Mimi versus...Monkey?

(A / N: Thanks to ReyKale for the amazing cover art!)

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Roshi and Mimi observed the monkeys ahead, who seemed to really enjoy the visit of the two. The monkeys were dancing and singing nonsense words.

Mimi found the dancing and singing really strange, as there was no pattern to the movements and no sense in the sounds they made; Roshi, however, seemed excited.

Roshi also began to dance and joined the monkeys.

Mimi, who from the beginning seemed to be on edge, lets out a long sigh.

''You know what? It's healthier not to think about it anymore, yes.'' Mimi decided with a confident nod.

She sits on the floor, closes her eyes and begins to meditate, trying to forget about the existence of Roshi and the monkeys that were dancing and singing.

After nearly half an hour, the monkeys finally stop, and Roshi laughs.

''Hohohoho! That was a great dance, my little friends! But I think it's time to....oh, Mimi?''

Roshi looks towards Mimi, who was sitting on the floor, and realizes that she was actually sleeping.

''Oho? Sleeping during training time? This requires a punishment! Hohoho!'' Roshi says with a malicious smile.

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After an indeterminate amount of time, Mimi, who was sleeping soundly, wakes up in a fright.

''Wha-! Eh? Ah! Oh...I fell asleep.'' She says in a groggy voice.

Mimi slowly stands up and stretches, then she looks up at the sky.

''It seems that I didn't slept for too long, the sky is still clear. But why is it so quiet?''

She looks around, and can't find any monkeys or her grandfather.

''How strange, he didn't come back without me...Right?''

A sense of fear began to manifest in Mimi's heart; she doesn't know the way back, and if that creature that had a deafening roar was still lurking around, then she's in serious trouble.

Careful not to make too much noise, Mimi starts walking tp look for Roshi.

''Grandpa...Grandpa! Where are you, you pervert old man!'' Mimi says almost in a whisper.

Looking for Roshi, Mimi looks up and suddenly, a few feet away from where she was, she sees a figure which passed with great speed among the bamboos.

She jumps back in fright and quickly gets into the Turtle School combat stance and looks around apprehensively.

The figure passed so fast she could barely see it.

The forest once filled with the sounds of animals and insects was now silent; the only sounds she could hear were the sound of the wind under the grass and the sound of her own breathing.

Beads of sweat began to appear on her forehead, and with every second she tensed up more.

She sees again out of the corners of her eyes the figure moving through the bamboos, and quickly turns in the direction she saw him.

Building up courage, she yells, ''Who's there?!''

The figure started jumping from bamboo to bamboo above Mimi with great speed, such that she could barely keep up with her eyes, and then the figure fell to the ground in front of her with a crash.

Looking at what the figure was, Mimi sighs in relief.

''Ook-ook! Eeek-aak-eek!''

It was one of the monkeys she had met before.

''Why, you naughty little monkey! Don't scare me like that!'' Mimi says with a relieved smile.

The monkey started hopping around with happiness, he seemed pleased to know that his prank of scaring Mimi had worked.

Seeing the mischievous monkey, Mimi shook her head, wondering what she had done to deserve such a day.

''You can understand me...Right? Do you know where my grandfather is?'' Mimi asked, not sure if the monkey understood her or not.

The monkey stops hopping and stares at her. In the next instant he falls to the ground and laugh heartily.

''W-What's the deal with you? Is my face funny or something?'' Mimi says confused.

Mimi notices something in the monkey's hand, which he was holding, and raises her eyebrow.

''Is that a brush pen? Where did he get that?''

Connecting the dots, Mimi thought of something not very pleasant.

'No....He didn't do what I'm thinking, did he?'

Being a girl, Mimi is vain about her appearance, and always carries around some objects in her uniform pockets, like a brush and bows to tie and bush her hair, and among these objects, she also carries a small mirror.

Mimi quickly takes her mirror out of her pocket and looks at the reflection of her face; immediately, in fury, veins popped in her forehead.

Her face was all scrawled, and in addition to the scribbles, she had drawns on her face, like a mustache, a monocle, a spiral eyebrow, and on her forehead there was written the kanji for 'Idiot'.

Mimi didn't even wonder if it was the monkey that drew these on her face, or how he knew Kanji, she was too angry to think about these things; for her, the pen was with the monkey, so it was his fault.

An ominous red aura surged around Mimi, and the monkey shivered.

She started to walk slowly towards the monkey, with each step forward that Mimi took, the monkey took a step back.

''He...Hehe...Hehehe! Come here little monkey, I just want...To skin you alive!'' Mimi said with a wild smile.

From the monkey's point of view, Mimi was looking like a demon from hell.

The monkey then turns around and starts to run away, hopping between the bamboos. Mimi, seeing the monkey fleeing, began to run after him.

''That's right, run! Hunting is more fun that way! Hahahaha!'' Mimi said with a maniacal laugh.

Mimi ran after the monkey through the forest, and after a few minutes, the monkey was slowing down.

'He is starting to get tired!' Mimi thought.

Seeing the opportunity, Mimi accelerates even more, and quickly approaches the monkey. Getting close enough, she jumps with open arms towards the monkey with a sinister smile.

''I got you now, you little bastard!''

Mimi closes her arms to grab and hold the monkey, but when she was going to grab the monkey, unexpectedly, the monkey jumps, stomps on her head, and using her head as a support, he jumps again, away from her.

''Eh?''

Confused by the monkey's unexpected speed, Mimi falls flat on her face.

''Eeek-aak-eek! Ooh! Aah-Aah!''

The monkey looks at Mimi, who was with her face on the dirt, and bursts out laughing. He had managed to trick Mimi for the second time.

Mimi stands up, even angrier than before.

She wipes the dirt off her face and mouth, and looks at the monkey; If one look could kill, the monkey would be dead already.

''You son of a bitch...! When I catch you, I swear I'll make you regret!!''

She kicks the ground and rushes towards the monkey; the monkey laughs, and again dodges Mimi who was trying to catch him.

And this time, in addition to dodging, he slaps the back of Mimi's head, causing her to almost fall again.

The two of them stayed in this game of tag through the forest for almost twenty minutes, until Mimi, tired, lies down on the ground.

''Why...huff....I can't...huff....Catch the fucking monkey!!'' She said while breathing heavily.

Mimi could spend hours running without getting tired with the stamina she's built up over the years in training, but just twenty minutes of this monkey tag game left her completely breathless.

She couldn't even touch the monkey, and not only that, but every time she got close to catch him, he made a fool of her and hit her, as if it were punishment for not being able to keep up with his movements and speed.

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High above on where they were, on top of a bamboo, was Roshi, who was watching his granddaughter and the monkey.

''Hohohoho! Twenty minutes is her limit, huh? I wonder how long it will be before Mimi manages to catch him. The way my granddaughter is a genius, it might take a day or two. And when she catches him, the real training will begin!''

He observes Mimi lying on the floor, tired, and then looks at the monkey, who continues to use the after-image technique that he had taught the monkeys for fun.

When Roshi saw the monkey use the technique for the first time, he was really surprised, Roshi didn't expect the monkeys to be able to master the technique.

After-Image is an advanced technique he has not yet taught Mimi.

''On second thought, I should have taught less techniques to the monkeys, they are at a level where they could easily fight competitors in the Martial Arts Tournament. It might take a little longer than I expect for Mimi to complete her fight training.'' Roshi commented as he scratched his beard.