in between Arle and Raffine! ...wowie, everyone looks like they're having fun. Everyone in Primp Town starts a Puyo Match as soon as something happens, though. Of course, when you're having fun playing it, you kinda want it to settle all of the little disagreements. Playing Puyo and having a Puyolicious♪ fun time is sure to bring a smile to everyone's faces. Still, even with the small arguments, there's gotta be an agreement before the Puyo Match, so there's no need to worry. No need to worry... Hey- hang on! Everyone totally forgot about the cake! As for Sig...

Thinking about it, it's kinda surprising. Since I usually Sig all tired and stuff, I never thought he'd have the motivation to do anything! I feel like the only one having fun with the usual happenings, but Sig's excited!? I turned over to him with some confusion.

"...Eh?"

Sig was chuckling at the lively Puyo Match he's viewing.

"S-Sig?"
"...Amitie."

Thinking of nothing else, I got closer to him, and he looked over here.

"Heya, are you laughing?"
"Eh?"
"Aren't you excited about their Puyo Match?"
"..." Sig went silent for a moment, and then he shook his head. "It's nice...I guess."
"...Sig."

I see. Guess he didn't drop his usual attitude for long. In my heart though, he's a friend and pretty lively when he's having fun. Well, I'm the same thing too, I love all of my friends! I'm really happy about that, and it really relieving. Somehow, I can just feel a power growing!

"Let's not give in and keep at it together, Sig!"
"Go for it."
"...Geez!"

Saying that line together made Sig chuckle a bit. That's definitely Sig's pace for you! I opened my mouth, just about ready to say something...

"By the way, Amitie..." Sig asked, interrupting me.
"What's up, Sig?"
"Maybe...we should continue this."
"Bweh?"

I looked over at Sig's hands, and he's continuing to beat the fresh cream into stiff peaks.

"Sig! Are you seriously doing that in the middle of this craziness!?"

Sig looked over, tilting his head....uh, er...W-well I guess that's Sig's pace for you!