Ozpin's POV

Ironwood: "You're putting them through your Initiation today, aren't you?"

The now rested Headmaster of Beacon puts his hot chocolate down on his desk, turning away from his colleague.

Ozpin: "Why yes, I am. I must admit, I may not have been completely aware when listening to them yesterday. I was quite tired due offering a teaching position to Ichigo Kurosaki late the night before and then there was the Breach in the morning and... Well, you know the rest."

Ironwood sits down on the desk, crossing his arms as he does so. He looks away from Ozpin and out into the room, still wondering.

Ironwood: "Still... I don't know. I admit that I have my fair share that I keep from the public, but for General Cross to have had a secret human testing facility... I have my doubts."

Ozpin: "As do I. However, we shall see the veracity of their claims today. If their skills are much higher than the average students', then that adds credit to them. The teams I've prepared are not average students, so even if they lose, if they put up a good fight, it helps them. I don't believe I need to tell you this, James, but-"

Ironwood: "Look for subtle hints during, I know. If they're agents of Salem, we should know based on how they fight. Even if they're acting, we should be able to determine a likelihood if they are."

Ozpin sips his hot chocolate, burning his tongue slightly. Today will determine not only the fates of Ichigo's friends, but of Ichigo himself. If Ichigo is an agent of Salem, somehow amplified by her, then his allies shall be his tell.

Ichigo's POV

A night of sleeping on the hard floor of a dorm room can hurt one's back. Ichigo's learned that lesson the hard way, as he's having a difficult time getting up. His upper back is really the problem, the pain shooting into his neck.

Ichigo: "Ouch... Agony..."

Ichigo's eyes shoot open when he doesn't hear the rustling of people in his room. Either everyone's still asleep, or...

Ichigo: "What. The. Hell." he deadpans.

He's all alone in his dorm room. There's pillows, blankets, and sheet strewn all over the place, indicating people were there, but the fact of the matter is that they're there no longer. This wouldn't be an extraordinary event in itself. Eleven people slept here last night. However, if the fact that all of them left without waking him wasn't strange enough, the more disturbing question is how they were all quiet enough without doing so. Among them, the loudmouths are Tier's Fraccion and their arguing, Nel and her excitable nature, and Rukia with her playful snark. Being stealthy people, Sui-Feng and Yoruichi can be quiet when they need to, although Yoruichi would more than likely wake him up for her own personal enjoyment rather than it being an accident. Still, none of these matter at this point. Everyone's gone and there's no trace-

Ichigo: "Wait."

He reads a note left on his chest.

Ichigo,

We decided to leave you to sleep a little longer. We know you didn't get much sleep because of us coming here, so enjoy. We're going to scout out the campus a bit more, cover what we didn't yesterday, and then head to breakfast.

Yoruichi

Ichigo: "Huh. That was uncharacteristically nice of-

P.S.

I took your phone that's not called a phone and took a picture of you sleeping. I sent it to every girl in your scroll, including last night's date. Your sleeping face is just so cute, I couldn't resist! You're welcome.

Ichigo: "I WILL MOUNT HER HEAD ON MY WALL!" he screams with a flushed face.

As if spying on him last night wasn't enough for her, she goes and does that!? Yoruichi's antics are nothing new to him. It'd be one thing if she simply drew on his face or something, but to take a picture of him while he's sleeping and send it to everyone he knows is another! Wait, a thought occurs... Ichigo goes to his mirror and sees a little cat with a heart next to it drawn on his face. He finds his scroll on the edge of the dresser and sees the picture taken, one of him sleeping with his shirt off.

Ichigo: "...whatever."

He just woke up and he's already tired. Can you blame the guy?

Ichigo takes a shower and washes the marker off his face. Unfortunately, it took quite a bit of work as it seemed like it was done with a permanent marker, something else to increase her punishment. He gets dressed and exits his room, his stomach growling from hunger. He's a growing boy; he needs his food... even though he's been in Soul Form the entire time and not his human body. Huh. Wonder how Kon's doing in his body.

Ichigo: "Probably acting like an idiot." he says to himself with a slight smile.

As he's about to exit his dorm, Ichigo's scroll rings, with Professor Goodwitch on the other end.

Ichigo: "Hey Glynda, what's up?"

Glynda (phone): "I really wish you'd... Never mind. I called you to inform you of where your guests' Initiation will be. At nine, bring them to the Emerald Forest. The test shall be conducted there."

Ichigo: "In the forest? Guess your arena wouldn't be large enough for them... I'll bring them on time, then."

Glynda (phone): "Good. I shall see you there."

Following her hanging up, Ichigo walks to the cafeteria and gets some breakfast food. Bacon, pancakes, some more bacon, eggs, and hash browns. He finds his classmates, Teams RWBY and JNPR, sitting with his new... What are they to him? His charges? His group? Associates? Well...

Ichigo: "Sup guys."

He glares at Yoruichi, who innocently smiles. Among the rest of them, Weiss, Orihime, and Pyrrha look nervous while Blake, Kukaku, and Yang are... To put it simply, they're staring at him as if he was a piece of meat, or in Blake's case, specifically tuna.

Jaune: "Hey Ichigo. We were just talking about you."

Ichigo: "Oh, were you now?" he asks Jaune while continuing his stare at Yoruichi and sitting down at the table. "What were you talking about?"

Yoruichi: "Oh, nothing much. Just your heroic actions at saving Rukia from being executed when the village she was in at the time when she was framed for an executable crime."

She's referring to the first time he went to the Soul Society, when Aizen had killed all of Central 46 and impersonated them, giving the command to execute her so he could get the Hogyoku. Hopefully, she wasn't telling them too much about it.

Jaune: "Yeah! They're saying you stopped a guillotine with your sword as it was coming down on her! So cool!"

Rukia: "I thought I was dead for sure, that is, until Ichigo came to save the day like he seems to have the knack for. He seems to have either excellent or horrible timing, depending how you look at it. There's really no in between."

Ichigo: "My friend was in trouble. I had to help."

He takes a bite of his breakfast while Rukia looks away from him. What's her deal? They're friends and friends help each other.

Ichigo: "Anyway, I'm glad you're here. Well, specifically..." He chops Yoruichi on the head, causing her slightly discomfort. "Last night was your idea, I take it?"

Knowing what he's talking about, Weiss understandably blushes. There were seven people spying on them, what's not to get upset about?

Yoruichi: "Ichigo, I am wounded! I simply wanted to make sure that your outing was a success!"

Ichigo: "You mean 'I was overbearingly nosy and wanted to mess with you'." He turns to Yang and Ruby, the latter of whom yelps when she's stared at. "As for you two, you had the same idea, didn't you?"

Ruby: "I uh... I just wanted to make sure Weiss was having a good time!"

With Ruby, that's actually believable. The differences between a good girl like her and Yoruichi are vast enough to fill a river. Yang, however...

Yang: "What Ruby said. That and I wanted to see how you'd do. I gotta say, you didn't do horribly."

Weiss: "Would you both stop! I had a very nice time with Ichigo!" she shouts, embarrassed.

The table goes silent for a few seconds, until the silence is broken by Pyrrha.

Pyrrha: "What's going on? I believe I don't understand. What happened?"

Ichigo: "*sigh* Weiss and I went out together last night and Yoruichi, Ruby, Yang, and a few others spied on us."

Weiss: "However, Ichigo was a perfect gentleman and didn't tell me until the end so as not to make me worry."

Ichigo: "So you figured that part out, did you?"

Weiss: "It was obvious when I thought about it."

Pyrrha: "Oh? Since when did you two become so close?"

Both Ichigo and Weiss blush a little at her abrupt question. Weiss is a... well, she can be a difficult person to get along with. Her friends must know that, so it's no wonder such a question would be asked. However, Pyrrha asking it is a bit unorthodox.

Ichigo: "W-Well..." The other Beacon girls at the table lean in close. "I helped her out with something and she wanted to repay me. I didn't think I needed to be repaid, but she insisted."

Weiss: "T-That's- Yes, it's true." she relents.

Ichigo: "Anyway..." He decides to change the subject. "Glynda told me that we're supposed to meet in the forest for the test."

Jaune: "That's what she told us too."

Ruby: "We know you guys are strong, but we're not going to lose!"

Yoruichi: "That's a good attitude to have. Never surrender, even in the face of adversity."

For once, Yoruichi is right. Despite her perversion, she's still wise.

Ichigo (thoughts): 'Maybe really wise people are always perverted, like Master Roshi or Jiraiya... Nah, that's only in anime and manga and we're not that.'

Later

With a healthy breakfast eaten, the teams and Ichigo's group start to head out towards the Emerald Forest.

Ichigo (thoughts): 'Wonder how Ozpin's going to put on a spin on this.'

Ozpin's no fool. This is no simple test of ability. If that were the case, he'd simply have watched the videos of his allies fighting during the Breach. Being the Headmaster of Beacon and being on the Vale Council, he must have access to them. No, he's planning something.

They arrive at Beacon Cliff, which overlooks the forest, where Ozpin, Glynda, Ironwood, Winter, and that Qrow guy are waiting for them. Team CFVY is also here, talking amongst themselves.

Ozpin: "Greetings, everyone. For those of you being tested, you shall undergo Initiation into Beacon. Your objective is to fight some of Beacon's best. You need not necessarily win, but just give it your all. The rules are like that of a spar or tournament match. When your proctor declares that your Aura level is too low, you're out." He takes a sip of hot chocolate. "Ichigo, I believe Glynda told you that I would allow you to pick your own teams. Have you?"

Ichigo: "Yeah, I have. Given that there's eleven of them, I made two teams of four and one team of three, following your four-person team model as well as I could. However, that three-person team should have no problem facing whatever you have in store."

Ozpin: "Very well. Team CFVY," Coco and her team pay attention, "please go with Professor Goodwitch to the ruins on the far side of the forest."

Coco: "You got it!"

Ozpin: "Team JNPR, I'd like you to go to the west with General Ironwood and Miss Schnee. I believe Mr. Arc and Miss Nikos found a cave around there."

Jaune: "Uhh... Right!"

Ozpin: "As for Team RWBY, I'd like you to go just below us, where you fought the Nevermore during your own Initiation. Qrow, go with them."

Qrow: "Alright, sure."

Ruby: "Ooh! This is so exciting! We get to help our friends AND I get to kick butt!"

Ozpin: "Now Miss Rose, don't get too excited just yet, the battle hasn't even started. Ichigo, I'd like for you to stay up here, with me. As for your teams, you may send each team to any of the three locations."

Ichigo: "Alright." He turns to his group. "Listen up everyone. Tier. You and your Fracciones go fight Team CFVY. Tier, you're, of course, in charge of them."

Tier: "I was planning on leading them all along." she confirms. "I'll make sure they don't destroy the entire forest." she reassures him with a slight giggle.

Mila/Apacci: "HEY!"

Ichigo: "I know you will. Sui-Feng, you, Kukaku, and Nel are going to fight Team JNPR. You're leading them, Sui-Feng."

Sui-Feng: "You've got some sense after all. As a captain, I wouldn't settle for less. Well... Unless it was Lady Yoruichi..."

Right, her 'loyalty' that goes shoots far past loyalty and goes into creepy.

Ichigo: "Yoruichi, Orihime, Rukia, and Nemu. The four of you will fight Team RWBY. Yoruichi's in charge, so follow her directions."

Yoruichi: "There's a smart boy. Come on ladies, we don't want to disappoint our commander."

Orihime: "Ichigo, I'll work really hard, just you watch!"

Ichigo: "I know you will, Orihime. If there aren't any questions, you should probably head out. Everyone, remember what we talked about."

Tier/Sui-Feng/Yoruichi: "Right!"

As the teams and their judges are leaving, leaving Ichigo and Ozpin alone, Ichigo can't help but wonder what Ozpin's end goal is with this. Is he hoping they'll slip up when faced with what he thinks is a challenge?

Ozpin: "I've been wondering something, Ichigo. What are their capabilities?"

Ichigo: "You'll just have to wait and find out. Isn't that the purpose of this test?"

Ozpin: "This is to assess whether or not they're fit to attend school here. That's different than asking how strong they actually are."

Ichigo (thoughts): 'Does he suspect that they're much stronger than I've told him? Or maybe...'

Ichigo: "Like I said, wait and see."

He turns back to the forest, pulling up a few camera feeds on his tablet-sized scroll. He pushes a few buttons and Ichigo's own scroll goes off.

Ozpin: "There you are. You'll be able to observe each of the battles as well through that link."

Ichigo: "Is that so? And here I thought I'd have to look over your shoulder."

Ozpin: "That would be uncomfortable for both of us, I'm sure." His scroll goes off. "Professor Goodwitch, is something the matter?"

He puts it on speaker.

Glynda (scroll): "Yes, Headmaster. I can get a signal for Misses Inoue, Kuchiki, Apacci, Rose, Sung-Sun, and Kurotsuchi's Auras. However, my problem is with the others. I can't a read on them at all. It's like my problem with finding Ichigo's Aura during training."

Ichigo: "You probably can't find them because your machine doesn't go that high. Don't worry, they can handle it."

To be honest, they're all probably suppressing their spirit energies so that they can be read. Tier and Nel probably can't do that with their levels. Yoruichi and Sui-Feng are most likely concealing theirs entirely. Sui-Feng's the current and Yoruichi's the former leader of the Stealth Force, meaning they can both probably conceal their spirit energy to near zero. And then Kukaku... well, she probably doesn't care enough to suppress hers.

Glynda (scroll): "Mr. Kurosaki. We have the finest Aura sampling machines here at Beacon. You honestly believe that they can't measure your friends' Auras because they're outside of the range of the machine?"

Ichigo: "Have you ever found mine?"

Glynda (scroll): "W-Well, no, but-"

Ichigo: "You'd expect these kinds of readings for people who have been experimented on, right? Some took more kindly to the experiments than others and therefore have more Aura. Wouldn't you say that makes sense?"

Glynda (scroll): "...I see. However, having more Aura doesn't mean their fighting abilities will be any better. I'm sorry to have bothered you Headmaster."

She hangs up in a huff and Ozpin chuckles.

Ozpin: "You really know how to get under her skin, you know that? In all our years of working together, I've never seen her as frustrated as she is around you."

Ichigo: "I'm just being myself around her. Rank doesn't really hold much interest to me."

Ozpin: "Mr. Kurosaki, you never cease to surprise me."

They watch as the battles between the teams start.

3rd Person POV

With Glynda

CFVY vs. HRSA (Hortensia)

Glynda: "Good grief... Miss Harribel's Aura is too high?" she looks at Tier. "Maybe... She has seemed to have some type of authority over those three others since she's gotten here, so it's possible. It's hard to read theirs, but at least they are readable." She shakes her head to focus. "Are all the participants ready?"

Coco: "Hell yeah!"

Tier simply nods to Glynda.

Glynda: "Then... Begin!"

As soon as the battle starts, Tier's Fracciones literally jump into battle, each pairing with a member of Team CFVY. Sung-Sun's wielding her sai-like Zanpakuto while Mila and Apacci choose to fight barehanded. Tier considers using her own Zanpakuto, but decides not to enter the battle just yet when she sees her Fracciones battling a member each, with the bunny Faunus Velvet, watching the battle, much like Tier herself.

With Yatsuhashi and Mila

Mila, with her lioness-like strength, faces Yatsuhashi, the greatsword wielder. She easily dodges one of Yatsuhashi's swings of his sword and punches. He can barely block the strike and even more closely, keeps himself steady. Having been almost knocked flat on his back, he knows he's never faced someone with her level of raw strength.

Yatsuhashi (thoughts): 'She's even stronger than me or Coco!'

He's not sure if he can hold out against her, just from that one blow alone. However, even with those thoughts in mind, he knows that power isn't the only important thing in battle.

Mila: "So you were able to withstand that attack, eh? Looks like this'll be more fun than I thought!"

She knocks her fists together in a manner similar to Yang and starts relentlessly striking him, causing him to keep backing up to avoid her. Trying to gain some distance, he runs into the forest from the clearing, cutting a few trees down on the way.

Mila: "You think you'll get away?" she asks as she chases him.

With Coco and Sung-Sun

Coco and Sung-Sun play cat and mouse as Coco chases Sung around the ruins. The deceptively strong team leader's enjoying this lovely game, but knows that it'll end one way or another. When she gets close to her opponent, she tries to hit her over the head with her handbag. However, a hidden weapon comes from Sung's sleeve, making Coco back off as she's cut on the cheek with it. Coco feels where the weapon cut her, something that shouldn't have happened because her Aura should have protected her. It heals almost instantly, but the fact that she was cut in the first place...

Coco: "Looks like you've got some tricky moves hidden up your sleeve."

In response, Sung places her sleeved hand over her mouth.

Sung-Sun: "Oh please. That pun was nearly as tasteless as your choice in clothing."

Coco: "Oh, you did not just say that."