A/N: (I suggest you read this note to avoid confusion.)I had to reread some parts of the previous chapters because I forgot some things (thanks to putting this story on hiatus for more than 3 months). Clarifications again. Ren and Raven aren't using their real first names. Raven is commonly known as Stein Junior or just Junior in school. He's called Raven and Ray-Ray by people close to him. Tsubaki doesn't know Ren and Raven yet since she was gone for almost two months. But she knows Ayame and Daisuke (Ren and Raven's real name). There's only six people who knows that Ren and Raven are siblings (since Raven doesn't want his name as Daisuke or Raven Hiro to be revealed in school). Those people are Licorice, Scarlet, Kid, Crona, Stein and Marie. I'll explain more on the next chapters.

Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater.

Chapter 25 Next Kishin

The students who had been in the party watched Kid as he landed down on the front porch of the school. Ragnarok pushed aside students. "Out of my way!" he shouted as he passed through. He stood in front of Kid and clutched a fistful of his coat, the same thing he did when Kid met him in his human form for the first time. Ragnarok glowered at him. Kid could only stare back at him with solemn eyes. "Where's Crona?" Ragnarok said harshly.

"Let go of him!" Liz and Patty shouted.

"It's fine," Kid said to his partners as he looked at them. Then he returned his gaze to Ragnarok. "Put me down and I'll tell you."

Ragnarok slowly put down Kid but anger was still written all over his face. Kid fixed his coat. "Crona has been captured by Noah and his comrades."

"Great!" Ragnarok said sarcastically as he rolled his eyes. "First Asura, now Noah? When did Crona become attractive?"

"We're still not even sure why Noah wants Crona so quit your sarcasm."

"She wouldn't have been kidnapped if it wasn't for you so quit telling me what to do!"

"Shut up both of you!" Tsubaki shouted. Both Ragnarok and Kid were dumfounded. It was the first time they heard Tsubaki shout angrily. Kid was going to say something but he stopped when Tsubaki shouted. He and Ragnarok faced Tsubaki. "There's no point in arguing now. Our friends are in danger. We have got to save them. There's no time to lose. Ragnarok, it's not Kid's fault that Crona ran away."

"Whose fault it is then?" Ragnarok said. He finally calmed down but there's still harshness in his voice.

Raven stepped forward. "Ren," he said, trying not to sound nervous.

"Where is she?" Kid asked.

"She ran away."

"Raven, why is it that it's your sister's fault?" Scarlet asked.

Raven faced down. He didn't want to tell Scarlet that Ren bit kid. "She hugged Kid outside the room."

Everyone laid their eyes on Kid. "I knew it!" Ragnarok shouted. "I knew you were cheating."

Tsubaki and the others couldn't believe what Raven said. They stared at Kid, hoping he would say that Ragnarok's wrong.

Kid closed his eyes. "Don't be stupid, Ragnarok," he said. "Just because she hugged me doesn't mean we're in some kind of special relationship already. She was just thanking me." Everyone except Tsubaki, Ragnarok, Black Star, Scarlet and Raven were satisfied by the answer so they started they turned around and started taking to each other. The five unsatisfied people stayed around Kid.

Ragnarok raised an eyebrow. "Thank you for what?"

"I let her bit me," Kid said in a little yet clear voice. He didn't want others to hear. "She's a vampire, Ragnarok."

Scarlet's eyes widened. Ragnarok and Black Star stared at Kid for a while then they placed their lower arms over their stomached and burst out laughing. Ragnarok pointed at Kid. His eyes began to water because of too much laughter. Others kept their face serious. "You… you actually believe that vampires exist?" Ragnarok said then he laughed again.

"Why is it so hard to believe? Haven't you heard of the deaths of the members of the Nakatsukasa Clan in Japan?" Tsubaki flinched. "Policemen suspected that vampires are the ones who killed them."

Ragnarok and Black Star finally stopped laughing. "Am I right, Tsubaki?" Kid asked as he glanced at Tsubaki. Tsubaki nodded.

"Raven…" Scarlet whispered behind Raven.

Raven looked back. "Hmm?"

"Do you know those vampires?"

"No."

Scarlet dropped her gaze to the ground. "Could it be… they're the ones who killed my parents?"

Raven and Licorice stared at each other. Licorice shook her head. "I don't know, Scarlet," Raven said.

"Okay, so you might be right there," Ragnarok said to Kid.

"Yeah," Black Star said. "If this world has witches, zombies and mummies then we really shouldn't be surprised that there are vampires."

Kid sweatdropped. "Then why did you guys laugh?" he said.

Black Star laughed hesitantly. "Sorry, Kid. Why did Ren bite you anyway?"

"Well… since she's a vampire… she wanted to be a human again. The only way to make her human again is to drink the blood of a shinigami."

"Is that true, Raven?" Scarlet whispered to Raven again.

Raven didn't look back. Instead he faced down and nodded.

"So… if that's it, then Ren must be a human already," Ragnarok said as he looked away and wondered where Ren went.

"That means it won't be hard to deal with her now," Black Star said. He crossed his arms against his chest and grinned.

"Are you trying to say that Ren did something wrong that would lead us to capturing her?" Kid asked as he raised an eyebrow at Black Star.

"Why else would she run away when Raven found her?"

"Black Star has a point," Ox said. "So there's a possibility that she's affiliated with Noah."

Everyone stared at Ox. Then Kilik arrived. "Kid," he said. Kid faced him. Kilik held his knees, lowered his upper body and panted. "Azusa-san… said that Ren's no longer in Shibusen. She said that she sensed her go out of Shibusen. She thought she was going home already so she didn't pay much attention to her."

Kid gritted his teeth after hearing the bad news. He faced the members of Spartoi. "Spartoi, we're going after Soul and Maka. The rest, please continue the party without us." He faced Kilik again. "Kilik, please tell Azusa-sensei that we need her to come with us." Kilik nodded. "Kim and Jackie, prepare the helicopters." Kim and Jackie nodded. They ran after Kilik. Other students started to go back inside the school.

"Kid-senpai, we'll come with you!" Scarlet said.

"Sorry, Scarlet, I simply cannot allow it. Freshmen aren't supposed to be involved with this level of mission."

Scarlet frowned.

Raven, who was digging his hands into his black jacket's pockets, stood next to Scarlet and faced Kid. "Ren's my sister," he said sincerely. "Surely, she'll somehow listen to me. Let us come. Please." Kid stared at him for a while. Then he faced Tsubaki. "Tsubaki," he said. Tsubaki faced him. "We got new members." Tsubaki glanced at the freshmen behind him. "Scarlet and Raven?" she asked. Kid nodded.

A smile slowly formed on Scarlet's face while Raven's serious face gradually faded. His eyes widened at what he just heard. Kid turned around to face them again. "Please follow Tsubaki," he said to them. "She'll get you uniforms."

Raven raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you want us to be members of Spartoi?" he said to Kid.

"Of course," Kid said. "You two are the youngest members of it. Welcome to the group."

"Thanks but we don't need uniforms right now."

"We don't?" Scarlet asked as she gave Raven a quizzical look.

"Fine, but if we have another mission next time, you'll have to wear your uniforms," Kid said.

"Deal," Raven said then he finally smiled.

XXX

Maka slowly opened her eyes. She found herself hung on the wall with shackles on her wrists and ankles inside an unfamiliar dark room. "Where… where am I?" she said to herself. She looked to the right and found Soul hung on the wall like her, sleeping. "Soul!" she shouted. Soul slowly woke up.

"Maka…" he said in a little voice. He still felt dizzy.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"I was about to ask you the same thing. I thought you knew."

Soul looked at the wooden door in front of them. "I don't know but I do know that we're probably in the house of Noah."

"More like under the house of Noah," Maka said as she glanced around the room. There was only little light coming from the hallway outside. "It looks like we're in a dungeon after all."

Soul glanced at Maka. "Do you think Kid and the others will find us?"

"As long as they have Azusa-san, they will. Can you change into a scythe?"

"Sadly, no," Soul replied as he stared at the shackles above him. "These shackles seem to suck out my powers. I wonder how much they cost."

Maka sweat dropped. "Does it matter? Wrath probably put magical powers on them or something."

Soul chuckled. "I know. It's not like you can find these in stores."

"We have to find a way to get out from here."

"Can't we just wait for Kid and the others?"

"Are you suggesting that we should just stay here and do nothing?"

"You can sing for me if you want."

"Stop joking around, Soul. Crona's probably really scared right now. We still have to find her. She must be in the house somewhere." Maka stared at the ceiling.

Soul glanced at Maka, faced down and closed his eyes. "You always think about Crona."

"Huh?" Maka uttered as she returned her gaze to Soul.

"For the past days, you've always been talking about Crona. You always tell me how happy you are when she improves."

Maka raised an eyebrow. "Soul… are you jea—," she started.

Soul gritted his teeth. "Have you forgotten that I almost died because of her?"

"No. You almost died because you tried to save me."

"Exactly. I got injured by her for you. And I still can't understand why you love her so much. Sure, she had a bad life. She's someone who you'll be sorry for. But she tried to kill you, Maka. Don't ever forget that."

"I haven't forgotten about it, Soul." She smiled. "And I'll still remember it as long as I can. It's something that makes me want to hate Crona… but I can't hate Crona. She only did it because Medusa told her. That scar of yours… will always be the reminder of your loyalty to me. But even when time comes that that scar will fade away already, I will still not forget what you did for me. I owe you a lot, Soul. I'm sorry… for every wrong I did to you."

Soul smiled. "Does that mean you won't give me anymore of your Maka Chops?"

"Not quite." Maka grinned.

XXX

Crona woke up and found herself on a bed in a dark room. Moonlight passed through the large windows beside the bed. Crona sat up and stooped a bit. She looked to the right and found the blonde guy sitting on a stool. His arms were crossed against his chest and only half of his body was lightened up by the moonlight. "So you've finally waken up," he said. His voice was not familiar to Crona.

"Who-who are you?" Crona asked with a nervous voice. She was still in the dress that Kid gave her

The blonde smiled. "I'm Kazune Yuki, the new apprentice of Noah."

"Kazune? I thought Japanese people are black-haired."

Kazune sweatdropped. "I have American blood."

Crona twitched. "W-wait. What am I saying?" She pointed at Kazune. "You are Raven's friend!"

Kazune raised an eyebrow at Crona. "Who?"

"Raven Hiro. He's… your friend, right?"

"I don't know any Raven Hiro. I only know Ren Hiro."

The image of Ren hugging Kid came back to Crona's mind. She shook her head to forget it. "H-how could you forget your friend? Raven's been worried about you!"

Kazune glared at her, stood up and placed a knife under her chin. "I said… I don't know any Raven Hiro," he repeated but this time, he sounded cold. Crona gulped as she looked up at him with frightened eyes.

"Noah's going to kill you if he sees you like that," Gopher said as he stood at the doorway of the room. Kazune stared at Gopher then slipped back his knife into its pocket on his belt. "Why are you here?" he asked.

"I came to tell you that Ren's back."

Crona twitched. "Ren?" she said in her mind. "Is she… a part of this after all?"

"Where is she?" Kazune asked.

"Downstairs," Gopher replied.

Kazune took one last glance at Crona then turned to Gopher and followed him out of the room. Crona got off from the bed and looked at the window. It was a peaceful night. She wondered where Maka and Soul were and what's going on inside the house. She went to the door and tried to open it but it was locked. Then she heard someone's voice. She hurriedly went back to the bed. The door opened and a guy who liked Noah Greed came in. Crona's eyes widened as Wrath came in and closed the door behind him. He smirked at Crona. Crona slightly whimpered as she tried to cover her lower face with the blanket.

"I heard you're supposed to be the next kishin, Crona Gorgon."

A/N: Now we have Kazune in the story. He got mentioned in the previous chapters, right? Well, he's not the same Kazune anymore. His story and Wrath's conversation with Crona will be on the next chap.