I do not own D. Gray-Man or any of the characters. It all belongs to the wonderful Katsura Hoshino.

Writing, writing, writing. Approving this, rejecting that, double checking this. A stamp here, a signature there. Wait, how much money? Oh, he doesn't know how much longer the Order can continue to pay for these sorts of things.

He takes off his glasses for a moment and rubs his eyes. Hm, maybe he'll go visit Jerry after he finishes reading this report. Reever drops another stack of papers on his desk and reminds him to keep working. Perhaps he should call Bak? He looks at the stacks of paperwork he still hasn't gone through, and he decides that he'd rather not get a scolding from the Assistant Branch Head for not doing his work.

He gets back to work as he takes a sip of his coffee. It's bitter. It's cold. Lenalee is on a mission. He misses her coffee. Her's is sweet and warm and seeing her smile as she passes some out to the other members of the Science Division warms his heart. He wishes he could see her smile more often.

His sweet sister Lenalee. He wishes he could take away her pain. Protect her from the dangerous and ugly things of this world. His heart is torn apart every time he has to send her on another mission. The missions that make her cry. The missions that destroy her world. The missions that burn her beautiful hair away.

The missions that may one day burn her away.

No, he can't think like that. He grabs another paper from the stack. A report from a finder. There's been some akuma activity around a small village in Germany. Nothing big, some level ones, a few level twos. A nice mission for Miranda. She'd appreciate being in her home country and being able to use her native tongue.

He grabs a paper from one of the stacks that's beginning to collect dust. Another report from a finder. This one from Denmark. Funny, Lenalee's there right now. She's actually investigating what this report is about. He should really keep up with paperwork more.

It's a simple mission, really. There's a strange little church nobody can get into. A bright light can be seen shining through the windows, but there hasn't been anybody who could see what the source of it is. Several akuma are hovering around, so there is a good chance there is some Innocence to be found.

He wouldn't stop hugging his little sister before she left. He remembers Lenalee's sigh, the finder's chuckle, and Kanda's grumbling about the damn sister-complex.

He can't help it. He remembers when he lost her after the Order took her away. He didn't even have a chance to tell her he loved her before she was gone. He hated it. His little sister was alone. He couldn't stand the thought. When he finally found her again, he made sure to let her know she wasn't alone. He made sure she knew how much he loved her.

As he puts another paper off to the side, he notices something is off. He looks up and sees that the other scientists haven't seemed to notice anything.

And then he realizes, it's the scent of fresh coffee.

The door opens, and he smiles.

Lenalee's coffee.

"Niisan, I'm back early! I heard you were actually doing work so decided to surprise you with a reward."

Sweet, sweet Lenalee. A small cut on her forehead. A bandage around her wrist. But she's smiling. His little sister is okay.

"My beautiful sister is so kind! Coffee just for me! Lenalee, you're okay? No major injuries? Kanda didn't say anything mean to you? Do I have to go kill any octopuses?"

Lenalee laughs.

"You know it was an easy mission, Niisan. I'm fine."

He wraps his arms around her and gives her a bone-crushing hug, all the while gushing over how sweet and kind she is to have brought him coffee.

"Niisan," she says as a warning. He knows that tone of voice. It roughly translates to get-off-of-me-before-I-kick-you-off. He only hugs her tighter.

He needs to show her just how much he loves her.

He needs her to know that she's precious to him.

He needs her to know

before she burns away.

AN: People always write the silly side of Komui. I wanted to try the more serious side of him. It probably sucks. I've been itching to write, but I have trouble stringing words together into something nice and pretty to read. Readers, mind telling me your interpretation of Komui? I like to know how other people see the characters. I want to be able to write them accurately one day.