[Third Person Pov]
Ichika noticed how Itsuki was packing her bags with a faint pout on her face after their tutoring session with Clark had finally wrapped up. The younger girl moved with slightly exaggerated motions, shoving her notebooks and pens into her bag with more force than necessary.
"What's the matter?" Ichika asked gently, tilting her head with a curious smile.
"Nothing," Itsuki grumbled in clear annoyance, though her expression said otherwise. "I'm just a bit peeved at how good of a tutor he actually is. Everything he taught us makes complete sense, and all of his explanations were even better than the ones our regular teachers give. It's irritating."
Ichika just stared at Itsuki, completely bewildered, her eyes widening in surprise. "You're pouting because he's good at his job?"
"First of all, I'm not pouting," Itsuki insisted, even as her lips remained clearly pushed forward in a pout. "And yeah, a little bit. He's unapologetically rude, a big bully most of the time, but apart from that… he's a little too perfect, and it annoys me. He's got the looks, he's smart, athletic—"
"Clearly!" Ichika instinctively chimed in a bit too enthusiastically at the end, her voice rising with excitement. She earned a strange, questioning look from Itsuki, but Ichika remained completely unapologetic. "Don't look at me like that. Have you seen his arms? We could practically hang off those cannons!"
"Please stop," Itsuki pleaded flatly, especially when Ichika started flexing her own arms in an exaggerated imitation, grinning from ear to ear.
"And those pecs, wow!" Ichika continued, placing a hand dramatically over her own chest. "I can now understand why guys stare at our chests so much. How solid do you think those muscles are? Because that guy clearly lifts heavy."
"Pretty solid," Itsuki answered subconsciously, her mind flashing back to the warm, firm feeling of her hands pressed against his chest during their earlier awkward encounter. The memory made her cheeks heat up instantly.
Ichika stopped mid-flex and turned her head sharply to look at her sister, one eyebrow raised in intrigue. Itsuki, realizing what she had just blurted out, exploded into a heavy blush that spread across her entire face. "Ignore that!" she said quickly, burying her face in her hands in pure embarrassment.
"Heh," Ichika grinned from ear to ear, clearly delighted by the slip-up.
…
Meanwhile, Clark was already out of the library with his hands shoved deep into his pockets, a disturbed expression etched across his face. "What the hell are those two talking about in the open like that?" he muttered to himself, shaking his head in exasperation as he walked down the hallway. "What the hell is wrong with them…"
"Hey, Junior! We were just looking for you!"
Clark heard a familiar voice call out from behind him and turned around to see Lois and Joichirou making their way toward him with purposeful strides.
"Oh, it's you guys," Clark said plainly, offering a small nod. "Hey, Jimmy."
"It's Joichirou," he replied flatly, while Lois immediately snickered beside him, barely containing her laughter.
"Yeah, that's what I said—Jimmy," Clark responded with a perfectly straight face, maintaining his deadpan delivery.
"It's not even close to what I said."
"Yeah, it is."
"It's not even in the same language!"
"Are you sure?"
"Yup, I am."
Lois was off to the side the whole time, holding her stomach as she giggled uncontrollably. "Hehehe, Jimmy! What a cute name," she teased, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye.
"Anyways, what do you guys want?" Clark asked, observing the two of them carefully. "If this is another sales pitch to get me into your club, I'm going to walk away right now."
"It's not that," Joichirou reassured him quickly. "But we are about to ask you for a favor, which you can totally decline, by the way. We just don't really have anyone else we can ask."
There was a brief, awkward silence that followed as the three of them stared at each other. The longer the pause dragged on, the more visibly confused Clark became. "Well, go on," he prompted. "I'm not a mind reader."
"Oh, right. Sorry," Lois said apologetically, rubbing the back of her neck. "We were just kinda expecting you to decline right away and walk off."
Joichirou nodded in agreement before clasping his hands together in front of him and bowing his head slightly. "Alright, so here's the deal. As you already know, our club still doesn't have a sufficient number of members. Because of that, the student council is on the brink of shutting us down completely."
Clark glanced toward Lois and noticed the little details about her—the subtle tension in her shoulders, the faint anxiety flickering in her eyes, and the small, hidden signs that were clear only to him. It was obvious how desperately she was trying to keep her club alive. She was becoming increasingly stressed and running low on options, though she tried hard to hide it behind her usual energetic demeanor.
"In return for cleaning the swimming pool and making it usable again, the student council agreed to let us keep the club open for the remainder of the semester," Joichirou explained. He looked back up at Clark, placing a hand behind his neck awkwardly. "I know this isn't any of your business, especially since you're not even a member, but we could really use the help."
"Sure, I don't mind," Clark replied with a casual shrug, as if the request was no big deal.
Joichirou and Lois both lowered their heads in disappointment, letting out a synchronized sigh of resignation. "We understand, it was selfish of us to even ask. Sorry to bother you—" Joichirou began, already turning away, before freezing mid-sentence. "Wait… what?"
The two of them snapped their heads up and stared at Clark in utter confusion, eyes wide. "Did you just agree to help us out?" Lois asked, her voice dripping with pure bewilderment.
"Yeah," Clark said plainly, not understanding what the big deal was. He stood there with his hands still in his pockets, blinking at their shocked expressions.
"But… why?" Lois pressed, tilting her head as if trying to solve a complex puzzle.
"Because you asked?" Clark replied, now equally confused by her confusion.
"Okay, I can understand that part, but… why?" Lois asked again, still not quite processing it.
"Did you both ask me under the assumption that I was going to say no?" Clark questioned, looking at them with a weirded-out expression.
"We were honestly just clutching at straws here," Joichirou answered with a sheepish laugh, sighing in visible relief. "If you had declined, we were seriously going to ask the custodian next."
"Isn't it normally the custodian's job to do that anyways?" Clark asked, staring at him perplexed.
"Yeah, which shows how desperate we really are," Joichirou replied with a stiff grin.
"You still haven't answered the 'why' part of my question, by the way," Lois said, staring at Clark as if he were a complete stranger she was seeing for the first time.
Clark let out a long sigh and decided to be truthful. He motioned toward Joichirou with a slight nod of his head. "I'm doing it for him."
"Huh?!" Lois exclaimed loudly, drawing a few curious glances from passing students in the hallway, while Joichirou pointed at himself in complete confusion.
"Are you in love with him or something!?"
"What?" Both Joichirou and Clark asked simultaneously, their voices overlapping in perfect unison.
Joichirou paused for a moment and looked at Clark, pressing a hand to his chest as he glanced away a little shyly. "I mean… I'm honestly flattered—"
"I'm retracting my help," Clark said flatly as he turned around and started walking away without missing a beat.
"Wait! Wait! Wait!" the two of them shouted in panic, rushing forward to stand in front of him. They pressed their hands against his broad chest in a desperate attempt to halt his movement.
"It was just a joke!" Lois shouted, her feet sliding backward across the floor as Clark continued forward at the same steady pace, barely acknowledging their resistance.
"What she said! It was merely a jest—don't take it seriously!" Joichirou added, his own feet skidding along the tiles while he pushed with all his might but achieved zero success against Clark's unyielding strength.
Clark finally stopped, rolling his eyes in exasperation. Both Lois and Joichirou let out a heavy sigh of relief, shoulders slumping.
"Still, can I ask… what exactly did I do?" Joichirou said, pointing at himself with genuine curiosity. "I don't think I did anything particularly noteworthy."
Clark looked off to the side for a moment, staring down the hallway as he sighed again. "I owe you a favor. I was acting immaturely when we first met. Even though it might seem small to you, I don't like owing anyone anything. So if I help you out with this, I'll consider us even."
"I mean, if you really want to help out—" Lois began with a mischievous grin, already reaching into her pocket for what was undoubtedly a club membership form.
"Don't push it," Clark warned, giving her a sharp side-eye. Lois immediately pouted and slid the paper back into her pocket with dramatic reluctance.
"I mean, are you sure?" Joichirou added hesitantly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I don't think what I did requires you to sacrifice time out of your day for manual labor. This is a pretty big favor we're asking of you, after all."
"A favor is a favor," Clark replied firmly. "It's just a code I've been taught to follow. I also don't like people having anything over me, so like I said—after this, we'll be even." With that, he casually began walking toward his next class, the conversation flowing naturally as the others kept pace beside him. "After school, right?"
"Yeah, and they'll even let us use the pool afterwards, so that's a big plus," Joichirou remarked with a grateful grin, walking alongside him. "Anyways, thanks. We really appreciate it."
Lois walked on Clark's other side, already rubbing her hands together with scheming delight. "Hehehe, I see what I have to do now. All I have to do is make sure you owe me a huge favor, and then you'll have no choice but to join the club! Bwahaha!"
Clark scoffed, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Good luck with that."
"I'll stop her from going overboard," Joichirou said with an awkward grin, trying to play peacemaker.
"Thanks, Jimmy."
"It's Joichirou."
"That's what I said."
"It's really not."
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