As it turned out, Ichigo's words from earlier had been a little bit more than just a challenge. It had also been a threat. Of course, neither demon had realized it at first.

After all, they had initially thought that they could catch her unawares and end things before they escalated further.

The fact that they had failed, coupled with the fact that the girl could easily outmaneuver them even while carrying the Asmodeus and Valoc kids was interesting to Shichiro beyond the norm.

And while he wished that he could just chalk the ease in which she was able to fend them off to something else- her hybrid blood for instance since there were still many unknown variables when it came to a hybrid's strength and abilities- he simply couldn't.

There was something else there. Something unknown to him that he was just dying to figure out.

Casting a glance around them, he could already see that they had caught the attention of not only students but teacher's alike that had gotten curious about the very public spectacle that the three had made of themselves. After all, it was pretty much unheard of for one of the guardians of Babyls school to wind up in a knock down drag out fight against a first year, Aleph ranked student. It was even stranger still that he and Opera were both losing said fight.

Sure, Ichigo was mostly just dancing out of their grasp and deflecting any blows that they attempted to land on her- but that was mostly because she was carrying the other two kids and protecting them from any harm.

Which was...impressive to the gargoyle. Very much so.

But Shichiro was also under no illusions here, if the girl hadn't been carrying the other two kids with her- she would be kicking their asses. Royally. And it would be the epitome of humiliating too.

Of course, Opera didn't seem to care about that half as much as he cared about getting his hands on his chosen. The cat demon was beyond riled at the moment. He'd been fighting with a raging hard on for the better part of an hour now and seemed to be enjoying himself immensely.

But the second that he got his hands on Ichigo...well, there was only so much that could be done to prevent him from fucking the girl into submission for riling him so.

As if was, Shichrio would likely have to use one of his abilities just to give the two some measure of privacy so that they wouldn't make even more of a spectacle of themselves when that happened. After all, such things were best left to the imagination.

Though Shichiro would admit, he was slightly curious about how well Ichigo would react to such a situation.

He attempted to get in close to the girl again and grab her, and just like before, she was able to deflect, and escape his grasp. Though she landed a small strike on him. It was with the flat of her palm and didn't hurt him any despite the force that she had put into it.

"I've never had so much fun before!" He heard Opera say as he attacked her from the side.

She landed a few flat palmed strikes on him and sent him skidding back only for the cat demon to bound back towards her happily. Just to do it again and again.

Like a damned lunatic. Shichiro thought with a slight shake of his head.

He had always known that Opera was a tad bit off his rocker- sanity wise- but here, it was really showing.

Not that Shichiro was one to judge, he was a bit crazy himself given his fascination with humans and other mythical creatures. Still...he couldn't help but ask aloud in bewilderment, "How can you go from being rattled and upset to this?"

Only for Opera to laugh manically as he landed a few feet from him and flip himself back just as Ichigo tried to nail him with a punch. She missed, but it didn't seem to deter her any. She vanished into thin air, causing them both to go utterly still.

Her mysterious vanishing act was a move that neither of them had ever seen her pull before. So naturally, they were alarmed. All demons- especially the high-ranking ones knew better than to take their eyes off of their opponents during a fight. And that little vanishing move of hers had just seen to it that they couldn't see her at all.

They couldn't sense her either.

A chill skittered down their spines and the two demons moved a bit closer to one another, just in case. Their battle instincts were screaming at them that something bad was about to happen to them. And they weren't sure which direction the next attack was going to come from.

Strangely, Opera had stopped laughing and was suddenly very sober as his ears twitched this way and that in an effort to pinpoint Ichigo's location as Shichiro used his ability to try and trace her whereabouts. It wasn't working though.

"Do you know where she is?" He asked Opera curiously.

"No," The cat demon said automatically. His ears still swiveling this way and that as he slowly said. "But I do think that we should surrender."

"We should?" Shichiro asked, kind of startled by the mere suggestion.

Opera nodded his head curtly and hissed out, "Yesss."

"Why?"

"Because I've sparred with her before, and I think she just got serious on us. So... surrendering is in our best interests if we don't want to have the hell kicked out of us."

Opera probably had a point there.

So, he then asked how they should surrender to prevent themselves from getting hurt. At which point Opera put his hands up in the air and called out, "We want to negotiate the terms of our surrender!"

Shichiro slowly put his own hands up to indicate his surrender as they waited for a moment or so. And then Ichigo reappeared, without the other kids, and crossed her arms over her chest as she demanded. "What are your terms?"

"I'm covered in bruises and demand cuddles and kisses to make them feel better." Opera deadpanned automatically. Shichiro cast a look of utter disbelief the cat demon's way as Opera then added, "And Shichiro wants some too since he's also injured and wants to feel better."

Shichiro started sputtering though he wasn't entirely sure if it was from mortification or outrage for being dragged into Opera's crap yet again as they both waited for Ichigo to respond.

"Are you-" She started to ask but then stopped and made a weird little hand motion towards Opera before continuing in a low tone, "Uh, aroused there?"

"I am." Opera admitted.

Ichigo sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose between her fingers as she asked in a slightly strained tone, "Sensei? How are you doing?"

It took Shichiro a few seconds to realize that she was trying to politely inquire about whether or not he was in the same state as Opera. He opened his mouth to say no, but Opera suddenly grabbed one of his wrists and squeezed it slightly, startling him just enough to allow the cat demon to lie. "He is."

The look that Shichiro shot Opera's way by all rights should have sent the smaller demon scampering for cover. It was a look that practically screamed of swift and brutal retaliation when the other demon would be least expecting it.

Of course, the second that he really registered what Opera had just said, regardless of the fact that he was planning the feline's untimely demise, his face went pale and then also went red as he lifted his hands to his face to hide it.

Ichigo stared at them both for several seconds, embarrassed and searching for what to say or do now. Why did she seem to have the crappiest luck in the entirety of the universe? She wondered as she tried to think.

There was absolutely no doubt in her mind that someone somewhere was laughing at her right now. Honestly at this point she couldn't help but wonder why she'd even been born in the first place.

Yet even so, she finally seemed to shake herself out of her funk just enough to say, "Y-Yeah, okay. Lets...go find somewhere private."

Hopefully it would take them a while to get from point A to point B and things would at least go back to semi normal. She doubted that things would work out that way, but she hoped anyway.

Opera smiled at her, an innocent smile. Yet at the same time held a wealth of information all of which screamed of his less innocent intentions.

Smiles like that should be illegal. Ichigo thought with a scowl as she turned and started to walk off knowing that Opera was likely going to wind up pulling Shichiro along with him once he started to follow after her.


A short time later, Ichigo was so nervous that it was a wonder that she hadn't jumped out of her skin just yet as Opera opened the door to a large room that looked almost like a lab of sorts.

The room looked like someone's chemistry lab?

Do demons even know how to do chemistry? She wondered as she slowly meandered inside to look around the table in the middle of the room that had various vials of multicolored liquids, powders, and other slightly more questionable things in them, just sitting out in the open.

"Where are we?" She finally found herself asking when she felt someone come up behind her. Tilting her head back, she saw Shichiro reach out and gently remove some of the substances from the table and place them elsewhere before he replied somewhat nervously.

"You're in my lab. It's a room where I usually conduct experiments and other things."

"Ah, okay then." She said feeling a bit out of place. So, this was Shichiro's personal space... She couldn't help but wonder if he really wanted them there. Or if he were simply as nervous as she was feeling.

"The bedroom is over here." Opera said from across the room where he had a curtain held in one hand, pulling it back so that she could see. And there was indeed a bedroom behind the curtain, hidden from view.

She could see the massive bed and a few other things like a dresser and a wall mirror, but she refused to look any closer at the area without Shichiro saying it was okay to do so.

Instead, she took a moment to gather up her nerve, and take a deep breath before then saying, "I feel that the three of us should have a short talk to make sure that all of us are on the same page, here. Are you guys okay with that?"

Opera moved away from the bedroom and walked over to her, and then pressed a kiss to her cheek. "Whatever you wish, my lady." He said before then announcing that he was going to make them all some tea.

Leaving her with Shichiro while he scampered off.

Once he was gone, Ichigo shook her head and then looked at Shichiro.

"Can I ask you something?"

Shichiro did a weird full body twitch when he heard her speak but replied. "Hn, sure."

"You don't really want to be any part of this...whatever it is that Opera is planning. Do you?"

"No. Though I will at least admit to being curious about some things."

"Mating habits?" Ichigo asked, knowingly as Shichiro grinned behind his mask.

"Mating habits of different species are just so very fascinating, don't you think?"

"They certainly can be." She agreed, not knowing what else to say on the subject.

But since she had expressed some interest in them, Shichiro spent the next few minutes telling her about all kinds of various animals and magical beasts. As well as details about their various mating rituals.

And while he was, Ichigo couldn't help but notice that Shichiro became less...awkward, and far more animated whenever he was speaking about them. He seemed much, much happier to her.

It took her about two seconds for her to realize what made him happier than anything else in the world. Animals, plants, and magical beasts. He loved them. Like, love-loved them.

To him, there was nothing greater or more interesting than those things. They were everything to him.

Ichigo chuckled as he began to tell her about some sand snails that he had come across while mating, once during a trip. He was so excited to share the information that she couldn't help but think that Shichiro was cute when he was like this.

He paused in speaking for a second when he heard her chuckle and took a second to look at her and smiled when he saw how happy she looked. Aww. I wish I could take pictures of her. He thought in bemusement.

Ichigo had such a pretty smile.

He couldn't fathom why she didn't show it more. Though now that he thought about it...maybe he could ask her a few things about herself before Opera returned?

"Ichigo, can I ask you some stuff about yourself?"

Her smile didn't fade though it dim considerably. Shichiro almost whined at the loss of its brilliance, but pushed on anyways once she nodded her head.

"You've already admitted to being a hybrid. But there's more to you than that, isn't there?"

"There is," She said before adding carefully. "But I'm not sure if I should speak about it. At least...not without grandpa knowing. I'm not sure if he would be upset with me or not."

Shichiro hummed, realizing that his buzzer ability wasn't going off any and decided to move on. "What was it like for you growing up?"

"It was difficult."

"Oh?"

"Mom was killed because of me." She said after a second or so of hesitation, he flinched back as if he had just been slapped. His eyes wide with startled surprise as she went on to say. "For a long time after that, I thought that I was in some way cursed. It didn't feel right to be close to my family. It felt as if by doing so- I was doing something utterly horrible. I didn't know why I had even been born. Or what my purpose in life was. I got into a lot of trouble, and fights. And even got hurt more times than I can really remember. There were times when I would sit in my room late at night as a kid and think, 'The world would be better off without me. My family would be better off without me.' My existence seemed to bring them all nothing but pain in some way or another. I hated myself Shichrio."

"What changed?" He asked curiously while filing this troubling bit of information away for a later time. He would go over it then and determine what should be done to prevent her from feeling so hopeless ever again then.

"I found others like me. People who were similar in nature to me. Some were human, and some were other things. But one thing was absolute. They needed me. They loved me, and I love them. They became a part of my purpose and reason for existing."

"They sound interesting."

"They are. And so much fun too." Ichigo said with a grin.

"Oh?"

"Some of the best times of my life were spent whiling away the hours laughing with them. And sometimes even at them."

"Laughing at them?" Shichiro echoed as he tilted his head to the side.

"Yeah, no one here has figured out yet that I'm a notorious prankster." She said with a wink as he stifled a laugh behind one of his hands.

He could already imagine what she was like when she was pranking someone. And if she took that half as seriously as she took combat situations then there was a definite reason for her fame. She was likely unstoppable!

"Remind me to stay on your good side if I don't want to be pranked."

"It's too late for that, I think." She said as she crossed her arms over her chest and gave him a pointed look that had him quickly throwing Opera under the bus.

"Everything that happened earlier is all Opera's fault."

"That isn't as surprising to me as it should be," Ichigo muttered and then asked, "So how did he rope you into going along with his shenanigans, hm?"

"He was upset-" Shichiro started to explain what had happened that had led up to the fighting earlier but Opera had returned with a tray of tea and even some snacks and decided to cut him off.

"You were acting abnormally. I was worried that perhaps you were about to go into a wicked phase. I panicked. And Shichiro offered to help me capture, isolate, and contain you just to be safe."

Ichigo hummed as her mind worked to supply other details. "I have a question for you, Opera. When we did the blood exchange to create the bond between us-" Shichiro choked a little bit on the tea that he'd just taken a sip of. "Did you know that I could feel your emotions just as much as you can feel mine?"

Opera dropped the cup that he'd just picked up. It hit the floor and shattered, spilling the tea across the stone floor at the cat demon's feet as he let out a weird little sound.

He didn't know. Ichigo thought wryly as a sigh escaped her lips and then explained. "The reason that I was acting so strangely was because you were upset and for some reason what you were feeling was overwhelming me and making me upset too. I left without saying goodbye because I didn't want to lash out at you or grandpa."

Opera was shaking a little bit as he asked hopefully, "R-Really? That was why you were so angry?"

"He was worried that you hated him, I bet." Shichiro finally said as he looked between the two.

"That's a fools bet." Ichigo muttered somewhat darkly as she pressed a hand to her forehead while she stared at the shaking cat demon as he suddenly started sniffling. Taking both she and Shichiro off guard.

"I'm just so happy that you aren't going through a wicked phase!" Opera said as he quickly scrubbed at his face with the back of his hands before then launching himself at Ichigo.

She screamed, and tried to move out of the way but wasn't fast enough. Opera wrapped his arms around her and pressed his lips against her own as they both fell to the floor in a tangle of limbs. After that, Ichigo had a bit of a problem.

Opera was wrapped around her like a squid and was pressing little kisses to the underside of her jaw and neck while he rubbed himself against her. His arousal, which up until then had been all but forgotten, was suddenly back at the forefront of Ichigo's mind as she felt it press against her core through her pants.

She squeaked in surprise and squirmed in an effort to loosen his grasp on her a bit. But Opera was determined that the terms of his surrender were met. Right. Now.

"Opera, I feel that we should talk about your expectations here!" Ichigo almost shrieked, causing the cat demon to go still for a second.

"My expectations?"

"Yes! What exactly are you wanting from me?"

"Sex." Opera said before grinning and going on to say while he leaned down and rubbed the tips of their noses together. "Mind blowing, sex. The kind that leaves you helpless, sore, and sated for a long, long time."

Ichigo blushed a vivid red and scowled at him as she muttered, "Pervert."

"For you, I am." He said gently as he pressed another kiss to her skin when Shichiro's voice startled them both.

"You know, now that I think about it, it's been a while since I had mind blowing sex-" Ichigo whimpered and tried to hide her face against Opera's shoulder. "Maybe, I'll join you after all."

"Yes!" Opera said excitedly, his tail flicking behind him as he lifted himself up off of her a bit so that he could pull her up while he got to his feet.

"I think that expecting mind blowing sex from a virgin is a bit of a tall order, guys." She cried as she was swept up into Opera's arms once she was off of the floor, and he made a beeline for the bedroom.

"Don't worry, Ichigo. I'll be gentle." Shichiro said in an effort to reassure her since he already knew that his size was likely going to be a bit of an issue for her.

Ichigo couldn't help but feel nervous regardless of any reassurances that were spoken to her. She was about to be between literally a rock and a hard place, and she was having just a little bit of trouble reconciling herself with that fact.

Don't get her wrong, she wasn't afraid. Or even worried that they would hurt her, purposefully.

She already knew for a fact that neither demon would dare to harm her. She just...had some issues really comprehending what was happening right then. After all, she was technically married to Opera. So, being intimate with him was just...normal?

But adding Shichiro to the mix just seemed as if it would complicate things excessively. Especially when he didn't seem into her at all.

Opera set her on the bed gently and then stepped back a bit to reach out to Shichiro.

"Come." He commanded in a soft tone, Shichiro trilled softly but did as he bid him and let Opera pull him over to the bed and then spin him around and nudge him back so that he wound up seated next to her. After which, Opera asked, "My Lilith, do you have anything else to ask either of us?"

"L-Likes and dislikes in the bedroom?" Ichigo squeaked out. Both demons looked at her oddly, so she decided to elaborate. "I mean you both did say that you wanted mind blowing sex. And I'm going to try my best to deliver that. It's just...to do that I need to know what you both like. Also, this will let me know if there's something I'm not sure that I will like. Ya know?"

Once the two understood what she meant, Opera replied with. "We both like being touched. It doesn't matter where or how. Petting is...soothing, comforting even."

"I sort of like it when I'm scratched a little bit too." Shichiro admitted shyly, his face flushed as he fidgeted with his fingers.

"Okay. Anything else?" Ichigo asked, already knowing that the stuff already mentioned was totally doable.

"I bite." Opera said automatically as he held a hand up and then explained, "I don't usually break the skin, but I bite. Is that...okay?"

"It's fine since certain stimulation can do that to a person." Ichigo said with a thoughtful expression on her face.

Opera cocked his head at her words, the question, How do you know? Burning on the tip of his tongue as she clapped her hands together, "Okay, now there are only two things left to sort out. The first is how the two of you plan to do this since there's only one of me. And the other thing is do either of you have any condoms?"

Opera and Shichiro glanced at each other and did that damn silent communication thing. It's just like grandpa is here. Ichigo thought dryly as she tried to ruthlessly squash that annoying thought before it spiraled out of control as she heard Shichiro ask, "Uh, Ichigo... What's a condom?"

Ichigo looked at the two in startled shock as she asked just to get some sort of clarification. "Y-You don't know what a condom is?"

"No." Both demons said in unison.

Ichigo took a deep breath and lifted a hand to pinch the bridge of her nose as she gritted out. "Did no one cover the topic of condoms and what they are used for in Sex Ed when you were kids?"

"What's Sex Ed?" Opera asked as he tilted his head at her inquisitively and blinked his red eyes owlishly.

Ichigo made a strained sound and started rocking herself back and forth on the bed as her mind screamed, OMFG! What's Sex Ed? What's Condoms? What the hell are the teachers here teaching the kids?!

"Shichiro..." She finally said as she stopped rocking herself abruptly. It didn't take a genius for the demons to realize that she was having some sort of crisis because of their lack of knowledge. The rocking had probably given that fact away. So naturally, the two were looking at her nervously as she went on to ask, "Do you have a big black board or something that I can use? And maybe something to write on it with, please?"

Shichiro hummed, intrigued by whatever she may need those things for since he'd never had anyone request such things of him before sex before. But he was quick to go and fetch her said items and bring them to the bedroom for her.

She smiled sweetly and thanked him and then turned to Opera and told him to fetch the snacks from earlier. Which he did while she started to do something- drawing- on the board as she grumbled something under her breath about needing positive reinforcement.

Fascinated by what was going on, Shichiro couldn't help but sit back down on his bed and watch her. As Opera returned with the plate of goodies and gently set them on the bedside table and then seated himself next to him and began to watch Ichigo have her little melt down too.

All in all, it took her less than five minutes to finish her drawing and then she took another five to scribble some stuff off to the side of her drawing. After that, she turned to them and said in her most authoritative tone, "Pay attention gentlemen. You're about to learn something very important."

Both demons snapped to attention automatically.

Opera looked particularly focused on what was about to happen. While Shichiro took a moment to pull a pad of paper out of one of his pockets along with a pen to write with. He had a feeling that what Ichigo was about to do needed to be recorded for future reference.