Thank you all again for your wonderful reviews! I've gone on a long trip with my family so I apologize again for the lack of updating! Please enjoy this chapter and please do not hesitate to point out any grammatical errors or other kinds of criticism.

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Nel Tu trotted across the solid concrete floor, her small feet making pitter-patter sounds as they hit the cold stone and her arms extended out in a model of airplane wings. Her large golden eyes, lit up and sparkling with life despite her species, scanned the familiar hallways with interest, obviously searching for something. Or rather, searching for one particular door. Occasionally, a beast or troll-like thing entered into the little girl's trail and she quickly darted past them, struggling not to get in their way for fear of being scolded at a point when she simply had no time to anger a stronger creature.

The sight of a welcoming demon, however, caused Nel to wave her arms around excitedly. "Pesche! Pesche!" she called, running right over to the startled goblin. The little girl grabbed Pesche's loin cloth and practically tore it from it's knot.

"N-Nel! Don't do that!" he exclaimed, trying to pry the small fingers gently but with pressing need. Pesche Guatiche was a short demon, compared to the majority, purple-skinned and nearly twig skinny. Solid armour covered his chest and even harder material hugged his arms up to the elbow and his legs up to the knee. A mask resembling the fossil remnants of a sort of dinosaur covered his face but speaks of blonde hair sprouted from the back of his neck where the mask couldn't reach. Pesche worked as an assistant to Hell's Library and this was the exact reason Nel was happy to see him. Not that she didn't like the creature. He was one of her closest friends.

"Pesche, are you going to see Neliel?" the childish demon asked, letting go of the small white cloth tied around the demon's hips to grin widely up at him.

"Oh yes I am!" Pesche answered with modesty, "do you want to come with me to her?"

Nel nodded extravagantly. "Itsygo is here, right?"

Suddenly, the mystery of her jumpy nature had been shed. "Kurosaki? Yes, he's working with Neliel today to sort out some scrolls."

The small baby deity was extremely fond of the human servant. The minute she'd met him, though, his being and humanity had scared Nel. He was like an exotic creature to her and his seemingly permanent scowl had mistaken his nature as crude and spoiled. It was only after he agreed to play "eternal tag" with her for a few hours that she warmed to him despite his discomfort at her loud voice and frantic nature at times. He had a soft composure with her that was unusual in Hell. Pesche had been a little jealous at first when he saw Nel smile and laugh whole heartedly with the human, but decided that if she was happy, so was he.

Nel clung to the demon's hand as they strolled down a long and well endowed hall, covered in pictures of ugly monsters carrying pitchforks and rocks, surrounded by angry mountains and hot red volcanoes spitting lava and doom across a small, crying town. It was an old painting, obviously, but the priests and priestesses at the time had a much more accurate and serious picture of Hell then the modern world. And besides, the portraits gave the hallway a lot more life then if they were still a pale violet colour. Nel found them amusing.

They arrived shortly to a large, crimson door, smooth like oak and shiny with newly added grease. Brass handles the colour of iron twisted in it's design and swirled outward and across the surface outlined in orange from the pale artificial light above. Pesche pressed a hand to see if the entryway was locked. It wasn't unusual for Neliel to lock them during her working period. She was the type to get easily distracted should someone come to bother her. Only those that worked closely with her, like Pesche and Ichigo, knew a certain incantation that would allow the gates to open up. But it was a troublesome routine and Pesche was happy to feel that the doors were unlocked this time and he pushed them open without trouble.

Candles were lit at every intersection of the spacious room, emitting a light heat wave that felt a little too humid for the purple-skinned demon. Nel however was fond of being warm and didn't seem disgruntled by that or the tall and foreboding aisles that reached right to the domed ceiling. Other shelves lined the walls and curved around in a circle. Books and scrolls of every aspect of Hell and subjects surrounding the damned realm sat patiently and dusty on the spaces they occupied, well balanced and alphabetical. Remnants of broken ornaments and other curious objects that Neliel seemed loving towards graced a small corner on the other side of the doors, locked up in a glass case and open as a display.

Nel ran past Pesche as he took his time crossing the room, and made it half way to the front of the room before forgetting to run and deciding to jump the rest of the way there. Her small body landed on the first figure sitting at the side of the chiselled wooden desk, dark and carved with withered flowers and vines, with an excited cry.

"ITSYGO!"

Ichigo yelped in surprise and nearly toppled out of his seat at the weight of the childish demon. His dropped his inked pen though and the wet tip dripped onto the ground creating a dissatisfying stain.

Pesche quickly finished his detour in a quick and distressed walk. His long arms reached for Nel who was nearly chocking the poor human with her bear hug around the neck. "Oh dear! S-Sorry about that, Kurosaki!" he exclaimed feverously.

Neliel, who'd sat there in mild curiosity for those few seconds, broke into a tight giggle as she watched her long-time employee struggle to rip her tiny sister off of Ichigo who was seemingly trying to talk Nel into letting him go though she didn't look like she was even planning to let up.

"Nel! Now you leave Ichigo alone! Can't you see you're bothering him!" Neliel exclaimed with a broad smile when she was finished milking the amusement of the repeated scene before her.

Nel blinked, as if realizing her older sister, and prominently let go of Ichigo's neck and escaped Pesche's arms to quickly seal a place on the woman's lap instead.

If one where to lay there eyes on the two creatures for the first time, there was no way they could deny the strong resemblance. Neliel Odelschwanck was a lovely demon, tall and olive-skinned with sharp but warm caramel eyes and a thin mouth. Long wavy hair, alternating between sea blue and aqua, beautified her features rightly. Two small horns on the top of her head, barely bumps, sprouted outwards and was the only indication that the woman was not of the human world. Other than that, Ichigo was sure she could pass for a teacher or at least one of those gentle mother-like women that ran flower shops despite her absurd hair colour. She also didn't have that piercing, haunting nature that clouded the auras of every beast in Hell.

Nel Tu looked exactly like Neliel if she was but a young child. Nel had the same eyes, bigger though, and a smaller mouth. Her hair was the same in colour and nature but shorter, barley touching her neck, and her own pair of horns were larger and more curled. She was smaller, too, of course, only a little lower than Ichigo's knees, and far more energetic then the usually calm and stable Neliel.

However, the two were not technically sisters in the mortal sense of the word. Rather, Nel was like a part of Neliel that had been separated when Hell's Fire had created them. Why Neliel's nature was ripped into two was unknown but what was obvious was that Nel embodied a sort of childhood world that Neliel didn't need. Ichigo could admit he was confused when the older-looking demon had explained her situation with Nel, but decided that he would just see them as siblings. Neliel had taken the idea of being 'sisters' with Nel to heart rather that calling her a chibi-form 'half-ling' or a 'deception of another life'.

Neliel ran the library of Hell. It was the main place to stash scrolls that recorded all of the deceased, the dead that now blundered around the nine layers of Hell, as well as books on the types of creatures that resided in the dimension. This information was needed as the rate of demons being created was escalating surely, and Neliel liked to organize everyone just as she liked to organize practically everything else. Ichigo would occasionally crack open these books and educate himself because, well, he was there for life and might as well get to know about all the different kinds of brutes in this world. Neliel appreciated and enjoyed the companionship of the human, half because he kept her little sister preoccupied when she was particularly accelerated and half because she found him interesting. She, unlike others, was fascinated with the human world and humans in general. While you know what to expect of most demons in Hell and most angles in Heaven, humans were a totally different story. They were unpredictable, always up to something and were always a thrill to watch and observe. Neliel had found herself over-flowed with emotions she'd never been familiar with whenever she saw one human kick a defenceless animal and another help an elderly folk up a long flight of stairs. She'd wanted to ask Ichigo a million questions whenever he came over to help her but thought that getting eagerly excited would just frighten the human away and she really did not want to do that. He was a friendly human, always happily chatting about his family and his friends and his life that went on despite his position in Hell. She admired his optimism and his stories dearly.

"Ichigo will be helping me sort out the souls today," Neliel went on explaining to the small version of herself as she finished writing the name of one of the Greek men who'd died in the oil spill recently. She'd had her hands full with the anguishing situation that had occurred due to a worker's incompetence in keeping his end of the job well. The oil had spilt into the dusty streets, streets that connected cities even, heated up to an impossible level and burning every human that got in it's path. It was a major tragedy in the human world. To Neliel, it was just overwork.

"Can I come with?" Nel asked, her large eyes innocent and wanting.

Ushering souls was not a deadly job per-say. However it was tiring and required concentration which Nel could guarantee would not be possible. But those big round eyes spoke higher volumes in the woman's chest. "Well now, sure, I suppose," Neliel answered sighing. She really wasn't strong when it came to the little creature. Ichigo explained to her that the emotion was called 'love' and it wasn't a weakness by his standards. Nel cheered happily and clapped. "And Pesche can stay and finish up the work!"

"What! You can't just dump it on me!" the skinny creature cried. Ichigo chuckled and Nel pouted.

"Come now! We've done so much already! You only have to organize the time of deaths and names!"

Pesche simply let out a deep breathe of air. He really should be used to this by now. He certainly hoped that the other assistant, and a good companion, Dondochakka, was around, at least, to entertain him a bit. "Very well then. But hurry back!"

Neliel couldn't really promise anything. She, Ichigo and Nel, who'd returned to strapping herself onto Ichigo's back, left the library and went down the hallway, searching for the one door that lead 'outside'. After taking many confusing turns, some of which gave Ichigo a headache as he still got a bit lost in the long-winding halls, they found the exit, two skinny blue doors, and stepped out and down the boarded stairs to the soiled ground below. The building was familiarly called the Main building because it was smack dab in the centre of the Main level of Hell which was occupied by the creatures that did not belong in any of the other levels. Here, the monsters frolicked and socialized, playing pranks on each other instead of tormenting the souls of the dead. It was like a playground in Ichigo's eyes but he kept his mouth shut and his gaze down when he was there. It wasn't a pleasant setting. Below, the ground was flaked with only a few spits of grass but otherwise it resembled a deserted field, brown and auburn coloured dirt packed beside each other. There was always something funky smelling in the air and the sky was a green-black coloured with shadows of red streaks here and there. The cackling laughter of the demons racked the human's ear drums uncomfortably and he liked nothing more than finishing his work in the building and escaping their mocking sneers.

Where they were going, thankfully, was far more pleasant.

The trio crossed the barren landscapes, ignoring the deities that harassed them occasionally, and stepped right into an empty space, vanishing suddenly. Ichigo didn't think he'd ever get his head wrapped around the idea of mystery dimensions, completely undetectable until you put your foot out in front of you and watched in disappear into thin air. He didn't know how Neliel could sense them but it was one of her attributes and Ichigo tended to trust her with stuff anyways.

Out they came into another wide area but this one was far brighter then the Main level. It was nearly purely white safe for some speaks of blue that defined where the floor ended and where the wall began. There was one entry way shaped like an arch that led out to what appeared to be a blue sky but Ichigo knew better. It was only a gateway, given a soft colour so merciful to eyes that had gazed only at horror and ugliness from the get-go of the afterlife. Ichigo, being still a soul himself, felt mesmerized by the glow of Heaven's start, and knew the crowd that did not fill up even half of the expansion felt the same way. Free and light, without worry or shame, like they could float up and up into a never-ending passage of happiness.

"Come, Ichigo," Neliel whispered softly, once again captivated by the way the humans looked towards the wide gate. When she and Nel looked at it, the blurred light hurt their demonic eyes, but when the mortals saw it...it was as if they weren't there, despite being souls, like they were already in Heaven and not at the foot of it. "Time for work."

Ichigo quickly snapped out of his trance and had to tear his eyes away from the pure sight before him. Nel squirmed in her position on his back and fell to the floor gently, one chubby hand gripping her older sister's black robe as she stepped nearer towards the doorway. It was big enough to allow all of the anima to leave at once but that just caused a mess of things and frankly, the occupants of Hell were not interested in making their lives harder when their angel counterparts were at ease. Neliel ordered everyone to get into a line and it was amazing that they even comprehended what she'd said at all, too blissful about the prospect of entering Heaven despite their miniscule sins. As one by one past, Ichigo and Neliel noted their names, ages and most major accomplishments. Their sins were not a needed list for Heaven.

At times like these, Ichigo felt a sort of wave of disappointment. There really were not a lot of souls that had been judged a decided upon to not be punished. He felt that it was a slap in the face of humanity at the moment. Checks like these only happened once every month even though the number of deaths every day was astonishing. That left thousands of psyche to wonder and worry about their afterlife future for quite awhile and Ichigo, being an impatient person at times, could feel their pain. He didn't think he could stand waiting a month to know.

One could estimate it took only about two hours to get everyone checked and out of Hell for good. Neliel could already feel a strain in her back and she groaned, punching her spine with a fist though that didn't do any good. Ichigo smiled and took the papers they'd taken with them from her. He placed two sets of twenty sheets together, rolled them up, and tying each group in thick black ribbons.

"Let's go. I need to send these to Heaven as soon as possible so they can adjust their system for more people," Neliel informed, wrapping the gown she called clothing tighter around her slender form. Ichigo nodded and slid the parchments into the sleeves of his loose purple garment.

Nel, who'd watched with expected boredom, now smiled up at the human with a gleam. "Itsygo, can we play now?"

Kurosaki grinned warmly and nodded.

"Fuckin' annoying…"

Ichigo's grin retreated as quickly as it had come and his stance suddenly turned rigid, his blood thumping wildly. Neliel in comparison was calm but annoyed dearly at her ruined mood, and her mouth turned into a clasped frown while her eyes narrowed considerably. Nel shivered and shook at the gruff voice and ran right to her sister's leg, burying her face into the sweet smelling robe.

"You're not supposed to be here," Neliel scolded, watching as Grimmjow's arrogant form descended upon the trio who were all obviously rejecting him with their body language. He didn't really care much. He never cared when he was unwelcome, always just there and obnoxious.

Two muscled arms, halfway covered with woollen oriental sleeves, wrapped themselves around Ichigo's neck and a large body pressed against the teenager's back collectedly. Grimmjow wasn't a whole lot taller then Ichigo but he still had to angle himself forward to place his pointed chin on the human's head, burying it into long locks of orange.

"What an annoying woman. Seriously…why don't you come by my room instead? It's a lot nicer than this place, I promise."

Ichigo's nose scrunched up in frustration and his eyes blazed.

"Why aren't you dealing with the commissions in your level?" Neliel asked roughly, noting her friend's afflicted face. This always happened. Grimmjow made a game out of teasing Ichigo every time the human came around. Neliel always feared that the Lord demon's free taunting on the Main level would put off Kurosaki and he would never come around her workplace again. She hated the idea of losing a good person to the likes of Grimmjow's antics.

"I'm finished all that," he acknowledged loosely, more focused on pushing Ichigo closer towards him, "but seriously, I haven't had time to come and see you, Ichi. Miss me?"

"Get off," Ichigo grumbled and tried to elbow the creature. Grimmjow detached himself before it made contact but stood relatively close to the human.

"Still so cold. That hurts you know," the sixth Lord demon cooed sarcastically.

Nel raised her head from the confines she'd sunken in and pouted angrily at Grimmjow. She still had a death grip on Neliel but exclaimed, "leave Itsygo alone! He doesn't like you!"

Grimmjow glanced down irritatingly, gazing at Nel as if she was a bug. "Do you wanna die 'r something, kid?" he scoffed and waved the kid of with a flick of his hands.

"You're stupid!" she cried angrily. "Stupid Grimmjow!"

"God, shut up!" the Lord demon advanced onto the child but Neliel beat him, picking the child up and cradling her into her chest, daring Grimmjow with her eyes. It wasn't that she was a weakling compared to him, but her specialty didn't involve a head to head fight with a deity that ruled one of the nine layers. But she couldn't allow someone as arrogant as Grimmjow to gain an upper hand because of that.

"Go back to the library," Ichigo chimed in unexpectedly. Neliel moved her furious eyes towards the human, her expression melting into that of worry.

"What?"

He could have allowed this to continue, Ichigo knew that. To let Neliel and Grimmjow banter and argue till their throats were dry and their prides were swollen. But really, he wasn't in the mood today. Every time this happened, the outcome was always the same. So might as well skip the difficult, messy part. Grimmjow turned back to the orange-haired teenager with a feral grin, thinking himself quite successful. Neliel knew that nothing in this world could stop the cocky demon from getting what he wanted, that being a thing, a goal or a person, and knew her demands to leave Ichigo alone were useless. But she wasn't the kind of woman to give in.

"Just go. Take Nel with you, too. I promise I'll catch up later if I can," he answered, trying for a calm smile but ultimately failing.

"No Itsygo!" Nel chirped unhappily, reaching out towards him desperately. Ichigo caught the hand in his own and he squeezed gently.

"I'll play eternal tag with you when I get back, ok?" he assured.

Nel could only sniff at the unconvincing promise but said nothing more. Neliel clutched her little 'sister' tightly, shooting one more, sour glare at Grimmjow that affirmed some sort of torture should he do something obscene and stepped away, her whole day coming down in a crushing heap at her feet.

"You and your useless kindness, pfft," Grimmjow groaned when the two females left. He blinked and narrowed his small eyebrows at the glow that surrounded them in distaste. Somehow it didn't seem as graceful and light anymore with the Lord demon's presence there. Ichigo only looked back at him with something that resembled a benevolent expression. Grimmjow smiled back non-to-kindly and grasped the human's smaller body, clutching at him again. "So, strawberry, have you decided to become mine yet?"

"You're so annoying…" Ichigo, flushed now, responded, with growl in the last word. Instead of snapping back like he would to most others, Grimmjow only laughed and leaned in to peck the human's cheek.

"Cute," the Lord demon sniggered and his large clawed hand snatched Ichigo's wrist bristly. Kurosaki let him lead the way, mostly because he really didn't know any other way out of this plane but also because he was sick of fighting a battle he knew he couldn't win.

Ichigo had worked in and for Hell for a long four years, taking everything from the cold stares and disapproving glowers to being a laughingstock and a new toy of sorts. He'd trained for years in the art of holding his tongue and never giving the cruel creatures' the reaction they wanted. Some had left him and some had tried even harder to bring him to his knees. It wasn't long before he thought, confidently, that he had everything in Hell all figured out. But then, one year ago, the Lord demon of the Sixth level of Hell had prominently shoved Ichigo off his high horse and caught him off guard entirely. Grimmjow had loudly proclaimed that day that Ichigo was his prey and an untouchable person to any that dared lay a finger on him. He hadn't even tried to be subtle about it and while is proved to be a strong shield against the badgering of even the other Lord demons, it became a true embarrassment to the human when he caught the sneers-turned-leers shot his way from male and female creatures alike.

It wasn't long before a rumour declaring that Grimmjow and Ichigo were 'together' spread like wild fire the far reaches of the land. Ichigo had heard about it from Neliel who'd been seriously questioning him if it was true or not. The human had freaked out and wondered if Grimmjow had started such a rumour. It ended up being someone else, but the damage was done and he was branded. Which Grimmjow wasn't complaining about. It only made Ichigo feel even more uneasy. No matter how much he tried to get used to the advances of the Lord demon Ichigo just couldn't stop a sheet of pink to cross his nose bridge whenever Grimmjow shot perverse and rude comments his way in front of others. He feared what would happen should he not stop this soon. The demons have Hell were among the worst of the worst and were not afraid to do anything they want from killing to pillaging. And Ichigo knew he could do nothing against Grimmjow's supernatural strength should he get impatient and simply drag the teenager to bed.

No one, not even the ones that remotely liked Ichigo, could do anything or did anything about his dire situation. Both Neliel and Nel tried all the time, trying to take up most of Ichigo's attention, but whenever he was alone, evidently Grimmjow would find him somehow. It dragged his time in Hell longer than it should and while he'd been scolded for this, Grimmjow didn't come to care all too much as long as he could continue aggravating the human.

So Kurosaki had to fend for himself, which only enticed the Lord demon further; meaning it didn't help much when he ignored Grimmjow's crude requests and snapped back whenever he felt a purposeful hand grace his lower back. He didn't know how to get out of this relationship that seemed to take root between the two but wished dearly for someone to at least advise him one what to do.

Grimmjow was such a stubborn guy, too. Ichigo certainly didn't like him the very first time they met, when he was 13 and reckless enough. Grimmjow had bullied and physically pushed the boy around, complaining about this and that, and watching him from afar as he did his work, criticizing harshly all the time. As he grew older, Grimmjow become very uncaring and even avoided Ichigo most of the time. For the teenager, this seemed like a blessing and hoped it would stay like that. He just wasn't ready to be sexually assaulted at all. By a thing that resided in Hell itself no less! Even if Ichigo asked, he'd never get a definite answer over why Grimmjow had started this anyways, and he really couldn't even guess an answer up.

Ichigo struggled a bit in the death grip the creature had on him, more out of his stubbornness than a will to escape, as they stepped out of Heaven's gate, straight across the Main level and teleported out into the Sixth level.

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Thank you for reading this chapter! I hope it went well. Please look forward to the next one coming out. Also, if anyone has any ideas on where this story should go, please mention that, too!