Disclaimer: I do not own Chrno Crusade. Period.


A week or two after the new boy arrived at the orphanage, Joshua got more sick than usual. Rosette avoided going out. One reason was because she didn't want to be by herself and the second reason was that she didn't want to be bullied. Until…

Rosette heard a knock at her door. "Rosette?" a muffled voice came from behind the door. It was Ms. Jean. She knocked again. "Rosette, please come out. Your brother will be fine; he would be sad to see you like this."

Rosette didn't move from her bed. She just sat there staring at the book of fairy tales Joshua often read to her. She knew that Joshua was fine, but she was just scared of being alone outside, and she didn't have the courage to speak up for herself.

After a few minutes, there was another knock on the door. Rosette didn't look up, expecting to be Ms. Jean again. But there was no noise behind the door. Another few moments passed and another knock was heard. Rosette noticed the knock sounded gentle. If it was Ms. Jean, it would have been harder.

Rosette rose from her bed, hugging the book in her arms. She walked to the door, grabbed the handle and gently turned it. She saw Chrno standing at her door. Rosette was a bit surprised. She hadn't talked to the boy much, and didn't even know much about him. Here he was, giving her the same blank stare he had first given Joshua.

"W-what do you want C-Chrno?" Rosette stuttered. She didn't want to let him in, but she didn't want to just close the door on him.

Chrno reached for the book in her arms. Rosette pulled back protectively, thinking he was going to steal it. Chrno left his arm extended, and then withdrew. "Come," is all he said. He turned around and walked down the hall to the exit.

Rosette knew that she could've ignored the boy, closed the door and gone back to sulking in her bed, but she was almost intrigued, and decided to follow Chrno. She quickly put on her shoes and went to follow Chrno, and she still held the book in her arms.

She eventually caught up to the boy; he had led her to the tree where he was when Joshua first greeted him. Chrno sat at the base of the tree, waiting for Rosette to also take a seat. Rosette stared dumbly at him, confused, but Chrno just stared blankly at her. She finally caught on, and sat down beside the boy, feeling a bit awkward.

"May I?" Chrno said finally, gesturing to the book Rosette held. Rosette looked at his hand and then at him, trying to see if he would try anything funny. He was only staring at her, with the same distant, cold…

Wait, Rosette thought. His eyes aren't like that right now… They're… Rosette couldn't remember the words to describe the look in his eyes. She gave him the book hesitantly.

Chrno opened the cover, and then looked at Rosette. "Where do I start?"

"Huh?" Rosette looked at Chrno. He had a hint of curiosity in his eyes, but the rest was that one word Rosette couldn't seem to find. "A-are you going to read to me?" Chrno nodded. "Um… t-then just start from the beginning." Chrno looked back at the book and turned the pages to the first story.

"Once upon a time," he read, "there was once a king and queen…"

Rosette had heard the stories many times over and over and knew most of them by heart, but she was almost amazed at every twist and turn when Chrno read it. Chrno didn't really read the story with any enthusiasm, using the same tone throughout the whole story, but his way of reading it had a feeling behind it. Rosette also couldn't help but focus on his voice too. Two weeks ago was the only other time she heard his voice, and it was only for a brief moment. Now, he's reading stories non-stop to her, and she can study it more. It was gentle, but it had a bit of a rough tone to it. His English was excellent, but some words didn't naturally flow off of his tongue. Maybe it isn't his first language, Rosette thought. She had also noticed something she didn't two weeks ago.

"Chrno-" she interrupted. Chrno stopped and looked up at her. "How old are you?"

Chrno silently stared at her for a moment, and then looked back down to the book. "11. Why?"

Rosette blushed a little. "Your voice… it sounds a bit deep. I was thinking you were going through that thingy called puberty… Uh, Ms. Jones told us it makes your voice change a bit and deepen."

"You think my voice is a bit deep?" he asked, not looking up from the book.

Rosette continued to blush. "Huh? No, I was just… I just thought it sounded deeper than Joshua's…"

"But with Joshua's energy, it all has to go somewhere. I think it just goes to his vocal chords and makes him gain a pitch or two," Chrno said with a straight face.

Rosette began to laugh. Chrno flinched, not expecting the quiet girl to laugh. "I guess that makes sense," she said after she had calmed down. Chrno had a look of confusion, but then he continued to read the story to a smiling Rosette.

Rosette was staring at the ceiling in her room. She was covering the bottom half of her face with her blanket; she was blushing.

Why'd I suddenly laugh? And in front of him? She buried her whole face in the blanket. I haven't laughed like that since… Actually, I don't think I've ever laughed like that before. But what he said was so… Rosette calmed down and was only slightly blushing. She smiled. He made me laugh. I guess he really is different than everyone else.

"And they lived happily ever after, the end," Chrno finished, closing the book and handing it to Rosette.

"We're done now?" Rosette asked.

Chrno nodded. "Do you have any other books?"

Rosette shook her head. "This is the only book we have. Every other book is too hard."

Chrno looked at the book in Rosette's hands. He seemed to be thinking, and then he stood up and said, "Stay here, I'll be back soon." He took off running to the orphanage, leaving a confused Rosette behind.

About 10 minutes passed, and Rosette spent them looking at the pictures in the book. She imagined every story in her mind, adding new details and twists to them. They played like movies in her head, the colors bright and the voices fitting. In the middle of her daydream, she was interrupted by the old group of boys who always picked on her.

"Hey Rosette," one boy said. "What'cha got there?"

Rosette didn't say anything, she hoped staying quiet would make them go away.

"She isn't responding," said another. "Ain't that rude of her?"

"Yeah," said the first boy. "Hey, Rosette, you should let us see that book a'yours. We promise to give it back."

He reached for the book, but Rosette instinctively held the book closer and tighter to herself.

"Look, now she ain't sharing. You know, you're the rudest girl I've ever met Rosette," the boy said.

"Maybe we outta teach her some manners," one of the other boys said.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," the first boy said. He snapped his fingers, and the rest of the boys grabbed Rosette and put her hands behind her back. Rosette was surprised and scared. The second boy grabbed the book of fairy tales.

"Now Rosette, everything on this property belongs to the orphanage, which means we gotta share. If we don't share, we gotta suffer the consequences."

The second boy opened the book to a random page and lightly tugged on the page, threatening to rip it out.

"Don't you dare!" Rosette said, fearing the worst.

"You're not sharing. You have to suffer the consequences," the first boy said casually. He gave a nod to the second boy.

The second boy pulled a page out. "NO!" Rosette yelled; tears beginning to fall down her cheeks.

"Where's your loser brother, huh Rosette?" the first boy spat. "That loser can't save you; he's just a whimpy loser.

"Oh yeah," he continued. "There's also that freak show of a new kid. I mean, he's probably just as much of a loser as your brother is." He snapped his fingers at the second boy. The second boy ripped another page from the book.

"STOP IT!" Rosette yelled, trying to jerk free of the other boys. She was crying more than she ever has before.

"Face it, Rosette. All your friends are freaks or losers. You have nothing. And you know what? You're a freak AND a loser for hanging out with them!" He snapped his fingers again at the second boy, wanting him to rip another page. But before he could manage to pull on the page, he was hit across the back of the head and fell to the ground.

"What the heck?" the first boy turned around to see who hit his crew, but he was also hit in the face, being knocked down as well.

Rosette looked up to see who, fearlessly, hit the two boys. "C…. CHRNO!" she cried.

"Get him!" one of the boys holding Rosette said. The other boys ran toward Chrno, meaning to gang up on him and get revenge for hitting their leader. Chrno simply dodged them, took them on and easily took them all out at once.

He approached the boy holding Rosette. He pointed to the orphanage behind the last boy and said coldly, "Now or never."

The last boy didn't give it second thought, and took off running to the building, not looking back.

Rosette was in shock, somewhat traumatized by the event that just took place. She crawled over to the book of fairy tales, tears still falling down her face. She picked up the damaged book and its torn out pages.

Chrno came up behind her and crouched next to her. He used to finger to wipe off tears from Rosette's face, even though it made no difference as they were replaced by fresh tears.

Once Rosette calmed down a bit, she asked Chrno where he had gone. He held out a small leather book, and simply said, "A new story."

Rosette's tears started again, and she hugged the purple-haired boy. Chrno was caught off guard by the hug, and fell backward. He stared at Rosette, surprise obvious on his face, but then he patted her head and began to comfort her in any way he could.

Chrno and Rosette were under the tree again. Rosette had finished most of the crying. She was holding Chrno's hand. It comforted her to know he was there. "Why'd you go get a new story for me?" Rosette asked. Chrno didn't say anything, and only stared at the book. "Actually, why did you read for me at all? Why did you come to my room? I've never really talked to you before. The only one who has is Joshua."

Chrno played with the cover with his free hand. "Joshua…" he began, trying to find the right words. "Joshua… he told me to watch over you for him…"

"Huh?" Rosette looked at the boy. "But… he told you that weeks ago. And he only meant it for that time only."

"He meant all the time," Chrno said, looking over at Rosette. "I can tell. He thinks he can trust me to take care of his sister for him, whether he's sick or not."

Rosette stared at Chrno for a while, and then smiled warmly. She leaned to the side and put her head on Chrno's shoulder. Chrno, now a little more used to Rosette, wasn't too surprised at the movement, and continued to play with the cover.

"Thank you," Rosette said.

"Anytime," Chrno said back.

With that, Chrno and Rosette became friends.


I dedicate this chapter to my mom, who let me stay past my bedtime to release my inspiration for this chapter. xD

R & R!

(This chapter has the most words so far xD)