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Lenalee couldn’t close her eyes, forced to watch dark gray clouds roll past her window. Her head rests on her pillow, whisps of growing hair splayed messily over the sheets. It looks like it’s going to storm, but she doesn’t mind the bad weather. It fits the dark mood she feels at the moment.
Komui isn’t with her. Sure, they never spent nights together, but tonight it feels wrong to be alone in her temporary bed. He risked his life, and she nearly couldn’t save him. Lenalee needed to be strong enough for her big brother, and she almost lost him.
His injuries were minor, especially compared to hers, or so she’d been told. But she felt fine now, and it was wrong to keep her away from him like this. Yet the head nurse didn’t listen, forcing her to wait in her recovery bed, while Komui likely stayed up too late doing paperwork.
“You work too hard, big brother,” Lenalee whispers to the clouds. She wonders if Komui is staring at the clouds, too, or if he’s being good and resting like he should. “I’m going to be the one to save you from this place, I promise.”
Normally the science division wouldn’t mind letting Komui stay up late to do his work, especially since he left so much for them, but after the attack on headquarters today, they forced him to take some time to rest. He tossed and turned, flipping his pillow over and over as he tried to find a comfortable position. But no matter how he lay, all he could do was think of Lenalee.
A soft rumbling sounds from outside, and Komui knows the storm is coming. He could tell from the moment the clouds started to turn grey, but now all he could think of was Lenalee, alone in her recovery bed, unable to sleep. It was a secret from most people, but Komui knew his little sister still feared thunderstorms. It wasn’t as bad as when she was a child, but some of her worst nights in the order were spent in a room alone during stormy nights.
Komui knows he’ll have to be quiet, or he may risk waking the others. The head nurse was especially frightening if she worried he was getting in the way of Lenalee’s recovery, so Komui couldn’t afford to be caught there.
“You’re going to get in trouble,” Lenalee says as soon as she hears Komui’s footsteps. Either the head nurse is deep in sleep, or she’s allowing them this moment of togetherness. “Why are you here, big brother?”
Komui smiles, seeing Lenalee facing the storm outside. He’s proud of how brave she’s always been, how hard she works to overcome her own fears. Even if she needs to rest, Lenalee doesn’t want to give up the chance to become stronger. “I couldn’t sleep.”
“I didn’t think storms bothered you,” Lenalee comments, her own way of asking if he needs comfort. She shifts over, looking up at Komui when he sits next to her on the bed. Her fingers dance gently against the bandage over his cheek. “You’re hurt.”
“It’s nothing serious,” Komui reassures her, tucking some of her messy hair behind her ear. “Look at you, sweet Lenalee, always so worried about everyone else. You could have died today.”
“But I didn’t,” she says, almost petulantly. “Don’t leave me, big brother?”
“I won’t,” Komui promises, laying down so they can snuggle in bed, their faces practically touching on the pillow. “Do you want me to sing you a lullaby?”
“I’m not a child anymore.”
“That’s not a no.”
Lenalee bites her lip and nods, almost managing to not shiver at the loud clap of thunder outside. Komui just holds her close to him, careful not to bother her injuries, and hums a gentle tune. It’s one from their childhood, he knows Lenalee will recognize it. He used to sing it to her when she was born, and then again when he finally joined the order. It was the closest he could come to promising to keep her safe.
It doesn’t take long before she falls asleep, and Komui presses a gentle kiss to her forehead. It’s his Lenalee, the girl he had promised since she was born that he would protect with his life. And yet, ever since she was found to be an accommodator of innocence, she has protected him more than anything else. Sometimes he worries he’s failed as a brother, but then he sees the same scared little girl that he grew up with and he remembers he has a place with her.
Laying her on her pillow, holding her close as storm clouds roll by, Komui will protect the innocence of his dear sister with his life, even if she tries to stop him.