Chapter 3: Like Lightning

It was almost sunset when Rikka was walking down the street, away from the Pig's Tail Restaurant. She had just parted with Mana after Sebastian had dropped them off before taking Alice home. Their picnic in the park that day had had one small hiccup. Having seen their enemies for that brief moment, the atmosphere had become a bit strained as they had wondered what it had meant. It seemed that the Selfish Deputies had taken over the Selfish Trio's duties, so what were they doing? Moreover, Rikka hadn't expected to see her former patient again so soon. The moment their eyes had met, she had felt a sting in her heart, and that made her worried.

Raquel stayed quiet inside the girl's pocket along the way. Rikka anticipated that her father would be home since he had replied to her message on the phone earlier. For once, someone would be waiting for her.

'I'm home!' Rikka announced her arrival; something she didn't normally do when entering the house. She took off her shoes in the dim front hall and walked into the main hall where windows let the sunset's glow in.

'Ah, welcome back!' She was greeted by her father coming out of the kitchen. His purple hair was tied in a low ponytail, and he wore a white apron around his wrist.

'I was just making dinner. You can go sit at the table,' he encouraged her warmly.

'Okay!' Rikka replied and turned her step towards the table while the man went into the kitchen where light was coming from. She wasn't used to having dinner cooked for her so she appreciated it.

Soon, her father appeared with two plates of something yellow. He sat opposite his daughter and placed the dish in front of her. It was omurice, served with ketchup and parsley. Rikka gazed at the dish as a scene from the past replayed in her head. She was about to serve the meals when she tripped on the treshold and fell on Ira, who somehow cought the plates. Then he said she was like an angel-

'What's wrong?' her father frowned, 'I thought you liked omurice.'

Rikka blinked and lifted her head up. 'Ah sorry, I do. I just remembered something,' she gave a kind smile. 'Thanks for the food, papa.'

They both put their hands together in prayer and then cut the omelette with a knife. Raquel left Rikka's pocket and hid under the table so he wouldn't be crammed in there. A moment of silence passed as Rikka tried to suppress the memory. Her father questioned her odd behavior. Was she upset because of him? He just wanted to talk to her.

'You're growing up so fast,' he said, clearly hiding the sadness in his voice. The girl lifted her gaze from the food with a surprised look. 'And you're much more mature than I was at your age.'

Rikka swallowed a bite and tilted her head. 'How so?'

The man opposite her let out a chuckle. 'Well, I certainly wasn't as studious when I hit puberty. I mostly tried to look cool in front of the boys or impress my crush.'

'Oh,' Rikka said with a sheepish smile. She didn't have such concerns. What's it like having a crush? she wondered but refrained from asking.

Her father seemed amused by the nostalgia reflected in his eyes. Then he sighed and said in a slightly solemn tone: 'I also wasn't as independent or responsible.'

If only you knew. Rikka thought. Cure Diamond was a big part of her life that neither of her parents knew about. She balanced being a star student and a magical girl quite well. But now that public safety depended on her, excelling at school didn't seem as important anymore.

'I study hard but I make time for my friends too, you know,' Rikka clarified.

Hearing that, her father gave her a supportive smile. 'That's good.' He scratched his neck and chuckled again. 'And more sensible than rushing into a relationship like me.'

Rikka gave a polite smile, but something felt off. She had never been interested in anyone before. But the way she had gotten close to Ira made her feel something new and strange. She knew she shouldn't think about it too hard, it was better to deny it. Ira was and always had been her enemy, and she had to be ready to fight him again.

...

'Today, we will continue with the topic of electricity,' Mr Kido began the science lesson in a calm voice, standing in front of the green board. Rikka was sitting at her desk, almost at the back of the classroom, close to Makoto and Mana.

At school, she made sure to concentrate on the lectures and never got lost in thought. Plus, science was one of her favorite subjects, although her view on physics had changed after learning that magic was real. Of course, it had come to Earth from another world, that's why it didn't follow this world's laws. Rikka wanted to understand it, but she thought magic should probably stay a secret from scientists. Alice even made sure that news about the Pretty Cure weren't broadcast outside of Oogai Town.

During his lecture, Mr Kido wrote terms and formulas on the board with a chalk. 'Electricity can also be used to create art. Let me show you.' He walked over to his desk and lifted up a small timber he had brought to class. It looked like there were burn marks on its surface, but upon a closer look, it was a branching pattern.

'This is called a Lichtenberg figure.' Mr Kido said, pointing at the pattern, then handed the piece of wood to one of the students. 'Pass it around.'

While the sample traveled around the class, the teacher wrote the term on the board in katakana. 'This phenomenon was discovered by a German physicist, Georg Christoph Lichtenberg. It occurs when high voltage electrical discharges encounter insulating materials.'

Rikka waited with curiosity for the piece of wood to get to her. But when it was handed to her, her eyes went wide.

This pattern-! It looked awfully similar to the scars Ira had had on his forearms! Only his weren't black.

While the boy behind Rikka wondered why she was taking so long, Mr Kido added: 'Lichtenberg figures can even appear on human skin, such as in the case of lightning survivors.'

Rikka's hands jerked and the timber dropped down on her desk, the thud resounding in the classroom.

'I'm sorry!' she quickly apologized and put the sample on the desk behind her as a few chuckles were heard. Rikka didn't pay attention to her surroundings, though. She thought back to how she found Ira on the shore, unconscious, with burns on his body and clothes. Maybe it wasn't magic after all. Maybe Ira was a lightning survivor! Could that cause a person to lose their memory? She had to look it up after class.

Rikka blinked, realizing she wasn't paying attention to the lecture. But how could she stay focused after that discovery? That under different circumstances, Ira could have died? ...Why was the thought of that so horrible?

...

During lunch break, Mana, Rikka and Makoto went out to the school yard to get some fresh air. They sat down on a wooden bench at the east side of the building and put their bags on the ground. Other students were moving about the area, but the three had some privacy to talk. Each of the girls took a bento box out of her bag and put it on her lap. Rikka's mind wasn't on food, though. It turned out her theory had been correct. According to the sources she had checked, a lightning strike could in rare cases cause amnesia.

'Hey, did you make that yourself?' Mana asked, looking into Makoto's lunch box curiously. There were two rather oddly shaped onigiri surrounded with spinach leaves and cherry tomatoes.

'I-I had some help from Dabi,' the girl in the middle said a bit shyly. Onigiri weren't as easy to make as she had thought.

'But you did it~dabi,' said the cat fairy in the side pocket of Makoto's school bag.

Mana's eyes sparkled with tears of pride. 'I'm so glad you learned something new.' She said sentimentally, as omurice was really the only dish Makoto had known how to make.

Her praise just made the girl's cheeks turn pink with embarrassment. 'Manaa,' she pouted, covering the box with her hands. She turned to Rikka instead in hopes of changing the subject. 'Anyway, how was your picnic yesterday?'

Rikka twitched and lifted her eyes from the box to look at Makoto.

'Ah, it was nice, at first,' she said rather awkwardly and put a chunk of rice into her mouth with chopsticks.

'Actually,' Mana came to her rescue, 'something funny happened.'

The short-haired girl waited for an explanation. 'Funny as in...'

Mana bent down to give a piece of broccoli to Sharuru and then described the event: 'We were just going about our picnic when suddenly, we saw Marmo and Ira!'

'They fell from a tree~sharu!' Sharuru chimed in.

Makoto's eyebrows raised before Raquel added: 'But when we spotted them, they disappeared~quel.'

To Makoto, that sounded rather suspicious. 'What? Were they spying on you?' she asked, looking at Mana with a serious expression.

'Oh dear.'

Hearing a new voice, the girls and fairies set their sights ahead to find a short brunette in red standing in front of a group of trees.

'Aguri!' Mana exclaimed, voicing the group's surprise.

'Where did you come from?' Rikka blurted out. That girl always appeared out of nowhere; If she weren't on their side, she would just be freaky.

'I just overheard your conversion,' Aguri said in her child-like voice as she approached them, then furrowed her brow, folding her hands together. 'We may have a problem.'

The girls gave each other confused glances while the fairies stayed quiet. Makoto's face showed concern as she looked at Aguri who seemed to understand everything 'You think...'

The petite girl stood firmly and spoke with the prudence of an adult. 'It can't be a coincidence that you saw Ira there when Rikka rescued him just yesterday.'

'What do you mean?' Mana asked, puzzled about the tension.

Aguri looked solemn as she crossed her arms and replied, shifting her eyes from Mana to Rikka. 'Well, if he was spying on you, who's to say he didn't fake his amnesia too.'

Hearing that, Rikka felt something snap within her. She swiftly got up from the bench, putting the bento box behind her and faced the girl.

'He wasn't faking!' she objected, looking aggrieved, then turned to the others with urgency. 'He got struck by lightning!'

Mana and Makoto's jaws dropped at Rikka's claim and seeing her reaction.

'Lightning~quel?' the dog fairy called out from her school bag.

'I thought you didn't know what had happened to him~dabi' Dabi added, thinking back to the event.

'Well, I do now,' Rikka said in a serious tone and stated her proof. 'The burns on his limbs and the amnesia were already evidence. But he also had Lightenberg figures on his hands!'

Aguri tilted her head with blank eyes. 'He had what?'

Mana gasped as she recalled the term from earlier. 'You mean those patterns on wood that Mr Kido showed us?' she asked with shock and her eyes grew big.

'Yes!' Rikka nodded.

Aguri was still trying to make sense of what they were talking about, perhaps sad that she didn't know. Makoto, however, understood the situation. Her brow knitted in thought, then she turned to the brunette with an earnest look and said: 'Aguri, Rikka wants to be a doctor. I'm sure she would know.'

Rikka looked at her friend with awe as they all went silent for a few moments. Aguri put a hand to her chin and lowered her gaze, looking pensive. Maybe she shouldn't have doubted Rikka, but her response worried her. If she had just been trying to justify her judgement, why was she so emotional about it?

'Fair enough,' she said, folding her hands together again, although her face remained serious. 'But you should still be cautious.' She then bent closer to the dark-haired girl, adding in a lower, concerned voice: 'Especially you, Rikka.'

Suddenly, they heard a small stomach growl as Aguri's cheeks flushed. She straightened her back and cleared her throat before giving the trio an innocent smile.

'I'll leave you to your lunch.'

With that, the girl turned around and started walking off. Mana quickly reached out her hand and called after her: 'Wait! We should hang out sometime!' By now, they all hoped Aguri would tell them more about herself, but she was just as enigmatic as Jonathan used to be.

Surprisingly, the girl in red stopped and turned her head back. 'Maybe we should,' she said with a smile and left as discretely as she had appeared. Meanwhile, Rikka sat down next to Makoto, putting her bento box back on her lap.

'So much for lunch break~sharu,' the bunny fairy sighed in resignation.

She was right; they all had kind of lost appetite after that conversation. They didn't like the idea of Rikka possibly being in danger, Raquel particularly was feeling very protective.

'Don't worry, Rikka,' he assured her resolutely, 'I'll be super cautious~quel!'

His partner looked down at him with a sheepish smile. 'Thanks, Raquel, but I'm not worried about me.'

She had saved Ira's life, after all, and when she had seen him yesterday, he hadn't looked like he had wanted to hurt her... She was more worried about him. From what she had read on the internet, lightning strike survivors could suffer both short- and long-term affects, like brain damage, seizures, trauma-

Ugh, why did she worry about him in the first place?