Break #8: In Which Celty Bakes Her Cake, and Shinra Eats it Too; the Rest is All-Over Frosting

Shinra skipped into the apartment, kicked off his shoes, and let the door bang shut behind him. Bam.

"Honey, I'm hooooooome! Hey, what's that smell? What's for dinner? Did you make me something, Celty? Oh! No no no nononono don't put it away, don't put it away! Hey! You didn't let me taste your cooking last time! Nooooooooooo—" Shinra chattered. He swung out into the hall, skidded into the kitchen, and slammed into the refrigerator before bouncing off and dancing in front of Celty.

Celty jumped and her hand jerked a little and blemished the cake frosting. She looked up and stared at the energetic visage in front of her. "Oh, Shinra," she sighed.

"What?" he said, wrinkling his nose. "You're making a cake?"

Celty bit her lip. Her face turned slightly pink.

"Can we eat it?" said Shinra hopefully, not really getting it.

Celty laughed nervously and said, "Yes, I suppose."

Shinra grinned widely and grabbed two plates from the cupboards.

"Shinra, it's not done," Celty said, puzzled and a little anxious. She wanted to finish it. Besides, if he took some now then it wouldn't be perfect, it might taste bad and it wouldn't look like the cake recipe... She didn't know how human food ought to taste a lot of the time.

Shinra shrugged. "But I'm sure it tastes good right now, so..." He dug around in one of the kitchen drawers, found a knife and cut himself and Celty a slice. He handed Celty her plate.

Celty was wistful about the incomplete nature of the cake, but sighed and took it. "What temperature is it outside today, Shinra?" She rifled through another drawer and withdrew a fork, and handed one to Shinra.

Shinra wrinkled his nose again. "Oh, about 10º C." (49º F, Amerika-jin.)

Celty laughed. "No wonder then."

"No wonder what?"

"You're extra chatty and you're acting a little hyper."

"And you correlated my behavior to the weather?" Shinra eyed her.

"Yes."

"You might be right."

"What?"

"I said, you might be right."

"Forgive me, but I really thought that would make you want to argue..."

"Nope!" said Shinra happily, and took a bite. "Scientifically, there's nothing absolute about your statement and I like cold weather. I guess it would be strange if you hadn't noticed by now."

"Is—it—good?" asked Celty anxiously, referring to the cake.

"Perfect. I'm glad I caught you before you decided to give it to the birds." He took another bite and widened his eyes at her.

Celty turned red. "I would not!"

Shinra pursed his lips.

Celty insisted, "Really, I wouldn't."

Shinra made a non-commital sound. "Maybe you would and maybe you wouldn't, but the fact stands that I haven't gotten a taste of your cooking since you tried to make tamagoyaki when I was ten and you caught the kitchen on fire. You shouldn't judge your cooking skills on account of one failure, you know. Why you have this guilty urge to cook and then try to hide the fruits of your labor I simply don't understand." Shinra finished the cake slice and shook his fork at her. "May I have more?"

He hadn't asked the first time. "Doozo," said Celty, bemused. She hadn't touched the cake.

"You can eat, can't you?"

"Yes."

"You should. It's delish."

"Ah — all right."

"Good, isn't it?"

Celty nodded.

Shinra grinned and lifted his chin, and shook his "And that is why I have decided that at whatever stage I find you cooking in, I shall insist in partaking of it!"

Celty froze midbite. The cake fell onto her plate. "You wouldn't!"

"I would."

"Shinra, I beg of you, that's a fine idea and all that — it's crazy enough that I believe you would try — but for goodness sake don't you DARE touch raw meat or fish!" Celty screeched in consternation.

Shinra rolled his eyes. "Good grief, Celty, I'm not that stupid," said Shinra casually. "I know not to wash rice with soap."

Celty sniffed and couldn't decide whether to frown or smile. "Good for you," Celty said tartly, and sighed loudly. "Good. I was just checking. If you ended up in the hospital because of me and some crazy idea of yours..." She started muttering disgruntledly.

"Tokorode, by the way, why did you decide to bake a cake today?"

Celty dropped her fork with a clatter. "Um, Shinra..." she mumbled, flushing.

"Nani?"

"I don't want to answer that question!" she exclaimed, covered her face with her hands.

Shinra went straight into panic mode and started fluttering around her like a panicked butterfly, waving his hands frantically and trying to make soothing noises. When Shinra finally managed to calm them both down, he tried talking to her again.

"Celty, does this have something to do with Shizuo?"

"No." She almost giggled nervously. It had nothing whatsoever to do with him. The thought that he might have felt a little funny.

"Uh..." Shinra chewed his lip. "The wedding?"

Celty let out a small peep. "Yes."

"I don't get it," said Shinra, tilting his head. "It tasted good."

"But it looks awful!"

"S—so?" Shinra's expressive face winced and twinged and changed expressions very quickly, but they all conveyed quizzical puzzlement. He'd forgotten about how he had interrupted the frosting process.

"Oh, man!" Celty flopped forward. "I'm so stupid..." she moaned.

Shinra screwed up his eyes and kneaded his temples. "I feel like I am worried over nothing, or maybe you are worried over nothing, but Celty, I really just don't understand."

"Okay, okay, I get it." Celty closed her eyes and nodded very sharply once. "I'll try to explain it simply. Shinra, I got up this morning, and I thought, who's going to make the cake for the wedding? and then I thought, I don't know anyone who can do that, so then I was thinking, well maybe I should just make one, but I wasn't sure if it would look right or taste good and I made it anyway and you liked it but I just know it's not good enough I can't make them very big, not beg enough for a lot of people, you see, there aren't any layers and this one was really quite small and anyway I realized as you were eating it that we have enough money to do just about anything so we could just hire somebody to make the cake and so it was really pointless to get so worked up about it but of course you were going to ask me why I made it and I was so embarrassed to have gone to all that effort and then suggest that we just hire somebody else, Shinra, and it was like I misled you and I hate that, Shinra! I'm sooooooooooooooorry!"

Where is she getting the air to say all of that? I probably shouldn't ask. She just does. She's a Dullahan. "You have nothing to be ashamed about," said Shinra. He rubbed his forehead. "We'll hire somebody. Everybody does that, except maybe the people who are professional cake decorators."

"Oh."

"I wasn't thinking of doing anything else, anyway. That's just what people do."

"Oh."

Shinra changed tack. "Celty, you're very cute."

"Am not!" Celty covered her cheeks with her hands.

Shinra just nodded wisely and said, "Yes you are, silly girl. You needn't get so worked up about it." He snagged one of her drifting hands and squeezed. "I love you. You make good food." He leaned a little closer to her face.

She laughed a little. No I don't.

"Say it isn't so, but you do. Anyone can cook and I can also do it, although I like being too lazy to bother even more, but you really care to do it right. You just need some practice and a little more confidence. I'm a lucky man. So I'm going to keep telling you until you believe me, understand? And by the time you believe me, you'll probably be fantastically good, so no harm done." Shinra bumped his forehead to hers. Clunk. "There, you see what I'm thinking." He winced and rubbed the spot. "Hardhead."

She laughed. "All right."

Shinra's seriousness quickly died away. "Say, do we have any ice-cream?"

"Yes, in the fridge."

"What are we waiting for? Can't have cake without ice-cream. C'mon, let's have some more." Shinra tugged her gently into the kitchen.

"Celty, what do you say we go out and look for wedding gowns?"

"Sounds fine."

[...]

"Well, that was depressing."

"We can save up."

"Or we can ask somebody to make us something. I was too tall to try on half of the dresses whose styles I actually liked..."

"Do you know anyone?" Shinra asks.

Celty shakes her head. "No, but I'll ask around."

"Whatever you decide, mistress mine."

Celty blushes. "Please pretend you aren't going to spoil me rotten... I have to be sensible..."

"Stop being sensible."

"It's not so easy—"

[...]

"Celty, can you send out formal invitations?"

"I could, yes, but we need to decide on a date first."

[...]

"Okay, winter's coming up. I don't know about you, but I'd really, really, really like to avoid the Christmas slash New Years' rush."

"Gosh, you're right. How about in the spring?" Shinra scratches his head.

"I like it. April is a nice time of year."

"Dear, April is when the sakura comes out... If anything, that time has got to be even worse..."

But Shinra had second thoughts. "Although now that I think about it, that's so far away..."

"How about the weeks before Christmas, then? Say, somewhere between December 5th and December 15th?"

"Probably more deserted."

"I should hope."

"Still, preparations take a while. Oh, great. Say, I completely forgot!"

"Forgot what?"

"Reservations. Where are we going to hold a reception?"

Celty turned wide, pale blue-green on Shinra. "Please, please, please let it be a cathedral! With stained glass!" She looked very excited.

"A cathedral?" Shinra was surprised. "Do we have any in Japan?"

"Mmm-hmmm." Celty nodded quickly.

"You're not religious, are you?"

Celty shifted in her seat. "I believe in God... There's something out there, I'm sure, but I've never been able to understand it. You know, I wasn't even allowed inside a church in the old days, in Ireland. Because they thought, well, you know, that I was a demon or something. Which is nonsense. And since then, I haven't, well, I never dared to enter while there were people present. But of course there always were. People. So, what about you?"

"I don't know," said Shinra. "I've always towards atheism, myself, but..." He shakes his head. "You exist."

"Me?" Celty blinked.

"Yes, you." Shinra rolled his eyes. "You can't have not realized this. Science doesn't explain you. Magic."

"And because magic exists you find it easier to believe in God?"

"Pretty much. I mean, it's possible. It's always possible. But it seems much more likely. If physical matter had its start in the Big Bang, then the spiritual must have sprung from someplace also. That must be God."

"But why God, not gods?"

"Shintoism says the gods are pieces of one god. If it comes down to that, then... " Shinra shrugs. "So there must be one God, but the whole must be greater than the sum of its parts, don't you think? Most of the major religions agree on that in some form or other. But I've never been quite keen on Shintoism or Buddhism, for that matter. I always felt like something was missing."

"Like what?"

"Something like...like acknowledgment that we aren't in charge of our universe." Celty's confused look makes Shinra want to explain clearly, but he's not sure that he can. "Shintoism basically comes down to bribing the gods. And sure, that seems to work sometimes, but it backfires an awful lot. The old stories are full of the accursed. It is almost better to avoid the gods' attention than to enlist their help. Meanwhile, Buddhism says we can control how we perceive the world and act in it and by doing so we suffer less." Shinra sighs. "That we just let things happen to us and nothing can be done about it, and the gods are irrelevant. But I don't believe that humans can lift themselves clear from the muck by themselves. Such a person would have to be perfect from birth. And then it all seems like an illusion, doesn't it?"

Celty bit her lip. "It seems like you've thought about it a fair bit."

"Not really. It's not like I've reached a definitive conclusion of any kind. Just that what I know isn't sufficient." Shinra pushed his glasses back up his nose.

"Mm," Celty agreed. "So, is a cathedral okay?"

"If that's what you want, I'll make it happen."

"I'd rather it wasn't a combined reception hall and chapel."

"You want a proper church then."

"Yes."

"A Christian wedding?"

Celty hesitated. "If your family doesn't object."

"They are neither religious nor superstitious, so they would be happy with whatever we decide. I mean, you've met my dad, and my birth mother was pretty similar." At Celty's questioning look, Shinra adds, "You haven't met her yet." Celty nods her understanding.

"Well then, yes, please. In style, at least. It's not that I think it makes it more or less legitimate, you understand, but that's what I'm confortable with."

"Okay."

[...]

Shinra made the reservations and settled the date. Celty wrote the invitations and sent them out, and began gathering the supplies she needed for the wedding, trying to be as frugal as possible. Shinra signed the checks and appreciated the effort. They lived in a nice apartment, it was true, but that didn't mean that their finances were limitless. There actually wasn't a lot of room for extras. They were both confident, however, that they could pull off a modest but lovely wedding that didn't look shabby.

The big day comes rushing and barreling towards them.

[...]

"Hey, Celty."

"Remind me who the bridesmaids are?"

"Namie Yagiri and Anri Sunohara."

"Would you like to ask a third?"

"Sure, but who?"

"Erika Kurosawa?"

"I guess, sure, we get on pretty well, in the end."

"In the end?"

"Come on, Shinra, you know she jokes about everyone's sex life."

"Forgot about that. I thought my short list of close friends was pathetic until I saw yours."

"Close friends of the same sex, you mean. Your friends were my friends. I have lots of strong friendships."

"Sure. But just for the sake of balance, would you mind adding her to the list? Or do you think she would cause too much trouble?"

"Not at all. Certainly no more than Izaya or Shizuo will. Add her on."

[...]

"Shinra! Shinra!"

"What?"

"I forgot," Celty moaned.

"Forgot what?"

"I issued invitations to both Izaya and Shizuo to be groomsman!"

"Wait—you didn't forget Kadota, did you?" Shinra worries.

"Eh? No, no of course not. He's best man. Yeah, I know he's not as close to us as the others, but what else could I do? Between Izaya and Shizuo? But Shinra! They'll have to be on the same team, cooperating. Or at least looking good. What was I thinking?!"

Shinra pinched the bridge of his nose. "Oh. Ugh. You're right. This could turn ugly."

"Darou?" Celty groans.

"Celty, I'll go talk to them."

"Do you think they'll listen?"

Shinra sighed. "I don't know, but maybe this once I can pull out a special favor. They're both reasonable men. More or less. It's a good thing you thought of this before the thing happened. Look, I'll go out to talk to them now." He heads out to the hall.

"Right..." says Celty, subdued. "Come home in one piece, now..."

Shinra flashes her a brief, ironic smile and throws a trenchcoat over his shoulders. "Love you, ittekimasu."

"Bye. Itterashai."

[...]

"Tadaima..."

"What'd they say?" asks Celty, sucking her nails. "Okaeri," she adds, belatedly.

"Celty darling, it went fine."

"Okay." She eyed him.

"Really. I haven't got any bruises, even."

"What about broken bones?"

"Those either."

"Good."

"Sprain?" Celty thinks of it suddenly.

"For goodness' sake..."

"Well, you know, Shizuo is strong and he broke your arm once before."

"That's because I was immature and I was being an annoying brat. I've grown up some and so has he."

"Yes, but what did they say, Shinra?"

"It's obvious, isn't it? Duh. What I expected them to. Otherwise I'd still be there arguing, wouldn't I? They said they would behave themselves and not chase each other during events related to the wedding, including the ceremony itself, the parties, and the receptions. Because I was asking, and all, and a wedding is not the time to break social rules. They promised not to say a word to each other. And we'll seat them as far apart as we can."

"Oh good. Poor Kadota."

"Poor Kadota is right... I'd pair him with Togusa just to keep him company in his misery but I admit I don't know Togusa as well, and that would look strange. At least Shizuo and Izaya don't seem jealous of the best man role. More or less, but they'll still find some way to provoke each other. You just never know with them."

"But at least they'll make an attempt?"

"Yeah."

"That should be good enough. You know they seem to get along well enough at work now? At LME?"

"Izaya says he doesn't come into contact with Shizuo all that much there," says Shinra.

"Still."

"Still."

"I think it's helping," Celty says hopefully.

Shinra is more cynical. "I think we just want to be optimistic."

Celty sighs. "There is some of that, yes..."

[...]

"Celty, have you found a dressmaker for the wedding things yet?"

"You know, it's a funny story. I told Namie who told Izaya who consulted his coworkers who knew a makeup artist who is also apparently a costumes whiz. The costumes whiz said give her a call and the message worked its way back to me in the same order it went. You would think somebody would be able to skip a step and just call me back instead of going all the way back through the grapevine, wouldn't you? But anyway. At least I have the costumes whiz's phone number now."

"So you've made an appointment?"

"Yeah." Celty checked her watch. "As a matter of fact, I was going to tell you and forgot. It's at seven this evening."

"Geez, Celty, I'm going in to work at five to perform surgery! Alas alack! Couldn't you have told me this, like, a week ago!"

"I'm sorry, you know my memory's like a seive! Can you delay it?"

"What do you think? The procedure should go only an hour or so, but anything can go wrong and I won't be able to focus with this dangling overhead! And I can't let you go alone, I thought this was something we'd decide together!"

Celty's face turned shifty. "Call and say you have the most horriblest stinking flu you ever had in your life about six years ago, it might even be bird flu. In fact, the terribleness of this flu is that it has addled your senses so that it took you six hours to remember to call work and cancel the appointment. Say you don't want to endanger the life of your patient but if they really want you to come back to work, then..." She shrugged. "It's a personal emergency."

Shinra sagged. "You're a lifesaver. Wait, how did you know the surgery wasn't that urgent?"

"Shinra, every time you get called up in advance, it's not like anybody's gonna die if you're not there. You can put that on hold. It's the stuff that no one plans for that I'd worry about. And anyway, since I've never seen you do it before, this once it's probably okay to call in sick without reason. Okay?"

"Okay."

Shinra made the phone call. Celty made him run around and do chores with her in the meantime, and at six they headed for the appointment together. And the costumes whiz really was a great catch, a truly marvelous seamstress. She happily pulled out some of her handy designs, from which Celty picked a few. The costumes whiz took Celty's measurementes, tested fabrics, and calculated the costs.

It ended up being a much more reasonable than Celty expected, and she and Shinra were both very pleased.

I'm still young and single, and I've never witnessed the wedding-planning process up close, but these are the kinds of things that I imagine couples would talk about in the months leading up to the event. If you have any other ideas that could be appended to this section, or simply know things that people who have zip experience with the marriage business would never guess at, please, leave a note to that effect in this break or the next ones.

Actually I expected more people would leave a review in this one, since I started discussing religion in it. Did I ruffle feathers? Did I do well? Maybe somewhere in between. Regardless, I am especially curious about how you readers perceived my treatment of it. But no-one's said.