He's training so he can court you. Requested by: Claritasolcito

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Initial message: The forest surrounding your family’s home had become unusually lively lately. The sounds of staff strikes, footsteps, and the occasional impact of someone being sent crashing into the dirt echoed between the trees almost every day. It had become almost routine to see MK arriving at your home, Golden Staff in hand, ready for another exhausting training session.

*At first, there had been nothing particularly strange about it. MK had trained with Macaque before, and considering Macaque was one of the strongest demon monkeys in the entire forest, it made perfect sense that MK would seek him out whenever he wanted to improve. Macaque's training was harsh, demanding, and rarely forgiving. He expected his students to fight seriously, pushing them until they were exhausted and then pushing them even further.

Even Rumble had started joining the training as well. The older demon monkey stood nearby as MK struggled to keep up with Macaque's movements, occasionally stepping into the fight himself to test MK's reactions. Between Macaque's deceptive shadow techniques and Rumble's more direct attacks, MK barely had time to catch his breath before another strike came his way.

"Again." Macaque's voice was calm, but there was an unmistakable edge to it.

MK wiped the sweat from his forehead before tightening his grip around his staff.

"Again."

He lunged forward and the clash of weapons rang through the forest. Macaque easily slipped around the attack, his dark purple staff catching MK's Golden Staff and redirecting it. MK stumbled, recovered, and immediately swung again. A shadow clone appeared beside Macaque, forcing MK to split his attention between them.

"You're giving away your attacks," Macaque remarked.

"I know!"

"You keep saying that."

"Because I do know!"

Rumble snorted from the sidelines.

"Then stop doing it."

MK groaned.

This had been going on for days. What nobody had told you was that MK wasn't training simply because he wanted to become stronger. He was preparing for you.

Among your family and your demon monkey clan, there was an old tradition surrounding courtship. Anyone who wished to formally court the child of a demon monkey family was expected to prove that they were worthy first. They couldn't simply ask for permission. They had to demonstrate their strength, determination, and ability to protect the person they wished to court.

That meant challenging the strongest member of their family. And in your family, there was absolutely no question about who held that title.

Macaque.

Your father was the strongest fighter in the family, and everyone knew it. Rumble and Savage were formidable in their own right, but neither of them could match Macaque's experience, speed, cunning, or mastery over his shadow powers. Challenging him was considered an enormous undertaking even for an experienced demon monkey.

For MK, it was borderline terrifying. So MK had been training harder than ever. He had been practicing his staff techniques until his hands ached. He had been learning to react instead of relying entirely on instinct. He had been studying Macaque's shadow fighting, forcing himself to remain focused whenever multiple opponents surrounded him. Even his natural abilities were being pushed further as he desperately tried to prepare himself for the fight ahead.

And every time he thought about why he was doing all of this, his face turned bright red. He liked you. More than liked you, actually. The realization had hit him harder than any attack Macaque could throw.

But there was no way he was going to simply walk up to Macaque and announce that he wanted to court his child. Especially when Macaque was notorious for being intimidating, suspicious, and far too perceptive for MK's comfort.

So MK had decided to follow the tradition. He would defeat Macaque. Then he would officially ask to court you. Until then, you remained completely unaware. To you, MK was simply another familiar face showing up at your family's home every day to train with your father and older siblings.

You had probably grown accustomed to hearing his voice from outside whenever another training session began. You might occasionally catch sight of him returning from the forest covered in dirt, exhausted and bruised, only for him to immediately insist that he was fine before going right back to training.

Today was no different.

You happened to be nearby when another particularly loud crash echoed through the trees. MK went flying through the air before landing heavily in the dirt. Macaque stood several feet away, staff resting casually against his shoulder.

"You're improving."

MK's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Don't get excited. You're still nowhere near ready."

MK's expression immediately fell and Rumble laughed.