You Again?

The Guardians

They pile inside Yin’s room and War immediately heads to one of the cabinets to grab them some dry towels, an act that definitely did not go past their guardian's watchful eyes.

“I’m not going to comment on the fact that you obviously know your way around this place.” Gun said with a snort.

“I’m also going to pretend that I don’t know for a fact that Yin has never invited anyone else over to his place.” Off added.

“This isn’t our time to be questioned.” War commented, throwing the couple a towel each and tiptoeing to place a towel on Yin’s head.

"So hard on others and yet so soft for one person, that's favoritism my friend." Gun teases and catches a pillow that War threw at him.

"Be quiet."

After gathering around the sitting area, Yin and War sat opposite the couple who shared a long look before turning to their charges.

“We’re not supposed to be telling you about this, not until our families deem that you are ready but this is a situation both of us won’t be able to hide from you anymore.” Off continues. “Yin do you remember when we first met?”

It was a long time ago but Yin could still remember the time in high school when he first met Off. “A little bit yes.”

“Do you remember what happened that day?”

“I do.” Yin replied. He was running away from another ghost who just can’t seem to leave him alone when he bumped into Off, quite literally.

“It didn’t happen by pure chance, per say. I saw that you were being followed so I had to make sure that you wouldn’t get in trouble but it came as quite a surprise to me when you talked to it.” Off laughs. “You became my charge just a few days later.”

“What do you mean he became your charge?” War asked, curiosity taking over.

“Our families, that is Gun’s and mine, have been guardians for generations. I don’t want to get into too much detail because it will just bore you.” The eldest laughs. “Generally, there are three types of mortals: civilians who lead a normal life, blissfully unaware of the horrors around them, people like us and then people like you.”

“What’s the difference?” Yin interjects. “Between the two of you and us?”

“Well, people like us can see and interfere with the supernatural because of our blood, genetics if you will. And people like you are especially chosen by the supernatural one way or another, like a messed up selection process.” Gun explained. “No one is really sure how you get chosen. But it is up to us to make sure that you don’t fall into the wrong hands or that you don’t misuse your gift.”

Yin snorts. “Some gift.”

“When I first met you Yin, I knew that I had my work cut out for me. I almost had to literally chase away ghosts everyday.”

“Sorry.” Yin said but Off waved him off. Now that he thought about it, it was after he met Off that his encounters with the supernatural seemed to decline until it went away completely. He had convinced himself that whatever happened when he was younger finally went away. But that wasn't really the case was it, it was his guardian. He made a mental note to give his friend a nice gift and maybe several free meals to compensate for the ghosts he dealt with because of him.

“It’s fine. I knew what I got myself into.”

“I told him that he could take a different charge if the ghosts were a bit too much, he could leave you in the hands of the older guardians. But he is stubborn and he didn’t want to leave a friend behind, especially since you clearly needed his help.” Gun said.