[Third Person Pov]
Lala managed to place a party hat over Clark's head. He was so thoroughly embarrassed that he would not have been surprised if the solar energy within his cells rebelled against him and caused him to combust on the spot. The attention, the decorations, the sheer absurdity of the situation all pressed in on him at once.
One by one, they each wished Clark a happy birthday. Despite the heat creeping up his neck, he gradually managed to rein in his embarrassment and respond with sincere appreciation. He truly had not expected any of them to be present, and that unexpected gesture softened him more than he wanted to admit.
"Who are you?" Clark asked curiously when he looked down at Lucy.
"She's my little sister," Lois answered with a stiff smile. "She wanted to come. Sorry about that."
Lucy snapped a playful salute, her smile bright and charming. "Lucy Lane, at your service!" Her eyes gleamed as she took in Clark's appearance. "I have to say, the photo Lois showed me doesn't do you justice. You're much better looking in person."
Clark turned toward Lois with a smirk. "I like her already."
"Which is bullcrap, by the way. It took me weeks to get you to even tolerate me," Lois scoffed, rolling her eyes. "And she compliments you once and you already like her."
"That's probably because she isn't shoving a sheet of paper down my throat like a paper shredder every day," Clark retorted, a faint playful smirk curling along his lips.
Lucy watched the back and forth between them, her eyes shining with mischievous energy. The chemistry between Clark and Lois was obvious in their banter, and she found herself completely enthralled by it. 'Interesting,' she thought, storing the observation away for later.
Clark moved on to the other guests and noticed Komi looking at him hesitantly. "What's wrong?"
Komi fidgeted for a moment before slowly stretching her arms out, squeezing her eyes shut as her hands trembled. She clearly wanted to give Clark a hug for his birthday but was struggling to express it properly.
Everyone watching felt as if an arrow had pierced straight through their hearts. 'Too cute,' they all thought at once.
Clark chuckled inwardly. 'How can someone be so adorable? I'm almost reluctant to accept, just so I can keep seeing her like this,' he thought, slightly amused by himself.
Before that strange thought could fully take root in his mind, he stepped forward and hugged Komi, leaning down to whisper his thanks softly into her ear.
Komi immediately became flustered. Her face turned bright red as her hands pressed against Clark's broad back. Her palms felt small against the width of him, and his arms around her were both strong and gentle at the same time, a strange but comforting contrast that only deepened the flush spreading across her cheeks.
Clark felt her go limp in his arms. When he pulled back, Komi's eyes had turned into swirls, and a thin stream of steam seemed to billow from the top of her head.
'Looks like a hug was too much for her,' Clark thought, resisting the urge to laugh as his lips twitched in amusement.
Momo and Lala quickly relieved him of Komi and guided her to a nearby seat, fanning her with paper plates in a frantic attempt to cool her down. As Komi slowly recuperated, only a single word echoed in her mind in giant, bold letters.
Big.
Clark found himself surrounded by three of the five quintuplets, each of them offering their own congratulations.
"So neither Itsuki nor Yotsuba wanted to come…" he said, not the least bit surprised. His lips curled awkwardly as he couldn't help thinking about what had happened between him and Itsuki in the locker.
Nino's smile also turned slightly awkward as she relayed a message. "Yotsuba told us to tell you she'd rather celebrate your funeral than the day you were born."
"Pft, haha." Clark let out a light laugh. "I suppose I can't say I'm surprised. Just tell her I'll remember this."
"Meanwhile, Itsuki is currently comatose," Ichika added with a sigh.
"What?" Clark asked, genuinely taken aback.
"She's not leaving her room, much less her bed. We think she might be coming down with something, but we're not too sure," Miku clarified.
"Ah, I see. In that case, I hope she gets better," Clark replied smoothly. Internally, however, he was cringing because he knew the exact reason she wasn't getting out of bed, and it had nothing to do with illness.
The party continued with light snacks and drinks being passed around, followed by casual chatter from nearly everyone present.
Momo glanced toward Seiko standing beside her. Seiko had one hand resting on her waist while the other covered her mouth as she looked away, the corners of her eyes glistening with tears.
"Are you seriously crying right now?" Momo asked flatly.
"No…" Seiko's voice cracked before she audibly swallowed and began fanning her face. "I just got something in my eyes."
"Yeah, tears," Momo scoffed, shaking her head.
Seiko dabbed at her eyes and blew her nose into a tissue. "Sorry, I just… I really thought Clark was going to be friendless his entire life with that attitude of his. I couldn't help getting emotional seeing so many people come over to celebrate his birthday."
Momo was snickering when Clark suddenly appeared behind them with a drink in hand. "You do know I can hear you, right?"
"Can you blame me? Your social life was genuinely one of my greatest concerns," Seiko sighed dramatically.
"You're seriously unbelievable," Clark muttered under his breath.
"If I were to make one suggestion, though, it would be to make more guy friends. You're surrounded by nothing but girls. You're in desperate need of at least one male friend," Seiko said, gesturing vaguely at the overwhelming ratio around her.
Clark opened his mouth, raising a finger to retort.
However, Seiko beat him to it. "Neither your dog nor Ai count."
Clark slowly closed his mouth and sulked. "Just know they would both be deeply hurt by that statement and wouldn't appreciate it."
Meanwhile, Lucy, Haruna, and Lois were completely absorbed with the large white dog prancing around proudly with his head held high.
"This party has a dog! This is the best birthday party I've ever been to," Lucy squealed as she rubbed her face against Krypto, burying her hands into his fur.
"His fur is so soft. It even smells nice," Haruna added, running her hand down Krypto's back and scratching him lightly.
Krypto continued strutting with his tail held high, wagging in obvious contentment from the attention.
"What's his name?" Lois asked curiously as she knelt down. She lifted the dog tag to read it. "Krypto…"
"Whoa, what a badass-sounding name," Lucy praised, and Krypto looked far too pleased with himself.
"Krypto…" Lois muttered, her brows furrowing slightly. "That sounds suspiciously—"
"It's a mix of Greek and Arabic, which means… White Snow," Clark cut in smoothly as he appeared out of nowhere.
'Fuck, I completely forgot about Krypto's blatant name. That is a far cry from being discreet,' Clark panicked internally.
Lucy and Haruna immediately accepted the explanation and began praising the name even more enthusiastically. Lois, however, was not entirely convinced.
She looked at him with a scrutinizing expression, one brow raised.
'Fuck,' Clark cursed inwardly again.
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