Title is also a name of Miley Cyrus song, which I really like and is an inspiration for the whole Ayaka & Jem ship.

Also, the plot actually thickens in this one.

I hope you'll like this chapter :). Thanks for reading, and don't forget to review/favorite/follow :).

Jem leaned against the red parapet of the Blackfriars Bridge, his cane in his hand and watched the Thames flow in the dark night.

"I don't know why you were complaining, the view is not that bad."

He wasn't sure whether she was truly speaking of dirty river banks and industrial buildings. Jem glanced at her. Ayaka seemed to be deep in her thoughts but happy.

"Is there something on your mind?" he asked her.

Jem was not usually very curious, but he wanted to hear what she was thinking.

"I should be asking you that question," she answered and looked at him closely. "You've been acting strange lately."

Jem raised his eyebrows at her. "Have I?"

Then it hit him, and he adverted his gaze to watch the waves illuminated by the moonlight. She was referring to him behaving like a fool around her because he had seen something he shouldn't have, it was wrong of him, and he felt embarrassed by his actions. Jem thought of her in a way he never allowed himself to think of any girl before.

However, he couldn't tell her that. His death might hurt her, and he wouldn't forgive himself for that.

Ayaka was watching his sad face. Jem was very careful about showing his feelings and seeing him so downcast caused her heart to clutch with ache. She desperately wanted to comfort him, but she was too scared he would think she pitied him and he didn't need that.

She stepped a bit closer and covered his hand on the cane. His eyes met hers and the sad emotion was gone, replaced by curiosity.

"Whatever's bothering you, you don't have to tell me if you're not comfortable. I just hope that one day you'll trust me with your feelings," she said and gave him a small smile.

His face softened.

After a moment of hesitation, he asked, "What do you think of marriage?"

Ayaka's eyes widened comically. "When I said 'one day', I didn't mean this one."

Jem chuckled, fully aware of his stupid question.

"I'm not asking for your hand. I'm just curious if you ever thought about getting married?"

"When I was little," she sighed heavily, "I used to like a boy and even daydreamed about marrying him. But I was young and stupid."

She looked like she wanted to tell him something more but hesitated.

There were so many things he and others didn't know. She was sure that after she was saved and examined by the Silent Brother, Charlotte was informed about her… condition. After a full year in East Magic, she figured it out herself and, seeing the prostitutes giving birth and some of them dying in front of her eyes, she reconciled with the harsh reality. But her upbringing whispered her how worthless she was every time she thought of it. That's why she avoided even thinking of such topics like family, marriage… children. Her parents once told her that a family without children is an empty one. She didn't want to believe that.

"Now I don't see the point in marriage. If I ever loved anyone, I would love him even without the runes to prove it," Ayaka said while casting a blank expression over the river.

Or without children, she thought.

"You have a point. There isn't much chance of me getting married either."

She aimed her dark eyes his direction.

"I'm sorry your birthday is so depressing."

Jem smiled, and he meant it. He covered the hand that was still holding him, she hadn't even noticed she didn't pull away.

"Just because this is the day I was born seventeen years ago, it doesn't mean it's more special than any other day."

He was pragmatic, and he was right. But to Ayaka his birthday was special, and he deserved to know.

"But you are special," she told him. "Not just to me but to others as well. And I cannot thank you enough for being who you are."

A loud scream screech interrupted their moment. They broke the eye contact and spun in the direction of the scream. Both Shadowhunters sprang the opposite way they'd come from to Blackfriars Road, air swishing in their ears.

"Ayaka!"

The girl turned to look behind her shoulder to see Jem leaning over the parapet. She stopped.

"He's gone. But the body's down there."

Their feet rattled in the quiet night against the stones of the riverside as they rushed to the dead body of a headless man in ragged clothing. A familiar piece of paper lain on his chest, Ayaka picked it up and showed it to Jem.

四

生日快樂

"So, this is the fourth one. Is the murderer wishing me a happy birthday?"

"He's very cocky, this guy," said Ayaka disapprovingly and frowned at the paper.

"How many more?" he asked almost desperately.

A shook of her head was the answer. The worst part of all this was that they couldn't catch him… or her. He didn't have any pattern that would make it easier for the Nephilim to predict his next murder. The killer was arrogant but careful.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay here on your birthday? It's safer that way."

Jem had asked her that question before – on their way to the Institute, and Ayaka's answer was the same.

She sat on his bed, changed into nightgown with dressing gown over it, while Jem was in his armchair tuning his violin. He was restless after taking a bit of the drug and also from the short adventure on the Bridge.

"No, I don't want to sit here. Besides, Japan doesn't celebrate Lunar New Year anymore."

Jem fixed his eyes on her after that statement. Ayaka just shrugged, trying to act nonchalant but failing.

"When I moved to California with my uncle, I wanted to celebrate it but he told me, Japan adopted the Gregorian calendar. He said it was a step towards progress," she scoffed, "and that I shouldn't worry about it anyway… as a Nephilim. To be honest, I liked celebrating the Japanese New Year because of the food not the new year itself."

Jem smiled at that.

"I see you have your priorities set."

She shrugged again but with a playful look. Then she turned curious.

"Do you go out and celebrate every year?"

"No. I went when I'd come to London just because everything was so different for me then. I missed home," he explained calmly. "I went next year with Will. He enjoyed it but said the Welsh dragon is much better looking."

"Yea, sure. Whatever makes him feel better," she said in haughty manner and tossed a strand of hair behind her shoulder.

Jem let out a short laugh. She gave him a cheeky grin. He thought of how beautiful she was, even when she tried to impersonate Jessamine's way of talking. Jem was sinking in the lips, eyes ablaze with joy and black hair that created a curtain around her face.

"Jem, I've been looking for you. It's only nine, we should go out and celebrate!"

Here it was. Jem sighed in his mind and glanced at the door. Will barged in again and stared at Ayaka on Jem's bed. After torturous seconds of silence, it was broken by Will's cold baritone.

"At least lock your door–"

Jem interrupted him, "At least knock first. How many times do I have to tell you?"

Will didn't answer and just leant against the doorframe.

"There's been another killing. Right under our nose," said Jem in more serious tone. "The murderer wished me happy birthday."

The black-haired boy scowled. "He wrote something else besides a number?"

"Yes, he wrote happy birthday… in Chinese. I already gave it to Charlotte."

Will's eyes focused on the girl. "That should leave your uncle out."

Ayaka smacked her face with one of the pillows.

"No, baka!*" she yelled into the pillow then pulled it away to see Jem's smirk and Will's offended face. "It wouldn't be hard to write 'happy birthday' in Chinese since we are thought the characters from the moment we're able to hold the brush in our hands."

Ayaka slid off the bed, stormed to the door and turned to the boys. She gave Jem a sweet smile, wished him goodnight and with a last irritated glare at Will left.

"You really like her, don't you? There must be something that keeps you so immune to her antics."

Jem ran his hand through his hair and tugged on the violin strings absentmindedly. After a long silence he said, "I try not to. But it's difficult. She'll only be hurt."

After a moment of silence, he added, "Anyway, I seem to attract people with mad behaviour. I got used to it by now."

Two bodies were found at the end of January and the seventh mundane was killed two days before Ayaka's birthday. Two women and a man from East End. Ragnor had written them prior to the seventh murder to deliver the notes to him after seventh body, and he would work on cracking the magic on them.

Jem's joints hurt painfully with the slow withdrawal of yin fen, and with all the weight of weapons he had carried from the patrol with Will. They were the ones who found the seventh body at Victoria embankment before Jem was yanked into the river by something Will falsely assumed to be Leviathan demon**.

A wet trail followed Jem's still soaked body. Will had gone off to East End to investigate and Jem just wanted a warm bath and a dose of the drug that would loosen the pain.

Eavesdropping is bad. No one should be doing it. Except Jem when he heard suspicious noises from the kitchen. First, he heard a groan, then a slapping sound of something he could only guess what is was against wood.

"How's it going?" Agatha asked.

"It's hard but I think I'm doing well," Ayaka answered with heavy breath.

Jem's imagination wasn't as vivid as Will's but at that moment he was imagining all sorts of things.

She's probably just preparing something… to eat, he thought.

The slapping sound stopped.

"Oh, that might be a bit short or… not? Hmm… I guess we'll see. Thank you."

Jem tentatively opened the door and peeked inside. Ayaka had apron tied over her pink komon. While she was rolling dough on a countertop, Agatha was stirring something on a pan that looked like a mix of vegetables.

Ayaka looked at wide-eyed Jem in the doorway and chuckled at his rosy cheeks.

"I wanted to make something Chinese but easy to cook. So, we're making dumplings."

Realisation hit Jem's face and tried to act casual.

"Oh, that's great. Uhm… but you have to eat them after midnight, it'll bring you prosperity or… something like that. I may have forgotten... I don't really believe in such things," he was rambling, "Can I help you with it?" he asked, pointing at the dough.

Ayaka looked from Jem to the dough.

"It's not ideal, is it?"

"No," Jem reassured her quickly, but examined it closely. "Maybe they need to be a little thinner...?"

She gave him incredulous look. "How do you even know that?"

He stepped closer to her working space. "Sometimes I spent free time in the kitchen and study there."

"Must have been noisy. No?"

Jem just shrugged and didn't elaborate. He took the rolling pin from her hand and Ayaka stopped him from moving to the dough. He watched her as she undid the buttons of his white shirt and rolled his sleeved up. Jem's breath hitched in his throat at the slight contact of her fingers against the skin of his wrist and forearm.

"You don't want to dirty yourself."

With the last smile and the brush of her fingertips, Ayaka turned around and sprinkled flour on the dough.

Chinese sailors sang songs and danced to the music some of them played. There were some women too, celebrating as well. Two Shadowhunters sat on one of the Limehouse roofs, ate dumplings they made (they were too hungry to wait after midnight) and watched the scene.

"Now that I'm thinking about it, I don't even know why I suggested this," said the silver-haired boy.

"There's nothing wrong with this," the girl sitting next to him replied. "They have the right to celebrate."

After a minute of silence between them, Ayaka spoke up again, "So you would just sit here and watch them get drunk?"

"I told you I missed home. Drinking and singing is part of the celebration... for some people. Of course, not everyone is like this."

Ayaka chuckled, then Jem finished what he'd wanted to say, "I had murder on my birthday. Here's what you have."

"Oh, thank you," she placed a hand on her chest dramatically.

Wind was tangling Jem's hair in all directions and Ayaka watched for a while with pensive smile on her face. When she noticed a silver iris move her direction, she quickly glanced away. It was rude to stare.

"We should go back soon."

Right after Jem finished the sentence a loud piercing screech resonated between the buildings behind them.

Two dahak demons were positioned at each end of the alley. Their huge mouths with fangs were open, letting out horrible inhuman sound. Two out of their six legs were pointing at the Nephilim on the roof in a challenging manner. Ayaka and Jem leaped off the building and each run opposite direction, weapons out ready to slay them.

The dahak Ayaka was about to cut in half with a seraph blade started moving away from her with a skittering sound against the ground. It surprised her. Most of the times they didn't hesitate to attack first.

She rounded third corner quickly, but she felt a massive arm around her waist and handkerchief that smelled sweetly of chloroform pressed against her nose. The last thing she did before losing consciousness was stabbing the person's stomach.

Jem dropped to his knees the moment he opened the giant door of the Institute. His ichor-covered cane and Ayaka's seraph blade, that was coloured with blood, laid next to him as he covered his face with his hands, trying to compose himself.

He had lost her. He'd been searching streets for an hour and there was no sign of her. The only thing he had found was her blade. He rushed to the Institute to find Will to track her down using the blade, he didn't feel strong enough to do it on his own.

Jem felt his eyes watering, but he refused to cry. He had to find Will.

"James!" Right on time.

The silver boy looked up and his parabatai froze on the spot when saw the desperation on Jem's face.

"William," Jem spoke in weak voice.

Will kneeled in front of him, grabbing his shoulders.

"What happened?" he asked, regarding Jem's bloody gash on the white neck.

Jem took in staggering breath, then gulped heavily and supported himself by grasping Will's upper arms.

"There were dahak demons… I chased after one and Ayaka after the other," he paused to inhale a bit of air. "After I killed one, I ran in her direction but… I-I couldn't find her anywhere. I only found her blade," Jem gestured to the weapon on the stone floor. "We need to track her. We have to find where she is, William," his grip tightened and stared frantically in his parabatai's blue eyes. "If she's still alive."

"All right, James. We will, but you have to calm down first!"

Jem nodded slowly, Will wasn't even sure he was listening.

Charlotte and Henry walked into the hall from Henry's crypt. Both with worried expressions as they saw the two boys on the floor.

"What is going on?"

"I think Ayaka was kidnapped," Jem answered Charlotte's question before Will even opened his mouth.

"On her birthday? But I forgot to give her the gift I made for her," said Henry into the silence of the shock Jem's words caused.

*stupid

**reference to shadowhunters . wikia wiki /The_Infernal_Devices/Extras#On_the_Bridge - you need to read all the extras! they're amazing!