HAPPY TOGETHER

The heel of the boot dug against Ryan's arm, and it took all his strength to keep his forearms raised against his face. He weathered a few more kicks, before his assailant paused, shoes scuffing against the grey linoleum floor.

"Pretty good defending for a loser who just sits on his ass all day," Dara laughed, pulling him up from the ground. "Nice go."

"Fuck off," Ryan said, smiling weakly.

He stood, his legs still wobbly with adrenaline, and copper in her mouth. The feds had hit all three of them with a 'hey training starts in three days get your ass in gear' text a week or so after their agreement. And, contrary to Jaewon's insistence all week long, it was serious physical training and not 'mindfulness bullshit'.

"Right now, if we went on a mission," Haoyu had told them, as they walked down Broad Street. All three of you would die. You're all utterly defenseless."

Ryan wanted to disagree, but he had a feeling that it would be insubordination. He'd rather not get on the bad side of these guys. Even though he was forced into this job, he looked up the average paycheck of a fed the day before, and he's not willing to lose that windfall.

The two agents had rented out a small defunct gym, one that was stuck in the middle of what used to be a Walgreens and a steakhouse before either the pandemic or the rent raise wiped out all three. Ryan distinctly remembers Jaewon and Dara mourning it when it shut down a few months ago. All the equipment had long been cleared out, so it was just big empty rooms with yellow walls and peeling decals. Dara and Jaewon were in their regular workout getup, black sports bras and tight leggings, while Ryan had managed to find his old high school gym clothes.
So, they sparred, practiced their 'cursed techniques', then sparred some more. Ryan felt a little out of place, against two former martial artists as a professional IT guy, but so be it. People needed to start somewhere.

Dara's technique was beginning to become frightening, with the sheer scale of it. They'd always known that she had power over metal, but its use was so expansive… She could liquifiy it, turn that liquid back into a solid, morph it into any shape… not to mention that it could be done with most metals she could come in contact with. It was a miracle that they decided to stick with art theft and didnt graduate to bomb-making.

"Art theft's more fun anyways," she had shrugged when that was brought up, red hair pulled up into a high ponytail.

James had pulled Jaewon away for some sort of specialized training, and then it was Ryan and Dara sparring time. Where he got his ass kicked repeatedly, of course.

"Mmn," Haoyu said, and when Ryan looked over at him he was rubbing his mouth. "At least you can defend."

"I don't know why I'm doing this," Ryan huffed, removing his glasses to rub at his eyes. "I'm the escape guy, you know? I stay back."

"That means you're going to be the first attacked during a fight with anyone with a brain," Haoyu replied simply, arms crossed. "I cannot afford to lose you three early. It would destroy my project."

"I'll try my best," Ryan replied, a little unnerved at his tone. Easy to remember that their boss has absolutely no empathetic bones in his body.

"If you're going to try," Haoyu said, his voice stern. Ryan can see part of his dark eyes staring at him from above his sunglasses. "Start doing serious martial arts training, so you can stand alongside your friends."

"Okay, okay, I'll sign up for kung fu or whatever," Ryan said, holding his hands up as a peace offering. "Jesus."

Haoyu stepped away, adjusting his sunglasses. Why on earth did he wear them indoors? Was it some 'sorcerer' thing that they just didn't know about?

"Hey, don't sound so upset," Dara said, tapping him on the shoulder. "We can train together, go to the gym before work… Getting into shape'll make you feel better, man! Plus I imagine getting fit'll get you more guys…"

She wiggles her eyebrows, and Ryan laughed loudly.

"Worked for me!" She crowed, slapping him on the back.

"I think guys like how lanky and out of shape I am, though," he replied, a smirk on his face.

"Well, I don't!" Haoyu shouted, hands on his hips. "Those guys you hook up with aren't your employer!"

"I'm still gonna work out!" Ryan shouted back, scowling. "Jesus, I know the risks already!"

The argument was interrupted by the clicking of footsteps, and the three looked up to see James and Jaewon walking into the room. Their faces were neutral, James not bothering with sunglasses this time, but Jaewons fingers were tapping against her hips in an odd pattern.

"How did summoning go?" Haoyu asked James, who looked over at him.

"Well, I have good and interesting news," he said, placing his hands on his hips. "Pick which one I start with."

"Good news," Haoyu replied simply.

"Jaewon was able to summon and tame a shikigami."

"Oho, new guys!" Dara exclaimed, walking over to Jaewon, whose face was still stoic.

"Which one?" Haoyu asked, crossing his arms.

"'Rabbit Escape'," James said, before gesturing to Jaewon with one hand. "Observe."

Ryan watched as Jaewon adjusted her hands. The gesture was a lot like how she would summon the Divine Dogs, but the 'head' was rounded, and her other hand was turned in a way that resembled rabbit ears. Jaewon's shadow shifted and morphed into almost hundreds of rabbits, bouncing around and running across the room.

"So…" Dara started, crossing her arms as tons of white rabbits jump and hop past her. "What's the point of this?"

"Distraction, basically," Jaewon said, shrugging. With a gesture, she exorcised the shikigami in a puff of smoke.

"Mmn, good work," the agent replied, rubbing his chin. "What's the interesting news then?"

"Out of the ten recorded summoning gestures, that was the only one that she could summon besides the dogs. Anything else, and it just didn't show. The only one we didn't try was Mahoraga, and… you know why I didn't ask her to."

"So it's the 'Two-Shadow Technique' now," Jaewon added, before shrugging. "Sorry, boss."

Haoyu rubbed his mouth, before adjusting his sunglasses.

"No," he said finally. "I actually don't think so."

Jaewon's eyebrows raised, and she stepped closer.

"I think that other than your current two, you have a different pool of spirits than the Zenin clan does," Haoyu replied simply, adjusting his sunglasses.

"Is this good news or bad news…?" Jaewon asked, eyebrows knitted together.

"Honestly, both. It means that the documentation we have is useless. But it also means that you have different, potentially more powerful shikigami at your disposal."

"Cool," Jaewon said, rubbing her face. "Just gotta figure them out. Somehow."
Her expression was stoic, but a twitch of her mouth betrayed her inner emotions. Who would blame her? All she has for a cursed technique is two dogs and five hundred rabbits who can't fight.

"For now, you focus on martial arts," James said, patting her back. "In a way, it's a blessing. If we'd gotten ten spirits from the start, you'd grow complacent. Plus, you can still do that shadow manipulation I showed you earlier."

"Yeah, yeah whatever," Jaewon huffed, clearly disbelieving. "Are we done for the day?"

Haoyu smiled, silent for a moment. His head turned toward James, who looked back at him with raised eyebrows and a grin. A chill ran up Ryan's spine at the sight.

Somehow, someway, the agents managed to magically stumble into a hot pot restaurant in the middle of Chinatown and dragged their three charges with them. Under the veneer of 'team-building'...

"Dude," Ryan said, watching the pot full of boiling soup in the center of the table. "Are you two just doing a fucking restaurant tour of Chinatown with the excuse that it's building morale?"

"Shut the fuck up," Jaewon snapped, slapping the back of his head lightly. "Stop bitching about free food. Especially free hot pot, that shit would decimate our bank accounts!"

Jaewon was right about the last part, Ryan thought. He'd passed by this place, Chubby Cattle, a bunch of times and hadn't really popped in when it opened. And looking at the menu, he could tell why Jaewon was telling him off. 'Wagyu nigiri'? Live lobster at market price?

"Yeah, let us eat rich person hot pot!" Dara chimed in. "I wanna see if I can take my girl here!"

Haoyu laughed from the sidelines, a genuine laugh for once. His sunglasses were off surprisingly, and to be honest, Ryan was a little disappointed. He expected some dazzling beautiful sight behind them, but his eyes were normal. Just a normal, handsome government agent.

"Good food brings people together naturally," James replied, smiling at Ryan. "And besides, you must be hungry from all the work you did…"

Ryan couldn't disagree with that. His stomach felt practically hollow.

Jaewon had ordered some pork belly with her chopsticks, and eagerly dunked it into the broth. For a moment, she let it cook, before pulling it out and blowing on it.

"Hey, Ryan," Dara said suddenly, between bites of wagyu beef. "Was thinking about this on the way, but wasn't the Imperial Inn here?"

Ryan raised his eyebrows, and glanced around the room. For a moment, he could make out where the large ballrooms and round tables full of dim sum used to be.

"Yeah," he replied, his body suddenly very heavy. "Yeah, it was. Haven't been here since the day it closed..."

The Imperial Inn was where his family used to go for fancy meals, where he'd shovel shrimp with lobster sauce into his mouth while his mother talked with his aunts about whatever the fuck after church on Sundays. His mother had known the owner's family through some hobby she had taken up, and Ryan had spent time at their apartment near the restaurant.

In his adulthood, the food quality had dipped a little, but he still had eaten there all through his college breaks from Drexel. Then, it closed, as the family decided they were too old to run it. Part of the building became a supermarket, and the rest became Chubby Cattle, so it seemed.

"Man," Jaewon sighed, between bites of her food. "Feels like a few too many old places are shutting down 'round these parts nowadays…"

"Sucks," Ryan sighed, rubbing his eyes. "David's is still kicking though."

"Still slanging those salt-and-pepper wings, bitch," Dara crowed. "And still fuckin' good. Ate there like last week after the graveyard shift at Rite Aid. Divine."

"Hm," Haoyu replied, his hands steepled. "That's interesting, that these places are closing… Have you three noticed an uptick in curses here, then?"

"Huh?" Jaewon replied, tilting her head, as Ryan stuffed a seafood meatball into his mouth. "Curses? What do you mean?"

"Curses are born from human suffering or misfortune," James explained. "From the cursed energy within all of humankind."

"Oh, do they like, look like weird little creatures who scream random shit?" Dara said, rubbing her mouth with her chopsticks. "'Cuz one time one of Jaewon's dogs ate one of them, when we were in high school. It was pretty nasty."

Haoyu's eyes went wide, and he looked over at James, his eyes flicking to him quickly. In a flash, his expression was solid, as stoic as always. Ryan shivered. Maybe that's why he wore those sunglasses…

"So, you three have encountered and exorcised a curse before," James said quietly, almost to himself. "That's good then…"

"How so?" Jaewon asked, leaning in.

"Means you've survived at least one. Better that you all have a baseline, less to worry about…"

The three nodded silently, chewing on their food. Ryan wasn't sure he liked the term 'survive'. Made it sound like they should've died.

"Let me guess," Jaewon said, grabbing another serving of beef. "You two have exorcised thousands of them?"

"Oh, certainly," James said, a smile curling on his face. "More when we were younger, though."

"Ah, so you've worked together for a while?" Ryan added, a smile on his face.

"Since high school, yes."

"In that super-power high school of yours, huh," Dara said, her eyes narrowed and lip curled. "What was that like, by the way?"

"Not fun," Haoyu said bluntly.

No more was said, and a chill seemed to run through the air. Darkness hung over both of their faces, and James coughed awkwardly. Ryan glanced over at the two agents and felt weirdly sympathetic toward them. Was this Stockholm Syndrome kicking in…?

They managed to finish off the food they ordered, a mix of noodles, meat, and fish. It sat like a lead weight in Ryan's gut, and looking over, everyone except Jaewon seemed to be equally encumbered.

"So," Jaewon said, after the bill had been paid and the group had stumbled outside into the darkened streets of Chinatown. "You wanna hit up the bakery? Get bingsu?"

"Are you insane?" Haoyu asked, staring back at her with wide eyes.

"No," she replied. "I want a balance of meats and dessert in me."

"You can do that later. I can't watch you. I'll be sick."

Jaewon laughed, eyes crinkled at their corners. It was almost spine-chilling how well their tactics were working. Every moment that was spent with these people humanized them in his brain. Made them less of the 'captor whos forcing us to fight creatures that could kill me' and more 'weird friends that buy us dinner sometimes'.

Ryan sighed, shaking his head and laughing softly to himself. In the distance, an ATV sped past, blasting some sort of local hip hop, a brief glimpse of normal in this insanity.

few fun things this time

chapter title is happy together by the turtles. i am personally partial to the cover ver by danny chung for the wkw movie of the same name lol.

david's is an actual restaurant in Philly, full name David's Mai Lai Wah. when i was at school hanging around chinatown it was only doing takeout bc of covid and i was budgeting and eating onigiri from bubble tea places, but i think the dining rooms back open.

same with imperial inn, but that was long closed before i started seriously hanging around this area. did use to go to the supermarket where it used to be though. and chubby cattle's real too, but ppl likely knew that.

while i was writing i found out William friedkin died, and watched sorcerer again. a lot of the premise reminded me of this fic, so perhaps i was subconsciously homaging it?

anyways thanks for reading lol