[Third Person Pov]
Clark noticed Komi glancing around nervously, her eyes shifting from one face to another as if she did not know which direction to go or who she should approach. The atmosphere in the room had grown thick with tension, and Komi clearly felt out of place within it. She stood there quietly, fidgeting with her hands while trying to make sense of everything happening around her.
Clark's ears suddenly twitched as a distant cry for help reached him from another part of town. The sound was faint to everyone else, buried beneath chatter and music, but to him it was unmistakable. He let out a quiet sigh as he set his plate down on the table and beckoned Lala over with a small motion of his hand.
Komi watched from a short distance as Clark leaned down slightly and whispered something into Lala's ear. She could not hear what he said, but she could not help noticing how close the two of them looked in that moment. For reasons she could not quite explain, Komi immediately felt that the two of them had grown significantly closer recently. There was a natural familiarity between them that wasn't there before, it was all too quickly.
Lala's eyes sparkled brightly the moment she heard what Clark said. She nodded enthusiastically and placed a fist over her chest. "Leave it to me," she declared proudly.
"Excuse me," Clark said politely as he began moving through the crowd of girls, weaving his way toward the staircase. He climbed upstairs for a moment, disappearing from the main gathering.
Miku was perhaps the only one who immediately understood where Clark was going and why. She had noticed the way his brows had subtly furrowed the moment he heard something, and the look on his face as he headed upstairs confirmed her suspicion.
'Is he…? But it's his birthday,' Miku thought quietly as she held her drink in both hands. 'It would be alright if he took the day off today. I'm sure people would understand.'
She raised the drink closer to her lips and gently shook her head, a soft smile forming on her face. Her expression carried warmth and quiet affection.
'Others might understand,' she continued thinking to herself, 'but he wouldn't. If I had to guess, he would probably say something along the lines of, "So what if it's my birthday? That doesn't mean the rest of the world is going to stop for me."'
Her smile lingered for a moment before she noticed Seiko quietly slipping away toward the kitchen. Miku immediately decided to follow after her. She was, after all, an opportunist, and in her mind the best way to conquer the one you love was to speak with the person who raised them.
Miku walked into the kitchen and spoke gently. "Um, excuse me, Ms. Ayase?"
"Hm?" Seiko turned slightly as she looked back toward Miku. "What's wrong? Is something the matter?"
"Oh no, nothing's wrong at all," Miku replied quickly. "Everything has been absolutely wonderful… I just wanted to thank you." Her voice carried a soft sincerity.
"Thank me? For what?" Seiko asked, blinking in confusion. "And call me Seiko. There's more than one Ayase in this house after all."
Miku grew a little embarrassed, her cheeks faintly warming, but the sincerity in her expression never faded. "I wanted to thank you for raising Clark."
"What?" Seiko said, clearly taken aback by the statement.
"I'm sure it's thanks to you that Clark turned out the way he did," Miku continued. "He saved and helped me in more ways than one. I honestly doubt I would even be here today if it wasn't for Clark's help. So… thank you." She bowed her head respectfully in the traditional Japanese manner.
"Ah, I see…" Seiko sighed softly, though a faint smile formed on her face. She had already suspected that Miku might be the girl Clark had saved years ago. "So you're aware of his secret."
Miku looked up at her with innocent confusion in her eyes. "What secret?" she asked, sounding completely genuine.
Seiko froze immediately, her eyes widening slightly. 'Was I wrong? Darn it… I need to think of something quickly.'
"The secret… that he's an orphan," Seiko said after a brief pause, her lips twitching slightly.
"Pfft—" Miku tried to suppress a laugh, her cheeks turning red as she turned her head slightly away and covered her mouth.
"Ah, I see. You're just messing with me, you brat," Seiko muttered, her brows twitching with mild irritation.
"Hehehe, sorry," Miku said, still chuckling quietly. "But I didn't think you would appreciate us discussing his secret somewhere people might overhear."
Seiko sighed and shook her head in exasperation, though the corners of her mouth curled upward in amusement. Fortunately, she was someone who could appreciate a good casual joke and the occasional harmless prank.
It did not take long for Miku's natural charm and sincerity to win Seiko over.
A minute passed before Clark came walking back down the stairs and stepped into the kitchen. The moment he appeared in the doorway he looked between the two of them with a flat expression. "You guys realize I'm perfectly capable of hearing you, right?"
He then turned his gaze toward Seiko, his face still completely deadpan. "And that was the best thing you could come up with when you got put on the spot? That I was an orphan?"
Seiko's face twisted with mild embarrassment. "Leave me alone, I was taken by surprise," she grumbled. "It won't happen again."
She huffed and waved a dismissive hand before walking away, clearly deciding that she had no intention of standing around and letting Clark tease her any further. That left Clark standing alone in the kitchen with Miku.
Without warning, Clark flicked her on the forehead.
"Ouch!" Miku exclaimed as she quickly raised a hand to her forehead. "What was that for?"
"For being weird," Clark replied immediately with a scoff. "What the hell were you doing thanking my grandma, you weirdo?"
Miku pursed her lips slightly, clearly displeased with the response. "I was just expressing my gratitude. There was nothing wrong with that."
Clark simply shook his head with another scoff and began turning to walk away, but before he could leave Miku suddenly reached out and grabbed the back of his shirt to stop him.
"Can I ask you something?" she said.
"Hm?" Clark glanced back at her over his shoulder.
"You went out and did… you know, your thing, right?" Miku whispered conspiratorially.
"Yeah?" Clark replied, raising a brow. "What of it?"
"Well it's your birthday, isn't it?" Miku said as she looked up at him curiously. "No one is going to criticize you just because you took a day off. This is your day after all."
Clark clicked his tongue. "Tsk. Just how arrogant do you think I am? Today being my birthday doesn't change anything except the fact that I'm a year older. The world doesn't owe me anything. All the bad things in the world aren't suddenly going to stop existing just because it happens to be my birthday."
Miku stared at him for a moment with a surprised expression. Then she suddenly started laughing. "Hahaha, woah. You're so predictable."
Clark frowned immediately. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? Are you trying to pick a fight?" he asked irritably. After all, nobody liked being called predictable.
Miku simply chuckled behind her hand and shook her head. 'Even if the wording was a little different, the message was still the same…'
Her heart began beating irregularly in her chest as she looked at him. 'I really do love him…' she thought quietly while staring at his irritated yet undeniably handsome face as his brows slowly furrowed with confusion and concern.
"Are you going into cardiac arrest?" Clark suddenly asked under his breath while looking at her strangely. "Your heartbeat is all over the place."
"I–Ignore it!" Miku blurted out, her face quickly turning red. "Don't listen to it, you pervert!"
She had just realized that Clark could practically hear every change in the rhythm of her heart.
'Okay, she definitely wants to start a fight,' Clark thought as his lips twitched slightly while he watched her hurriedly scurry away in embarrassment.
He sighed and ruffled his hair before walking back toward the main room where everyone else was gathered. The moment he stepped inside he froze and blinked in surprise at the sight in front of him.
The tense atmosphere from earlier had completely vanished. Instead, the room was filled with laughter and lively chatter. The girls were talking together as if they had known each other for years. Some of them were exchanging phone numbers, others were gossiping, and several were laughing together like close friends.
"I was literally gone for a minute," Clark muttered in disbelief. "What happened?"
'I mean, I did basically tell Lala to take care of it… but still,' he thought.
Momo stepped up beside him and let out a quiet sigh. "You can thank Lala for that," she said. "She somehow managed to get everyone on the same page and got them all to start getting to know each other. It was honestly amazing watching her work."
'Lala's charm strikes again…' Clark thought as he shook his head, though a small smile of gratitude tugged at his lips.
Momo leaned slightly closer and whispered to him, "I guess being the princess of an intergalactic empire means you learn how to handle people well. Honestly, with the way she got everyone to become friends so quickly, I swear she could become an incredibly powerful politician."
"How'd she do it?" Clark asked. While he had been listening in on Miku and Seiko's conversation earlier, he had completely missed what Lala actually did.
"That's the wild thing, all she did was start talking about you and it snowballed from there," Momo answered with a stiff smile.
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