[Third Person Pov]
"Aren't you jealous, Lala?" Risa asked suddenly.
She leaned in closer, her short, wavy blonde hair bouncing as she spoke, green eyes glittering with mischief. Risa was one of the first few friends Lala had made in class, and she had a habit of poking her nose into other people's business whenever she smelled even the hint of drama.
"Jealous?" Lala repeated, blinking at her in genuine confusion as she tilted her head slightly. "Jealous of what?"
Risa stared at her for a long moment, lips pursed, as if trying to decide whether Lala was joking or truly serious. "Okay, hold on," she said slowly. "Are you unconcerned because you believe you're so beautiful that you have absolutely nothing to worry about and have complete faith that Clark would never cheat on you? Or are you just… naturally that clueless?"
"Huh?" Lala replied eloquently, still not grasping what Risa was getting at.
"That answers that," muttered Mio, their other friend, who stood beside them with her arms crossed. She wore glasses and had dark brown hair styled neatly into twin braids and wore an expression of long-suffering disbelief. "The latter, without question."
Both girls shook their heads at the same time, sighing dramatically.
Realizing subtlety clearly wasn't working, Risa straightened and decided to be blunt. "Lala," she said, "doesn't it bother you at all to see Clark surrounded by so many pretty girls all the time? Aren't you even a little scared one of them might try to steal him away? I mean, he is your fiancé."
"Nope," Lala answered immediately, her tone calm and certain. She smiled and looked at Risa with open curiosity. "Should I be?"
Risa and Mio exchanged a glance. Without saying a word, they both nodded gravely, as if they had just reached a very serious conclusion. Then, in unison, they grabbed Lala's hands.
"Yes, Lala," Risa said firmly, nodding again for emphasis. "You absolutely should."
"Clark is surrounded by way too many hotties with a body," Mio added, warming to the topic far too quickly. "First there are the quintuplets—which is already five too many—then there's Komi, who might as well be a goddess. And don't forget Haruna. I heard rumors he was on the rooftop after lunch with a second-year student, and who knows what they get up to—"
Risa cut in enthusiastically, "He's at the peak of his youth! Full of energy, his libido is at an all time high, he's practically an insatiable beast! Just raring to get laid!!"
"You need to get a lock down on your man's Lala, you need to tie him up, put him in a collar and show him who's the boss of the relationship!" Mio exclaimed dramatically, her imagination clearly running wild. "Yes, a collar will be wonderful, perhaps a leash as well to complete the image, you have to show all the other girls that he already has an owner! That you're the Dom!"
Risa squinted at her. "First of all, your fetish is showing," she said dryly. "Second—" she leaned closer, "—you're drooling."
Mio froze. "…I am?" She hastily wiped at her mouth, her face flushing in embarrassment.
Before either of them could recover, a large shadow suddenly loomed over the trio. Risa and Mio stiffened instantly, dread creeping up their spines, while Lala's face lit up like the sun.
"He's right behind us, isn't he?" Risa asked weakly.
"Hi, Clark!" Lala said brightly, lifting a hand to wave.
Risa and Mio slowly turned around, necks creaking, and looked up to see Clark standing there. His expression was dark, annoyed, and unmistakably irritated. Without a word, he rolled up his exam paper and smacked both of them on the head.
"Ahkk!"
"Ouch!!"
"What exactly are you trying to teach Lala?" Clark snapped, glaring down at them. "And who are you calling an 'insatiable beast,' you bunch of degenerates?"
Risa whimpered, clutching her head as tears welled in her eyes. "Why does that hurt so much?" she cried. "It's just paper! It feels like I got hit with a metal bat!"
"You bully!" Mio shot back, pointing an accusing finger at him despite her own watery eyes. "We were just trying to protect Lala from becoming a victim of your so-called harem!"
"Har—!" Clark stopped himself mid-outburst, visibly forcing the words back. He took a deep breath, adjusted his glasses, and pinched the bridge of his nose before continuing in a strained but controlled voice. "Lala, I am officially banning you from having any kind of contact with these two human insects. Honestly, it would be healthier if you stopped hanging out with them altogether."
Both Risa and Mio stuck their tongues out at Clark in perfect unison, leaning forward just enough to make sure he saw it. The childish gesture only caused one of Clark's eyebrows to twitch, the faintest crack in his carefully maintained composure.
Lala, standing just off to the side, giggled softly behind her hand, clearly entertained as she watched the small confrontation play out like a sitcom scene unfolding in real time.
"I'm also forbidding them from getting anywhere near Komi," Clark said flatly, his voice tight as he crossed his arms. "She doesn't need that kind of bad influence in her life. She can make friends in other classes."
He deliberately looked away afterward, deciding it was far better to ignore them than to acknowledge the intrusive thought that the most efficient solution to dealing with pests was to act a little too much like Homelander.
Risa and Mio, unfazed and far too smug for their own good, simultaneously pulled out their phones. They thrust the screens toward him, proudly displaying Komi's contact information saved neatly among their contacts.
"Too late, bucko!" they shouted together, spinning toward each other and slapping their palms together in a celebratory high five.
Clark clicked his tongue in irritation and turned his head away, refusing to give them the satisfaction of a reaction. That was when his eyes landed on Komi herself. She was standing a short distance away, her gaze lowered to her phone, a small but unmistakably content smile on her face.
She was slowly scrolling through her contact list, which had grown noticeably longer since the last time she checked. Nearly everyone in her class was there now—each new name representing a small victory. That achievement was largely thanks to Momo, Lala, and Haruna, who had quietly taken it upon themselves to help Komi reach her goal, whether she asked for help their help or not.
…
When the school day officially ended, the quintuplets began walking home together as they always did. Itsuki walked in the center of the group, unusually quiet, while the others chatted casually around her, their conversation light and energetic.
They passed by a convenience store along the way and decided to stop in to grab a few snacks. Ichika quickly picked out the items Itsuki usually bought and handed them to her without thinking—but this time, Itsuki shook her head.
"No thanks," she muttered quietly. "I don't want anything today."
The effect was immediate and dramatic.
The other sisters froze mid-motion, snacks slipping from their hands as they stared at Itsuki in absolute disbelief, as if she had just announced the end of the world.
"I–Itsuki… are you okay?" Yotsuba asked, eyes already glassy with tears.
"You're not sick, are you?" Nino added, pressing a hand to Itsuki's forehead in concern.
"But when she's sick is when she's the hungriest," Ichika said thoughtfully, shaking her head. "So it can't be that."
"A–Are you terminally ill?" Miku asked, her voice trembling as tears welled up in her eyes just like Yotsuba's. "Do we need to see a doctor?"
Their over-the-top reactions finally pushed Itsuki past her limit. She slapped Nino's hand away and snapped, her frustration bubbling over.
"Gosh! I'm just not hungry today, alright?! I just want to go home already!"
The sisters immediately dropped their dramatics, their expressions shifting into something far more serious and genuinely worried.
"Itsuki… are you really okay?" Nino asked carefully.
"I'm fine," Itsuki replied, avoiding their eyes. "Like I said, I just want to go home and sleep. I'm tired."
With that, she turned and began walking ahead of them.
The others stopped and exchanged uneasy glances.
Nino's expression hardened, her playful demeanor completely gone. "Something definitely happened," she said firmly. "Something's bothering her. Something she can't tell us."
The others nodded in quiet agreement.
Nino narrowed her eyes at Itsuki's retreating back, determination burning in her gaze. She would get to the bottom of this—one way or another.
…
When Itsuki finally got home, she didn't bother putting anything away. Her bag dropped to the floor as she rushed straight to her room and threw herself onto her bed. She grabbed her pillow and buried her face into it, finally free to let everything spill out.
"AAAAAHHHHHH!" she screamed into the fabric, though it came out as nothing more than a muffled shrill. She kicked her legs wildly and thrashed across the mattress, frustration radiating from every movement.
Rolling around on the bed, she began punching the pillow over and over, vividly imagining Clark's face in its place. Her cheeks burned crimson as her breathing grew ragged.
Still seething, she grabbed the pillow and hurled it against the wall with as much strength as she could muster. Tears welled in her eyes—tears born from frustration, confusion, and a deep, gnawing sense of shame.
Itsuki covered her face with her hands and began to cry silently, her shoulders shaking as she collapsed back onto the bed. Tears streamed down between her fingers as she whispered brokenly,
"What is happening…? Why can't I get it out of my head…? Why can't I just forget about it…?"
Her sobs grew more open, more raw.
She turned onto her side and wrapped her arms around herself, curling into a tight ball as if trying to protect her heart from itself.
"And why…" she whispered, her voice barely audible, "why did I enjoy every bit of it?"
The tears continued to fall, blurring her vision as confusion and guilt tangled painfully in her chest.
********************************************
+20 advance Chapters on: patreon.com/Shadow_D_Monarch3