Chapter 57: Death By Suffocation

"Of course, we are. What made you think otherwise?" Arion replied as a matter of fact, but inwardly he felt that this shorty might be more perceptive than he thought.

Shun scratched his chin, "I don't know. When I saw you two hugging before, I just didn't get that sis-bro vibe, you know."

Arion crinkled his eyes, "I think you must have hit your head too hard when you fell. Are you sure, other than memory loss, you didn't suffer any other damage to your head?"

Meanwhile, Mei, who had come out from her room, took a peek at the hall to see Arion conversing with Shun.

But thinking about what happened before, she felt her heartbeat quicken again but somehow calmed herself down as she mumbled with a sigh, "Why did things have to be this way…"

It was soon night, and Arion had put on the new shirt and pants Mei had bought for him. His body was a lot bigger than when he was disabled, because of which he had to throw away all his old clothes.

After making sure he was ready, he came to the front door only to see Shun all dressed and ready with a crutch under his arm.

"Don't tell me you are coming," Arion asked as he gave a strange look at Shun.

"Apparently, I am feeling quite suffocated, staying inside all the time. So why not get some fresh air, especially when this whole ward invited me?" Shun asked with a smile.

"You...by the way, are you still injured or are you simply doing it to get some pity from these nice people? Aren't you a Defier?" Arion skeptically asked as he scanned him from top to bottom.

"Defier? There's a lot more to being a Defier than you think. I am very weak...I mean my body is weak so it will take some time to heal...cough…" Shun said as he took the pose of an aged man.

Arion narrowed his gaze as he extended a hand towards Shun's shoulder, "Let me see how injured you are."

"Whoops!" Shun acted as if he slipped and rotated a full 180 degrees as he came behind Arion, dodging his hand perfectly.

"See, sometimes even taking a simple step is so hard," Shun said with a sigh.

Arion wrinkled his brows and quickly pushed out his hand again to catch Shun. But Shun easily dodged him without appearing as if he was dodging on purpose.

Arion was surprised at how fluid and fast Shun's movements looked even when he was holding a crutch in his hand. It didn't even seem as if Shun was trying to dodge his hand and simply seemed as if he was accidentally slipping while walking.

"Ow, can you not trouble an injured person so much? I think I sprained an ankle, oof," Shun grumbled as he limped.

"You are one trickster. Hmph, I knew it. You are simply pretending to be injured to stay here and leech off from us. Isn't it time you get lost?" Arion didn't like a third wheel in the house where only he and Mei originally stayed alone.

After what happened this morning, he was quite worried by how Mei reacted to his 'confession' and wondered if she bro-zoned him or if she didn't quite catch his true feelings.

He desperately prayed that she doesn't bro-zone him because that would be one of the worst zones he could get in.

Shun spoke in a confused tone, "Trickster? My legs seem to not listen to my mind sometimes. So, isn't that a sign that I am injured? Besides, I don't plan to leech off from Miss Mei. I plan to leave this ward soon."

"Hmm, good," Arion couldn't feel happier about that fact.

"You two are ready?" Mei asked as she came out of her room.

Contrary to how the night was usually quiet and silent, today, there was some bustle in the Fok Grove Ward, especially in the backyard of Yaro's house.

For the past few days, the people had been deathly silent since they were mourning for the death of their loved ones who died in the recent surprise attack by the Dreadlings.

However, since Arion was saved and was not dead as they presumed, the people decided to hold a gathering to celebrate his survival since it was proof that he was a ray of hope among all the despair they had to experience the day the whole ward got attacked.

Almost everyone nearby was attending, and even Ina's father had decided to attend after being persuaded a lot, especially by the most senior figure in the ward.

The backyard of Yaro's house was filled with people, tables, and chairs with bright and beautiful decorations, including lights to highlight the whole area.

There was also a long table filled with plates and snacks while the smell of something delicious was wafting from the inside of the house, which was obviously from whatever Yaro was cooking.

When Arion arrived along with Mei and Shun, silence suddenly descended as people turned to look at him and kept on maintaining their gaze, making him feel a little awkward for getting so much attention.

Without any warning, a wave of people rushed towards him like a tide, surrounding him from all sides.

Mei moved aside with a smile and felt happy seeing how all these people were so concerned about Arion and how he had earned their goodwill all by himself.

"Arion, how are you?!"

"Are you feeling alright now? We have been so worried." 

"Thank almighty Alara that you are alive. You even look so handsome now!"

"I know, right! Look at him! So tall and strong. A miracle indeed!"

Suddenly a couple came forward, and Arion recognized them as Silvi's parents. They placed their palms over each other, forming a cross shape as they said, "We can't thank you enough for what you did that day. If it weren't for you, Cayden, Nena, and our Silvi might not have made it."

They then took out a case and placed it on Arion's palm by taking his hand.

Arion partially opened his lips but then closed, not knowing what to say since he was not used to such gestures of gratitude. He couldn't remember the last time he was shown gratitude or did anything to warrant it in his previous life.

All he got were curses and death threats for even existing and breathing.

Seeing him hesitate, Sana grabbed Arion's hand gently and said, "Don't feel shy about accepting this small gift. It's the least we can do to show you how happy and grateful we are for you saving our daughter. You deserve this and more."

Mei came forward and whispered in his ear, "Go ahead. Accept it. Otherwise, you will be making them feel bad."

Arion didn't show any hesitation any longer and quietly accepted it, making the couple beam. Silvi also came forward from behind and was a bit shocked to see a taller, handsome version of Arion.

She could hardly recognize that this was the same disabled and frail boy who always sat in a wheelchair. In fact, not only here, but everyone else had the same shock even if they saw his current form a few days back while some were seeing him for the first time.

Silvi also expressed her thanks along with Cayden and Nena, who quickly joined her. Alv somehow pulled Bari along, who expressed his gratitude with an apologetic face.

Arion felt a little bad for him since he knew that Bari didn't do it on purpose and must have been feeling very guilty when he was the indirect cause for his childhood friend's death.

And this meant that Bari was not yet ready to enter the world of Defiers since that would mean he would have to fight the Dreadlings.

But in this world or society, there was no choice for Bari since he was already born with a pranic heart. He will have to join the fight against the Dreadlings unless he wants to be treated as an outcast, including his own parents.

Another surprise came Arion's way as people suddenly began to shower him with gifts left and right. Arion barely had enough pockets to store away some of the smaller gifts, and everyone else had awkward expressions seeing that they should have given these gifts by visiting his house.

But each one didn't expect that everyone else would be bringing gifts as well, and Arion was astonished that some of these gifts looked expensive though he couldn't identify them.

"Are you all planning to bury him with gifts?" A woman's voice resounded from behind, and Arion recognized it easily and saw Yaro pushing her way through the crowd while everybody else hurriedly made way for her.

Finally, when she saw Arion standing before her, her eyes teared up a bit as she rushed towards Arion and pulled his head towards her bosom for a warm hug, making his face squeeze against her big and soft melons.

"Mmmh!!" Arion felt like he was going to die a pleasurable death by suffocating between her bosom.