Author's Notes
So Oribird and I were talking about our birthdays, and then I realized... Ori's was next week! What was I doing? I spent a couple of days coming up with and idea and general plan and then hashed this out in 5 days XD I hope you enjoy it.
Happy Birthday again, Ori!
Copyright Info
SD Gundam Force is created and produced by Bandai and Sunrise. All settings and characters belong to them except for... Oh, I don't have any OC's in this one! XD
Enjoy!
The Cake
Keiko had just plunked down her rolling suitcase full of bound books—projects of her students—and was heading towards the door to go pick up Nana from daycare, when the doorbell rang. "Were we expecting anyone?" she murmured as she reached the door and opened it.
Purple eyes so sparkly and spacey they looked like a galaxy smiled at her. "Hello, Miss Keiko."
"Well hello, Sayla." Keiko grinned. "What brings you here?"
"The classroom calendar says that Shute's birthday is next week." Sayla clenched her hands enthusiastically. "I wanted to bake a birthday cake for him! After all, we're good friends."
"Oh, that's very sweet of you! Shute would love it!" She glanced down quickly at her watch as Sayla continued.
"I wanted to know what kind of flavor Shute likes."
"Something sweet," Keiko laughed. "Sayla, would you mind walking with me as we talk? I need to pick up Nana soon."
"Oh, I'm sorry for keeping you!" Sayla fell into step beside her as the mother pulled the door shut behind her.
"Oh, no, you're fine. I'm making good time." Keiko clicked the car dongle to unlock it while they walked down the front sidewalk. "Vanilla, or marble, or chocolate, any of those would be fine."
"Hm. Maybe marble, then, for the best of both!"
They came to a silver sedan parked in a short driveway. "That sounds wonderful!" Keiko said. "Thank you so much for offering to do this! I usually make his cake myself. It'll be nice having a real baker do it this year."
"Oh, thank you," Sayla gushed.
"Well, I need to get going."
"Of course!"
Keiko was already sliding into the driver's seat. "Thank you again, Sayla!"
Sayla waved with a smile. "You're very welcome! See you later!"
As the mother smiled and waved back and backed the car out of the driveway, she spotted a certain decorated mobile citizen on the sidewalk. Captain Gundam, her son's best friend, always came to meet him after school, usually before he was home. She exchanged a wave with him also as she drove away.
She hummed to herself as she pulled up to a stop sign. This would be Captain's first time celebrating Shute's birthday. "I wonder if he knows how birthdays go?" she wondered.
…
Captain Gundam walked a little quicker up the driveway as Sayla came down.
"Hello, Mister Captain!" She beamed.
"Hello, Sayla." He paused as they met. "I could not help but overhear your plans for Shute's birthday. You are making him a cake?"
"Why, yes! It's going to be a marble mix of chocolate and vanilla. I'm picturing already how I'm going to edge it with flowers—"
"I didn't know Shute likes flowers."
The girl paused the circling of her hand around an imaginary cake border. "Oh. I didn't think of that. Does he like flowers? I thought everyone likes flowers…"
He cocked his head. "I am not sure if he likes flowers or not."
Sayla put a hand on her cheek. "Oh, I wonder what he does like?"
"He likes electronics, rocket-powered devices, and mobile citizens," Captain Gundam said.
"Oh! I should use something like that in my design! I'm sure I could make a picture." She turned to him. "Captain, I have a wonderful idea! Could you come help me bake the cake? I need ideas of how to design it from someone who knows him really really well!"
"I have never helped with a cake, before."
"That's perfectly fine! It won't be very hard." She touched her chin. "Hm, so if his birthday is next week, I'll start designing it this afternoon, and tomorrow I'll ask you what you think of my idea, Captain."
Captain Gundam flashed a smiley expression on his eyescreens, a couple of upward-curved lines. "That sounds like a plan. I look forward to helping."
Before they had even finished the conversation, he was already researching cake designs and how-tos on the internet. As Sayla airily hummed about ways to imprint or sculpt images on cakes, he was saving and sorting thousands of professional designs: robots with implanted glowing lights, space rockets lifted by supports hidden in frosting exhaust, roller skates with turning cookie wheels...
With Sayla's experience and his research, they should be able to come up with an idea that would thrill Shute. He was smiling just at the thought. It was a 96.89333% chance that his best friend would be happy with their creation.
He'd make the best cake for Shute. His friend deserved no less!
...
The next day, Sayla met Captain right after school again. The Gundam jet to her house before Shute's. "Please have a seat, Mr. Captain," Sayla said as she gestured to the kitchen table. The room was wide, divided between eating and cooking areas by swinging bar doors, western-style. The table was circular, large enough to seat about 8.75 people, and through an adjacent door was the formal dining room, which had an even larger rectangular table, a hutch, and a crystal chandelier.
"Your home is pleasant and nice, Sayla," Captain said, carefully positioning himself to sit in a dark wood chair without scraping his wide shoulder guards.
"Why thank you!" She set a paper down in front of him: a drawing, colored by pencil, of a short and wide cylinder with patterns on it. "This is my idea for Shute's cake."
Captain inspected the drawing more closely, separating different patterns and matching them to familiar concepts and images until he came up with matches. Within seconds, he'd differentiated and identified them. The patterns on the edge of the cylinder were cell phones, and the image in the middle was a silver cartoon rocket ship with a boxy robot waving from its round window. The trail of red coming from its rear represented exhaust.
"What do you think?"
"It has a lot of things Shute likes." He looked up at the golden-haired girl. "Oh, and if you wanted to add flowers, I asked Shute yesterday if he liked them."
"Oh?" Her purple eyes watched him rapturously.
Captain Gundam felt proud of his investigation work. He'd brought up the question at what he'd calculated was the easiest time: they were rolling to a park, and Captain mentioned the beautiful flowers lining the sidewalk.
"Oh, yeah, those are pretty," Shute had agreed.
With the topic of flowers already broached, the question would not seem as odd, and there would be less of a risk of giving away the surprise. Captain had asked, "Do you like flowers, Shute?"
The boy had hummed, deccelerating by 0.002 kilometers per hour while he thought. "Yeah, I guess so. They're nice."
"Do you have a preferred flower?"
A strange look had crossed his face—it was increasing in pink pigmentation—and he turned his head slightly and scratched his unruly brown hair. "I guess... I kind of like princess roses. You know, the purple ones. I wouldn't mind seeing those around Neotopia..."
Yes! Captain had scored! "I see. Those are pretty."
"Yeah."
So armed with this data, Captain boldly declared to the girl, "He likes purple princess roses."
"Oh, wonderful! Thank you, Captain! I'll definitely add it to the design!"
...
It was complete.
Hours of labor and love had been put into this creation. The inside was a swirl of brown and white, and the outside was a variety of frosting images. The lower circumference of the cake was edged with silver cell-phone shaped cookies, and the upper one had a line of little purple roses. On the visible circle face, the silver rocket soared on a background of white. The hull was sleek silver lined with thin black gel, and the exhaust flame was layered in two different reddish shades. Two little sprinkle eyes and a square peeked out from the rocket's window.
"It's perfect!" Sayla said.
"I think it is skillfully made," Captain agreed.
"Oh, I can't wait to show it to Shute!"
"I'm looking forward to that, as well." Captain held up frosting-flaked hands. "Would you mind if I use the sink?"
"Please go ahead."
The two cleaned up the kitchen, covering dishes of frosting mix for later use (by Sayla), rinsing and scrubbing mixing bowls, and sliding spatulas into the dishwasher. Sayla licked vanilla frosting off on spatula before putting it in. "Mm, delicious! So sweet!"
Captain nodded. "I'll take your word for it."
Sayla had just closed the refrigerator for the last time when she paused and frowned. "Oh, I forgot something important," she said, touching a finger to her chin. "Shute is supposed to come tomorrow to study at my house. He'll see the cake if I have somewhere to hide it…"
Her helper asked, "Do you have a place to hide it?"
"No, I don't. Mother and father don't let me take food outside of the kitchen, because ants could find it."
"That is a concern. What will you do?"
"I should ask someone to keep it for me. It will only be one day…" Suddenly, her purple eyes brightened, and she turned to the Gundam eagerly. "Do you think you could hold on to it, Mr. Captain?"
"Hm." He looked over at the cake. It stretched the usual parameters for the width of a cake: 53.243 centimeters in diameter, and 12.932 centimeters tall. It would be about 3 kilograms in weight.
When compared to his head size, it was larger by a significant margin. It would be quite awkward to transport. But he could probably make-do with some careful calculations.
He didn't want Shute's surprise to be ruined, so he had no choice, really.
"I'll take it with me to the SDG base," he said. "And I will bring it to Shute's house tomorrow for his birthday party."
"Really? Oh, thank you, Mr. Captain!"
He flashed his smiley eyes.
Surely it couldn't be too hard.
...
Zero the Winged Knight blinked at the wide cake Captain was carrying. The Gundam Force met quite frequently, as they were now a permanent interdimensional peacekeeping unit, but for the special occasion of Shute's birthday they had all-plus Genkimaru and the mage triplets-gathered in Neotopia. They were staying in the SDG base in the sky, like in old times.
And Captain had brought something interesting up. He rolled slowly, both hands underneath the covered tray, painstakingly maneuvering around the corner and some patrolling GMs. Zero almost expected him to start emitting the warning backup bleeps of construction robots.
"Uh, well, this is unexpected," he said to the Neotopian, floating up to him. "Why are you carrying a cake, Captain?"
"It is Shute's birthday cake," his friend explained. "Sayla and I made it. It cannot stay at Sayla's house without Shute seeing it, and we want it to be a surprise."
Understanding lit his blue eyes. "Oh, I see! So, you're keeping it here in Blanc Base until his party."
"Indeed."
"I can assist you, if you need it."
They were passing the lounge room. Zero could hear Baku and Guneagle going at it with foosball, again. The clacks and whacks sounded almost like bullet fire. "Ha! How's that, flyboy?!" "Just wait, firebreath!"
"That would be welcome. When we reach the kitchen, it would be nice to have someone rearrange the contents of the refrigerator before I insert this."
"I can do that."
They entered the kitchen, which had a mint green palette like the rest of the base, and simple but professional accomodations like a combination microwave and oven, a refrigerator with a freezer, and a water filter. Zero flittered to the refrigerator and opened it.
It was quite full of riceballs-courtesy of the two Musha Gundams onboard-and various baked goods, salads, and lunchboxes. Oh, Mana, was that a bulging milk jug?!
"Disgusting." He immediately grabbed the milk, took one glance at the expiration date, and chucked it into the garbage can. It would be alright: the staff was quick to take trash for recycling.
The Knight Gundam shuddered as he returned to the fridge. "As you can see, Captain, Baku and Genkimaru have overtaken the refrigerator with the riceballs Ms. Keiko made them the other day." He reached in for one of the three plates of the stuff. "But not to worry, because I, a knight who follows the chivalrous code to stay clean and dignified, will have this sorted in a jiffy!"
Captain nodded and continued to patiently hold the cake as Zero pulled, tossed, slid, and pushed the fridge's contents. After a few minutes, he'd cleared a whole shelf. "There, that should do it." That is, as long as Captain accounted for a very important factor. "You did calculate the space inside to make sure it will fit, correct?"
"Yes, I did."
Zero watched in fascination as the Neotopian rolled up to the fridge, angled the cake, and slid it in. It leaned, one corner of the tray meeting the underside of the next shelf, and the opposite edge of the cover propping it against the side. "I see your reasoning, Captain, but won't the cake slide and... squish the decorations?" He peered in. Were those princess roses?
"No. There is a light, edible adhesive on the bottom of the cake. I calculate the friction generated by this will prevent significant movement before the party."
"I see. You certainly thought of everything."
As they were speaking, Bakunetsumaru lumbered in, grumbling.
Zero raised his nose to look down at the robotic samurai. "Oh, Bakunetsumaru. Done with the game already?" He could tell from his angrily slanted eyes and heavy stomps that Baku had lost-and he would never pass up the chance to tease him about it! "Who won?"
"He got in a cheap shot!-But anyways, did I smell something sweet in here?" Baku looked around, sniffing the air.
"Of course he would be quick to notice the food," Zero loudly whispered to Captain.
"What does that mean?!"
"What do you think, you glutton?" He smirked.
Baku stepped toward him threateningly. "Do you want a duel, Ze...what's that?" He'd turned to glance at the cake inside the open fridge.
Zero promptly slamed the door shut. "It's for Shute's birthday! Don't eat it!"
The samurai seemed to sag a bit. "Oh... okay..."
"There is other food, though, if you wanted some," Captian offered.
"Yes, there are plenty of riceballs."
Soon, Zero had a plate of riceballs out for his friend to eat while Captain told them about the plans for the next day.
"They light the cake on fire?"
"No, they light the candles on the cake, baka."
"I'm gonna light you on fire if you-!"
"And everyone will sing the song 'Happy Birthday' before Shute blows out the candles."
Zero shook his head. "I'll never understand these customs. Why light a fire that you're going to put out without using it?"
When Baku finished his snack, the three Gundams started to disperse. Zero glanced back at the fridge as he was flying out. "Captain, you should put a note on the cake, or Genkimaru might eat it."
"I suppose that is true," he said. "Thank you, Zero."
"No problem." The Knight Gundam flew out.
Princess Sayla had certainly made a delicious-looking cake. If only his fiance hadn't been detained in Lacroa by personal matters. He sighed. Well, in any case, it was going to be a wonderful birthday and a scrumptuous cake.
...
That evening, a certain short Musha Gundam woke with a rumbly tummy. Genkimaru rubbed his sleepy brown eyes. "Why am I so hungry?" he whined as his stomach took him out of his much-too-plushy bed and guided him down the halls.
He came across one of the GM patrols. The GMs had been quite friendly so far, even if they never showed their faces, so this one would certainly answer his question. "Hey, what time is it?"
"Precisely 20:37 hours," the GM said.
Genki's eyes seemed to bulge out of his head. "It's past 8:30?! No wonder I'm so hungry!" He zipped past, his little legs so quick they blurred. "Thank you!" he shouted before rounding the corner. The others hadn't woken him up for dinner! What was up with that?!
In minutes he was at the kitchen fridge. He opened the door, and right there in the middle was the answer to all of his problems: a gigantic block of pastry—a "cake," as the Neotopians called it. "Mmm~! That looks delicious! Don't mind if I do!"
He reached in and carefully wiggled it out—it was at an angle since it was so big. Some of the flowers got a bit smushed, and he winced. "Man, I hate to ruin it before I've even taken one bite. This is a nice cake!" He took a closer look at the decorative roses and those… were those cookies? They looked like Shute's "flip phone" that he used to talk with the rest of the SDG.
Grinning, Genki set it on a table and eased off the clear cover. "Whoo~" he gasped in awe at the cool picture on the top. It was one of the spacecraft like in those Neotopian cartoons he'd seen with Shute! He licked his lips. "How should I eat it?" He dipped his finger in one of the ruined roses for a taste. "Mmmm! Yum~! This is great!" He reached to tear out a chunk.
"Genkimaru!"
He jumped, and his arm went straight across the cake, embedding his little hand in the frosting.
"What are you doing?!"
Who'd dared to interrupt this amazing dinner?! Genki pulled himself out of the cake and glared at the perpetrator: that stuck-up one, Zero. "What's the big idea?!" he growled. "I'm just getting some food! I'm hungry!"
Zero's cape fluttered agitatedly as he flew to the table. "That's not your cake! It's for Shute's birthday celebration tomorrow! Didn't you see the note?"
Genki's giant eyebrows drooped. "A note?" He lifted up the cover to inspect it.
Zero also seemed confused. "There was… supposed to be a note…?" He circled the cake to see.
"I didn't see a note, I swear." Genkimaru felt his spirits sinking as he noticed the smudged spacecraft. The pilot's sprinkle eyes were on his fingers, and the rest of it was a grey and black mess. "I didn't mean to mess up something for Shute…"
The knight lifted up the edge of the tray and peered underneath before sighing. "He put it on the bottom."
"How was I supposed to see that?" Were they going to get angry at him for this? He hadn't filched any food since the Gundamusai days, and they'd said anything in the fridge that wasn't in a lunchbox was up for grabs.
Zero shook his head, lowering the cake again. "It wasn't prominent enough, and I told him specifically to make a note for you to see." He turned to the young samurai. "It's alright, Genkimaru, it's not your fault. I just wish everyone had been a little more careful."
The pit in his stomach lessened just a bit. "But what are we going to do for Shute? I ruined his cake."
Zero stroked his red chin. "Hmm…"
…
Keiko served up a mouth-watering dinner: riceballs, sushi platters, and hamburgers. Everyone happily gorged themselves, except for Captain, who couldn't eat—but he was perfectly content making conversation with everyone. He was sitting with all of his friends (and right next to Shute), so he was content.
Zero did have to convince Noa that hamburgers were not animal excrement, Keiko had to catch some pea cannonballs from Nana, and Shute had to deal with the princess next to him (she'd insisted on her seat) commenting on everyone's manners. But everyone managed to have an enjoyable dinner otherwise.
Afterwards, Shute's parents cleaned up the kitchen, and then Mark said, "Hey, honey, it's cake time, isn't it?"
Zero, Baku, and Genki froze as if they'd been petrified.
Shute's mother grinned. "Oh, yes, it is, isn't it?" She set down a hand towel. "I'll go get it."
Her husband gave her an affectionate pat on her way to the kitchen. "You sure you got it?"
"Yes, I can handle it. Thank you for asking."
"It's the cake!" Coa shouted. "We get to try a cake, finally!"
The triplets chattered excitedly, while Zero and Baku glanced nervously at each other and Genki gulped.
Shute noticed Captain staring at him. "Hey, what's wrong?"
Captain opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Keiko was back with the cake.
It had been modified from its last appearance: the top was all grey mush with a splash of red on one side. A silver plastic model rocket stood upright on this alien terrain, between two "1" shaped candles, ready for launch to other worlds.
"It looks interesting," Princess Rele said, eyeing it with confusion rather than disdain.
The Gundam Force braced themselves as Keiko set it in front of her son. "Isn't it amazing, Shute?"
The boy's green eyes were wide as watermelons. "Oh, wow, that's so cool! It's on a rock planet with lava!" His friends lifted their heads as he grinned up at Keiko. "Thanks, Mom!"
"It wasn't me. Your friends made it!"
Shute blinked. "Really? Sayla?"
She nodded from across the table. "And Mr. Captain, Mr. Zero, Mr. Bakunetsumaru, and Genkimaru."
He turned to them with the biggest smile. "You guys did?!"
They nodded.
The next second, Captain was glomped. "Thank you, guys!" He reached for Zero past Rele and waved over Baku and Genki. "This is an awesome cake!"
They came in for a big hug, grinning, as the others laughed.
"Thanks, everyone!"
They grinned at each other. The cake disaster hadn't been such a disaster after all.