Hello guys, I'm back! With a nice one-shot instead of studying for my finals! I just came up with this a few days ago while waiting for my next class. I got hungry and wanted to buy some food when some classmates bought sandwiches, I decided to get something too. Sadly I left my money at home so I had to endure my hunger silently, which made me think about what my mom said to me some days ago, about my love for food. It reminded me of Rosette's love of food and then this popped up.
Soo enjoy!
Disclaimer: Chrono Crusade is property of Daisuke Moriyama.
Complications of food and work
When it comes to food there are 2 different type of people; those who enjoy food to eat and those who eat food to enjoy. Rosette definitely belonged to the latter group. Although most people would think other wise; joking about her eating habits and enormous appetite.
Of course they'd think like that, since those people belong to the first category. They wouldn't understand or see the joy and bliss food could bring. Prickling the human senses; the nose, taste buds and ears.
The girl started to drool unconsciously when the strong smell of cooked unions and herbs hit her nose. Without thinking she strayed from her partner, who was explaining the girl how important it is not to screw up their current mission, and went to the source of the smell.
Some blocks later she walked into a street filled with food stands and restaurants. Different types of dishes were served and the girl started to imagine the sound of cooking oil on a pan, filled with some exotic foreign vegetables and meat, covered in a delicious sauce.
Oh how she wished to cook as good. But her past attempts in her childhood made clear that cooking wasn't her thing, no matter how much she adored food.
"Rosette? What are you doing?"
The blonde quickly spun around and was met with two familiar red orbs staring sternly, but curious at the girl.
"Ah Chrono, I um well was just..."
The demon sighed. "You know how worried I was when I turned around and noticed that you were gone?"
Rosette rubbed the back of her head awkwardly. "Sorry, I was just, checking something out..."
At that moment the blonde's partner looked over her shoulder and spotted the source of the nun's distraction. He looked at his contractor, who was, again distracted by the food. "It only been 2 hours since breakfast and you want dinner already?"
Rosette pouted and turned to her friend. "You don't understand! The food looks so good and back at the order we always get the same thing! I can't even enjoy or try new things! It always tastes dull as a result I can't enjoy it as I want to! I've been dying to try some Greek-styles dishes or Asian! I want to taste the differences between foreign and American food, the different kinds of sweet or spicy flavor, the mix of herbs with fish, meat or vegetables or a typical traditional Italian pasta! There are so many things I haven't tried yet and probably never will."
Chrono watched as the girl kept grumbling and complaining. A loving smile crept on his face while observing the girl, which later turned into a sad one. After all those years together the sinner knew the girl like no other, including her likes, dislikes, antics, worries, hobbies and dreams. Dreams she probably can't fulfill due to him. He took her hand gently and pulled her away from the streets. "Lets go and finish our mission, if we come back early with minimum damages, I'll give you a surprise."
The blonde perked up at the word surprise. "For me? What is it? A present? Money? A vacation? You're treating me to dinner? Tell me please! I wanna know!"
"Be patient, you'll find out soon."
The duo finally arrived at what seemed to be a store house.
"According to the reports, our client believes that this place is haunted. None of the deliveries have arrived at their destination. When the owner sent people to investigate the store house to see if no one had run away with the goods, none of them returned and passerby's even claimed to heard scary noises." Rosette mused as she checked their reports she received from Sister Kate.
"Lets be careful then, if we just barge in without being prepared we could expect an ambush." Chrono warned his friend.
But sadly the girl had already gone ahead. "Rosette? Rosette, come back! Why does she never listen when I tell her not to act reckless?"
The blonde nun meanwhile was sneaking around the storage building. "The sooner we're done with this, the sooner I can grab a bite and will Chrono reveal his surprise!" She grinned.
The teenager tried to open the door as quietly as possible, but to her back luck the door creaked due to its old age. "Geez, whenever I want you to be quiet you make as much noise as possible!" She hissed.
The girl continued the sneak inside; the building was dark and quiet except for the dripping of water that leaked from the broken tubes. The blonde shuddered from the cold and her growling stomach followed. "Ugh if I knew it would be this cold I'd bring a jacket with me and some very warm dish."
The girl froze when she heard creaking from somewhere. She turned around and lit an old-looking flashlight; which elder invented for her to use. She saw nothing.
The poor girl was slightly nervous and looked around frantically. "Ah calm down, Rosette. You've been used to this kind of things, it's not the first exorcism so you should know how to handle this."
"Rosette!"
The girl quickly turned around and was met with the disapproving face of her demon partner. The poor teen shrieked and fell on the ground. After a few seconds she realized who it was and started to attack the poor guy.
"Stupid stupid idiot! You could have given me a heart attack!"
"Ouch! Don't blame me! You're the one who ran off without saying anything. Besides I wasn't even trying to scare you." The purple-haired boy countered while rubbing his sore head.
Rosette, red from embarrassment turned around, trying to hide her expression from her friend. "A-anyway, we need to get rid of the plague. Did you sense something?"
"I did when I entered, but now there's nothing, also this silence is bothering me. It's too quiet."
The two turned around when they heard noises coming from above them. To the poor nun's horror some black matter fell just in front of her face on the ground and from the light of the flashlight she could make out the twisted face of a man. She screamed in horror and backed away.
"Rosette what's wrong?!"
The girl shakily pointed at the unrecognizable object, which appeared to be the body of one of the victims. The eyes of the corpse gave off an eerie glow. Chrono growled and stood protectively on front of his contractor when sounds of laughter filled the room.
Rosette recovered slightly from the sight, she stood up when the room lit up slightly and black miasma accumulated in the center of the building.
"No wonder I couldn't sense anything after entering the building. Because the entire building was filled with miasma it melted with its surroundings." Chrono explained.
"So the miasma is also the reason for the lack of light here?" Chrono's contractor asked.
The sinner nodded. "And that's the source of it."
When the miasma had accumulated it finally took form of a young woman; her whole body completely black, eyes white from madness and her long black hair was dripping as if it was melting. Her nose was missing and her bangs almost covered her face and the remaining miasma encircled under her. She sneered at the duo.
"A vengeful spirit? So that's why all the victims have disappeared she must have killed them all. But what's it doing here of all places" The blonde teenager asked as she took out her guns, but due to her growling stomach the girl had trouble with aiming right. "Ugh I can't get the food out of my head."
The spirit tried to lash out at the exorcist, but Rosette luckily dodged it and hid behind a container.
"Rosette, are you alright? You don't look well." Chrono asked worried after a glance at his contractor.
"I'm just a bit hungry... A bit more than necessary, okay a lot! It smelled so good! It's been stuck in my mind!"
"Over excess eating isn't healthy for you. It's a miracle you never gained much weight, considering the quantity of food you always consume each day."
Rosette's temper snapped as she gave her partner one of her famous noogies followed by a few punches. The poor demon rubbed his head as the blonde calmed down.
"A-anyway," He continued. "We have to get rid of that spirit and fast. We should have enough sacreds to do the job. Try to ignore your stomach and focus on the mission, remember the sooner we're done, the sooner you can eat."
His contractor snorted. "Yeah, I know, I know!" She replied as she looked at her gun, which she was handling carefully. "Give me some time to distract her, you can put on the barrier and then we finish her."
The demon nodded as he glanced to the side where their target was rampaging around. "Give me five to ten minutes."
"Sure, just make sure not to trip." The nun grinned.
Chrono grimaced, but decided to ignore that comment and went ahead. Rosette came out off her hiding spot and fired some sacreds. "I'm here you lousy spirit! Don't think you can get me as easy as the others!"
The spirit fell for the nun's bait and directed her attacks towards the blonde.
The girl did her best in evading them all, making perfectly use of her surroundings. Sadly due to her lack of energy and hunger she did it clumsily.
"Gah, is this the best you can do? I've had better opponents!"
The woman destroyed a pillar that landed just next to Rosette, but to her surprise it didn't attack her. Confused the blonde looked up at her target, who seemed to have become quiet all of a sudden. When it looked at The exorcist, Rosette noticed to her shock that it was crying tears as black as the spirit's body. "What the?!"
Before Rosette could finish her sentence and realize what was happening, the spirit woman let out a horrible screech as she started to absorb the remaining miasma, which transformed her lower body part in what looked like a monstrous centipede body. The poor teen clutched her head in agony. "Argh, it hurts so much! What's happening?!"
Chrono who was busy with the barriers, quickly looked at his contractor the moment he heard the spirit's screech. "Rosette!"
"D-Don't worry C-Chrono! I-I can handle this..." His contractor choked out, but the sound was too much for the girl.
"Rosette watch out!"
The exorcist looked up confused when she heard his worried tone, but it was too late. Iron bars and tubes fell on top of the surprised teen. She only had time to let out a gasp before it fell right on top of her.
"ROSETTE!" The sinner hollered.
He dropped the last remaining cross barrier and jumped towards his contractor. The spirit tried to lunge at him, but in a swift moment he cut off her arms. It screeched and roared in pain and rage.
Chrono growled. "How dare you hurt my contractor, you useless garbage." His eyes had become dangerous slits, his teeth became sharper and his hands changed slightly into claws.
After another failed attempt from the woman spirit, the sinner send her flying against the other side of the buildings wall. After another fierce stare, he snapped back to reality when he heard groans behind him. "Rosette? Rosette! Are you alright?"
He quickly ran towards the debris and trying to search for signs of his contractor. He spotted blonde locks through an opening and to his relief his contractor was unharmed.
"I'm fine Chrono. Ouch. I was lucky that most of those pillars are supporting each other from collapsing on top of me. I think I only got a small head concussion and my ears are still ringing, but it's nothing to worry about." She groaned again and rubbed her head.
The purple-haired demon slumped to his knees. "Thank god you're alright. I was so worried." He cried in relief.
"You always do. Now help me out of this, I need to get that bitch for payback! Did you finish the cross barrier."
"Ack!" Chrono started to fidget uncomfortable. "Ah well, when the pillars fell on top of you, I thought the worst had happened so I... Kinda dropped the last one before I could finish."
"... Chrono."
"Yes?"
"If it wasn't for the situation I'm in now, I'd hit you so hard that you'd feel it tomorrow."
"I know."
"Now get me out of here!"
"Right away."
The demon quickly tried to get his contractor out of her debris prison, but the spirit just came out again roaring horribly. The miasma was running amok making her look even less human. "Unforgivable, I won't forgive you!"
The duo looked up alarmed as their target rushed towards them in rapid speed.
"Damn there's no time. Quickly give me the Gospel!"
The boy quickly took out the bullet from his bag pack and handed it over to the girl. Rosette chanted the prayer and shot the bullet, but her stomach had to get in the way and she lost her strength, thus missing her aim and hit the roof instead.
With a yelp the building quickly gave away and collapsed on the vengeful spirit. It screeched in agony. "NO, NOONONONO! HOW COULD YOU! YOU SAID YOU'D BE THERE FOR ME ALWAYS!"
And with the last of her strength the woman let one last cry before she glowed and disintegrated into nothingness.
Rosette was able to climb out as she and the sinner watched the spirit turn into nothing.
"Apparently the grounds of the storage building used to to be owned by a very wealthy family. The daughter and only heir was in love with a man from a foreign country, but he betrayed her and killed the woman at this very place. Her grief didn't allow her to rest and turned it into hate and anger. Something just have probably happened to manifest her strong sentiments." Rosette explained to the owner.
The owner of the building was staring at the now destroyed building and looked back at Rosette and Chrono. "It's my fault I guess."
The duo looked curious at the man.
"I bought this land a few months ago for trade and a few weeks later the problems started... It's because I'm a descendant of that man, that she became restless and vengeful. She mistook me for the man who betrayed her."
The group stayed silent for a while until the man spoke up. "Anyway, thank you very much. Don't worry about the damages, I was thinking of breaking it down anyway."
"What? Really? So we don't have any debts? Rosette asked excitingly.
The man nodded. "All these happenings made me think about what I really want, about my dreams and it made me realize that I should enjoy my life while I'm still alive. I'm sure my ancestor regretted his actions. I can't judge him, since I don't know exactly what happened. But just because he did something bad, doesn't mean that I should pay for his wrong doings."
He turned away and looked back at the duo. "Anyway, again you have my gratitude."
The man walked away while Rosette and Chrono kept staring at the building, both of them pondering about the man's words.
"I feel sorry for the woman." Rosette mused.
"Hmm?" Chrono who wasn't paying much attention looked back at his contractor curiously. "What do you mean?"
"She was betrayed by the man, who she loved with all her heart. It's sad, if your feelings don't reach the person you care about."
The demon stared at the blonde for a while.
"What?" The teen asked, while eyeing her partner suspiciously.
The boy shook his head. "Nothing, I just thought that you were right. What heartless person would do something like that."
The nun closed her eyes and fallacies against a tree. "By the way Chrono, is it really alright to stay here and not reporting back to the order?"
The sinner smiled. "Don't worry, it's still early and you're still hungry aren't you?"
"Well yeah, but why are we at the outskirts? There are no restaurants near."
"It's part of the surprise."
Rosette looked confused. A few seconds later Chrono came back with a dinner tray filled with delicious looking dishes. The blonde glutton perked up and looked dreamily at the food. "It looks so delicious! But wait, I thought we screwed up like always, so why did you get..."
"Despite the destruction we caused again, you handled it quite well and this time the mission didn't cause any debts like normal." He answered while taking a seat next to her and handing over the food. "Besides, you're hungry aren't you?"
Rosette started at her friend for a while. She felt her face heat up under his intense but loving stare and became shy all of a sudden. "Ah, yeah. Thanks a lot Chrono."
She took a bit of the food and all of her nervousness was forgotten as she dug in and enjoyed the mix of flavors in her mouth. "This is delicious! Did you made it yourself?"
The purple-haired demon scratched the back of his head uncomfortably. "Well yeah, since we both know how horrible your cooking is and despite that you still enjoy eating so..."
The blonde gave her partner a noogie for the insult. She let the demon go as quickly as she grabbed him and kept eating. "Well... It's very good." She continued. "I didn't knew you could cook."
The boy rubbed his head. "Years of practice."
His contractor offered him some of the food. "We finished the mission together, it wouldn't be fair if I am the only one enjoying this. You're the one who prepared this." She said while gazing in front of her.
The sinner smiled and accepted her offer. They continued to eat in silence, while Chrono watched how his contractor blissfully ate her food. "You know, I also prepared desert."
The girl stopped in her actions and looked at her friend with utter surprise and admiration. "This is the best meal ever."
The girl accidentally choked since she didn't chew properly.
"Choking on your food already. You can't do anything properly can you." The demon grinned.
The blonde coughed a few times which turned into laughter after hearing Chrono's joke. The boy soon joined her as they kept laughing for a while.
Finally Rosette calmed down and took a sip from her drink. She turned to her demon friend and embraced him in a warm hug. "What would I do without you? I wouldn't be able to do anything I guess."
Chrono stiffened from the sudden embrace, but relaxed quickly. He hugged her back and closed his eyes, enjoying the moment to its fullest. "You would be just fine by yourself, it's me who would be lost of it wasn't for you."
Rosette chuckled. "Yeah yeah." She rubbed his back gently. "So, what about that dessert?"
The sinner smirked and got up. A few seconds later he came back with a delicious looking fruit cake filled with cream, to which the blonde responded eagerly by drooling. "The order should better hire you for kitchen duty! Then I could eat like this everyday... On the other hand, I'd prefer to keep your cooking talent to myself. The other members don't know how to enjoy or appreciate good food."
Chrono blushed slightly at the nun's compliment. He decided to watch his contractor as she made expressions only food could make her do and since he's one of the few people next to Joshua who knows about this, he was also one of the few who could watch her making such rare and content expressions that he loves about her. The demon slumped down next to the nun and listened to the sounds of his surroundings and the chewing of his content partner.
At least once in a while they can enjoy peaceful moments like this together. Before Sister Kate scolds them for returning late.
I had two ideas about how I wanted this one-shot to go. I had an idea about how the ending was supposed to be and the beginning was already obvious, so after some pondering I decided with what I have now. I hope you guys liked it and I'll probably write some more one-shots when the inspiration comes.
Please leave a review and tell me what you think of it.