Chapter 1

Death Weapon Meister Academy, the DWMA… A place where meisters and weapons come to train. The weapons are people who transform into them and the meisters are the warriors who wield them. This school trains students to hunt down the evil humans in the world so they don't turn into kishin.

A new class of students have gathered out at the entrance of the school. Two of their teachers stood in front of them. "Alright everyone! Listen up. I AM THE GREAT BLACK STAR! I'll be your battle instructor. This is Tsubaki, she will be your nurse. At least for anyone who gets beat up too badly." Black Star lets out a laugh as Tsubaki shakes her head. "Ok. Today is just for getting to know your fellow class mates and hopefully finding your partner that you will work with throughout your school years and most likely longer than that." Black Star looks into Tsubaki's eyes with a smile. Without looking away, he adds, "So choose wisely."

After a little while, Tsubaki notices a boy who showed up late. She walks up to him and tells him, "You're late. Everyone has started already. Go meet with them and find a partner." She gives him a smile as he nods and hurries along.

Black Star walks up behind her and says, "Almost everyone has picked a partner. Showing up late might mean he's missed his better half."

"I don't think so. There is always a reason for these things." Tsubaki tells him.

At a quick glance, the boy thinks to himself, 'Looks like there's not many people left to pair up with. I'm a meister and I'm not very good when it comes to talking to people.' Looking around, he sees a girl sitting by herself against the wall.

She was looking down, letting her shoulder length, dark brown hair fall over her face. He gave her a look up and down, taking in her outfit. She had on a white vest with a few buttons keeping it closed over a red, short sleeve blouse. She sat with her legs bent under her witch drew his eyes to the red skirt that came down to her knees and the white stockings that went up over her knees. As he got closer, she moved and he noticed the tag on her shirt, weapon.

'How lucky would I be if she wanted to be my partner. I'm surprised a cute girl like her hasn't found a partner yet. Maybe she did and she's waiting for him to come back.' He stopped a few feet away from her and asked, "Hello there. Have you found a partner yet?"

'Great, just great. It's another year of meisters and weapons partnering up for school. And now another meister is picking someone within ear shoot of me. Why can't it end?' The girl moans internally to herself as she puts her face into her hands, rubbing her temples in frustration at the whole situation.

"Shy? Is that why you're all by your self?" The boy asked.

'Please go away.'

Just then a girl and a boy walked past saying, "Great, we have a crazy meister in our class."

"No one is crazier than you." The boy with her answered as they continued on their way.

This got her to look up and see a boy who was watching the pair walk away with a confused look on his face. She took in his black jeans, to the plain blue tee shirt with some simple design on it, to the short light brown hair cut, leaving almost nothing on the sides and a little longer on the top. He shook his head and said, "Wonder who they're talking about?" He turns back to look in her direction. "So, whats your name?"

She stares right into the meister's light blue eyes. 'No way. Did someone sit down next to me?' All of a sudden, she jumps to her feet and looks behind her. 'No one…' She slowly looks back at him to find him watching her with interest.

"So, whats your name?" He asked again with a smile.

"Riko…" It came out of her mouth as a whisper. 'He can see me… He's talking to me…' Riko's eyes widen with the realization of what was happening.

"Riko. I'm Warren and a meister. Would you like to be partners?" Warren held his hand out to shake hers.

"Y... y... yes." She slowly reaches out with a trembling hand to shake his hand while thinking, 'Is this going to work?' As their hands meet, it was a solid hand shake. "I can't believe this is happening."

"Well, hiding in the shadows of the building, did you not want to be picked by someone?"

"No one has ever seen or talked to me before." She said with a shy grin on her face. A puzzled look was all she got back from her partner.

A girl is practically running down the schools hallways. 'Where the hell did he run off too?' She steps out the front doors to look around the entry way where just a few hours ago, everyone was picking partners. 'Not here. Where…' Her thought process was stopped by a one sided conversation coming from around the corner.

"Really? I don't understand how this is all possible? How is this going to work? We should go to one of the teachers. Maybe we can go see Lord Death himself. Someone must know something." Whoever was doing the talking, was pausing between the questions, listening like they could hear the answers that weren't there.

As she rounded the corner, she finds the boy she made fun of earlier for talking to himself. "What are you doing?" she asks him. He jumped at the sudden noise that he wasn't expecting. Blinking his eyes as he turned around to face her. 'Why does it look like I just interrupted a conversation he was having?' He looked back to his side, then back to her. "What? Didn't find a partner and now trying to figure out what to do?"

"No, I have a partner." Warren answered her. Looking over this girl, he remembered her waist long black hair tied into a pony tail and the cream colored outfit with the shirt that's cut off at the shoulders to show off a pentagram star mark on her left shoulder. She was the one making comments about a crazy meister. At the time, he didn't know she was talking about him.

'Right? This guy is so crazy. He's talking to himself again. Did he really find a partner? Hell, my dad did. I guess it's possible.' She was about to say more, when a hand grabbed her shoulder.

"You've been looking for me?" This guy looked past her and over to Warren. "People call me Hunter, and you are?" This guy was in black pants and a black long sleeve dress shirt. His hair was a longer than Warren's and was a light blond color.

"I'm Warren and this is…" Warren looked over to where Riko was standing and watching.

"And you're the one that's worried about everyone thinking you're nuts. Telling them you talk to ghosts probably won't help your case either. Besides, you look like you're going to be attending your own hanging." Riko commented. Of course Warren was the only one that could hear her.

"Knowing my partner here, she probably didn't tell you her name. She just started asking questions." Hunter said. Warren turned his attention back to them. "That's so not cool, Hideko. So Warren, I would like you to meet Hideko. And where is your partner? If you don't mind me asking."

"Um, she's not here at the moment as you can see." With a quick glance at Riko, Warren added, "Her name is Riko."

Hideko made fists with her arms straight at her sides and looked like she was going to hit someone. "Anyways, it was nice meeting you Warren, but Hunter's mom is looking for him. We need to get going." Hideko grabbed Hunter's arm and started to drag him away.

As they moved away, they heard Warren say, "Sorry about that."

As Hideko dragged Hunter down the hall ways, she asked, "Alright, what do you think? Is it just me or is he just crazy?"

"Well… Do you remember the stories our parents told us?" Hideko nodded without slowing the pace. Hunter continued, "What if he's another meister like that Chrona and the weapon Ragnarok. We should ask my mom. She dealt with Chrona. She would know if something like that has shown up again."

Later that day, Warren and Riko were walking out of a shop. Riko's eyes couldn't take everything in fast enough. "I can't remember the last time I left the school."

"Really? So did you ever try to leave?" Warren asked as he sat on a bench to eat the meal he just got.

"Actually, no. I never thought about it till now."

"Huh. Well, after I eat, we need to find a place to test out your weapon mode. You know, since you're a ghost after all. I don't know how this is going to work. Or if this is going to work out?"

"I told you, I was cursed a long time ago. And I had given up hope that I would be freed from it. Your the only person to see and hear me since the day it happened. It has to be you that will free me from my curse."

"People will think I'm nuts. That Hideko girl was following me all around the school already."

"Maybe she likes you?" Riko smiled at Warren and gave him a wink.

"I don't think so. She was talking about me being the crazy one in our class. I don't know why she finds me that interesting. I mean, even if I was just talking to myself, what difference would it make to her? Maybe she thinks she'll get me kicked out of the school if everyone thinks I'm crazy." Warren looked up to find Riko pacing back and forth in front of him. "Is there something wrong?"

"You said we need a place to train."

'I don't think she heard a thing I was saying.' Warren was finishing his food before saying, "Yeah, before the first day of school tomorrow. We need to know if I can hold you in weapon form and if I am able to use you against anything."

"We did shake hands. So you should be able to wield me."

"The problem is you being a ghost. What's a ghost weapon going to do to anyone if it can't hit anything?" Warren let out a laugh. "By the way, what kind of weapon are you? I've been so focused on the ghost thing, I didn't even think about it."

"I'm an ax type." She stopped walking, turned to face Warren, crossed her arms, and very proudly said, "Dual hatchets. My whole family has been ax types."

Warren smiled at her. "How long have you been at the school?"

"Since it opened."

"Do you remember much of it? Before you were a ghost I mean."

"I haven't given it much thought." Riko sat down next to Warren. "I do remember my partner. She was my best friend. We grew up together and planned to be partners ever since we learned the school was going to open. It wasn't meant to be in the end. Our first mission was supposed to be an easy one, but ended up being the end." Tears came to her eyes as she was remembering the past. "We ran into a witch. I don't know if it was just bad luck, but she was behind the trouble of the mission. There wasn't much fighting. We took out a few kishins before we ran into the her. She used her magic and cursed me before anything could happen. My partner got away safely. I don't remember much of what happened at that moment, but the next thing I knew, I was in the school's hospital. No one could hear me or see me while I watched them look over Juliane. I was going crazy as I followed everyone into Lord Death's office. Juliane was telling him everything that happened. She gave every detail of the curse that she could. She was sent home soon after and I never saw her again. Then the days started to blend together. I…"

"Excuse me. You're Warren, correct?" A girl walked in front of him.

Warren looked up at a blond haired girl, who's hair came down to her lower back. She wore a white button up blouse with a black jacket, kept open, over it. She also wore a black skirt with white vertical lines in it that came down to just above the knees and had her outfit topped off with white and black striped knee high stockings. When Warren looked up into her eyes, the greenest eyes he ever saw, she looked like she was trying to figure out a puzzle.

"Yes I am."

"You looked like you were deep in thought. I hope I'm not bothering you." Then this new girl sat down next to Warren, going right through Riko.

"How rude." Riko said as she stood up out of the girl and went to stand in front of the two of them.

Warren let out a laugh as the girl shivered. "What? Did I do something funny?"

"No, no. It wasn't you." Warren happened to notice an evil, angry glare from Riko. It was directed at him, not the new girl.

The girl arched an eyebrow at him. "Well, I'm Satomi. Do you mind if I ask you a couple of questions?"

"Go ahead." Warren looked from Satomi to Riko. Behind Riko, he thought he saw someone duck into a shop. They were moving to quick, like they didn't want to be seen.

"Do you have a partner yet? I saw you by yourself after everyone left. It's ok if you don't have one yet. I can introduce you to my mom and dad. They know Lord Death. I'm sure he can help you if you didn't find a partner today."

"It's ok. I have a partner." Warren again locked eyes with Riko and they traded smiles.

"Oh, I just thought… Um… well…"

"By any chance, did Hideko put you up to this?"

"To be honest, she asked me to talk to you."

Just then, Hideko jumped out of, what seemed to be thin air, and yelled, "Satomi! What are you doing? This wasn't the plan." With the yelling, it attracted two more people. Hunter and another girl walked up to them. "That's it. I want to fight you." She pointed her finger right in Warren's Face. "I'm going to find out your deal."

"Hideko, his partner isn't here to fight." Satomi said. As she looked at Warren, she noticed the distant look in his eyes. As if he was listening to someone that wasn't there. "You don't really want to fight him here?"

"This would be a perfect chance to test it." Riko was saying to Warren. "Just be prepared to run." Riko was laughing over the other girls.

"Hunter, let's go." With that, Hideko turned into her weapon. It seemed to happen in a instant, but in slow motion at the same time. She slowly faded away into a white light that shifted into a katana. That white light became a real sword in Hunter's hand. "What are you waiting for? Let's show him what we can do." Hideko's voice was coming from the sword itself.

"Quick, Warren, use me for now. There's no stopping her once she gets going." Satomi said.

"No thanks. I have it covered." Warren stood up off the bench as Hunter started to come at him while he was still sitting on the bench.

"Sorry Warren, when the two of them get to fighting… Well, they both act like their fathers." Satomi called out.

"Hey Satomi, do you want to be next?" Hunter said.

Hunter turned, swinging the katana at the center of Warren's body. Warren yelled out, "Riko, now!"

Only Warren could see Riko slowly morph into the hatchets, one in each hand. In a split second, the hatchet in Warren's right hand, caught the katana in a block. Then Warren swung the hatchet in his left hand at Hunter. Hunter had to jump backwards out of the way of the swing. A brief pause showed everyone staring at Warren in shock. Warren stood there with two weapons.

"Interesting." Hunter said as he smiled and rushed forward again. After trading some blows back and forth, Hunter brought the katana down over his head and Warren caught the blow with both of the hatchets. Warren pressed on in the hold, just as he brought his right leg up. His knee hit Hunter's hands and sent Hideko flying into the air. Hunter jumped back again to dodge a sweeping blow.

"Stop it!" Satomi was shouting at them.

Before Hideko's spinning blade came falling down, Warren was already in the process of throwing the hatchet from his right hand. It went sailing through the air end over end, headed right for Hunter's head. Everything seemed to be in slow motion as Warren watched the ax get closer and closer. Right before it would have hit Hunter, Warren dropped the ax from his left hand knowing that Riko's hatchet would become her ghost form if he wasn't in contact with her. Both of the axes vanished in an instant as soon as the hatchets were out of his hands. Riko changed back out of her weapon form right next to Warren just a second after he let go of her hatchet.

Hideko Turned back into herself and landed in a crouch, facing Warren. She looked back at Hunter, who fell backwards onto his ass. "What just happened?" She asked, but no one answered.

Riko looked from the shocked look on Hunter's face to Warren. "How did you know you weren't going to hurt him?"

Warren turned and started walking away. Softly he told Riko, "I just knew that if I wasn't touching you, it wouldn't hit him." Over his shoulder he called out, "That was good. I know it works now. See you guys in class tomorrow."