CHAPTER TEN
Surprise

'This guy is unbelievable!'

Again, they were in the park. Yuki was seated on the same bench and Jed was standing on the same spot beside the bench and, as usual, both of them stared towards the railings.

'If he'll pass out again, there's no way I'll carry him to his car.'

Jed glanced at the guy just a few feet away from him. There he sat again, eyes closed, head cocked back, both arms rested on the backrest of the bench, his left hand held a half-full can of beer while the other held a cigarette.

"Why do you love this place so much?" Jed couldn't help himself from asking. For almost two months, they've been going to this place but he never really understood why.

"I don't know..." Jed noticed that Yuki's voice lost any hint of sarcasm in it. "I think it's something which helps me remind some things."

"Do these things hurt?" Jed asked while keeping his gaze towards the railings.

"What do you mean?" Yuki turned his head to face Jed.

"Do they hurt? When you remember them, do they hurt?" Jed turned to face Yuki.

Yuki looked away from him and removed his hands from the backrest and put it on his lap. He took a long drag from his cigarette and threw it. "Yeah."

"Then you shouldn't come here." Jed said casually.

"You know what, I keep telling myself the same thing." Yuki laughed a little. Jed never saw the author smile, let alone laugh, so he was really shocked to see it. But he could also see the sorrow which was all over that laugh. Yuki looked at him again and said, "But something in me just wants to be here. It wants me to remember. Even though it hurts me so much, that part of me doesn't want me to forget. You know what I mean?"

Of course Jed knew what he meant. He felt that every fuckin' night. He didn't want to remember but something in him forces him to do so.

He just inhaled deeply and said back, "Yeah."

Yuki looked back to the railings and gulped down his beer then he threw it to the garbage can beside the bench. "Didn't your sister invite you to some night-out or something?"

"Yeah... But I really don't likeWoah! How the hell did you know that?"

Yuki only gave him a knowing look and Jed automatically understood. Kat's voice was way beyond human capacity.

"Oh yeah... You heard." Jed said. "She said she had something for me but I'm not really into surprises. So I think I wouldn't"

"You should go." Yuki cut him off.

Jed looked at him and said, "I can't. I still have to work."

"Then I'll come with you. That way, you can work while spending time with your family."

"Look, I'm a professional. I don't habr night-offs or some"

"Fine. I'll go to the bar." Yuki cut him off again. "That way you're still doing your work. Let's just say I went there on my own will and as my bodyguard, you accompanied me. How does that sound?"

"Whatever."

Yuki stood up and went to his car with Jed following him closely.

It was a good idea, though. It would come out that he was just doing his job, and as a bodyguard, he simply accompanied his client to this certain bar.

But what he didn't get was why Yuki was suddenly so nice to him. No sarcastic comments and no glares. 'I mean, he even gave a fairly nice idea.' Jed thought to himself.

Jed looked at Yuki as he went inside his car and started his engine. He turned around and seated comfortably on his motorcycle. As he ran off to follow Yuki, he thought of his sister. 'What could be that surprise?'

Rage RestoBar was really nice. The line outside of the building was really long and there were at least three bouncers at the front door. One could see that not anybody could just go inside of the said building. One could also see that there were also some famous people going inside of the building. From rock stars to movie stars. From politicians to famous company presidents. A famous person could definitely hang out here without ever worrying about paparazzis and wild screaming fans.

Jed and Yuki walked directly to the bouncer in front of the building. The ones in line, who were only people trying their best to mingle with famous people, just eyed them suspiciously.

"I believe we have a reservation." Jed said to the bouncer.

The bouncer looked at him from head to toe and did the same to Yuki. He looked again at Jed, this time, his eyes glued to the katana.

Jed realized what the bouncer meant and continued, "I also believe that the reservation clearly stated that I could bring my sword with me inside the building."

The bouncer looked at him suspiciously and said, "Name."

"Yuki Eiri and Jedrick." Jed replied. "I think we're under the name Katarina and the band Bad Luck."

The bouncer said something to his mouthpiece while keeping an eye at both men. He nodded a couple of times and removed the red rope from the pole, clearly saying that they could enter. "This way. Follow me." And as directed, Yuki and Jed followed him.

The two-storey building was huge. The lights were only enough to recognize the people in there. It was a bit crowded but not that much. A stage with a killer DJ was situated at the far end while people dance to every beat. On the right side, there was a bar which was equipped with lots of stools and all of the drinks you could ever think of, both alcoholic and not. Then on the other side, at least eight large sofas surrounding a circular table were built. Then on top was numerous lighting machines and also a foaming machine. The place was also safe seeing that there were ten fire exits on both floors. On the second floor, there were maybe five large rooms. One could see this from the dance floor because the rooms were carefully built to overlook the scene in the first floor. The people on top could see the first floor but the people on the first floor couldn't see the people on the second floor.

The bouncer in front of Jed waved at them to say that the people they were looking for were on the second floor. Jed followed his hand movements and started to go up the stairs. But before he did, he realized that Yuki was no longer behind him. He climbed a few steps to see a clearer view of the dance floor and then he saw that distinct blonde head. Apparently, Yuki was not having such a good time.

Jed smiled at the scene and contemplated whether to leave Yuki there. The purpose of his job took over and he went down and squeezed through bodies and, thankfully, got to Yuki. He was only a few feet away from him but he didn't get him out of there yet. He watched as at least four women danced seductively around Yuki. The girls grabbed his butt, caressed his face, played with his hair and even one of them almost had her way inside his pants. Yuki's face was in total chaos. It was clear that he wanted it all to stop.

'Isn't this what he wanted?' Jed sighed deeply. 'I really can't understand this guy.'

He walked through some people and reached Yuki. He quickly swung his arms around the author's neck and pulled him close.

Jed could see how shocked Yuki was by the sudden action, but relief quickly followed it as soon as he saw Jed's face.

Jed smiled at him and shouted. "There you are! I've been looking all over for you!" With that, he guided Yuki out of the dance floor and up the staircase. As soon as they reached the top, Jed released Yuki from his grip and smiled at Yuki.

"You should have seen yourself out there."

Yuki glared at him, the worst glare he could ever give to anybody, and shouted. "Why didn't you come any sooner? You're my fucking bodyguard, you dumbass!"

Jed just shook his head and strolled down the corridor. He looked at every door and at the third door, he saw the name Bad Luck posted on it. He knocked a couple of times but no one answered. He tried but still had the same response. He opened the door and was only met with darkness. Yuki now caught up with him and both of them stood on the doorway of the room.

Jed was about to turn around when suddenly...

"SURPRISE!"

The whole band was there and so was Kat, Tatsuha, Mika, and Tohma. Jed was aware that there would be a surprise but he didn't know that there would be these much people. He didn't even know what the whole thing was all about.

Then it occurred to him.

There were balloons and little firecrackers. All of them were wearing these little party hats and a cake was carefully held in front of him. He looked up and he read what was written on the streamers: Happy Birthday, Jed!

'Oh, my God.'

Now, he remembered. This was exactly the date that Kat found him, and to Kat, this was his birthday.

They were all singing the "Happy Birthday" song while Kat walked to him with the cake. After they finished the song, Kat motioned her eyes to the "30" candles and told him, "C'mon. Blow the candles!"

Jed looked at each of them. He was wondering why they were all here and why they ever gave a damn about his birthday. He looked at Yuki beside him and Yuki only looked at him back. He saw him go inside and walk beside Tohma, clearly stating that he knew about the whole thing.

'Damn that author! So that was why he was all nice to me today!' Jed thought as he glared at Yuki.

Yuki just said casually, "Hey, I never knew about it. Not until your sister called me up before we got out of the house."

Jed disregarded his excuse and looked at Kat. She was smiling brightly. He smiled at her gesture and after seeing that, Kat just beamed at him. He bowed down a bit and blew the candles. As soon as he did, he heard them applaud. Frankly, Jed was grateful that for the first time, there were a lot of people who were there for his birthday. Before it was only Kat, Red, and a certain somebody...

Kat cut off the noise and placed the cake back to the table. "I have another surprise for you..." Her smile was not like what he saw earlier. It was more of an understanding and caring smile and it was more heartfelt. She turned around from Jed and with a much louder voice said, "Come out."

A girl in her late twenties moved her way among the guests towards Jed. She was gorgeous. She had long brown wavy hair, light brown eyes and smooth fair skin. She was kind of tall but not as tall as Jed. She was wearing a long light yellow skirt, a pair of white-strapped high heels and a white silk spaghetti-strapped shirt which perfectly fitted her. She looked like a goddess.

She smiled at Jed and said softly, "Happy Birthday, Jed."

Jed's face was full of emotions. 'Why is she here? How the hell did sheGod, I don't even know what I'm thinking anymore.'

"Why" Jed managed to say.

The girl just shook her head as she walked to Jed to stand closer to him. She put her palm on his cheek and caressed it with her thumb. She looked at Jed closely, especially his face.

"You're thin." was the last thing she said before Jed suddenly pulled her into a strong and warm embrace. He closed his eyes as he inhaled the girl's scent, still holding her tightly as if afraid to let go. In return the girl only embraced him tightly and buried her face in Jed's neck afraid of letting Jed see her cry.

"God, I missed you so much." He hugged her tighter. "Ren..."

Author's Notes:

I know it's short but I had to cut it so that it had some kind of a cliffhanger ending...

Everything about Ren would be on the next chapter and her purpose in the story will also be revealed. Just five more chapters to go and I'm done.

And oh yeah... I've edited a part in CHAPTER 4 : BLOOD AND TEARS... I just removed the first kiss thing... I'm really sorry if I couldn't stick to the things I've written... Sorry!

I've also edited this chapter and chapter nine because, apparently, there were some things I missed. Again, I've taken CassiToTheStars' review into consideration and edited the paragraph she commented on. Almost all of the sentences still started with the word "She" but I think it sounds better. I have to do it for the sense of parallelism and the word "fitted" doesn't act as a verb but as an adjective.

Thanks to those who reviewed! I just can't wait to finish this thing!

Here's another song...

So deep that it didn't even bleed and catch me
Off guard, red handed
Now I'm far from lonely
Asleep I still see you lying next to me
So deep that it didn't even bleed and catch me I..

I need something else
Would someone please just give me
Hit me, knock me out
And let me go back to sleep
I can laugh
All I want inside I still am empty
So deep that it didn't even bleed and catch me I...

I'll be just fine
Pretending I'm not
I'm far from lonely
And it's all that I've got