In Gentle Tones of Warmest White | Oumami

Chapter 1

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.