Ichigo had just arrived and was immediately greeted by Yang. She asks him to go hang out with Ruby and Weiss and that she would be there in a bit after she's done with greeting at the door.

Ruby: "Ichigo!" He was startled at the small girl suddenly appearing beside her, along with Weiss. "I didn't see you enter. Someone ask you?"

Ichigo: "Yang asked me to come. I wasn't sure if I was able to come, but Ozpin let me borrow a suit so I could."

Ruby: "Oh! So Yang asked... Wait. Ozpin lent you that suit!?" she asks, clearly surprised.

Ichigo guessed that Weiss was also surprised due to her awestruck expression.

Ichigo: "Yeah, he did."

Weiss: "Really?" she asked, not sure whether or not to believe him.

Ichigo: "I know, I know. It sounds like a lie, but I'm telling the truth."

Ruby was about to say something, but she noticed Yang approaching them.

Flashback

Ichigo didn't really know why they chose to befriend him. It all started after the initiation. Ichigo would sit at an empty table and hoped nobody sat with him. Those hopes were dashed. Team RWBY would ALWAYS sit with him. It confused him. "Why did they sit with me? Why not their other friends?" These questions plagued Ichigo. Blake was really the only one who questioned why they sat with him, but she just chalked it up to Ruby wanting to find a new friend, Weiss wanting to find out about his abilities, and Yang not really caring, so she just went with it. Eventually, she even warmed up to him and became a friend of his. But with Team RWBY came Team JNPR, since they always sat together. They also became quick friends. Pyrrha, finding out he didn't know her, especially took a liking to him. Ichigo was confused until Weiss elaborated about her fame of being a four-time winning champion and also being a cereal mascot. Ichigo didn't really care about any of that fame though. Pyrrha concluded that Ichigo was another precious friend. He truly wondered just why they befriended him. He didn't hate them. Far from it. Ichigo enjoyed their company. He was just worried that if he found a way to his world, he'd never see them. Even if he could use the Dangai, time flows different here.

So Ichigo decided to just have lunch in the forest or anywhere Teams RWBY or JNPR couldn't find him. After a few days he decided to eat at the cafeteria again and hope they forgot about him. It didn't work. In fact, it backfired. Instead of them forgetting about him, they went berserk looking for him the day he wasn't there. Mostly Ruby and Yang went berserk. And so, when they spotted him again, they never left him out of their sight. Teams RWBY and JNPR would ask where he was and he would just tell a simple lie about him just skipping lunch and practicing his swordsmanship in a secluded area.

Ruby/Yang: "It's never good to skip lunch. It's good for you." they scolded.

So, Ichigo just gave up and hung out with them. He hoped it was the right decision.

Back to Present

Ichigo kept reminiscing until Yang appeared beside them.

Yang: "Told you she would come."

He looked at them and saw they were looking at Blake. He noticed, during the passing days, that she was wearing herself down. He decided not to intervene since her friends were already telling her that.

Ichigo (thoughts): 'Looks like they got her out of that self-destructive state.'

Weiss: "Mission accomplished." she declares with a smile on her face.

Ruby: "So... What do we do now?"

Yang: "Have fun." she simply replies as she and Weiss walk away.

Ruby: "Does that mean I can change out of these stupid things and into my hood now? Stupid lady stilts..."

Ichigo was about to say something, but Ozpin suddenly appears and beats him to it.

Ozpin: "Not enjoying yourselves?" Ozpin asks as he takes a sip of hot chocolate from his mug.

Ruby: "Ah!" she exclaims surprised. "No, everything's fine. I'm just not much of a dancey, pancy, dancey girl."

Ichigo (thoughts): 'I'm not used to these types of things either, Ruby.' he thinks as he drinks some punch.

Ozpin: "Well, you can't spend your entire life on the battlefield. Even if you may want to."

Ruby: "Yeah, that lesson's been floating around a lot lately." she says, slightly grumpy.

Ozpin: "If you think about it, fighting and dancing aren't so different. Two partners interlocked. Although, one wrong move in the ballroom merely leads to a swollen foot."

Ichigo (thoughts): 'Don't know about that.'

He tries to associate dancing with his fight with Aizen. It doesn't work.

Ruby: "Or a twisted ankle..."

Ozpin: "It's not everyday that friends are able to come together like this. Time has a way of testing our bonds. But it's nights like these that can help keep them stronger than ever. Nights like these are ones we'll never forget."

Ichigo and Ruby smile at this. Normally, friendship speeches were a bore to Ichigo, but he could get behind this one. Suddenly, the doors open, letting Emerald and Mercury walk in.

During the Night

The party is now well under way. Everyone's having fun, enjoying their time, and socializing. Well, except three people, who were hiding near the punch bowl.

Jaune: "I see you're hiding nearing the punch as well."

Ichigo/Ruby: "Yep."

Jaune: "To the socially awkward." he says and they bump their drinks together.

Ichigo really wasn't socially awkward, but just decided to roll with it since he wasn't the dancing type.

Ichigo: "So did you get Weiss to go to the dance with you? I heard you singing while I was leaving my dorm, so that's how I know you asked."

Ruby: "No, he didn't. I was there when he asked her. Sorry Jaune." she apologizes for her teammate.

Jaune: "Meh. It's fine. Neptune's pretty cool. I get why she went with him.

As soon as Jaune finished answered Ichigo's question, Ichigo zoned out, not really paying attention to the conversation.

Ruby: "What do you mean?"

Jaune: "Well, come on. Not many can pull off blue hair. Only people I know are Neptune and Ryu."

Ruby: "Ryu?" she asks confused.

Jaune: "Sorry, wrong RWBYverse."

Ruby: "Right... Anyway, Weiss came to the dance alone."

Jaune chokes on his drink and looks over at Weiss.

Jaune: "Oh, what?"

Ruby: "Yeah. She said she had 'too much to focus on to worry about boys'."

Jaune proceeds to look over to where Neptune was and saw him hanging out with Sun and Blake, getting annoyed.

Jaune: "Hold my punch."

He hands her his punch and he walks off. Ichigo notices Jaune leave and was about to ask why he looked annoyed, yet determined, but notices Ruby drink out of Jaune's cup.

Ichigo: "Why did you do that!? That's- *sigh* Never mind."

Ruby and Ichigo now just stood there, not talking to each other. It got awkward fast. Ichigo and Ruby tried to bring up a topic to talk about, but really couldn't find one. Ichigo, not knowing what to do, decides to look around. He looks over to where Weiss was and saw her sitting in a chair looking depressed. Ichigo, wanting to get out of the awkward situation, decides to investigate why. He didn't hate her, even though she kept bringing up questions about his power, which got annoying. The vibe he gets from her kind of reminded him of Uryu, and while Uryu isn't exactly the nicest guy in the world, he's still a good person. Ichigo stops reminiscing when he takes a seat next to her. Weiss, noticing him sit down, wipes the sad look on her face and replaced it with a neutral one, which Ichigo notices. He should probably open with something that'll help lead the conversation to where he can ask why.

Weiss's POV

Ichigo: "You enjoying the party?" he asks.

Weiss: "Yes, it's been enjoyable so far. You?"

Ichigo: "Meh. I can't really dance, but I'm enjoying spending time with my friends." he answered.

Weiss: "You can't dance? If that's the case, then why'd you even come?" she says, hoping to make fun of Ichigo for his inability to dance.

Ichigo: "So I could hang out with you and my friends."

Weiss (thoughts): 'So he could hang out with me?' She blushes. 'Well I do enjoy his company, even though I suspect he might be lying about his abilities.'

The conversation progresses until he asks something that throws her for a loop.

Ichigo: "Hey, Weiss. Are you sad right now?"

Weiss was taken aback. She could not believe that Ichigo found her out so easily.

Weiss (thoughts): 'How could he tell? Do I look like it? Do I have a sad voice?'

She felt like she couldn't tell him the truth out of pride.

Weiss: "W-What do you mean? I'm happy to be here." she says with a fake smile.

Ichigo frowns when she says this.

Ichigo: "Stop lying, Weiss. I can see right through that smile. You can tell me. I'm your friend."

She's shocked again, but quickly recovers.

Weiss (thoughts): 'Should I... Should I tell him? He isn't a complete dolt like Jaune and I can tell he's a good person from our interactions. I do feel unhappy, but...' she thinks, having an inner conflict, making up her mind after what seems like ages to her.

Weiss: "...Yeah, I'm sad... How did you know?"

The fake neutral look on her face is replaced with the one that she had before he came over with a hint of worry.

Ichigo: "I could tell. While I was looking around, I saw you with that expression. So, I came here to ask why. Then, when you showed me that smile, I knew it was fake. That's how I could tell."

Weiss: "You... aren't going to ask why?" she asks, confused why he didn't ask her why she's sad yet.

Ichigo: "I won't make you tell me. If you want to though, I'm all ears."

He gives a warm smile, meant only for her in that moment. She decides to.

Ichigo's POV

Weiss: "...It's just... I wanted to go to the dance with a certain somebody, but they didn't want to. I'm just depressed because I really wanted to go with him. He's cool and attractive." She starts getting teary eyed. "I took a liking to him and I thought that he felt the same. I was really sure. But... turns out he didn't feel the same. I really wanted to go with him, but he rejected me. I thought that he wanted to go out with me, but I was wrong." Weiss was now on the verge of tears, her voice cracking. "I thought that... I might even fall in love with him, but he..." Suddenly, Weiss takes off to the entrance of the building.

Ichigo's is a little taken aback when she takes off, but quickly follows.

Ichigo (thoughts): 'She must have really fallen for him.' he thinks to himself as he passes the crowds to follow her. 'How the hell am I going to help her? I'm not good with dating advice and I've never fallen in love, so I don't know what it's like to be rejected. I don't really know what she feels like. I'll just be there for her, I guess.'

Ichigo exits the building, looking around while closing the door. To his right, he sees Weiss crying and covering her face with her hands while leaning on the other side of the double doors. Ichigo really wasn't sure what to do, so he calmly talked towards her until he was standing right in front of her. Weiss notices someone standing there and guesses it to be to Ichigo.

Weiss: "W-What are-"

She's cut off when Ichigo hugs her. Weiss seems surprised by this, but she soon hugs him back, crying her soul out onto his shoulder. He wasn't sure what to do, so he just let Weiss cry on a friendly should and hope for the best and maybe give some advice.

Ichigo (thoughts): 'She must feel heart-broken, like somebody has left her forever. Maybe the issue is deeper than a guy rejecting her. Based on how she's acting, I guess she feels like when I lost my mother. I needed a shoulder to cry on. My dad and sisters all cried with me. I guess she just needs to let it all out like I did.'

All that could be heard is the wind blowing by and the faint sound of crying. After what seemed like hours for both of them, but really only a couple of minutes, Weiss finally stops crying and they separate.

Weiss: "I... I'm sorry about that, Ichigo. I didn't mean to cry in front of you." She wipes her teary eyes. "Can you please not-"

Ichigo cuts her off by putting a finger on her lips. She blushed furiously, but he doesn't notice.

Ichigo: "Weiss, you have nothing to be sorry about. I wanted to help you, as a friend. Look, I'll be here when you need someone to lean on. Just come talk to me when you need help." He says as he hugs her again.

Ichigo (thoughts): 'I really hope I'm helping her.'

She's surprised by this, but also quickly hugs back. They stood there for a couple of minutes until Ichigo broke the embrace.

Ichigo: "You want to talk about it?"

Ichigo listened to Weiss about her problems and tried to help her by giving her advice, but it wasn't helpful at all from his perspective. They stood outside and just talked to each other, enjoying the other's company. After they finished, they went back into the ballroom, shocked at what they saw. Team JNPR was dancing in sync, but that wasn't what shocked them. It was that Jaune was wearing a dress while dancing. The two of them looked at each other, then back at Jaune, then back at each other, and they started snickering. They enjoyed a good laugh until Neptune suddenly appeared next to them and said he wanted to talk to Weiss. Ichigo said his goodbyes, then left to the punch bowl area again, waiting for something to happen.

Weiss's POV

Weiss and Neptune sat in two chairs situated next to a wall and started talking to one another.

Weiss: "So what did you want to talk to me about?"

Neptune: "Well, I want to accept that invitation to the dance you gave me. I know that I rejected it, but if you're still willing to accept me, then here I am. The reason I didn't accept the first time was because I was embarrassed. I was embarrassed because I couldn't dance and I didn't want to ruin my 'macho' image that I had since I try really hard to be cool." he admits.

Weiss was caught completely off guard by this new information and was delighted at the same time. She could date Neptune! She could dance with him and spend more time with him! Weiss just kept celebrating in her mind while she had the happiest smile on her face until she remembered Ichigo, her feelings turning bittersweet. He had been there for her and helped her. He listened to her problems and even gave some advice on how to deal with them. He was there when she needed a shoulder to cry on. He also said he went to this dance to see her and his other friends. He even looked attractive. Weiss had already started to fall for Ichigo before she even knew it. She had wanted to date Neptune, but Ichigo had been there for her and cared for her, despite her constant pestering about his abilities. She knew then and there what her answer was to Neptune's questions.

Weiss: "...I'm sorry Neptune, but no. I'm sorry, but I already have another... friend I want to date. You lost your chance." she declared with conviction.

Neptune: "Too late, huh? Well, can we at least be friends?" he asks, hoping he didn't ruin his relationship with Weiss.

Weiss: "I suppose. We can still be friends." she says with a smile.

She then glances at Ichigo and stares longingly.