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Imaginary Shadow Dad)Ch.7: Anger

—☆—

Notes: Get ready to see the badass good boy! Trust me though, there is an explanation for his behavior. He’s just a bit more agro than canon Mk, but he’s still wholesome and a little bean!:3 Also, uncle Sandy>:3 He has a therapy degree.

—☆—

Territorial Monkey

Pigsy was startled when the school called in the middle of his work day, forcing him to take an early lunch and see what was wrong. Tang was probably in the middle of a lecture at the time, so it wasn’t likely that he’d be able to join in. He arrived at the school and made his way to the principal’s office, seeing his son squatting on the chair with his feet supporting his ass. “Ah. You must be Xiaotian’s father. Please, take a seat.” The man at the desk said, a stern gaze causing the pig to stiffen up.

He sat down and glanced at Mk, who was still refusing to sit like a person. “What did you do?!” Pigsy whispered, making the little monkey flinch and avoid his glare.

“Nothing he didn’t deserve.” The boy whispered back, keeping his glare on the carpet.

The principal cleared his throat, stopping the demon from questioning his kid further. “Xiaotian bit another kid today.” The condescending man glared at both of them, seemingly blaming Pigsy just as much as Mk. “According to him, the kid tried to steal his lunchbox and, “got too close”.”

“What?!” The pig exclaimed in shock, before hearing the low growl his son gave to the authority figure.

“What else was I meant to do!?” The kid suddenly looked like he was about to leap across the table and attack the principal. Knowing his son, he was perfectly capable of it too. “I gave him one bite of it last year, and now he won’t stop pestering me about it when I say, “no”!” Mk slammed his hand against the chair and made the whole thing creak- Wait, what the fuck?!

How was his son that damn strong?! Was tree climbing really that good for the upper body? “You should have approached a teacher about it. Not. Bit him.” The imposing male stated.

“And have it get ignored? Fat chance! I’d rather get in trouble than lose my meal!” The kid stated like he’d tried that before, even though Pigsy definitely hadn’t heard about that.

The pig patted Mk’s back, not missing the way his son tensed and gripped the chair. He decided it was best to give the kid his desired space. “Okay.. Well, what punishment is the other kid getting?” The demon asked, not expecting the reply of,

“None. I believe your son inflicted enough pain on the poor boy already.”

Pigsy laughed in disbelief. “You’re kidding. The kid tried to steal from my kid! He should at least get a talking to!” He exclaimed, not understanding the principal’s logic. The little monkey’s eyes lit up, clearly cheered up by the defense. He already understood what he did wrong. He was more angry about the kid not getting punished in the first place.

Sadly, that light was snuffed out when the principal sighed as though they were being unreasonable. “I understand that, but the boy came into the nurse’s office crying over how much it hurt. It was already bruised when he came in. I think your son has punished the boy already.” The man stated with a glare that shut down Pigsy’s argument. “I understand that your son is… a special case. So, instead of detention, he'll just have to write a three page essay about the dangers of bites."

"WHAT?!" Mk yelled, interrupting. "Do you think I don't already know that?! I get that I did bad, but three whole pages?! I'd never find enough info!" The boy seemed angry, though he was still refusing to sit like a human.

Pigsy held up a hand and successfully shut his son up, which was a surprise to him. He wasn't expecting that to work. When he took a glance, his son was now looking down at the floor in annoyed silence, clearly not having wanted to shut up. Makes you wonder. "Well.. I’ll ask Tang to help him write it. I'm sorry for his behavior." He apologized with a small bow in respect, seeing his son tip his head slightly, clearly following his lead but not wanting to show too much respect.

The principal dismissed them, allowing the pig to head back to the shop and the child to stomp back to his class, not noticing the wisps of shadow coming off of him or the intensity of the glowing from his eyes.

——000000——

Protective Monkey

Mk was stuck up a tree. No joke. That's literally where he was. The cub had started getting into fights a lot, mostly to defend demon kids from getting bullied. But eventually, he was threatened with suspension. He still protected those in his corner from his perch, but he started relying more on his apparent infamy rather than his physical strength. It was useless when he got in his most recent one. The Little Monkey was walking through the hall, when he heard a slam and turned to see a young yellow lizard demon named Miki being held firm against her locker.

Long story short, the fight got bad, he got caught, and to escape the consequences of his actions, he fled up his tree. He was just lucky that the doors to the school yard were open. He started out only a little higher than normal, but then the principal came out, calling for him to get down. He climbed higher and sat in the middle branches, where he was well out of the principal’s reach. The vice principal walked up beside his superior, gazing up at the errant child and asked, “Should I call his parents?”

A dead branch was kicked from Mk’s seat in the tree and hit the man on the head. He rubbed his head as he confirmed, “Yes. He might listen to them.”

The Little Monkey was truly living up to his name as he sat there so high up the tree that falling was sure to break at least one bone. Just how he liked it. As monkey as the Monkey Kid could get. He knew that if he had his shadow tail then, it would have been flicking in a pleased manner.

He could almost feel the ghost of it there. He felt incomplete without it. Six ears that weren’t there flicked as he watched the ground. He honestly acted so similar to Monkey King that it was scary. Protective, and yet he flees the moment consequences arrive. It was a part of his training, after all. It wasn’t his fault. “Get in, get out fast.”

“MK!” Pigsy yelled from the ground. Oh- shit, how long had he been there? He looked down and saw both his dads, Dadsy just standing there and staring up at him in shock, while Tang paced in a panic. “Get out of the tree!”

“NO!” The Little Monkey climbed the rest of the way up the tree. “You aren’t my dad!”

The jolt of pain on Pigsy’s face was quickly covered. This had started happening around the time that the fights did. Mk would yell, “You aren’t my dad!” or something similar and then call him Dadsy in the next damned sentence. “Get out of the God damned tree! I am your dad!”

“You’re not my dad!” the Little Monkey yelled, hanging from a branch like a fucking koala.

“I am your dad, get down from the f- heckin’ tree!” The nervous parental demon barely caught himself almost cussing. Not till Mk’s sixteen.

“I’m up a tree and you’re not!” the boy yelled down, pointing at his dads with one hand as the other held him steady.

“XIAO HOUZI!” Tang shouted fearfully, finally standing still for a moment. “COME DOWN! YOU’RE GOING TO HURT YOURSELF!”

The Little Monkey reflexively covered his ears, falling down to the next branch and having to catch himself.

Suddenly very aware of his own mortality, the boy started crying. "Dadsy! Help! I'm scared!"

“Great. He’s not being stubborn now, but how are we gonna get him down!” the pig exclaimed in confusion, hearing everyone else watching the spectacle start hemming and hawing. He sighed deeply, but it was abruptly cut off by some weirdly serious kid shoving past. He looked to be about twelve years of age, with long, straight black hair - like a waterfall made of ink. He wore a pink and very floral-themed hoodie adorned in lotuses with sweatpants to match.

“Calm yourself! I’ll get you down!” The strange boy’s voice was so deep, you could be forgiven for thinking he was an adult. Maybe he was just a really short sixteen year old… with a really developed voice?

The boy leapt up the tree with an ease that defied gravity, and offered the panicked boy his arms. Mk was wary. He didn’t know this kid and wasn’t entirely certain he could trust him, but the older kid’s aura was so calming that he felt like maybe he could… and he really did want to get down from the tree now, so he allowed himself to relax and climb into his arms.

The older boy made his way back down the branches much slower than he had ascended, and allowed Tang to pull his son into his arms once they were on the ground. He immediately turned to leave. As he was walking past, however, he gripped Pigsy’s shoulder and whispered, “You have no clue just who you have under your roof. Don’t expect favors too often. Keep him safe.”

“Obviously! He’s my-” The demon turned around to look at the odd boy, but he had vanished just as suddenly as he had appeared. He looked around for any sign of the cryptic teen, but there was nary a clue aside from a few pink petals in the grass. “What the-..Hm..” That scent..

The pig let out an OOF as he was unexpectedly hugged by his husband from behind, followed by a second, somewhat less abrupt hug from his son.

“I’m sorry..” Mk whispered, with tears in his eyes.

Pigsy put all thought of their fortuitous benefactor out of his mind. His kid was crying. He could think about mysterious flower boys later. For now, he had to focus on bringing his son home, and making a jujube cake for his family.

——000000——

Snap

It wasn't Mk’s fault! Just getting that out there. He was just protecting a demon kid. He was sitting on his branch when he heard a kid scream. "B-Brutus, please!" No'e yelled, getting the attention of the school yard guardian. Brutus - He was a well-known bully who was infamous for being a lot meaner than the other playground antagonists.

A glance toward the confrontation showed that Brutus's reputation was fair. After all, he was holding No'e's antlers so tight that moving could cause them to snap. "You asked for this, tattletale! You shouldn't have told on me when you have these convenient hand-holds."

The monkey-boy could see where this was going, so he wasted no time in snapping off a branch from his perch, leaping down and storming over to, without a word, hit Brutus's stomach hard enough with his makeshift club to make him let go of the reindeer girl's antlers. The boy grunted in pain as he was thrown off, hitting the ground with enough force that he lost his vision for a moment.

No'e knew to run after a rescue at this point, so she fled before the fight broke out, with only a muttered, "Thank you." to MK.

He didn't hear her, though. He was already having a bad day, and he didn't need Brutus making it worse. Without a thought in his mind, he lifted the stick above his head, and swung it with all his might at the boy on the ground, snapping the stick with the impact, and definitely bruising the kid. He came to his senses when he heard the boy's scream.

MK realized his mistake a moment too late as he stared down at Brutus. The boy may have been cruel, but Mk knew he had hurt him more than he should have. Not good. Terror welled up inside of him. This was bad. He’d really done it now! He was suspended the last time he got in a fight, and he didn't want his dads to get angry again.

He ran.

He didn’t notice the people yelling after him or how shadowy wisps clung to him, nor how his eyes glowed brighter in the moment. He was too panicked, trying to find a- there! On the wall of the school, he spotted a few pipes and someone on the roof would be far out of reach.

Without thinking, he raced to the piping and scaled it to reach the roof, nearly slipping a few times in his panic. As he reached the top, and scurried over to the middle, he let out a sigh of relief. Finally, somewhere he wouldn’t be seen. The shadows calmed and his eyes faded to their normal shade. He was just gonna… stay there… for a bit.

-Hour 1-

It was already concerning when the school called that day, but it was so much worse when he found out what they were calling about. They couldn’t find Mk! Pigsy closed the shop without hesitation so he could go and help look for his son. Tang showed up at the school gates in a cab moments after him. It seemed like he’d gotten a similar call.

“Pigsy! Oh thank goodness! I was worried I’d have to search on my own!” The scholar whined fearfully and hugged Pigsy’s arm, clearly nervous for their son.

The demon chuckled anxiously and petted his husband’s hair to comfort him. “Yeah. Same here, Tangy.” the pig agreed, beginning to walk toward the building, his husband in tow. And so, the search began! Sadly, questioning Brutus was no help. He was kinda non-functioning and still on the ground at the time, due to blunt force trauma, so he saw nothing. Oops.

-Hour 2-

They were getting scared. The principal had called the cops to help search, and Tang had had three breakdowns already. Pigsy’s efforts in promising free noodles when they got home were no longer helping.

Mk watched the chaos unfolding through a small hole in the short brick wall that surrounded the school roof. He was starting to think he’d bitten off more than he could chew. He was so nervous. How would he calm his dads? He didn’t want them to panic! But he also didn’t wanna get arrested! Well… they’d have to give up eventually.

Right?

-Hour 3-

Around the start of the 3rd hour, Mk took to throwing pebbles down to his parents. He was missing, but he was trying. He wanted his parents to know he was okay, but he didn’t want to alert the cops to his location. He peeked over the edge of the roof to line up his next shot- but, “Hey- wait, isn’t that the weird kid who saved me from the tree?”

The boy was looking directly at him! He looked so baffled by the Little Monkey’s antics, but he actually saw him! “Wait- wha? Where did he go?!” The teen had vanished again. A single petal landed on the Monkey Kid’s nose. It made him sneeze. Was it just his imagination?

-Hour 4-

All the other kids had gone home. Their parents had been called to pick them up when it was discovered he was missing. The cops and other adults were still searching - still calling for him - but Mk didn’t dare come down. It didn’t matter that he was getting cold. And bored.

..Mostly bored.

He tensed and ducked back out of sight when two officers who had been circling the school for the hundredth time stopped at the bottom of the pipes. Mk held his breath and listened.

“You don’t think he climbed up there, do ya?”

You could hear a pin drop in the tense silence, but MK breathed a sigh of relief when the second officer said, “Nah. No kid could climb that.”

And back to being bored…

-Hour 5-

Why weren’t the cops leaving?! Even Dadsy and Mr.Tang had gone home by now, probably in hopes that he was already there. It was getting dark now! The Little Monkey lamented his continued trapped state as he sat up there on the pebble covered roof. He missed his dads..

He placed a soft hand on his shadow, and he teared up.

-Hour 6-

Mk started softly singing to himself as he watched the ground below. The officers were finally getting ready to leave. He remembered when dad used to sing that. He remembered falling asleep to that song every night. “Shine~ Shine~ Shadow light. A star I needed to keep alive. So shine~ Shine~ Shadow light. I want to see you shine so bright.”

And finally, finally, the cops left. Mk climbed down expertly, although stiff from sitting on the roof for so long, but he made it to the bottom and started his long walk home. He kept humming the old lullaby to himself as he made his way back to his house. As the shop came into view, a feeling of dread came over him. He was scared of how his dads would react, so rather than use the door, he climbed up the fire escape and slipped into his room through his window. He ever-so quietly started getting ready for bed, but froze when he heard footsteps on the stairs.

Mk was still as a statue as they stomped up to his room. “No- No, of course I know that. Look, I feel like he’s been through enough just going missing. No! I don’t care if you think he-” Pigsy threw open the door, phone to his ear and went stock-still in an instant.They found themselves stuck in a silent stare off, but it was Pigsy who broke the stillness. “I-I found him,” he gasped, dropping the phone in his shock.

Tang bolted up the stairs, seemingly having heard what Pigsy’d said. He hit the wall in his rush and shouted, “WHERE IS MY BABY?!!” Pigsy had forgotten completely about whoever he was calling, running forward alongside Tang and causing Mk to throw his hands up as the scholar yelled, “Xiao Houzi!” and gave him a huge hug. The pig caught them both up in a bone-popping hug an instant later.

“H-hi dads..” Mk waved one semi-pinned hand, before working his arms free and wrapping them around his parents’ shoulders. He felt so much guilt rush over him at once that he started crying as he held his dads close. “I-I’m sorry..”

“It’s alright, Mk.” Pigsy muttered, trying to regain composure, but still crying a lot.

Tang wasn’t even trying. He was sobbing into his son’s shirt and nuzzling him. “Xiao Houzi! Oh, my sweet Little Monkey. I thought we’d lost you!”

“I’m sorry,” Mk apologized softly again, voice barely audible, as tears traced thin lines down his cheeks.

“H-Hey. It’s okay,” Pigsy consoled his son. “How about I make us some jujube cake? We can go calm down, and talk about this. Alright?” the demon asked, wiping his eyes and stepping back.

The exhausted family agreed and made their way downstairs for some comfort food and a long conversation.

There was one thing the adults knew by the end of that day. Mk needed some therapy.

——000000——

Old Friend

It was a Saturday, which meant Mk and Tang were both home and Pigsy was cooking. They were presently sitting at the counter, waiting for lunch to be done. Tang was recapping the chapters about the kingdom of women to Mk. Meanwhile, he was glancing through therapist listings on his phone. Once the food was done and placed in front of the two, Mr.Tang decided it was a good place to stop and focused on eating, alongside his son.

After a little bit, Pigsy noticed that someone familiar had slipped in among the customers. Someone they still had to talk about. The mysterious flower boy was sitting in one of the booths! He was eating and staring directly at Mk.

Pigsy tapped his husband on the shoulder and muttered, “That flower kid is here again.”

Tang barely glanced up from his noodles, but the Little Monkey slammed his hands on the counter and turned to look.

The moment he noticed him, the older boy booked it out the door. “YOU!” the younger yelled, chasing the boy out the door. He was lucky that traffic was slow. “You aren’t disappearing this time, big brother!” Mk said, almost playfully as he chased the older boy. Look, this happened a lot, okay? It was getting annoying that he stared at him all the time, but never actually talked to him.

Eyes following MK out the door, Pigsy clarified, “I meant that we should talk about him.” to Tang.

“What about him?” Tang asked through a mouthful of noodles.

“Isn’t it weird that he keeps showin’ up and staring at Mk? And the first time he showed up, he said some ominous thing about us, “Not knowing who we have under our roof.” Like, who does he think the kid is?! Mk is Mk! He has no right to tell us-”

The demon’s husband shushed him. “Pigsy, sweetheart, you’re rambling. I don’t know what your point is.” the scholar stated.

“S-Sorry, Tangy. It’s just… What’s going on with our son? How are we supposed to help him? He acts like a monkey, has shadow magic, and definitely needs therapy. I don’t know what to-!” The pig had calmed down significantly, but his anxiety was starting to ramp up again, so Tang grabbed his hand and ran his thumb across his husband’s knuckles.

“It’ll be alright, Bao Bei*. How about you take a break and help me look for a therapist for our Little Monkey?” he asked in a comforting tone, emphasizing his breaths.

Pigsy breathed in and out alongside the scholar subconsciously, relaxing fairly quickly. “Yeah. Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.” He agreed, grabbing his ‘Out to Lunch’ sign from beneath the counter and walking around to sit with his lover. Tang patted his back and slurped up the rest of his noodles fairly quickly, just waiting for their son to get back, before heading downstairs to relax.

They didn’t have to wait too long, because the Little Monkey walked through the door moments later, glaring at a petal in his hand.

Mk crushed the petal angrily, and dashed for the stairs, but was halted suddenly by Tang. Luckily, he was able to stop the instinctive punch he nearly threw. That was happening too much- “Yeah, dad?” Mk asked, opening his fist and shaking the tension out. The shadow trails flickered away as he lost the aggression.

“We’re heading downstairs for a break, Xiao Houzi. We’re gonna keep looking for a therapist while we’re down there. Do you want to come?” Mr.Tang asked, eyeing the tense hand in a way that did not go unnoticed.

After a moment of thought, Xiaoti- Mk said, “No. I’m gonna go watch ‘Monkey Cop’ again.” while pointing up the stairs. His human dad nodded, letting his hand go, and waving at him cautiously as he ran to his room.

Once he knew his son was up the stairs, Tang stopped waving and put both hands into his sleeves, walking down to the couple’s home. His husband lingered in the noodle shop for a moment, looking at their son’s room worriedly, before catching up to his lover.

The two of them walked over to the couch, Tang flopping down and Pigsy settling down next to him a moment later. Both let out long sighs, before taking out their phones and continuing to browse therapist listings. Thirty minutes later, Tang found something interesting. “Pigsy. Look at this one. Home practicing therapist, with all necessary licensing, and multiple degrees. High rated, cheap, and he practices with unconventional methods, such as tea, sharing his therapy cats, meditating and yoga.”

“Sounds like a bunch of mystic mumbo jumbo,” the demon replied, uninterested at first. That is, until his lover shoved his phone in his face.

“Look at who the therapist is, though,” the scholar insisted. Pigsy pushed his husband’s phone back, confused at the disbelief in his tone, until he saw who it was. Holy shit. “Sandy?!”

Five minutes later, Pigsy was making a call to a very old friend. The phone rang for a moment, then that voice he hadn't heard in years came through from the other side. "Thank you for calling "Cats and Tea Therapy"! How may I help you?"

Emotions stirred in the demon's gut as he heard his old friend’s voice sounding so calm. "H-Hey, Sandy." His voice quivered, nervous about getting back in contact with the river spirit.

There was a pause. Shock was clear in Sandy's voice as he asked, "Pigsy?" After a moment without denial, a joyful tone slipped into his next sentence. "It’s been too long, old friend!"

The pig smiled as he heard his friend’s voice. "Heya, Sandy! Heard you're doing therapy now. How did that happen?"

"Oh! I started therapy a while back, and it helped so much, I thought why not share the love. Why do you ask? Are you thinking about getting therapy yourself?" the river spirit asked.

Pigsy cringed slightly at the thought. "Nah. Already did that a while ago. It's for my son," the older clarified, before getting an odd look from Tang. He then realized how that sounded. "Me and Tangy took him in about two years ago. Almost three now. He's turning thirteen in a few weeks."

"Oh! Okay. I was worried something happened between you two, and you found someone new," the river spirit chuckled with relief.

Pigsy laughed along with him. "Nah. We actually got married, like, five years ago."

"WHAT?!" Excitement and shock mixed in Sandy's voice. "Why didn't you invite me?"

The pig chuckled at his friend's question. "You know that's not part of pig demon courting, Sandy."

"But Tangy's a human! I just wanted to be there. Maybe be your best man. Mo could be your flower girl!" the spirit excitedly rambled, forgetting that Pigsy had no clue who Mo was.

"Wait, what?" the demon exclaimed. "Who’s Mo?"

Sandy felt like an idiot after that. "Oh. Mo is one of my therapy cats.. He’s my favorite!" he whispered the last bit into the phone, like it was a secret he didn’t want getting out. "Anywho; you wanted to set up an appointment?" The river spirit decided to finally get back to the point of the conversation.

"Right. Me and Tangy have been looking for a therapist for our son. His name is Xiaotian, but he prefers Mk," Pigsy started.

"Wait, how do you get Mk from Xiaotian?" the spirit asked in confusion. Why would that of all things be the boy’s preferred nickname?

"Oh. It's short for Monkey Kid. We started calling him that because he climbs around and acts like a little monkey," the demon explained, watching his husband nod along with his description.

The spirit made a sound of agreement, before claiming, "Sounds like a textbook case of childhood autism. Anything else?"

Pigsy was stunned for a moment by the sudden diagnosis, but he honestly agreed. "Yeah. He's been acting out recently. Being aggressive, flippin' from happy to angry to sad on a dime, and getting in fights at school."

"Hm. Well, as an orphan, he's probably going through the five stages of grief. Anger is only the second stage though, so he might feel stuck. I'll see what times I have free. When do you guys have time?" The spirit asked calmly, like he wasn't mentally dissecting a child without meeting him.

"Uh.. None of us work on Sundays, and around 3:00 P.M. seems like a good time." He looked to his husband for approval, and got a nod in response.

"Alright. Let me check my schedule.." The rustling of pages could be heard over the phone for a few moments, before Sandy exclaimed, "Alright! I have every other week at that time open. Does that work for you?" the river spirit asked.

"Yeah. Thanks, Sandy. I'll see you then," the demon confirmed. "How much will it cost per session?" He was a little nervous about the price, but at least he knew he could trust Sandy with his son.

"It’s normally around 100 per session, but I'll give you my friends and family discount, so it'll only be 75 for you!" the river spirit said with a joyful tone.

"Pretty cheap for therapy so specialized. I gotta get back to work soon. See you on Sunday, Sandy." the Pig told the spirit, about to hang up the phone.

"See you then, brother."

*”Bao Bei” is a chinese pet name for one's lover, according to google. It’s like calling them, “Baby” or something.

——000000——

Cats and Tea

Mk was sitting behind Tang's seat in the truck, on his way to the therapy office for his first appointment. The scholar was telling him a story about the Monkey King and his lover, Liu'er Mihou. “-and then, bursting from the very shadows on the Monkey King’s chest plate, came the Six-Eared Macaque; ready to strike their opponent down! With one mighty blow from the shadow wielder’s staff, and an accompanying strike of the Monkey King’s, the battle was won! Their foe laid dead at their feet,” he emotively expressed, acting out the scene and then saying in sync with his son, “SOLAR ECLIPSE!” at the top of their lungs. Pigsy covered one of his ears as they yelled the nerdy reference, but he honestly found their shared hyperfixation adorable. He wanted to contribute to the conversation a little, so he offhandedly mentioned, “A six-eared monkey with shadow magic, huh? Sounds like a dead ringer for your Shadow Dad.” to Mk.

The Little Monkey was a little confused by that, but Tang rebutted before he could ask, “Ah! But you’re forgetting that the Six-Eared Macaque died during “The Journey to the West”, so he couldn’t have been Xiao Houzi’s Shadow Dad.”

Mk was about to ask the scholar when that happened, when he got interrupted again - this time, by Pigsy. “Didn’t you say that’s heavily disputed? And Mk has said that Shadow Dad didn’t like him bringing up Monkey King.” Again, the Monkey Kid went to ask something and got interrupted. Shadows were flickering around his hands as he gripped the seat in front of him, and they even flickered around his phantom limbs! The tail and ears flicked in annoyance as his Ba Ba said, “But that doesn’t mean it’s the same monkey. After all, I doubt Liu’er would show his ears so freely. He always glamors them away!”

Yet again, Mk was gonna talk and got interrupted, but this time, he lashed out. Right as Dadsy started talking again, the Little Monkey shouted, “WILL YOU TWO LET ME TALK?!” while punching the floor of the truck.

Both of his parents sat in stunned silence as the sound ran through the whole vehicle and Pigsy immediately braked. Everyone was breathing heavily as they tried to collect their thoughts.

Tang was first to recoup, brushing his hair back down and fixing his glasses, before turning around to look his son in the eyes as he apologized. He saw the shadows and brightly glowing eyes, but was only mildly concerned with that when he saw the look of regret and conflicted pain on his son’s face. “It’s alright, Little Monkey. I’m sorry for interrupting you. Say what you wanna say,” he comforted, brushing a hand through the tween’s hair.

It was barely anything in comparison to family grooming sessions, but it was something. It managed to calm Mk down from his anger, leaving him simply crying.

The adult panicked and reached both arms out as an invite. One that Mk took gladly, letting Tang pull him into as strong a hug as his frail arms could give. “There there, Xiao Houzi. You’re alright. We’re here. You’re here. You’re safe,” the scholar consoled his son, petting through his hair to calm him down.

Pigsy glanced at the two questioningly, letting Tang know what he was asking with his eyes. A soft nod from his husband caused him to start driving again, wanting to get to the therapy appointment as quickly as he could without scaring his kid.

As they pulled in, Mk quickly got off Tang and stepped out, looking at the boat in confusion. “A boat? That’s definitely a unique place to practice therapy.”

"It’s actually his house," the scholar corrected as he walked past.

“Unique place to live, then,” the little monkey snarked, walking up alongside Mr.Tang. He wasn’t going to admit it, but he didn’t want to go in by himself.

When they all reached the top, they were all a little nervous, though Pigsy was the first to shake it off and knock.

Then the door opened, revealing a blue skinned river spirit that towered over all of them. “Hey! Pigsy! Tangy!” The oddly pleasant spirit greeted, before glancing at the Little Monkey on the side. “And… you must be Mk, right?”

The boy was terrified. He didn’t expect his therapist to be so… muscular? He was massive! Mk stepped back a little but was stopped by Tang rubbing his back softly and calming him. Grounding him. With a deep breath, he answered, “Yes, that- that's me. Hi.”

The therapist then waved at the boy, not pressing further. “Alright. Come in, guys.” He walked back into his house, heading to the kitchen right away and leaving his client to get comfortable.

When Mk walked in, he was shocked by the place. There were tons of cats, like, at least thirty! One in particular caught his attention. An orange tabby with a blue collar was staring at him. And what was up with it's eyes?! They were so… empty. The cat approached and Mk took a step back. Then once again, and his reaction was the same. “What does it want?” he stammered, shying away from the tabby’s eyes.

“He likes you!” Sandy commented, stepping out of the kitchen with a gray, cat themed tea set. The tween jumped back from the therapist, though the spirit’s reaction was only a chuckle. Mk looked at the blue guy with confusion, before reaching down cautiously to test it.

The kitty sniffed his hand and meowed, before rubbing up against the tween with a long purr. It caused the Little Monkey to give a lopsided grin, while over at the tea table, his parents caught up with their old friend. Mk didn’t care about their conversation, though. He sat down to let the tabby climb up on him, noticing after a moment what the tag on its neck said. “Buffalo?!” he wheezed, laughing like crazy over the stupid name. “Yeah, I… lost a bet..” the blue guy mumbled, though he was giggling at the boy’s reaction. “I get what you mean. He can’t help but make you love him!” he whispered to the tween’s fathers.

Pigsy and Tang nodded, happily looking at their son. The cat was climbing all over the Little Monkey, while the Monkey was still laughing.

In moments like this, you could see that Little Sky clearing up. His sunshine smile and shining eyes peeking from behind the clouds that had covered them when he lost his Shadow Dad. After a little while, once the adults were done with their conversation, Sandy waved his client over.

He approached cautiously and kneeled on one of the bamboo mats. The cat remained on his shoulders, as the spirit poured him a cup of boiling water. Mk picked two tea bags of the plum tea, but hesitated for a second. Was this the same brand Shadow Dad used? It was the same blue cat on the lo-.. What the heck?!

That same blue cat was now standing next to the river spirit, smiling at the kitty on Mk’s shoulders. Wait… smiling? Cats don't smile. Do they? At least not like that! Of course, cats aren't normally blue either.

Eyes drifting back to the tea bags, the Monkey Kid felt a lump form in his throat. The same tea Shadow Dad used to… He was on the verge of tears when Buffalo bunted him insistently. The fluff rubbing against him knocked him out of the near tearful state, and caused him to rub his cheek against the cat in return. He finally opened the wrappers and took out the bags, before placing them into the boiling water. The blue cat seemed proud of Buffalo.

“Oh! This is Mo by the way!” The muscular spirit stated as he lifted the blue kitty into his hands. Hands, not arms, because the cat was just that small in comparison. Mk smiled softly at the cute scene, rubbing his arms as he got nostalgic again. The tabby on his shoulders bunted him again and snapped him out of it. “Buffalo is one of my therapy cats. He’s fully trained, which is why he keeps snapping you out of those sad spots,” Sandy explained to the confused tween.

“Ah,” he mumbled, petting the orange kitty on his shoulders. He felt like it deserved a little bit of loving.

After a few more moments, Sandy decided it was time to get started with the actual therapy. "Alright, Mk. Do you want your dads in here for your first session?" the spirit questioned calmly. He sounded so experienced.

"Um.. No. I wanna do the first one alone," the Little Monkey answered, a small amount of guilt creeping in when he saw his dads react.

Tang startled, and then looked down sadly while Pigsy panicked a little. "What?! Kid, are you sure? I don't wanna leave you alone! What if you have a panic attack? We know how you get when you're alo-"

"It’s best to respect the patient's wishes, Pigsy. You and Tang can wait outside. I'll make sure to get you if he has a panic attack," Sandy butted in, still sounding so calm.

Tang forced himself to remain composed as he stood up and grabbed his husband’s hand to walk out. "Of course, Sandy. Come on, Pigsy."

The moment they passed through the door, the scholar’s act fell and he started crying into his lover's chest. With a deep sigh, the demon muttered, "You're an awful actor, Tang." and dragged him off to sit in the truck.

Mk chuckled at his parents' worry, then refocused on the man in front of him, sipping his tea nervously. How was the river spirit so big?

The therapist took a sip of his own cup before asking, "Alright. How about you tell me about yourself?"

“Okay.. Well, I’m guessing my parents already told you about my outbursts?” Mk began, getting a nod in response. “Those started about two years ago. The first time, a kid was trying to steal my lunch and I bit him. My most recent one was a time where I… beat a kid over the head with a stick because he was trying to tear off my classmate’s antlers. But, I’d say I was in the right there.” Mk claimed, getting a little bitter at the end.

Sandy stroked his beard in thought for a moment. “Sounds like you have some level of anger issues, specifically a type of righteous anger that points toward a sort of internal moral debate.”

What?

“There is a likelihood of abandonment issues in orphans, and anger issues are just as likely.”

How?!

“Especially ones that emphasize one's wishes to be above their former parents, or potentially trying to make up for what one believes they’ve done wrong. Maybe even trying to live up to perceived expectations from their late paren-”

“Stop. Seriously! How are you even doing that? You sound like you’re reading from a textbook!” Mk interrupted, feeling the discussion become far too close to the truth for only having explained two outbursts.

“Okay.” The blue man said calmly, standing up and walking over to a shelf. Looking around him, one could see that he was grabbing an incense stick. When he returned, he placed it on the tray and lit it up. The smell was rather calming. It relaxed Mk before Sandy started talking again. “Could you tell me about your parents? All of them, I mean?”

“What do you mean, ‘All of them’?” the Little Monkey asked, looking for clarification.

The spirit in front of him calmly began to explain to him, “Well, all of them! Anyone you’ve ever considered a parent, and your birth parents, of course. It is my understanding that they weren’t exactly deserving of the title?” He was patient with every word. It was getting on Mk’s nerves.

“Not much to say about them. They hated me and I hated them. It’s not exactly a complicated situation,” Xiao Houzi said spitefully, picking at the skin on his arm. “But… there was my Shadow Dad… and don’t say he wasn’t real, all right?” he demanded anxiously, though he only got a calm nod in return. How did he do that? Sandy was so… relaxed, no matter what!

“Well… Shadow Dad was sort of a… shadow demon… that I met in this closet my…" he paused a moment to consider his words, then continued, "..birth parents used to lock me in when they got sick of looking at me."

Mk stared at the glowing tip of the slowly burning incense as he spoke. It was good to have something to focus on other than dwelling too much on what he was actually saying. "I don’t know why, but he decided I was worth protecting."

"He gave me this small lantern with some of his power in it." Mk glanced up at the enormous blue man to gauge just how crazy he thought he was. Seeing only understanding - maybe even belief - in his eyes, he forged onward, "If I turned it on, he’d be at my side in seconds! It was incredible!”

Sandy nodded. "And this lantern brought you comfort." It wasn't a question, but an observation.

“Yeah…" Really. How was he doing that? "I think it was about a year after that, he showed me where he lived. He would bring me there after school or whenever I needed to get away."

"Get away from what?" Sandy prodded gently.

"From my parents… or the bullies at school. Or if I was just feeling…"

"Lonely?"

"Okay. Stop doing that, or I'm gonna stop talking."

"Stop doing what?"

"Reading my freaking mind!"

"Oh," the river demon replied, as though he honestly hadn't realized he was doing it. "Sorry. Go on, Mk."

"A little while later, Shadow Dad started teaching me to use the magic in the lantern! It was so much FUN! Another year after that, he started training me to fight." Mk frowned as he realized how that might sound, so he added, "It was just the basics. Stances and how to block… not much else that a kid could do, but it was still incredible!”

The spirit made a mental note of that and kept listening.

“Another year after that, he started teaching me proper fighting, and… he made me brothers! Their names are Rumble and Savage! They're twins!"

Pausing again as his words brought back a host of memories and a flood of pain, Mk had to concentrate to keep his voice from cracking. "They were… are sixteen, so they're my older siblings. Or… actually, I guess they'd be nineteen now."

"You miss them a lot." Sandy said before he could stop himself. Throwing up his hands to placate the boy, he added, "Not reading your mind. It was just…" he scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "..obvious."

Mk sighed and continued as though Sandy had said nothing.

"They don’t talk like normal people do, but I still managed to learn their language.” He was starting to lose himself in the memories, the words flowing like water as they played in his mind. “I used to use the lantern to make myself look a little more like them. I gave myself shadow ears and a tail. Shadow Dad thought it was adorable."

Tears began to slip unnoticed from the Little Monkey’s eyes while he recounted, "I remember how the twins used to babysit me. Sometimes they would hang upside down with me, and jump-scare Shadow Dad."

They used to play with one of those little ‘put the block in the hole’ toys. It was honestly hilarious. All but one of the blocks fit in the square hole, and depending on which one was doing it, they had a different solution.” A soft smile snuck its way back onto Mk's face as he thought back to it.

“If it was Savage, they would pop the lid off and put the block in, before pretending they just managed to get it through the square hole, but if Rumble was doing it..” the Little Monkey cut himself off with a giggle. “Sorry!" he laughed again. “If Rumble was doing it, he would keep trying to get it through the hole. When it didn’t work, he would just hit the block against it until the lid broke!” Sandy laughed along with Mk at the memory.

“He always looked so proud of himself too! Like, he’d give us a smug smirk every time! And Shadow Dad would have to fix the toy before they could use it again!” Mk kept giggling, until he started thinking about something else and his smile fell away once more. “Shadow Dad… I don’t blame him for leaving. I’m a bad kid. It’s my fault he left.”

Sandy took a sip of his tea and stroked his beard in thought. “Hmm.. Are you sure about that? From the sound of it, he might not have left you by choice.”

Where did he get that idea from? “What makes you say that?” the Monkey Kid asked.

“I don’t know… you’re just talking about him like he’s the best person in the world. It sounds like he was attentive and protective of you, and someone like that wouldn’t just get rid of you."

Mk's brow furrowed as he considered this new information. Could it be true? If it was, why hadn't Shadow Dad at least explained before he left?

Seeing Mk's distress, Sandy stood and disappeared into the kitchen. He returned a moment later with a tray of tea cakes and set it down in front of the boy. "Do you remember anything that could’ve caused him to have to leave?” The spirit asked, causing the tween to think about it a little more.

Oh! Mk's widened as he recalled something he'd forgotten over the years. “He started acting really weird before he left. He was constantly tired and sluggish. Do you think that’s why? Why he left?..” the boy sounded cautiously hopeful. Maybe Shadow Dad didn’t choose to leave.. Maybe he got sick!- but… The hope faded as another, infinitely more horrible thought occurred to him. …did he die? This new possibility made a sick feeling rise in his throat. Had something bad happened to his Shadow Dad?

“That might be. Though-.. Are you okay?” Sandy cut himself off, prompting Mk to wipe his eyes. When did I start crying?-

“Uh- oh. Yeah,” the Tween confirmed as Buffalo rubbed his head against his cheek. He snickered despite the crushing weight in his chest.

His therapist looked rather disbelieving, but didn’t press farther. “Alright. Do you want to try something different?” he asked, sparking the younger’s interest. “I usually wait a couple sessions to do this, but you seem like you need it. It’s just a meditation exercise. It wouldn’t be hard,”

Mk thought on it and glanced at Mo, who gave a nod of approval. “Alright… I guess." Mk agreed, raising a brow at the cat's very human-like behavior. "What do I have to do?” the Little Monkey asked cautiously, recieving a smile from the river spirit.

“I’ll do most of the work. Just relax and mimic my pose,” Sandy responded calmly as he moved from kneeling to sitting lotus style, and placed his hands together in the shape of a triangle.

Mk moved to copy, though he was a little skeptical. What was this even gonna do?

“Alright. Now remain calm. It will feel a little weird, but don’t try to fight it," the therapist warned. "Just focus on something you want to talk about that you don’t know how to describe.”

The tween was confused, but just followed the instructions, shutting his eyes. That’s something you do when meditating, right? After about ten seconds, he felt a sensation like something tickling his nose and forehead. Well, he was warned that it would feel weird. The sensation soon changed, now feeling like there was some super powered magnet in his head trying to connect to one in Sandy’s, until that disappeared as well.

Suddenly, he felt like he was at the beach, wind blowing on him from the water. However, he still smelled the odd mix of the two teas and the lavender incense. It was weird.

“Okay.. You can open your eyes now.” the spirit offered.

Mk’s eyes opened slowly, but not his real eyes. The eyes that opened were those of his inner self. It was like waking up in a dream in a way, though the weirdest part was that there were about fifty butterflies with symbols on their wings. “Woah..” Mk muttered breathlessly.

“Mhm. This is called a mindlink. We can show each other memories and thoughts here, but we can’t see anything the other doesn’t want us to see.” Sandy explained calmly. “I’ll go first, so you know you can trust me,” he stated as he placed a hand in front of one of the butterflies. It alighted onto his hand and let him lift it to his lips, at which point he blew on it, causing it to fly to one side.

Mk’s eyes followed it and watched it fly into a tree. Then, suddenly, everything to that side shifted to something else.

Sandy and a bunch of others, running from something, until the others disappeared, leaving the spirit alone with a bunch of weird creatures. Sandy looked around in what seemed to be fear, until he spotted someone holding a detonator. Anger overcame him and he dashed forward, punching the person in the face and causing them to hit the button.

Right as the explosion went off though, it paused and shifted to something much less shocking. Sandy, covered in cats and brewing tea, though what Mk didn’t expect was a tattoo across the therapist’s shoulder blades. He must have noticed the shock, because the spirit chuckled. “After I got therapy, I got that tattoo to show that I overcame my own anger issues,” he explained, turning around to give the tween a better look.

The large tattoo depicted a phoenix with its wings stretched out. It was a gorgeous sight, and a testament to Sandy’s devotion to getting better. Mk wanted one now. He was about to compliment it, when one of the butterflies flew over and landed on his nose, making him sneeze.

The butterfly flew to the opposite side and created a familiar image. Xiaotian sitting in a closet, though it was presented as if it was a shadow play. Xiao-Xiao was crying until Shadow Dad stepped into frame. He beckoned the child and walked over to the side again, though this time the view followed him as the Little Sky did too.

Mk was getting misty eyed again, though Sandy was a little confused. He was no stranger to stylized memories, but this was a new one. He didn’t bring it up, and simply watched respectfully.

Two more shadows entered, one rushing to pick Xiaotian up as the other followed with a protective eye. The little sky was giggling along, though it was echoey - to the point that it seemed ominous. Then Shadow Dad walked away, dispersing like so much smoke as he left the area of the memory. Then the twins went too… Mk left behind. Mk started pounding on the edge of the frame desperately, watching helplessly as his family walked away.

The Monkey Kid was crying again now… Then he felt a hand on his shoulder and glanced behind him. Pigsy was standing there with a sympathetic look on his face. Memory-Pigsy then kneeled down to give his son a strong, steady hug. Tang appeared on his other side and did the same, though his hug was much softer due to his weaker physique. Safety. Xiao Houzi was still crying, but he felt safe. They kept him safe. He wasn’t going to get hurt. He was safe.

—

Pigsy was too nervous to stand still now. It felt like forever since they were told they weren't wanted in the session. He and Tang walked up to the door again, about to knock, when Mk stepped out, a self help book in hand. The thing that caught Pigsy and Tang’s attention most, though, was that their son was smiling. Smiling softly, gently. Not a forced smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. A pure and real smile! He looked calm. He looked… happy. “Hi, dads!” he said cheerfully.

“Wow. You look better already!” Pigsy snickered, Tang letting out a long breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.

“See? I told you Sandy could handle it,” the scholar tried to avoid anyone knowing he was more worried than the pig was.

“Oh, no, you don't! You were pestering me the whole time about checking on Mk!” the demon argued, not noticing how his son's smile widened.

He was safe. It would be okay.

It filled the shadow with relief. He finally had a chance to slip away. Down.. Down.. Deep under Megapolis… to the one person who could hear him speak.

“Ah! Greetings, uncle!” a young demon said as he pressed a button behind his ear, activating a special communicator.

“Hehehe.. Heya, nephew..”

—☆—

And- FINALLY DONE!!!

Sorry for taking so long. It was very hard to write. :(

The ShadowDad AU can finally progress! It’s been so long! Thanks for your patience, and above all else,

Have fun, and happy scrolling!

(Ps: Mk calls Nezha "Big Brother" because he's always watching)

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