[Third Person POV]
Four of the quintuplets were gathered inside the girls' bathroom, Ichika and Itsuki were on either side of Yotsuba, both holding paper towels, dabbing at her damp cheeks in an effort to calm her down. Yotsuba's chest rose and fell sharply, her breathing ragged as if she had just come from a battlefield rather than a simple confrontation.
"I swear… when I get my hands on him…" Yotsuba growled through clenched teeth, every syllable carrying her raw frustration. She practically ground her molars together like she wanted to crush them into powder.
"Yotsuba, maybe it's best if you leave it alone." Ichika sighed, tossing her balled-up paper towels into the nearby trash bin with a flick of her wrist. "You saw what he was willing to do when you approached him without reason. Who knows what else he's capable of if you keep provoking him."
"I'm with Ichika on this." Itsuki added, her reflection staring back at her in the mirror as she scrubbed her hands under the running faucet. "I've spoken with Clark before, and he's… well, he's a complete jerk. The best thing you can do is drop it before it turns into something worse."
"No! I can't just drop it!" Yotsuba snarled, her voice raw like a feral animal's. Her eyes gleamed with a dangerous fire, a thirst for vengeance that no amount of reasoning could douse.
Against the stall door leaned Nino, arms folded, her posture casual but her eyes sharp with curiosity. She tilted her head slightly, lips quirking in amusement. "I'm more interested in what exactly he said that got you so riled up. Just how bad could it have been? Did he curse at you or something?"
Yotsuba scoffed bitterly, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "If only! That would've been easier to swallow! I don't even know what's worse—the fact that he didn't curse me out, or that I kind of wish he did. I told him I was trying to make an ice breaker, and you know what he said? He told me I was fat enough to do it on my own!" Her words came out like an explosion, followed by an indignant huff.
"Pfft—HAHahahaha!!" Nino couldn't hold back, bursting into hysterics as she doubled over, one hand gripping her stomach, the other clutching the stall door for balance. It was far from the reply she expected and far too funny for her to contain herself.
Ichika and Itsuki exchanged painful glances, both trying and failing to suppress their own reactions. Ichika stared hard at the ceiling, biting her lip, while Itsuki gazed at the floor as though salvation lay in the grout lines of the tiles. Both let out shaky, stifled breaths as their lips curled inward.
"T-That… that wasn't very nice," Ichika finally managed, her hand pressed against her mouth as her shoulders quivered.
Yotsuba's expression hardened into ice. She slowly ran her tongue across her teeth before pinning Itsuki with a sharp glare. "I don't know why you're laughing. You eat the most out of everyone here."
"Wha—?! Why are you coming after me?!" Itsuki blurted out, scandalized. Her hands flew up defensively, water droplets flicking off her fingers. "Nino is the one laughing her lungs out!"
"Hahaha, sorry Yotsuba," Nino gasped between wheezes, though her grin was still as bright as ever. "But you have to admit, he got you good with that one."
"Why the hell are you smiling about this?!" Yotsuba barked, pointing an accusatory finger at her sister. "You're supposed to be on my side!"
Still smirking, Nino shook her head. "Because this just proves I was right. That's one hundred percent Clark—no doubt in my mind. Only he would look someone in the face and come up with something like that."
"Right… your childhood boyfriend you never got over." Ichika teased with a playful roll of her eyes.
"Oh, shut it! He wasn't my boyfriend." Nino groaned, though her grin never faltered.
"Uh-huh. Like he didn't basically cement your entire type when you were ten." Itsuki shot back with a scoff. "You've always had a thing for rough boys in glasses."
"Which is totally weird," Ichika added, leaning casually against the sink with her arms folded. "You only met him for, what, a single day? What was it about him that had you so hooked?"
Nino's cheeks flushed faintly as she stared at her hands, suddenly shy under the weight of their gazes. "I… I don't know how to explain it. He was rugged, sure—rough around the edges in how he talked, how he carried himself. But at the same time, there was this gentleness, like… like if he wasn't careful, he might break me just by existing near me."
Her sisters fell silent, staring at her with flat, unimpressed expressions. The silence stretched long enough for Nino to squirm, fidgeting in place as embarrassment colored her tone.
Clearing her throat, she quickly shifted gears. "Anyway! Where's Miku?"
"You don't think she stayed behind to talk to Clark, do you?" Itsuki asked, her voice tinged with worry.
"If he makes Miku cry, I'll gouge out his eyes." Yotsuba promised darkly, her glare sharp enough to cut glass.
"And what will you do after that—eat them?" Nino shot back with a wicked grin.
That broke the tension at once. Ichika, Itsuki, and even Nino herself burst into loud laughter, their giggles echoing across the bathroom tiles. Yotsuba, however, remained stock still, her expression murderous, her glare locked onto Nino like a wolf promising revenge.
…
Clark and Miku slipped out of the cafeteria together, both of them eager to escape the heavy weight of the stares that had started to gather. Clark snagged a few extra drinks from the vending machine before they ducked into a quieter part of the building. Their steps echoed faintly until they stopped at an empty staircase tucked away from the crowds.
Clark sat casually on the bottom step and cracked open his drink, offering another to Miku with an easy gesture. For a moment, she blinked in surprise, caught off guard by the simple kindness, before a faint smile tugged at her lips.
"Thank you," she said softly, taking it. The can hissed open in her hands, the sharp crack echoing against the walls before fading into silence.
"Hm…" Clark hummed, eyes lingering on her face longer than she expected. His expression was hard to read, something caught between amusement and resignation. After a long breath, he finally sighed. "I didn't really mean it…"
Miku tilted her head, sipping before lowering the can. "Hm?" she questioned, her voice colored with confusion.
"When I said it wasn't nice to see you again," Clark clarified, his tone more thoughtful now, "I didn't outright mean it." He glanced down at the fizzing rim of his drink before taking a swallow, as if it could wash the weight of his words away.
"Oh?" Miku asked, curiosity sparking in her eyes.
Instead of explaining further, Clark shifted gears, his voice dropping into something cryptic. "Quick question… Do you know?"
He didn't specify what. He didn't need to.
Miku's smile deepened as if she had been waiting for this moment. Reaching into her back pocket, she pulled out her phone and held it out proudly. The case was pure white, embossed with the unmistakable sigil of the House of El. Dangling from the top corner was a tiny Superman plushie that swayed gently when she extended it toward him.
"What do you think?" she asked with a grin that was equal parts shy and triumphant.
Clark blinked at the sight, then arched a brow. "That you're a total weirdo," he deadpanned. "Seriously, why do you even have that?" Still, he reached out his hand expectantly.
Miku pouted but surrendered the phone anyway, watching with a nervous flutter in her chest as he turned it over in his palm. His thumb brushed across the emblem, lingering briefly on the stitching of the tiny plush.
"Did you make this?" he asked, his voice quieter now.
"Kinda," Miku admitted, shrugging like it was no big deal, even though her cheeks flushed hot at the confession. She quickly hid behind another sip of her drink, the cool carbonation giving her an excuse not to meet his gaze.
Clark smirked knowingly. "You could make some good money with this. People eat this kind of stuff up." He handed the phone back with a teasing glint in his eyes.
Her nervous smile broke into a small laugh. "Maybe… but that's not really why I made it." She tucked the phone back into her pocket and looked at him more softly now, her voice carrying a gentleness that filled the empty stairwell. "I'm just glad you know. That you became a proper hero, I mean. Though…" her lips curved with the faintest playfulness, "I wouldn't have minded if you stayed as just my hero. But I'm not selfish enough to keep you from the world."
Clark snorted, shaking his head at her choice of words. "You were a big reason, you know. As to why I did it. Even when I was against it… even when I'm still against it." His eyes lifted to hers, steady and unflinching. "You made me believe, at least for a moment, that maybe I could actually do it if I tried. And I'm not going to lie—" he gave a humorless chuckle, "—I hated you for it. I hated you for putting such a stupid idea in my head."
Miku had just taken another sip, and his blunt honesty hit her like a sucker punch. She choked mid-swallow, coughing violently as the drink burned its way down her throat. She thumped her chest with her fist, cheeks red.
Clark's laugh rang out, warm and unrestrained, exactly the reaction he'd been aiming for.
Still recovering, Miku shot him a strained glare through watery eyes. "What about now?" she rasped, her tone cautious, almost afraid of what he might say. "Do you… still hate me for it?"
Clark leaned back against the cold steps, staring at the ceiling for a long moment before exhaling. "Nah," he muttered at last, voice low, "I hate someone else even more than I could ever possibly hate you."
Miku's brows knit, her curiosity pushing through her lingering coughs. "Who…?"
He turned his head toward her, his smirk fading into something softer, more vulnerable than she had ever seen from him. "Myself."
Miku's eyes widened. She hadn't been expecting that. Not from him.
Clark's gaze drifted, almost distant, though his voice carried a sharp honesty. "I hate myself for letting your words get to me. I hate myself for believing, even for a second, that I could make a difference. And want to know what I hate most about myself…" He gave a broken chuckle, running a hand over his face. "I hate that I'm actually starting to love doing what I do. It's so damn stupid, but the truth is…" His shoulders slumped, as if the weight of the admission dragged them down. "I think I've hated myself since I was a kid. Maybe even before I knew what hate really was. I think it's part of why I am the way that I am with other people. Somewhere along the line, I decided the best way to live with that was to make sure the people around me had just as many reasons to hate me as I had to hate myself." Clark said, closing his eyes and smiling at finally being able to admit it to someone.
********************************************
Read More advance Chapters on: patreon.com/Shadow_D_Monarch3