Ahri could hear the shrieks and the growls from almost a mile away, but that did not dissuade her visit. She stood outside the gate to the Placidium's training grounds, a basket cradled on her right arm. It was meant to be a surprise, but it seemed that Wukong had been caught by training. She knocked on the gates gently, not sure if that was the protocol, but did not want to seem rude.

No one answered for the first series of knocks, but when the kumiho attempted again, the gates creaked open.

A sweat lined Akali looked Ahri up and down. "Business?" she asked, wiping moisture away from her cheek.

"Is Wukong still training?" Ahri asked, trying to look past the ninja.

"Yes."

"Can I see him?"

"Not yet."

"Not yet?" Ahri cocked an eyebrow, unable to hide the gnawing suspicion at the base of her skull. "When can I see him, then?"

Akali looked over her shoulder, looked back at Ahri and answered, "In three seconds."

"What do you m-" was all the kumiho managed to say before Wukong's head slammed through the gate.

His eyes were out of focus, he garbled a bit and rocked his head to and fro. "Hello pretty, you look like a peachy I know…" he croaked before something yanked him out of the gate.

"Does that sate your curiosity?"

Ahri blinked, unsure of what to make of what she saw just now. She peeked through the hole and watched Udyr grip Wukong firmly by his legs and slam the monkey back and forth on the ground repeatedly. Ahri winced at the first three hits, then straightened her back and glared at the ninja. "Let me in."

"He will be fine."

Wukong was slammed through another part of the gate, this time his backside sticking out of the wood.

"Is that the best you got? Huh?" he chittered, despite the fact that even his tail seemed to be woozy from all the impacts he suffered. "I can bearly feel your love taps."

"Wukong, are you okay?" Ahri asked his posterior. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine, Miss Peach, I just gotta take down the Walnut Samurai then we can go sailing on the bamboo forests," Wukong replied.

Akali tilted over to the right side and peered at Wukong's face. She looked back at where Ahri once stood, but found the fox woman to be missing. Akali had to admit, Ahri could make a good ninja if she ever decided to devote her time to it.

Udyr advanced on Wukong once more when Ahri stood in his path, her arms crossed and her glaring death at him.

"What do you want, fox?" Udyr growled. He rolled his shoulders, his bones popped and his muscles groaned. The beast man was not in a good mood, not by any measure. "We believe he is in the throes of training, yes? Let him train."

"Throwing him around like a doll isn't training," Ahri shot back, pointing a finger at Udyr. "Whatever Master Yi's cooked up, I think it's just brutish. What are you training him in anyways?"

"Sparring."

"Sparring?" Ahri sputtered and pointed at the still groggy monkey man. "You sent him through the gate! Twice!"

"Yes. We have." Udyr pointed at the various potholes that littered the training ground, as well as several holes in three of the four walls that surrounded them. "We have also thrown him through brick, into the ground, we have thrown him to the sky, we have-"

"I get it, but don't you think that's enough for a spar?"

"When he says yield, we yield."

"I'm surprised Master Yi is allowing this to go on for so long," Ahri snapped back. "And shame on Akali for allowing this to go on."

"He insisted," Akali said as she walked over to them. "We were sparring first and Wukong wished to participate. I am honestly surprised it has gone on for so long."

Ahri crossed her arms and stated, "Well, I'm calling the training for him off for now. I don't care what suicidal training you partake in, he's not doing it anymore."

"But Peachyyyy," Wukong whined from the gate, his right eye having quickly swelled to the size of a fist. "I'm not done yet."

"Don't you remember we were going to get lunch?"

"Lunch? I could go for lunch…"

Udyr started to advance on Wukong once more. "When yield has been cried, we will stop."

Ahri moved to intervene again, her lips pulled back into a snarl while her golden eyes started to shine with magic.

"I yield, I yield," Wukong said, hands up as he tumbled forward and onto his feet. "Gotta have lunch. Can't forget lunch."

The beast man let out a snort, rolled his eyes and growled, "Fine. Both of you may go."

Ahri flashed Udyr a quick grin before turning about and marching towards Wukong. She wrapped her arm with his and led him out of the training grounds. Udyr looked over at Akali and motioned to her to come towards him. A fist cracked him square in the jaw and nearly caused the beast man to topple over.

"You didn't pass out this time from an unexpected strike," she commented as she cracked her knuckles. "Good."

Udyr snapped his jaw back in place before he readied his stance.

—

"What were you thinking?" Ahri lamented as she gently caressed the puffed up face of Wukong. "Can you be any more ridiculous than sparring with Udyr?"

"Well, I gotta train with betters to get better," Wukong said. He winced every time Ahri touched his face, oh gods it hurt everywhere, even his butt. "It's not the first time-"

"You look and sound ridiculous. Stay still." Ahri leaned over and kissed Wukong's eye. A wisp of magic left her lips and the swollen lump deflated at the same pace that the bruise disappeared. This was followed by her kissing his cheeks, followed by the top of his lips. "There, now speak."

"It's not the first time I've sparred Udyr," he answered. "I mean, I fight Master Yi with his sword."

"In League matches, sure, but-"

"Nah, normally too."

Ahri drew back, taking in the full intensity of what Wukong had implied. "You've been stabbed?"

"Oh yeah, especially by Akali. She goes straight for the sides." Wukong thumped his chest and laughed, "Super tough hide, gotta love it."

"Isn't that too much?"

Wukong shook his head, "Nah, it's just training. And I recover from it pretty quickly. Heck, I mean you haven't even noticed until now. I'm usually ready to go by the time I meet up with you."

Ahri looked off to the side, not sure how to phrase what she wanted to say next. Unfortunately for her, Wukong could read her.

"What's wrong, Ahri? It's just training." Wukong scratched the side of his head and shrugged, "I mean, I'm surprised you didn't know about it. It's been a year since we met, yeah?"

"I-" Ahri started to say, but focused on the latter half of Wukong's statement. "You remember how long it's been since we've met?"

"Yeah, course I do," Wukong snorted. "That's why you wanted to meet up for lunch, right?"

"I'm just, a bit surprised you remember."

"Course I do, I only remember important stuff." Wukong creaked open the lid of the basket, "And I can smell the food from here."

Ahri barked out a laugh and shot Wukong a grin. "Monkey boy, is that your attempt at being coy?"

"You have koi in here?" Wukong tilted his head, and in the most innocent voice asked, "Roasted or baked? I dunno if Karma likes her fish being cooked eitherway."

Ahri reached over, pawed his face and pushed him over. "Funny. You're not making me forget what I was trying to say, though."

"And that was?"

"Can you not get tossed about like a doll?"

"I'll only be able to do that if I train more," Wukong laughed, not getting up from the ground quite yet.

"In that case…" Ahri reached into the basket, pulled out a strawberry and hurled it at Wukong's face. It struck a bullseye on his forehead, leaving behind a juicy red mark. "Training begins now."

"Hey!"

"Ohhh nooo, you're hurt again," Ahri said as she crawled over to Wukong, her sleek figure giving her a feline grace. "You know what can cure that?"

Wukong went quiet. He crossed his arms and puffed out his cheeks. "No matter what I say it'll be the opposite of what I say, so no. I don't know."

Ahri sat herself behind him and rested Wukong's head on her lap. "More training."

"What?" was all Wukong could say before he was assaulted by a banana.

"Dodge." Ahri bapped him on the face again with a banana she had stealthily hid up her sleeve.

"Hey!"

Another bap. "You're not dodging quick enough, monkey boy."

"Sto-"

Bap.

"Dodge!"

Wukong started to flail his arms, but blow after blow rained down on him from the fearsome banana. If he did not know better, he would have thought he was being disciplined by Soraka. Eventually the poor fruit was rendered into a mush, Wukong was rendered into a red faced grumpy monkey, and Ahri was rendered into a fit of giggles that wracked her body.

"You need to become better at dodging," Ahri laughed.

"That wasn't fair," he huffed.

"Maybe not, but not everyone will fight fair and you know that," Ahri replied, gently drumming her hands on his forehead. "So you should become the best sooner rather than later. That way I can be less worried about you like you said, alright?"

"Worried? Of me?" Wukong cast Ahri a confused look. "C'mon, you trust me, right?"

"Just humor me and say you will, alright?"

Wukong said nothing. Ahri's ears twitched. The grass rustled. Wukong swung, banana in hand, and aimed to bap Ahri on top of her head.

"Do-" he started to say, but his fruit of might met nothing but air.

Ahri flicked the underside of Wukong's ear, "You have to be faster than that to catch me, monkey boy. Can't trick a trickster that easily, right?"

—

Wukong had been gone for lunch for too long, it was time for him to come back to train.

Master Yi was maybe a kilometer away when he caught the sounds of shrieks of laughter. His goggles whirred, clicked and zoomed his vision in. It seemed that Wukong and Ahri were having a food fight of sorts. Wukong was chasing Ahri with a…banana. Why a banana? And Ahri was heaving blueberries as she ducked and weaved between his strikes?Master Yi turned about face and marched the other way. There was no way was he getting involved in that. Who was he to stop those two from having their fun? But honestly, there was not a soul he could ever relate this story to with a straight face.

Author's Note: I have missed the Beast Man of Ionia. The last review I got for the "Udyr vs Anniversaries" was that he was a bit OOC, and admittedly, he was a bit, because of a series of events that I had been planning for that story to take place in. I'll rectify this and give context, I promise, but for now? Enjoy some writing.