[Third Person's PoV]
"You know," Clark began, his voice calm but pointed, "you said you weren't approaching me to recruit me into your club. That was the only reason I even entertained this entire conversation in the first place. But now… it's starting to sound an awful lot like a recruitment speech, doesn't it?"
"Ack!" Lois exclaimed, throwing her hands up in surprise. "Okay—okay, that was unintentional! I swear, it just kind of came out that way naturally!"
Clark stared at her, his expression unreadable and deadpan. She was lucky—extremely lucky—that he could hear her heartbeat and knew she was telling the truth. That was the only thing keeping his annoyance in check. He let out a sigh, then handed the photo back to her.
"Then why did you seek me out just to show me this?" he asked plainly. "What was the real reason? What was your actual agenda?"
Inwardly, Clark grimaced as he tried not to roll his eyes. 'Seriously? I'm going to have to talk to Grandma about entering me into any public competitions… I sincerely hope I never have to deal with anything like this again. Honestly, what a bother.'
Lois blinked, then shrugged casually. "I don't know."
"You don't know…" Clark repeated, his voice completely flat.
"I mean," she continued, unbothered, "I just thought it was cool that we actually shared a past together. And I wanted to let you know. That's all."
Clark narrowed his eyes slightly. "We certainly do not share a past. I only found out you even existed as a person a few days ago. And now—"
RIIIIING
The school bell rang, interrupting him mid-sentence. Lunchtime was over.
Finally, Clark thought with an inward sigh of relief.
Lois stood up first, brushing the dust off her hands from the ground as she walked toward the rooftop ladder.
"Well," she said, glancing over her shoulder at him, "I was just doing my job as a reporter. I found out something interesting—about us—and figured the right thing to do was to tell you. Whether it means anything or not, I thought you deserved to know. Or… at least, that's what I think."
She began descending the ladder but paused halfway through and called back up, "Anyway, just so you know, this doesn't mean I won't keep trying to recruit you. You will join the club, Clark. Even if I have to forge your signature."
Clark scoffed loudly. "That is an actual crime. If you go through with that, you will be hearing from my lawyers."
Lois only laughed and disappeared below the rooftop exit, leaving Clark alone once more… or almost alone.
A voice echoed softly in his ear. It was Sol, his ever-present AI companion.
"If I may ask, Kal-El," Sol began, "why are you so guarded around that girl? Does it perhaps have something to do with who her mother is?"
Clark raised an eyebrow. "Ever heard of the invisible string theory?"
"I have not, but I could initiate a search—"
"No need," Clark cut in as he stood and walked to the ladder. "It's this idea that two people are connected by an invisible string, and no matter how far apart they are or the distance between them, it eventually brings them together when the time is right. And when you look back on your life, you start to notice clues. Little signs."
He dropped down from the rooftop and continued walking.
"I had no idea Lois even existed. Then suddenly, she knew about me or at least heard of me. Then there was that encounter with her mother... and now this. It's honestly just—" he exhaled sharply, "—annoying."
There was a long pause. Then Sol cautiously added, "Are you suggesting that Miss Lane might be your destined—"
"I'm gonna stop you right there," Clark interrupted with a low growl. "Finish that sentence, and I will put you into sleep mode."
"…Understood," Sol said quietly, wisely dropping the subject.
Clark walked in silence through the hallway, ignoring the other students' glances as he entered the classroom and took his usual seat by the window.
---
Time passed. The room slowly emptied as students headed toward gym class. Clark, however, didn't move. He kept his head down, resting it on the desk and deciding to skip the period entirely. Changing into gym clothes and pretending to participate felt like too much effort today.
The silence was peaceful.
Until he heard a quiet sound next to him.
"…Meow~"
Clark slowly lifted his head, blinking in confusion as he turned to the seat beside him.
There sat Komi, holding a small cat plushie in her hands. Her eyes widened in pure horror as she realized he wasn't asleep. Her entire body trembled, clearly caught off guard. She hadn't expected anyone to hear her—especially him.
Clark stared at her for a beat before sighing and shaking his head. "I'm not even gonna comment on that. You do you. Don't mind me."
He laid his head back down, pretending not to have seen anything.
Komi remained frozen in place, mortified. But then… she noticed something strange. After a moment of silence Clark's shoulders began to shake slightly.
"Phttt… Hahahahaha!"
To her absolute mortification and Sol's surprise, Clark started laughing.
She jolted to her feet, ready to run away on the spot, but he quickly waved his hand dismissively. "Wait, wait—I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to laugh. I just… I wasn't expecting that noise from you, of all people. You usually struggle to say at all, and have trouble speaking, so hearing you say that—it just caught me so off guard."
Komi blinked, frozen again, her cheeks turning pink.
Clark chuckled as he sat up straighter, brushing tears from his eyes. It didn't help his amusement that her heart was beating like a war drum.
She stared at him in disbelief.
Clark tilted his head, watching her expression. Then, calmly, he said, "Hm? You're wondering how I know? Well… it's pretty obvious."
Clark saw her eyes widen in panic, so he quickly corrected himself, "I mean, it's obvious to me. To everyone else? Well, they're too stupid to come to that conclusion. They just make up some weird reason, like you're some goddess whose voice they're unworthy of hearing, or some other nonsense."
Komi began flailing her arms in panic and opened her mouth, but all that came out was a string of stutters as she trembled in place.
"I know that's not the case. You don't have to say anything," Clark said with a scoff. "You want to talk to people—but it's difficult for you, right?"
Komi rapidly nodded her head, she stared at him for a quiet moment, her eyes darting around before she pushed her chair back and made her way to the front of the classroom. She grabbed a piece of chalk and began writing across the board:
'I get nervous in front of people. My face freezes up and I get scared. But actually… I want to talk. People get uneasy around me. Or they run away… or pass out… or kneel and bow.'
Clark followed her to the front, leaning casually against a desk, arms crossed as he watched her with mild curiosity and interest.
'I think they hate me. I'm certain they do. Because I'm so difficult to talk to.'
Clark noticed her hand trembling as she wrote that last sentence. He ruffled his hair in frustration, thinking to himself, 'This hero stuff is seriously making me soft…'
"People don't hate you," he said bluntly. "That's not even close to what's happening."
But Komi kept writing, not looking back.
'In junior high, I had a hard time eating lunch by myself. Watching everyone laugh and chat while I sat alone… it hurt. Every day, for three years, I tried to join in. I really did. But no matter how hard I tried, I just… couldn't speak.'
"You know," Clark said, noticing her hands trembling more with each word, "you don't have to speak to communicate."
Komi paused and blinked, her expression puzzled. She slowly wrote a large "?" on the board and looked back at him.
Clark sighed. "There are people out there like you—people who have trouble speaking, or who physically can't. So they come up with other ways to communicate."
He adjusted his glasses. "Like ASL—American Sign Language. It's just signing with your hands. Watch."
He raised his hand in a four-finger salute from his temple and motioned outwards. "That means hello."
Then he touched his fingers to his chin and moved his hand toward her. "This means thank you."
Next, he placed his palm on his chest and circled it slowly counterclockwise. "And that one means please."
"You get the idea," Clark said, his voice easing into something a little more patient. "There's also Morse code—dots and dashes. Not everyone knows it, but it works in the right context. Hell, even what you're doing now, writing on the board—it's communication. We're having a conversation, aren't we?"
Komi stared at him with wide, glimmering eyes and nodded enthusiastically.
Then, with a hint of hope in her expression, she hesitant, unsure if she write what she wanted, but she closed her eyes and steeled her resolve, she wrote:
'Can you teach me more ways to communicate?'
Clark gave a small chuckle. "Sure. But fair warning—you shouldn't depend on them forever. Just long enough to feel comfortable. The goal isn't to hide from speaking. One day, you'll use your voice"
"I mean…" He smirked. "That meow earlier? Kinda cute."
Komi turned bright red, her entire body stiffening in embarrassment. She frantically erased what she had written and then scrawled across the board in giant, bold letters:
"PLEASE FORGET ABOUT THAT!!!"
Clark laughed. "Haha, gonna be hard to, not gonna lie."
And just like that, the tension broke. The two of them slipped into a more natural, flowing conversation—one built not on words spoken.
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