AN: Hey look, it didn't take a year this time.

Couple of points to get across before moving on into the story. First, a fair few of you pointed out that I spelled Jaune's name wrong. I got it. Second, I had several people ask if this will become a Harem or not. Since it came up a few times, I decided to address that here. There has been no real decision in regards to pairing. I am leaning a certain way, but it is by no means final. If you do lean one way or the other, it is most definitely open for discussion. However, any major advancements in regards to romantic interaction are still quite a ways off.

The pack was on the move.

There was a human nearby, they could sense it. The smell was muffled, perhaps somewhat fuzzy, but it was still there. The smell meant human, and to smell human meant it was time to attack.

It mattered not that even now the remaining members were crawling over the dissolving corpses of their fallen comrades; nor was it considered that they were almost certainly charging headlong to their doom. Young Grimm were single minded; there was no consideration of risk or danger, merely the instinctual drive to attack.

It made things so boring.

Four of the remaining Beowulves leapt for their target, growling in what could be seen as some primitive form of defiance. There was a flash. Where four bodies leapt into the air; eight halves fell back down.

Ichigo watched as their remains began to evaporate before his eyes. Grimm didn't hold their physical forms once killed. He thought it unfortunate really; it made collecting trophies from them damn near impossible.

He noticed another group was trying to circle around behind him, showing at least some level of tactics. Beowolves weren't exactly the most powerful species of Grimm, but they attempted to make up for it with sheer numbers. A pack could range in size from a dozen to a few hundred. The remaining number in the forest had been somewhere in the middle, numbering no more than ninety.

It had been easy to find them, just agitate one and it will summon the others, all Ichigo had to do was wait. They had come at him in waves, hoping to overwhelm him; but it was no use. He was simply too quick, and with his blades great size, an entire wave could be dealt with in one sweeping slash.

The vizard turned quickly and lashed out at the beowulves now choosing to launch their attack from behind. Just like the others, they were cut down in mid-air.

As these too began to disintegrate, the smell of dog began to dissipate. That was the last of them. Ichigo's sense of smell was much stronger than that of a normal human, when it came to the creatures of Grimm, he was like a bloodhound. It was this sense of smell that led him to the first stragglers of the pack. Each species had its own distinct smell. The Beowolves smelled like wet dogs, which was odd, seeing as it hadn't rained in the last couple of days.

With a grin, he replaced his massive cleaver on his back. Now that the trivial matter of the small fry was taken care of, he could focus on the main prizes. There were two very distinct Grimm left in the forest. To the east, he picked up he smelled something sickeningly sweet, and from the west, something which reminded him vaguely of some form of fabric, velvet to be more precise.

He was familiar with the overly sweet smell; that belonged to a Deathstalker, and a rather large one judging by the potency of the scent. It was common enough for them to be a part of the entrance ceremony, but it looked like nobody managed to take it out. Smelling just one however was odd, considering they generally lurk in groups.

The other scent was new though. The strong stench of velvet was something he hadn't experienced before. He would save that for later. With a sudden burst of speed, the vizard shot through the undergrowth like a bullet, the scent guiding him towards his target.

After a short time, he came to a rather large clearing. In the center of the open spaced was large hill, it's crest just short of looming over the tree line. A gaping hole had been carved into the side of it, and it was form that hole that the scent originated.

Ichigo walked over to the great hole in side of the hill, as he got closer he realized calling it a hole was a bit of an understatement. It was actually a wide cave, its' roof was high enough for someone four times his size.

The smell was almost overpowering at this point. Whatever he smelled was definitely down there somewhere. He picked up a loose stone lying at the mouth of the cave and tossed it down into its dark depths.

A faint golden light appeared deep in the dark of the cave. He had guessed correctly. The sweet smell would attract the unwitting prey and the warm light would bring them close. This was definitely a Deathstalker nest. Despite its size, the large scorpion-like Grimm was primarily an ambush predator; waiting for its prey to come to it. Going in after it would be foolish. Ichigo reached down and grabbed another loose stone; this one as large as his torso.

He gently tossed the large rock up like a baseball. Without warning, he gripped the large stone hard enough for his fingers to dig grips into the solid rock. Rearing back, he launched the small boulder with the force of a cannon, aiming for the dangling light in the back of the cave.

The projectile collided with a sickening crunch; The impact crushing the glowing tip of the Deathstalkers tail. The now wounded target released a loud insectile buzzing and charged forward from its burrow.

Ichigo leapt back quickly and put some distance between him and the mouth of the cave. A great scorpion burst out into the open moments later. It was pitch black, with bony shite plates covering its back and claws. These plates were adorned with blood red markings, and to Ichigo's surprise a bright purple line ran down the length of its body.

"So you're the queen then." A predatory grin crept over Ichigo's features. Queen Deathstalkers were quite rare; one being this close to the school was a pleasant surprise. The Queen tended to stay in their burrows, letting a small group of males take care of the hunting. That would explain why it was still here. The only way it would attack directly was if some idiot deliberately wondered into the cave.

The massive Grimm clicked its claws together and glared at Ichigo with something akin to rage, or at least as close as a giant insect can get. Out here in the open, it was easy to see just how large the Deathstalker was. The Queens were generally double the size of their male counterparts, and they were as big as a truck. He found himself surprised that something that big could fit down in the cave he had just exited.

It began to click its challenge to the young vizard; raising the remains of its ruined tail.

"Sorry your majesty." Ichigo reached over his shoulder and grabbed his sword. "But your reign is about to come to an end."

It was beginning to feel hopeless.

The team had split up into two pairs in an attempt to cover more ground on their search. Ruby and Weiss were now wondering around the campus, trying to talk to anyone who would listen. Everyone Ruby tried to ask about Ichigo Kurosaki either looked at her like she was crazy or blanched and walked away. It was almost impossible to get a word out of anybody, and those that would speak to her just said she was better off dropping her search completely. "Argh, why won't anyone tell us anything?"

"Well it should be obvious." Her partner scoffed. "Whoever this Kurosaki is, he isn't very well liked."

"That's not a nice thing to say."

Weiss shook her head in frustration. "Look, if people run off at the mention of someone's name, it's rarely a good thing." This was just fantastic, first she was stuck on a team with this hyperactive kid, and now they've been assigned to some kind of pariah. "Your sister said the same thing, remember? Avoid Ichigo Kurosaki."

"But why though?" Ruby flopped down onto a nearby bench. "No one will give us a straight answer."

"It doesn't matter." Weiss sat down as well, taking care not to sit too close to the other girl. "Going about it like this obviously isn't going to work."

"Do you have any ideas?"

The heiress thought hard. Just asking people wasn't producing results. The other students seemed to dislike the idea of talking about Ichigo Kurosaki. Why, she didn't know, but based on their reactions it must be pretty bad. Knowing how the others would react, there might be way to get the information they need. "Yes, actually."

"What is it?"

"Just be quiet and follow me." Weiss rose from the bench and began to walk away.

"Hey, wait up!"

Before long, they ran across an older looking glasses-wearing student crossing the grounds; likely on his way to class. "Excuse me!" Weiss called out.

"Yes?" the boy answered, watching the pair approaches him.

"We're new here, could you answer a question for us?" the heiress smiled sweetly.

"I suppose so."

"We were told about someone named Ichigo Kurosaki, do you know about him?" asked Weiss. Her strategy was simple. Asking where he was wouldn't work, so gathering rumors would be the next best bet. Regardless of their position, people always wanted to talk about a polarizing figure. By appearing neutral, people's opinions about you would remain so as well.

The older boy visibly cringed at hearing the name. "How could I not know about the great Kurosaki."

"Great Kurosaki?" She hadn't been expecting to hear that, she also couldn't help but notice he looked less than admiring when he said it.

"He's crazy strong." The boy continued. "The guy won the Vytal Festival Tournament his first year here."

"The Vytal festival?" Ruby cut in. "The one with hunters and huntresses from all over the world come to fight in?" The Vytal Fesitval was a grand celebration held once a year in one of the four kingdoms. One of the highlights of the festival was a combat tournament between students from various schools. It was where the hunters and huntresses with the brightest futures could show what they were made of in front of an international crowd. The idea that a new student could sweep the competition on his first try was just ridiculous.

"I actually remember that." Weiss could recall the tournament in question, or at least hearing about it. A freshman winning the entire tournament caused a bit of a media circus for a while. "It was also the one where the finals keep getting interrupted by false alarms from the Grimm proximity detector."

"Yeah, the same one." The male student continued. "They never could figure out what was wrong with the system, they all ended up being replaced." He was quite for a moment before continuing. "You know, he could really be something special if he stopped getting into trouble."

"Trouble, what kind of trouble?" Now they were getting somewhere.

"Kurosaki has a very short temper." The glasses-wearing boy explained. "For a while, it was a common sight to see him break out into a fight at the drop of a hat. Professor Goodwitch seems to think he's nothing but trouble."

This is just what she needed, first some irritating kid is made her partner, and now she has to deal with a violent thug. "Is there anything else you can…"

"What do you think?" Ruby interrupted.

"Pardon?" the boy replied.

"You said what Ms. Goodwitch thought, but what do you think?"

"What do I think?" The boy almost seemed to chuckle. "He's very powerful, but also stubborn and hot headed." He raised an eyebrow, seeming amused. "You were assigned to him weren't you?"

Weiss stepped back in surprise. "N-No of course not! What gave you the idea?" She nervously attempted to laugh off in question.

The boy smirked. "You can probably find him at the top of Beacon Tower. He spends a lot of time up there." He turned and began to walk away from the two girls.

"Hold on!" the boy turned back and saw Ruby calling back to him. "You seem to know a lot about him, are you his friend or something?"

"Friend? No." he answered, pushing up his glasses. "I simply worked with him awhile back, nothing more."

"What's your name?"

"My name is Uryu Ishida." The now boy replied. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have my own team to look for."

Ruby didn't know what to think about what she had heard. When she first heard they would be having a senior mentor, she had been excited. It was a chance to work with an experienced soon-to-be huntsman or huntress, but that excitement had waned somewhat. The other students seemed to dislike him, and while Uryu didn't seem to hate him, anyone could sense the disapproval in his voice. She turned to her partner. "Well, what do we do now?"

"Well obviously we go to Beacon Tower and try to find this guy." The heiress answered quickly. "Attitude problem or no, this is our first assignment and I plan on seeing it through."

What should she do now? Her friends had been sure to fill her in on Beacon before she came, and one Ichigo Kurosaki had been a quite frequent topic. According to them, their assigned mentor had become some kind of legend on campus; but not in a positive way. His fame was a kind of infamy not seen outside of comic book villains. Many of the stories she had heard were troubling. Normally this wouldn't bother her as much as it did. Yang prided herself on being able to take care of her herself. It was her sister she was worried about.

"So what was that about?" Blake asked after they were out of earshot of the others. Her partner had been awfully quiet since that name came up. "Why did they say to avoid him?" Yang bit her lip, catching the eye of her partner. "Something wrong?"

"Well..." The blonde admitted with a sigh. "Kurosaki has a bit of a bad reputation." That was a bit of an understatement, but would have to do for now.

"How bad?"

"Throwing a car at someone bad."

Blake's eyes widened slightly. "A car…"

"My friends aren't in the same year as him, but they know people who are." Yang explained. "They say he gets into a lot of fights with the other students, and has a really bad temper. The incident with the car apparently happened a couple of years ago. Someone pissed him off and he grabbed a parked car and chucked it at them. Not only that, but apparently he's been banned from spars with others during classes, and barely bothers to show up half the time." On its own, this wouldn't be enough to upset her as much as it did. Anger wasn't a terrible thing; she had been known to…lose herself from time to time, especially when someone messed with her hair.

"It's your sister." Her partner interrupted, shaking the girl from her thoughts. "You're worried about her."

"Yeah...I guess so." Ruby was still just a kid in so many ways. If they were stuck with someone with a reputation like Ichigo's, she wasn't sure if the girl could handle it. She was already carrying the responsibility of team captain. If their new mentor was anything like her friends had described, then... The blonde slammed her right fist into her left hand. …then she might have to straighten him out. She'd be damned before someone hurt her little sister.

Blake let out a small grin as she watched her partner grind her fist against the palm of her hand. Yang really seemed to care for her little sister. "I'm not sure you have much to be worried about." She wasn't sure if what her partner said about their assigned mentor was true or not, it would be difficult to tell without meeting the person herself. After all, stories tended to become more fantastic over time.

"Why do you say that?" answered Yang. "I like to think my sources are pretty reliable."

"Why would they assign someone like that as a mentor?" It was simple really. "The headmaster wouldn't choose someone with a record like that."

"Uh…" After she put it that way, it really didn't make sense. Yang wasn't sure what to think. Her friends wouldn't just make up something like that to mess with her, and it wasn't like they knew about the new program in the first place. Hell, she didn't even know until a few minutes ago.

Just then, a loud buzzing sounded out in the distance.

"What the…" the two girls turned to look in the direction of the noise. They hadn't been paying attention to where they were going, and during their conversation wondered back towards the starting point of the initiation test. The pair was standing at the top of a cliff, high above the emerald forest.

"Grimm." Said Blake as her golden eyes scanned the trees below. If someone looked closely, they would notice her bow twitching slightly. "And a big one by the sound of it."

"I thought they would have gotten rid of them by now." It would be dangerous to leave large Grimm in near the school. Normally, they were brought in or lured closer when it came time for tests. It didn't really matter though, someone would take of it soon… Suddenly, Yang got an idea. A grin crossed her features as she turned to her partner.

Blake raised an eyebrow. "You want to go after it."

"Well someone has too." The blonde whipped out her aviators and put them on. "Besides, a good fight will clear my head." With a mechanical click, Ember Celica activated, and Yang leapt from the cliff.

Blake sighed. Her new partner was proving to be a bit impulsive. She leapt after her teammate and readied Gambol Shroud. Without the launching platforms, the drop was going to be almost entirely vertical. Luckily their weapons and the trees would do wonders to break their fall.

Ichigo returned Zangetsu to his back and admired his handiwork. The Queen had been the strongest Grimm he had fought in a while, but even so it wasn't much to brag about. Unfortunately, Ozpin never brought anything too much fun to the academy. The fight hadn't lasted too long, but even so the forest floor had been torn to shreds. The Deathstalkers great claws had carved out great gashes in the ground, and many nearby trees had been leveled.

He felt something warm slide running down the side of his face. He placed a hand to his cheek and glanced at it, seeing the familiar red fluid. One of the claws must have nicked him during the battle. It wasn't deep, nothing a quick application of aura couldn't fix. Black and red energy began to radiate from the slight gash, and in a matter of seconds, the wound was sealed.

With the Deathstalker taken care of, there was only one other Grimm to take deal with, the one with the unknown scent. After that, he'd have to begin Ozpin's damn program. His face soured as he reminded himself of the agreement he had made earlier that day. The young vizard still wasn't sure what to think about the whole situation. The old man was right, he couldn't doubt that. Ichigo might be stubborn, but he wasn't an idiot. Working with others was something he had to improve on; and at least they weren't trying to put him on a team again. But, babysitting a bunch of kids really wasn't the way he wanted to spend the year.

The sound of gunfire drew him from his thoughts. The bangs were becoming louder by the second; whoever was causing it was coming his way. Damn, he must have made too much of a scene. One of the Professor's was probably coming to investigate. Regardless of who it was, he'd rather not have to explain why he was running around in the forest during the school day. The last thing he needed was another reason for Goodwitch to ride his ass. To his surprise however, it wasn't one of the professors, but two girls.

"Ah damn it, someone beat us to it." The first one to enter the clearing was a rather disappointed looking blonde. The second girl entered without a sound. She had raven-black hair and seemed confused.

The blondes eyes locked on him. "Well, hello there." The Grimm might have been taken care of, but maybe the trek down here wasn't for nothing after all. "I suppose you took that big guy out by yourself?

"Girl." Ichigo corrected, turning to face the two fully. "It was a Queen Deathstalker."

"A Queen, those are pretty dangerous." Blake spoke up, moving her gaze between the dead Grimm and its killer. Ichigo thought there was something odd about her gaze, like she was trying to read something from him. "What happened to the other one?"

"What other one?"

"I sensed two strong Grimm in this direction, where did the other one go?"

"There was no other one."

Blake eyes went back to Deathstalker's evaporating remains. "I see."

Had she sensed when he healed himself? There was no real way to know, better to just change the subject. "As for the Queen, they can be dangerous if you don't know how to deal with them."

"Is ripping them into little pieces how you deal with them." Said Yang, pointing to the remains of the Scorpion-like Grimm which were even now beginning to evaporate.

"Well that is one way to do it." Ichigo replied with a smirk. The two girls had to be students, probably new ones at that. "Why are you two down here anyway?"

"We could say the same to you." Yang answered back, crossing her arms.

"I'm what you would call…an exterminator." The vizard replied. "I'm here to get rid of the Grimm left over after the initiation test." Blakes eyes narrowed at this, but she remained quiet. "Now, I've still got work to do, so you two should get out of here."

"So there's still Grimm in the forest?"

"Yeah, didn't I just say that?"

"Mind if we come with?"

Did she just wink at him? "No, look you two need to go, it's dangerous out here right now."

"All the more reason to go in a group!"

Ichigo's teeth clenched. So the blonde was going to be difficult. "I can handle it myself, just get going."

"Awwh, come on."

"NO!" he shouted back. The blonde took a step back in surprise. The other girl did as well, but he also noticed her hand twitch in the direction of her weapon. Shit, he probably shouldn't have done that. He exhaled slowly in an attempt to calm himself down. "Look, don't you have anything better to do right now?"

"Well, uh actually…" Yang spoke slowly, still recovering from the unexpected outburst. Her teasing didn't generally invoke anger. A joyful jingle broke the otherwise awkwardly quiet scene. Someone was messaging her. Scrambling to open her scroll, she saw she had received a message from her sister.

Yang, we think we know where to find Ichigo Kurosaki. Meet us at the top of Beacon Tower. –Ruby

She looked towards her partner. "Blake we should get going, Ruby says they have a lead." The other girl nodded, never taking her eyes off of Ichigo. Yang turned back to see him beginning to walk off towards the forest. "Hey." The vizard looked back. "Sorry about bothering you, I guess."

Ichigo sighed. "It's fine." He walked forward another step then stopped. "Hold on a sec." It was Yang's turn to stop on her tracks. "This lead you were talking about, does it have anything to do with the mentorship program?"

"Well yeah." The blonde replied. "How did you know?"

"Ozpin told me about it." Ichigo answered. "The first goal is to find your assigned senior right?"

"Yep."

"Tell me who it is, maybe I can help you find them." He felt guilty for making the two girls flinch like that. Helping them was the least he can do to ease his conscience.

Yang's face brightened instantly. "Awesome, thanks!" Once again she was a great judge of character; someone so hot couldn't be all that bad. "We're looking for someone named Ichigo Kurosaki, you know him?"

Ichigo froze in place. Great, what a first impression. "Yeah…yeah I know him." He muttered out, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Any ideas where we can find him?"

The vizard turned completely around to look back at the pair. "You're looking at him."

After having met Yang and Blake in the forest, they had travelled together to Beacon Tower. Even though they were in a group of three, very little was said between them. Blake hadn't said a word, but neither had Yang. Once he told them he was the one they were looking for, the once perky blonde had gone strangely silent.

"Hey it's you!" Ruby bounced excitedly, pointing at him when they finally arrived at the top. "You're that guy I ran into earlier."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. It was the lost freshman from before. It seems she was under his charge as well. The last girl with her was new, but for some reason she seemed less than pleased to see him. It was then he noticed they were all women. Ozpin had assigned him a team of nothing but women. The old man would lose it. "So you two must be the other half of team RWBY."

"Yep, and I'm Ruby, the leader." Ichigo noticed the girl with white hair roll her eyes at this. She didn't seem too happy about that. "The one behind me is Weiss." The newly named girl just looked at him with obvious displeasure. He couldn't help but think she was going to be a bit a pain to deal with.

"So, how does this work exactly?" Yang piped in.

"Right." Ichigo had almost forgotten. He unslung his sword and leaned it against the low roof wall and took a seat beside it. "Basically, I'm the guy in charge of making sure you four succeed. If you ever need help with anything just try contact me and I'll help if I can. There's probably more to it than that, but that's the basic gist of it I guess; any questions?" Ruby nodded vigorously. "Fire away."

"Does your sword have a name?!" Ruby half shouted at the first opportunity.

"Yes." He replied. It was the same as before, the girl couldn't seem to pull her gaze away from his weapon. Ever since he had arrived her eyes had practically been glued to it. "Its name is Zangetsu."

"Cutting Moon."

Ichigo turned his gaze towards Blake. "Actually…yes."

"What does it transform into?"

He turned his attention back to Ruby. "It doesn't"

"So it's just a really big sword?" She sounded disappointed.

"I guess."

"You must be quite strong to wield something like that." Blake cut in; easily the most she had said since meeting him.

"Well it certainly isn't light." That girl had been staring at him whenever she thought he wasn't looking. Now he was positive the girl was able to tell something was off about him; she was almost certainly a Faunus. During his time at Beacon, the Faunus students had occasionally spooked whenever he was around. It was the only way to explain her odd behavior; well that or she was just inherently weird.

"I have a question." It was Yang's turn now. "Is it true you threw a car at somebody?"

"Ugh." Of course they had heard about that. That had happened years ago, when will people let it go. "Yeah, I did."

"WHAT?!" Ruby had lost it. "A CAR, YOU THREW A CAR AT SOMEBODY?!"

"A couple of guys were trying to rob a bank while I was nearby." Ichigo explained. "They were waving their guns around and made a break for their getaway van; I shortened their trip."

"Shortened their trip?" Ruby questioned.

"He means he threw their getaway car." Weiss said, rubbing her temples in exasperation. Vigilantism, great.

"But if it was the getaway car, wouldn't that mean somebody was driving it?"

"Yep, and he went with it." Ichigo visibly smirked. The man had screamed like a bitch as he soared through the air. He noticed they were staring at him. "What? I didn't hit anybody."

It was quiet for moment before Yang startled to chuckle, soon turning into full on laughter; Ruby joined her shortly after. So that was where that story had come from. She could just picture a van flying through the air. Ichigo didn't seem like such a bad guy after all, maybe her friends were exaggerating just a bit.

"So Ichigo, is there anything you wanna ask us?" asked Ruby, still giggling slightly from the story.

"Don't need to." Ichigo stood and pointed out towards an open field just south of the Academy. "I want all four of you to meet me out there in an hour, bring your weapons and as much dust as you'll need."

"Why?"

"Because, a good spar will tell me everything I need to know."

So there you have it.

Couldn't help but feel something was wrong as I was putting this one together. Just feels kinda empty somehow. Might have to come back and flesh this one out somewhat.

I tried to get this one out before I started a week of exams. Time to work on this will probably get scarce over the next week.

As always, feel free to ask me a question if you have any. I will try to get back to you when I can.