Rochelle yawned loudly as she slowly trudged out of the room she slept in. If anyone would assume that she was sleep walking, they would be half right. She wasn't fully awake as she walked to the sink to brush her teeth. Not long after she had begun, Rin walked up to the sink.
"Um, Rochelle?" he said nervously. She simply nodded and groaned gibberish in response.
"You don't have on any pants…" he said. She nodded once again. The pants Yukio had given her were too big and they fell off while she was walking, due to the fact that she wasn't necessarily "awake enough" to hold them up everywhere she went. The sweater Yukio had given her, however, came down to her mid thigh.
"And how the hell're you brushing your teeth? You don't even have a tooth brush!" he stated as she spat out the remaining toothpaste.
"When I was growin' up, my family ain't have much 'cause my daddy's a prick," she began, giving Rin too much of her personal information. "If I had a toothbrush for too long, which would be about four years, he wouldn't buy me another one for another five months or so, so I would put toothpaste on my finger and brush my teeth with it. Gotta have fresh breath." She finished, giving him thumbs up and walking away. Yukio was walking up to the sink and while she was leaving, she bumped into him and as an apology she said "Pardon me, miss."
"Is she awake?" Yukio asked his older brother.
"You tell me." He replied as Rochelle walked back down the hall and made a left turn. The brothers were about to go on with their morning routine when they heard a noise that sounded like horse trotting and a loud thud. The two rushed to the scene to find that Rochelle had fallen down a flight of stairs. She was curled up against a wall in an awkward position with the sweater pushed up enough to reveal strawberry pattern panties.
"Ouch!" She moaned as she stood up and dusted herself off. "How the hell did I get here?" she asked no one in particular.
"I think you were sleep walking." Rin said. She nodded and walked back up to the top of the stairs as if nothing had happened and even though she tried to play it off, Yukio noticed that she was limping slightly.
"That's it?" Rin asked.
"I used to fall all the time when I was a kid." She said. "It's really no big-" she stopped herself when a little bit of blood trickled down her forehead. It was the she noticed that her arms and legs were covered in scratched and bruises. Even so, she just wiped the blood away with her hand and tried to walk away, but Yukio grabbed her arm.
"We have to get you cleaned up, and I have to check that wound on your head." He said while dragging her off slowly.
"Yeah, try to fix the wound in her brain while you're at it." Rin joked as he followed. After they made it into the room Yukio told her to sit in a chair as he grabbed a first aid kit. She looked around in their room. It was really nothing special, a comic or magazine here, an article of clothing there, a typical teenage boy's room. When Yukio came back he pushed up her sleeve and began to put ointment on her cuts and bruises. He noticed a few scars.
"You said you used to fall a lot?" he asked.
"Yeah," she said while chuckling a little. "Some people thought I was being pushed around by demons, but it turns out that I was just scatterbrained and clumsy."
"You still are." Rin interrupted. She flipped him off and continued.
"I remember how much I used to cry when I would fall and ruin my tights, and hardly anyone decided to help me, which is why I spent most of my time at the church." She said while smiling nostalgically. "It's like me and the church were in the same condition; both of us needed help, but no one would lift a finger to give it."
"What's the name of your church?" Yukio asked.
"Saint Augustine's Catholic Church." She stated.
"I went there once." Yukio told her. Her interest was sparked as to why he was there but before she could ask he was about to begin to patch up her legs. Rochelle jumped slightly at the touch of his hand.
"I'm sorry if I'm making you feel uncomfortable." Yukio said in response to her sudden movement. She slowly nodded, giving him the okay to continue. They sat in silence until he finished; the only sound interrupting was the sound of Rin flipping through a manga.
"Okay, you're all set." He said while cutting off the last piece of bandage. She stood and looked in a full-length mirror.
"My God, I look like a mummy." Rochelle said flatly. She was practically covered in bandages, on her arms, legs, hands and head. Someone knocked on the door three times fast before opening it, causing Rochelle to hide behind the nearest object. It was Mephisto.
"Good morning my kitties!" he said in English. "I have a delivery for Rochelle."
"Um, how do you know I'm here?" She asked as she slowly came from her hiding place.
"Why shouldn't I?" he asked. "When the dorm keeper is worried because someone is missing, we have to know where she is."
"Okay, where's the mail?" she asked. He pulled off his hat and held his walking stick next to it.
"Ein, zwei, trie!" he said, and a box fell out of a pink cloud of smoke. Rochelle caught the large box and examined it as Mephisto placed the top hat back on his head.
"Have a nice day!" he said, and in another cloud of pink smoke, he disappeared. Rochelle sat down the box and began to open it.
"This must be from Father Roll." She said. In a plethora of Styrofoam popcorn, she found a violin case.
"A violin?" she asked no one in particular. "I can't even play the violin. I've never touched a violin in my life!" Rin laughed as she opened the case anyway. The inside was vivid red velvet with her name embroidered in black cursive letters, but that isn't what amazed her and the twins the most. Inside the violin case was a modern day shotgun, a box of rounds, and an envelope. Rochelle took the letter out and read it aloud.
Dear Rochelle,
I know you have had a rough past, but I want to say that you have changed a lot in these years. For this I am proud. No one has taken on the role of exorcism in our church in a very long time and I am proud to see you changing that. Here is a gift from you. The gun itself and the rounds enclosed have been blessed by the Paladin, Shiro Fujimoto, himself. There's an incantation that you have to say before you use it for exceptional use, which is also enclosed in this envelope.
Hey kiddo! It's Father Fujimoto. Don't let Father Roll down; he's got a lot of faith in you. You're gonna go far!
God bless you,
~Father Roll and Father Fujimoto
"Woah, dad blessed this, huh?" Rin said. He reached out to probe the shotgun but Rochelle slapped his hand.
"Dad?" she echoed.
"Yes, he was our adoptive father." Yukio said. Rochelle then looked at Yukio.
"So that was you!" she said. Rin looked at her dumbfoundedly.
"I met Yukio a few years ago…"
"You should really calm down your temper, Rochelle." Father Roll told Rochelle. She came to confession very often. She was there now because she beat up her step- mother so bad that she had to go to the hospital. "I'm sorry, but I don't take kindly to being called a monster who no one will ever love and who will never amount to anything. People don't always give me a chance." She retorted."That is why you must turn the other cheek." Father replied. Rochelle sighed.
"Easier said than done." She said.
"Stubborn as always." Her Father exhaled. "Clean the wax off of the candle holders on the alter."
"Yes sir." She replied before walking up to the alter with tools to scrape the wax off. She heard the front door open she looked up to see an old man and a young man walking in.
"Welcome sirs." She said respectfully. She could tell by the clothes that they had on that they were exorcists. Rochelle stopped cleaning wax and went to where they were standing. When she looked at the young man's face, she realized he was her age if not a year older at the most.
"You must be Rochelle." The older man said with a smile.
"Yes sir." She quietly squeaked. The man laughed heartily and placed a hand on her head to tousle up her dark brown hair.
"There's no need to say sir after everything." He told her.
Yes s-"she stopped herself.
"From what the Father told me, you're a lot less spitfire than I thought. Oh, I almost forgot! Yukio, this is Rochelle. She's your age." Yukio stared at her in awe. He found it hard to believe that they were the same age; at that time Rochelle was only 4' 0".
"It's a pleasure to meet you." He said timidly.
"Likewise." She said before turning around to finish cleaning the candleholders. Father Roll had come out and they were going to handle whatever business it is that they came for.
"You look so much different since you died your hair." Yukio told her. She giggled and rubbed the back of her head.
"Yeah, and I'm a whole foot taller," she said as she held the shotgun in her hands. She noticed how high she had to look up so she and Yukio could make eye contact.
"How tall are you anyway?" she asked. He blushed a little.
"180 centimeters." He replied. [A/N: 180 cm. is six feet]. She scowled and packed up her shotgun.
"Fuck you!" she said as she walked out of the door and slammed it shut. Rin and Yukio stared at the door.
"What just happened?" Rin asked.
"Wouldn't I like to know." Yukio replied.
