Ichigo's POV

The Vytal Festival Tournament is the ultimate battle of skill, pitting Remnant's most powerful Huntsmen and Huntresses in training against one another. The way the tournament works is that there are three rounds. First, there's the four-on-four team battles. The winners of those elect two members to participate in the doubles round. The third round is one-on-one combat, composing on the chosen member of each team that makes it that far. Any team that wants to can participate provided they pass the preliminary rounds.

Making it into the tournament is as much motivation to get stronger as being in the tournament is, if not more. If a person or team stands out, they could potentially become celebrities, sponsoring brands, using company equipment, and so on. Pyrrha Nikos is such an example, though her fame came before she even entered Beacon through winning the Mistral tournament. On the surface, it's a great deal for those involved. They get to show off their skills and hard work, potentially score a side-gig, and also get more experience fighting people they aren't used to.

Team RWBY's currently in a match against Team ABRN of Haven. The randomly generated terrain is half volcano, half ice. Professor Port and Dr. Oobleck are doing commentary, which is rather fitting for them. Between Port's penchant for telling stories and Oobleck's fast talking and explanatory nature, the two teachers make excellent match reporters.

Blake's fighting a green haired girl named Reese wielding some type of hoverboard. Reese launches the board at Blake, who knock it back. Reese punches it towards her, but Blake once again pushes it back, this time charging. The girl grabs the board the starts using it as a shield while Blake uses her Semblance to make cones to give her momentum. After a few exchanges of blows, Reese backs up and starts riding the board towards Blake and jumping. Blake counters by creating an ice clone that knocks the hooded girl slightly off balance, putting Blake into a position to slice the board in half. Reese takes this opportunity to make the board into a pair of pistols and shoots at Blake. However, it seems that she isn't very aware of her surroundings, considering she lands square on her butt onto the hard, icy ground.

Mila: "Yeowch. That's gotta hurt."

Nemu: "According to the board, that girl took 2.32% of Aura damage from that."

The Aura Display that gives information on all the fighters doesn't give that precise of information. Nemu just calculated it based on how much the bar itself went down.

Meanwhile, Yang's fighting the leader of Team ABRN, Arslan Altan. After a few blows, a punch from each of them connects with the other and causes an explosion. They get into close quarters combat again and Arslan grabs Yang's leg with her weapon, which looks like a knife on a string, and flings her towards her teammate, Nadir.

Sui-Feng: "The people of this world can be skilled in the basics of Hakuda, even if they don't really have the strength to back it up. Even though both of their strikes are slow, the techniques themselves are solid. There's some wasted movement, but that's to be expected."

Kukaku: "Wow Sui-Feng!" she pats the Stealth Force Commander on her back, hard. "I didn't expect you to compliment them so much!"

Sui-Feng: "I'm just analyzing their skill in hand-to-hand combat. Ichigo was right in that the people of this world make up for their lack of strength with proficiency. The matches today have proved that, even if these people's speed and power are almost negligible."

Kukaku's grin only increases as she realizes something about what Sui-Feng just said.

Kukaku: "You're calling him by only his first name instead of saying his full name? What's gotten into you?"

Sui-Feng doesn't say another word, though her body tenses up at Kukaku's insinuation. Nadir takes note of Yang and is about to shoot her, but he's taken by surprise when his legs are frozen. Ruby had shot an Ice Dust round at him, saving Yang from being shot.

Ruby: "Got your back, sis!"

Bolin: "Who's got yours?"

The fourth member of Team ABRN snuck up behind Ruby! He spins his staff before starting to attack. A Glyph appears and Weiss kicks him through it, saving Ruby's butt.

Ruby: "My BFF!"

Weiss: "No." she denies Ruby's optimism.

Weiss and Ruby run towards Bolin, who is still recovering. Weiss unleashes a flurry of graceful strikes, using her Semblance to quickly get around. Ruby then comes up from behind Weiss to deliver a blow, propelled into the air by Weiss's Glyph. Bolin blocks it with his staff, but Ruby fires her scythe's rifle, flinging them in opposite directions. He rushes past both Weiss and Ruby to break off a crystal in the volcano terrain.

Bolin takes the piece and throws it to Reese. She puts it into her board and flies by Nadir, melting the ice Ruby trapped him in. She goes back to attacking Blake, who blocks her strikes and uses her clone to get out of the way. She throws her weapon towards an ice block and pulls herself with the ribbon, getting out of sight. Reese goes around the corner and sees Blake just standing there with her back to her. Reese smiles and goes to finish her off, only to realize too late that this was a trap, the Blake standing there only being a clone. As soon as Reese strikes, Blake throws her weapon and catches Reese in the ribbon. She then kicks her in the stomach, knocking her out of the arena.

Professor Port: "Ooh! Looks like a double whammy!"

Dr. Oobleck: "Reese Chloris's Aura level has dropped into the red and she's been knocked out of the arena!"

Yang is chasing Arslan throughout the ice terrain while using the shots from her gauntlets to propel herself forward while ice skating.

Weiss is facing against Nadir, but uses a Glyph to drop Bolin onto him. She then uses more Glyphs to gather up the area's ice, forming a fist out of it and engulfing both opponents. The first curls into a ball and starts rolling around. Arslan sees this while running from Yang, rolls her eyes at her teammates' incompetence, and puts herself into the ball's path. She plants her feet and strikes the ball, breaking it apart while her two remaining teammates fall behind her.

Weiss: "Yang!"

She creates a large curved wall of ice for Yang to ride on, which she does with glee. As Yang's sliding, Blake throws Yang her weapon with the ribbon and Yang pushes off. Ruby launches Blake forward with her scythe. Blake pushes off and pulls Yang, transferring all of her momentum to her. Yang punches all three opponents at once, knocking them out of the arena.

Professor Port: "And that's the match! Team RWBY is victorious!"

As Team RWBY is celebrating each other, Ichigo looks down at the arena, still thinking about the tournament as a whole. All that about the benefits of the tournament still hold true. However...

Ichigo: "It's a double-edged sword."

The biggest problem with this tournament is how it's spread everywhere. Citizens of any Kingdom marvel at how skilled their future protectors currently are and know that they're only going to become more skilled. The reverse is also true, however. If a team from a Kingdom puts on a poor performance, the citizens could think something along the lines of "This is who's going to be defending us?" This is especially true if they lose against a team from another Kingdom. Innocent civilians aren't the only people this applies to, either. This ease of access meant that nefarious villains or criminal organizations would be able to see what potential warriors could do and how to prepare against them. Even Ichigo could figure that out, and if Ichigo knows, then sure as hell Ozpin and the other Headmasters do too.

Ichigo: "...whatever. It's all worked out so far."

Ichigo's hungry. The fairgrounds should have plenty of food. Most of the vendors are from Vale, but there are a few from the other kingdoms as well. Either way, food is food.

Fairgrounds

As Ichigo's eating a strangely Japanese-like meal, he hears his name being called from behind him.

Weiss: "Ichigo!"

Ichigo: "Huh?"

He turns around and Weiss is in front of the rest of her team. She looks proud of herself, having just won her match. Blake glances at him a couple times, but she's mostly staring at his food. Ruby and Yang, however, are keeping their distance. Ichigo can understand that. He's still feeling a little bit awkward himself given the bombs that were dropped on him by both Ruby and Qrow.

Ichigo: "Good job in your match." Weiss looks very pleased. "Why don't you sit down, have some food. My treat."

He wants to alleviate some of the tension between himself and the sisters. What better way than to offer them a free meal?

Weiss: "Well... Since you're offering, I don't see why-"

She's stunned silent as her teammates have already sat down. Blake's sitting next to Ichigo while Yang's next to her. Ruby's sitting even further away, being on the other side of Yang. Weiss just sighs and sits on Ichigo's open side, something she's more than happy about.

Ichigo: "Hey, Master." He says to the vendor/chef. "Their food's on me. Ruby, why don't you start?"

She hesitantly looks at Ichigo, nodding her head.

Ruby: "I'll have a bowl of the regular, please."

The chef slides her a giant bowl of noodles.

Yang: "I'll have the same."

Like Ruby, she also receives a giant bowl of noodles. The chef looks at Weiss next.

Weiss: "Do you have anything with a low salt cont-"

She's interrupted when he slides a very similar bowl of noodles to her. He looks at Blake, who simply nods. The chef goes into the back, whipping up a meal fit for... well, Blake. He comes back with a bowl of noodles, but this one has fish on top. Lots and lots of fish. Mostly tuna from what Ichigo can tell. Either way, Blake's drooling at the bowl.

Ichigo: "Go on. Dig in." he tells the four of them.

They start eating while Ichigo pays for the food.

Weiss: "So Ichigo, did you watch our match?"

Ichigo: "I did, yeah. All of you did well. I thought that move with your Semblance was clever, Blake." he smiles at her.

Blake: "T-Thanks..." she's unexpectedly startled.

Weiss grips her chopsticks harder, causing one to crack.

Weiss: "What about-"

Ichigo: "You were impressive too. Trapping two of them and using them as a weapon seems like your style. Something I wouldn't have thought of in that situation."

The heiress looks away, a clear blush forming on her pale face as she tries to distract herself by eating.

Ichigo: "Ruby, Yang, you two were-"

They're too busy eating to pay attention to him. Well, sisters are usually alike in at least a few ways.

Weiss pauses from the meal and asks for some drinks for them, ordering for the group.

Weiss: "Allow me to pay for the drinks since you paid for the food."

She hands her card to the food vendor, but she hears a loud, angry buzzing sound from his cash register, which says "DECLINED".

Weiss: "What!? But I've barely gotten into my allowance this month!"

Ruby: "I'll pay for it, Weiss!" she eagerly volunteers when she sees her partner brooding.

The red-hooded girl pulls out her wallet and pays for the drinks in her partner's stead.

Rukia: "You buying everyone drinks, Ruby?"

Out of almost nowhere, Rukia, Orihime, and Nemu walk up, taking their seats on the side Ruby's closest to.

Ruby: "Yu-huh! You guys want something too? Ichigo bought our food, but I've got drinks!"

Yang: "Wait, wasn't your guys' match right after ours?"

Ichigo (thoughts): 'Was it?'

Nemu: "It was no trouble for us. We finished in only a few minutes. Lady Yoruichi told us to 'drag it out a bit' to make it more entertaining."

Weiss: "A few minutes is you dragging it out!? Oh... Our match took way longer than that!"

She broods even harder since compared to them, her team must look weak!

Emerald's POV

Ruby: "I'll pay for it, Weiss!"

Emerald (thoughts): 'Heh, good luck paying without this.'

She reaches into her pocket and feels around for the wallet she stole from Ruby. However, it's not there.

Emerald: "Huh?"

She reaches deeper into her pockets and finds her own wallet missing.

Emerald: "WHAT!?"

She doesn't notice, but there's a black cat behind her with her wallet in its mouth.

Ichigo's POV

Ichigo: "Good on you for making it to the next round, not that I had my doubts." He realizes something. "Wait, you just came from the match, right?"

Orihime: "Yes? Is something wrong, Ichigo?"

Ichigo: "...where's Yoruichi?"

The members of Team SRIN (Sterling) look at each other, not seeing their leader anywhere.

Rukia: "Wasn't she just here?" she asks Nemu.

Nemu: "I believe so. Orihime?"

Orihime: "I didn't see where she went. I thought she came with us to the Fairgrounds, didn't she?"

As their eyes are searching for Yoruichi, the food vendor delivers everyone's drinks, which Ruby pays for. However, a certain black cat quickly jumps onto the counter and spills Ruby and Yang's drinks all over them, making their clothes very wet. Ichigo can't help but stare as they're soaked through to their underwear and the cat disappears.

Weiss: "Where did that cat just come from!?"

Ichigo: "A-Are you two-"

Both Ruby and Yang cover themselves up while blushing extremely hard.

Blake: "I can understand Ruby, but why are you so embarrassed, Yang? Before, you would have been happy to tease Ichigo with this."

She's completely right, though it seems Ruby and Yang haven't told their teammates about their... discovery.

Yang: "S-Shut up..." she barely squeaks out.

The sisters run off to go change. Just as they leave, Team JNPR comes up and sits on the side of the booth opposite where Team SRIN is, on Weiss's side.

Nora: "What was THAT about? It's like they ran off at the sight of us!"

Rukia: "Don't worry about it. Just a little spill."

Jaune: "Speaking of spill, you guys totally knocked out your opponents! Orihime, whatever you did caused that one guy to jump back! And Nemu, you took that staff hit like it was nothing! Ooh! And Rukia-"

Pyrrha: "You did amazing, even better than what I noticed during Initiation." she interrupts her overzealous team leader.

Ichigo: "What about your match?"

Ren: "Ours isn't until later. It got moved up a little due to how short theirs was, but we still have time to eat."

Nora: "We're gonna eat until we can't eat anymore! Ichigo! Wanna pay for us like you did RWBY?"

Rukia: "You paid for their food, Ichigo. Come on, buy us some too."

Knowing he really doesn't have a choice, Ichigo reluctantly buys lunch for the seven others at the stand after buying the five for RWBY and himself. It's a good thing he got that money from Ironwood for his match against Winter on top of his teacher salary. Still, that black cat wasn't Yoruichi, was it?

Ichigo: "...just why?" he asks himself. "What's the point?"

Yoruichi's POV

Yoruichi changes back into her human form after messing with Ichigo a little bit, as well as Ruby and Yang.

Yoruichi: "Hopefully that will help all of them loosen up a bit. Seriously, it was painful watching them interact with him." she says to herself.

Yoruichi puts some of her clothes back on. She normally wouldn't care, but even she doesn't want the horny teenage boys here to drool all over her. Well, most teenage boys.

Yoruichi: "I doubt Ichigo would want anyone else to see me like this." she muses to herself.

Ichigo's POV

With everyone having eaten and Jaune looking like he's about to be sick, even Ichigo's satisfied.

Ren: "Are you sure it's wise to have eaten before a fight?"

Pyrrha: "Of course! It will give us energy!"

The stall vendor cleans up their dirty dishes, smiling as all his customers enjoyed his food, chuckling a little as Nora burps loud.

Jaune: "Ugh..." He lays his head down on the counter. "If I barf, I'm blaming you."

Nora: "Ooh! Aim it at the enemy!" she instructs mischievously.

Ren: "Nora, that's disgusting." he scolds. "But if you do feel the urge..."

Jaune: "Got it..."

Pyrrha: "Well, we should be off!" She gets up.

Orihime: "Do you think you're ready?"

Nora: "Of course! We've got a world renowned fighter on her team," she gestures to Pyrrha, "what's basically a ninja," she gestures to Ren, "I can bench five of me, Jaune... We trained all year, our weapons are awesome, Glynda barely yells at us anymore, Ichigo's been training us, and uhh... Jaune!"

Ren: "Are you gonna take that?" he asks Jaune.

Jaune: "You know..." He's still hunched over. "She's not wrong..."

Ichigo: "Don't worry, Jaune." He reaches past Weiss to pat him on the back, making Weiss freeze up. "You'll do fine. You've been training hard. You've got this."

Nora: "And right you are, Professor Ichigo! Don't be so nervous! The worst that could happen is we lose! Then it's just a few more years of walking around school with everyone knowing we're failures," her speech is only getting faster, "our friends will slowly abandon us to preserve their social status, we won't be able to show our faces in class, no one will sit with us in the cafeteria, Ren and I have no parents, we have no home left to go to, we'll be officially renamed Team LOSE-iper!"

And she starts blubbering at the prospect of losing, her overactive imagination getting the better of her as she slams her head on the counter.

Ren: "So yeah. Feeling pretty good."

Ichigo: "You're going to do fine, Nora. And even if you lose, I won't you skip my class. So cheer up. If you lose, that just means I haven't trained you hard enough. You got that?"

The color returns to her face, along with her beautiful smile.

Ichigo (thoughts): 'Wait, "beautiful smile"? Why did I think of that?'

Nora: "YOU'RE RIGHT! If we lose, it'll be all YOUR fault!"

Not exactly the message he wanted them to take from this, but if it cheers her up, then so be it.

Professor Port (intercom): "Would Team JNPR report to the arena to check in for their match?"

Dr. Oobleck (intercom): "Like they were supposed to three minutes ago?" the female teacher says over the intercom, very annoyed.

Pyrrha: "Sounds like we're expected! Thank you for the lunch, Ichigo!"

Nora: "YEAH! Thanks for the wonderfully awesome FOOD! I'm definitely coming to YOU if I need food!"

And just like that, with Ren helping the sick, yet recovering, Jaune, Team JNPR leaves the food stall to check in for their match. Ichigo shudders at the thought of feeding Nora every day. He only has so much money.

???: "Excuse me!"

Ichigo turns around and sees that strange, black-haired girl from Haven directly behind him. What was her name again?

Ichigo: "Yeah? You were... Your name's Cinder, right? I think I remember you from the dance. Haven't really seen you in class, though."

She gasps in surprise.