In Gentle Tones of Warmest White | Oumami

Chapter 2

The walk to the nurse's office wasn't all that long, considering how big the school was. Although the two had said nothing to each other, it was by no means an uncomfortable silence.

Standing in front of the door, Rantaro looked down at Kokichi, letting out a casual laugh. "My hands are a bit full at the moment," He gestured his head towards the door. "Can you get that for me?"

Kokichi wordlessly complied, opening the door for the two in a manner that used the minimum amount of energy required.

Rantaro caught the bottom of the door with his foot, kicking it open further. He murmured a quick thanks, just barely loud enough for Kokichi to hear, as he stepped into the room.

As expected, the nurse's office looked like an image taken straight off of the web. With a few beds and folding screens, an old fashioned water dispenser with a few paper cups, some cliché posters adorning the walls, a decently sized cabinet containing various medicines, and a counter with a sink and built in mini fridge, the only thing out of the ordinary was a girl with long, purple hair (but not the same purple as Kokichi's hair) bandaging up her arm near two doors at the back of the room. (One was most likely a bathroom, and the other was probably a storage closet). She looked up from her work, shaking slightly as she made eye contact with Rantaro. "H-hello," Despite not looking at what she was doing, she was still expertly wrapping up her arm.

"Do you know where the nurse is?" Rantaro asked, walking to the nearest bed and gingerly setting Kokichi down. "My friend hit his head." He helped Kokichi sit up properly.

The girl let out a gasp, raising her bandaged hand up to cover her mouth as the other finished wrapping up the bandages in a swift manner. "He hit his head?" She walked over to the two, leaning forward slightly to get a better look. A loud clearing of the throat redirected her attention from Kokichi to Rantaro, the latter of which was giving the girl a confused look.

It took her a second to realize the silent question he was asking, but when she did, she instantly backed away. Hands raised up in front of her face in defense as she wobbled ever so slightly. "I-I'm sorry!" She bowed hastily. "I didn't i-introduce myself! I-I'm Tsumiki Mikan, a third year here." Her words came out fast and sloppily as she stuttered like there was no tomorrow. In a way, her submissive disposition reminded Rantaro a little bit of Miu. "M-my talent is the Ultimate N-n-nurse, so p-please allow me to help, and please f-forgive me!" She bowed once again. What started out as a slight wobble turned into full on body tremors.

"Ah," Rantaro nodded his head, stepping back. "I didn't know you were the Ultimate Nurse. I'm Amami Rantaro and this is Ouma Kokichi- we're both first years." He offered her the same reassuring smile he had given Kokichi earlier. "I'd greatly appreciate it if you could help us out, Tsumiki-senpai."

Mikan nodded her head, a hesitant smile on her face. "O-of course!" She wasted no time in getting to work, not saying another word.

The silence was a bit tense (at least, to Rantaro it was) as he watched Mikan examine Kokichi in a thorough manner. (She even shined a light in his eyes like Kiibo had, albeit hers was much less bright). The stuff she did was far from interesting, yet Rantaro couldn't bring himself to look away. He stared intently at Kokichi, the uncharacteristic stillness and willingness to comply with the Ultimate Nurse's requests leaving a bad taste in his mouth.

A few minutes after she started, she was now rolling up one of Kokichi's sleeves when she finally spoke up. "O-Ouma-kun most definitely has a moderate concussion. H-he's very dazed right now due to the impact of the blow." She quickly looked for something, only to roll his sleeve back down "He most likely h-hit other parts of his body during the fall, too." She rolled up his other sleeve, revealing to the two of them a rather sizable bruise on his elbow. "The best c-course of action for b-both the concussion and any bruises is to rest, a-and allow time to heal his wounds. O-of course, if the bruising starts to hurt more than it should, y-you can always apply ice to the bruise f-for around ten to twenty minutes." As Mikan rolled his sleeve back up, she asked another question. "U-um... D-does he have s-someone to take him home?" She asked.

Rantaro nodded. "Yeah, I've got him." He hadn't really planned on spending his afternoon helping out Kokichi, but it's not like he'd just leave his friend to his own devices. Good thing he didn't have anything planned, he'd feel bad for a sudden cancellation.

Mikan smiled, gently setting her hand on Kokichi's hair and looking at him. "I-I bet you're tired right now, Ouma-kun. Now that y-you've been diagnosed, y-you can rest as m-much as you need, okay?" A dull nod from the boy wiped the smile off of her face and replaced it with a more sorrowful look.

She walked over to the water dispenser, filling up one of the little plastic cups of water and setting it down on the counter. "W-what I'm about to give him is a dosage of acetaminophen." Rantaro had recognized the name- it was just a regular painkiller. Yet, when Mikan had opened the cabinet and grabbed a bottle, it didn't look like a regular bottle.

"Isn't that just a regular painkiller?" Rantaro asked the question on his mind. Sometime during his visit, he had moved closer to Kokichi. He only realized it just now, however, as his thumb gingerly brushed over his pale knuckles. (Kokichi's hand was so small compared to his, he almost couldn't believe it).

"W-well, yes, but not quite." Mikan opened the bottle and took a pill out. "Essentially, t-the former Ultimate Pharmacist created an enhanced version of the regular over the counter medicine. One of the r-reasons I'm giving this to Ouma-kun is because the a-antihistamines are stronger and more fast-acting." After putting the bottle back, she walked over to Kokichi, handing him the small red pill she was holding. "Alongside the e-enhanced pain reliever, the antihistamines will h-help Ouma-kun fall asleep super fast, jumpstarting the r-recovery process a little bit."

At the mention of pain relief and falling asleep fast, Kokichi was quick to take the pill from Mikan, popping it in his mouth. He held out his hand, fingers squirming in a grabbing motion as a silent plea for the water. (It was childish, in a way, yet Rantaro found it incredibly adorable). Mikan handed him the cup, and he wasted no time in drinking all the water from the small cup.

Mikan took the cup from Kokichi, walking back over to the counter and discarding it in the trash can. She opened a drawer near the center of the counter, taking out a piece of paper and a pen. "Y-you're a v-very good friend, Amami-kun." Her hands trembled as she wrote something down. "Ouma-kun is v-very lucky to have you around!"

Rantaro rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Thank you," If having a sense of basic decency was enough to warrant him a verbal compliment, he had to admit that he was concerned as to what kind of friends Mikan had.

Mikan slipped the paper she was writing on into his hands. Rantaro's green eyes skimmed over the text. (Even though her hands were shaking as she wrote, her handwriting was still surprisingly good.) "Give this to Ouma-kun when he wakes up. H-he's not allowed back until the Monday after the next. That gives him t-ten days to rest up. I also a-added some information about concussions o-on the back."

Rantaro flipped the paper around, and surely enough, there was more writing on the back. He didn't read it right at that moment, though, instead folding up the paper and slipping it into his pocket. "Thank you so much for your help, Tsumiki-senpai." He bowed his head.

Mikan stuttered out something incomprehensible as Rantaro picked up Kokichi bridal style, exactly as he had brought him in. "Let's take you home, okay?"

Rantaro was about to leave the nurse's office, only to suddenly stop in his tracks. Mikan took notice of this. "U-um, is there a-anything else y-you need?" She asked.

Rantaro was looking down at Kokichi, who was already struggling to keep his eyes open. (Mikan wasn't kidding when she said he'd fall asleep faster.) "Yeah, uh, I can't really open the door since my hands are a bit..." He smiled. "Full."

"F-F-Forgive me!!!" Mikan wailed, rushing over to the door to help.

~1.5k Words

Author's Note: Woohoo! Chapter 2 is done! This was originally going to be half of chapter 2, but it got so big that I decided to split it up! Because of that, though, I figured this chapter might come off as a bit boring to those who were looking for more Oumami fluff, so I cut some lengthy parts out. It's still too big to go with what I originally planned, but I think it's a nice little informative chapter before I dive into the fluff! Although I haven't started writing it yet, I feel confident enough to say that next chapter will come out sometime around 3/20, as I kind of like the pace of posting every 3 days! It might come out sooner, since I'm on break too. But then again, I planned on posting this 5 hours ago but then I got distracted, so maybe not;;