Chapter 1

Hi. My name is Emiko. I'm a special weapon, a girl who can turn into a rope javelin. My meister, Hotaru Tsukiko, is also a weapon; she turns into a katana. We'd ended up paired with each other instead of typical meisters because Hotaru's personality didn't match up with any of those technically in the running well enough to cooperate with them – she can be kind of demanding sometimes. As for me…I had another ability.

I can also turn into a skunk. That's right, a skunk.

And because of that, not many wanted to be around me. Hotaru was the only person who knew what I could do and didn't care, besides Lord Death himself of course.

We take turns wielding each other in battle against evil people whose souls have turned into kishin eggs. Because we're both weapons, we need to collect twice as many evil souls as anyone else in school. Our track record for successful collection is…low. Part of that is the way our personalities mesh…or don't, as the case may be. My weapon form is assist/defensive: rather hard to kill anyone with it. As for the other way around…I shy back from rushing into battle, so I'm still awkward at using a blade.

And so that's where we were, sitting in class…

Mister Death Scythe came into the classroom and tried to impress us. I glanced over at Hotaru. As far as any boy was concerned she was impressive to look at, in a leather jacket that made her long silver hair seem to shine brighter.

She glanced right back at me, her red eyes piercing my deep black ones. "Does he always have this attitude?" she whispered.

"I don't know," I whispered back, "but if he says anything that makes me uncomfortable, I'm skunking out of here."

A smirk pulled at the corner of her mouth, and she offered up her fist. I lightly tapped it with my own and returned my attention to the substitute teacher.

Hm? What do I look like normally? Ah…well, I mentioned my eyes. As to everything else, I've got fair skin and my wardrobe doesn't particularly stand out in a crowd. My hair is black…with a white V-shape that starts right on my forehead and shoots down the whole length of my hair. Hotaru had checked: the white hairs grow from my scalp all through that V-shape. I almost never bind my hair into a ponytail because of that coloration: no sense in looking more like a skunk than I already do.

"All right then! Let's take attendance."

Huh? Didn't he say earlier that he wasn't taking roll?

Soul called him on that – yeah, I knew who Soul was, but I didn't talk to him much. He creeped me out a little with those teeth.

"I'm not going to take attendance on the guys, but I think I'll take attendance for all the ladies."

That's it. I'm leaving.

I slid down in my seat until I vanished under my desk and morphed. Then I fell off my chair and waddled as quietly as I could – and as quickly as I could without attracting attention – towards the door. Then Death Scythe excused Soul and Maka from class, saying that Lord Death wanted to see them.

I took advantage of the fact that they were heading for the door and slipped out practically right under their feet.

I can't believe I'm playing hooky from class! I morphed back as soon as they left my line of sight and took off running. Death Scythe had immediately hit me as a pervert or a player or both, and one would think he'd know better than to try to use his "skills" on impressionable minds inside bodies that were way too young for those games!

"So…" I said aloud once I'd stopped on a balcony and caught my breath, "what shall I do with myself until the bell?"

What I ended up doing was finding a stick about the same length as Hotaru's katana form and practicing fighting moves against a tree.

Well, okay, I should be honest: my form with a blade had gotten to be flawless. What I was actually working on was building some aggression. I needed to be bold if I was to gain any souls. So far, every soul we'd collected has gone to Hotaru, because of her ingenuity in getting a rope javelin to kill somebody.

Our current amassed total of souls is…

Hotaru: 17

Emiko: 1

And that one was Hotaru being nice and saying I needed to get at least one for credit.

But I would become a Death Scythe, a weapon that Lord Death would feel was worth using!