21 Ray of Sunshine

Malachi awoke this morning at the top of the world.

For the first time since his parents died, he woke up with a full stomach.

He was sleeping in lavish sheets on a large and comfortable new bed and he'd even woken up in a gorgeous new home.

To top it all off, his confession to the woman he'd loved for years went successfully.

He'd never been so happy to be alive!

Is there a better way to wake up in the morning than with a smile, a good morning text from your beautiful girlfriend and a bank account full of money?

Aubrey of course noticed the way her brother was giddily walking around the house at breakfast but she assumed he was just excited for his first day of training at the guild.

What else could it be after all?

Upon leaving the house, Malachi found his steps were as light as a feather.

He drove to his first real job with a smile on his face the entire time.

Upon entering the guild building, he went directly to Luna's office where he found her drinking tea with a small white fox in her lap.

"Mornin' boss lady!"

Luna and her pet both looked up and stared at the cheerful young man who just entered the room and were momentarily stunned by his radiant smile and infectious demeanor.

"Morning Mal… are you that excited for your first day of combat training?"

"Hm? Ah, sure but isn't it such a beautiful day today? The kind that makes you grateful to be alive!"

Luna looked out the window to see a dark and cloudy sky with heavy rainfall.

"…Indeed it is."

"Right??"

Luna wondered what could be the reason for Mal's cheerful mood.

It was then that she remembered a picture that had been circulating online of him embracing a woman.

'Is that what this is?… Why does that tick me off so much?!'

Luna swallowed her rising irritation and stood up and prepared to leave.

"Hmph. Let's go, Rose will break you if you show up late."

'Although maybe I should have him show up late so she can knock some sense into him….'

Luna shook off the thought almost as quickly as it formed.

She didn't know why she was so irritated by the thought that Mal might be seeing someone but she couldn't let him intentionally be hurt just because of that.

As they left her office, Malachi noticed the change in demeanor of the mature woman.

'Is she having a bad day? Should I cheer her up somehow?'

-

Malachi was lead to a high tech training room where he saw an unfamiliar woman sparring with a familiar one.

Aisha was sparring expertly with a woman of about her height with twice her muscle.

Both women were sweating profusely yet did not seem to be showing any signs of slowing down.

The sound of their clashes reverberated off the walls and Malachi was in awe of the mastery being displayed.

He knew Aisha was a monster but because her fights had never been recorded, he didn't know just how skillful she really was.

'The gap between us.. I'll definitely close it.'

"Alright girls, come say hello." Luna finally made her presence known and the two women ceased their spar immediately.

Aisha hurriedly ran up to Malachi and the two did their signature handshake and he embraced her despite her sweatiness.

"Not bad. If I knew you had hands like that I wouldn't ever talked reckless to you."

The girl seemed overjoyed with such praise and it immediately went to her head. "Hmph! Does that mean you're going to start showing me the respect I deserve?"

"No? Who said that?"

Aisha's ego immediately deflated and she gave Malachi a dry look. "Cheeky bastard."

He chuckled before turning his attention towards the new woman who was approaching.

"Mal this is Rose Ortega, like myself she's a SS ranked blessed and she'll be your combat instructor." Aisha introduced.

"Nice to meet you." Malachi held out his hand and offered the woman a warm smile.

Instead of accepting it, Rose cocked her fist back and delivered Malachi a solid punch to the nose.

"Ow, fuck!"

Rose stood over the fallen Malachi and gave him a disdainful look.

"I thought our new recruit would be more promising but is this all you amount to?"

Aisha and Luna looked like this was well within their expectations.

Out of all of Immortal moon's members Rose was the most… eccentric.

The girls waited to see how Malachi would handle what had become sort of an unofficial initiation ritual for new members.

"What the hell…" Malachi groaned.

"Are you complaining with just tha-"

"You got a free shot, but I bet that won't happen again." He said, sounding somewhat annoyed as he stood up.

"Oh really?" Rose stared at Malachi as if he'd just said the most outlandish shit imaginable.

'Did I hit him too hard? Is he broken??'

'Yea… that's about the reaction I expected.' Aisha thought.

No one suddenly gets animal DNA magically inserted into their bloodstream and comes out of it without any signs of aggressiveness.

"Here go put these on before you start trying to even the score." Luna said as handed Malachi a pair of simple black sweat pants.

He took them, but his yellow eyes were still boring into Rose so intently that she had started to become uncomfortable.

"W-what kind of a weirdo are you!? G-get out of my face and go get changed!"

"Sure thing. Looking forward to my lessons, Ms. Teacher." He said ominously.

"Just call me Rose and go get dressed!!"

Malachi laughed as he walked off to go and get changed, leaving the group of women to stare at each other in confusion.

"Why is your friend so weird?" Rose asked Aisha.

"Don't ask me. He's extra cheerful today so maybe he likes you."

"W-what?!" Rose yelped.

"Or you could have just broken his psyche when you punched him. I told you to stop greeting people like that."

"I don't think it's either of those…" Luna took out her phone and showed them a picture of what was obviously Malachi embracing a curvaceous woman who's face they could not see.

"I'm back." Malachi changed into a pair of loose black sweat pants and had wrapped his hands and feet in black bandages.

He immediately noticed something was wrong when he saw the furious looks Aisha and Rose were giving him.

"You punk! How could you not tell me you're dating someone!?" Aisha was furious.

"Fuck that. Put your hands up, I don't want to cave your skull in on your first day." Rose was going to make him pay for embarrassing her.

For the first time today Malachi's mood was broken and replaced with a mild sense of fear.