Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo while RWBY belongs to Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth

Chapter 01: A Hot Summer's Tale

It's his fault. It was all his fault. He shouldn't have run out like that. Not in such a dangerous place. Because of his brashness, his mother had to die to protect him.

Now, Ichigo cries alone underneath the bridge not too far away where his mother's funeral is taking place, arching the river he and his mother would often stop at after dojo. Seeing his mother, a kind and caring woman, lying in a closed casket and lowered into the square hole as his sisters begged them to stop burying mommy, Ichigo runs off to where he is now. His tears continued well up, never stopping as the combinations of pain, sadness, and guilt came over him, a feeling that no nine-year-old should ever face.

"Hi." A girl's voice greeted. Ichigo looked, expecting to see one of his sisters. Instead, it was a new girl with blonde hair as bright as the sun in low pigtails. Clinging to her is a younger girl about the same age as his sisters with gray eyes that shines like the moon. She was holding a red peony flower. They are both wearing black dresses. Were they attending the funeral? "What are you doing here by yourself?"

"Go away. Leave me alone." Ichigo told her.

"But you're crying."

Ichigo sniffed as he tries to wipe away his tears. "N-No I'm not. Why would I be?" Boys like him shouldn't cry, it's girly. That's what the bullies said to him, anyways. To his surprise, the blonde girl sits down next to him, as did the younger girl.

"It's okay to cry."

"Not for me. I'm a boy." Ichigo sniffs again.

"My daddy cried when my mommy died." The blonde said.

Ichigo gasped. "You…lost your mommy, too?"

"Well, she wasn't my mommy." The blonde flickered her eyes at the girl next to her, who was tapping her heels together, trying to entertain herself. "But she was a mommy I remembered. She made really awesome cookies." She then heard her daddy calling for her. "Oh, we need to go. We had fly suuuper far to get here. Come on, little sis!" her sister nodded before getting up. The youngest girl then gives Ichigo the peony flower. He looks the plant in awe, taking in the various shades of red.

"Hey, what's your name?"

The blonde girl stops before turning at Ichigo again. "Oh, sorry! Daddy has always told me to introduce myself to a friend! My name is—"

"Ichigo!" Rukia shouted. It startled Ichigo to the point that he fell backwards in his chair. Uryū peers over.

"Effective." He said.

"Was that even necessary?" Ichigo asked.

"It was either that, or Renji was going to punch you again." Rukia said. Renji shrugged.

"How long was I out?"

"For a while, you were in a deep sleep." Mizuiro said.

"Yeah, dude. You were even talking in your sleep. Were you having nasty dreams?" Keigo asked. Tatsuki scoffed in disgust.

"Hell no. Don't lump me with you." Ichigo said.

"Then what were you dreaming about, Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime asked.

Ichigo thinks for a moment. "I don't remember."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Guardians of Remnant ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Summer break is almost over, about a week left. Cicadas chirped loudly in the heat, hoping to find a mate soon. The sun has reached its peak for the day, beaming down it's rays of light to gift anybody it's warm embrace.

"It's hoooooooooot." Nora complained, lying flat on her back in the grass. For the summer weather, Nora is wearing a pink jersey shirt with the number '66' and her surname in white font on the back, gray shorts, white socks, and black shoes. Laying by her head is her green baseball cap that has her emblem etched in it.

"Bleeeeegh." Ruby groaned. She is wearing dark grey overall shorts, a red, hooded, short-sleeved shirt, black/white striped stockings and red high-top converses. Her emblem is on the inside of the overall's pocket.

"You can say that again." Yang said as she fanned herself with her hand. Her outfit is a yellow crop top that has the words 'Crash and Burn' in black font, ripped jean shorts, and a black/yellow plaid shirt tied around her waist, and she wears black converses.

"Bleeeeegh." Ruby repeated in the same miserable tone.

Yang digs through a white handbag and pulls out a handheld small light blue fan. She pulls at the collar of her top so the cool air made from the fan could hit her cleavage. She sighs in relief. Weiss, the owner of the handbag, noticed her missing fan.

"Hey." Weiss said, crossing her arms. Her summer consists of a blue tank top underneath a see-through short-sleeved blouse that makes it look like a lighter shade, light blue jean shorts, and white ankle-length gladiator sandals with an inch heel. She wears some bracelets on her wrist and a white watch.

"This feels niiiice~" Yang said. Ruby feebly reaches for the fan.

"Let me use it, next…" Yang aims the fan in her sister's face. Ruby smiles contently. "Thanks, Sis."

"Don't drain out the batteries!" Weiss demanded.

Nora crawls over to Lie Ren, who is reading a book. His clothes for the weather are a short-sleeved green shirt with a flurry of pink petals, tan trousers, and black flats.

"Reeeen, can you make your super-duper, ultra-looper sundae with Neapolitan, rocky road, chocolate mint ice cream topped with chocolate syrup, rainbow sprinkles, marshmallows, and cherries?" Nora asked pitifully.

"…That sounds good…" Yang said.

Ren turns a page. "I can." Nora looked hopeful. "But we need to go to the market for the ingredients." Her hopes instantly shattered.

"How come you guys aren't effected by the heat?" Ruby asked Blake (who is also reading), Ren, Jaune and Pyrrha.

"I guess I got used to it after helping Prof. Peach." Jaune said, sheepishly scratching the back of his head. He is wearing a simple white shirt with short sky-blue sleeves, blue jean shorts, white socks, and black sneakers.

"Are you still assisting her with the greenhouse?" Pyrrha asked. She wears a green blouse with a black belt around her waist, dark red capris, and black heels.

Jaune shook his head. "She said that yesterday was my last day. Since I was doing good, Prof. Peach decided to end my sentence, especially since this is the last week of summer break."

Pyrrha clapped her hands together. "That's wonderful!"

Yang glances at her partner. Blake is wearing a purple/white striped shirt with short purple sleeves tucked in capri jeans with a purple belt and purple converse shoes. On top of her head she wears a dark blue bow.

"Really? You're gonna keep wearing a bow?" Yang asked. "You don't need to hide them anymore."

"…I…" Blake started.

"Oh, leave her alone, Yang." Weiss scolded. "If she wants to keep wearing a bow, then let her. Besides, it matches her shirt."

Blake smiles softly. "Thank you."

"I still say that she looks adorable without it." Nora said.

"INCOMING!" someone shouted. Everyone looks up to see a soccer ball hurdling towards them. Jaune lets out a girlish scream as the ball came at him. Thankfully, Pyrrha caught it before it could hit him.

"…Oh, thanks Pyrrha." Jaune said.

"You're welcome." Pyrrha said.

Jaune noticed Weiss looking at him quizzically and quickly tried to look more macho in front of her. He clears his throat. He winks at the heiress, who rolled her eyes.

"At least we now know the source of that girly scream back at the initiation." Yang muttered to Blake, who tried not to laugh.

"Hey, Tatsuki!" Ruby greeted the person running towards them.

"Hey…" Tatsuki greeted back. "Sorry about that." She wore a white sleeveless shirt with blue/orange/red stripes at the top and bottom of the shirt, jean shorts, and white sandals.

"No harm done." Pyrrha said, handing the ball over to the upperclassman.

"What are you doing?" Ruby asked.

"Me and the others are playing volley kickball over there." Tatsuki said, pointing a thumb at the field the others are. "Wanna play?"

"Volley kickball?" Ruby wondered. "What's that?"

Tatsuki grinned. "Come with me and you'll see."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Guardians of Remnant ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

They arrive at the field where there are place mats set in a diamond-shape, like a baseball field.

"Tatsuki-chan!" Orihime exclaimed, holding a baseball bat. She wears a spring green tank top with a lighter spring green floral long skirt, and white wedged heel bohemian sandals. "Sorry. I hit the ball too far."

"It's okay." Tatsuki said. Orihime noticed teams RWBY and JNPR.

"Oh. Do you guys want to play?" She asked.

"We'd be happy to." Ruby said. "But, I don't think any of us knows how to play volley kickball."

"Oh, it's super easy. Just sit over there and watch us." Orihime said. She points at the bench where Uryū, Rukia, and Mizuiro are at. With them is Shuhei and Rangiku, the two members of team IRYS that the freshmen have come to know when Haven students arrived during the summer break.

Rangiku waved her arm at them. "Hiii~!"

"Hello again, Ms. Rangiku." Ruby greeted.

"Oh please. Just Rangiku is fine." The robust woman said as she gave the girl a hug.

Ruby looks around the field. She sees Orihime at home base and Tatsuki at pitcher. Ichigo, Renji, and Keigo at the other three bases. Ichigo wore a dark blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, a blue plaid shirt wrapped around his waist, jeans, and brown shoes. Renji wore a dark gray tank shirt with a black snake design on it, burgundy trousers, and brown leather sandals. Keigo wore a yellow sleeveless shirt and dark green short-sleeved overshirt, gray pants, and black shoes. At the outer fields, there is Ikkaku and Yumichika.

Tatsuki drops the ball on the pitcher's mound, using her foot to keep it from bouncing. "You ready, Orihime?" She asked. Orihime's answer was to ready the bat. Tatsuki backs up before sprinting forward and gives the ball a good kick. As though she is hitting a baseball, she swings the bat and sends the ball flying. The players in the outer field run into action. The ball head towards Ikkaku, his baldhead shining from the sunlight. He hits the ball.

"Heads up, Yumi!" He exclaimed.

Yumichika had little time to react, as he has been inspecting his nails, but he was able to keep the ball from hitting the ground. As this was happening, Orihime ran from her home base to first base, and is now running for second. Ikkaku ran to hit the ball to Ichigo, who is at the second base. Ichigo catches the ball in time to tag Orihime just when she was close.

"So, it's like a combination of kickball, baseball, and volleyball?" Ruby asked as Shuhei went up next.

"That's right." Uryū said. "Ms. Inoue invented it." He wears a loose-fitting white long summer cardigan over a blue shirt, tan trousers that are rolled up to his mid-calf, and black slip-on converse. Around his neck are two necklaces, one with a sun pendant and the other a cross.

"How does it work, exactly?" Jaune asked.

"It's set up like baseball." Mizuiro started to explain. "You have the bases and a batter, but the 'pitcher' kicks a soccer ball to the batter. Once the batter hits the ball to the outer field, the players there hit the ball like a volleyball until it is passed to the players at the bases so they can tag the batter."

"Mmmm…Batter..." Nora said. Ren shook his head, but not without a smile on his face.

"Wanna have a go? The more the merrier~" Rangiku said.

There were no second thoughts.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Guardians of Remnant ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After Shuhei's turn, they start another game. This time, with a new set of teams.

Team A: Ichigo, Yang, Ikkaku, Yumichika, Pyrrha, Keigo, Mizuiro, Nora, Tatsuki, and Renji.

Team B: Ruby, Weiss, Uryū, Rangiku, Shuhei, Ren, Blake, Jaune, Orihime, and Rukia.

"You ready, little sis?" Yang asked from the pitcher's mound.

"You bet I am!" Ruby answered. As she is left-handed, she stood at the opposite side of the home base. Yang backs up before kicking the soccer ball towards Ruby. With a good swing, Ruby hits the ball into the air. Not wanting to use her Semblance, Ruby makes a dash to first base, where Renji is. Cupping her hands with the thumbs laid outside, Pyrrha keeps the ball airborne and passes it to Nora. With a happy yell, Nora passes it to the next player until Keigo, who is at second base, catches it just as Ruby was on her way.

The silver-eyed girl skid to a halt before Keigo could tag her and ran back to first base, making it before Renji caught the ball.

"Safe!" Ruby cried out.

Uryū was next. He coolly made his way to the home base, picking up the haphazardly tossed bat. Yang smirks before backing up and kicking the ball. Uryū succeeded in hitting the ball, sending it back to Yang in high speeds, who had to move out of the way out of instinct. Keigo moved out of the way too, as he was behind Yang at second base. And he was staring at Yang's butt.

Ruby sprints into a run, managing to make it to home base as Uryū neared third.

"Wow… For a guy as thin as Uryū, he's got some muscle." Jaune said.

"You have no idea." Rukia said.

Ruby jogs to the back of the line, just behind Weiss. "High five!" Weiss lightly pats her partner's hand.

Rangiku came next. Same as the other times, Yang kicks the ball and Rangiku succeeds in hitting it. Uryū takes his chance to dash to home base. Rangiku ran past the first base just as Renji caught ball passed to him. He throws the ball to Keigo to tag Rangiku. The woman stops a few feet away from Keigo. She then pulls a timid face as crocodile tears appear from her eyes.

"You're not gonna hit me with that ball, are you?" She bunched up her cleavage for good measure. For a moment Keigo turned dumb.

"…uhhhh…"

Rangiku used the distraction to run passed Keigo and third base, much to Ichigo's annoyance.

"KEIGO!"

"What? I'm a healthy growing boy!"

"You're over 18. That's not healthy. That's creepy!"

"Okay! I'm a man with needs! Give me a break!"

Rangiku cheered at her victory as she went over to the end of the line. "Nice save there, Rangiku." Ruby said.

"It's all about being cute." Rangiku said.

Uryū's eyes trailed to her 'assets' before turning away with a blushed face and pushes up his glasses. "Among other things."

Weiss looks down on her own chest, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Guardians of Remnant ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Some ways away, a certain lion plush is watching the game. Or rather, watching the women… the more ample women. Yang, Nora, Rangiku, Pyrrha, and Orihime's bodies glistened in the sunlight, their cleavages shining in sweat.

"Such beauty~ The way they shine in the sun… The way they bounce…" Kon said. He gets an idea. "If I just lie myself in front of one them, then they can hold me close to those heavenly pillows!" He runs off to make his plan a reality.

Lirin, the A.I. inhabiting an artificial blue cockatiel, turns to the viewers. "Come on. We all know what's going to happen."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Guardians of Remnant ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Nora chuckled to herself as she tapped the bat on the heel of her shoe. She turns her cap around, so the visor is at the back of her head. "Ready when you are!"

Ruby nods before kicking the ball. At that moment, Kon appears in front of Nora, ready to hug her. Well, hug her chest. Unfortunately, or fortunately, Kon winds up being between the ball and the bat as Nora swung at it.

"Noraaa…Shooot!" the girl shouts as the ball, and Kon, were sent flying. Ichigo looks at the ball quizzically.

"What's up?" Yang asked.

"…I'm not sure."

Kon held on for dear life, but it proved to be a bad idea as the players in the outer fields were ready to keep the ball in the air. Out of luckiness, or unluckiness, every time Kon and the ball was hit, Kon is the one who took the brunt of the hits.

"Why is the ball softer than usual?" Blake asked.

"It's probably losing some air." Uryū surmised.

Ren catches the ball as Nora ran past him. He heard a groan of pain and turns the white and black ball around to see Kon. The plush pulled himself off the soccer ball and scurries away.

"Get me the hell out of here!"

Yang uses her hand to block some sunlight from her eyes to see better. "Is that Kon?" She turns to Ichigo knowingly. "Think he was trying to 'catch some glimpses'?"

"Knowing him, probably." Ichigo said.

"Gonna punish him after this?"

"…I think he learned his lesson."

An hour or two has passed and the group were thinking about going into the city for some ice cream, but there was enough time for one more round and Ichigo was at the batting. He was ready, as was Ruby. Ruby kicked the ball to her mentor and Ichigo sends it flying. He wasted no time as he ran to the other bases.

Ya know… I can make you run faster…

Oh yeah, that voice is still here. Ichigo had long since been used to the anomaly and he frequently ignored it. Seeing as there has been no problem with it lately, Ichigo saw no need to tell anyone about it.

He was almost to home base when a flurry of rose petals appears before him. Ruby taps the ball gently on his nose.

"Gotcha." Ruby smiled.

Ichigo smiles back.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Guardians of Remnant ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ichigo declined to go with the others to the ice cream parlor at the outlet mall and opted to just hangout on top of Beacon Tower. His team didn't mind, them knowing that Ichigo just wants some alone time, so it was fine.

He sat up there quietly, watching the sun starting to set. He was brought out of his thoughts by something ice cold pressed to his cheek.

"Oop, sorry!" Ruby apologized, recoiling back a light red popsicle. She has another one in her other hand. "I called for you for like a minute. I guess you were deep in thought."

"Nah, it's fine." Ichigo said. He noticed the popsicles. "What's with those?"

Ruby giggled as she hands Ichigo one. "Sea salt strawberry ice cream from the parlor. They're super good. Also, there's a contest where if you could get a winner's stick, you can win a prize! I bought as much as I could with the allowance my dad gave me and hurried as fast as my Semblance could take me so I could put the rest in the freezer back at the dorm." The girl even ran in place for emphasis. Ichigo chuckled at the sight.

"I guess we should get eating." He said. Ruby nodded before flopping next to him.

The two had become much closer over the summer break. People, especially Yang, joked by assuming they're a couple, but it's far from the truth. Ruby wasn't lying when she said that Ichigo was like a brother she never had, not that Yang wasn't an awesome older sister. Ichigo just has… an 'older brother' charm to him or something. Besides, Ichigo would never dream to date Ruby because A) Yang, B) Ruby reminds him of his sisters, C) Yang, D) he might still have lingering feelings for a certain someone, and E) Yang.

Ichigo and Ruby ate silence until they have finished the ice cream. They look to see what they got.

Both sticks said 'loser'.

"Awww. Gee darn it." Ruby bemoaned. Ichigo chuckled with mirth and Ruby joins in.

Next Chapter: Planted Seeds (October 26 or 27)