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

Chapter 09: Getting to Know

Weiss barged into the girls' restroom, startling an exiting occupant who runs out. The heiress starts to pace around room. "Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid!" she shouted at the last word, before internally exploding. What was that? 'I see you've grown taller'? Of course he's taller now, you idiot! It's been seven years since they have last saw each other. She finally calmed down a small bit before slumping down against the wall of the girls' restroom, hiding her tomato red face in her hands. How embarrassing...

She remembers back during her charity concert before she left for Beacon. It was during the after-party and she was with her father as the man praises how a member of the Schnee name is going to a major Huntsman Academy, flaunting as though it was his decision. The scar on Weiss' left eye says otherwise. The youngest Schnee daughter eventually tuned her father out, focusing more on her surroundings. That's when she felt it. A familiar presence from long ago was in the same room with her. She looked around for that presence until she saw him leaving outside with three others. She was about move to catch-up with him, but her father clasped a hand on her shoulder, keeping her at his side, like a trophy. Her heart sank as she saw him go.

She wanted desperately to rekindle their friendship. It was the first real friendship she had ever experienced growing up. Everyone else was fake. An hidden agenda behind every smile and gesture. Uryū was the only one who shared that sentiment with her. Despite being two years older than her, he had wanted to be at her side purely because he wanted to, not because of political ties and personal gain. But then, seven years ago, THAT day happened...

"Weiss?" Ruby peaked her head through the restroom door. "Are you o–"

"What do you want?" Weiss snapped

"Ah! Well-uh-I just-uh...I-I just wanted to see if you were okay!" Ruby stammered.

"I'm fine! Does it look like I'm fine?" Weiss shouted.

"Well, uh –" Ruby started.

"Just leave me alone!" Weiss demanded, hiding her face in her legs, her knees pulled up. She really doesn't want Ruby to see her face.

The silver-eyed girl only stood there, unsure of what to do next.

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

"So, Uryū," Keigo said with a coy smile. "Gonna tell us what that is all about?" Uryū didn't answer, opting to just push up his glasses and turn away from the brunette.

"Leave him alone before he'll use you as target practice later, Keigo," Ichigo ordered. He notices that JNPR and the remainder of RWBY were still standing. "What are you guys waiting for, an invitation? Seat already." The six first years apply, JNPR seating on one couch and Blake and Yang in another.

"Sooo, what do we do first?" Yang asked.

"Order something to eat," Rukia suggested, returning to the table after getting up to retrieve menus. "I'm sure you guys are starving after the day you had yesterday."

*GROOOOWL* Everyone looks at one Nora Valkyrie. She patted her belly. "Weeell, if you say so~" She reaches for a menu to see what is available.

"No brewed coffee, Nora," Ren reminded her. The green ninja was worried that just the smell of that would give Nora an unneeded, and very much unwanted, caffeine high.

"I know, I know," Nora said.

"Is it...all right to order what we want?" Pyrrha asked.

"Oh yeah. Go ahead," Tatsuki insisted.

"Really? Is that okay?" Pyrrha asked.

"Nah, it's fine," Mizuiro said. "Keigo's buying."

Keigo nearly choked on his own saliva. "What?! Why me?!" He sputtered.

Pyrrha still looked unsure. "...If you insist..."

"Oh, Nikos-san! If you want, you can try the curry frappuccino. It's amazing!" Orihime offered. "I'm thinking about ordering it myself."

"Umm, curry...frappuccino?" Pyrrha wondered. She looks back on the menu. "What's that?"

"It's right here, under 'specials'. One time, I brought a bottle of curry sauce to add into my caramel frappuccino and it was delicious. The shop's owner even tried it and liked it too, so he added it on the menu!" Pyrrha was perturbed at the idea, as were the others. Except for Ren, who seems interested.

"I see..." Pyrrha said, sheepishly. "...I think I'll pass. Maybe later?"

"Okay!" Soon, everyone decided on what they wanted and Rukia wrote them down in her sketchbook. Ichigo took a glance at it to see that Rukia had drawn bunny versions of everyone else corresponding with their order. He rolled his eyes. It was at this time Ruby and Weiss returns from the restroom.

"Hey, guys. We're back!" Ruby said, trying to look cheerful. The girl was unsuccessful of trying to cheer up the Ice Queen. All she could do was wait for the heiress to be ready to come back.

"Welcome back. And for passing the initiation, little sister, I ordered something special for ya." Yang said as her sister and Weiss sat down next to Yang and Blake.

"Oooh, ooh, what is it?" Ruby asked.

"A glass of whole milk and chocolate chip cookies with a side of strawberries." Yang said. Ichigo notices Tatsuki giving him a look. A look he was familiar with. Usually, its at his expense.

"Really?! Thanks, sis!" Ruby said with glee. Weiss looks at her partner quizzically.

"What about you, Weiss?" Yang asked, handing her the menu.

"Um, I'll...have a glass of iced coffee and apple cinnamon muffins, please," Weiss ordered, trying not to make eye contact with the Quincy. Rukia writes it down before tearing the paper neatly off the notebook. Silently, Uryū takes it before Rukia did anything else and gets up and towards the counter. Ichigo and Rukia look at each other in wonder about the paler one. Weiss looks down on her lap.

"I-I'll go with him in case he needs help. That's gonna be a lot of food," Orihime volunteered, smoothing out her skirt before going.

"Then I'll help as well," Pyrrha said, getting up from her seat and followed the gray-eyed girl.

Another awkward silence fell, but Tatsuki eyed her old friend. Ichigo sees this, knowing exactly what's going through her mind. "Don't even think about it."

"Whatever do you mean?" Tatsuki asked, feigning innocence.

"Don't play innocent with me," Ichigo said.

"I'm not doing anything," Tatsuki smiled knowingly.

Yang looks confused. "What are you gettin' at?"

"Shut it," Ichigo warned his childhood friend. Tatsuki didn't look the least bit intimidated.

"I'm saying Ichigo has a...thing with strawberries," Tatsuki said coyly. Ichigo secretly flips her off and Tatsuki stuck her tongue at him.

"Really? Like what?" Ruby asked.

Ichigo looked hesitant to say it, but Ruby and Yang watched him with anticipation. He sighed. "My folks wanted to give me a name that people would look up to in a time of need. My name means 'one who protects.' I was very much inspired by that and wanted to be a hero. When I was older, I started to learn my name's...other meanings."

"That being...?" Yang urged.

"Along with 'one who protects', there is also 'number one', a pun to the number '15'..." He referenced to the number itself on his shirt. Yang snickered at that. "...and..."

"Annnnd?" The two half-sisters urged more.

"...Strawberry..." Ichigo muttered, his face becoming as red as the fruit. Ruby started to snicker.

"Oh, don't be so embarrassed, Berry Boy. It's cute!" Yang said. Ichigo's face turned redder.

"Off topic...Is it true that you guys killed Grand Fisher?" Blake asked.

Renji scoffed. "Yeah. By the skin of our teeth."

"Wouldn't such a mission be out of the league of students?" Ren questioned. As he said earlier, Grand Fisher was an Adjuchas-class Grimm, meaning it was highly intelligent and posed more of a threat than the Giant Nevermore and Death Stalker they fought yesterday combined and more. Only highly skilled Huntsmen were able to accept the job.

"You would be right. Hunting down Grand Fisher and killing it was an S-rank mission. The highest rank mission an academy student can go on is an A-rank one. The mission we had at the time was originally a D-rank. We were supposed to eradicate a horde of Grimm suitable for first-years, but due to some...negative consequences, Grand Fisher was drawn out," Rukia explained.

"To say we've manage come out of it alive would be an understatement. We were nearly at Death's doorstep," Renji said.

"Still, though. You guys are pretty darn cool," Yang said. "Your team was the main talk back at Signal during the entirety of last year."

"Damn, are we really that famous?" Ichigo questioned, completely stunned at this.

"It shouldn't be that much of a surprise, considering what your team had accomplished in just your second year," Blake said. She brings up her right hand as she lists off some of Team IURR's feats. "Stopping a bandit tribe from burning down a village..." If memory serves correctly, the tribe was called the Temple of the Dragon. "Finding a veteran Huntsman who went missing for 20 years..." Ashido was the veteran's name, if Ichigo remembers it right. Rukia probably has his contact information on her Scroll. "Defeating a Harena Gigas..." That was more annoying than hard to beat. Unlike the Arma Gigas and Petra Gigas, which are comprised of solid materials, Harena Gigas' shtick was sand. While technically still solid, sand is easily malleable. Heaven forbid for an Aqua Gigas. "...and helped to resolve the case of the Bount Group." The atmosphere grew very dark at the last one. The air suddenly felt so thick, Ruby could have sliced it with Crescent Rose. The girl in red looks at her new mentors, noticing some difference in their posture. Renji started to twiddle his thumbs and Rukia was looking her sketchbook while hiding her face. Ichigo was the most tense, Ruby could see him clenching his teeth and fisting up his hands.

Ren seems to have noticed the change as well. He lightly elbowed at Nora's side. The girl takes the hint. "Oh! Wait until I tell you guys how Ren and I stopped a Beowulf from attacking a cottage home!"

"Actually, it was an Ursa and it was sniffing at an outhouse." Everyone else became enraptured by the tales Nora tells, with Ren correcting her at certain points. Ruby, however, pay no heed and continues to look at her new mentor.

"We're baaack~" Pyrrha sang as she, Orihime, and Uryū returned with trays of their drinks and food. They start to pass around the items to the respective person, courtesy Orihime, since she is the only one to understand Rukia's drawings.

As soon as he sat down, Uryū noticed Ichigo's fist clenching almost to the point of drawing blood and he could tell that his partner is clenching his teeth from how stiff his jaw looked. He can almost feel Ichigo's resentment. "Did I miss something?" Uryū asked Rukia. Although, Uryū has an inkling of what it is.

"I'll tell you later," She said. Ruby looked on in worry.

"Oh, Ruuubyyy~" Yang sang as she lifted up a plate of cookies and strawberries to Ruby's nose. The smell of sweet chocolate and delicious strawberries drew the silver-eyed girl away from her worries. She takes the plate with glee and a grabs a cookie. She snaps it in two before dipping one half in her glass of milk and eating it.

"Really, Ruby? Cookies and Milk?" Weiss questioned.

Ruby swallows. "What? Milk is good for you! And what's great with milk? Chocolate chip cookies!" Ruby said as ate one. "I mean, look at Uryū, he's drinking milk too."

"Actually, it's a latte." Uryū corrected, picking up his coffee cup.

"With an ungodly amount of cream in it." Renji added. Uryū gives him a pointed look before returning to have a drink. Renji only smiled as he drank his tea.

Over the next several minutes, everyone talking to one another while enjoying their meal. Ren tries his own cup of curry frappeccino and praised it's unique blend of sweetness and spices, much to Orihime's delight and to Nora's disgust. Rukia and Weiss gets into a conversation about Beacon's curriculum, Keigo talks to Jaune about some rpg, and Tatsuki and Pyrrha talk about the Mistral Regional Tournament. Eventually, Pyrrha turns to Ichigo.

"So, what will we be doing after this?" Pyrrha asked.

"After this, we'll be heading to the training grounds so that way we can see what you are all capable of." Ichigo said. At this point, his nerves have relaxed after escaping the subject Blake brought up.

"What? Shouldn't we relax first? I mean, we had the initiation yesterday." Weiss pointed out.

"Yes. I am aware of that. But, do you think the enemy would care if you're ready or not?" Ichigo questioned. RWBY and JNPR looked at each other silently, unable to answer the question. But, what Ichigo said is true. Out there in the real world, there are no chances.

"And, besides, we haven't seen what you guys can do. Up close," Tatsuki said, laying her eyes on a certain blonde boy. There's only so much a few videos can show.

"When you guys are finished, we'll get going." Ichigo said.

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

After paying the bill (courtesy of Keigo, to his chagrin), the group exited the coffee shop. As she stepped out, Yang notices something near a trashcan a few feet away. She walks over to it, seeing a cute little lion plushie. "Awww. Now who threw out this little guy?" she wondered as picked up the plush. She examined the toy, taking note of a blue cross behind it's head. It looks to be in good condition. "Aren't you just a little cutie."

"Yang! Put him down!" Ichigo demanded urgently. This made the first-years look at him quizzically. Him?

"Why? What's wrong?" Yang asked, completely baffled, holding the plush close to her ample chest.

"Just do it. It's for your own good," Ichigo urged cryptically. At this point, the others were looking at the bombastic blonde's direction with perturbed expressions.

"What is it?" Yang asked.

"Yang, do this," Blake instructed, holding out her arms.

The human firecracker rolled her eyes with a snicker. "Okay?" she wondered, doing as she was told. That's when she realized a pressure on her breasts. She looks down to see the plush toy hugging her boobs.

"Oh...so firm and plump...truly they are marshmallows from Heaven," it muttered with joy. Yang eyes widen before they turned from lilac to red in the blink of an eye and punched the plush away. It slammed into a concrete wall before falling to the ground, leaving am imprint.

"What is that thing?" Nora asked.

"That is Kon," Rukia said. "He is a Modified Opposition Detector, or MOD for short."

"Opposition?" Blake questioned.

"Like any sort of hostilities, mostly Grimm," Renji explained.

"That's right!" Kon exclaimed, apparently after the punch and pointing a plushie claw at Ichigo. "And you should treat me with respect!"

"Can it, you perverted fuzzball!" Ichigo shouted.

"So, is it like an A.I.?" Ruby asked, eyeing the plush.

"Pretty much," Tatsuki answered, clearly having a disdain for the lion plushie.

"Where did you get it?" Weiss asked. Ruby and Jaune were busy watching a walking and talking plush doll in awe.

"A candy shop owner," Rukia answered.

"...Seriously?" Blake questioned.

"Tell me about it..." Uryū muttered.

"I'm sorry, but why would you need something like that?" Pyrrha wondered. "I mean, even in-training Huntsmen and Huntresses have the ability to sense even the presence of Grimm."

"Well, he's not for us specifically..." Renji revealed, looking straight at Ichigo, who is stretching Kon mercilessly.

"Kurosaki isn't known for his sensing capabilities," Uryū says pushing up his glasses, earning a glare from Ichigo. "So, Kon was given to him as compensation. Unfortunately, he has one...defect."

"Defect?" Ren questioned.

"He's into girls with big...you know," Renji said sheepishly.

"Oh..." Pyrrha said, she nervously crosses her arms over her chest.

"So what? What's wrong with appreciating a woman's physique?" Kon defended. His plushy face then turned an amorous red. "Especially when they get all sweaty and those pair of heaven's headlights start to glisten in the SU-! My stuffing! My stuffing!"

"Will you shut it already?!" Ichigo demands, squeezing the plush.

"He's pretty much a toy version of Mr. Asano here," Mizuiro said.

"Don't say that, Mizuiro!" Keigo chastised. "And what's up with the honorific?"

Mizuiro turned to his hyper friend. "Oh, so you weren't staring at Yang's chest the whole time we were in the shop?" Upon hearing this, Yang turned her fiery gaze at the brunette.

"N-now wait a minute. Let's not be hasty here," The poor boy said nervously.

Ichigo places a hand on Yang's shoulder, his other hand currently holding Kon by the head. "Save that energy for the training." He looks over the rest. "Go back to your dorms and put on your gear. Meet back at the training grounds in 15 minutes. Let's go."

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Next Chapter: First Impressions