Ichigo wished that she could say that she reacted to the information well. But...she didn't like the idea of lying through her teeth about something so insignificant.

Well, maybe insignificant was the wrong choice of words.

In actuality, she was pretty startled by the information that Az had given her about Opera's behavior. Especially since it had never even occurred to her that he was trying to court her.

Honestly, the information had come out of literally nowhere and rendered her incapable of thinking of anything but his actions while questions swirled through her mind.

Was this behavior her fault? Had she done something that she shouldn't have? And most importantly of all, how the hell had this happened in the first place?! She didn't know any of the answers, so she wasn't sure about anything anymore.

She did know that she remained in stupefied silence for the rest of the time that they were at school though.

And once the final bell of the day rang, Opera collected her and her book bag and then ushered her out of the room, but not before warning everyone there that they were to return to the teacher's lounge again tomorrow to pick up where they left off.

Ichigo was sure that he warned the teachers about running. Because everyone had reached a whole new level of utterly terrified by the time that he pulled her out the door.

After that, Ichigo didn't recall anything about getting home. But she knew that she was there.

What she did know, was that she was escorted to her room and then safely shut inside of it to lie down for a while and rest. Opera even made a point of tucking her in as if she were a baby. And then once he was sure that she was sleeping, he left her alone.

The second that Opera was sure that his mistress was resting, he gently shut the door to her room and then turned to go and find his master.

He was curious to know how far Sullivan had gotten on his end of the preparations. Though he was already sure that it wasn't very far.

Like earlier that morning, he found his master in the study, pouring over files. Likely trying to narrow down the search for Ichigo's partner. And from the way he looked like he was about to have an apoplectic fit- he wasn't finding any suitable candidates.

Opera wished that he could say that he felt badly for his master over that, but it would be a lie. In actuality, he had thought that something like this would happen and had decided ahead of time to begin courting his mistress for the sake of her future wellbeing and happiness. As well as her grandfather's.

He also rather liked the idea of managing to pull off an impossible feat and winning his mistress's heart. The idea of having a family at his age wasn't as foreign to him other's might believe. He had thought about such things off and on since he was still just a student at Babyls.

And because of that he had thought long and hard about the type of demoness that he had wanted to meet. He wasn't saddened or disappointed in the least with his mistress being part human. Nor about her being part Soul Reaper either. Despite his dislike of them for their treatment of his mistress.

Quite the contrary, he probably would have been more disappointed if she hadn't been somewhat abnormal herself. But he wasn't for sure.

Besides, there were other things that he liked about her. It wasn't just her warmth or her kindness- though those were definately a mark in her favor. And he wasn't so shallow as to go for someone based on their appearance alone either.

But he liked his mistress's look.

There was a certain softness and charm to her that so many demoness's lacked. She wasn't frail or fragile because of it though. And then there was her strength and combat ability...

Those were really something too.

It was no easy feat for someone to keep up with his strength in a spar. Especially for hours without stopping, pausing or rest of any kind. Yet she had done so easily.

Couple that with the knowledge that he had from seeing many of her exploits in the human world from watching her with his master over the years and he was well aware of the fact that she had been holding back on him. It didn't bother him though since he'd had a pretty good chance to assess her ability during the spar.

He had known that she would make a fine wife before then, but their spar had simply seemed to cement the thought into his head. He had made his choice, and he would not settle for less.

He would have her or no one else.

"Sir, I have returned." He said to announce his presence.

His master jerked himself up from his slouching position and looked at him in alarm. "Ah, Opera. How did bodyguard duty go?"

"It went smoothly. Mistress Ichigo is currently resting after the long day that she's had."

He didn't feel that his master needed to know just how stressed the girl had been all day. It would only cause more concern for him. And he needed his master to be able to focus.

Sullivan nodded his head, his expression shifting into something akin to sympathy before he suddenly said. "Opera, I think that we're in trouble here-"

Opera's ears twitched, and he tilted his head and said questioningly. "Oh? How so?"

"I don't trust any of these potential candidates to help or adequately care of Ichigo during her cycle. All of them are simply too young and inexperienced. Mistakes would be made- They could hurt her!" Sullivan rambled in a panicked tone.

Opera listened to him carefully, already knowing that his master would hit a wall with the potential partners. After all, his master had ridiculously high standards when it came to his granddaughter. So, it was only natural that this would happen.

"Sir, if I may," He started, catching his master's attention just long enough to see that the elderly demon was dangerously close to crying. "I thought that something like this would happen and have already begun to court Mistress Ichigo."

"Huh?" Sullivan said unintelligibly, uncertain if he had heard his security devil right.

Did he just say that he had begun to court his granddaughter? As in Opera was attempting to win his Ichigo over?

"Opera...w-why would you-" Sullivan was barely able to articulate what he was thinking right then. He couldn't fathom what was going through the younger demon's mind. But he knew that Opera would do absolutely anything to protect he and his granddaughter.

Even if it meant going to unbelievable extremes to do it.

"Opera, please explain your reasons for doing such a thing." Sullivan said in a serious tone as he laced his fingers together and rested his chin on them while staring the cat demon down.

"I have long thought of you as my family," Opera began. "Despite the lack of blood ties between us. You are a person that I greatly admire and care for. Mistress Ichigo is similar to me. Someone to admire, care for, and protect. However, there are other reasons for my decision to court her."

"The first is the fact that I understand your reservations about letting a stranger close to her. A demoness's cycle is a sacred thing. The one time in many years that is meant to establish deeper bonds and ties. It is a time of joy and can lead to precious offspring if it is done right. But it can also be a time or pain and misery if the wrong partner is chosen."

"I do not wish Mistress Ichigo to be hurt any more than you do. I have experience with helping others through their cycle. And while I have no offspring, I often think about what could be. I wish to see your granddaughter through this. But I also wish to take her as my wife."

"I understand that allowing her to partner with a lowly servant or even marry one can cause scandal for you both but... Can you think of anyone else but yourself that would care for her more? I would protect her with my life. And love and cherish her as she deserves?"

Sullivan looked at Opera wide eyed in stunned shock.

He had been aware on some level that the younger demon thought of them as family, sure. But not the other stuff. This was...eye opening on so many levels. To think that his security devil would care so much!

He felt honored as well as flattered. But wasn't sure about how to respond to Opera's feelings even though he had a better understanding of them now.

Finally, after several moments of silence, Sullivan said. "I do not mind you courting Ichigo, Opera. I know that you would take care of her. And I wouldn't also mind if you married her. You may be my servant, but I would be very proud to call you my kin regardless of what anyone else thought or believed."

"Then... I have your permission?"

"Yes." Sullivan said with a faint hint of a smile curving him lips. "I wish you luck. My granddaughter will not be an easy girl to capture."

"I know. And I relish the challenge." Opera said as he bowed to him respectfully before then asking, "How is everything else going?"

Sullivan burst into tears and Opera sighed.

To her knowledge, she slept an exhausted sleep all night. Her mind finally shutting down completely from all of the stress and excitement from the day and she only woke up the next morning when someone came into her room to check on her.

At first, she thought it might be one of her sisters or her dad. But when she cracked her eyes open to see Opera sitting on the edge of her bed looking worried, she decided that it was time to get up.

Pushing herself upright, slowly, she shrugged her shoulders a bit to get the blanket to fall away and asked what time it was.

Opera was still looking worried, but quickly answered her that it was an hour before her usual wake up time. And then explained that he had come to check on her periodically since the evening before but hadn't been able to wake her up. Which meant that she had missed dinner yesterday. Though he seemed more concerned for her right then than upset that she'd missed yet another meal.

Sighing, she nodded her head and muttered something to him to reassure him that she was getting up. She needed to use the bathroom anyway since her bladder was full to the point of bursting. But he didn't need to know that any.

She pushed the covers back a bit more to free up her legs and took a few seconds to crawl to the edge of her way-too-big bed and was about to go and use the bathroom when she felt his hand on her arm, stopping her.

She looked at him and he seemed to be wrestling with something internally for several heartbeats before finally asking, "Have I upset you in some way?"

She blinked at him, wondering why he was asking her that.

It was such a ridiculous and silly question in the grand scheme of things. Sure, she had plenty of things that had been upsetting her lately. But she understood some things more than others while she was simply left to flounder the rest of the time and learn things the hard way. By either doing or experiencing.

It wasn't the way to do a lot of things. But she was used to the difficulties of random learning in such ways.

"Why would I be upset with you?" She asked, wondering what was going through his mind.

Opera looked everywhere but at her for a second as he tried to choose his words carefully before slowly saying, "I know that there is still much about the Netherworld and demon kind that can be very overwhelming to you... But even so- I can't help but wonder if perhaps I've crossed a line somehow with my behavior yesterday."

Ichigo studied him for a second and then sat back down. Her pressing need to use the bathroom would have to wait just a little bit longer it seemed.

"Did you kill anyone?" She asked, feeling that she should ask this question since she had slept a full night and had no fucking clue what he'd done with himself during that time. So, to her- it was relevant.

"I did not."

"Did you do to more people what you did to half of the teachers at school?"

Again, it was a relevant question.

"I did not."

"Good. As long as you don't brutally murder anyone or seriously injure or maim them then do whatever you want."

Opera perked up at hearing this, any worry that he had been feeling appeared to have vanished as if it were nothing at all and he looked at her. "You do not mind?" He questioned, almost quizzically.

"No. I don't mind." She said honestly as she shifted herself on the bed a little bit. "If you like me enough to try courting me then I can't really be upset. I mean it isn't as if I'm used to such attention from others. The fact of the matter is that I barely register things like romantic attraction and things like that. So, when someone does want to get close to me that way, I'm completely shocked and baffled by it. I'm not really sure what you find about me that's all that appealing to be honest."

Opera looked at her wide eyed for a few moments before sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose between clawed fingertips. He looked exasperated to her. As if he couldn't fathom what she meant about not knowing about her appeal to him.

Does she not realize just how precious, and exquisite she truly is? Opera wondered as she suddenly climbed off of the bed and ran to the bathroom and slammed the door shut behind her.

He hummed, thinking how cute it was that she was so awkward and shy at times as he got up and walked over to her closet to follow through with his next phase of courtship.

For this, he would have to make sure that she didn't wear one of her uniforms today.

Which meant that all of her uniforms, and anything remotely pants-like would have to temporarily disappear for the time being. And that meant that the only thing that she would be able to wear for the day is a dress.

Sure, he already knew that she had an extreme dislike of the things. But he was hoping that the one that he had gotten for her as a courtship gift would appeal to her since it was a lovely floor length red silk dress with a modest neckline, and elbow length sleeves that would hide many of the scars on her body. He had even gotten her delicate black lace gloves, a matching choker with a red gemstone pendant in the center and a pair of small, heeled shoes to finish the whole ensemble.

She would look lovely in them, he knew. But getting her to wear them would be the trick. Thankfully, he was more than up to the task.