Rantaro wasn't quite sure what he was thinking about when he heard it. He was in his own world, thinking about one thing or another when a loud noise snapped him out of his thoughts. The noise, which sounded akin to something slamming into a wall, was soon followed by the sound of muffled laughter.
"Oh, my," The plain voice from beside him spoke up. "What was that?" Tsumugi asked.
"It sounded as if something hit the wall-" A voice more assertive than the previous one pitched in, confirming Rantaro's earlier thoughts. "And whatever happened is making Iruma-san laugh really hard."
Rantaro lazily raised a brow as his green eyes slinked to the left of him, where three of his classmates were sitting. "As expected of the ultimate pianist," He hummed, twirling his pen between his fingers. "Of course you'd be able to discern who exactly is laughing."
Shuichi, who was sitting next to Kaede, nodded his head in agreement. "Do you know what exactly happened, though?" He asked, inquisitive gambogeish eyes meeting kind lavender ones.
Kaede shook her head. "No..." She rubbed the back of her neck in a sheepish manner. With an embarrassed smile, her cheeks tinted pink. "Although my talent has helped me improve my hearing, I can't exactly hear everything." She answered. Suddenly, her eyebrows raised. Kaede turned her head towards the door, earning her a concerned inquiry from Tsumugi, to which she took a few seconds to properly respond to. "I hear Kiibo-kun, too." The corners of her lips twitched downwards. "It almost sounds as if," There was a pause, as if the blonde were contemplating her next few words. "He's distressed."
Seeing Kaede without a smile on her face, let alone the telltale signs of an actual frown as opposed to a neutral thin-lipped expression, was a rare sight to behold. Even more rare than that was their robotic friend expressing such a negative emotion. (And by no means whatsoever was it a robophobic comment- Kiibo was simply too cautious, too curious, too optimistic of a person, and the closest Rantaro had seen to Kiibo getting upset was whenever the latter would get offended by a remark he deemed robophobic.)
Shuichi, ever the investigator, had started to stand up from his desk. "I'll go check it out-"
"Don't," A hand adorned with silver rings of various shapes and sizes reached out in front of the capped boy, making him stop in his tracks. "This is Iruma-san we're talking about. I mean it when I say anything could be waiting for us beyond those doors."
Tsumugi raised a pale finger to her chin. "But if it were really that bad, wouldn't Kiibo-kun be having more of a reaction?" She asked.
"All Iruma-san is doing is laughing, so I agree with Shirogane-san." Kaede pitched in. "It doesn't seem all that bad. But, then again, I have to agree with Amami-kun as well." At the next thought that entered her mind, the blonde let out a shudder. "There's no telling what Iruma-san is up to this time." She looked a bit unnerved, yet another unusual sight to Rantaro's eyes.
Kaede was not alone, however, as the other two had similar looks cast upon their faces; Shuichi had a look of sheer embarrassment, with cheeks tinted pink accompanied by lanky fingers pulling his hat further down to hide his eyes and topped with a trembling frown. Tsumugi had adorned an all around uncomfortable look, as plain and simple as that, with furrowed brows and a slight grimace.
Rantaro rose up from his seat before the air in the room could become awkward, snapping his three friends out of their momentary trances. "I'll go. I think I've encountered enough stuff on my adventures to be able to handle whatever Iruma-san's up to." He wisely decided to omit the fact that he had yet to be permanently scarred by one of Miu's raunchy inventions.
"Be safe out there!" Tsumugi called out as she watched him walk towards the door.
"Good luck!" Kaede chimed in.
"Tell us how it goes!" Shuichi added.
Rantaro simply waved his hand, using the other to open the classroom door.
As soon as he stepped out, however, a loud flash had momentarily blinded him. Rantaro was quick to raise his arm up over his eyes, waiting a few seconds as he blinked rapidly before removing his arm and heading towards the end of the hall- the source of all the commotion. (Although, he wasn't certain if that was where the flash had come from.)
True to Kaede's word, Miu had indeed been the one laughing. Rantaro would've taken a moment to wonder why he couldn't recognize the shrill, snort-filled laughter if it weren't for the other two people on the hallway floor.
One of the people on the floor was Kiibo, kneeling down with hands jittering frantically as he poked and prodded at the other student, Kokichi, who was sitting in a near perfect 90° angle on the floor with his lips slightly ajar and a faraway look in his half-lidded purple eyes.
"What's going on here?" Rantaro asked, slipping his hands into his pockets as he approached the three.
Kiibo jolted, whipping his head around to look at Rantaro. "Amami-kun!" He really did sound distressed. "I-I'm not sure!" Hearing the robot speak with such urgency was so foreign to Rantaro, he couldn't help the slight twist he felt in his gut. "I heard a loud bam as I was turning the corner and I came across these two! I tried asking Ouma-kun if he was okay and he's not answering me!"
A low hum escaped Rantaro's lips. Kokichi was unresponsive? He had taken notice of how out of character the troublemaker looked, but he had assumed it was just an act.
A part of him still thought that it was all part of some elaborate scheme, but when dull purple eyes climbed up to meet green ones at an alarmingly slow rate, the thought vanished from Rantaro's eyes immediately. He knelt down next to Kiibo, about to ask him something else, only to be interrupted by a loud voice.
"Why are y'all so damn worried about that lyin' abortion?" Miu spat, having stopped her laughing. "He finally shut his mouth for once! If anything, I think this calls for a celebration!" She had a large grin on her face.
Rantaro rose up from his spot on the ground, lowering his head as his gaze darkened. "What did you do, Iruma-san?" He asked, a hint of a darker tone weaved into his words.
In an instant, Miu was hunched over, wobbling slightly as she held trembling hands up in an attempt to shield her face. "I-I didn't do shit!" She wailed, squeezing her blue eyes shut as she started to tear up. "Honest!"
"Then would you care to tell us what happened?" Rantaro crossed his arms as if he were a parent about to scold their child.
Miu let out a laugh, straightening her posture. "Pipsqueak over here was getting on my nerves, thinking he was all high and mighty and shit, when, get this," She snorted. "He fell! Those tiny feet slipped out from under him and he went flying backwards! Slammed his head into the wall and fell on his ass and everything!" She resumed her laughing, her hands on her hips in a victorious stance. "Dumbass finally got what he deserved!"
"So, let me get this straight," Rantaro's darker tone of voice had returned and grew more prominent with each word. "Ouma-kun is laying on the floor, unresponsive, and you've done nothing but laugh at him?"
"Um, if I may," Rantaro turned his head away from the now cowering Miu to look at Kiibo. "It appears my words from earlier may have been misunderstood. He is not unresponsive, he is merely choosing not to respond."
Rantaro raised an inquisitive brow. Although it was worded a bit strangely, he understood what Kiibo had meant. "How do you know he's actively making the choice not to respond?" He asked.
Kiibo posed similar to how Miu had earlier, his hands on his hips and a victorious look on his face. "I used my flash feature to record how his pupils reacted!" To further back up his statement, Kiibo's eyes glowed incredibly bright as he enabled his flash function. It was only for a second, but the damage had been done, and Rantaro was now shielding his eyes once again. At least now he knew where the previous flash came from.
Kiibo continued on with his findings, oblivious to the fact that he had momentarily blinded anyone close by. "I noticed one of his pupils was bigger than one of the others, but both pupils constricted accordingly!"
A low groan escaped from Rantaro's lips. He slowly lowered arm from his face. "How were you even able to see that?" He asked, blinking rapidly.
Kiibo was unable to answer, instead letting out a yelp as an arm rested around his shoulders from seemingly out of nowhere. "Damn, Kiibs!" Miu had that look on her face she usually had whenever she was about to make a bad joke. "Didn't know you were the type to flash a crowd!" She exclaimed.
Rantaro cringed.
"I-Iruma-san!" If he were able to, Kiibo probably would've been sweating. "What are you-?!"
Once again, the vulgar blonde had interrupted. "This gorgeous girl genius just had a brilliant idea! C'mon, Kiiboy, it's maintenance time!" With that, a snake-like robotic arm emerged from her backpack, grabbing onto her victim for the evening. Rantaro watched as Miu dragged off a protesting Kiibo to his impending doom, taking a moment to wonder exactly how she was able to pull that off. (Despite the robot's claims of a "lightweight design," he was still probably rather heavy.)
The moment was short-lived, however, as there were more pressing things to be thinking about. Once again, Rantaro was kneeling down next to Kokichi. Seeing his classmate so silent and motionless, he couldn't help but feel mildly disturbed. He exhaled slowly, pushing the feelings aside and offering Kokichi a gentle, reassuring smile. "Hey, Ouma-kun," Even though Rantaro had kept his voice quiet, he most definitely noticed that Kokichi still flinched slightly.
Rantaro's smile never faltered, however, as he reached both his arms out, situating one underneath Kokichi's knees and the other on his back. "Let's get you to the nurse's office, okay?" Kokichi gave a meek nod (Seeing his classmate act so resigned was most definitely the rarest sight Rantaro witnessed today, far more rare than Kaede frowning or Kiibo expressing distress.) to Rantaro, the latter of which slowly lifting the former up from the ground. Without another word, he made his way to the nurse's office, making sure to hold the smaller boy close to him.
~1.8k Words
Author's Note: Thank you so much for reading :) I really like this ship, even though it's a bit underrated compared to other ships with these two. Also, mini shout-out to my friend Matt for pitching the idea "Love Over Injury" for the title. I didn't use it, but it made me laugh so hard that it helped me actually decide on a title. I plan on having anywhere from 5-10 chapters for this story. I have the next chapter planned, but I'm not exactly sure how I want the story to end, so I guess I'll figure it out as I go. I have a few ideas, though!