CHAPTER TWO
The Meeting

"This sucks!" Yuki Eiri said as he closed his laptop.

Two hours of staring into an empty, white screen and still he didn't come up with a decent ending to his novel. He could just let the protagonist commit suicide or kill it's lover or kill both of them. But the real question is how? How the hell is he going to have a tragic ending? He's a brilliant author for god's sake! Why can't he think of a proper ending for this story. 'Maybe a can of beer and some nicotine can help me think.'

He proceeded to his vast living room after going to the kitchen and getting his needs. He sat on his leather sofa and rested his head and faced the ceiling of his apartment.

This would be his final novel before he leaves Japan. He was recently given the chance to publish his books in America. That was not really a shock for him. There were many opportunities but he rejected each one of them. At first, he didn't want to go to America because that would only revive some unwanted memories. Then, he refused to leave Japan because of a certain pink-haired rock star. And even though the same offer came back to his doorstep a few years back, he still didn't want to accept it because he couldn't get over it... He couldn't get over him...

Seven years have already passed but still he can't forget about him. His pink locks, those cherry lips, his pale face, his slim body, his voice, and his expressive violet orbs. He couldn't forget him, and he had already gave up trying.

Sure, he slept with numerous women, even men on some accounts, but that didn't mean he forgot him. And that is why he finally gave in to the offer. He only has three months until he leaves for America. This was to at least ease him of the pain of losing him. He didn't want to forget him, he just wanted to move on.

His train of thoughts were suddenly stopped by the constant ringing of the phone. He shifted his head to look at it then resumed to his earlier position. 'It'll just stop ringing...' But it never did. The person on the other line probably knew Yuki a lot, knowing that the author would only pick up his phone after realizing that the ringing is starting to annoy him.

So, Yuki got up, strolled to the counter where the phone is, and picked it up. "What?" his voice showing his annoyance.

"Good afternoon, Eiri-san. Dress up and meet me at the Chinese restaurant down your street. You'll be meeting your new bodyguard." Tohma said to him cheerfully.

"Now?" Yuki asked a bit childishly.

"Yes, now. You'll also be meeting Bad Luck's. We'll all meet there in an hour. Goodbye, Eiri." And with that, Tohma hung up.

"Whatever." Yuki hung up the phone and looked at the digital clock beside the phone. 5:30. "So we'll all be having dinner then." He just walked towards the bathroom and started getting ready.

In the NG Studios, a very mad Suguru Fujisaki was complaining to his producer. "Why do we have to have a bodyguard, anyway?" Fujisaki said angrily to Sakano.

"There's really no harm into it. I don't see anything wrong. Besides, maybe the bodyguard can do something about K's weird habits." Sakano shivered at the thought of K holding a magnum directly pointing towards his forehead.

"Whatever." Fujisaki said as he went back to experiment new melodies from his keyboard.

"Oh, c'mon, Fujisaki. It's not like the bodyguard is going to be on your tail 24/7." Nakano Hiroshi, Bad Luck's superb guitarist, said to his bandmate.

"A bodyguard? I hate those men. They look so scary, na no da! Don't you think so too, Kumagoro?" The band's vocalist, Sakuma Ryuchi, asked his pink bunny which nodded in response.

"Attention!" K shouted as he entered the room banging the door to the wall in the process. The four people in the room simply stared at him in shock.

"I told you the bodyguard was a good idea." Sakano said in a barely audible whisper.

"We must all get ready! The president wants to join us for dinner in a fancy restaurant. He said we'll be meeting some very important people!" K cheerfully said while holding a machine gun in his right hand while the other resting on his hip.

"We better get ready then." Hiro said to his bandmates after getting over the usual shock of K's arrival.

As a sleek black Jaguar made its way through dozens of vehicles, a black Yamaha motorcycle is gliding its own way behind it. 'That girl can be a damn sick driver sometimes. She'll get hurt doing those stunts.' Jed thought as he followed his sister.

'So, we're back in Tokyo once again. Last time I remembered coming here was when we killed some company share holder.' Jed remembered the time when he and Kat came to Tokyo to assassinate a well-known businessman. 'I still can't believe I ended up coming here.'

flashback

"Protect somebody, huh?" Kat asked to Red intently.

"Yup!" Red enthusiastically said as he drink his mug of coffee.

"For how long, then?" Jed said in a cold voice while keeping an eye on Red.

"Only three months." Red answered and quickly continued, "As your agent, I've arranged everything. From contracts to your monthly paychecks. The only thing lacking is your sweet yes..."

'Three months? We can't take this. It's too long. There's not enough time.' Jed was about to say no to the deal when he caught a glimpse of his sister. She was looking at him with a pout on her face. She was pleading with her eyes, begging him to take the job. 'But she wants it... She really does.'

"So, you really want this?" Jed asked his sister. Kat just nodded enthusiastically in response.

"Fine. Three months. No more than that. After that, we're good." Jed said with a finality to his voice towards Red.

"Ooh, thank you, Jed! You're the best! I love you so much!" Kat almost shouted as she hugged Jed.

"I know." Jed said as he smiled at her and patted her head.

"Great! I'll be expecting you in Tokyo in a week. Thanks a lot, Jed." Red said as he stood up after taking one last sip from his coffee.

"Sure, that's what friends are for." Jed said with no expression whatsoever to his voice.

Red just gave held out his hand for a handshake. Jed stood up and took it while Kat just looked at them with a smile on her face. "I'll miss both of you after you quit." Red said to both of them as he shook his Jed's hand. "Everybody will."

"Us too." Kat replied after giving him one heartfelt smile. "Please tell the brotherhood we said hi."

"Sure will." Red said as he turned around and walked away from the siblings.

end of flashback

And now they were here in Tokyo on their way to a fancy restaurant where they'll meet their clients. Red was also with them and because he was afraid to ride in a motorcycle due to a bad experience, he is now being a nice passenger of Kat's sick driving.

'Told you it's better to ride with me than that mad driver.' Jed smiled at the thought of Red shouting angrily at Kat.

Yuki Eiri entered the entrance of a popular Chinese restaurant while seeking the area for a certain face.

"May I know who you are looking for, sir?" A girl in a red dress asked him politely. "Seguchi Tohma." He said. "Right this way, please." The girl said to him respectfully as she guided him through the customers and to a large room with transparent glass windows.

Yuki noted that the restaurant was really superb. The tables were not just ordinary circular or square, they were carefully handcrafted. The sides of it were properly cut making it look like it just came out of the woods. What was really amazing though was that everything was so smooth. It was as if one single touch can annihilate the whole concept behind the construction of the restaurant. 'How come I never noticed this restaurant knowing that it's just down my street?' Yuki asked himself.

"Eiri-san, it's so nice of you to make it. Please, have a seat." Tohma said to Yuki as soon as he saw the blonde enter the VIP room. The waitress whispered "Have a nice dinner." to Yuki and walked towards a table, probably needing more of her assistance.

"Like a have a choice." Yuki uttered as he took the seat opposite to Tohma which granted him a nice view of the streets outside.

"Looks like everybody's here." Tohma cheerfully said. "We should order then." Tohma called the waitress to order.

"Aren't you going to wait for your guests?" Fujisaki asked his cousin politely.

"We'll just order for them." Tohma replied, still smiling.

As Yuki sat there, he noticed there are three vacant seats beside Tohma. 'So, there are three bodyguards coming...' Yuki thought.

He fixed his gaze to the streets outside. A few minutes later. A black Jaguar appeared into view. 'Now that's a nice car.' Yuki thought mentally noting himself to remember the model in front of him. 'I never knew that they sell those here in Japan...'

A pretty brown-haired girl in the age of most probably twenty-five got out of the car. She was wearing a long denim skirt with side slits a few inches above her knee and a black tube top with a denim jacket over it. She was laughing at a guy who just got out of the other side of the car. The guy had brownish-red hair and was wearing a simple shirt and a pair of jeans. He was shouting angrily at the girl who just kept on giggling.

A few moments later, Yuki saw a black motorcycle pull over behind the Jaguar. The first time he saw the driver, he really caught Yuki's attention. He was wearing a pair of black denims, a V-neck brown shirt and a black leather jacket. Though it was only a simple attire, it was totally an eye-catcher because of the way the outfit clung to the driver's body.

The moment he removed his helmet, Yuki considered him one of the most handsome guys he had ever seen. He had light brown hair and a really gorgeous face. What really caught Yuki's eyes though was the earring hooked on his left ear which sparkled through the darkness of the night. It was somewhat familiar...

Yuki mentally shook his head of the thoughts about the unknown driver. 'What the hell am I thinking of?'

The driver eyed the couple in front of him and got off of the bike. He walked gracefully towards the entrance of the restaurant. As soon as the couple saw the driver, they stopped their argument and followed suit.

Yuki saw the red-haired guy say something to the waitress. Then he saw the waitress nod to the trio and led them to a certain room.

Then Yuki snapped. They're heading towards their room. 'Don't tell me... he's my bodyguard?'

Jed followed the waitress as she guided them towards a large table with seven people. He eyed each one of them, studying their faces. He already knew who they were. Red gave them a week before coming to Tokyo so they had enough time to conduct a search through the personal file of each individual.

'Let's see. The people seated together must be the ones who made the band Bad Luck possible.' He observed the childish man talking to a stuff bunny.

'Sakuma Ryuichi, Nittle Grasper's ex-vocalist and now Bad Luck's. An old but childish guy. Talk about irony.'

He looked at the red-haired guy. 'Nakano Hiroshi, 29, the guitarist.'

Then he looked at the green-haired youth. 'Suguru Fujisaki, 25, Bad Luck's keyboardist and a cousin of NG's president, Seguchi Tohma.' He thought as he looked at the platinum blonde man seated.

'K and Sakano, the band's manager and producer, respectively.' He thought as he watched the blonde American and the guy with eyeglasses. 'These two totally contradict each other.' He thought to himself as he observed the mannerisms of the two.

He fixed his gaze to a certain blonde man with amber eyes who was, surprisingly, also looking at him. 'The famous Yuki Eiri.' He thought as he remembered reading the author's file. 'A famous 31-year-old romance novelist who had screwed so many virgins in Tokyo. Pretty nice description for an author who has written numerous love stories.' He smiled mentally at the sarcasm of his own statement. He hated men like those. That's why he ended up killing them.

"Good evening, Mr. President!" Red cheerfully said to Seguchi Tohma. "Sorry we're late."

"It's alright. Please, take a seat. Are they who I think they are?" Tohma asked Red.

"Oh, sorry for my rudeness. Yes, they are. This is Jed, and this is his sister, Kat." Red said to everyone as he took a set beside Tohma.

"Nice to meet all of you!" Kat cheerfully said to everyone on the table as she sat down. "Same here." Jed simply said to them as he took his own seat.

"Don't you have any last names, na no da!" Ryuichi beamed at them.

"We don't need one." Jed fired back at him giving him a death glare.

Kat nudged him slightly in the stomach as she smiled at Ryuichi. "Excuse my brother for saying awful things. We don't have last names because it sounds cooler. Don't you think so?"

"Hai!" Ryuichi said to her happily. Kat simply smiled back.

Jed noticed that Yuki Eiri was still staring at him. Though, he won't admit it vocally, he's starting to give him the creeps.

'If that's what you want. Two can play this staring game.' Jed then fixed his gaze directly on Yuki's. He had no expression on his face. He just looked at him, directly into his eyes. They stayed like that for a few minutes.

"You know what? You look really familiar..." At the sound of the term "familiar", Jed broke his gaze with Yuki and looked at Ryuichi who is sitting opposite of him. "Really? Who do I remind you of?" Jed said to Ryuichi a bit curiously.

After a few moments, Ryuichi beamed at him.

"Shu-chan! You look so much like Shuichi!" Ryuichi said to him happily, shocking everyone seated at the table. All eyes were now on Jed at the mention of the pink-haired singer.

'Shuichi... hmmm... I've heard of that name.' Jed tried to recall all the files he had read. "Ah, the singer..." Jed finally realized.

"You know him?" Hiro asked, intrigues as to why this man knew his bestfriend..

"No. But I've read a little about him. He was Bad Luck's vocalist. Seven years ago, he was declared missing and three years ago, he was assumed dead. Am I correct?" Jed said in a monotonous voice. "There were no pictures of him, though. People say it is to show respect for his death so I never got to see his face."

"How do you know these things?" K asked a bit suspiciously.

"I'd like to know who I'm working with." Jed simply said to them.

'So that's why Yuki Eiri is staring at me. I remind him of his ex-lover who was assumed dead. This could be harder than I thought...'

'Ryuichi's right. He does look a lot like Shuichi. There is a great amount of physical difference though. He is taller. He has light brown hair while Shuichi has pink. He has brown eyes, while Shuichi has violet. But the shape of his face is the same as Shuichi's. But he is colder... he is even colder than I am. His eyes show it.' Yuki thought after hearing Ryuichi's comment on Jed's looks.

'But why do I feel so drawn to him?' Yuki thought to himself as he glanced at Jed. 'It's like I know him... or something...' Yuki just looked at the table as he thought why he felt that way towards a guy he doesn't even know.

"Eiri-san, are you alright?" Tohma asked to his brother-in-law.

"Huh? Oh, yeah... of course." Yuki replied. 'Why wouldn't I?'

"By the way, I'm sorry." Yuki looked up as he heard that deep voice. "I might give people the impression that I'm a bastard, but I'm not insensitive."

"What do you mean?" Yuki asked Jed, matching his coldness.

"I know that he was somewhat important to you and for that I am sorry for reminding you of him." Jed said, still without any emotion whatsoever in his voice.

'You call that an apology?' Yuki thought as he looked straight into his brown eyes. "Yeah, whatever." he replied.

"Here are your orders." The waitress cheerfully said to the group seated.

'Finally, food! I'm famished!' Jed didn't eat a single thing for the whole day. Kat dragged him out of their apartment early in the morning. He wanted to get on a plane and just get it over it. But, no. Kat wanted to take her car to Tokyo. She said that it's too important and she certainly can't go anywhere without it. Rather than hearing his sister whine and complain during the whole trip, he just put his bag in Kat's car. He took his own motorcycle out of the garage and offered a ride to Red. Unaware of Kat's driving antics, Red said that he would be more comfortable riding in a car than in a motorcycle. 'Poor thing. He certainly can't eat with all the swirling inside that stomach of his.' Jed was about to feel sympathy for his friend when he thought that he was the one responsible why he's so hungry right now. 'Serves him right.'

"So, Jed, how long have you been working as a bodyguard?" K asked Jed after swallowing his food.

"Just now." Jed said without looking to K but instead just concentrating in his food.

"'Just now'?" K asked again. "What do you mean 'just now'? That means you have no experience whatsoever in protecting people?"

Jed looked straight into his eyes before putting the siomai in his mouth. "Do I really have to answer that? You already answered your own question."

'Smartass.' K thought as he went back to concentrate on his food.

To cut the tension developing between the two, Kat broke the silence of the table. "We never worked as bodyguards before so it really is a new challenge for the both of us. But we assure you that there is no need for you to even have a shadow of a doubt of what we can do." Kat said, assuring K.

"That's good to hear then." K said to her with a smile.

Fujisaki can't keep his eyes off Kat who is seated right in front of him. He doesn't know why but the girl just have an atmosphere around her that makes her glow. 'The last time I checked, I hate the thought of having a bodyguard.' Fujisaki thought contradicting his own actions.

After dinner, Seguchi Tohma started introducing the guests of the table.

"As you might have suspected, these are new bodyguards." Tohma started. "Kat would be Bad Luck's while Jed would be Eiri-san's. Red acts like their manager but cannot really be considered as one. He is their friend and he is the one possible for them to be here." Red simply smiled to the people seated. "Like what Kat had said earlier, you shouldn't doubt their capacities because I, myself, handpicked them to be your protectors. So there's really know need to worry." Tohma continued. "Kat would be living right next door to Fujisaki." At the sound of this, Fujisaki suddenly looked up to his cousin with a big confused WHAT? on his face. "While Jed would be living with you, Eiri-san. Will that be alright with you?" Tohma eyed his brother-in-law.

"Do I have a choice?" Yuki asked Tohma.

"Actually, no." Tohma said while smiling at him.

"Then why ask." Yuki said breaking eye contact.

"Great! It's settle then. You have the whole weekend to familiarize yourselves with your new acquaintances. Bad Luck, I'll be seeing you on Monday. It's late. We should all go home, then." Tohma gleefully said to them as he stood up. "Good night." After hearing all of his guests reciprocate his greetings, he turned around and proceeded to his car in the parking lot of the restaurant.

'I do hope this is a good idea...' Tohma thought as he approached his car.

(",) tbc (",)

Author's notes:

Hope you like it... There is still a lot to come. Some twists and some revelations. Hope you won't get tired of reading it.
I never really expected that some people would actually review this story... wow! thanks! a lot! (yeah... I think that's all I can say...) PEACE OUT!