Ship In A Bottle (A Monkie Kid Reader Insert)

Chapter 19: Stage Lights

Not much really happened during the race.

...Was what you wished you could say.

Instead, it escalated into some weird rivalry between Mei, MK, Red Son, and his parents. Even the race callers were straight up replaced by two other demons. What were their names again? Rin and Lin?

Hell if you know why Red and his parents weren't teamed up, or why they thought it was worth their time at all. Honestly, it reminded you of how unhinged you were when Red was chasing both you and MK the first time. Or you being left with a vehicle without adult supervision in general.

As much as you 'wanted' to de-escalate the situation, this is one of the rare times you get to just turn your mind off for once. And if anything bad did happen, Gibby's gut feeling would kick in. Speaking of said monkey, it was a weird situation you found yourselves in.

You were both watching a race, beside reincarnations of your old friends.

Heck, even Lily looked familiar.

The race ended with MK biting on the trophy for some reason, you secretly promising Lily to teach her how to pick locks, and Mei apparently getting a number from one of the racers. Which, in typical MK fashion, he didn't allow to slide without a bit of teasing.

Well, 'a bit' was an understatement.

Days went by, more demon fights happened, more performances for some of them as well, and that brings you to now.

"Wow, Bell! You're getting the hang of this!" Praised the scholar beside you as he waited for his order of noodles.

"A-are you sure?"

Causing your frustrations was the sheet of paper in front of you, filled with badly written characters, scribbled out botched attempts, and little doodles born from your occasional boredom.

Right on time, MK finished both of your orders, placing them in front of you before looking at your writing. Curious eyes scrunched up with an audible wince, before realizing what he did and stumbling to find more reassuring words.

"I mean- it's awesome looking! Did I hear something? No you didn't!"

"Real reassuring, MK." You deadpanned back, earning a slump of defeat from him as you crumpled the paper and threw it on the bin.

A drop of sweat rolled down Tang's head. "...Okay, maybe your writing can use a bit more work, but other than that, you're doing pretty good for a beginner!"

He then pulled his bowl closer to him before picking up a pair of chopsticks. "Class dismissed." He happily announced before slurping on the noodles.

You sighed, grabbing your own bowl before using chopsticks of your own. "I guess what I meant to say is...I have a lot going on in my mind right now, and...I think it's getting in the way of my Mandarin learning."

"Well I wouldn't say that." Tang spoke with food still in his mouth, much to the disgruntled Pigsy's limited patience from the kitchen. "I've tutored other non-Chinese kids with Mandarin before, and you ended up picking things up faster than most of them. I'd say you're doing pretty good for someone who just started two months ago."

He then sat his bowl back on the counter, swallowing the food in his mouth. "But if there's really something in your mind that you want to talk about..."

You stopped to think of what to say next. Your gaze drifted to the back of the kitchen, where Gibby curiously watched Pigsy cook while they converse. Something about adding some durian for a new noodle recipe, and Pigsy having long given up with saying no.