It took the human's several weeks to completely settle in.

And as much as he had wanted to check up on them and make sure that they had everything that they needed to be comfortable in their new homes- he became busy with seeing to the needs of the others under his care.

So, it took him nearly two weeks to finally get around to dropping by to see any of them.

Thankfully, he had made sure to assign a guard to keep an eye on Ichigo so that no more attempted kidnappings would take place under his nose.

Unfortunately, that guard often had to switch out with others just to be able to do his other job/jobs properly. And in the end, Rimuru learned that Hakurou had decided to take up the task of keeping a close eye on the girl. He even learned that the elder seemed to be becoming very fond of her and doted on her a bit while he was going about his 'babysitting' duty.

Today, however, Rimuru had made sure to give the guy a day off of babysitting on the assumption that the poor guy must be bored to tears after watching the girl for several weeks straight. And while Hakurou hadn't really said anything to contradict his assumption, he hadn't argued with him any either.

Instead, the elder had merely shrugged his shoulders and walked away with a secret smile curving his lips.

Rimuru wouldn't swear to it, but he was familiar enough with the guy's antics and tactics to know that he'd been set up somehow. He just wasn't sure how.

Still...he shrugged the feeling off as inconsequential and decided to go ahead over to see the girl and her friends. It took him a few more minutes to learn where the humans were.

Rukia and Renji were apparently on a romantic picnic of some sort. And, popping in on them unannounced would be all kinds of rude. So, seeing them at the moment was out.

But he was pleasantly surprised to discover that the other two were outside of Ichigo's home with a small crowd of children, cheering them on for some reason. Curious to know what the pair were doing, he walked up behind the kids and paused when he saw that the two where sword fighting with wooden sticks for the children's entertainment.

He didn't really know what exactly they were doing, but the fact that they were entertaining the kids was pretty clear to him given how everyone was yelling, screaming, cheering and such.

Folding his hands behind his back, he bit his lower lip and observed the duo.

It was pretty obvious to him immediately that Ichigo and Chad were both having a blast with their play fight. The two attacked and parried each other's strikes while monologuing...jokes at each other?

No wait, maybe they weren't monologuing jokes per se. Everything being said seemed like a cross between a movie line and a joke. Were they adlibbing? He wondered curiously as Chad grinned evilly and swiped at the girl's arm with his stick.

It was a calculated move. One that under normal circumstances would have likely drawn blood or even an angry welt. But since the giant was play fighting the swipe did nothing more than create a thin white line on the girl's skin, earning a shriek of feminine outrage from her before she promptly kicked him in the shin.

Chad yelped and leaned over to absently rub his leg as if she had actually hurt it while calling out, "There's no kicking in sword fighting."

Ichigo just grinned at him and asked, "What kind of lame sword fighting have you been watching, man?"

Which earned her the deadpan reply of, "Yours." Eliciting a dramatic gasp from the girl before the guy then pointed out, "By the way, I cut your arm off."

"No, you didn't." She argued with him back and forth for a couple of minutes before finally rolling her eyes and tucking her 'missing' arm back behind her back and saying, "Tis a flesh wound. I can still fight!"

Chad snorted, his teeth a flash or white in his dark-skinned face as he took another swipe at her. This time 'cutting' off her other arm.

Rimuru put a hand over his mouth to suppress the bark of laughter bubbling forth from him at the girl's comical, slack jawed expression before slowly saying again, "Tis a flesh wound. I can still fight."

"What are you going to do, Ichigo? Chew my ankles off?" Chad taunted her.

And promptly got kicked in the shin again as she gave a dainty little sniff and muttered. "Now you're just being a mean."

"I am not!" Chad laughed at her. "You're the one kicking me in the shins because your losing!"

Ichigo let out a huff and then turned to the kids with a smirk as a vague look of alarm crossed Chad's face. "Minions, I have been beaten. Avenge me so that I can go and regrow my arms!"

Wondering what was going to happen now, Rimuru stayed totally quiet for a second later the giant was suddenly being swarmed by screaming and climbing children that managed to almost knock him off of his feet as they pushed him back. The poor guy managed to let out an overly dramatic sounding, "Oh no!"

But that was as far as he got before the kids completely overwhelmed him and the play fight ended for the time being.

Rimuru was shaking his head at their ridiculousness as he clapped his hands. As was appropriate for the end of a show like the one that he'd just seen while Ichigo picked up Chad's discarded stick and her own and walked over to him.

"Hello, Lord Rimuru."

"Hi, you guys looked like you were having fun." He said in amusement. She smiled and shrugged her slender shoulders ever so slightly.

"The one thing that I can always count on no matter where I am, is Chad being a kid magnet."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, the little one's love climbing all over him."

"I can see that." Rimuru muttered as he let his gold eyes flicker back towards the giant.

The guy was sitting on the ground now being climbed on like a living, breathing jungle jim. It was a bit mindboggling to Rimuru that he would allow any of the kids to behave in such a way.

But it was also kind of sweet of the guy how he didn't seem to mind in the least and began to play with them while they climbed on him.

"He seems to really like children." He finally pointed out in a gentle tone.

"He does." Ichigo said with a nod before tacking on. "I'm just waiting for the day when he finally decides to settle down. He's going to make some lucky girl a great husband."

"And an excellent father too, I bet." He said with a soft chuckle.

"Yup!"

He gave a faint smile at the acknowledgement and then turned the conversation to something else. "How have all of you been settling in? Do you have everything that you need?"

"We're settling in fine." Ichigo said with another shrug. "Chad loves his new home, he's been decorating it with stuff that some of the kid's hand to him when they're here to play with him."

Rimuru didn't doubt that one little bit considering how crazy the children had behaved since it was pretty obvious to him that they adored the guy, and vice versa.

"And Rukia and Renji are talking about maybe trying for a kid soon."

"Really?" He questioned, feeling a faint spark of excitement stirring within him at the news.

"Yeah. I think after being on the road for so long they're anxious to put down some roots."

"That's good to know and all. But what about you? What are your plans for putting down some roots?"

Ichigo looked slightly taken aback by the question and ducked her head as she quietly said, "I guess that I'll do what I always do."

He frowned at her, wondering exactly what she meant since she didn't seem very keen to fill him in right that moment before he asked her, "You have no plans to date? To marry? Have some rug rats of your own?"

She gave him a weirdly strained smile and just repeated what she had said before about doing what she always did. And as much as he hated to admit it- her practiced response to his queries bothered him immensely.

After all, no one should ever live their life alone.