good kid [ LEGO NINJAGO X LEGO MONKIE KID]

9.5: The Cursed Macaque [part 2]

  I woke up. My head hurt like crazy. I looked up, trying to find a certain black furred monkey. And I found him. He was sitting near my mattress, eyes closed. He lazily opened them when he noticed my stare on him.
  "How did you sleep?" Macaque asked. I smashed my face against the mattress.
  "Are you really ignoring what has happened yesterday?" I asked, my voice muffled against the mattress.
  He was quiet for a while before clearing his throat. "Either way, I got you something."
  I looked back at him, expecting breakfast, or maybe some sweets, or even a new shampoo or shower gel. Instead of anything like that, he was holding a small white box in his hands towards me.

  "What is that?" I got up and walked closer, sitting in front of Macaque. He smirked and put the box in my hands.
  "Open it." And so I did. Inside the box, a black screen held a reflection of me looking at it.
  "You got me a... Phone?? Why?" I asked, looking at Macaque.
  "Because I thought it'd come in handy for you. All your friends have phones so I though, huh, let's buy it to them too. Do you like it?"
  "I- I don't know. Thank you! But why now?" I questioned, grabbing the phone.
  "MK told me about how much you wanted to buy it yourself. However, since I had some extra money I've earned in the theatre, I thought it'd make a good gift." He shrugged. I was smiling before remembering everything that had happened yesterday.
  "No. I don't... Thanks, but... No." I put the phone back and gave the box to him. He was looking at me, confused. "I'm just your student after all. I shouldn't expect or accept expensive gifts from you."

  I got up and looked at the time. 8 AM. I should go to the shop. And so I did. I quickly changed, put my hair into a bun, bid the confused macaque a quick goodbye and by the time I got there, it was almost 9 AM.
  I sighed, leaning against a wall of the shop. Pigsy should come to open it soon. Maybe I could visit MK? No. I don't wanna see him. I shook my head before sitting down. A few minutes passed before Pigsy came around.
  "Huh? Hey there, kid. You're so eager to work you're here before the shop opens?" He asked, putting the key into the door. I stood up and nodded.

  "Well, that's good! Mei was trying to find you yesterday. Where have you been?" He questioned, finally opening the door. We both came inside. And I shrugged.
   "I was training with someone. You know, my wind powers and all." I said. Then, I grabbed my apron. "Will Mr. Tang come today?"
  "Hm? Why you asking?" Pigsy asked, looking at me from his own job.
  "I dunno, just... Thought I I'd ask him about some Monkey King stuff." I quickly replied before I sat down, since there wasn't really anything to do yet.
  "He should come. I mean, he's always here." Pigsy shrugged and gave his attention to his work. I hummed.

  The day was quite normal, a couple of customers came in before Mr. Tang showed up. He sat down on his usual seat and right before he could order anything, Pigsy stopped him.
  "You will actually pay today, right?" He asked, raising skeptically an eyebrow at the man. Mr. Tang nodded with a very serious expression before his usual lazy smile appeared on his face.
  "You know what I like." He shrugged and turned to me. "Hey. MK isn't here?"
  I shook my head. "Nah. Don't really know where he is. Don't wanna think about it either."
  "Hmm. Strange." Mr. Tang simply replied before Pigsy put a bowl of noodles in front of him.
  "Hey, Mr. Tang?" I asked as he hummed, assuring me he's paying attention to what I'm about to ask. "There's the Way of Immortality, right? The one Monkey King learnt?... How many of these 'Ways' are there?"
  "Hnmm. That's a good question. There's a Way of Silence, Way of the Magic Arts, Way of Sects, Way of Action... those are the ones Monkey King got offered to learn before learning the Way of Immortality." Mr. Tang explained and then slurping down some of the noodles. 
  "What about the Way of Shadows?" I asked. He looked at me, confused. 
  "Huh?"
  "Is that a thing? Was he offered to learn it?" I questioned, more urgently. He looked like he was thinking for a bit. 
  "No. Or, at least I've never heard of it." He shrugged. "Why? You have?" 
  "Uhm, no, not really. Just... thought it could exist."