[Third Person Pov]
A heavy silence blanketed the room the moment the truth finished settling in. Clark stood there with one arm crossed over his chest while the other hand covered his face, his palm pressed firmly against his forehead in a tired face-palm. His posture alone made it clear that he already knew how bad the situation looked from the outside.
Around the room, nearly everyone had their attention shifting back and forth between Clark and Lala, curiosity, shock, and disbelief mixing together into a tense atmosphere that felt almost suffocating.
"Clark, you dog~" Momo teased with a mischievous grin, leaning forward slightly as if she had just uncovered some juicy piece of gossip. Her tone was playful and amused, completely out of step with the heavy mood that had suddenly taken over the room.
Out of everyone present she was perhaps the only one who failed to notice, or simply didn't care about, the pressure that seemed to be building in the air.
"Momo… please," Clark groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose as if trying to hold together what little patience he still had left. "I beg of you, just shut up."
When he finally lowered his hand and managed to look up again, his eyes instinctively moved around the room to gauge everyone's reaction. The moment his gaze landed on Miku he nearly flinched on instinct.
Her eyes, which had been lively and bright earlier in the evening, now looked hollow and distant, like the light inside them had dimmed in an instant. The expression on her face wasn't loud or dramatic, but the quiet hurt in her eyes was more than enough to make Clark feel a knot twist in his stomach.
Nearby, Lucy quietly glanced toward Lois with clear concern. Based on the small amount of interaction she had seen between Lois and Clark since arriving, Lucy had already formed the impression that her sister had developed some level of interest in him. Because of that assumption she expected to see Lois looking upset, jealous, or at the very least disappointed.
Instead, Lucy was surprised to see that Lois actually looked somewhat amused as she watched the situation unfold.
The reaction completely caught Lucy off guard. Misunderstanding the situation entirely, she couldn't help but admire her older sister a little in that moment. In her mind Lois appeared incredibly composed.
'Why is she so calm?' Lucy wondered to herself, observing Lois carefully. 'I don't think I would have been able to keep my composure if I suddenly found out the guy I liked had left hickeys on another girl's neck. Is she that confident that she could still win him over?'
While most of the girls were surprised or curious, only three of them were truly shaken to their core by the revelation about Clark and Lala's relationship. Those three were Miku, Nino, and Komi.
Miku felt betrayed.
Some time ago she had directly asked Clark whether he and Lala were truly together, and at the time he had denied it. Because of that conversation she had believed that whatever closeness existed between them was simply misunderstanding or exaggeration. Now, seeing the undeniable proof in front of her, she couldn't stop the thought from forming in her mind that Clark had lied to her.
That realization stung far more than she expected.
Nino, on the other hand, had always convinced herself that the talk about Clark and Lala being engaged was nothing more than a ridiculous rumor or some strange joke between them. She had desperately wanted that to be the truth, because if it was then it meant she still had a chance with the boy she had secretly kept in her heart ever since they were little.
For years she had quietly held onto those feelings, even when she didn't fully understand them herself.
Now that fragile hope had been crushed in an instant by the sudden confirmation of their intimacy.
Meanwhile Komi felt as if the entire structure of her understanding of the situation had collapsed all at once. Her mind struggled to process everything she had just learned, and for a moment she genuinely felt disoriented, as though the ground beneath her feet had shifted. Compared to Miku and Nino, however, Komi was still unaware of the true nature of the emotions she felt toward Clark.
Because of that confusion, her thoughts began drifting toward suspicion.
She found herself wondering if Clark had lied to her as well. That was the only explanation her mind could form for the strange sensation in her chest. It felt heavy and tight, almost like her heart was being squeezed from the inside.
What confused her even more was the realization that the idea of Clark lying to her hurt far more than the thought of Clark and Lala being together.
Just as the tension in the room began reaching a point where it might have exploded into arguments, Seiko calmly stepped forward and cut through the thick atmosphere with casual ease.
"Why don't we continue opening presents," she said cheerfully, as if nothing unusual had happened at all. She reached down beside her and picked up a wrapped box before holding it out toward Clark. "Here Clark, this one is from me."
'I have never been more thankful to you in my entire life,' Clark inwardly cheered as he accepted the box.
Without wasting time he opened the package and looked down at the object resting inside. His eyebrows lifted slightly before he reached in and pulled out a metal bat, holding it up so everyone could see.
Clark turned toward Seiko with an amused expression. "Is this the same bat you used to beat me in the head with?"
"Excuse me, what? Haha!" Ichika burst out laughing in surprise and confusion, clearly not expecting that kind of statement.
"No, this is a different one," Seiko replied calmly, completely ignoring the strange and questioning looks she was receiving from several people around the room. Her goal of redirecting everyone's attention had clearly succeeded. "This one is your very own bat, just for you. Consider it your coming-of-age present."
"Nice~," Clark said with a grin as he casually swung the bat around a few times to test its weight. The metal whistled softly through the air with each practice swing. "I can't wait to have my own kids one day so I can pass on the generational trauma. Thanks, grandma."
Seiko rubbed the bridge of her nose proudly, clearly pleased with the gift she had chosen.
"No problem, kiddo."
"Oh I see, they're doing a bit, right?" Lois asked with a snort of amusement, clearly assuming the entire exchange had to be some kind of exaggerated joke.
"No, Grandma really did beat Clark with a bat when he was younger," Momo replied immediately with a perfectly straight face.
That answer only made the surrounding expressions grow stranger.
Seiko, meanwhile, looked completely unashamed despite the increasingly weird looks she was receiving from around the room. She crossed her arms and stood there confidently.
The Nakano sisters, however, quickly began forming their own conclusion. Considering everything they had learned about the fact that Clark trained as an exorcist, it didn't take much imagination for them to assume that whatever strange methods Seiko used probably had something to do with that.
After hesitating for a moment, Haruna slowly raised her hand as if she were a student politely asking a question in class.
"Can I ask why?" she said carefully.
Seiko scoffed loudly as if the answer should have been obvious.
"He was a misbehaving brat," she said bluntly. "He was always bullying kids and found joy in making them cry."
Several people blinked at that explanation, their eyes drifting toward Clark as if trying to reconcile that image with the person they knew now.
"Honestly, I always suspected he was dropped on the head as a kid," Lois added while nodding thoughtfully. She turned toward Clark with a teasing grin spreading across her face, clearly enjoying the opportunity to poke fun at him.
"Oi," Clark responded flatly, giving her an unimpressed look that only made the joke land better.
That small exchange was enough to break the remaining tension. Laughter spread through the room as several people chuckled or shook their heads at the ridiculous conversation. The heavy atmosphere that had been hanging over everyone only minutes earlier slowly dissolved, replaced once again by the casual, lively mood that had filled the room before.
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