Welcome back to another chapter. It took awhile to write this chapter. The conversation is somewhat similar to the second chapter to the original, but overall, this is new. So this is an example of newly added chapters while the previous one is an example of chapter merges. I will probably just remove an old chapter entirely at some point, but it will happen the least amount of times while new additions will happen more frequently. Anyways, enjoy the fic!

Choice of Soul

Chapter 2

It had taken awhile to find Nick's home in Death City, but eventually, the pair had made it. Nick wasn't too useful during the search, considering he had clammed up and refused to speak until they got there. As Nick opened the door for them, Summer couldn't help but look over him again. He had potential at being a good Meister. Sure, he was small and pretty thin, but everyone had potential. And for some reason, Nick was just screaming potential. Even if he didn't notice, Summer certainly did. "H...Here we are... Just... take a seat on the couch..." Nick said quietly as he entered his apartment. All students of DWMA were given a place to stay if they didn't already have one. Generally, partners stayed together in the same place, but that was if they wanted to. Because of that, they had to compromise on what the place looked like. But that wasn't the case with Nick.

His apartment was to say... plain. The combined kitchen and living room was pretty empty. In the kitchen, a small white table with four foldable chairs was set up near a window that over looked a part of Death City. As for the living room half, there was only a black couch that looked like it could only fit two or three people. The only other object in the "room" was a wooden coffee table. Beyond the room was a hallway with three doors, probably leading to the bedrooms and a bathroom. Overall, the place was as barren as the desert. No pictures, no painted walls, no changes to the floor, and so little furniture. With the place as empty and wide as it was, it made Nick look like he was even smaller.

"Not to be rude, but your place is... pretty plain. Don't you have anything that belongs to you?"

"Other than some belongings in the bathroom and my room, no... I-I didn't think it would be really necessary to add furniture when the apartment comes with it while you're attending DWMA," Nick answered quietly as he made his way to the kitchen. Summer worried a little about the other. He was... fragile. That much was obvious. The Meister was easily scared, a nervous wreck, and had no backbone whatsoever. He was a child that was afraid of their own shadow.

"...You still have to answer my questions. You promised."

"I-I know... Why don't you start...?"

"Alright then. First things first. You've been attending DWMA for about two- almost three years now, right? If so, why don't you have a partner?" the black haired Weapon asked, causing the brunette to flinch.

"...I... I'm not... the strongest or the most athletic as you can see... a-and I'm an accident prone as well... and... I..." Nick gulped, still not making eye contact with Summer. "I can't use... Soul Perception... and every time I use a Weapon, I...I end up..." Nick's voice faltered and faded, mumbling the last part. Deciding it wasn't the best to question further on the topic, Summer moved on.

"...Did you ever have a partner?"

"...For the first year, people were willing to team up with me temporarily... but... I had one partner that stayed around longer than the others... They...They gave up on me after a couple of hunts... I was threatened if I didn't agree to let them go. It didn't take much to do so... A-After that… no one was willing to team up with me, both new and old students..." Nick mumbled out, having stopped whatever he was doing in the kitchen. He was shaking as if cold water had just been poured on him. He looked so weak. So pathetic. So... sad. It made Summer mad. She wanted to punch to wall, kick a chair, do anything to vent her anger.

Nick was obviously a Meister that was never given a chance. It wasn't his fault that he was the way he was. "You're not pathetic," Summer started, walking up to the brunette. "Honestly, if I was in your shoes, I would beat the living daylights out of everyone who thought I was bad luck or something like that. But you... you've put up with this for three years now. You haven't snapped yet. You're stronger than you think." Placing her hand on his shoulder, Summer couldn't help but smile a little. Nick tensed up at the touch but looked like on the verge of tears. It was a good sign. It was a definite good sign when he turned around and hugged her tightly, crying some incoherent words into her shoulder. Summer was, to say the least, glad. From the look of things, Nick's emotions had built up quite a bit. Whether it was years' worth of tears or just from the conversation, she was glad he was letting them out instead of holding them in. It took him a good twenty minutes to calm down, and the two of them had moved to the couch without them even noticing.

Nick was still a sniffling mess but had calmed down to where he could form words. Summer wasn't hugging him anymore but still had a firm grip on his shoulder to comfort him. "You alright now?" she asked as she slowly released her grip. He nodded in response, slowly looking up at the Weapon.

"Y...Yeah... Sorry about that... I just... No one's really been supportive before besides my family... Th-Thank you..." Nick said quietly while wiping his eyes. He rubbed the back of his neck as he looked down in shame. "S-Sorry for wasting your time… Y-You can go now if you w-"

"I'm going to become your partner."

"W-What?" Summer stood up from the couch and turned to face Nick. His head had shot up at the statement. The black-haired Weapon grinned as she began to elaborate.

"From this point on, I'm going to be your partner. I'm going to be the one to make you grow a backbone and to stand up for yourself. Probably also get you on a better diet too. You look like you could eat a whole Thanksgiving dinner if you wanted to. And besides, it looks like you could use a friend in your life." Summer placed her hands on her hips, waiting for his response. Nick looked absolutely stunned. Flabbergasted. "Come on, Nick! This would be great for both of us! And I'm not taking no for an answer." The young Meister attempted to say something, but held himself back. Before she could ask, a quiet voice caught her attention, bringing a smile to her face.

"F...Fine... but as a warning... y-you could get hurt being my Weapon," Nick answered as he stood up, looking down at the ground with a blush on his face. Summer wrapped her arm around the small Meister and made her smile even bigger.

"I don't care, you dork. I'm just glad you accepted. And so, that means we're going to be living with each other from this point on!" Summer exclaimed as she headed out the front door. She could hear a strange sounding squeak come from inside as Nick hurried after her.

"W-Wait! H-Hold o- S-S-SUMMER!"


A young woman stared into a window, watching two teens make small talk. The girl was smiling and listening to the young boy before her. He appeared to be nervous, but was talking anyways. The small scene brought a small smile onto the lady's face as she pulled out a locket from her pocket. "Looks like you don't need to worry about our little brother much longer. He's finally met someone who's compatible with him. Even though he can't see it, their wavelengths match up unbelievably well. I'll keep an eye on him still, but at least, I won't have to constantly have to worry about his health. Continue to watch after him for when I can't. He still misses you dearly, Ryu," the woman mumbled to herself as she watched the pair continue to talk with the black-haired girl taking over the conversation. She smiled softly to herself once again before walking away. "Goodnight, Nick. I'll see you in the morning."

For those of you who have read the original will probably know a couple of things already, but again, don't say anything. Well, not much commentary from me this time around so I hope you enjoyed this chapter! See you next time guys!