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Rikka opened her eyes, squinting against the rays of sun. How odd… Normally the sun was just rising when Rikka gets up.
Rikka pushed herself up, letting the covers slide off her. There was no human sized leech begging her for another five minutes before she headed off to work. Also odd…
Turning towards the clock, Rikka read 9:30 AM. Immediately, she shot up and ran down the stairs. She was going to be late!
”Ira!” she called for her husband. She turned the corner and found him in the kitchen, apron wrapped around his waist and cooking something over the oven.
”Ah, good morning angel-“ Rikka rushed past him and began looking for her coat in the dryer.
”Why didn’t you wake me?! I should be at the hospital by now!” Ira tilted his head in confusion.
”You…didn’t call out? That’s new… You do know what day it is…right?” Rikka paused and looked at the calendar. September 17…
”Ah…” Ira held up a plate of pancakes.
”Happy birthday.” Rikka sighed. She’d been so busy she completely forgot…
”Well…I didn’t call out, so that means I need to go in.”
”You can still call out. You hardly ever call out and you’re their best; I’m sure they’ll make an exception.” Rikka shook her head and grabbed her coat.
“Maybe… I’ll just see how it is at the hospital… Just…check on things and then we’ll head out.” Rikka offered a smile and Ira gave her a deadpan look.
”Fine, I’ll teleport you… Just gimme a minute to get dressed. And this better not be a thing where you get wrapped up in something.” Ira’s voice softened as he exited the room. Rikka quickly got dressed and picked up one of the pancakes. Ira was a great cook; and he loved cooking for the people he loved.
Ira came down and teleported them to the office. Rikka immediately took off, checking her appointments (somehow she had none… Strange) and checking in with her co workers all while Ira hung by the door.
Rikka caught people casting anxious glances towards him every time she passed. She couldn’t exactly blame them; a strange looking man with tattoos and scarred hands leaning against the wall with a resting bitch face certainly didn’t seem the most approachable (you’d never guess he was a child therapist).
“Uhm…Doctor Hishikawa…” a nurse pulled Rikka to the side. “What is your husband doing here? Is he ill? He’s scaring some people…”
”No. he’s just waiting for me so we can do something for my birthday,” Rikka assured her.
”It’s your birthday?!” Dr. Kaido peeked his head out. “What’re you doing here then? Normally you call out!” Rikka scratched the back of her head.
”I forgot… I’m just doing some small things, just to make sure I’m not needed.”
”…” The nurse and doctor casted a glance at each other.
”Small things… Doctor…you’ve been here for four hours.” Ah…has she? No wonder she felt so drained.
”Oh…”
”You don’t have any appointments today… That’s odd, normally you have a lot…” So he thought it was strange too! “Well, you may as well take a day off.” Rikka’s eyes widened.
”You’re serious? No I can’t!“ Rikka waved her hands. “I didn’t call out so I need to come in!” Dr. Kaidou sighed and scratched his head.
“Oh wait, I know! The urgent care could use some assistance.” The urgent care branch was a close associate with their hospital, so it wasn’t uncommon for doctors to be sent there when needed. But it was strange to send someone so suddenly.
“You’re…certain…?” Rikka raised an eyebrow.
”Just get out of here.” Dr. Kaidou said. “And take Mr. Hishikawa with you. He’s less scary when he’s in child therapy mode.”
So…Rikka and Ira were practically kicked out. Well…they may as well. “Can you teleport us?” Ira pulled out his phone and typed something before putting it away.
”Why don’t we go for a walk? It’s nice out and it isn’t too far.” Rikka sent him a suspicious glance.
”Are you to trying to convince me to take the day off?”
”We can celebrate your birthday by taking a walk and maybe hitting a few stores on the way. The doctor said it wasn’t urgent.” Rikka sighed.
”Fine…” As the two walked through the streets, Rikka couldn’t help but notice someone following them. She glanced at Ira. Had he not noticed? Him out of everyone should be able to…
“Let’s go to the bookstore. You did say you wanted to go a few days ago,” Ira offered, pointing at the bookstore across the street.
Right… Rikka normally went to bed with a book. But she didn’t have one right now, so she replaced it by doing work for as long as possible. (AKA: doing work until 12:00 AM until Ira would come in to pick her up and drag her to bed because she had a 6:00 AM shift.)
Rikka followed after Ira and the two looked around for a little while when Rikka found the next book in a series she was reading. And it was hardcover too!
She picked it up but immediately winced at the price. Before she could put it down, Ira came over.
”Rikka, would you check this out!” He lifted the same copy of the book she had in her hands. “It was a buy one get one free with this!” He lifted up a manga. Rikka raised an eyebrow. How strange; they weren’t even in the same genre- “and it’s signed too!”
”IT’S SIGNED?!” Rikka took the book from his hands and looked at the cover. Sure enough; it was the authors signature. Whoa! What a steal! It had everything! The art on the inside covers! The bookmark! Everything!
Too distracted with the priceless gem they found, Rikka asked no further questions. They walked down the street, one hand holding onto Ira and the other holding the book which her head as was buried in.
Because of the book in her face, Rikka hadn’t noticed the person in front of her until they bumped into each other.
The person was holding a coffee that spilled on Rikka’s light blue shirt. Luckily it wasn’t hot.
”Yikes; you okay?” Ira asked.
The woman gasped. “Oh my goodness! I’m so sorry!” Rikka waved her hand in assurance.
”It’s alright, I wasn’t looking where I was going. I’ll just cover it-“
”Absolutely not!” The woman held up a hand. “It was my mistake! Here, come in.” She walked inside a boutique and Rikka paused.
”I’m sorry…?”
“This looks expensive…” Ira muttered, eyebrows creasing.
”Oh! Not to worry, I’m the owner!” the women assured her. “Allow me to make up for it.” Ira shrugged and walked inside. Rikka glanced at them and followed.
Woah…the place was nice. Rikka didn’t even want to look at the price tags. The woman looked Rikka up and down and nodded her head. “Give me one moment.” She went into the back and pulled out a nice blue dress, black tights and a sweater.
“All this for a spilled drink…” Rikka muttered to herself. She didn’t have the ability to refuse as the woman was practically shoving her into the dressing room.
Rikka was in shock and stared at the mirror blankly for a few moments.
Something…weird was going on.
Rikka casted a glance at the curtain where she could see the woman and Ira’s feet. The woman stepped closer to Ira and Rikka could hear whispering.
Quickly, Rikka got dressed and stepped out. The woman stepped away and Ira averted his eyes.
“You look wonderful,” Ira complimented.
”You say that when I’m in sweats,” Rikka said. “But really, what a coincidence this is. Getting my favorite book signed by the author and getting a free outfit. What a lucky day, huh?” Rikka tilted her head and Ira continued to avoid eye contact.
”What a lucky day indeed. I suppose your birthday is just the day where miracles happen…”
The woman wished them well and off they went. Rikka kept looking at Ira, who continued to avoid her gaze.
Once Rikka finally dragged her attention towards the street, she saw an old man struggling to carry some groceries to his car. Rikka pulled away from Ira.
”Sir? Do you need some help?” The old man turned to look at her and smiled.
”Aw, it’s sweet to see youngins helping out. I’d appreciate it.”
”I’ll help as well.” Ira walked over. Together, hun and Rikka helped the man get the groceries inside the bakery. Once it was all said and done, they were about to leave when he stopped her.
”Thanks for your help. Here, a little treat as a thank you.” He handed them a box and Rikka opened it. A chocolate iced cake. Her favorite…
Rikka looked towards Ira, who bowed and thanked the man. He looked at the box and smiled. “Another stroke of luck.” Rikka returned his smile.
Think you’re slick…
Rikka let herself be led to whatever “stroke of luck” was next. Ira checked his watch just as they neared the urgent care and stopped.
”Actually, I think there was something I needed to pick up for your birthday. Mana’s home is near here, isn’t it?”
”It is,” Rikka agreed. She stopped fighting and allowed Ira to just drag her along. The moment Rikka opened the door, everyone popped out in her face.
”Surprise!” Rikka sighed to herself in amusement. These guys would really go above and beyond.
”How the heck did you plan this all out?” was the first thing Rikka asked once she sat down.
Mana beamed. “Well it was simple. Ira said you probably wouldn’t call out so he had to make some arrangements. First off…your appointments.”
”Alice helped with that,” Aguri said. Rikka put her face in her palms.
”I hope you didn’t turn away sick people…”
”She didn’t. She just upgraded them; paid for their services and everything.” Rikka sighed in relief. At least they were taken care of.
“And the book…”
”The author was doing a book signing in another country. So Regina teleported over and got it!” Mana continued.
“And the clothes.”
”Makoto bought them ahead of time,” Alice spoke up. “That woman actually also works with Makoto for her costumes. We all spent hours trying to find something for your tastes.”
”And the cake.”
”He’s a friend of my grandmothers.” Aguri leaned her head against her hand. “He was happy to help out.”
”We even got Dr. Kaidou in on it to send you to the urgent care.” Ira leaned back. “Do you see the hoops we have to jump through to get you to take a day off?”
Rikka sighed and placed the box down. “Well…after all that walking I am quite hungry. Thank you all.” Rikka picked up a strawberry. “And Ira.”
”Yes angel?”
”You're an awful actor. What happened to Cure Jack? You were much better then.” An arrow seemed to hit Ira’s chest. Rikka chuckled to herself and kissed his cheek. “But thank you. I suppose I needed this.”
Ira quickly recovered, as though the kiss healed his wounded heart. “Anything for you.”