Komui had no idea what this was about, but he could read the expressions clearly enough.
Who: Komui, Lenalee, and Allen later on.
When: Saturday of the Loveless universe/Canon-shifting week.
Where: Komui's room.
Summary: Lenalee needs some new clothes. Komui springs to the rescue. An unknowing Allen wanders in. Madness ensues.
Rating: G - PG
Warnings: None that I can think of! Flying blunt objects, maybe?
Lenalee was late.
Well, she wasn't exactly late, since there was no exact time for her to arrive at her brother's room. Maybe it was the feeling of rush that made her believe that she was losing time to get over to Komui, or maybe it was the excitement that filled her head as she thought about seeing her still older brother in his early days again. Either way, she was late, which was unacceptable. Lenalee activated her Innocence as soon as she got tired of walking around so slowly in the continuous white hallways that was the facility. She ran forward, very thankful she has always worn those shorts under her skirt, as she could hear the seams ripping out.
Lenalee ran faster than she last remembered and before she knew it, she was standing in front of the correct door. All the haste from before vanished, and she began thinking that instead of being late, maybe she was early. Maybe Komui was busy right now. She probably should just come back a little later-
-No, that was silly. She was here now, and Lenalee was almost positive Komui's door was always open to her. With one bold and confident knock, her hand hit the metal door while deactivating her Innocence. It was best not to scare him with such advanced technology.
"Brother? It's Lenalee." She began to worry as she looked down to the door. Komui was probably used to having the sliding paper doors.
Inside his room, Komui jerked upright at the knock. In preparation for Lenalee's visit he'd shoved some of the mess his elder self had left over to one side and was arranging the various sewing tools and instructions out on the desk. Rather than call out for her he dropped the buttons he was holding and ran to the door, yanking it open.
"Lenalee..." he breathed, taking in the sight of her, so much taller and older and like their mother, before he crushed her against him in a hug. His Lenalee, grown up wonderful and beautiful! He held her for a long moment against him, simply breathing in the familiar scent of her hair. He had been so scared about how much of a stranger she would be to him, but holding her like this made him realise his fears were unfounded. It was with some reluctance that he let her go and stepped back.
"Come inside, Mei Mei, and we'll start making those clothes of yours perfect!"
Lenalee made a short and loud sound as Komui hugged her, musing about how much shorter he was than when she last remembered him. Other than that, he was basically much the same. Same hair, (though a little longer) same straight and lean figure, same smell, same personality and same sound though it didn't have that slight English accent. She found it strange to be hugging now that they were so close in age, only separated by a small year. Still, this was her brother, no matter how old or young he was. Lenalee nudged her head against his neck before she felt him pull away, and in return she pulled away herself.
"Thank you, Ge Ge. I'm sure the clothes you make will be lovely." Lenalee thanked, a small and sweet smile dancing around on her lips. She couldn't appreciate him enough, really. He was doing an exceptional favor for Lenalee by doing this, she was sure that she could never properly thank him.
She took a small step forward so she could close the door behind her quietly, with her gentle way of handling things. Lenalee pulled her hands back, and before she had time to think over her movements, her hands went to intertwine with Komui's. It was probably curiosity that made her do it; curiosity to see if he felt the same as he did 13 years later.
Komui squeezed the hand holding his warmly. Though it was far larger, and at a different angle, the gesture was very familiar. Little Lenalee was such an affectionate girl!
"Thank you, Lenalee. I see you haven't stopped thinking Ge Ge always does wonderful things! I'll try to live up to your expectations." He walked them both to his bed, squeezing her hand again before scooping up a Western-styled shirt and handing it to her.
"This will probably be far too big for you, since it's too long for me now, but get undressed and put this on so I can start working on your clothes." He sat on the bed and politely turned himself away from his sister.
"Oh, ah, yes." Lenalee stuttered out, reaching to grab the long shirt in his hands. She blushed slightly before turning herself around and stepping farther in the room. "Don't look behind, okay?"
Lenalee undid her uniform jacket first. She slowly unbuttoned ever button there was to unbutton on her coat, and before long, she was left in her tank top and skirt. Next her skirt came off. She just slipped that down on her legs and kicked it off to her side, where she would clean it up later. After that, she removed her tank top, leaving Lenalee only in a sports bra and short shorts. She hurriedly moved all her stuff into a nice and neat pile, and pulled the shirt over her head. Komui wasn't lying when he said it was big.
"You can look now," Lenalee said to Komui as she turned around and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm decent."
Komui turned and smiled, gently holding Lenalee's hand in his own. She looked so innocent and lovely with the shirt draping off of her delicate frame. He reached up to adjust the collar slightly, covering the straps of the sports bra completely.
"I'll mend what you've got first, then I'll see what I can do to make you something decent to go over the tail." He promised. His sister's legs weren't meant for the wider world to see. He patted the bed, offering her a place to sit, and scooped up the jacket, carefully examining it before beginning his repairs.
"It isn't much." Lenalee said, thinking about how she got all those holes in her uniform. The most recent had been the most emotional; the attack of the 14th. She huddled herself in closer as she sat down on the bed, as her mind went in to a bit of a haze and she recalled what happened that day.
To be honest, she didn't remember most of it. The 14th was there, she was sad. The 14th attacked, she was angry. The 14th got hurt, she was.... sympathetic. No matter who the 14th was, he had taken the body of her very best friend. Lenalee couldn't in her right mind attack the body that belonged to her most beloved friend; Allen Walker. Of course, in the end she had gotten hurt for trying to protect that body and suffered a large scar because of it. Lenalee's back began to tingle at the thought of how bad it hurt, and in response, she flinched slightly and held her body in closer to herself.
"I'm sorry it got so ruined," Lenalee apologized, bowing her head down to look at her fingers clenching her upper arms. "I was trying to be careful, really."
Komui looked up from the holes, concerned. What sort of terrible things had his sister been made to do? Seeing her huddle there, looking like she did in the early days after their parent's death, he quickly scooted over and pulled her against his side, stroking her hair. She was far bigger than she had been, but still, holding her warm body against his was a comfort. He kissed her forehead gently.
"Don't be sorry, Lenalee. These are nothing, nothing at all. You did worse the day you ran into the bramble bush. Do you remember that? I wouldn't care if you ripped all of this in half, as long as you're alright." He pulled his head back, the worried expression making his youth so clear. "Are you alright? Is there anything Ge Ge can help with?"
"Brother..." Lenalee said, looking to the other side. The face Komui wore killed her every time. She hated thinking it was her fault that he wore that mask so plainly. "... I'm fine. Really."
She rocked her head on Komui's shoulder, noting how much smaller he was now. Lenalee wondered for a moment if she should tell him about Allen. They were closer in age now, so it was more likely that she could talk about something like this with him, without him getting freaked out and flailing around. That said, Komui was still her brother, and this could lead to being a very uncomfortable talk very fast. One inhale later and a turn to the left later, and she started to speak.
"Have you ever been in love, Ge Ge?" She asked, sheepishly biting down on her lower lip.
Komui stiffened uncomfortably against his sister, turning red. He had deliberately left his hair loose fr the last few days to cover up the marks Kaito's attentions had left all over his neck. Kaito had claimed to love him, but Komui had severe doubts that it was anything much to do with pure love, if what had been poking his side was any indication.
"Me? Um, well, not really. I did like Mai Yee Fang, but I think that was more because I had to, since our parents had arranged a match. Is this about Allen?" Komui had spoken to the white haired boy, who'd confessed that there was something more than friendship between him and Lenalee. After the grace with which Allen had treated Komui, even with that little Kaito incident, Komui had nothing but good thoughts about him. Not that it meant he wanted to give his sister away just yet.
Lenalee’s cheeks turned a brilliant shade of red, while her fingers floated up to her mouth to bit down gingerly at her nail. She didn’t know Allen had already met this younger Komui, and certainly didn't know if he had made a good impression of him.
“… Yeah, it’s about him.” She paused for a moment. “I love him brother. I really really do. There’s just…” Again, she paused, this time her hand going to her eyes, which had begun to water up. “Ah- Sorry. I don’t know where that came from.”
Komui pulled her tight against him again, rocking her gently, murmuring comforting nothings. He hated to see his sister cry. Even when she was tiny, the sight undid something in him. Now, seeing her cry made his own tears threaten to fall. He swallowed a few times before speaking.
"Shhh, Mei Mei, shh, you can tell me anything, you know that, right? He's a lovely person, Allen is. You made a good choice." He kissed her temple, his eyes still watery. "Tell me, Lenalee, please, don't just keep it in when it's hurting you like this."
Her hands fell down to wrap around Komui’s waist, while her lip popped out slightly. Now wasn’t a proper time to cry. No, crying could be saved for later, when there was no one around to see or hear her.
“Allen just… gets weird sometimes. He goes kind of berserk, I guess. I hate it when he turns into this… monster.” She stops, rubbing her eyes on Komui’s arm. “That’s all… Let’s work on the clothes now, though. Just you and me like how things used to be.” Lenalee gave Komui one last squeeze before letting go. No, she didn't say everything she wanted to say, but it would probably be easier to talk to the older Komui next week, since he already knew Allen's situation.
Komui could feel a slow, roiling coil of anger in his stomach at Lenalee's words. That sounded... ominous.
"Has he hurt you?" He asked lowly, taking hold of her shoulders. He bent his head to look at her face, watching for any evasion.
She flinched in response, looking at any area except his eyes. Lenalee got hurt, not only physically, but emotionally too. She couldn't let Komui fret over that. She always had a knack for putting to world on her shoulders and carrying all the burdens that came along with it, which was her case right now. She took every little thing that went wrong during her time here and threw it on over her shoulders. Eventually it would get too heavy and she'd break, but she could at the very least let that hold off until a time when she was alone.
"... N-no." Lenalee lied bluntly, trying to make Komui let go of her. "The clothes..."
Komui briefly scowled in frustration, his eyes still shining with tears, knowing that she was lying. It was as obvious now as when she was five. To think, he'd actually liked Allen! But for all Allen had been nice to him, anyone who'd make his sister cry like this was Bad News.
"I'll mend your clothes." Komui whispered, picking the material up again and setting to work with a needle. He didn't want to push Lenalee, make her feel forced to talk, make her cry. If he did that, he'd hate himself, he knew. Better to let her relax a bit before talking again. "Do you need this jacket tightened or loosened at all?"
She probably should have explained his situation, but decided against it. It was almost the end of the week, and as long as Komui and Allen didn't see or talk to each other for a while, everything would be okay. Everything would be okay. Lenalee wiped away the remainder of evidence that showed she had been crying with her eyes and sniffed once, clearing her mind of this conversation. All this time, though she hadn't realized, Lenalee had been relying on one faulty factor to get through this week, and that was not matter what, under no circumstances, could Allen and Komui speak with each other again. This week.
"I've grown a little bit." Lenalee said, looking over his shoulder at her jacket. "It's a kind of tight."
Komui nodded, considering the slight conundrum. He picked up his measuring tape and a pad of paper and began taking the measurements of the jacket itself.
"Where is it tight?" He asked. "Stand up and raise your arms and I can measure you through the shirt."
"Everywhere, I guess." Lenalee said, brushing a few of her hairs away from her face. "I think it'll be easier if I just take the shirt off. I wouldn't want it to get too baggy."
With saying that, Lenalee pulled the long shirt over her head, not to either of their knowledge, revealing a large dark brown scar that went from her right shoulder down the to left side of her hip.
Allen sat in his room poking at Timcanpy who was perched on his knee. It was boring sitting in his room all the time even if Link was there. It got him to thinking how lonely Komui must be across the suite. Allen hadn't heard anything from since their card game after the incident with Kaito. He hoped that Komui wasn't beating himself up over it and decided that he should go and check on him. The exorcist picked his deck of cards up off of his desk and got to his feet causing Tim to have to take to the air. Link had just left the room to get a shower so going over to visit wouldn't be a problem.
It only took Allen a minute to walk through the small common room and to Komui's room. He grabbed the the door handle and opened it door without bothering to knock since he figured no one would be there. Allen opened the door smiling cheerfully. "Komui I was just wondering...if..." He trailed off mid-sentence turning bright red at the sight he found inside. Lenalee was there and not at all decent. Allen froze for a second and then stumbled back a bit. "Ah! I'm sorry!" He wailed quickly looking away.
Komui dropped the measuring tape he'd been holding up, his mouth still open in shock. Allen, who made Lenalee sad, had seen Lenalee like that....
"GET OUT!" He shrieked, snatching a spanner from the floor and hurling it at Allen.
Lenalee turned her head to the side when she had first heard the doors opening. She suffered from a number of emotions so fast; she barely had the time to fully process them. The first emotion, and the most notable in her book, was happiness. Lenalee could help but be happy whenever Allen was around her.
"Alle-!" She started, before remembering her and Komui's earlier conversation. It wasn't safe for him to be in here. Especially if her brother picked up on her lies. "No-" Lenalee began to say, before she felt a rush of wind and the sight of a spanner running by her. All her muscles stalled for a second, so she wasn't nearly fast enough to grab the blunt object flying by her.
During all the commotion, she had completely forgotten about her unsightly manner.
Since Allen was doing his best not to look at what was in the room he didn't see the spanner flying towards him and it hit him right in the face surprising him and causing him to stumble a little. His playing cards went everywhere as he threw up his hands in front of his face partially to protect it from further attacks, but mostly to keep himself from seeing Lenalee. "Sorry Lenalee! Sorry!" He continued apologizing face still bright red. The boy decided that he really should get out of there fast. It wasn't something he should be seeing and if Komui was anything like his older self he would likely attack him or something. Allen tried to quickly turn to leave and slipped on one of his cards tripping and toppling over.
Komui was seeing red, now that Allen hadn't managed to escape. He was there, right there, the person who made his sister cry and Komui wasn't going to stand for it. He scrabbled around, looking for something else to throw when his hand closed on the handle of something even better: the drill.
Komui hadn't worked out quite how the drill worked, or what all the attachments were for, but he knew how to turn it on and it felt natural to heft it onto his shoulder and threateningly approach the prone boy, making the motor thrb loudly.
"Get out! get out, get out and don't ever let me see you again!"
A moment of panic explained perfectly what Lenalee was going through. Did she protect Allen, or did she stop Komui? She didn't know, and she hesitated which was probably a very bad idea on her part. After that moment of fright passed, she ran in front of Komui, her hands moving up to block any of his attacks to Allen.
"Komui! I can not believe you!" Lenalee shouted, her second pair of ears pushing back in an intimidating manner. Slowly, she crouched down, looking very much like a tiny cat as she placed one hand behind her, not quite touching Allen, but trying to offer him some kind of support. What had he said before? Sorry? What was he sorry for? A short look downward explained it all, and she made a loud squeaking noise, losing her threatening stance to try and cover up as much of her body as she could. Her dark scar was now revealed to both of the men in the room, though Lenalee still had yet to realize it.
Allen had not expected Komui to be quite this angry. He wasn't even likely to resort to this normally and when he saw the drill coming at him he threw his left arm up in front of himself. There wasn't time to do much of anything else. He clenched his eyes shut and gritted his teeth anticipating the impact, but it didn't come. Lenalee was defending him and he was just really confused at this point. He felt like he had missed something that was going on. Allen opened one eye and looked up when he heard her squeak. He had not noticed the large scar before and stared for a second before frantically looking away again and covering his eyes with one hand. "Lenalee when did you get that scar?" he asked concerned having momentarily forgotten about Komui and his drill.
With Lenalee in the way there was no way for Komui to get at Allen and teach him a few, pointed lessons about knocking and not hurting sisters. The amount of bare skin on show as she crouched made Komui realise that perhaps it would be better to help her keep her modesty before he removed Allen's eyes, so he chucked the drill back onto the bed and ran over to grab the abandoned shirt, passing it to Lenalee.
"Put this on, Mei Mei." He said softly. "Oh, my poor sister what horrible things have you been forced to endure to get scars like that?" He cradled his sister close, glaring at Allen as he wrapped his arms around her.
Lenalee caught the shirt and threw it on hastily, only to be met by the warm and cuddly arms of her elder brother. Her arms started twitching as she recalled the scar for the second time today. Once again it started to tingle and burn, especially with Komui's arm resting ever so gently on it.
She whined out loud, forcing a few 'um's and 'ah's to escape her lips. Lenalee couldn't come up with a very good excuse, except for the truth, but that wouldn't work. She couldn't do that to Allen, not with him sitting down right beside her. In the spur of the moment, she said the first thing that came to her mind.
"I fell." Lenalee whispered, only after it left her lips did she realize how stupid and unfathomable it sounded.
Allen frowned as he took his hand away from his eyes to meet Komui's glare. "Lenalee, what really happened?" He asked knowing that there was no way she could possibly trip and so that kind of damage to herself. It looked more like she had been slashed by something. Allen got to his feet and crossed his arms. She didn't have to hide anything from him as far as he was concerned and he wasn't about to give up on finding out the truth. "Whatever it is you can tell us." Allen said trying to reassure her.
Komui tightened his arms around Lenalee protectively, continuing to alternate between glaring at Allen and looking worriedly at Lenalee.
"Do you want him to leave so you can tell Ge Ge?" He asked. "You don't have to say if you don't want, remember."
"No!" Lenalee shouted, partially saying no to Allen leaving, and half saying no to telling either of them. She couldn't, not really. Though, if she were to tell Komui now would be the best, since there was a chance that he wouldn't remember it next week. She exchanged glances between Allen and Komui before breathing in deeply, and letting it out, hoping that maybe all her worries would go along with it. They didn't.
"The 14th did it." Lenalee said finally, making sure to word it carefully so Komui wouldn't understand. She was sure that Allen could handle the truth behind the scar, but her brother? Not likely.
Allen's eyes went wide when he heard the news. She hadn't told him that when he had asked before. "I'm so sorry." He said looking at the floor. This was all his fault for losing control of himself. He had to find a way to keep things like this from happening again in the future. It was bad enough that he had hurt anyone in that state let alone Lenalee. "You should have told me." Allen mumbled unsure of what else he should say. "I should leave."
Komui had no idea what this was about, but he could read the expressions clearly enough. The guilt and hurt on Allen's face. The regret on Lenalee's.
"Yes, I think you should leave." He enunciated carefully, making sure in his anger he didn't slip back into his native tongue. "Lenalee is still having her clothes mended and you shouldn't see her like this." His eyes narrowed, giving the most fearsome glare his youthful face could muster. "Leave. Now."
"No!" Lenalee shouted for the second time, wrestling her way out of her brother's grasp. She got up and held onto Allen's hand, too afraid to do much of anything else. "It wasn't your fault, and you know that."
She sent a glare over to Komui, thinking about how rude he was being, getting rid of a guest. She clung on tighter to Allen's hand before turning back to face him, a soft smile residing on her lips. "Do you really have to go?" An uncomfortable pause. "We should probably get you a water bottle for that bump." Lenalee frowned as she looked at the red area where he was hit, motherly rubbing the swollen area with her other hand. Komui sure knew his way around a spanner.
"It'll be fine. You worry too much." Allen said plastering a smile on his face so that he wouldn't make Lenalee worry anymore than he already was. He hadn't noticed the bump on his head and it didn't bother him at all. He pulled back a little when she touched it though. More because she was the one touching him than anything and blushed a tiny bit. "Ah, I really should go so that you can get your clothes fixed. Komui is right about that." He said avoiding Komui's frightening glare.
Allen patted Lenalees hand with his free one before pulling his other hand out of her grip and gave her another smile. "I'll see you later." With that he turned and hurried across the common room back to his shutting the door behind him. He had made a mess of things he knew and decided that he needed to stay there and think of a way to make it better.
Komui kept his narrow gaze on the door steady until he heard the echo of Allen's door slamming. Once he heard that faint noise he was finally able to relax, to let his grip on Lenalee loosen, to breathe. That had been too fraught for him. He'd hardly understood what was going on, but he'd known he'd had to protect his sister against everything.
"Shall we get on with the clothes mending?" Komui asked, looking at his sister softly.
Both of Lenalee's hands stayed where they were when Allen was here, hoping, no, praying that he might come back. He didn't. She pouted her bottom lip, wrapping her arms around her core once more as she went to go by the bed again. She plopped down with a faint little thump and adjusted the large shirt she was wearing. Fixing her clothes was a good idea right now, a good excuse to get the scar, Allen, the 14th, and anything else out of her mind. Lenalee turned back to her brother, a small smile finding it's way to her mouth.
"Mm." Lenalee made a sound of agreement, nodding her head over to the remains of her skirt. It had been a bad day so far, but who said the Lee siblings couldn't change that? She ran a few fingers through her hair, trying to think of something else to say before things got too uncomfortable.
"I want ruffles." Lenalee said, offering a fake grin to Komui.