Ok, I let the last chapter kinda get a little out there. I also made it a bit shorter and didn't focus on as much emotion as I should have so that's what I'm going to work on in this chapter…

PLEASE REVIEW!!!

Comfortably Numb

Chapter 5

Kat's house – Sunday

"How's your hand?" Kat asked as they strolled down the Montrose Shopping Center.

Dark looked at it then snorted, "Its fine."

Kat remembered the day before and shuddered. 'Krad is crazy! How could he just attack a maid for spilling some wine? What if he comes after us?! I don't even want to think about that.'

"Stop worrying about Krad," Dark said as they neared a shop titled Pet Boys. The sound of humming fish tank motors reached their ears as they entered and Kat instantly felt a bit calmer.

She completely forgot what they had been talking about and proceeded to look at the various fish swimming around merrily in their display tanks. "I love this shop," Kat explained.

Dark began to examine a few tank ornaments and other supplies as Kat looked at the fish. "I heard you took Kendo," he said conversationally.

"Not anymore, I decided to just give up. It was too hard for me," Kat said a little sad to have given up one of her favorite sports.

"If you liked it so much why did you quit? You have what it wakes to succeed but you just don't seem to have the patience. Either that or you don't know that you can do what ever you set your mind to," he said hitting the nail on the head.

"You're right," Kat said as she looked over to him. "I for some reason don't have the drive I need to continue with something. I tend to bow out as soon as the going gets tough."

"Hum…" Dark said as he stood next to her, eyes examining the betta fish.

Kat noticed that his eyes kept returning to one fish in particular and she noticed that it appeared to be one of the more beautiful ones in the display cups. Kat leaned down to get a better look at it, "Its tail is shredded."

 "No, this is a crown tail betta. They're a rare find in a regular fish store. See how his tail splits in certain directions?" Dark said.

Kat squinted and noticed that there were parts of the tail that veins that branched to form splits some had more than one split on a vein. "That's kind of odd," she commented. Kat saw the fish flare when it caught it's reflection in a mirror that was sitting on the counter, "His tail forms a capital D."

"An even rarer find isn't he?" the shop owner said. "This is a half-moon crown tail and I assure you that no other store in Los Angeles sells ones like these!"

"It's a butterfly too," Dark commented as he noticed the arch pattern on the fish's fins.

Kat was now pretty much confused, fish were a passion of hers but when it came to specific kinds, she was mostly considered as a ditz.

"You seem to know your fish well, I'll give you a discount of you want him," the owner offered.

'I don't know, Kat already has a few fish of her own…It wouldn't really be fair if I added another one to her house.' Dark hesitated.

"We'll take him!" Kat said as she picked up the fish Dark had been eying.

"Do you have a bowl?" the shop owner asked.

"Well let's see, I have a few extra ones but they're all really cruddy. I guess we'll take…" Kat scanned the room for the easiest to clean of the bowls and selected an acrylic one. 'If it's acrylic, it won't break like glass or crack like plastic. It does scratch easily and it's expensive but I think it's worth more than its faults.'  Kat selected a bag of colorful marbles and a plant that went well with the fishes coloring and added it to the purchase.

Dark noticed that Kat seemed to know a lot about fish.

"We'll take one portion of worms too please," Kat said.

Dark fished out his wallet and cursed as his wounded hand grazed it the wrong way. Kat pulled out her own wallet and paid for the fish. Dark looked at her confused but Kat just smiled, "It's on me. By the way, got a name for this one?"

Dark sighed and shook his head. 'Who the heck names their fish?'

"I'm going to name him Kauai," Kat said.

"Kawaii?" Dark asked.

"No," Kat scoffed. "Kawai like the Hawaiian island. Doesn't his color almost match the blue of the ocean? He reminds me of the beautiful beaches in that tropical paradise. I went there once with my parents. That was back when they had more time for us."

"Us?" Dark asked.

"My brother and I. Didn't I tell you I had one?"

 'If you did, I don't remember hearing it.' Dark shrugged and began walking out of the door. Kat ran to catch up trying not to slosh the bag she was carrying too much in fear of stressing the fish.

"Gah!" Kat said as she tripped over the rug by the door. The bag Kawai was in flew from her hands and Kat dreaded what would happen when it hit the floor. But the bag didn't hit the floor and neither did she.

Kat blinked and was set back on her feet by Dark, who had miraculously managed to catch both the bag and her. "You should be more careful…"

Kat noticed that he had caught her with his bad hand and she could see the blood slowly seep across the bandage proving that it had reopened. "You should have just let me fall. I'm sorry I made you reopen your wound."

"My hand will heal but if I had let you fall, your head would have hit that tank stand," Dark said as he gestured to a large oak stand in front of Kat.

She gasped, "You saved me…"

He smirked and Kat saw that it was partly a smile. She stepped forward and hugged him.

Dark was so surprised that he almost dropped the bag he was holding. He could feel Kat burry her face in his jacket, "Thank you."

He shook his surprised expression away and returned the hug just the tiniest bit.

'I wish guys were more huggable. It's so nice to catch a rare moment like this…' Kat relished the small gesture and when she let go, she wish she wished she didn't have to. That's when she realized that Dark was still holding on to her. Kat looked up at him confused. He met her gaze and half smirked, half smiled back at her confused expression. Kat didn't bother asking and as they walked out of the store together, she rested her head against his shoulder and wrapped an arm around his waist (it was pretty much al she could reach in that position). She felt Dark rest his arm on her shoulders and that's when she noticed that it was raining.

===

Kenshin stood there, with mixed feelings as the rain poured down around him. From where he was standing he could see Dark and Kat walk down the street hugging and looking happier than ever. The streetlights flickered on and his hair began to bead with rain. His hair glowed in the yellow lights of the lamps and he flipped the collar on his jacket up as the couple passed him.

A lone tear went unnoticed by him as it mixed with the rain. 'What's this feeling? I don't really like Kat do I? Am I really that jealous? As much as I feel happy for them, I'm just as jealous.' Umbrellas popped up around him and people ran by to get out of the rain. He stood there and watched as the world passed him by. Only until he was soaked to the bone did his feet begin to carry him to his car.

===

Kat watched approvingly as Dark gently caught his new fish in the net Kat lended him. Her eyes followed Dark's movements as he placed the net into the new bowl and waited for Kawai to swim out. Kat was right; the fish did have almost the same magnificent stunning blue as the oceans of the tropical island. He dried off the net and handed it back to Kat, "Thanks."

Kat smiled and placed it back in with her other supplies, "Welcome."

"Where do I put him?" Dark asked.

"Well, you could put him with mine or leave him in your room. He'll get more exercise if he's around other fish though, it makes them think they have competition and they flare often," Kat explained.

"Then I guess he'll be staying in your room?" Dark asked.

"I can give you a mirror so Kawai thinks he has other buddies to flare at," Kat offered. 'I kind of want this fish to stay in Dark's room; it is his pet after all. I don't want the poor thing to be alone either…' 

Dark waited for her to figure things out. "I could take my female betta, Coconut, out of my tank and that would give Kawai something to look forward to," Kat said.

Dark nodded and waited for Kat to take off the lid to her tank and fish out her betta. She dumped some water into a bowl Dark handed her and then walked with him to his room.

"I think they make a good couple," Dark teased as his fish began to make a bubble nest. 

Kat watched as her betta flared and showed off. 'They're a lot like us. Dark's always trying to impress me, and I'm always flirting with him.' She laughed, "They do don't they?"

Dark sat down on his bed and Kat joined him. "I have something for you," he said as he opened one of the dresser drawers.

Kat watched as he produced a silver jewelry box, "You do?" He handed it to her and Kat glanced at him before opening the box. She pulled out a necklace that had an angel pendant, "It's beautiful! Thank you!"

Kat undid the clasp at the end of the leather chord and fastened it around her neck. Dark picked up the pendant between his fingers and smiled, "I knew it would look nice on you."

"Why did you get it for me?" Kat asked curiously.

"Just a spur of the moment," he replied but Kat could see that he really wanted her to have the necklace.

Kat beamed and hugged him, "It's so pretty!"

The front door slammed shut and Kat let go of Dark to go see what was going on. She stepped out into the hallway and Dark could hear her say, "Kenshin?" He muttered something under his bead and flopped down onto the bed, closing his eyes and letting Kat deal with whatever the red head wanted by herself.

===

Kat was surprised when she saw Kenshin standing in the hall soaking wet, "What happened?!" Her voice was full of concern and she grabbed his sleeve and began pulling him towards the bathroom. Kat kicked the toilet seat down and gestured for Kenshin to sit down while she went for towels.

Kat came back with a stack of fluffy ones and proceeded to towel dry Kenshin's hair. "What happened?" she asked again.

"I just got caught in the rain," he replied.

"You're sad," Kat stated picking up his mood.

"It's nothing."

"If it were nothing I wouldn't have noticed it," Kat said as she rubbed a towel back and fourth across his head.

Kenshin remained silent and after a while Kat stopped rubbing and kneeled in front of him, "Come on, you can tell me."

He avoided her gaze and Kat was completely confused at what was bothering him. Her golden eyes attempted to read his but without direct eye contact it was impossible to tell what was bothering him. Kat left the towel draped over Kenshin's head and then completely surprised him by pulling him into a hug.

He was so stunned; he almost fell off the toilet. He let himself be hugged and after a while he found his voice, "I heard you were quitting Kendo."

Kat let go of him and stood up, knowing that he was just making conversation. She went back to drying his hair, "Yeah, it's too hard for me anyways."

"I could teach you," Kenshin offered. 

"It's ok, as much as I love the sport, I don't think it's my thing," Kat said. She removed the towel from his head and put in on the counter. Kenshin could see her blush as he removed his wet shirt. His fingers curled around a towel and he pulled one out of the pile sitting next to Kat.

"I'm going to go change into something dry," he announced as he wrapped the towel around himself, heading off for his room.  

Kat went back to Dark's room and heard him talking. She entered and saw he was reading lines off a sheet of paper.

"What are you doing?" Kat asked.

"I'm in the drama club and we're putting on a play. Krad's in it," he said.

"Can I help you with it?" Kat asked.

"If you want to," Dark said as he handed her a separate highlighted sheet. "My lines are the highlighted ones, yours are the ones marked Julia. This is the beginning of the play."

Kat nodded and scanned over the page before reading the first line, "You're leaving me?"

"Only for a little while, I'll be back before you know it," Dark said as he picked up on his character.

"What will become of me? How do I know you'll return to me?"

"Do you not trust me?"

Kat hesitated before reading her next line, "It's not that I don't trust you…"

"Then what is it?"

Kat grumbled something like the page told her to do and Dark continued to read of his lines.

"I would always return to you, whether it be in life or death, I'd return no matter what."

"Then let it be life," Kat said starting to get into her character. She skipped a few lines ahead and frowned.

"Then until we meet again fair Julia. I will be leaving in the morning."

"Do you love me?"

"Pardon?"

"Do you love me?"

"As much as the songbird loves dawn."

"Then kiss me and prove to me that I know you will be mine forever," Kat read over her lines hoping that her voice wouldn't stumble.

She felt her hair be swept out of her face as Dark leaned over. Kat felt her paper slip from her fingers and drop to the floor.

"Of course I'll kiss you," Dark waited for Kat so say her next line but that's realized that she really was waiting for him to kiss her. "Kat, you missed your line," he laughed lightly.

She blushed a darker shade of red but didn't say anything. Dark leaned forward and cupped her cheek in his hand.

Kat looked up at him and planted a kiss on his lips. Dark wasn't expecting such a bold move but he was none the less pleased.

Footsteps sounded in the hall but neither noticed that Kenshin had just walked by, having seen and heard the entire thing. His eyes gleamed with anger. 'It doesn't matter what Kat thinks of Dark, one way or another, I'm going to send him to jail…'

(A/N: Yeah, yeah, still not a very long chapter but it had more fluff! Ok, after reading this is I find that this is really cheesy but oh well… -- grins Hey, read 'A Girl's Best Friend' my new fic! PLEASE REVIEW!!!)