First thing- and this is just for the story since I don't know if it's actually true or not canon wise- but Opera is a Yod ranked demon. The only reason no one knows is because Sullivan has altered the memories of anyone who did know so that they would have no choice but to keep quiet.

Second of all- there is I need to give ya'll a little bit of a warning for this chap because there are dead bodies, extreme child abuse, rape and other things mentioned in this chap.

So tread carefully, alright.

The first night in their new home was fairly uneventful aside from everyone- including Opera and Sullivan- cramming themselves into her bed and sleeping there alongside Mizuiro, Rukia, and Chad.

But the morning after that was certainly interesting.

To begin with, the demon adoption process was far more intricate than merely signing papers. As it turned out- there was also a magic ceremony of some sort involved as well. The purpose of which was to help someone to be fully recognized as a demon's flesh and blood by sharing a small fraction of the adoptee's magic with the one that was being adopted.

There was more to the sharing of magic than that though.

Aside from what was already mentioned, sharing magic was also a means of wrapping someone in a protective shield consisting of various layers of magic as well. And it could even be used to alter someone's appearance and scent too.

Of course, Ichigo didn't know this until after she and everyone else were wide awake and sitting at the dining room table with breakfast before them, when Sullivan finally mentioned it.

"Ichigo, dear..." He said as he cut a bite sized piece of the squirming food on his plate. "There's something that I may have forgotten to mention yesterday before you signed the adoption papers."

Ichigo looked up from her own squirming food to lock eyes with him as he set his cutlery down and then lifted his eyes to hers before going on. "There is a magic ceremony of sorts- that typically takes place between the one adopting and the child being adopted by them. The purpose of the ceremony is to share a miniscule amount of magic with the adopted child. It's for lack of a better description, a means of protection for them."

Ichigo blinked at him, her mind already latching on to the explanation that he was giving her and trying to check the ancient knowledge that she had rattling around in her head to see if that was true.

She was relieved to know that it was. And while Sullivan had explained that it was a protective measure of sorts there was more to it. She went over what she had knowledge of silently and then shrugged her shoulders.

"Alright." She said as she looked around the table at the others.

Everyone seemed to be watching her to see what she will do. Rukia and Mezuiro were both holding their breath. Chad had a white knuckled grip on his dishes and was simply waiting for her to give a word or signal of some sort. It wasn't that she didn't understand how they felt- she did.

But she also already knew that even among demons, Sullivan was considered to be far more honest than many, many others. "We can do it after breakfast if you want." She said, already trusting him not to pull a fast one on her.

It was probably a bit naïve of her. Stupid even. But...she wanted to be able to trust her relative regardless of who or what he was. Especially since he was so important to her dad.

And would likely become very important to her as well in time.

"Really?" Sullivan asked, sounding surprised. "I was going to tell you that I wouldn't push you to do it if you wanted not to. Or even if you feel like waiting a while to get to know me better. But I would at least need to do it with Mizuiro since he is essentially your child, and you would be greatly upset if anything were to happen to him. Plus, there's also the added benefit of my mana and magic maybe being able to slow the progress of his illness to a crawl."

Mizuiro straightened his spine and stopped hunching over his plate protectively.

Which gave Rukia the opportunity to reach over and steal some bacon from it again. Just like she had earlier at the beginning of breakfast.

Not that he noticed any. His attention was on Sullivan right then, even as Opera stepped forward and put some more bacon on his plate while shooting Rukia a warning look for stealing his food.

"I see. Well, that would certainly be worth performing the ceremony if it can help him even a little bit and keep him safe." Ichigo said thoughtfully as she glanced over at Mizuiro and gave him a slight smile.

But it was a smile that sent Mizuiro's hopes skyrocketing even as he heard Sullivan say awkwardly, "It's merely speculation at the moment. And I certainly don't have any proof just yet. But it was just a thought..."

"You don't have to explain yourself, Sullivan." Mizuiro suddenly said, his heart beating excitedly despite the fact that the elderly demon may be wrong. My chances could be as high as fifty-fifty either way! He thought as he said. "I'll do it."

"Alright, if you're sure." Sullivan said as he nodded his head in understanding.

Ichigo started to go back to her breakfast but paused when she saw Rukia's hand sneaking towards Mizuiro's plate again only for her to suddenly let out a yelp of pain as a crack sounded in the room.

Opera had just smacked her hand and had firmly placed himself between Mizuiro's chair and hers and was now staring at her in disapproval. Ichigo sniggered but said nothing while Sullivan openly gaped at them in shock.

The ceremony was an easy enough thing for Sullivan to set up once he slipped away from the dining room table after finishing his breakfast off.

It was only a matter of a book, a couple of ancient family relics, and about a dozen or so multi layered magic circles. The magic circles overlapping one another was what took the most time to finish up.

However, once Opera managed to thwart Rukia's food thieving tendencies one last time- he was finally able to slip away and help him while the others decided to do some exploring.

Sullivan's indoor magical security system kept track of everyone's movements and also warned him if they got too close to something that they shouldn't. It didn't hurt that it had video as well as audio too.

Thus far, they had all decided to go downstairs to the basement and were currently checking out some of the stuff there.

Like the torture chambers and prison cells with semi decayed, dismembered bodies of demons in them that should have been removed ages ago.

He and Opera both had immediately snapped to attention when they had heard some of them screaming in terror. Ichigo however laughed. And she laughed manically no matter what they found, or how gruesome the scene that they came across in some of those chambers.

It was just a bit concerning to the pair to be honest.

But then given how she had participated in the war... she had probably seen much, much worse than what Sullivan had in those wretched chambers and cells. And had probably developed a nervous laugh to deal with the trauma.

Again, it was a bit concerning.

But at least everyone was okay for the moment.

They went back to layering the magic circles when they heard a collective gasp and turned their attention back to the video of everyone to see what it was that had them all falling so silent. If not for the fact that everyone was sticking together, they might have thought that something had grabbed one of the kids as prey.

After all, the rats in Sullivan's basement were the size of devil birds and were big enough to carry off even the strongest of demons if they got taken unawares by an ambush.

But thankfully, that wasn't the case.

Unfortunately, however, Sullivan now felt the need to find Ichigo a good therapist as he watched her rip the head off of one of the many, many forgotten bodies and start to play with it.

Next to him, Opera stared wide eyed at the video of her making the jaw attached to the bone move as she asked it questions and then pretended that it was answering her.

Neither demon seemed to know what to think of her play anymore than her son and her friends did. They all seemed to be equally horrified. Until... Rukia managed to shake herself out of her shocked state and then walked over to Ichigo and smacked the skull right out of her hands.

Causing Ichigo to yelp and begin shaking one of her hands. "Ow! Fuc- What the hell?" She quickly amended.

"Ichigo, I need you to be honest with us..." Rukia said seriously as she put her hands on her king's shoulder's and asked weakly. "Have you lost your mind?" Ichigo gave her a peeved look and Rukia hastily went on to add. "I-It's okay if you have. I know that you're strong and all, but sometimes a person's mental health slips without anyone noticing. Ya know? Y-You just need to tell us so that we can help you, okay?"

"I'm as sane as you are, Rukia. Now stop freaking out. You're scaring Chad." Ichigo muttered as Mizuiro put a hand up and said loudly,

"You're scaring me too!"

Ichigo motioned to her adopted son with her hands and shot a glare at Rukia. "Now look what you've done! He's going to have nightmares after this."

"Actually mom, I may need some therapy." Mizuiro corrected as Ichigo wheeled on her smaller friend and growled out in annoyance.

"He may need therapy, Rukia!"

Rukia just blinked at Ichigo. While Chad snorted and crossed his arms over his chest in an effort to hide his barely suppressed laughter. Mizuiro merely coughed delicately into one of his hands as he turned his head to look away. His shoulders were shaking with mirth though.

"To be fair, Ichigo. All of us probably need therapy in one form or another. So, it isn't as if Mizuiro will be alone." Rukia said after a heartbeat or two of silence.

"Whatever," Ichigo sighed before asking, "Why did you smack my hand anyway?" Everyone went eerily still, Chad and Rukia gaped at their king in utter horror while Mizuiro rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and said.

"Mom, that skull that you were playing with is real. Just like the bodies that we've seen so far."

"You're shitting me." Ichigo said, sounding incredulous.

"I am not." Mizuiro said curtly as he pinned Ichigo with his dark eyes for a second before she started cursing and frantically rubbing her hands on her pants as Chad found himself asking her curiously.

"Why did you think that the bodies were...fake?"

"Because Sullivan and Opera don't seem like the type of demons to keep dead bodies in their basement!" Ichigo nearly shouted as she shivered in disgust.

"To be totally fair to everyone- even though we just met them- Ichigo's kind of got a point there. Neither of them seem like the type of people to do things like this."

"The bodies are super old too," Rukia said as she squatted down to examine the skull that Ichigo had played with. It was old, despite the fact that some rotted flesh still clung to it. More than a hundred years or so old- if she calculated correctly. "So maybe there was a good reason why the corpses are still here."

"There's also the fact that even though the deaths took place ages ago- people tend to change over time. So, even though they might have killed these people...there's also the fact that they may have had enough years to change enough to find killing distasteful." Chad said, as if that explained everything.

And it possibly did.

But Ichigo wasn't entirely sure.

She understood that people, laws, and other things changed over time. So, she wasn't going to judge anyone too harshly for past errors. But she'd like to ask Sullivan and Opera for details so that she could better understand why they kept bodies around.

"There's also the fact that the laws here are vastly different from the laws of Soul Society and the human world." Mizuiro said with a shrug. "And it's entirely possible that killing for certain reasons is totally accepted here. Maybe even encouraged in some cases."

"Either way, I have questions." Ichigo said as she finally stopped rubbing her hands on her pants and lifted them so that she could give them an experimental sniff and visibly bristled at the horrible smell that clung to them.

Ew. She definitely needed to wash her hands now. Maybe even scrub her whole body and burn her clothing. "I'm going to go back upstairs to take a bath." She finally said with a slight slumping of her shoulders. "I smell bad now and need a thorough scrubbing."

"Well, we shouldn't stay down here if you're going back up. So, we'll go with you." Rukia said thoughtfully.

"I can pick you out some clean clothing if you want." Mizuiro said, wanting to help his mom forget about the fact that she'd picked up something that she shouldn't have. Even if it was just for a little while.

"I can comb your hair if you want." Chad offered.

"And I'll braid your hair once Chad is done brushing it." Rukia chirped, doing her best impression of Orihime.

Ichigo sighed and muttered something inaudible as she turned and started to lead everyone back towards the stairs that would take them out of the basement.

Sullivan held his breath until everyone was out of the basement before finally taking a relived breath. My poor child. He thought sympathetically.

Realizing that she'd taken a corpses head and was playing with it must have been quite shocking to her. Not that he blamed her any for being shocked or even upset. If he had recalled that the basement hadn't been cleaned out in a while, then he would have sent Opera to stop them from going downstairs.

"Sir." Opera said as he gave him a questioning look. Sullivan glanced over at his security devil and gave him a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, Opera. She isn't the type to judge others harshly." Sullivan said, hoping to convince the younger demon since he looked upset.

Opera was silent for another second or two before nodding his head in understanding and then going back to helping him. And once they were finally finished setting everything up to complete the adoption process... Sullivan asked Opera if he would mind staying with him for a few more minutes.

Which was... weirdly confusing to the security devil.

Mostly because his master had been pretty excited before. But now?

"Sir? Are you perhaps worried-" Opera started to ask if maybe his master was concerned about their lady asking questions about both of their pasts, but Sullivan cut him off with a calm.

"I want to give Ichigo enough time to take her bath and get dressed Opera."

Oh. Well that made sense.

The two demons stood around in silence for another hour. A very slow, anxiety inducing, hour. But once Sullivan checked the security video of their lady's room to see that she was out of her bath and dressed again. He then shooed Opera off to go and get she and Mizuiro.

Sullivan was reading over some old magic spells when Opera finally returned with the pair, and their friends in tow. Slowly setting the book down, he turned his attention to Ichigo and the others, absently noting that everyone seemed to be alright...not just physically but mentally as well.

And he wasn't sure what to do aside from ask, "Did you have fun in the basement?"

There was a heartbeat of silence or so before Rukia asked him suspiciously. "You know?"

"We have a security system in the house that helps to keep track of visitors, just in case." He replied easily. Confirming that he was aware of what had happened and the fact that they had been a bit...shocked. "Are you alright, Ichigo, dear?"

"A bit disappointed in myself but I'm otherwise fine," Ichigo said, looking down at her feet for a second before lifting her head so that she was looking at he and Opera as she tacked on. "I do have questions though. But if you feel that you don't want to explain anything right this second, then that's fine."

Sullivan and Opera both blinked at her but slowly nodded their heads in understanding. Even though she had questions, she wasn't willing to force them to talk about something that could be considered painful or traumatic to them.

"You're very kind, Ichigo." Sullivan said with a warm smile. "But we will explain about the bodies that you found first."

"Alright." Ichigo said with a curt nod.

"To begin with, our laws are indeed vastly different from human and Soul Society law. And killing is often encouraged. Though Opera and I rarely indulge in such acts. We find it totally unnecessary and distasteful. But there are times when we have been known to...torture others for specific information and such. And only under certain circumstances."

"Sir, if I may?" Opera interrupted. Asking for permission to explain things a bit less vaguely. Sullivan nodded his head and did a hand motion to indicate that he may do as he pleased.

Opera turned his head to look at his lady and the others and then said, "The bodies that all of you found, were criminals here. Some of the worst of the worst. They were caught trying to take children from the school that Lord Sullivan and I often work at. Their intention was to hack them to pieces while they were still alive and sell their body parts in an underground meat market."

Ichigo flinched a little bit at the gruesome picture that his words painted in her mind.

Chad and Rukia both gasped in horror. And Mizuiro's hand found its way to Ichigo's, and he gave it a tight squeeze to indicate his distress but otherwise he stayed quiet.

"You do not realize it, my lady, but children here in the Netherworld are very rare. Mostly because the world and its environment are so harsh that children simply cannot survive here. It is why when children are born into this world, they become precious treasures and are coveted by all demon kind. However, some demons do not seem to understand that such treasures are to be carefully protected and nurtured until they are mature. Those demons...are often the ones who commit the most heinous of crimes against them."

"The corpses in the basement are some of those that captured the children and carved them up. Two of them even raped and devoured a couple of their victims while they were killing them. I was among some of the children that were taken. And you cannot fathom the horrors that I saw before escaping." Opera said.

His eyes burned with such hatred that Ichigo found herself stepping forward and wrapping her arms around him and hugging him tightly. Startling him into silence.

"That's enough, Opera. We get it." She said roughly.

"Yeah man, sorry for...uh, asking." Chad said weakly, his usually tan skin was looking paler than anyone had ever seen it before. Rukia was crying while Mizuiro held her.

Ichigo continued to hold onto Opera as she said, "We can't imagine what you saw. Nor understand just how terrifying it must have been for you. But...I'm so happy that you survived and got away from those people."

"I'm quite happy as well," Sullivan said, finally deciding to chime in again. "I found Opera shortly after his escape and took him in. I have kept him with me ever since. But since then, Opera and I have both done our best to make sure that such places are shut down and systematically wiped out. And anyone involved is either executed or imprisoned for their crimes."

"We understand." Mizuiro said as Rukia sniffled a few times and nodded her head.

"And if you ever need some help with that, please, let us know." Ichigo said fiercely as she slowly released Opera from her grasp and looked up at him with a kind smile as she added. "And we'll help you."

Opera stared down at her for a second before lifting his arms to hug her back and turning his head towards his master and asking, "Can I do the ceremony myself?"

"No." Sullivan replied with an amused laugh.

"Aww. Please sir?" Opera all but whined.

"No." Sullivan said more firmly, all traces of amusement gone as he glared at the security devil.

Opera heaved an aggrieved sigh and grumbled something rude underneath his breath that had Ichigo gasping. Though it was hard to tell whether it was from dismay or shock.

The ceremony that Sullivan had done on the both of them had done exactly what he had told them it would plus some extra little things that even the elderly demon hadn't thought of.

For instance, Ichigo and Mizuiro had both gone through some changes.

At first glance the changes were merely physical. But the more that Ichigo looked at her adopted son, the more she gradually became convinced that they went more than skin deep.

"Can I have a mirror or something, please?" She asked. Idly wondering just what sort of changes she had gone through.

She was a little bit worried that she may have gone through something similar to Mizuiro's own changes. Which weren't necessarily bad or anything. But if she had, she would certainly need to inform everyone back home and in Soul Society about them. If she didn't inform anyone of anything then it could cause trouble in the long run.

"Here, my lady." Opera said jovially, as he materialized at her side immediately. He was obviously very pleased about something. Maybe it was the fact that Mizuiro had a pair of kitty ears and a tail like his own now?

Ichigo carefully took the mirror from the security devil's hand and peeked at her reflection. Holy shit her hair was as black as a raven's wing. Her eyes were different now too. It would appear as if she had actually 'inherited' the Sullivan family's eyes.

Hers were magenta.

And as Opera had mentioned the night before- the color combination of her new hair and eye colors were very striking together. So much so that she couldn't stop gaping at her reflection for a few minutes. Then finally...she managed to look away and decided to bite the bullet and see what was going on, on top of her head.

Tilting the mirror a little bit, she saw... "Well hell." She muttered as soon as she saw that- yes, she had kitty ears just like Opera and Mizuiro now. Which also meant that she probably had a cat tail too.

Dropping her arm back to her side, Opera stepped up to her and gently removed the mirror from her grasp as he whispered to her, "You look very lovely, my lady."

"Thanks." She muttered before something occurred to her and she quickly shot out a hand to grab him before he could escape. "Opera, you seem to be pretty happy with Mizuiro and I getting kitty ears and tails. Care to tell me why?"

He stared at her wide eyed, the very picture of innocence and then smiled. "I have no idea what you're talking about, my lady. It is mere happenstance that you gained such things."

Crap, he had done something. She knew it because playing innocent was the same as a confession to her.

She let him go knowing that whatever he had done would be found out by Sullivan eventually. So, she'd just wait until he sorted things out. Until then...she supposed that she would simply have to get used to her new appearance.

Sullivan wasn't sure how to react to the cat ears and tail's that both his heir and Mizuiro were sporting now. On one hand, he wanted to be upset with Opera's interference. And on the other... Ichigo looked so cute that he wanted to squeal and take a ton of pictures of her for his newest scrap book.

And then there was the third option- of simply letting it go.

After all, the ceremony was complete, and both his heir and her son were a part of his family in a more permanent and bonded way now. Not only that but Opera had seen to it that the two would have an extra measure of protection that they wouldn't get from just Sullivan's magic alone.

And despite what he may think of that- no one in their right mind would ever try to mess with a Tet ranked demon's wards. Nor those under the protection of a Yod ranked demon either.

It was sheer madness and the equivalent of committing suicide.

And no demon was that stupid.

Sighing, he stared at Ichigo for a second or so longer, noting how she curiously kept examining herself and the changes that her physical appearance had undergone.

Truly, the new additions to her appearance suited her very well.