Chapter 21 If Alex could move right now, then he will do his best to punch that smirk off from Clint's smug face . Too bad he's already paralyzed . He and Alina could only let out groans of protest as they glared at Clint with their eyes . "Yo chill… it's just a joke!" Clint said as he raised his hands defensively . "Tsk, people these days can't even take a joke! What happened to our society?" " . . . . . " "Well anyway, congratulations! Both of you defeated a Class SS Intruder, and this guy…" Clint said as he looked at the headless corpse of the old kid . "This kid was sent by that sleazy bastard, right?" Clint suddenly seethed with rage as he began to trample on the headless corpse . "You . F**king . S**t!" Clint enunciated each word with anger with every kick that he made on the corpse . "You . Dare . Spy . On . My . Niece? You . Really . Are . Pushing . It! If . It . Were . Not . For . My . Restriction . I . Would . Have . Been . The . One . That . Killed . You!" If Alex could wince, he could have done so by now . As for Asteria, she could only look at the raging Clint with worship as she muttered, "Wow, this guy looks scary as hell . " "Hooo…" Clint let out a deep breath as his smug smile returned . "Now I am refreshed . " " . . . . " ******************* What happened after that was all a blur . Clint called the majority of his gang to help on the rescue and retrieval operations of the people in the battle area . As for Alex and Alina, they were brought back by Clint to his house . They were then placed on two beds to accommodate their current state . "So, these two will stay paralyzed for 12 hours?" Natasha muttered as she looked at the paralyzed Alina . Natalia, who was standing beside her mother, suddenly giggled as she said, "Mommy, we can play dress-up with Big Sis Alina! She cannot stop us now!" "Yes, she can't stop us right now . " Both Natasha and Natalia grinned as they approached Alina with a scary glint in their eyes . " . . . . . " Alina tried to use her Esper Ability, but even that was also restricted by her paralysis . "There's a lot of dresses that I have bought for you Alina…" Natasha said in a sickly sweet voice . "It will be a waste if you don't wear it, right?" " . . . . " "I'll take that silence as yes . " Natasha said as she and Natalia brought Alina out of the room . "Dress-up? Now I want to see that too . " Asteria declared as she flew out of the room . With those three women leaving, Alex realized that he was now all alone in the room . Realizing that he has to spend 12 hours staring at the same piece of ceiling, Alex wondered if buying that Star-Crusted Dagger had been worth it . " . . . …" ************ 16 hours later . Right now, both Alex and Alina had recovered from their paralysis . Sounds of clacking utensils could be heard as the two of them were eating along with Clint and his family . Alina was looking down on the floor as she ate while Alex tried to not look interested . The reason for their strange behavior right now was caused because of a certain mother-daughter duo . "Oh, this one is cute…" Natasha and Natalia giggled as they both looked at the pictures in their camera . They spent the first 4 hours of Alina's paralysis playing dress-up with her . They stopped after that time because they could feel the intense glare that was coming out of Alina . But that 4 hours of dress-up provided Natasha and Natalia a lot of good materials . "Alex, don't you want to see some of Alina's pictures?" Natasha crooned as she began to swing the camera at Alex's direction . "You know, I had her wear this cowboy shorts with knee-high socks…" "Let me see that!" Alex blurted as his head swiveled towards the camera . But he was forced to lower his head as Alina gave him the death glare . "Hmph, what is so good about legs?" Asteria muttered angrily as she saw Alex's reaction . "They are just used for walking!" "You will never know their wonders…" Alex thought to himself as he gave an apologetic smile at Alina . "Oh come on, can you just tease Alina about her pictures later? We are still eating here…" Clint said as he wolfed down his food . Alina, who was the main subject of this conversation, had her head lowered more with her ears tinged red with embarrassment . After a few minutes of eating, Clint suddenly let out a sigh as he looked at Alex . "Alex . " Clint's face suddenly turned grave while looking at Alex . "I need to talk to you and Alina later . " "Okay . " Alina ignored her embarrassment as she and Alex wore grave expressions on their faces . Everyone on the dining table continued eating quietly, as if their moods were affected by what Clint said . **************** "You two were nearly killed there . " Clint said as he rubbed his forehead wearily . "I know that you wanted to delay the lizard long enough so that it won't kill a lot of people . But seriously? You actually fought him by yourselves only?" "Well regarding that master-" Alex was about to say something, but Clint raised his hand to interrupt him . "I know what you are going to say Alex . " Clint said as he gave Alex a glare that effectively shut him up . "You are telling me that because of that dagger of yours, you two can deal with that lizard easily . But were you able to fight against that lizard easily?" " . . . … . " Alex and Alina did not reply, as they knew the answer . "Alina had her stomach slashed open by that lizard . " Clint said as rage smoldered in his eyes . "It was a good thing that I gave her a High-Grade Healing Stock at that time . As for you Alex, even if you were not injured, you were almost killed by that kid . " "I know that Alina has the responsibility to fight those Intruders, but Alina, you must also choose your fights . " Clint said as he gave Alina a soft look . "I know that you are doing all of these for your sister, but if you overdo it…" "What I do for my sister is my decision alone . Its not like you can help me out anyway . " Alina blurted out as she marched out of the room . Her body was trembling, as if she was trying to contain all for her emotions right now . Before leaving the room, she looked back at the two as she said, "Don't follow me . " The door closed with a slight bang as Alina left the house . "You . Go follow her . " Clint said as he pushed Alex forward . "But she said that we should not follow us!" Alex hissed in reply . Upon hearing this reply, both Clint and Asteria shook their heads in disappointment . "If a girl says that you should not follow her, that just means that you should follow her . " Clint said while Asteria nodded in agreement . "But…" "I am already married, Alex . " Clint said as he stared at Alex . "You should trust my advice . Trust me, you won't regret it . " "Ok…" Alex replied uncertainly as he bounded out of the house . At the instant that Alex left, Natasha entered the room . Both Clint and Natasha gave tired smiles at each other as they said, "Teenagers . " **************** It did not take Alex that long to trace Alina's tracks . Even without using his Esper Ability, Alex could recognize a set of tracks that could only belong to Alina . He followed this track closely, and after 10 minutes of walking, he saw Alina huddling inside a dilapidated building . Alex started to approach the hut slowly, with him making sure to not make any noise . But it seems like he was still detected as Alina's head swiveled in his direction . " . . . …" Alex's breath was taken away as he realized that Alina has removed her mask . He has no words to use to describe what he was seeing right now . Alina's face was like a finely sculpted piece of jade, both beautiful and attractive . Her bright eyes, thin nose, and cherry lips made her beauty extremely ephemeral . Only Asteria's beauty can match the beauty that Alex is seeing in Alina . But that was not all that Alex could see . He could also see two streams of tears flowing down from Alina's eyes . Her nose was slightly puffy, and there are some sobbing sounds coming out of Alina's mouth . Alex stopped in his spot awkwardly as he realized that the cold beauty Alina is crying . "Well, she has been through a lot…" Alex thought to himself as he remembered everything about Alina's situation . She had been forced to do almost anything for her sister, and her extremely slow progress has been extremely frustrating to her . For someone as young as her to carry this heavy burden Is just unfair . It is already impressive that Alina was able to hang on until now . "Why did you follow me?" Alina said as she wiped away the tears with her forearm . This action of hers looked both sad and adorable to Alex . Alex's heart began to ache, as he could not help but feel sad for Alina too . " . . . . . " Alex knew that anything that he will say right now will just rile Alina up, so he decided to answer her through his actions . Alex approached Alina quickly before enveloping her in his hug . "She's so warm…" Alex thought to himself as Alina's soft and lithe body was pressed against his . Her perfume, which smelled like jasmine, began to tickle Alex's nose . Her hair smelled extremely fragrant too, and Alex had to do his very best to not sniff her hair right now . Alina tried to struggle out of Alex's hug, but Alex held on as he whispered to her, "You did great Alina . Nobody is blaming you for what happened . We all support you…" Alina's tremblings began to slow down as Alex continued whispering encouraging words to her . In the end, she began to hug Alex back as she cried loudly in his chest . Alex ignored the wet feeling in his clothes as he patted Alina's back . Asteria, who saw everything that happened, could only rub her nose in incredulity as she said, "Congratulations for raising your first romance flag, Traveler . " " . . . … . . "
