CHAPTER SIX
Visitation

Ding! It's the sound that indicated that they've reached their destination. Both men exited through the open doors and walked through the hallways.

They were in the NG Corporation building. It was one of the biggest buildings in all of Tokyo and in it are various artists hoping to have a glimpse of being in the limelight. Everything was clean. The floors were polished that made the marble somewhat sparkle. The walls were painted brownish cream that made it look extravagant and at the same time cozy. Every mahogany door that one passed by had a golden plate with inscriptions on it telling everyone who was inside the room.

And on the fifty-eight floor, which was the topmost floor of the building, was a long hallway which ended with a large white door that could be opened with two handles. On both sides of the door were two men in black suits, hands on their back, wearing sunglasses, had earpieces, and had blank expressions on their faces.

Yuki remembered the time when Tohma told him that he would have a bodyguard. He imagined that his would look exactly like these two. 'Guess I was wrong..' He thought to himself as he took a glimpse of Jed beside him.

He eyed the two men standing beside the door and with a nod, both of them took the handle and opened it as if they had just welcomed a prince to a grand ballroom.

The room was huge. It was carpeted all over, with a piano design in the middle. On the right side, was a large sofa and a coffee table. On one of the walls was a large Plasma TV with VCR, DVD and a HI-FI component just below it. On the other side of the room were numerous books carefully arranged by subject on wooden shelves. And on the center of the large room, just on top of the piano design, was a large mahogany table with at least four telephones, some stack of papers, a picture of a gorgeous family and a few figurines, most probably memorabilia from other countries. It was, without a doubt, amazing.

On a large leather-covered office chair sat a platinum blonde man. He was about forty years old, but his face showed nothing of aging. It was smooth and childlike. He was a bit petite and that contributed more to him being compared to a teenager. He looked at his guests and motioned for both of them to sit on the soft chairs just in front of the table.

"That's great. I'll call you later for the additional adjustments. I have some important matters to attend to. I'll talk to you later then. Goodbye."

He hung up the phone and smiled widely at both men in front of him. On his desk was a gold-plated with silver inscription on it reading: "Seguchi Tohma : President"

"It's very nice to see you, Eiri-san," He shifted his gaze to the brown-haired man beside the blonde, "and that goes for you too, Jed."

Jed just looked at him blankly and replied with a silent nod.

"You might want to see your sister while your here. The band's on the tenth floor. You could easily find their rehearsing room."

By then, Seguchi Tohma received a real response. Jed smiled a little and said, "Thank you, Seguchi-san." And with that, he stood up and proceeded to the door.

As soon as he got out, Tohma faced Yuki who started to light a cigarette.

"There's no smoking in here, Eiri." Yuki put the cigarette back to his pocket and looked directly into Tohma's eyes.

"What do you want from me?" Yuki asked.

"Just checking up..." Tohma replied. "So, how's Jed? Is he alright?" Tohma added quickly, "as a bodyguard, I mean."

"He's good. Though he doesn't really do anything other than stand beside me like some statue." Yuki said. "Seriously, Tohma, why do you pay this guy such a large amount of money just to be some sculpture next to me. I don't need this crap."

"Yes, you do." Tohma said calmly. "Trust me on this. Besides, there's only two more months to go before the contract's over."

"Contract?" Yuki asked as he replayed his brother-in-law's words.

"Yes, contract. Jed and Kat are professionals, so paperwork is a really big deal for them." Tohma said.

"Tohma, you do know that the guy who's always with me is an assassin. That means he kills people for money." Yuki said to Tohma still eyeing him straight in the eye.

"Yes, I know. But now, he protects you for money. Big difference." Tohma coolly said, still smiling brightly at the blonde.

"This is ridiculous." Yuki snorted.

Tohma just smiled at his comment. 'Trust me, Eiri. This is for both of you.'

On the tenth floor were numerous rehearsal studios. Jed found himself almost going to every door in sight just to read the sign on it. 'I thought he said, 'It's easy to find'. Easy to find, my ass.' Finally, he found the door that had a sign which said, "Bad Luck". He sighed and turned the knob of the door.

As soon as he opened the door, it was pure chaos. Everything was disarranged. A guy wearing eyeglasses, he remembered that his name was Sakano, was dancing really weird with tears streaming down his face.

'I'm not even sure if that is dancing.'

Then he saw Fujisaki behind the keyboard, literally turning purple from frustration.

Hiro was just laughing at everything that was happening.

Jed looked for his sister through all the confusion. After he found that distinct brown hair, he walked up to it. He stopped in his tracks when he saw what she was doing. She was literally wrestling with the band's vocalist. Ryuichi was pinned down on the floor but was giggling. He was faced down with his right arm on his back which was held by Kat. 'Now that's my sister.'

Then he saw K pull out his magnum and point it directly to... his sister!

Jed quickly moved with grace as he pulled out his katana and sliced the magnum in half. He could see K's shocked expression in the corner of his eye. After that, he turned on his heel and quickly placed himself at the back of the blonde. He place the sharp edge of his katana on the manager's neck and whispered to his ear, "Don't you ever point a weapon at my sister, or I swear that you'll be dead before you know it."

Jed could see that K could feel the blade threatening to slice through his flesh. He was about to put the blade deeper when he heard a voice in front of him.

"Stop it." Kat said as she released her grip from Ryuichi and stood up.

She glared at Jed and like a wild animal obeying his master, Jed put down his weapon and placed it carefully to its sheath. He looked away from his sister's gaze and walked back a little to provide K some place to relax. As soon as he did, K held his throat and looked at his hand if there was any sign of blood. There was none, good.

"You shouldn't have done that." Kat said as she slowly walked towards her brother.

"He was pointing a gun at you!" Jed fired back.

Kat only smiled at him and steadily said, "Aw, how sweet. But he's just like that. He points a gun at everyone." She looked at everyone in the room, and all of them nodded. "See, I told you. He's not really dangerous. That's what made him unique."

Jed looked at K, meeting the blonde's eyes, and looked back at his sister in front of him. "What if..." Kat shook her head slowly and poked at his nose. "You think too much!" Kat playfully said as she returned to her cheerful mood.

She looked at K and immediately, Jed understood what she meant.

Jed walked up to K and offered a reassuring hand. "I apologize," he said looking directly in his eyes, "for the way I acted earlier."

K looked at the hand offered to him and took it. "It's ok. Being a CIA agent for so long, I've received a lot of near-death experiences." K said as he shook Jed's hand. "You're really good, you know. I didn't even know there was another person present in the room until you whispered to my ear. You were like a ghost."

Jed looked at him blankly and said, "Thanks."

"That was some stunt you just did, Jed."

Everyone looked at the direction where the voice came from. Tohma smiled at them warmly while he stood on the doorway of the room. Standing beside him was Yuki who was still looking at Jed with a hint of disbelief in his emotionless eyes.

'How the hell did he do that?' Yuki thought as he remembered what he just saw.

He and Tohma had just finished talking when they decided to pay Bad Luck a visit. When they found the door of the rehearsal room half-closed, they opened it fully and found the whole room in total madness. Then he saw Jed standing a few feet from the door with his back faced to Yuki. Yuki watched as he walked towards a group of people to the side of the wall then stopped. He couldn't even remember the time when Jed pulled out his sword and sliced the magnum that seemed to threaten Kat's life. The only scene he could remember was seeing Jed behind K with his sword being held very close to his throat. With a few words from Kat, Jed paced back and kept his sword back to its rightful place.

Shaking his head mentally, he reminded himself of Jed's nature, 'Of course he could do that. He kills people for a living, for goodness' sake.' Even though Yuki has repeated that to himself countless times, he still can't believe that a cool and stoic person like Jed could move like that.

He calmed his nerves and looked straight into Jed, "I have to go."

Yuki was about to turn around when he fell face down to the cold floor. "No, you don't!" Ryuichi beamed at him as he tackled the blonde.

"Get off me, you mindless prick!" Yuki said, trying his best to get the man, or child, off his back.

"NO!" Ryuichi nearly screamed. "Kumagorou and I want to show Jed what we've just cooked up. If you're going, that means he has to go too. He came to visit his little sis so, for once, just stop being selfish and at least let him see where and who his sister is working for. OKAY?"

Yuki snorted and with a loud thud, he sent the vocalist hitting the floor as he stood up. "Five minutes." He leaned on the dead orange wall of the studio and looked straight into the glass separating the band from them.

Ryuichi beamed at him and went inside the cushioned room and placed himself behind the microphone.

Jed was also leaning to the wall beside Yuki as he, too, looked straight into the glass and looked blankly at the "performance" that they are about to witness. Kat silently hooked her arm in Jed's and leaned on the wall beside him. Tohma still stood on the doorway, still smiling after the whole thing. K and Sakano positioned themselves behind the numerous knobs and buttons that could alter the melody emitted from the band.

There was something about Fujisaki... Something that caught his eye...

As he heard Fujisaki and Hiroshi start the melody of their new song, Jed found himself closing his eyes and preparing himself to hear a soothing voice that would accompany it. The lyrics were good. It didn't just rhyme but there was also a certain depth to it. The music was good too, however...

"Something's wrong." Jed said stoically as he opened his eyes and looked straight into Fujisaki's eyes. They've just finished the bridge of the song when Jed suddenly cut them off. It was amazing how loud the music was but the band still heard Jed's almost inaudible voice.

"Bring the chorus one octave higher because Sakuma-san's voice is too high. That goes the same for you too, Nakano-san." He explained, "When the bridge comes, both of you should vary the pitches of your notes to accommodate Sakuma-san's voice. And Nakano-san, the plucking needs more complications to make it seem difficult. The singer shouldn't follow your moves, you have to follow his. It's the only way for you to sound amazing. Nicemelody but too many flaws."

Both Hiro and Fujisaki looked at each other in confusion but later tried his suggestion and amazingly, it did work. Better than ever.

"Wow. How come I never thought of that?" Fujisaki asked to himself as he played the new notes over and over again.

"Yeah..." was the only thing that Hiro could only say after enjoying himself to the new-found melody.

"I never thought you knew anything about music." Kat said as she looked at Jed.

'Me neither...' Jed thought as he looked straight to the floor. He regained himself quickly and replied casually, "Maybe it's some result of listening to various kinds music everyday." Jed knew that Kat could see right through him. She gave him a look that said, "we'll have to talk about this". She merely smiled at her brother, and looked back at the band.

"That was quite funny. You know these things but you don't have any clue on how to sing." Jed smiled at the comment and returned his gaze to the band.

"That was great, na no da! You should come here more often to help us, don't you think so?" Ryuichi beamed at him.

"Can't. Work." Jed replied at the childish figure in front of him.

"Five minutes." Jed looked at the person behind him who had just finished looking at his watch. Jed saw Yuki turn around and proceed to the doorway.

"I have to go." Jed said to his sister, a little smile crept up to his face and said, "It's really nice to see you..." He looked through the glass and glared at Fujisaki, "You."

Fujisaki blinked a couple of times then said, "Me?"

"Yeah, you. You better look out for her if you really want her that bad." Jed threatened him.

"Wha-what are you talking about?" Fujisaki stuttered.

"Don't mess with me. I know you like her," Jed looked at Kat who was turning more and more scarlet by the minute. "and I know you like him too. It's pretty obvious."

Kat was about to ask him how he knew when he cut her off, "Don't ask. I have to go."

Kat smiled at him as she gave him a final hug. "Take care of yourself, ok?"

Jed released himself from the comforting embrace and said, "Yeah, you too."

He was about to exit the door when he heard a cheerful voice behind him, "Yo, Jed! If ever you decide to have fun tonight, or any night for that matter, just call us, ok? We'll be in some clubs, just having fun, you know." Jed faced Kat and gave her a silent nod.

When he turned back, he saw Tohma looking straight at him. With a calm voice he said, "Goodbye, Seguchi-san." Tohma smiled back at him and gave way for him to catch up on the elevator ride that Yuki was on.

He got into the elevator with Yuki and pressed the button that would lead them to the floor of the parking lot where their vehicles were parked.

Yuki glanced at the handsome man beside him. He was just staring into... nothing. Like he's thinking about something but simultaneously, looking absolutely blank.

'This guy is starting to creep me out.' Yuki thought as he stared back to the door of the lift.

The wonder of it all is what crept Yuki out.

He seemed to find something new about Jed whenever he was with him. The first time they met, he found out about his unbelievable resemblance to Shuichi. Then later after that, he found out that Jed could play the piano, coincidentally, Shu's piece, "Sweetest Goodbye". Then there was that night's, or morning's, Jed's extraordinary revelations. Just now, he found out that Jed is also a musically-inclined person. And before that, it was his first time to see Jed almost kill somebody with that sword of his.

'I mean, who could've thought that inside a sheath like that,' Yuki brought his eyes to the covering of the sword which was already worn out, 'is a sword that could cut a magnum in less than a second. I mean, it was a magnum.'

He brought his eyes to the man carrying the sword. Then it occurred to him. It didn't really matter what weapon was used, what mattered was who used it and the skills he had for it. He remembered the incident in America, fifteen years ago...

"I'm sorry that you have to see that. About K-san." His train of thoughts was suddenly cut off by the voice beside him.

He shook his head mentally for being so stupid to let his guard down."Who said I was bothered by it?" Yuki said as he looked back at the door. "I've seen dead bodies before, so why is a death threat so different?"

"I should've known." Jed stated as he got out of the lift and walked to the place where his bike was parked.

"Known what?" Yuki asked as he followed slowly behind him.

Jed turned around to meet his eyes. "That you, yourself," he started, sounding cold, "have already killed somebody." Then he turned around and got on his bike.

Yuki abruptly stopped, car keys in hand, and eyes widened at the statement. 'How...' Yuki couldn't think how the hell Jed could know that. Did the research that the assassin did on him had an article on what happened at New York? But Tohma said he took care of it. Then how...

"You should get in now. You look kind of stupid, standing like a gaping fish." Jed said as he put his helmet on and opened the covering, "We should really head back. It's starting to get dark very soon." He started his engine and exited the parking lot.

Yuki did what he was told and got in his black BMW. He started the engine and followed suit on the man who was literally gliding on the busy streets of Tokyo. He mentally noted himself to ask the bastard how the hell he knew such a thing about the author...

Author's Notes:

It's edited. I'm finishing to edit everything.

I know it's not that good... I admit I'm not even that much contented with it... But at least I got another chapter out, right! It gets a bit intriguing in the end part, doesn't it? The part in the rehearsal room is just something to reveal something more about our assassin... I've already got the perfect ending for this but it's still in my head. Still working on the next one. Thanks.

nga pala, cory! kababayan! friend na kita sa friendster. hehehe... buti naman nagustuhan mo ang storya ko...

peace out!