Breeze of the four seasons

- Scour-'o'-phobia

Summary: Autumn's pretty maple leaves have withered away while Winter's snowflakes have melted, making way for the cheery blossoms in Spring. Now, the spring breeze has seeped into summer, whispering the start of a new season as it goes. Summer…what does it have in store for our favourite couple in Chrno Crusade? If you're thinking along the lines of lazing around, fanning oneself, basking in an air-conditioned room and sipping lemonade, then you thought wrong! As many unexpected surprises spring into sight, how will the Chrno Crusade gang handle them all? Rosette X Chrno Azmaria X Joshua romance

( Blah blah blah ): What the author(me!) has to say in the midst of the fic

"Blah blah blah": Dialogue of characters

Blah blah blah : Thoughts of characters


"Come ON, Chrno!" cried out Rosette in exasperation, doing her utmost to pull her demon ally through the doorway of the bathing house.

However, unfortunately for the vivacious nun, she was not the only insistent one.

"No!" yelped Chrno, his voice unusually high-pitched as he dug his heels into the concrete flooring of the building, rooting himself firmly to the ground. It was then that Rosette finally took notice of Chrno's ashen face and realized something was definitely amiss.

"Chrno?" she inquired tentatively, her hand reaching out to him, her brows knitted together in concern. "What's the matter?"

At once, the said demon flushed a bright shade of crimson which could rival the colour of extremely ripe cherries. He stared down at his feet, shuffling them nervously, his lips moving wordlessly.

"What was that?" queried Rosette, stepping closer to the lavender-haired demon.

"…"

He muttered his answer incoherently, resulting in Rosette's frown becoming more pronounced and her leaning in closer and cocking her ear in such a manner that she could hear the demon better.

"…"

Once again, Chrno's answer was nothing more than a murmur. Now certain of the fact that the problem lay not with her but the demon, a vein throbbed ominously at the nun's temple.

"Chrno!" the blonde exorcist roared, causing Chrno to wince. "Would you speak up already?!"

Nervously, Chrno raised his head, stammering, "well…that is…"

Rosette raised her eyebrow skeptically, making Chrno flush as he gave in to his sudden urge to yell.

"I said I don't like baths much, okay?!"

Silence followed the words as soon as they were uttered as Rosette's brain fought to register their meaning.

Chrno…the Sinner…afraid of…BATHS?

Realization hit the holy saint like a ton of bricks and she at once broke out into peals of laughter. Immediately, Chrno's cheeks coloured up to such a deep shade of burgundy that it was surprising it didn't leave him permanently scarlet. It wasn't as though he was really frightened of baths, but it was just…all so foreign to him. Back in Eden, he simply cleansed his body with water and that was the end of story. He hadn't had a proper bath before and it didn't help matters that ROSETTE was to be the one to scrub him…Knowing her, she'd probably scrub him so hard to get back at him for his snide comment that he'd come out of the bath looking like a boiled lobster…

Seeing how uncomfortable and humiliated Chrno looked, Rosette at once obliged to stifle her laughter. Her whole body shaking with suppressed hilarity, the sister placed her hands onto the demon's shoulders, gently steering him into the bath house.

"Now now, Chrno. No matter how much you loathe baths," a smirk tugged threateningly at the nun's cherry lips as she struggled to keep a straight face.

"You still have to take one, so, get on with it! I don't want you stinking up the whole place…"

Glumly resigning himself to his horrible fate, Chrno obediently allowed Rosette to lead him into the bathing house.

That is, until he remembered an important fact of the Order's bathing house.

"Wait a min…Isn't the bathing house meant FOR GIRLS ONLY?!"

Unfortunately for Chrno and fortunately for Rosette and you all out there, the readers, the door had already been tightly slid shut by the blonde exorcist to prevent the demon from escaping from his fate.

Cackling and flashing a V-sign for victory with her hand, Rosette pounced onto the poor demon and grinned widely at him, sending chills down the boy's spine.

"Now then Chrno, unless you want me to do it personally, you better get rid of your clothes and get into some bathrobes before I come back, you hear?"

Gulping, Chrno nodded miserably, his indignation of getting humiliated giving in to his fear of what Rosette would do to him if he refused. Rosette beamed brightly in triumph and practically bounced off into one of the available cubicles of the Magdalan Order's cabana.

Sighing in the defeat, the demon once again shook his violet locks out of his claret eyes. His shoulders slumped; he slipped his red coat over his head and started removing his clothing sullenly.

God, what had he done to succumb to such punishment? He who hears us does not help us, for why should He help those who can't help themselves? Yeah, right. That's nice, but in translation under all those fancy words is the words written in bold: HELP YOURSELF CAUSE GOD IS JUST GONNA' SIMPLY WATCH. And- ah, sheesh, since when did he start believing in god anyhow? He was a devil, for Eden's sake! The heat must have addled his mind…

Barely registering what he was doing, Chrno slipped the fluffy white bathrobe over his head and tugged it into place. Sighing rather wearily once more, he pulled at a stool which had been left lying around (no prizes for guessing who…) and settled himself on it, clutching at the front of the chair, pouting slightly. Just how long did it take Rosette to-

"Yeeeoooww!" Chrno shrieked jumping about a mile into the air as something icy cold drenched his body in an instant, numbing him.

Violet locks sopping wet, the demon swiveled around, shivering slightly from the frostiness of the water, only to find himself nose-to-nose with his bathrobe-attired contractor. A broad grin spreading across her face as she straightened up with bathing necessities tucked under her arm, Rosette stated, "Now, it's time to give the grimy puppy a good, hard scrubbing!"

-Resulting in a groan in response.

Forcing the demon back onto the stool, Rosette squirted a thick stream of shampoo into the violet mass on Chrno's head, a grin still plastered over her facial features. Weaving her fingers through Chrno's silky lilac hair, she rubbed gently against her demon partner's scalp, causing bubbles to form.

Under his contractor's unusually gentle touch, Chrno relaxed, his eyelids dropping as he did so…

KERSPLASH

Once again, Chrno was caught unawares by Rosette, who had upended an entire bucketful of freezing water over him. Giving a shriek of mirth as Chrno again gave a yell of surprise, Rosette doubled up with laughter at the sight of the demon's expression.

"You look...hilarious!" she gasped through breathless laughter, giggling as she pointed a finger trembling with hysterical laughter. A dark look worming its way onto his face, Chrno swiveled around, his water-logged hair whipping behind him as he reached out for a bucket brimming with a frosty, crystalline substance…

And before she knew it, Rosette was hit by the full impact of a galleon of water in the face, leaving her spluttering and choking on her own giggles. Her navy orbs widening in astonishment, it took her a moment to fully register what had happened.

When she did, however, Chrno was better off dead, with a fate worse and far more tragic than death awaiting him…

"DAMN YOU, CHRNO!!"


Hours had passed in a flash after that "water-fight", and night had fallen, replacing the day time's cries with night time's calm silence. Stars stood out from the pitch-black background behind them, and they shimmered and glimmered brightly, as though mocking the people down below them.

The cerulean-eyed teen lay comfortably on bed, the day's events replaying vividly in her mind's eye. At the thought of what had happened during the bath, she couldn't resist giving a giggle. A soft smile gracing her pink lips, Rosette snuggled under the covers, giving a sigh of content as she did so, but at once tensed up in surprise as she heard a low creak of her bedroom door, announcing another's arrival.

"Rosette?"

At the gentle, familiar tone, Rosette visibly calmed down and rolled over to lock gazes with a pair of hellish-crimson eyes in the darkness of her room.

"Chrno?"

At her voice, his face lighted up, a smile tugging at his lips.

"Still awake?" the demon inquired kindly, unable to keep the affection out of his voice as he held his tender gaze at his contractor. Nodding, the curve on her lips extending slightly, the blonde exorcist sat up, her covers rustling as she did so.

The demon's soft smile broadened and he settled himself comfortably upon the edge of the bed, "Today was a pretty 'fun' day, eh?"

Rosette's eyes focused on the ceiling, her expression peaceful.

"Yeah…"

Chrno gave a long, suffering sigh.

"Although, you really didn't have to hit me so hard," he grumbled, rubbing a spot at the back of his head. "That hurt the blazes…

…you're so violent – "

He stopped short, slapping a hand to his mouth, his pupils dilated in horror at what he accidentally let slip. Uh oh…

Rosette's expression instantly hardened.

The last thing he saw before he burst out of the room squealing was Rosette looking at him as though contemplating how he'd look as a pile of freshly pulverized minced meat.

"…really," Rosette muttered, sinking back into bed, a look of irritance etched across her face.

However, she couldn't help but feel the corners of her mouth twitch upwards.

"Idiot…."


A/N: Chrno seems to let slip lotsa things lately, doncha think? –grins- Oh, and 'Once Upon Insanity' may be coming up soon…