Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater.


Chapter 12: Offer

Scarlet watched the proverbial sunrise coming up over the mountains far away from their mansion. She never thought that she'd be back to the place where she grew up. She remembered clearly what happened yesterday and couldn't believe she was still alive. She held the glass of the window, faced down and thought about the glowing red eyes she saw when she was already drowning in the water.

"That boy," Scarlet said in a little voice, referring to Raven, "why did he look familiar?" The sound of policemen talking and sirens of their cars resonated in her mind. The image of Raven beside her, looking down on her with water falling down on his face and hair came to her mind again. Before that, she felt his lips on her so she no longer doubted that he did perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation on her. She wasn't sure if she should thank him or get mad at him for doing it. After all, she didn't want to be saved. But somehow she felt relieved that she was.

Right after she woke up from the emergency procedure that Raven reluctantly performed on her, she fainted again because she lost a lot of her energy during her struggle with the vengeful woman whom she didn't know. The second time she woke up, she found herself on her white canopy bed in her spacious light blue room that is mostly full of books and antique collections.

Later she heard some reverberating footsteps outside her room. She quickly turned around and walked towards the door. She placed her ear next to the old wooden door and held the gold-colored door knob. She and Raven who was outside the room gently turned the knob simultaneously. Raven was holding a tray with Scarlet's breakfast on it. He flinched when he felt that he wasn't the only one turning the knob. He let go of it and it slowly opened. He and Scarlet glanced at each other, unblinking. Then Scarlet finally took two steps backwards, eyes still locked on Raven. She started to feel nervous as she realized Raven was the boy from yesterday. She glanced down on the tray of food and saw a piece of paper on it. "For Scarlet" was written on it. She couldn't tell whose penmanship it was.

Raven sighed slightly, getting tired of the silence between them and the tray he was holding. "Good morning," he said nonchalantly to Scarlet as he faced down. The tension Scarlet was feeling finally eased. She honestly forgot how to initiate a conversation already. Ever since her parents died, she no longer talked much like she used to. She looked up at Raven. He was one inch taller. "G-good morning too," she replied shyly. "Are you the boy who saved me?" Raven's eyes widened. "That's right," he said. It came out quiet. It was almost a whisper.

Scarlet smiled then gently took the tray away from him. "I can see you've endured a lot in bringing this here," she said, turned around and placed it on her study table. Raven just stared at her and thought, "Oh, you finally realized how hard it is to bring this tray from the kitchen on the first floor to your bedroom here in the third floor."

"Please come inside and take a seat," Scarlet said, without looking at Raven as she placed down the food and cup of milk on her table. "I need to talk with you." Raven hesitated. He never expected that this would happen. The daughter of the parents he killed was being nice to him. The feeling of guilt in him grew healthier each time he saw her kind smile and heard her meek voice. Even though it was still morning and she probably just woke up, her face was already blooming and it felt like she radiates some kind of soothing aura.

Raven sat down, watched the girl in front of her dressed in her carnation pink sleeveless top and white shorts with her wavy waist-length Scarlet hair swaying as she moved around, transferring the stuffs on the tray to her table. He could see that she had a smile on her face and he wondered why. "Licorice, you're going to pay for this," he said in a little voice as he closed his eyes and put his palm on his face. He remembered Licorice telling him in the kitchen that he should be the one to take the food to Scarlet so that he can be friends with her or else she will tell his secrets. She has always been threatening him and she was still doing it. So he has no choice but to follow her.

"Who's Licorice?" said Scarlet as she stood in front of Raven, looked down on him, holding a cup of milk. Raven moved his hand away from his face and he glanced back at Scarlet. "What's happening here?" he said in his mind. "I thought she and Licorice know each other already." Raven quickly looked down. "She's the one who prepared your breakfast." Scarlet sat down next to Raven, looking curious. "Oh. Is she your girlfriend?" Raven gave Scarlet a disgusted look. "Hell no," he calmly said, closed his eyes and folded his arms. "Who would ever want to hook up with that manipulative bitch?" Scarlet practically chuckled then suddenly he slapped him.

"That hurt! What was that for?" Raven shouted at Scarlet as he touched his reddening cheek. "That's for saving me yesterday," Scarlet replied as she started to drink her milk. Raven stared at Scarlet quizzically. "Don't I get a thank you instead?" He looked away and thought, "And here I thought that she was totally different from Licorice. Huh. Like master like servant." Scarlet paused. "I didn't ask for your help but thank you. That slap was also for insulting the person who prepared this delicious food and milk." Raven's glare started to fade. "I can't believe you don't know who Licorice is," he said, trying to forget about the slap. He looked away from Scarlet. "She's the bear you've always loved."

Scarlet looked at Raven for a while, trying to find out if he was serious or not. She then stood up and went to get a notebook from her study table. She lifted it up and opened it. A picture of her favorite teddy bear named Coco fell on the table. Raven stood next to her which almost made Scarlet jump from shock. They both studied the picture. "Is this it?" Scarlet said weakly. "Yep, that's it alright." He turned around to sit on the couch again. "You could ask her yourself if you don't believe me. She's just cleaning downstairs." Scarlet faced down and thought about something then she finally said, "No. I believe you." Raven looked up at her. "Seriously?" Scarlet nodded then sat on the chair for her study table, three meters away from him. She looked down and cupped her knees. "I always felt that my favorite bear was alive."

"So I'm not the only one who suspected that bear has a soul," Raven thought. "Wait a minute. I only suspected it once when I tried to drown it in the water. Could it be… this girl has soul perception?" He glanced at Scarlet who was thinking deep, not looking back at him. "Well then, I guess there's no need for me to convince you that it is alive. But I still need to explain to you why that happened."

Scarlet was brought back to reality and she looked at Raven. "You know?"

"Of course I do."

"Can you tell me about it please?"

"I will. But for now, will you explain to me why you tried to kill yourself?" Raven's expression turned serious. Scarlet started to feel nervous. She had been trying to stay away from any topic of what happened but it was inevitable, especially when it just happened yesterday. She smiled anyway and said, "I simply wanted to see my parents already. I figured out if I died, I'd see them already." Each time Scarlet talked, Raven felt his heart ached. "I feel like I'm worthless in this world already now that they're gone."

Raven couldn't take it anymore. He stood up. "Listen, Scarlet. I'll be honest with you. You are sickening. Why are you so dependent on your parents? They gave you life. So what? They're not the ones who live your life. You could at least try to live your life without them now. Licorice told me you still have family besides your parents. You still have your aunt. You still have hope. You are not worthless. You know why? It's because I know you're a smart girl, seeing that you have lots of books. And you probably have read them all already. But don't you think you're being dumb for thinking of doing a suicide? Don't you know how precious life is?"

Scarlet just sat there, dumfounded. "You're right," she managed to say. "Indeed, I was dumb to think of suicide. I really loved my parents, Raven. So it's really painful now that they're gone. You probably haven't lost a loved-one so you don't know how it feels like."

Raven smirked, faced down and closed his eyes. "You really have no idea. I'm just like you, Scarlet. My parents got killed by blood-sucking monsters who disguise themselves as humans."

Scarlet gasped. "Vampires," she said in a little voice. "Raven, I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"There's no need to apologize. Right now, how are you feeling?" Scarlet just shrugged. Raven came closer to her. "You had a bad dream, haven't you? I heard you talking while you were sleeping." Scarlet sweatdropped. "Oh, yeah… I dreamt about my parents," she said and sighed. "How long was I asleep?" Raven thought for a few seconds. "About nine hours I guess. Let me get my watch." He turned away to get his wrist watch from his bag. "Oh. Never mind," said Scarlet. "I have to go now to my uncle's house. Are you just going to stay here?" Raven dropped his wrist watch in his small black backpack and turned back to her. "No," he replied. "Then where do you plan to go after here?" Raven turned around again to wear his backpack. "I'll go back to Death City. Death Weapon Meister Academy will have exams on Friday so I have to go back as soon as possible to start studying." Scarlet tilted her head. "What a weird name for a school," she said. "But it sounds cool. Is it far from here?" Raven smiled at her. "Yes, but the more I get going, the more I get closer." Scarlet smiled back. "That's right," she said. "What's that school for anyway? It doesn't seem to be an ordinary school." She stood up. "It's a school for people who can turn into weapons and can be meisters, the technicians of the weapons." Scarlet was dumbfounded. "Seriously?"

Raven chuckled. It was the first time Scarlet saw him laugh but lucky for Raven, he tried to cover his mouth so his fangs won't be shown. Scarlet didn't get to notice them. "Why? You don't believe me?" said Raven. He stretched out his right arm and it slowly faded away into pixels and formed into a ripper. Scarlet fell to the ground in shock and fear. "I can't… believe this," she said. "Do you want to be my meister?" Raven asked without any hesitation as he looked down on her with a serious face.

"He's really into this," Scarlet thought. She slowly stood up. "This is really unusual, you know?" she said. "Anyway, a meister is supposed to be the one to hold the weapon, right? So maybe I can try holding you in full weapon form if you want." Raven changed into a his full weapon form and Scarlet quickly grabbed him from the air without jumping. "Hey, you did it." Raven said. "Did what?" said Scarlet as she held Raven in front of her with only one hand. "You were able to catch me without trying so hard." Scarlet looked clueless but she then chuckled hesitantly. "Don't you think I'm heavy?" said Raven. "Uhmm… No, not really," said Scarlet, looking away.

It was obvious to Raven that he wasn't heavy to Scarlet because she just acted normal. "Well, I'm very heavy to other people (which is another reason why he didn't let Licorice wield him during the battle with the vengeful woman)," he said. Scarlet faced to him again. "Really?" she said and looked away. "That's strange. Anyway, what's your name again?" Raven sweat dropped. "It's Raven Hiro." She started to change back to his human form. "Come to think of it, I never asked your name before," said Scarlet. "But even if I didn't know your name, you already knew mine, right?"

"Yeah. Licorice told me. So what do you say? Become my meister or not?" he said. He waited for her answer while he started cleaning his correction glasses with a white handkerchief. "I'd love to be your meister… But I'm not sure if my uncle and aunt will approve of it." Raven smiled. "Do you really need their approval?" Scarlet nodded, saying, "Uh-huh." She was looking down with a sad face. "Raven placed a hand on her shoulder which made her look up to him. "I don't want to ruin your relationship with your aunt and uncle so it's really up to you. I won't force you." He picked up his bag from the ground.

"I'll ask them," said Scarlet with determination in her voice. "And if they don't approve, I will just have to run away from them. They are not my parents anyway." Raven faced her and smiled a little. "You sound rebellious." Scarlet tilted her head. "Uhm. Is that a bad thing?" Raven rubbed her head. "You're too young to be rebellious. But I guess for you this is a chance. You have a special ability and it's too bad if you don't improve it." Scarlet looked away then grabbed his hand which made Raven practically blush. "Let's go. I just have to force my aunt and uncle, right?"

They started running through the hallways of the mansion. Scarlet was going first and Raven was just being dragged by Scarlet. "I take it back," said Raven. "You're not that rebellious. If you were really one, you wouldn't need to show yourself to them and get an approval." Scarlet stopped and Raven practically bumped to her. "I don't want them to worry, okay?" That's all," Scarlet said as she was facing down. "I see," Raven said.

First they went to kitchen. Licorice started hugging Scarlet without hesitation and she kept shouting "Master~! I missed you! I missed you!" Scarlet just hugged back, surprised at the sudden action. Licorice was just finished cleaning the kitchen. She shouldn't have done that since the mansion has a caretaker already but she missed the place and wanted to do something like cooking and so she felt she had the responsibility to clean up the mess. "You're Coco, right?" Licorice happily nodded. "I don't know how you became human but I really am glad to see you in your human form." Licorice giggled. "No, master. I was always a human. My soul was placed in the bear. Raven has it in his bag."

"Oh, I see," said Scarlet. "Why do you have it, Raven?" She sounded suspicious now.

"Don't you remember, Scarlet?" said Raven. "I was at the burial of your parents. But I was uninvited. I was a fugitive back then and I happen to stop by at Isfahan. You left your bear and I tried to give it back to you but I no longer found you." Raven said the truth but he would never tell her that he was in the burial to make sure that her parents were dead already. But not like he wanted them to be.

"So that's why he looked familiar," Scarlet thought. "Well, thank you for bringing it back," she said to Raven then she smiled. "Come on, you two. I still need to ask my aunt and uncle."

"What is it about?" asked Licorice.

Scarlet smiled. "I'm going to ask if I can go to Shibusen as Raven's partner."

Licorice just glanced at Raven. Her eyes tell that she'd like to kill him.

On their way to Scarlet's aunt and uncle's house, Scarlet was walking ahead of the two.

"Raven," whispered Licorice to Raven as she made a fist at him. "Scarlet becoming your meister wasn't a part of the plan!"

Raven just ignored Licorice. He looked down and dug his hands in his pockets. Then he took his phone out of one of the pockets, started typing on his phone and let Licorice read what he encoded. He gave his phone to her.

"Save your breath, Lico," read Licorice in her mind as she started reading what Raven encoded. "It's better than your plan of me becoming that kid's knight inshining armor."

Licorice glared at Raven. She deleted what he wrote then started typing.

"Fine," Raven read it in his mind. "But I still think my plan is better." He just sweat dropped after reading then continued walking silently.

At the end of the day, Scarlet got the approval she needed then she decided to go to the cemetery. Licorice and Raven came with her. They just stood behind her as she knelt in front of her parents' graves.

"Mom and dad, I love you both very much, more than I love my life," said Scarlet with a smile on her face. "I'm very, very, very sorry that this happened to you. Until now, police men are trying to find out the exact cause of your accident. At the mean time, I'll be a good girl like both of you always told me and I'll be going to a particular school that's one of its purposes is to obtain world peace. I'll train myself there to become stronger… I will conquer justice for you two. I will have my revenge…"

Her last sentence sent shivers down to Raven's spine. "So she's really planning on finding her parents' killer with the help of me," Raven thought then he smirked. "What she doesn't know is that the person who'll be helping her is the one who she's after. It will be so useless and a waste of time but like I said before, I can play a long for a while... before she finds out the truth."


A/N: Some part of this story was taken from my first story since that story is somehow related to this. So now we have Raven, Scarlet, Licorice, Kazune and Ren in the story. They're just supporting characters actually and I just wanted to show how they become a part of this story. I can now go back to the main characters (Kid and Crona) and focus on their story. Gomenasai for the long paragraphs. ~