It was a rainy day. The world looked gray and gloomy as the sound of the heavy rain echos in a dark alleyway.

"Please! We give up!"

There it can be seen a young man in a hoodie beating up a bunch of thugs. He stared at one of the thugs and said in an eerily cold voice.

"Get out of my face"

The young man's face was devoid of emotion  but the atmosphere he was giving off was that of a demon.

"Hiiic!"

The thugs ran away as if they have seen a monster. The young man was left alone in the cold alley way. Only the sound of the rain remained. He stood there eyes closed as if remembering a distant memory.

"Bro!"

Two kids called the young man and ran towards him. He looked at the two and started to calm down a bit.

"Bro, why'd you start beating up those guys all of a sudden? We just got out of the convenient store when me and Alice saw you suddenly started running towards the alley like a mad man. What's up with that?"

One of the kids asked.

"...It was nothing Cody. Just reminded me of something in the past I wanted to forget."

The young man replied with a forced smile as if he was trying his best to hide the heavy emotions he was feeling.

"You could've called us you know! Could've given those guys my two cents!"

Cody boasted.

"Really now? I saw you shivering in fear while peaking inside the alleyway. If you got caught up in that fight you'll be giving them more than your two cents"

Alice replied in a teasing tone.

"I was preparing for the fight! Absorbing them chakras and shit. I was shivering from overwhelming fighting spirit! Fortunately for those guys bro let them go just when I was about done. If bro hadn't been so forgiving, they could've gotten a taste of my FIST OF FURAY!"

As Cody tries to make up some nonsense excuses, the young man laughed.

"Pfft! Hahahaha!"

The young man looked at the two as his eyes started to show some light.

"Thanks you two, I needed that."

The two smiled at each other as they see the young man's mood getting better.

[https://imgur.com/iXXqVbe][https://i.imgur.com/iXXqVbe.png]

"Glad to see you cheering up, you had us worried there. The look on your eyes was so scary I thought you were someone else."

"You don't have to worry about that Alice. I'm back to my old lovable and charming self. Oh, and I kept telling you guys to stop calling me bro, gives me the chills."

"Alright bro"

"Glad to hear that my two little underlings are such good boys and gals that properly listens to their leader, if they weren't, oh dear, they would be getting a taste of my FIST OF FURAY!"

"Ri-right... Zack"

"Good"

Zack said with a smile. He then looked at the sky and saw that it had started to get dark.

"We should head back, it's getting late"

***

As the rain started to get worse, the three entered an old abandoned building.

"Hey Cody, can you start a fire. Its so cold in here."

"On it"

As the two were chatting, Zack looked at the ceiling and frowned.

"Guess I'll need to start covering the cracks again"

The building was cold and dark, the walls were covered in various vandelism and there were some debris littered around. It was not a place one could consider lving comfortably in. But it was the only place the three can call home.

"Let me have a look at what you guys bought. You did buy this right?"

"Of course br- Zack! Like you said, no more stealing"

"That's right! We bought this with your own hard earned money"

The two boasted

"Good, although I don't know how to feel about you guys being so proud about spending my hard-earned money. That's good to hear nonetheless, my little gold diggers"

Zack said with a smirk and the three started laughing. The laughter continued as the three started eating. Although the floor was chilling cold, the ceiling was leaking and the noise from the rain was getting louder. The warm and lively atmosphere of the three permeates throughout the entire building. It was as if the cold and eery building had become a warm and comfy home.

After Zack finished his meal, he looked at the two with a serious expression.

"Guys... I have something to say"

"Yeah? What's up?"

Cody replied while he ate.

"I quit my job."

The two stopped eating and looked at Zack with a shocked expression. The two were silent so Zack continued.

"I got into another fight with one of the guys at work. It was a petty provocation but my hot headed personality got the better of me"

After hearing what Zack had to say, the two tried to find a way to reassure him.

"Th-that's alright bro! You'll be able to find a better job. Hopefully one with less shitty people!"

"Cody's right! Um... Are those the guys you were beating up earlier?"

Zack's eye started to lose some light as he remembered the scene before he started beating up the thugs at the alley.

"....no, they were different and it was also for a different reason. Me being in a foul mood must've played a big role, but they were not related to the guys at work"

The two nervously looked at each other as the atmosphere started getting heavier.

"H-how about we move past that and started talking about something else."

"Ri-right, let's start talking about me and my chakras!"

"Y-yeah! Let's talk about Cody and his PISS OF FURAY!"

"It's FIST OF FURAY!"

"Doesn't look like it considering how you were shivering back there."

"It was my overwhelming fighting spirit!"

"More like overwhelmed bladder"

"Pfft! Hahahahaha! PISS OF FURAY! Hahahahaha!

The two started to calm down and looked at Zack with gentle eyes as he rolled on the floor laughing. And thus the warm atmosphere once again returned to the cold and dark abandoned building the three calls home.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The sound of the rain started to get lighter as the three prepared to go to sleep. The two were able to sleep soundly but there was one who was having a hard time trying to sleep. The young man opened his wallet and took out a four leaf clover and recalled the conversation they had at "work".

[We almost lost our fucking lives and you're worried about a fucking leaf! Let me see tha-]

[DON'T TOUCH IT!]

[*smirk* You think you can scare me? Hey guys this kid's got alot of nerve.]

[I wouldn't do that if I were you]

[You guys are actually scared of this scranny kid?]

[FUCK OFF!]

[Piece of shit kid. Didn't your parents teach you any manners? Probably not. just like you, I bet they were also pieces of shi-]

[BAM!]

At that time, Zack blacked out. and once he finally gained consciousness, he saw the bloodied face of the man staring at him with eyes filled with pure terror.

'Ugh I really have to start getting my temper under control.'

*Sigh*

Zack looked at the face of the two sleeping kids and made a gentle smile.

'Maybe I should also finally change my line of work and start applying for a real job'

And with that thought, Zack finally fell asleep.

***

Zack slowly opened his eyes and what greeted him was the sound of the birds chirping and a refreshing breeze. He got up and did some light stretching then decided to walk around for a bit. as he was walking, he saw Cody outside reading a comic book with the title "Red Dragon: The Ultimate Magician" while drinking a smoothie.

'That rascal must've hidden it in his jacket so I wouldn't see it'

*Sigh*

After Cody saw that he was being watched he quickly hid the comic book and started whistling nervously. Zack smiled at the sight of him clumsily trying to hide the fact that he bought something unnecessary after being given clear instructions to only buy what's essential.

Cody started nervously sweating more as Zack slowly approaches him. He found it cute how desperate he was at trying to hide the comic book, it was like his mom had accidentally walked in his room while he was reading a porn mag or something.

'Not that I would know the feeling of that of course... *sniffle*'

As Zack tried to hold himself back from crying after looking back at memory lane. He soon arrived near Cody and asked him a question.

"Hey, what you got there?"

"A smoothie?"

'Did this kid really hid the comic book and not the smoothie? Did he really think a smoothie is an essential item? Or maybe he just forgot to hide it. Judging by the look on his face, it must be the latter'

Cody had a look on his face that looked like someone suddenly realizing they just fucked up. Zack was trying his hardest to stop himself from bursting out of laughter and tried calm himself down.

"Ahem... didn't I tell you to buy only the essentials? I'll let it go this time as long as it's just this ONE item. It is just this ONE item right?"

Zack said with a smirk. Cody continues to sweat more and smiles nervously as he tries to find an excuse.

"O-of course br-Zack, have I ever lied to you before?"

"You have"

Zack said with a straight face.

"And your oh so forgiving heart has given this fool a second chance to redeem himself. By the way, is it just me or do you look more handsome than usual?"

"Now that you mentioned it, I do feel more handsome than usual."

Zack decided to play along as he found it really amusing and continued his teasing.

"No more lying okay Cody"

"Of course"

"Didn't I just said no more lying"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Cody's eyes started darting left and right as he smiles nervously.

"Don't 'Huh? What do you mean' me, I saw what you were hiding"

"I don't know what you're talking about"

"Really now? I only saw a glimpse of it but I know what was going on, a kid like you shouldn't be reading that kind of stuff at your age. And you were even reading it out in the open. How daring!"

"IT ISN'T THAT KIND OF BOOK!"

Cody exploded from embarrassment with his face as red as a tomato.

"Gotcha"

***

After Cody's confession, Zack started reading the comic.

"Is this the source of your nonsense talk lately? Fire Fist? Heaven Slash? Volcanic Meteor? I honestly don't understand half of the mumbo jumbos written here. Can't they be a little more practical in naming their techniques? Like, Generic Fireball 1 or Generic Fireball 2. But hey, it's flashy, I'll give it that."

"Get off me!"

"Also, they're magicians, can't they be more creative with how they fight? But I guess if it was me I'll probably do the same. Hell, I'll probably run in headfirst without a plan in mind."

"I said get off me!"

Zack was leisurely reading the comic while sitting on top of Cody. Zack looked down at Cody with a frown and started lecturing him.

"Do you know how much money you wasted?  If you keep this up the only dish I'll be able to serve you is a knuckle sandwich"

"I'm sorry, I'll never do it again"

"Now where have I heard that before?"

"It's different this time"

"That also sounds familiar"

Cody had a face that looked like he was about to cry. When Zack saw this he started to give in a little.

'Didn't know I was this weak against children'

*sigh*

"Alright, I'll forgive you. But just because the Comic was pretty entertaining and because you called me handsome."

"Really!?"

"Also, you have to help out more around the house"

"Deal!"

At that time, Alice walked outside and saw the strange scene in front of her. When Zack saw her, he gave her a beaming smile and said

"Congratulations Alice! Your brother just got demoted to your personal slave!"

".....huh?"

And with that, their usual days continued