AN: Next chapter right on time. Not a whole lot changes here admittedly, but the second half does have some more Ichigo/Blake- no, not romantic sense -interaction though, to balance things out. Hope everyone enjoys it!
Ichigo Kurosaki
Don't remember the last time I saw Vale this busy...
"The Vytal Festival is quite important Ichigo. We have merely never been in this portion of town during it," Zangetsu pointed out.
He had a point in that respect. Ichigo had never really felt the need to be around during the Vytal Festival. He understood the reasoning behind it, and why it was so important in his new home. That being said, he didn't like really loud and large crowds, something that the Festival had in spades. That whole 'loner' thing the orangehead had going on wasn't a joke in the slightest. At least, leaving aside his team who he was good friends with. It was only because of that friendship that he was in Vale in the first place in fact. If he weren't such good friends with his team, Ichigo would have far preferred staying at Beacon and taking a break from all the training.
Though, then again, if the dirty looks Yang was sending a certain white-haired Heiress were any indication, he wasn't the only one who wanted to be back at the school.
"Why you let her convince you to come here in the first place is beyond me Kingy."
"Yeah, trust me, I know."
Weiss was unusually oblivious to the obvious dislike coming from the blonde and shinigami though. Normally she was more observant than that.
"Oh the Vytal Festival! This is wonderful!" Weiss grinned. Grinned.
Ruby picked up on the weirdness of that action quickly enough, "I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much Weiss. It's kinda weirding me out..."
"You aren't the only one," Ichigo muttered, getting a giggle from the leader.
Regardless of the context of the giggle, Weiss seemed to not care, "How could you not smile? A festival dedicated to the cultures of the world?"
"Kingy...please...stop her..."
Ichigo was inclined to agree with his spirit at this point. He really didn't care about the Festival as much as Weiss seemed to. Not that his opinion was going to make her stop any time soon.
"There will be dances, parades...a tournament!" the heiress continued right on, "Oh the amount of planning and organization that goes into this is simply breathtaking!"
It was Yang's turn to scoff at that statement. She rolled her eyes at Ichigo, before looking at the oblivious heiress.
"You really know how to take a good thing and make it boring," the blonde complained.
"Quiet you," Weiss shot back.
Yang just sighed, "Remind me again why we're spending our Friday afternoon at the stupid docks?"
In that, Ichigo was inclined to agree with his friend. Bad enough that he was stuck in Vale during the build up to the Festival. But having to go to docks was seemingly pointless. It wasn't like anything big was happening there, and it just made the trip seem like an even bigger waste of time to him. Only Weiss seemed interested in the docks too. Not even Blake showed any interest, and she normally had at least somewhat similar interests to the heiress. Which raised the question of just why Weiss was so interested in them. At least Vale had the excuse of the Festival.
"Ugh, they smell like fish..."
And Ruby wasn't the only one who plugged their nose either. Ichigo was as much a fan of fish meals as anyone, but not the smell of rotting fish. He was honestly surprised that Weiss wasn't showing any reaction to it. Considering her background and personality.
"I've heard that students from Vacuo will be arriving at the docks today," she answered the question in her team's minds, "and as a representative of Beacon, I consider it my solemn duty to welcome them to this fine kingdom."
Ichigo blinked, and leaned over to Yang, "Isn't she from Atlas?"
"Yup," the blonde replied, a grin taking over her face.
"I heard that!" Weiss glared at the unrepentant teens, "I may be from Atlas, but I am still a student of Beacon."
Blake's face held a smirk as she shook her head slightly, "Who only wants to be here to spy on them to have the upper hand in the tournament."
"You can't prove that!"
The resident shinigami just shook his head. And inside his...head...Zangetsu- both of them -did the exact same. The darker portion of the blade even outright laughed, as he held his sides.
"I woulda thought she already has an edge, eh Kingy?" the Hollow chuckled.
"One would think..."
Out loud, Ichigo raised an eyebrow at the heiress, "You know, you already have an advantage with what I've taught you, right?"
"Yes but..."
Before Weiss could counter that statement, Ruby diverted her team's attention.
"Whoa..."
Following where the leader was looking, Ichigo's eyebrow went even higher. He couldn't tell what type of shop it was from where he was standing, but it was clear that some sort of shop had been robbed. Not just robbed even...more like ransacked. A window was smashed out, and his sharp eyes could pick out that the inside was torn apart. Not to mention all the police tape around it. Clearly, something major had happened there. And it just had to be where they were. Which got a small sigh out of him, especially as it was Ruby who had noticed. Because it was only a matter of time until...
...the others decided they wanted to find out what had happened. Ichigo sighed again as his team moved directly for the shop. It wasn't their problem, not by a long shot. Students weren't expected to solve a criminal case, that was the job of the police. Who clearly were investigating it anyway. That hardly stopped the rest of his team though.
"What happened here?" Ruby asked, once the little group reached the police tape.
A bearded officer looked up, not showing any surprise at the group of heavily armed teenagers, "Robbery. Second Dust shop to be hit this week."
Walking away from the teens after that, Ichigo only barely heard the man add a second comment.
"This place is turning into a jungle..."
"This would mark at least three robberies of Dust shops, counting the one Ruby spoke of," Zangetsu chimed in, "This is clearly an organized crime ring. No other group would attack just Dust shops in this manner."
"You thinking what I'm thinking?"
"If you're thinking girly man, yeah."
Holding back a snort at Zangetsu's description, Ichigo inwardly nodded, "Torchwick, yeah."
That theory was reinforced with what the other officer said.
"They didn't take the money again."
"I don't get it, who needs that much Dust?" the first officer mused.
His partner shrugged, "I dunno, an army?"
"You thinkin...the White Fang?"
It was possible the others didn't notice. But when the officer mentioned the White Fang, both Ichigo and Weiss turned to look at Blake. The former because he was experienced enough to pick up on little fluctuations in Aura, the latter because she was almost scarily good at sensory abilities. And right now, Blake let her Aura flash in a momentary bit of anger at the suggestion it was the White Fang. Why she did so was anyone's guess though...she couldn't possibly be connected to those idiots.
"I'm thinkin we don't get paid enough," the second officer finished, before both of them wandered off.
As they wandered off, Weiss scoffed. All attention- including Ichigo, who had been giving Blake a curious look -turned once more to the Heiress, "The White Fang...what a bunch of degenerates."
"What's your problem?" Blake shot back, hostility clear in her voice
Weiss blinked, clearly not understanding the hostility, "My problem? I simply don't care for the criminally insane."
"The White Fang are hardly a bunch of pyschopaths. They're a collection of misguided Faunus," the dark-haired girl countered.
"Misguided? They want to wipe humanity from the face of the planet!"
"Well then they're very misguided!" Blake's temper was clearly flaring now, "either way, it doesn't explain why they would rob a Dust shop in the middle of downtown Vale."
For their parts, the remaining members of the team just looked amongst each other with confused looks. The hostility coming from Blake at any insult to the White Fang was...more than a little odd, to put things mildly. Weiss could be wording things better, but to Ichigo at least, she wasn't wrong. The White Fang was far from a group of good guys. At least, not at the moment. There was a reason that humans were terrified of them, and it wasn't because the terrorists were bringing flowers to protests.
Ruby was the one who finally broke the silence though, "Blake has a point...besides, they never caught that Torchwick guy I ran into a few months ago. Maybe it was him?"
"I'd say it probably was him," Ichigo chimed in, "only Dust and not the money? Who else would do exactly what he was doing?"
"Yeah!"
Weiss just scoffed again, "Either way, it doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum. Those Faunus only know how to lie, cheat, and steal."
"What the hell is your problem?" the orangehead's scowl deepened.
"My problem?" Weiss parroted her own words from earlier.
"Yeah, you're acting like they're animals."
What was left unsaid, was that Weiss was acting like Cardin. The Heiress started to sputter angrily, only for a shout to distract the entire team. And make Ichigo strong tempted to facepalm.
"Hey, stop that Faunus!"
"Not helping their case Kingy," Zangetsu chimed in, as RWBIY ran towards the dock once more.
"Tell me about it."
As the group of teens reached the dock, they saw a blonde teen with...a monkey tail...jump off the boat. And promptly use said tail to hang from a lamppost. If the situation were any less serious- what with the way this was not helping the case in convincing Weiss Faunus weren't bad -Ichigo would be tempted to snort. The very monkey-esque action, right down to peeling a banana, was amusing to say the least.
"Hey, a no-good stowaway would have been caught!" the Faunus shouted, bringing Ichigo back to him, "I'm a great stowaway!"
"Hey, get down from there this instant!" the bearded officer shouted.
For his part, Ichigo blinked, somewhat surprised the officers had gotten down there so quickly. Police were not trained at an academy like he was, so that was actually...somewhat impressive. It would have been rather more impressive, if the Faunus hadn't just replied by throwing his banana peel into the officers face. The teen didn't bother holding back a snort this time, as Ruby giggled next to him. It was amusing. Even Zangetsu was laughing at the move, as it was so...funny to see. Not many would do something like that to an officer of the law.
"I think I like him King."
Nodding in agreement, Ichigo watched as the Faunus blitzed past the cops and ran right up the stairs. Not to mention right past his team...not even stopping once. Though he did turn his head and wink at Blake, who looked stunned by that.
"Maybe he likes them darker?"
Ignoring his Hollow-side in favor of his team, Ichigo held back a smile at the deadpan look Yang wore as she watched the Faunus run away.
"Well Weiss, you wanted to see the competition? There he goes."
Weiss was shaken from her own stupor by that, "Quick! We have to observe him!"
And promptly ran off after the fleeing stowaway. The sisters were quick to follow, but Blake still seemed rooted to the spot. Ichigo just sighed slightly, well-used to the impulsiveness of his teammates by now. Though, granted, it was highly unusual for it to be Weiss doing it.
"You okay?" he asked the one teammate still with him.
Blake shook her head, "Yeah. Let's go after them."
It was increasingly clear that the dark-haired girl was not okay. Ichigo wasn't sure still what was wrong with her today, but something about that other teen had shaken his friend up. Nothing for it though, because right now, they had to find the rest of the team. As such, both of them took off after the others, quickly catching up as they rounded a corner...
...only to see Weiss run head first into another girl.
Nice one there ice queen...
Shaking his head slightly, Ichigo followed the other girls as Weiss groaned about the Faunus getting away. That was the least of the problems at the moment though. While it was possible miss sensory abilities was too distracted, Ichigo was not. And the girl she had landed on had his attention, his full attention. There was something distinctly off about the redhead, and it had him feeling uncomfortable. Grimm didn't even make him feel discomfort in this way, but something about the girl Weiss still hadn't noticed did. In Ruby's words...it was 'weirding him out'. Because as the girl just lay where she had fallen, the feeling he was getting from her was almost skin-crawlingly unnatural.
Even Zangetsu was shuddering slightly, inside the teenager's soul. It wasn't that the girl felt dark like the Grimm, or even like a Hollow. But she felt distinctly...off. Like something was wrong with her Aura, which by extension, meant something wrong with her soul. It felt unnatural, in a way. Almost like the Aura wasn't hers. The best way he could describe it, would be the feeling of a ZanpakutÅ that was apart from its wielder. He had seen his old man materialize Engetsu once, and the feeling had been...different.
Thing was, even that didn't fit this girl. It was maddening.
"I am as curious as you Ichigo, however, we should focus on who she is first and foremost," the Quincy portion of Zangetsu spoke up.
Yang seemed to agree, though it was possible she hadn't noticed what Ichigo had.
"Umm...Weiss," the blonde pointed at the girl on the ground.
"Ahh!" Weiss jumped back, when she realized she had run into someone...who was now grinning at her.
"Salutations!" the strange girl said, grin never leaving her face.
"Uh...are you...okay?" Yang asked, sounding just as weirded out as Ichigo felt.
The girl on the ground just nodded, "I'm wonderful, thank you for asking!"
All of team RWBIY shared a look at that. At least it wasn't only him feeling odd now...
"You want to get up?" Ichigo asked, not quite able to keep his discomfort from his voice.
Luckily for him, this girl seemed oblivious to it, as she looked thoughtful before replying, "Yes!"
And promptly jumping to her feet, in a way that most Huntresses wouldn't have pulled off. This situation was getting stranger and stranger by the minute. What was it about his team that attracted strange things? Sometimes Ichigo seriously wondered about that...
"Hello, my name is Penny. It's a pleasure to meet you!"
Once more, the team looked amongst themselves. How to react to that...
"Hi Penny, I'm Ruby," the leader dove right in as usual.
"I'm Weiss."
"Blake."
Ichigo looked at the girl, before sighing slightly, "Ichigo."
"You sure you didn't hit your head?" Yang asked, getting a snort from the orangehead before Blake slapped her arm, "Oh, I'm Yang."
Penny just continued to grin, "It's a pleasure to meet you!"
"You already said that..." Weiss replied.
"So I did!" and the grin never once faltered. Even Zangetsu didn't have a grin like that.
"Well, I'm sorry for running into you," the heiress continued, turning away. The rest of the team followed, as Ruby waved back at the strange girl.
"Take care friend."
It would be a lie if Ichigo said he wasn't happy to be moving away from the girl. He was getting more and more uncomfortable the longer he was around her. It was mean to think that way to be fair, especially since she seemed friendly enough. But he just couldn't shake the feeling that something was seriously wrong with Penny. He couldn't put his finger on it, but that hardly mattered when it came to his comfort. Best to just forget about her since, like the Dust robbery, it wasn't his problem. Someone would sort it out, hopefully.
"She was...weird," Yang commented, once the rounded the corner.
Ichigo just nodded, "Very weird. Her Aura felt off."
"It di..." Weiss began to ask, before she noticed something that had her sputtering and spinning around.
Namely, speak of the devil, and she shall appear in front of you.
"What did you call me?" Penny asked.
Yang blinked, and frowned, "Um...I'm sorry about that..."
"No, not you," the strange girl countered, moving to stare down on Ruby, "You."
For her part, all the leader could do was blink and lean back, her face showing shock and maybe a bit of fear, "Umm...I'm sorry...uhh...what did I call you?"
"You called me friend...am I really your friend?"
Ruby clearly didn't know how to react, as she looked over Penny's shoulder, "Umm..."
The other girls on the team were all crossing their arms and shaking their heads frantically. Blake even took it a step further and was waving her arms around to get the point across. For his part, Ichigo just sighed and facepalmed. He knew Ruby well enough by now...to know exactly what she was going to say to that question. Hence the facepalm, since he didn't really want strange girl hanging around. Nothing against Penny, but the way her Aura was just rubbed him wrong, to say the least.
"Sure," Ruby finally said...managing a snort out of Ichigo as the others all fell over on their backs in shock.
Penny, on the other hand, looked like her birthday had come early, "Sensational! We can paint our nails, try on clothes, and talk about cute boys!"
As the others picked themselves off the ground, Ichigo tuned out the rest of the talk, in favor of turning to Yang. Blake was out of sorts, and Weiss and Ruby were busy with the strange girl. That left talking about the strange girl to the blonde.
"Hey Yang," he sidled up next to her.
"Huh?" the girl replied, dusting herself off.
"You notice her Aura?"
Yang frowned, "Sorta. I mean, I'm not at good at that as you and Weiss are."
"Doesn't take being good to notice this."
And it really didn't either. Yang focused herself on the strange girl, and blinked her lilac eyes rapidly.
"Damn," she whistled, "That is strange. Any ideas Mr. Expert?"
"None," Ichigo sighed in response, "I've never felt anything like it. Damn it..."
"Well, that's a prob..."
Before the blonde could finish her complaint, a rather more pertinent issue came up. Namely...
"You arrogant brat!"
Blake stomping off, leaving the others in a stunned silence. Ichigo and Yang shared a look, both having missed whatever set the girl off. Weiss on the other hand, seemed to know what had happened. And been the target of that shout, considering both the context and the way she acted.
"How dare you! I'm your teammate!" the heiress stomped after the other girl.
"What you are is a judgmental little girl!"
As the two launched into quite the argument, Ichigo and Yang moved next to Ruby. Who looked totally out of her depth, seeing the first real fight among her teammates.
"Well...something got them angry," Ichigo deadpanned.
Blake Belladonna
Ichigo's statement turned out to be quite accurate. At least in the case of Blake, who had been on the verge of a meltdown ever since the team had found that shop. Well, more accurately, she had been having a meltdown ever since Weiss had started insulting the White Fang at said shop. There wouldn't have been any problem beyond minor frustration at missing out on reading time, were it not for that actually. The shop was a nice mystery, but not one that Blake could really care about, if it weren't for Ruby bringing it up. Ichigo had seemed to be the same way if his eye rolls were any indication.
But then that...that...spoiled little brat had to insult the White Fang and Faunus in general. That officer suggesting they would raid a Dust shop like that was one thing. But the way that Weiss had latched onto that and refused to let go drove Blake mad. Even after both Ichigo and Ruby had pointed out it was far more likely to be Torchwick who had done the robbery. That had only served to deflect Weiss onto a more general rant. One she had not given up on since it started.
One that continued to this very second.
"I don't understand why this is causing such a problem!"
"That is the problem!" and Blake couldn't understand why Weiss couldn't see that.
"You realize you're defending an organization that hates humanity right?" the heiress countered, not realizing saying that didn't mean quite the same to Blake as the rest of their team, "the Faunus of the White Fang are pure evil!"
And that did it.
"There's no such thing as pure evil!" Blake jumped to her feet, fists clenched at her side, "why do you think the White Fang hate humanity so much? It's because of people like Cardin...people like you, who force the White Fang to take such drastic measures!"
Weiss scoffed, "People like me?"
"You're discriminatory!"
"I'm a victim!"
After Weiss shouted that, the argument ground to a halt. Even Blake felt her temper momentarily flicker out, if in pure shock if nothing else. Why would Weiss consider herself a victim of the White Fang? She had never mentioned something like that before...then again, with her logical side coming back up if only momentarily, Blake could reflect she wasn't the best in telling her team things either...
"Do you want to know why I despise the White Fang? Why I don't particularly trust the Faunus?"
As she said that, the Heiress moved to the window. She was clearly warring with herself, over if she should say what was on her chest or not. Blake could understand that...even as she wondered what Weiss was actually talking about.
"It's because my family has been at war with them for years...war, as in actual bloodshed. My grandfather's company has had a target painted on its back for as long as I can remember. Ever since I was a child, I've watched family friends disappear. Board members, executed. An entire train car full of Dust...stolen."
That last one hit Blake like, well, a speeding train. The girl could well remember the train...the train where she had finally cut ties to her old life. Where she had left behind the mentor who had been almost like an older brother to her. She could still remember his hand reaching out to her as she left him behind on the Dust train. Blake could still remember the damage the two had done to said train...and how it had almost ended in senseless loss of life. Things like that were her greatest shame...and it was not comfortable having that tossed into her face like this.
Not to mention, Weiss seemed to not be finished, as she shrugged off Ruby's attempt to comfort her.
"Every day, my father would come home furious," at that, the heiress clenched her fist angrily, "and that made for a very difficult childhood."
Spinning past Ruby, Weiss turned to the dark-haired girl in the room. Her eyes flashed with anger, as she looked up at the taller teen.
"That is why I despise the White Fang!" she shouted, "Because they're a bunch of liars, thieves, and murderers!"
Sympathy for Weiss' situation or not, Blake felt her temper flaring back up.
"Well maybe we were just tired of being pushed around!"
Even as she yelled that, Blake realized she had made a mistake. Ruby and Yang had their mouths drop open, even as Weiss backed up with a shocked expression on her face. Only Ichigo didn't show shock, he merely sighed and shook his head. Their reactions aside, Blake began to quickly freak out. She hadn't wanted to say that...she shouldn't have said that. Fear quickly rising to the fore, the girl shook her head swiftly.
"I...I..."
And bolted from the room. She vaguely heard Ruby yell after her, but that was not going to be enough to stop her.
I shouldn't have said that. I should not have said that...
Blake didn't slow down in the slightest until she reached the exit of the dorm. And she only did that, because she saw a familiar head of orange hair blocking her path.
"How did..." she asked, panting slightly.
Ichigo just shrugged, "You know only Ruby can keep up with me if I really want to be somewhere. So, what was that back there?"
The dark-haired girl was immediately on the defensive again, "Nothing, nothing at all."
"Then what's with the running?" the orangehead deadpanned.
"I..."
"Look, I won't say anything to the others if you don't want me to," Ichigo continued, "but with how much you four have wormed out of me lately, I want to know if this is something important."
"Are you...serious?"
A nod answered that question, "Of course I am. That, and I don't care if you were in the White Fang. Which is what this looks like, by the way. No other reason you would be that angry at the princess."
He wasn't wrong. Blake hated to admit it, but her...friend...wasn't wrong with his assumptions. That was in her past though, a past she had been running from for so long now. She didn't want to have to face it again, least of all with people she was actually comfortable with.
But, Ichigo Kurosaki was not one to take no for an answer, was he?
"...yes, I was."
At that, Blake reached up to the bow on her head...and slowly undid it. As her hands came away with the piece of fabric, it revealed a pair of...cat ears. Small, purple fur covered cat ears, sticking right up off her head. She had expected her nature as a Faunus to get shock from Ichigo. The other teen had never shown any indication he knew she wasn't human. Not from the moment she had met him, had she ever seen him treat her as anything but a human. Granted...
"Huh."
...he was one of the rare ones who really didn't care if you were a Faunus or human.
"That's all?" Blake asked, a bit of dry humor returning to her despite the situation.
Ichigo shrugged, "Yeah. I mean, I didn't know you were a Faunus but it kinda makes sense now. Especially the bow. Don't see why you kept this a secret though, considering you know that we don't have problems with Faunus."
All he got in reply to that was a glare.
"Okay," the teen stepped back, "other than Weiss, we don't care. Seriously though, it isn't a big problem."
Blake just sighed, "It may not be for you. It may not be for even Ruby or Yang. But you are not everyone. You've seen Cardin...and even Weiss. The Faunus are not equal, even now. I want people to see me and my achievements for who I am...what they are. Not what I am."
Looking out at the night sky, Blake clenched the ribbon in her hand.
"On top of that, I am a criminal. I may have left the White Fang, but I can never really leave that behind...so I hide in plain sight, with just the aid of this bow."
It was Ichigo's turn to sigh at that, "Okay, that at least makes sense. Still though...you can't hide that from the others now."
"I know that," Blake replied, "but..."
"You aren't ready?"
It seemed to happen quite often, but every time Ichigo did something like this, Blake was forced to reevaluate the other teen. He really was more insightful than his appearance or actions would lend one to believe. And it occasionally showed through...because he was totally right.
I don't want to talk to them about this...not yet.
"No, not yet," the Faunus replied, "I...don't know what I would say. Especially to Weiss."
"She can find you easily enough y'know."
And that was a problem. Weiss was so good at sensing Aura, that it was almost impossible to hide from her if she wanted to find you. And right now, the last person Blake wanted to talk to was the heiress. How was she going to get time alone to put her raging emotions in order? She wouldn't get that time if Weiss tracked her down within a couple hours. And that was something the heiress was fully capable of doing, once she put her mind to it. So how was she going to avoid the others?
Of course, by now, Blake should have expected Ichigo to have something new to teach her. Because, with a sigh, he turned to look at his friend more fully. It looked like he didn't want to tell her whatever it was though.
"Okay, listen up," the orangehead said, "activate your Aura."
Blake sent him an incredulous look, "That will just..."
"Just listen damn it," Ichigo shot back, "once you've got the Aura active, focus on it. Once you've got a hold of the thing, do the exact opposite of pushing it into an attack...pull it in. Watch me."
As he said that, frustration clear in his voice, the teenager began glowing blue once more. But as Blake watched with both her eyes and her new sensory abilities- albeit ones nowhere near as good as Weiss -she felt Ichigo's raging power slowly fade into...nothing. Okay, that was wrong. There was a small flash of his torrent of power once in a while, but overall...if she were relying on just sensing him, she wouldn't know he was there.
"How..."
Ichigo just shrugged, and sighed again, "Something the old man taught me. If you want to be stealthy, you can pull your Aura in and make it nearly impossible to sense the thing. I just didn't want to teach it yet, because now I'm going to have to teach all of you how to do it. I don't get enough sleep as is damn it."
Smile tugging at her lips despite the situation, Blake did as Ichigo had told her. It was an extremely odd feeling pulling her power into herself like that. It went against ever instinct that Ichigo had drummed into his team...which might be why he had been annoyed with telling her. But even as she did so, she felt a flash of gratitude towards her friend. He hadn't judged her for her past, and was helping her- at an inconvenience for himself -to get the time she needed to put her thoughts into order. That was...really quite nice of him.
If she had ever doubted he treated his friends well, it was gone now.
"Good, looks like you got it," he spoke up after a few minutes, "Well, if you're going to go...do it now. I'll keep the others occupied."
As he turned to leave though, he looked back, "Be careful Blake. I don't want to have to try tracking you down to rescue you...and I can do that, even if you try hiding."
With his piece said, the teenager vanished into what he called shunpo. Blake watched him go, a small smile tugging at her lips still. Leaving Beacon, she walked up to the statue at the center of the plaza. The teenage girl didn't know where she would go...but this might be a start. She would have to go to Vale if she really wanted to hide of course...but for now, Blake could at least look at something to distract herself. Or would have been able to, were it not for a feeling pricking at her senses. With her own power bottled up like it was, it was oddly easier for her to sense others. And the Faunus girl could feel a power that was bright like the sun behind her, walking towards her slowly.
Since it wasn't Ichigo or anyone else she recognized...
An enemy? No, it doesn't feel hostile...
Blake turned around, and saw something that surprised her. Walking up with a cocky smirk on his face was the Faunus from earlier in the day. She wasn't expecting to see him, not up here. If anything, the girl wondered how he had even gotten up here. Beacon had security...how had he gotten past it so easily? If it hadn't been for Ichigo's unique training, even she wouldn't have noticed him. Though, to be totally fair, Blake could acknowledge she wasn't at her best at the moment.
"I knew you would look better without the bow," the other teen said, smirk widening.
"How did you get here?" Blake shot back.
The other Faunus shrugged, "I'm here for the tournament. Old Ozpin let me in earlier today. Name's Sun."
Ironic, considering how his power feels.
"Blake."
Sun grinned, "Well, nice to meet you Blake. So, why're you out here this late?"
"Why are you out here this late?"
"Oooh...good point," Sun scratched his chin, "I was exploring. Never been to Beacon before y'know?"
It made sense, Blake allowed, "So, Sun then...mind going down to Vale?"
"Oh, I can work with that."
AN: And there we go. Not entirely satisfied here, but I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter!
I should note...Penny is actually one of my favorite characters. Lots of potential with her really. But, as this was from Ichigo's perspective, she was always going to feel off in some way. We still don't know how the hell they pulled off an artificial soul/Aura. It might be similar to a Mod Soul, but certainly not the same. As such...while Ichigo can't put his finger on it, she really freaks him out.
Hope that explains that bit. Onto the reviews.
Reviews:
Telron, Grinja, duskrider, desdelor97, Kragh50, JJN37, JIMMYJAMSTER728, pltrgst, Cardin Haterz, NotSoSlimSh4dy, Ranmaleopard, Tracer28, Dragon and Sword Master: Thanks for the reviews!
KrazyFanfiction1: Blake can only use it with her sheath. Like I said, basically the same thing she used against Torchwick.
Drake93: That would be equal parts awesome/amusing.
Yes.
Heh...I wondered when ship names would start popping up.
PersonaQeminod1: Well, we've touched on Penny a little here. That being said, what you suggest could potentially work...but it wouldn't be for a looonnnggg time.
Gavedin: This is true. But I used the No Brakes example because it was more a pseudo-Getsuga than the earlier ones.
Mazamba: Yeah, that's going to be a fun scene. I'm glad someone likes that I'm not overpowering him.
xbox432: Dance is going to be fun...I've already got things planned out in that regard. Should be interesting, though it is admittedly a ways off.
Isshin and the twins are going to be in the subarc. I'm debating if Taiyang and Qrow will be too or not though.
Gravenimage: Can't answer that one, unfortunately. Kinda tied into my 'keeping Ichigo's power level secret' thing.
hollowichigo12: Overprotective dad? Ichigo would probably welcome it- after turning red as the alternate meeting of his name at the implications regarding the sisters -considering it's normal compared to good ole' Isshin.
: We got more Ichigo/Blake interactions here. Hope you liked it!
peterpotter1999: Kisuke will be the first other than Ichigo's family, I can say that much. Again, still a long way off though.
18Gs: Yes, it is within the Bleach storyline- though Remnant is quite apart from the other worlds.
As for the other question: No. When exactly it is, is tied into the way Ichigo got to Remnant and his backstory. Something I can't answer in a review reply, to say the least.
Assault Godzilla: Bleach characters will start cropping up later on, but certainly nothing outside his family until after V2 at the earliest.
Ichigo'll certainly have influence outside his team. We've got Sun and Neptune coming up later on, toss in the teachers who have to learn anything his team learns...and JNPR...safe to say he's influencing more people than he would probably like to actually.
AN: And there we go. Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter...next week will finish off V1, and then we jump into the next subarc. See you all then.
Side-note: I can't believe we're so close to 300 reviews for only ten chapters. I'm so in shock I'll even use an emoticon: O.O
