One goon dashed forward, a staff in his hand, ready to strike. Yun quickly jumped in the air and executed a kick, breaking the staff into two pieces.

 The goon frowned, then shrugged, using both pieces. Yun dashed forward, delivering a sharp elbow to the stomach.

 Two young fighters approached Yang. Meiying swallowed, watching one opponent carefully.

 “Run,” Yang instructed.

 “I’m not leaving you guys,” she responded.

 “We’ll join you later,” Yang insisted.

 “No.”

 “Listen, Meiying, leave now.”

 “No!”

 She took a deep breath.

The two fighters dashed forward. Yang quickly grabbed Meiying and jumped into the air. After landing, he dashed forward, attacking with a kick. Meiying glanced around, watching as the two brothers fought the gang of young men.

 “How about some of this?” Yun elbowed one opponent, then socked his jaw after being attacked from behind.

 Yang and another were in mid-air, attacking each other. Yang had maneuvered himself so he could deliver a kick to his opponent, who fell to the ground in pain. Yun dusted his hands against his pants.

“Well…that was easy…”

 “Guys!” Meiying’s frantic voice called out.

 The two looked up, seeing the leader of the gang holding Meiying as his captive. Yang took a deep breath, while Yun scowled.

 “You b*st*rds! Don’t come any closer!” he warned, livid that his crew had lost.

 Yun and Yang glanced at each other. Then Yang disappeared.

 “What the-?!” The leader looked around wildly. “Where did he go?”

 He felt a tap on the shoulder. Bewildered, he turned to see Yang standing behind him. Big mistake. He received a fierce hit to his jaw.

 Yun dashed forward to attack as well, but one of the gang members grabbed his foot to trip him. Yun fell face first on the ground.

 “Yun!”

Meiying’s cry distracted Yang for several moments. Enough for the leader to hit him across the face. As Yang reeled back in pain, Meiying kicked the leader in the crotch, causing him to howl in pain and drop to his knees.

 Yun and Yang seemed to recover quickly. Yang shook his head, clearing the stars in his brain, and Yun got to his feet.

 “Come on, guys,” Meiying coaxed. “We’ve had enough for today…”

“Ow! That hurt, d*mm*t!” Yun exclaimed when they were back at the market.

 Chun Li regarded him with a frown on her face. “Sit still.” She applied some antiseptic to a gash on his arm. “You boys are always getting into trouble…And you always manage to drag someone else into it…” She glanced at Meiying, who was wrapping Yang’s fingers.

 Yang cleared his throat. “It was an accident. We didn’t know that we were in the wrong part of town…” He winced slightly as he tried to bend the fingers of his left hand. He must have sprained them in the mid-air fight.

 “Hey, don’t move,” Meiying instructed.

 Chun Li smiled slightly. “Well…at least you guys were able to look after her…”

 “I wouldn’t let anything happen to her,” Yang said seriously.

 Chun Li studied him for several moments before turning back to Yun. “That’s true…Otherwise, how else can you three hunt for treasure?”

 That isn’t what he meant, but he decided not to respond. Instead, he turned his attention back to Meiying, who was placing a splint on each finger.

 “Nah, it’s more than that,” Yun spoke up. “Without her around, it’d be boring. And we’d have to end up bugging you all day, Chun Li.”

 “Thank you so much…” Meiying responded wryly.

 “Seriously,” Yun replied. “At least we know you can get a guy, Meiying. I mean…you’re so popular at your school. All these guys keep coming here on accident, looking for you. Chun Li can’t get anybody to go on a date with her if she paid-OWWW!”

Chun Li had punched a large bruise on his arm, making it even worse. Meiying started laughing, and Yang smiled at his brother’s discomfort.

 “See what happens when you don’t watch your mouth?” Chun Li shot back.

 “D*mn, woman! With that attitude, you’re gonna scare men off…”

 Chun Li sighed. “You are never going to grow up, are you?”

 Yun stuck out his tongue.

 Yang shook his head. “I don’t think he ever will…”

 Meiying glanced at Yun, then at Yang. “What do you expect? This is Yun…” She noticed a cut near his right temple. Quickly getting a cotton swab, she applied some antiseptic. He winced slightly, the solution stinging. Meiying blew on the solution and his skin to dry the antiseptic. “Sorry…”

 “It’s all right…” It occurred to him that he had never been this close to her before. And why that thought just registered in his brain, he couldn’t fathom. He cleared his throat. “So…I guess in a few days we’ll be good as new and ready for more hunting, right? As long as Yun doesn’t lead us in the wrong neighborhood again…”

 “Sure,” Meiying agreed.

 “Hey, it was really a shortcut, okay?” Yun pointed out.

 “So you say,” Meiying responded. “You can be such a baby sometimes…”

 “I am not!”

 “Excuse me?” came a male voice.

 Everyone looked up to see a young man dressed in black pants and a blue collared shirt. His black hair was slicked back, away from his face. He looked at them with inquisitive eyes before settling to look at Meiying.

 “Hi…Meiying. I was looking for you. Your uncle said that you might be here…”

 Meiying smiled shyly, recognizing her classmate. “Hi, Chen. What…What brings you here?”

 Yang noticed immediately that her fingers had tightened on his hand. He tried to tug his hand free so that the sharp pain she was causing in his fingers would leave. He glanced at her, then at the stranger, then back.

 “Well, I was wondering if you would like to go out tomorrow night. We can go to the theater, then have dinner afterwards,” Chen said.

 Meiying’s lips parted in wonder. Her grip on Yang’s hand tightened.

 He winced. “Meiying…let go..you’re…”

 “Sure. What time?” she asked, ignoring Yang.

 “Is five o’clock okay?” he asked.

 She nodded.

 Chen smiled. “All right, then. See you later, beautiful…” He turned to leave.

 Yun and Chun Li’s eyes widened.

 As soon as he was out of earshot, Meiying let out a squeal of delight. Then she hugged Yang fiercely. “Eeeeeeeeee! I’m going on a date tomorrow!”

 Yang gasped for breath, before successfully dislodging her arms that went around his waist. “Congratulations…”

 “Hey, who’s that pretty boy, anyway?” Yun demanded.

 “He’s the most popular guy in my class!” Meiying answered. “Everybody knows Chen!”

 Meiying went to a technical school seven miles away from the market. It was a moderate sized school, but apparently, Chen had made himself well-known across campus.

 “You’re actually going out with him?” Yun frowned disapprovingly.

 Chun Li grinned cheekily. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were jealous.”

 Yun crossed his arms. “Whatever…I just don’t like the idea of some pretty boy going out with her. What if he puts the moves on her and she can’t resist? Then he’ll have her following him around like a dog, doing everything for him…getting his car washed, carrying his books…”

 Meiying glared at him as she continued her task of splinting Yang’s fingers. “I didn’t ask about what you thought! I haven’t gone out on a date in a while, so the least one of you could do is be happy for me…”

 Yang feigned a smile. “I’m glad you’re going on a date. You need to spend time with your classmates. So…have a good time…”

 The smile she gave him lit up her features. “Thanks!”

 “You know…” Chun Li began. “Since you have a date tomorrow…we should go shopping for clothes. I think the mall is still open…”

 Meiying jumped to her feet after finishing up on Yang. “Good idea!”

Chun Li retrieved her purse and the two women headed out.

 “We’ll be back later!” Chun Li announced as she left.

 Yun scowled. “Why do they gotta go shopping? It’s not as if Meiying doesn’t have any clothes…” His dark eyes narrowed at Yang. “Now be honest, you actually want her going out with that guy?”

 “Why? I know you don’t like the idea because that would stop the hunt for the time being, but-”

 “Oh, come on, you know I don’t mean it that way…” Yun scowled. “Suave guys take advantage of women. If she goes out with him, she’ll be all over him…she’ll be like a slave…She’ll be…” Yun shuddered. “She’ll be singing to herself all the time…she’ll be polite and obedient…”

 “She won’t be our Meiying,” Yang concluded.

 Yun nodded. “Remember the last guy she went out with? We couldn’t even p*ss her off. She’d just smile, pat us on the head, and say ‘You guys are so silly…’. And she didn’t want to do anything with us. The only time she never hangs out with us is when we go looking for fights…”

 Yang nodded.

“We gotta do something!” Yun exclaimed. At Yang’s thoughtful expression, he frowned. “What’s wrong?”

 “Doesn’t it seem as if…we’re interfering?” Yang spoke up after several moments. “What if…what if we…” He sighed. “I can’t say this…”

 “Why not?” Yun demanded.

 Yang raked his hand through his hair. “I don’t know…what if…we’re being too possessive? What if…we’re ruining her chances of being with someone…because neither of us can stand the thought of her being with anyone but us?”

 Yun’s eyes widened. “You’re still hung up on her, aren’t you?”

 Yang looked up, narrowing his eyes. “What are you talking about? I just meant that since Meiying’s been with us since we were little, we don’t want to share her with anyone else.”

 Yun shook his head. “You still like her, don’t you?”

 Yang glared at his brother. “I never said that.”

 “You haven’t denied it, either,” Yun pointed out. He grinned. “Hey, she is cute…can’t say I blame you.”

 “Well, what about you?” Yang pressed. “You sure acted jealous back there.”

 “Of course I did,” Yun responded. “Because I don’t want to share her with anyone else. It’s always been the three of us, you know?”

 Yang nodded, sighing. “Friendship was always easier with Meiying…”

 “Yeah…” Yun frowned as if a thought occurred to him. “So…does this mean that Chen’s gonna go treasure hunting with us?”

 Yang grinned, then tossed a roll of register tape at his younger brother.