It may get confusing for some people so I'll explain the way I've written the dialogue. "Most characters talk like this," and 'think like this'. Aria's actions, dialogue, and thoughts are in italics. Ryu's are underlined. Ren's are bolded. This is my first story outside of my friends and teachers, so constructive criticism is appreciated. The weird dialogue thing is because of my creative writing teacher.

*Two people sit around a short table in the center of a platform. This is in the Death Room, where the principal of the Death Weapon Meister Academy (DWMA/ Shibusen), Shinigami-sama, usually stayed. Tombstones stretch on endlessly beyond the edge of the floor, blending with the bright blue sky above it. The fluffy, white clouds circle the walls as they would outside, occasionally disappearing behind the high windows.*

A man in his late-twenties, or early thirties, sits to the left of the table, occasionally glancing at the large mirror a few feet away. His hair is shoulder-length and bright red, which contrasts with his blue-green eyes. He wears a basic black suit blazer, black dress slacks, an olive-green button down (which remains tucked in), a black leather belt with a silver buckle, and dress shoes. His name is Spirit, Shinigami's current Deathscythe(the only one posted at Shibusen), and part-time teacher at the DWMA .

Across the low table is a girl. She looks to be about 15 years old, with waist-length, light blue hair and emerald eyes. She wears jeans, a light orange T-shirt with a paler, winged wolf sitting in the foreground, and a black coat with serpents on it. This girl is Aurora, though she insists that everyone call her Aria. She was a student of Shibusen, as a meister, until she disappeared three months before, after an accident during her last mission.

Spirit's baritone voice speaks first, asking seemingly random questions. Aria's voice is a high mezzo-soprano, making it slightly higher than average. She speaks between the questions, quite apathetically, answering the never-ending list. She didn't have to go through this the first time, as she had met her perfect match before entering the school.

"Do you prefer sharp or blunt edged weapons?" Sharp. "How about heavy or light?" Preferably light. "Okay, now long or short?" Long is best, but I'm good with short as well. "You're very vague, you know that." ... *Sighs* "Single-handed or double-handed?" Single. "What happened to the long answers?" ... I would appreciate it if you stayed on topic. *glowers* "You're no fun." *pouts* "Single or double weapons?" I use two for daggers, katana, and the like; Only one for things like scythes, spears, and kwan daos. I'm not too good with anything but swords though. I don't wish to learn a completely new fighting style. "You'll have to bring the extra swords you know." I am aware of this.

"Okay! I found a good partner for you, two actually. They're both tool-weapons, like Tsubaki. Let's see . . . they can become twin swords, twin daggers, and claws (for some strange reason), but I think they didn't tell us everything. Actually, they didn't talk at all, they just showed us by transforming. They're pretty anti-social; they haven't made any friends, but they've been here for months. The two haven't really opened up to anyone. They haven't directly told us, not even their names, and prefer transforming into fang-necklaces to meeting anyone. They're quite unusual in that they have a non-weapon transformation. You've been gone a while since . . . that incident, but you haven't changed much, so they'll be compatible with you. Your wavelengths are all extremely similar. We're hoping that your personality can draw them out of their shells. I'd have to meet them first." Call them in. "Right." *turns towards the door* "Oy! Ren! Ryu! Get in here."

*Two boys enter the room* They are almost completely identical; only a very perceptive person would be able to tell them apart. Aurora is one such person; with her heightened senses, she could discern small differences in the teens. Both have short, brown hair and hazel eyes. The one pointed out as Ren has slightly darker hair, and his eyes show flecks of green. He has a protective air around him, and stands a few inches in front of his brother; Aurora assumes he is the older of the two. Ryu has tan streaks through his hair, and blue-flecked eyes. He is more relaxed than his brother, and is more curious than defensive.

What do you want, Spirit? Ren speaks first, leaving no doubt that he doesn't want to be here. He really doesn't; this would be the fifth partner this month Spirit had tried to pair them with. Meanwhile Ryu is hesitantly trying to speak with Aurora. Um . . . Are you Aurora? M-My name i-is R-Ryu. Hello Ryu. You don't have to be so nervous, I don't bite, much. Aurora grins as she says the last part, showing her fangs. You can call me Aria, it's shorter and I'm more accustomed to it. Ryu felt relieved, this Auro- no Aria, seems really nice. He is pretty shy around strangers. That's my brother Ren, he says, pointing to their left where Ren and Spirit have started fighting. He seems like a fun guy. Reminds me of a few of my we should break them up? Ryu nods once and starts walking over to the quarreling Weapons.

After a few minutes, they are all sitting around the small table; Ren and Ryu closest to the door, with Spirit sitting opposite them, and Aria to the side. Ryu looks uncomfortable next to his brother, who is having a staring contest with Spirit; you can practically see lightning darting between them. Aria smiles at him, and tries to start a conversation to help him settle. Did you know I'm part wolf? That can't be true. You can turn into a weapon can't you? It's kind of like that. My 'wolfness' helps to tell you two apart even when I can't see you well. How? I can smell you. You smell like fresh air and grass, like spring, while your brother Ren smells like strawberries. Ryu snickers a little, and glances at his brother.

Aria and Ryu continue to talk as the other two argue over something trivial. Last she'd checked it was about a stain on the table. Both seemed to think the other made it. Aria learned a bit more about the brothers: they were orphans, had rented an apartment nearby, didn't have any friends really, and both were working: Ren at a small café and Ryu at the ice cream shop down the street.

Ryu discovered a few interesting things about Aria too: her family didn't exist in this dimension (He decided to take that to mean dead; she told him it was close enough.); she was part wolf; she owned a three-bedroom, two-and-a-half bathroom house (yet she didn't use it much); she was pretty much friendly to everyone (she was picky about who she called a friend though); and she was a pet-sitter as well as a worker at the local pet shop. He had asked what Spirit meant by "incident", but she adamantly refused to talk about it.

It only takes a few more minutes for Ren and Spirit to calm down. "Well? Have you decided whether you want to have a trial partnership with them?" Of course, now he is acting like the fight had never happened. Aria briefly toys with the idea of asking a psychologist if he is bipolar or has multiple personalities; she immediately throws the idea out, thinking of how confused the poor doctor would be. Yes, I have. If they agree, I would like to have them as my partners. I want to try it. Ren stares at his brother in surprise; Ryu rarely ever speaks up about something. He wonders exactly what he'd missed while he was arguing, but he bets it had something to do with their conversation. I'm interested to see how this goes. Ryu never opens up this quickly to anyone. I'm in. "Okay then, I'll just report this to Shinigami. You three can go now." Finally! Aria and Ren look at each other; they were both thinking of how well they would get along.