[Third Person POV]
Clark was resting back against his chair with his arms crossed, eyes scanning the cluttered table before him. Stacks of notes, open textbooks, and scattered pencils lay across the surface like a battlefield after the war. Across from him, all three sisters were slumped over in defeat, their heads pressed against the wood as if surrendering to the mountain of work before them. It almost looked comical — trails of smoke seemed to rise from their overworked heads.
"Clark, please stop…" Ichika groaned weakly, her voice muffled against her folded arms. "I don't think my brain can take it anymore."
Clark exhaled through his nose, rubbing a hand down his face in disbelief. "How can you all be this helpless? I am honestly trying my best here…" His tone was one of exasperation, but underneath it was a tinge of disbelief that three could be this hopeless at studying.
"I don't want to do this anymore," Miku muttered from her side, covering her ears with her signature headphones as if trying to shut out both reality and responsibility. Her voice carried the exhaustion of a soldier ready to abandon the front lines.
"Yeah, well, that's too bad," Clark shot back without sympathy. "You wanted me to tutor you, remember? Now you've gotta deal with the consequences." He reached over and, before she could react, snatched the headphones right off her head. "Not to mention, I'm getting paid for this."
He froze mid-sentence. The moment his fingers brushed against the headphones, a sharp, almost electric sensation crawled up his arm. His expression flickered — confusion, shock — but he quickly masked it before anyone could notice.
"Hey!" Miku yelped, eyes wide as she lunged forward. "Give those back!" She snatched them from his hands, holding them close like a protective mother. Clark's gaze followed the movement, though his mind was elsewhere.
Ichika lazily lifted her cheek from the table, one eye peeking at him. "Are you short on money or something?" she asked, her tone drowsy but curious.
Clark blinked, distorted by surprise that he was unexpectedly honest. "Hmm? Oh, no, not at all…" he said, his gaze distant. "It's just how I was raised. 'If you're being paid to do something, you better do it right.'" He paused, realizing he had quoted his father, and gave a small shake of his head.
'Spiritual energy…' he thought, his mind still replaying that strange pulse he'd felt. 'That's what it was. When I touched her headphones, I sensed spiritual energy… but why?'
"That's… surprisingly earnest of you," Nino said, chin resting on the table as her violet eyes studied him with mild astonishment.
"Yeah, well," Clark said, his voice softening, "like I said, it's how I was raised. You commit to your word, and you follow through. To do something half-heartedly would be a disservice to yourself — and to those relying on you." He fell quiet after that, his eyes dropping back to the papers in front of him as memories of his father's stern voice and calloused hands flickered in his mind.
The room grew still for a moment. The three sisters exchanged glances, their earlier frustration momentarily forgotten. There was a sincerity in Clark's tone they hadn't expected, something that didn't match the teasing, distant, or strict version of him they thought they knew.
Miku's fingers tightened around her headphones. 'I… I don't really know anything about Clark, do I?' she realized. 'I thought I did, but maybe I was just clinging to an image — one I created myself.'
Ichika's lips curved into a faint, knowing smile. 'How interesting,' she mused. 'I can see why Miku and Nino are drawn to him. He's like an onion — peel back one layer, and there's always another underneath.'
Meanwhile, Nino bit her bottom lip, feeling her heart quicken despite herself. 'I knew it,' she thought, glancing at him. 'He's such a big softy underneath that tall, hard… muscular… frustrating handsome shell of his.'
Clark, oblivious to the storm of thoughts swirling around him, adjusted his glasses. The special lenses flickered faintly, concealing the glow that briefly shimmered in his eyes as he activated his special sight. What he saw made his eyebrow shoot up in disbelief.
A soft blue aura was gently rising from Miku's headphones as they rested around her neck. Nino's butterfly-shaped ribbons shimmered faintly, giving off a radiant pink glow that pulsed with life, while Ichika's small earring gleamed with a subtle violet light.
'Yōkais… or more specifically, Tsukumogamis,' Clark realized, his eyes narrowing. 'Objects that have gained spirits — living souls born from long years of use or emotional attachment. They're supposed to be rare… and yet there are three right here. Wait… could all five sisters have them?'
He exhaled slowly through his nose, his mind spinning. 'This really shouldn't concern me,' he told himself. 'But how can I not be curious? This isn't normal… Still, it seems they're dormant — not fully awake. That's good. But maybe if Momo were involved she wake…'
Clark suddenly clapped his hands against his cheeks, startling the three sisters who jumped in unison. "Ah—!"
'I shouldn't get involved,' he thought to himself quietly, shaking his head with a small sigh. 'This just smells like trouble…'
The girls exchanged puzzled glances, but Clark said nothing — only returning to the stack of notes in front of him, hiding the questions burning behind his calm expression.
The bell soon rang, its clear tone echoing through the library like the sound of salvation. It signified the end of their study session for the day — a moment that couldn't have come sooner for the three sisters. The tension that had been building in their shoulders seemed to evaporate instantly, each of them exhaling a collective sigh of relief as they slumped back in their seats.
Even so, despite their joy at being freed from academic torture, none of them seemed eager to leave. There was a strange feeling lingering in the air — a curiosity that tied them to the table longer than necessary. They wanted to talk more, to linger in the presence of their aloof tutor who, without realizing it, had piqued their interest far beyond the realm of studying.
It was Nino who broke the silence first. The thought hit her, and before she could think twice, she blurted it out with her usual boldness. "Can you come over and help us study again!? You're a surprisingly good tutor!" she said, leaning forward eagerly. "We'll even pay you more than what we agreed on."
Clark didn't even blink. "No." The refusal was immediate, sharp, and absolute.
The sisters froze, almost offended by how quickly he shut it down.
Clark sighed, straightening the papers before him as if to mark the finality of his answer. "I have things to do," he said simply. "And I already told Miku I wouldn't. I don't want to see you guys more than I have to."
That last part stung — maybe more than it should have.
All three sisters lowered their heads in unison, their shoulders slumping as if they'd just been collectively scolded. The silence that followed was heavy, filled with quiet disappointment. Sure, they had expected him to say no — Clark was nothing if not consistent in his bluntness — but hearing it still hurt.
Rejection, after all, hurts no matter how politely or predictably it comes.
Each of them found themselves lost in the same unspoken thought. 'I really wanted him to come over… maybe if he did, we'd finally get to know him better.'
The moment of quiet reflection was suddenly shattered by the sharp scrape of Clark's chair against the floor. The sound was jarring, loud enough to make them all jump. The chair toppled backward and hit the ground with a crash as Clark shot to his feet.
"Clark!?" Ichika gasped, startled by his sudden movement.
He stood completely still, his expression hardened — eyes wide with disbelief, jaw tense. For a second, none of them dared to move, watching him like he'd just seen a ghost.
"Clark?" Miku asked softly, concern slipping into her tone. "What's going on?"
He didn't answer right away. His gaze swept across the library, his eyes darting from corner to corner. A low curse escaped his lips — barely audible but heavy with meaning. Finally, he spoke, his voice solemn and sharp.
"Look around," he said. "Tell me what you see… and hear."
The three of them exchanged confused looks, but did as told. Their eyes scanned the library, and one by one, their expressions shifted from puzzlement to alarm.
The library — the same one that had been full of life just moments ago — was empty. Completely empty. Every table, every corner, every seat that had been occupied was now abandoned. The librarian's desk stood vacant, the soft rustling of pages and faint chatter that had filled the air only minutes ago was gone.
There was no sound. No movement. Nothing.
"Uhh… what?" Ichika muttered, her voice cracking slightly as the eerie silence pressed in around them.
Clark's face darkened. He adjusted his glasses, though his eyes were still sharp beneath them. "We've been trapped," he said quietly, each word heavy and deliberate, "in an alternate dimensional space."
The three of them blinked at him.
"WHAT?!" they shrieked in unison, their voices echoing unnaturally in the empty air.
Miku clutched her headphones instinctively, Ichika nearly fell out of her chair, and Nino's jaw dropped in disbelief.
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