Chapter 25

Kat kept a steady, but blank, gaze on Lawliet. Still questioning his sanity.

It had been a good many days since he had kissed her, and she had done all the research she could only to find out something that completely baffled her.

But she really should not have been that surprised, Suture had said that it was obvious to all the Wammy children when they were present. Apparently though, she was the one exception, completely blind and unknowing though she was supposed to be this great hybrid of science that knew everything.

The task force were completely ignorant to the tense air that now hovered around the two; of course, what would they base their doubts on? She did not cease her eating habits, sitting posture or calculating stare and Lawliet kept to his wide eyed calculating stare. The only notable difference was how they were stiff for less than a second when their skin happened to brush against each other while reaching for the pocky.

Kat let her head lull back onto the chair reflecting on what she had discovered.

He had said it was a kiss. She had searched high and low (the internet was such a marvelous tool) to find exactly what it meant. But the things that popped up were less than helpful. One would say that "if he kisses you, of course he wants to jump your bones," but what the hell did kissing have to do with physical combat?

Oh, and then there were others that said "if he kisses you in so-and-so place, he feels a certain way towards you." It was all garbage. She tried her fail safe sources, and they came up with the American Chocolate Hershey's Kisses with a side note on "affection." She had searched that one long ago, which led to love, which led to sexual emotions, which led to sexual intercourse (or humans mating, whichever you preferred).

It was completely baffling; she could not find one thing. But she found one, amidst all of the useless garbage that sounded to her like quantum physics would have sounded to an infant.

It was a colorful website, the title highlighted in yellow exclaiming in large black font "Love for Dummies." She was about to give up but then she actually looked through the information.

Kat came down from her cloud and aimed her eyes at the back of Lawliet's raven head as he watched the monitors. And if she was not mistaken; she could sense the horrid humor around him (if the fact that he had actually put four less sugar cubes in his tea than usual was anything). And it was all her fault.

She had completely neglected to see how he had cared for her through the years; when they were at the orphanage and he would bring her books, how he had come to her rescue time and time again and removed her from her suicidal depression in Russia as he burst through the door just as she was about to slit her wrist.

He was always lingering around her, hovering if you will, when she was injured, he had never raised his voice at her (though K surely had, always surprising him by going from soft spoken to a tantrum throwing woman) and he always saw to it that she was safe. He spoke words to her and sought to make her understand more about the human race that she did not, and tried to cope when she was so undeniable moronic…she was such an idiot.

She was the cause of his sudden gloom and that just caused her heart to sink and an unpleasant taste to settle in her mouth.

Oblivious Attraction.

Kat glanced at the clock, sighing when she noted the time.

"I believe it is time for the task force to go home, no doubt that two in the morning is far too late to be out." She spoke only as loud as needed be.

Matsuda about jumped a foot in the air when he heard her, rubbing a hand across his eyes. "No! It's fine Kokoro! We can handle it!" He put on a non convincing groggy smile, bleary eyes fighting to stay open.

"Really, Matsuda," Aizawa almost sighed in exasperation. "You should learn by now that Kokoro is frugal with her words. She'd only say we need to rest if she saw it would hinder the investigation."

"And you should speak for your self," Ide spoke from his seat at a coffee table, setting his pen down from some ruthless paperwork. "You might be young enough to stay up so late, but the rest of us need rest."

"Matsuda-san, you are aware that it was not a request, but an order, yes?" Kat cut in, aiming her unsettling eyes at him, an emotionless façade attaching itself to her features.

The young rookie seemed to grin sheepishly before nodding and gathering his belongings. It was not long before they were all out of sight with only Lawliet's curt comment of "Good night" to disrupt the silence.

And then it was just them again. Now, without everyone there to interrupt them, she could feel the tension even more, so thick she could have sworn she could barely breathe. But it could have just been a bout of nervousness that jumped into her system.

Swallowing whatever jittery emotion had decided to take hold of her, she strode over to Lawliet, sitting on the arm of the chair, lacking her usual grace within her hesitant movements.

Lawliet made a point of ignoring her, though she could not tell whether her senses were picking up on his heartbeat or her own erratically beating organ and pulse. She closed her eyes and took an inaudible breath before lifting her hand and reaching it out, closing it once unsure of his reaction. But then she simply let it fall onto his own (which lied on top his knee) squeezing lightly. She kept on looking at the monitors, hyper aware of the fact that his attention was on her even though he was frozen in the direction of the monitors.

She gave a slight smile, relaxing a bit when his hand flipped over and he twined their fingers.

The website also explained this; it meant "I'll be hear for you, don't ever let go."

But of course, for the two outcasts turned saviors, it meant that and "You/I finally understand."

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