Unlike everyone else, Mal hadn't actually noticed that he'd changed.
If he had to put how he was feeling into words he'd say... relaxed.
As if all of his worries that had been bogging him down for so long were finally put to bed.
While he wouldn't say that sex with Sei was solely to blame for his change in attitude, the reality was that it did have a rather sizable impact.
Suddenly everything that had ever occurred before the moment they lay down together no longer mattered.
The only thing of any importance to him now was that he continue to experience that same dreamlike bliss that he felt this morning.
Not solely because of the sex, but because of the dreamlike bliss he felt from doing nothing but loving and being loved.
He had to protect this happiness and sense of peace with everything he had.
Leading him to make another decision regarding his future.
'There is no way in hell I can stay in service to the dark angels.'
No man wants to live his life under the thumb of someone else.
And naturally, Malachi was not an exception to this rule.
He had yet to receive any contact from the shadowy organization and did not know when to expect them.
But whenever they did contact him, he had already decided that he would utilize everything he had solely for the goal of escape.
He would carry out orders like a good little soldier for the time being, while also simultaneously looking for a way to free himself.
'Or maybe I can just wait for those supposed 'worse things' to wipe them all out for me.' He thought with a chuckle.
Bang!
Due to Malachi's lapse in concentration, he received a swift kick in the chest from Aisha that nearly knocked the wind out of his body.
"Don't lose focus!" She mocked casually.
"Damn, that was nice." He admitted. "But you know I always have to get my lick back!"
Executing a sweeping low kick, Aisha naturally jumped to avoid it and fell right into his trap.
With lightning enhanced reflexes, Malachi launched another kick from below right into his opponent's stomach, sending her flying back a few feet.
She hit the ground with a thud and took her time getting back up, signaling Mal's victory in their spar.
Wanting to gloat a bit, he innocently stood over the sprawled out Aisha and smiled down at her proudly.
"Looking a little fragile down there, Aisha. Was I too rough?"
For some reason, she found him to be significantly more annoying today than he normally was.
So naturally, she had to get him back just a bit, right?
"If this is your idea of rough then I'm sure Sei was bored beyond belief last night." She replied with an evil smile.
Almost immediately, a vein began to bulge in Malachi's forehead and he held up his hand that was already crackling with black lightning.
"Good joke. Want your reward?"
Suddenly Aisha was no longer laughing and she slowly began to crawl backwards on the ground.
"W-Wait Mal, I was just joking! I'm sure you're a certified sex machine and I- KYAAA!!"
Initially, Mal was only planning to threaten her a bit before letting her go.
But her horribly aggravating apology earned her a small shock of 4,000 volts of electricity.
After Aisha was sufficiently energized, Malachi saw that her appearance had taken a rather noticeable alteration.
Pinning her down with his foot, he immediately pulled out his phone and began taking pictures of her electric new hairstyle.
"You look like a little dandelion!"
"I'll kill you, Saint!"
"Not if I make a wish that you won't."
"GAAAAHHH!"
Luna chose that moment to walk up to the pair with Rowan following closely behind.
"Alright you two, that's enough for the day."
Luna briefly glanced at Aisha who was still on the ground fuming and could not help but find that she resembled her magical beast after being dried off from the bath.
Before she knew it, she was also taking out her phone to get a picture or two.
"Lady Luna, why?!"
"I'm sorry Aisha, you're just so cute like this." She said through a snicker.
It took a few more minutes for Malachi to let Aisha up and once she was she immediately went on the warpath.
Unfortunately for her, her target was a rather nimble man with the ability to teleport.
Before Aisha could repay Mal for the humiliation she'd suffered he was sinking into the shadows at his feet and waving goodbye.
"I'll play with you later, Aish. I've gotta head home and show Aubrey these pictures real quick."
"MALACHIII!!!!"
"Toodles."
With a final teasing goodbye, Mal had left the training center and left behind Aisha, Luna, and Rowan.
"Arghhh I'm going to kill him! He thinks he can treat me like this just because he's finally getting some?! I'll turn him into a eunuch!"
'Knew it.' Rowan thought in satisfaction.
'Damn it... I knew it was true.' Luna thought in annoyance.
While she was the one who suggested that they take things at a slower pace, that didn't mean that she didn't want to be with him as well.
But unlike Sei, Luna had quite a bit of baggage that she needed to sort out first.
She did not want to taint a new relationship with unpleasant ghosts from her past.
As she left the training room with Rowan in tow, she silently lamented the fact that she was still being weighed down after all of this time.
Why did healing have to have such a stringent process?
-
After heading home to embarrass Aisha and indulge in Sei a bit more, he dropped his girlfriend off at home before heading off to college.
As he strode casually to his class, his relaxed yet confident steps attracted the attention of anyone he walked past.
Although he himself remained oblivious to this fact.
Making his way to his classroom, he found his seat next to Serana and gave her a calm friendly smile.
"What's good Ser-"
"Man whore." She responded coldly.
Unprepared for the sudden hostility, Mal blinked his eyes several times in confusion before realizing a potential cause.
In their passionate excitement, Mal and Sei had casually left their clothes on the living room floor for almost an entire day.
No doubt Serana had seen them and likely been traumatized as a result.
"Ah...Sorry?"
"Fuck off."
In the end, he had to make a promise to buy her lunch for the next month and introduce her to Ryo Amaki before she calmed down.
Although, Mal still felt like she was holding on to some inner hostility but ultimately he had no proof.
When the professor walked in, class finally began and he started it off with announcing Mal's worst nightmare.
"Alright guys, it's project time. This is worth 40% of your grade so you'll have to do your best, alright? Or don't and take my class again. It doesn't really matter to me; I'll get paid either way."
Just when Malachi thought things couldn't get any worse, Dr. Andrews proved that they very well could.
"You'll be working in randomized pairs for this assignment so I'll call out the names and then begin explaining the details of your assignment."