Hello all:)

Alright, here comes the chapter that makes the fic deserve its rating. But nothing too terribly explicit, sorry.

I appologize in advance, as I don't quite like this chapter. Dunno why, just had a heck of a time getting everything to sound right. It's still not exactly how I'd like it to be, but it's better than it was. The good thing is I got about 8 inches of hair chopped off today, so while all of my strength is now gone, a great weight has also been lifted off my brain. So hopefully, the creative juices will flow a bit better and the next chapter will be good.

(Hugs reviewers)

Ok, on with it.

Disclaimer: Scarred Rose doesn't own Chrno Crusade.

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The usual sounds of convent life filtered through the window to Chrno's room, but they were lost to his pointed ears; as was the warmth of the afternoon sun as it played across his bed. The window was always left open to let in the fresh spring air, and normally he enjoyed sitting by it and watching the people move about below him. But right now, he was dead to the world, lying on his bed with his arms crossed behind his head and eyes closed. The little demon was deep in thought, trying to come up with an explanation for the strange occurrences that had been taking place with a select few of the convent's sisters.

At first, his mind had rifled through all of the demons he knew of that would be interested in invading a convent to fool around with nuns. This actually turned up a good number of matches, however, he had personally killed most of them during the escape from Pandemonium. He figured that the remaining ones were either too stupid to pull something like this off without being caught, or still afraid of him. After all, any demon with an intact nose would smell Chrno as soon as they set foot on the church's grounds, and this was enough to deter most of the lower level demons in the area. As for the upper level ones that had a grudge against him, they were much more likely to come after him directly than to try to ruin his name. Generally speaking, physical violence was vastly preferred to subtlety in demon affairs.

So, crossing demons off the list, he moved on to ghosts, sprites, and other wicked nasties that were known to like human women. He couldn't think of any specific entities, and besides, these types of critters were usually tied down to one place. The only thing that would make sense given the situation would be an incubus, but he had never known of one that could shape-shift. Also, icubi got their kicks from sex, not just playing around.

He had then forced himself to consider the possibility that he was actually the one responsible for the incidents. After all, it wouldn't be the first time he had done something and not been able to remember it the next day. Granted, this memory loss usually applied to situations involving massive amounts of killing or drinking, not so much making love.

God, it has been sooooooooooooo long…

Face scrunching up, he tried to remember if there had been any indications that he had done something he didn't remember. He had awoken normally each morning, no unusual marks or smells on him. If he had actually been out with these girls, their scent would be all over him, and it would make sense that if he was to visit any of the nuns during the night, Rosette would be the one and only one he'd go to. So, it seemed pretty unlikely that he was responsible for this.

Alright, back to square one. The demon shifted a bit on his bed to get more comfortable before delving into his thoughts again.

Just then, a tentative knock sounded on the door.

"Who is it?" Chrno asked, knowing full well the answer already.

"Well, you get three guesses, and the first two don't count."

A small smile crept its way onto Chrno's face and he took another whiff of her scent as it flooded his room through the cracks in the door. She smelled good. There was her normal odor and on top of it, something like soap and… what was that? Cinnamon? Weird combination, even for Rosette.

"What were you doing this morning? You smell kinda funny." Too late, he realized that comment might not be appreciated by his hot-headed friend, but she seemed to let it go this time.

"Oh, carrying supplies into the kitchen, and then cleaning up the floor after I spilled a little." She replied absently, Chrno imagined briefly what her 'little spill' must have actually been like and smirked. "Are you gonna make me talk to your door all day Chrno? It's lunchtime, let's go."

He sighed and opened an eye to peer at his door.

"Actually, I'm supposed to stay here. And I'm not supposed to be talking to you, either."

"Why not?"

"I can't tell you on pain of death. Literally."

"Oh." Rosette sounded puzzled. "Does this have to do with that thing at breakfast?"

"Yeah."

The nun was oddly quiet for a few minutes, and Chrno could only tell she was still there by the sound of her breathing and the ticking of the watch. After a while he heard her lean against the door and then slide down it to sit on the ground.

"So what's going on?"

"Like I said, I can't tell you." The demon replied, feeling a bit bad for having to keep things from her.

"Well, whatever it is, did you do it?"

"I don't think so, no." But I can't be sure…

"So why are they cooping you up in your room?"

"Sister Kate and Father Remington's orders. Take it up with them." He replied with a small shrug, hoping Rosette wouldn't press him too hard to figure out what was going on. To his surprise, her next words were

"Sister Kate ordered this?"

"Um, yeah." He responded, a bit confused.

"That's not fair." Rosette started quietly, and Chrno winced, beginning to feel the first tremors of what was sure to explode into an earthquake of Rosette Rage.

"Leave it to that old witch to punish you for things that aren't your fault." Her voice started to grow in volume, getting louder with each new word, "That evil hag has had it in for the both of us since we got here! I oughtta go give her a piece of my mind… and my boot! Maybe if I kick her hard enough in the ass it'll jar that big iron rod loose and it'll fall out of–"

"Rosette!" Chrno interrupted before her tirade got too loud. When the girl tried, she could be heard ranting on the other side of the convent. "Why don't you go to lunch, you know you get cranky when you're hungry."

"I am not cranky." She responded through clenched teeth. "I have righteous anger that must find an outlet, and Sister Kate would be perfect!"

"Perfect in that she'd have us both kicked out of the convent?"

"Perfect in the sense that I would feel complete and at peace with the world right before she regained consciousness and kicked us out."

Chrno sighed and chuckled from his spot on the bed, and then cracked his other eye open to look at the door. He was going to be lonely without her.

"Rosette, seriously, go to lunch or we're both gonna get in trouble. And right now, I don't think I can afford to be in any more of a mess."

The girl gave an exasperated sigh, "How long do you have to stay in your room?"

"Until they get this thing figured out." He responded, trying to sound reassuring. "It shouldn't take too long, ok?"

There was silence from the other side of the door for a minute, and then "Alright. I guess I should head to lunch then…"

Chrno nodded, and then realized she couldn't see him. "Yeah. You know how the lines get this time of day."

"Do you want me to bring you anything?" She asked, getting to her feet.

"I think that would fall under the category of 'seeing Rosette' which I'm not supposed to be doing right now." The demon responded, "Besides, I don't really have to eat, you know."

"Well yeah, but food always makes me feel better when I'm a little down."

Chrno smiled a bit. She was worried about how he was feeling…

"I'm fine, thanks. You better get going before anyone sees you here."

"Alright." A hint of defeat was evident in her tone, but she quickly shooed it out. "See you around, Chrno."

"Bye Rosette."

He listened to her footsteps as she quickly walked out of the Elder's hut and then sighed deeply and closed his eyes again, settling back into thinking mode.

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It was 12:30.

Chrno looked around Father Remington's room again, twiddling his thumbs and trying to keep himself from going crazy. He had been led there earlier that night through the men's dormitory, which he'd never had reason to visit before aside from grabbing a shower once in a while. On the way there, Chrno decided that he liked the look and smell of the girls' dorm much better. Plus, Rosette was there. Here, there were only male exorcists that he didn't know, and a pissed off priest who's room he'd be locked inside for the rest of the night. Yep, definitely preferred the girl's hall.

He'd actually been pretty surprised at the first sight of the priest's room. The mood in there, it seemed, was decidedly un-Remington. First of all, it was very sparsely furnished, and everything was a drab brown. This included the bed, dresser, desk, curtains, floor, and the chair in the corner that Chrno was currently occupying. None of the warmth and reassurance that usually flowed from this man was evident in the room's décor, in fact the whole place had about as much personality as a dead fish. The room itself was about one and one half times larger than Rosette's quarters, and was situated on the corner of the building so there were lots of windows. Right now, though, it was nighttime and the curtains were drawn, encasing the room in darkness.

Remington was sitting at his desk going over some reports, his lamp providing the only illumination in the room. It seemed that his bad mood had lifted somewhat, but Chrno could tell he was still a bit suspicious of him. The demon had been there since 9:00, and he wondered if Remington was planning on going to bed anytime soon. He knew he wasn't going to sleep tonight, and was starting to get a bit antsy.

Early on in his stay, Chrno had noticed that when he sat in this chair his feet didn't quite reach the floor, and after a few hours of sitting in this uncomfortable position his legs were in serious danger of falling asleep. As such, he had been spending his time alternately swinging his legs in the air to keep that awful prickling feeling out of them, and drumming his fingers on the arms of the chair to occupy himself. Not many words had passed between the two of them that night, and he still wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. He hoped absently that the demon, or whatever the hell it was, would visit again tonight so that his name would be cleared and he could be with Rosette again.

Careful what you wish for.

Suddenly, Chrno lurched forward in his chair, grasping at his chest and gasping. It felt like someone had just thrown a ten ton weight on top of him. He went down on his hands and knees, sweat breaking out on his forehead, as he felt something start to tug on his insides. What is this feeling? He thought, gritting his teeth as the sensation steadily grew. It felt like something was draining him… gradually, the sound of the pocket watch ticking away filled his ears, and he sensed that Rosette was in trouble.

"Are you alright, Chrno?"

Remington had gone to Chrno's aid as soon as he had hit the floor, but he wasn't entirely sure how he could help. The whole thing had happened in the span of about thirty seconds, and as he was about to try and move the little demon, one of his hands shot out and grabbed Remington's wrist in a steely grip.

"Rosette" He ground out through gritted teeth, "Something's wrong!"

The priest nodded, and quickly rose, dragging the demon to his feet. Grabbing two loaded guns from a desk drawer and a few vials of holy water from the top of the dresser, Remington quickly rushed out of his room, with Chrno following behind.

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The pair of them had raced across the convent and were now standing outside Rosette's door. Chrno looked like he had just run ten miles and was still grabbing his chest right over his heart. As soon as they had come to a stop he had had to bend over and take several deep, shaky breaths to keep from passing out. Remington hadn't broken a sweat, and was intent on the door, listening for any hints as to what was going on inside.

He was preparing to make a stealthy entrance in hopes of surprising whatever it was within the room, when Chrno rushed forward. He was scared stiff for Rosette, What could be happening to her? and made straight for the door, almost knocking it off of its hinges as he shoved it open.

So much for the element of surprise… Remington grimaced as some of the other doors on the hall began to open, with a few disgruntled nuns sticking their heads out.

"Back inside. Now." He ordered in a calm, but authoritative voice. Most of the sisters obeyed immediately, shooting quick glances at Rosette's door, which was still wide open.

When the other nuns were all safely in their rooms again, the priest rushed to the threshold and almost ran smack into Chrno, who hadn't gotten much farther than a few steps inside. As his eyes adjusted to the dimness, he was able to discern a very large mass on Rosette's bed. Once the image resolved itself, he had to squint to make sure his eyes weren't somehow deceiving him. Below him, a very dangerous sounding growl started up in Chrno's throat.

The sight that had reached both sets of eyes was one of a sleeping Rosette, thankfully still fully clothed, with a shirtless Chrno on top of her, in his true demon body. This Chrno was pinning both of her hands up over her head with his left hand, his right gently squeezing one of her breasts. His bone-tail was wrapped around her torso, and he had a knee shoved tightly into her crotch. But probably the most infuriating thing to the real Chrno was the fact that this imposter was kissing his Rosette.

With a snarl, he dove at the demon daring to violate his contractor, but didn't make contact. Instead, he passed right through the seemingly solid person, and had to do a mid-air flip to land on his feet on the other side of the bed. Growling, Chrno went down on his knees as another attack of that horrible draining sensation came over him.

"Get OFF her!" He forced out, eyes going red and fangs elongating.

The Chrno look-a-like broke the kiss and began running his tongue up and down Rosette's neck, grinding his knee a bit harder into her groin to elicit a gasp of pleasure from the nun. After a few moments he looked down at the snarling demon out of the corner of his eye and smirked.

No.

His mouth hadn't moved, but Chrno and Remington had clearly heard the demon's words inside their heads. In a flash, the priest pulled one of the vials of holy water out of his pocket and flung some of its contents at the bed. Just as before, the liquid passed right through the demon and splashed Rosette instead. The real Chrno had to quickly scramble out of the way as some of it dripped off the blankets and almost touched him.

As soon as he was out of the fluid's range, he directed his burning gaze back at the thing on top of Rosette, who was chuckling at the pair's attempts to touch him.

"What are you?" Remington asked, anger clouding his eyes.

The creature ignored him completely, instead looking back down at Rosette and leaning forward to whisper something in her ear as he massaged her breast. A small smile ghosted its way across the girl's lips, and he leaned down to capture her in another kiss. At this action, Chrno was forced completely down to the floor and gave a hiss of pain, writhing as the sensation of something pulling on his heart became almost unbearable. Seeing his friend in trouble, Remington approached the bed and reached out to try and jar Rosette awake.

The demon, however, had simply to open its eyes and glare at the priest to send him flying across the room, where he was slammed hard into a wall. He sank down to the floor, not unconscious but with the wind knocked out of him.

Now now, gentlemen, I do NOT like being interrupted when I'm working… his fingers began tracing lightly over Rosette's chest, and a small spark could be seen as they brushed the pocket watch.

You are both being very impolite, and highly inconsiderate of my needs. Is that any way to treat a guest?

Ghostly laughter filled Chrno's head as he struggled to get up, claws forming and disappearing on his hands, his flesh tearing apart and melding together at an alarming rate. He fought to keep control of himself, something told him that if he transformed now there would be an even bigger world of trouble. Seeing his labored efforts to rise, the demon broke his kiss again and looked down at him with a smug smile.

You know, demon, all of the girls here like you. It seems the forbidden fruit is always desirable to humans, doesn't it?

He gave another short laugh. But they all resisted, at least on some level of their consciousness. So how lucky was I to find this girl? She seems to have no qualms about seeing a demon in the middle of the night… he moved his knee out of the way and took his hand off of Rosette's breast, sliding it down her taut abs and then in between her legs… No objections to letting one touch her in ways that no one has before… at least, that's my assumption demon. You'd know for sure, wouldn't you? He leaned down and placed a series of kisses on the parts of her chest that were exposed, gently nosing her shirt aside to run his tongue between her breasts.

They all called out for someone, screamed for some man they fantasize about… he started rubbing one of her most sensitive areas and her breathing quickened, growing harsh and noisy as he refocused his attention on her neck, licking and nipping his way up to her ear and then nibbling gently on the lobe… and this one here is moaning for you.

For emphasis, he suddenly pressed hard between her legs, causing her back to arch and a breathy "Chrno!" to escape her lips before her body went slack, lying back down onto the bed as panting gasps flowed out of her body.

Ah, done.

With another smirk, the fake Chrno sat up and released Rosette's hands, turning to face his double, who had been forced to the floor by the terrible weight on his chest. Their eyes locked, golden and red.

"I'll kill you for touching her!" Chrno hissed, unable to speak any louder, but trying to stand so he could face the demon sitting on Rosette's bed.

I doubt that, little friend. You really have done me a favor, she is so infatuated with you I hardly had to work at all.

The demon smiled fully this time, eyes narrowing in a derisive smirk.

Not only that, but I've finally found the person who holds the key to your wretched soul. One day she'll give it to me fully, and I'll have my retribution.

Chrno's expression became darker as he made it up to his knees, hand again reaching up to clutch at his heart.

"Who the hell are you, and what do you want?"

The smile on the demon's face widened. Well now, that would be telling. Besides, it's so much more fun to watch you squirm. And with that, he disappeared.

As soon as he was gone, the feelings that had been plaguing Chrno since his first collapse in Remington's room also vanished. The demon cautiously took a few deep breaths, feeling the pain in his heart dissolve away. Slowly, it resumed its normal beating pace, and he shakily got to his feet. Rubbing one his arms across his forehead in an attempt to keep the sweat from running in his eyes, he turned and looked at Remington.

The priest was still slumped against the wall, a pained expression on his face as he pressed a hand to his throbbing head. Their eyes locked for a second, and Chrno realized he was trembling. The priest eventually broke the connection by screwing his eyes shut, an infuriated look passing over his face.

"How the hell are we supposed to fight him if we can't touch him?" He asked in a low voice.

Chrno shrugged, trying to keep his teeth from chattering. "No idea."

After a few minutes of silence, the little demon sighed, and walked over to Rosette's bed to rouse her from her slumber. He leaned over her, careful not to touch any of the spots still soaked in holy water.

"Rosette, wake up." He said quietly, trying to sound calm. But it was hard to get the tremor out of his voice, and he didn't really expect her to wake up anyway. He sniffed her scent in deeply, scanning for any traces of someone else's odor. There were none. So, it isn't corporeal. He sighed, and looked at her face. It looked like she was still dreaming.

"Rosette," He tried again, a twinge of annoyance in his voice. "Get up."

To his surprise she obeyed, (kind of) suddenly sitting up and wrapping her arms around his neck. Lookingat her face, he registered that she was still partially asleep right before her lips met his in his second surprise kiss in a day. This one was just as startling as the first, but different in that Chrno found himself liking it.

She quickly flopped backdown onto her bed, not breaking either the kiss, or her hold on his neck. The unexpectedness of this action caused the demon to lose his balance, and in an effort not to drop all of his weight on her he reached out to grab onto something. His left hand caught the edge of her nightstand, and his right landed on something round and soft.

Oh god, don't tell me that's…

The demon closed his eyes as tightly as he could before slowly cracking open his right one to look at what his hand was sitting on…

Oh, shit! Was the last thought that ran through his mind before he felt the body under him start to stir.

Rosette's eyes slowly opened and stared into the wide red pools in front of her. She tried to frown, but then realized there was something on her mouth. Glancing down, she saw a very distinctive braid and a tanned hand firmly pressed over her left breast.

It was 1:00 in the morning, and the entire hall was abruptly awoken by the sound of several loud crashes and a penetrating yell:

"PERVERT!"

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Poor Chrno... more than likely this is the last chapter I will end with him getting either physically or verbally abused, but I make no promises.

So, next chapter there will be much theorizing about what's going on... and maybe something else. Something shiney. But you'll have to stop back to figure out what it is.

Please Review and have a happy day!

SR