True to her word, Sei had allowed Malachi to take her and her daughter to the mall and purchase whatever they needed.
Both girls received new wardrobes, in addition to some miscellaneous items like a new phone for Sei and a bed and tv for what would become Serana's room.
"I want a VS5 too!" She asked excitedly.
"No." Mal denied swiftly.
"E-Eh?! B-But I lost my old one in the fire..." Serana put on her most pitiful puppy dog eyes for added effect and it appeared to be working.
Mal glanced at Sei for confirmation and when she shook her head no, Serana received a hard flick on the forehead.
"Ow!"
"Nice try."
Serana shot her mother a betrayed look only to receive an unbothered chuckle in return.
As Mal spoke to the cashier to finalize the details of the delivery, their additional guest Anna found herself unable to take her eyes off his back.
Serana soon came to her side, nursing a small red spot on her head where Mal had flicked her. "Can you believe that brute? Treating a dainty thing like myself that way!"
Anna chuckled in response and decided not to tell her that she wasn't actually delicate herself.
"He must do this kind of thing a lot, huh?" Anna asked as she watched Mal swipe his card without a care in the world.
"Hit me? Yea and I'm starting to get real fucking-"
"N-No, not that." Anna said a she tried to hold in a laugh. "I mean spend thousands of dollars before noon."
She had never seen anything like this.
Mal had taken the girls to various clothing stores, a mattress store, and now they were inside of a place that sold electronics.
And he was STILL asking Sei if there was anything else she needed.
"Oh, that? No, this is pretty new, Mal's usually a cheap bastard."
Once again, Anna was so surprised by a revelation that she nearly fell onto her face.
"Y-You're kidding, right? He almost bought you a brand new console a second ago!"
Once again, Serana's cheeks puffed out as she remembered how close she was to getting that gaming system. "I know, right? But of course my mom had to snitch and ruin-"
"Please focus..." Anna said as she rubbed her temples. "How can he be a cheap bastard if he just took your mom into a luxury clothing store twenty minutes ago?"
Serana was filled with irritation as she recalled how Mal had taken her mother to shop in Lucci and made her look inside of Fap.
The young girl let out a frustrated sigh as she glanced at the backs of Mal and her mother.
"Well, Mal spent so long without any money that he has a lingering fear of not having any, so he can be really reluctant to spend money on himself.
Most of the nice things he has are things that Aisha bought him. But when it comes to himself he's normally pretty reluctant to spend more than forty dollars."
Suddenly, Serana realized that Mal had not complained even once about the amount of money they were spending.
He let the two of them shop freely, and bought them whatever they asked for without batting an eye.
For the first time, she understood just how much she and her mother meant to him.
He had stuffed down his fear of poverty all for the goal of making the girls smile again and feel at home while they were staying with him.
There weren't very many who would offer to do such a thing, which only made Malachi's enthusiasm during this ordeal all the more touching.
While Anna was still in a daze from learning about Malachi's unexpected money habits, Serana made a surprising maneuver.
Just as Malachi prepared to leave the store with two hands filled with bags, two slender arms suddenly wrapped around his midsection from behind.
He immediately knew the culprit was Serana, although this unexpected action had left him horribly confused.
'A suplex? Is she that mad I didn't get her the damn console?!'
But unlike what Mal expected, Serana had much kinder and gentler motives.
"Thank you Mal... I really appreciate everything you're doing for us."
Malachi relaxed considerably and let out a small laugh.
"Didn't think you had these kinda manners in you. Maybe you are your mother's daughter after all."
"Don't push it fuckface."
"Hahaha!"
As Sei looked at this heartwarming scene, her mind was once again flooded with unease and guilt.
She clenched her hands behind her back as she tried her best not to show how distraught she felt inside.
'Keep it together… I shouldn't ruin this for him.'
After leaving the store, Malachi glanced around the expansive shopping mall to decide their next steps.
Ignoring the small crowd of people that was following him discreetly, he figured that they had purchased just about everything the girls would need.
Fishing in his pocket, he casually tossed his keys to Anna.
"Catch."
"W-Why're you giving me these?"
"Can you and Serana bring the car around? Sei and I will meet you guys in a second." He handed the bags in his hand to Serana and she took them with some difficulty.
Both Anna and Serana stared hard at the keys in her palm as if they were contemplating going on a joyride.
Eventually, the girls walked away from the couple while giggling madly and whispering between themselves.
Normally, Mal would have stopped them and taken his keys back but he currently had more pressing matters to deal with.
He just said a silent prayer that they didn't destroy his precious car.
"Alright, out with it."
At his side, Sei made a surprised expression that quickly turned into a forced smile.
"W-What do you mean honey?"
"Y'know, at first I thought that you were still upset about your home, but no matter how much I watch you, I keep feeling like there's something I'm missing."
Knowing she'd been caught, the mature beauty was temporarily frozen as she wondered what she should do.
After a moment of deep thought, Sei decided she could not hold onto the secret anymore and pulled Malachi into a nearby bathroom away from prying eyes.
Once the two were inside, she leaned against the wall and gave him a rather fragile look.
"S-Shrink…"
Mal immediately understood her demand and transformed into a small black cat that Sei immediately took into her arms.
She began to squeeze him lightly while pressing him against her chest to calm her raging heartbeat.
"I did something awful… I… have been lying to you about how the fire started. It… wasn't electrical."
Malachi hadn't expected for this to be the focus of their discussion, but he did not comment and allowed her to get everything off her chest.
"The fire department… they said that it started because someone threw a bottle through the window…
T-The police are still investigating so we don't know who did it but I'm sure that they'll find whoever did this a-and I'm sorry for not telling you sooner…"
Within her arms, Malachi was trying his best to control his anger.
His mind was embroiled within a storm of emotions, but he had to stuff those down for the moment and ensure that Sei was okay.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Malachi asked as gently as possible.
He wasn't upset with Sei for keeping this from him, but he was curious about her reasoning behind it.
Sei took a deep breath and began petting Mal's fur to calm herself down.
"I-I knew that you would want to find whoever was responsible, b-but I didn't want you to get angry on my behalf."
"Then what do you want?" He asked calmly.
Sei placed Malachi back on the ground and allowed him to go back to his true appearance.
She flung herself into his arms and a steady stream of tears began to fall from her face.
"I just want you to stay beside me and protect me! S-Someone tried to burn my house down a-and I don't even know why! I'm scared honey!"
As Sei let herself be vulnerable within Malachi's arms, he understood why she didn't want to tell him before.
His reaction would have been terrible, and he would have torn the entire city apart while looking for the culprit.
No matter the consequences.
But what Sei needed the most wasn't an avenger, it was a protector.
While the difference might not seem very large, the two were like heaven and earth.
"You don't have to be scared, I promise. I've got you, okay?"
Sei nodded shyly in acceptance, and the two brought their lips together in a warm embrace that contained all of their longing and affection.
It seemed like the two were going to stay like that forever, until Mal suddenly broke their kiss and made a concerned face.
"Honey? What's the matter?"
Before Mal could answer, Sei heard it for herself.
The sound of screaming coming from outside.
Suddenly, a blaring alarm triggered throughout the mall, and Mal knew right away his suspicions were correct.
"There's been a gate break."