Needless to say, that after the long day that she'd had at her new school...Ichigo was reluctant to bother attending Babyls for a second day. Much less any of the days that would immediately follow after that.

And she made her displeasure known by being her typical moody self and locking herself away in her bedroom and refusing to socialize for the rest of that first day. Which...was typically understood by her biological family. But not so much for her new one.

The fact of the matter was her grandpa was saddened by the fact that she didn't want to come out of her room and spend time with him. She wasn't really sure what Opera thought since she didn't know him well. But she got the feeling that he silently disapproved of her locking herself away and was beginning to worry about both she and her grandpa.

And she felt bad about that, really she did.

But she was trying to figure out how to go through the rest of her days in the Netherworld without being noticed, getting into pointless and useless fights- not to mention trying to think of every conceivable way to avoid getting more 'servants'.

Honestly the entire rest of the day and night flew by with how furiously her mind was working to figure things out. So, when she realized that she had stayed up yet another night without sleep, she sighed and resigned herself to many, many future bouts of insomnia and sleeplessness and went about her routine.

She was a lot faster about it this morning than last thanks entirely to finding some newly cleaned and pressed school uniforms like her other one hanging on her bedroom doorknob outside. So, she was even able to dress for the day in clean clothing!

Say what one would, but Opera was awesome and super-efficient at his job.

Stepping out of her bedroom, she paused when she spotted both her grandpa and Opera standing just a few feet away from her bedroom looking as if they hadn't left the other side of her door all night.

She looked between the two quickly, noting that her grandpa was shaking ever so slightly, and his eyes were tearing up at the sight of her. Opera's cat ears were drooping a bit on his head and his manner was dejected.

Shaking her head at the two of them she stepped out of her room and closed the door quietly behind her so that she could walk over to the two demons and take a moment to wrap both of her arms around them.

Her grandpa started crying automatically and Opera was surprised by the affection that he was receiving given the way that his ears perked up and he gave her a startled look.

"Granddaughter! I thought that you hated me!"

"I don't hate you." She said as she gently patted her grandpa on the back in the hopes that he would calm down before his tears drowned them.

"When you wouldn't come out and even refused food, we weren't sure what was wrong." Opera explained quietly before tacking on sadly, "And we assumed that you no longer wished to be here with us."

"Yesterday was overwhelming," She said. "I just needed some time to process everything since I'm still adapting."

Her grandpa sniffled, "So, you really don't hate me?"

"No silly."

"Nor me?" Opera asked, giving her what must be the demon version of puppy dog eyes. Honestly, she had no idea how he managed to make his eyes look so cute and pitiful at the same time.

"No. I don't hate you either Opera." She said, unable to take the two believing such a thing so easily. She wasn't sure how to really make them believe otherwise. Except for one thing.

It was such a small thing, comforting someone in distress. And she'd been a pro at it thanks to all of the times she had spent comforting her baby sisters whenever they needed it. So, since she needed to comfort the two demons, and they didn't seem to really be hearing her- there was only one thing left to do.

She was embarrassed to say it, but she kissed the two of them on their cheek and after that, things went really, really still and uncomfortable for what felt like an eternity to Ichigo. But was probably more like a few heartbeats.

Her grandpa stopped crying instantly and Opera was giving her another startled look. And God, but her face burned with embarrassment.

Finally, that weird stillness seemed to abruptly disappear when her grandpa broke the awkwardness with a loud, "Ya-hoo! I got a kiss on the cheek! Did you see Opera? Ichigo gave me a kiss. It was so sweet!"

Opera didn't say anything, he merely stood there shivering as she excused herself so that she could escape while she hid her face behind her hands and tried not to say anything that would give her many, turbulent thoughts away right then.

She managed to get a little way down the hall before finally dropping her arms back to her sides and quietly huffing a small laugh. Her face was still burning, but it wasn't so bad now that she was away from the two demons. But she'd have to face them again over breakfast, so she needed to pull herself together fast.

A little while after that, she found herself seated across from her smiling grandpa at a long black wood table, being served tea and food by Opera. And for some ungodly reason, she couldn't stop looking from one to the other.

Her grandpa was so happy that had little flowers floating around his person. Which was...just plain nuts especially since that wasn't normal by any stretch of the imagination. And Opera...well, at first glance he seemed to have pulled himself together but upon taking a closer look, she could tell that he was still a bit shaky.

She knew this because the dishes in his hands clattered a bit when he was handing them out. But otherwise, he seemed fine. However, his shakiness left her wondering if maybe she had upset him or something.

She would have to ask/apologize before she ran off to school.

She ate her breakfast in silence despite the fact that many of the foods served had very questionable appearances to her. Not to mention the fact that some of it still moved.

Yet despite that, the food was actually pretty good. Everything was fixed perfectly. And she really didn't mind much that some of it was still moving. Food was food to her.

"Do you like the food, Ichigo?" Her grandpa finally asked her after she had had some of the main dish and was currently killing some large, runaway strawberries.

The damned things thought that they could escape from their fate as her food- and she was proving them to be mistaken by catching and stabbing them to death before cutting them up and eating them. She found the fact that they screamed and bled fruity blood a bit disconcerting. But it didn't stop her from cleaning her plate before finally deciding that she'd had enough for the time being.

"I-I do." She finally answered her grandpa's question. Though her voice was a bit weak and trembly due to the time that she'd spent murdering the strawberries.

"I'm so glad. I know that it takes some time to get used to if you aren't used to it."

She very much doubted that she would ever get used to strawberries running off of her plate and trying to escape being eaten. But it wasn't as if she could say that to her grandpa as it might offend both he and Opera.

So, she kept her mouth shut and simply smiled as Opera reached out and began to take her dishes away.

She was about to excuse herself to go on to school but was stopped when her grandpa said. "After what happened while you were at school yesterday, I was starting to really worry about you. Especially since you hadn't eaten anything at all for the past day or so."

"Four days." She corrected without thinking. Her grandpa and Opera both went completely still again, and she cringed. Already imagining what was going to happen now yet but was unable to stop it.

"Pardon, I don't think I heard you correct." Her grandpa said as he went through the motion of cleaning out his pointy ears so that he could hear her better.

She hated herself right then. Truly she did, but she still answered anyway. "It's been four days since I last ate anything. I had a lot of loose ends to wrap up in the human world before coming here, so I was too busy to take the time to eat something."

"Is that normal, Miss?" Opera asked, tilting his head as he studied her. Probably trying to gauge whether or not she was on death's door from starvation.

"It is for me. Especially if I'm working on something important."

The mirroring looks of horror on the demon's faces might have been comical under different circumstances. But wasn't right this moment. In fact, those looks were more concerning to her than she could put into mere words. Especially when the two exchanged a weird glance with one another.

To her it was almost as if they were speaking with one another telepathically. Normally she wouldn't mind such a thing since she knew that everyone communicated differently but for some reason, she minded it now.

"Hey! Wipe those looks off of your faces," She said, visibly bristling a bit. "I don't like whatever it is that you two are thinking!"

The two were quick to mask their expressions from her, which wasn't really much better than letting her see their expressions, but she supposed that this was the best that could be done for the time being as she abruptly stood up and excused herself to go on to school.

The two watched her walk out of the room before Opera said quietly, "Sir?"

"I know," Sullivan said with a soft sigh as he slumped over in his chair a little bit. "It's likely a habit from her time with the Soul Reapers."

Opera's expression shifted ever so minutely. And if Sullivan hadn't known the younger demon so well, then he wouldn't have been able to spot the change in him.

Opera was angry. Though Sullivan was aware that he wasn't angry with Ichigo.

It was rare for the younger demon to let his impassive facade drop and emotions to show through. So, to see even the slightest hint of anger from him meant that he was very, very upset and didn't care who knew it.

And Sullivan knew that if any Soul Reapers had been nearby, then Opera likely would have hunted them down specifically to do something malicious and terrible to them right then.

"I do not like that she has had to go without." Opera bit out from between sharp, white fangs. His voice taking on a growling quality that had Sullivan wondering just how attached to Ichigo the younger demon was becoming.

"Nor do I, friend." Sullivan said after a heartbeat or so of contemplative silence before tacking on carefully. "Thankfully, she's here with us now and we can take care of her."

Opera hummed and allowed his expression to slide back into impassiveness as Ichigo poked her head back into the room and called out for Opera.

The cat demon cast a glance at his master, silently seeking his permission to attend to his lady, and got it in the way of being waved off.

She was waiting for him by the door when Opera walked over to her.

"What is it my Lady wishes of me?" He asked, with a slight bow towards her. His red eyes, staring at her expectantly for several moments.

"I wanted to see if I had somehow offended you before when I kissed you on the cheek. I know that things are different here in the Netherworld and that was probably really, really bold and unexpected. And I was kind of worried."

He blinked at her, seemingly at a loss for words for a moment before finally saying, "You did not offend me, Miss. You merely caught me off guard."

"You were shaking." She pointed out in a doubt filled tone as she frowned at him. "Did I maybe make you uncomfortable or scare you?"

Opera merely studied her frown for a second, his fingertips itching to smooth the lines of worry from her face. "Ah, no Miss." He said softly.

"Are you sure?" She asked, worriedly.

Opera stared at her for a moment longer before leaning into her personal space a bit, "I'm sure."

"Alright," Ichigo said slowly. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I assure you, my lady, I am fine." He smiled at her, warmly as she decided that it was time to head off to school when he suddenly stopped her by saying. "Miss?"

"Hn? Yeah Opera."

"May I kiss you as you did to me before?"

"You mean on the cheek?" She asked him as she cocked her head.

"Yes." He said with a slight nod of his head, his ears twitching rapidly on his head.

"I don't see why not." Ichigo said after a moment of careful thought. After all, pecks on the cheek were pretty innocent compared to other things.

Opera's smile widened once she had given him permission, and he moved a step closer to her and reached out so that he could wrap his arms around her and hold her in place. And he leaned in to ghost his lips along the curve of her cheek as he let an audible purr escape his throat to show her how pleased he was.

Ichigo held herself completely still and let him do as he liked up until she felt his mouth next to her ear, a purr rumbling in his chest, and she started to get worried all over again.

This 'kiss' felt strangely less innocent that she had thought that it would be, and she suddenly felt as if he were trying to seduce her. Or maybe this was simply his version of a peck on the cheek? Honestly, she didn't know if she was right or not. She just felt as if something was off. Especially when she felt him begin to nuzzle her jaw, making her shiver in awareness as she stammered out.

"I-I've gotta g-go to s-school."

He took a deep breath and slowly released her from his grasp and stepped back, appearing completely unaffected by what he'd just done to her as she wasted no time in waving bye to him and running out the door.