To say that Asmodeus was both disappointed and upset about being prevented from walking his master to school this morning would be an understatement. But there was little that he could do about it while trapped.
What could be the reason for these feelings, you ask?
It was simple, really.
His mother had finally somehow gotten wind of his defeat at the hands of his master- via David, of course. And had wanted a word or two...or a million- with him about the subject.
Now don't get him wrong, his mother didn't care that he had sworn himself to his master's service. Nor that he had managed to land himself a master to even begin with. Those things weren't the problem.
She had simply wanted to know what sort of person he was associating with.
After all, he was the only child of the Asmodeus family, and son of one of the thirteen crowns. And there was a certain amount of prestige that was attached to his name. Which was why he had to be careful about whom he decided to take up with.
So, it was only natural that his mother would have questions about his master since he still hadn't managed to invite his master Ichigo over to his home for tea or dinner just yet so that someone, either his mother or David, could meet her.
To an extent Asmodeus could understand his mother's concerns. Truely he could. After all, he would be very curious as well if he had a child with a master of their own.
However, there should be a limit to the extent in which a parent could intervein in their child's life.
For instance, his mother could have waited until he was home from school for the day before ambushing him and wanting to interrogate him while taking him to school.
But since the dratted woman didn't have much patience and was in the house at the same time, he was...then she had simply decided to grab him, while David went to pull the family carriage around, and held him hostage after locking the two of them inside of it so that she could speak with him as long as she pleased.
And when he tried to run away, she stopped him cold by telling him that she could always just drop by his master's home unannounced and see her for herself.
Asmodeus wasn't going to lie and say that that particular comment from his mother hadn't had him sweating bullets. He couldn't help it though, that was one hell of a scary thought.
And knowing his mother and his master both, one or even the both of them would wind up being violently thrashed within an inch of their lives. Which was a scary thought to since he liked his master way more than he liked his mother.
Actually, now that he had enough time to think things over, maybe he should have encouraged his mother to visit his master unannounced.
After all, his mother often whined about him not supporting her in any of her endeavors. So, he could stand to be a good son for once, right? Honestly, he was more than a tad bit tempted to smile at his mother and tell her to go ahead.
However as nice as the thought of having his master beat his mother black and blue was, he somehow managed to refrain from saying anything. Though from the scowl his mother suddenly gave him; he would bet that his expression had betrayed his rude thoughts to her.
"Wipe that look off of your face Alice." She said in annoyance before saying arrogantly. "I very much doubt that your master could take me in a fight."
He did something in reaction to her sentence.
He wasn't sure if he smiled at her just a bit too innocently or if he gave a vicious, fanged grin.
Either way, he doubted that whatever he did was what his mother had wanted since her scowl hadn't let up any. In fact, his face had probably betrayed his thoughts again because the look that she was giving him now was so severe that the dratted woman was bound to give herself wrinkles from it.
"Come on, Alice. Tell me about your master, already." His mom said coaxingly as she leaned over and lightly poked him in the cheek. Her voice was dripping with the same false sweetness that she used to deceive others.
And Az merely thinned his lips and glared at his mother mutinously as he thought. I will tell this woman nothing about my master. He would die before betraying her!
His mother huffed after a moment or so of silence and then tried whining. "Alice! Tell mommy about your master."
Az merely bit the inside of his cheek and turned his head to stare at the door of the carriage, trying to see how much longer he had before he could escape his mother's diabolical clutches. But since he couldn't see anything beyond the sky, he had no idea how much time he had- until David called out from the front of the carriage that they were at Babyls.
The moment that Az heard David, he quickly flung himself out of the nearest door and yelled, "Master is prettier than you are!" To his startled mother before running through the school gate and disappearing.
"What do I have to look forward to today?" Ichigo asked reluctantly as Opera led her through the school halls with one of her hands tucked into the crook of his arm.
"While you slept last night, I made some calls and pulled some strings to change the teacher's lounge into something more suitable for you to spend your day in. I have also acquired more people to help me guard you at your grandfather's request."
Ichigo couldn't imagine what Opera felt was more 'suitable' for her as far as the teacher's lounge went, but after the previous day's events, she would bet that his ideas were just as nerve-racking as a throne made of her unconscious teachers.
But she didn't bother saying that aloud since Opera seemed very proud of himself. So, she would just have to wait and see what he had done.
They were just about to turn a corner when she heard Clara scream/shout her name as she came barreling out of nowhere, towards her.
Opera quickly released his hold on her so that he could push her behind him and braced himself to catch the green haired girl, but Ichigo stepped a bit to the side of him. And since his back was to her, he couldn't see her do so. Nor did he see her open her arms to encourage Clara to come to her.
But she did knowing full well that barely a second later Clara would be slamming into her hard enough to almost bowl her over.
Ichigo wrapped her arms around the smaller girl and huffed a laugh at Clara's childish excitement.
"Well, hello there. How are you doing today?" She asked the other girl in greeting as she gave her a small squeeze. Opera had turned around by then and was staring at them with a strangely vexed/curious look on his face.
"Miss? Who is this?" He asked as he moved a bit closer to them, likely so that he could see Clara a little bit better since the smaller girl's face was pressed against her stomach.
"This is Clara," Ichigo said absently as she began to pet the happy girl's hair. "She, Az, and I were playing the other day."
"I missed Ichi-ken!" Clara finally said, loudly. Ichigo saw Opera's tail fur stand on end a bit from the volume of Clara's voice. "You said that you would play with me again, but then you didn't show up. I was worried that you got eaten by a carnivorous plant!"
Ichigo merely blinked down at the girl as she mentally wondered, Carnivorous plant? Why would I be eaten by one of them? To her knowledge she hadn't gotten near anything remotely like a Venus fly trap. Let alone a plant big enough to eat a person like her.
"Why would you think that the young Miss would be eaten by such a thing?" She heard Opera ask.
"Because Azz-Azz wouldn't tell me where you were. Every time I asked him something he just hummed or said, uh-huh. As if that answered anything! So, I finally asked him if you'd been eaten by a carnivorous plant, and he said yes and then walked away!"
Ah, so Clara's assumption is Az's fault. Ichigo thought as she petted the girl's hair a bit more while Opera blinked at the girl. Seemingly perplexed by her weird thoughts.
"Well, as you can see, I'm alive and well."
"Yes! We can play now!" Clara said as she suddenly released Ichigo from her hug and then grabbed her hand and started to drag her off... But was stopped when Opera wound an arm around Ichigo's waist and refused to let her go.
"Hey! Let go!"
"No. The young Miss will not be playing with you today. She has somewhere to be." Opera said, though not unkindly. Ichigo merely let out a breath from between her teeth, making a hissing sound as she did so. Causing both Opera and Clara to look at her as she then clapped her hands and suggested.
"Opera, if I can't play with Clara outside then at least let me do so in the teacher's lounge where you can see that nothing dangerous is being done."
Opera was quiet for a few moments before slowly letting go of her and saying. "Very well. If you're...Clara wishes to play, then it will be done there."
"Yay!" Clara cheered.
"Yay," Ichigo echoed as she gave Opera a sweet smile that had his eyes widening a bit and his face flushing as he averted his eyes from her in an effort to hide it. "Now all we need is Az and the three of us can play together."
"Leave finding Azz-Azz to me!" Clara said excitedly before quickly bolting back the way that she had come before Ichigo could even stop her.
Once Clara was gone, Ichigo let out a small sigh as she shook her head as Opera stood next to her quietly for a heartbeat or so before then offering her his arm again. She took it and allowed him to settle her hand in the crook of his arm again before he started to lead her away.
"Worry not Miss, all will be fine." He said as he patted her hand gently.
"I know. But I can't help but worry that she'll get lost or something." Ichigo muttered. Opera merely hummed as they walked.
Weirdly, Clara and Az were both at the teacher's lounge before the two of them could even reach it. In fact, they were waiting on her and Opera to show up.
Clara was fairly vibrating where she stood. And Az...looked as if he'd just run a marathon.
"Ichi-ken! Look what I found!" Clara said as she indicated to Az.
"M-Master! Good morning!" Az said as he took in her appearance and blushed when she smiled at him and said hello. Az covered his face with both of his hands and mentally did a fan-girl shriek.
His master looked so beautiful in her red silk dress! And her hair!
It was styled in tasteful curls and whisps that framed her face. She was definitely much prettier than his mother. Especially while dressed up like this.
Opera studied Asmodeus for several seconds, still not exactly pleased that the boy was so close to his Mistress at the moment. But decided that since he would be overseeing their play that it shouldn't matter overly much. After all, if his Mistress didn't see the boy as a threat of any kind then he likely wasn't.
Opera trusted his Mistress's instincts when it came to other people. But he also trusted his own. And the Asmodeus boy was definitely a threat to him. He just wasn't sure how.
Making an inaudible sound in the back of his throat, Opera reached out and pulled the door to the teacher's lounge open and smirked at what he saw.
The room had undergone a total transformation thanks to his efforts the evening before. He wasn't really sure how the others had managed to make the room so very...cozy for his Mistress, but he was immensely pleased by the results just the same.
"Miss, you should go first to see if the changes to the room are to your liking." He said, as he held the door open a bit wider for her.
Ichigo looked at him and then at Az and got a sweeping hand motion from her friend, indicating that she should do as Opera had suggested. So, she took a deep breath- hoping to calm the sudden feeling of dread that she had in the pit of her stomach- and then stepped up to the door.
"Oh wow." She said as she stared inside of the room. What had been a regular- if lavishly furnished- teacher's lounge the day before had changed to a lavishly furnished...throne room?
Her teachers were once again in a big pile, though this time they all seemed to be totally conscious. If the vague sounds of occasional muttering and cursing was anything to go by.
However, they didn't seem to be making up her seat entirely this time. No... they were the decorations that wound around her new throne.
Not only that but there was a canopy of red silk above her throne with matching curtains that were tied back. Large vases of flowers rested on sturdy wooden tables on both sides of the curtains. There was a red carpet leading up to her throne covered in flower petals too. As well as a very large, muscled person with long white hair and a metal mask covering the lower part of his face.
He was sitting on his heels next to the throne, wearing a deep red shirt, and a spiked leather collar with a thick chain attached to it.
She was both horrified and intrigued by the sight of him.
But only because she wasn't sure where he had come from or if Opera had kidnapped some poor random person from the streets somewhere and brought them here.
She was about to turn her head and ask Opera who the guy was- and if he was currently being reported missing by a family member- when she caught sight of what looked like a long table that had a buffet of food laid out on it. She also noticed that there was a large piano across the room from her throne too.
She wasn't sure what it was doing there, but she could hazard a pretty accurate guess.
"What do you think? Is it cozy enough?" Opera asked her curiously.
She hummed, already knowing that anything that she said one way or the other about the changes could and would be used against her in some way by the cat demon. So, she simply said, "I-It's so...pretty?"
Opera seemed pleased by her response by the way that his face lit up with happiness as he then gently settled a hand on the small of her back and guided her into the room so that she could sit on her new throne while Az and Clara both stepped through the door after them and gawked at everything in startled disbelief.
Upon reaching her throne, Opera took her bag from her and gently pushed her down so that she was sitting in it. Which is when she happened to look over and meet the dark eyes of the giant guy with the mask.
Up close, the guy looked as if his mask were actually a muzzle. Which was terrifying in its own way. But Ichigo had never really been the kind of person to judge a person by their appearance- no matter how scary it was.
And she wasn't going to start now.
"Uh...Opera, I have a weird question." She said, unable to look away from Mask Guy, as she had dubbed him in her mind.
Opera knelt at her feet just as he had done the day before, already preparing to do whatever she asked of him. She took this as a sign to go ahead and ask him her question, "Y-You didn't kidnap this guy from anywhere, did you?" She pointed to Mask Guy as she asked, so that Opera would know who she was talking about.
A quiet laugh was the response that she got from the cat demon, who seemed very amused by her totally valid question before Opera explained, "Remember earlier when I said that I had acquired another guard for you?"
"Yes. I remember." She said, still unable to look away from Mask Guy- she wasn't sure why. But at this point she was basically having a staring contest with him. He wasn't blinking and neither was she.
"The man next to you is named Shichiro Balam. And he is not only a teacher here at Babyls but has also volunteered to be your faithful puppy and guard."
Ichigo did blink then. She also turned her head to look at Opera with a frown as his words slowly sank in.
"He volunteered for this?"
"Yes." Opera said with a fanged grin.
She turned her eyes back to Mask Guy- er, Shichiro and looked him over for a second or so longer before then leaning over the arm of her chair a bit and asking him in a whisper tone, "You volunteered for this? Seriously?"
"I'm too heavy to hang up as a decoration like the others." Shichiro replied, startling her.
The sound of his voice made her jump a bit because his voice was so similar to her friend, Chad's. It was soft, gentle, yet had a certain...command or authority to it that made others want to listen to it.
"Fair enough." She said after a few moments of thought.
"Does this please you, Miss?" Opera asked after a second or so. It was on the tip of Ichigo's tongue to point out that she already had one faithful puppy- Az. But she didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings here since this was obviously another courtship thing.
"Uh, sure." She said, Opera beamed at her. Though Shichiro cast a strange look her way that made her feel a bit like squirming.
It was about then that she realized that it was too quiet. And that wasn't natural. Especially while Clara and Az were both around. Slowly getting up from her throne, she started walking towards the door, but paused when she caught sight of Clara over by the food buffet...swimming in what looked like melted chocolate while Az stood there panicking.
Oh good. Ichigo thought as she watched the two closely. This was more like what she had been somewhat expecting from the two as Clara caught sight of her and popped up from the chocolate like a gopher. Splashing the melted liquid everywhere within close proximity to her.
Az made a weird little sound of dismay as he got splashed. Whereas Ichigo had somewhat been expecting something like this to happen and had wisely stayed back a bit to avoid her dress being ruined.
"Ichi-ken! Look, I'm swimming!"
Ichigo chuckled at the girl's antics. "I can see that. Are you having fun?"
"Yeah!"
"Alright then. I'll let you swim as much as you like."
"Okay!" Clara chirped before going back to her swimming.
Ichigo merely shook her head, inwardly laughing as she compared Clara to Orihime again. The two were so frigging similar that they could be siblings.
"Uh, master?" Az suddenly said, causing her prior amusement to fade a bit as she looked at him. He had such a somber look on his face that she couldn't help but wonder what was on his mind.
"What's up, Az?"
"I-I would like to speak with you about something if I may."
"Sure, what's on your mind?"
"Well, first of all- I wanted to speak with you about the possibility of being trained in combat as you are," He said. She was a heartbeat from saying hell no because she wanted him to live to see another year. But stopped herself from saying anything as he kept speaking. "I wish to be stronger...so that I may be of more use to you in the future. To better protect you and the things precious to you. That is why I wish to train under your master or tutor."
She remained quiet for several heartbeats before coming to a decision.
Az couldn't train under Kisuke, or the others. It simply wasn't possible. Nor was it very safe for him either. But if he wanted to learn from someone...then maybe he'd be okay with learning from her.
"You really want to learn to fight like me?"
"Yes! Very much." Az said, looking hopeful.
"Alright..."
"Really? You can put me into contact-"
She held her hands up to quiet him before he could finish his sentence. "The ones who taught me aren't exactly the greatest when it comes to patience. The expect results otherwise you die. I won't tolerate you learning anything like that. So, if you really want to learn how to fight like I do- then I'll train you."
Az looked totally dumbstruck for a moment before suddenly shouting, "Really? You'll really teach me?!"
"Yes," She said seriously. "We'll start during the weekend, if you're okay with that."
"Are you kidding? I would love that!" He said excitedly as she started walking again. Az followed her, chattering away animatedly about the upcoming weekend and how fun it was going to be.
After that, she spent some time sitting on her throne a bit more, speaking with Shuichiro about what subject he taught and then moving around the room restlessly.
Her stomach had started to cramp a few hours ago, indicating that her period was on the verge of starting in earnest. And though this didn't really bother her all that much since most of the time the cramps were tolerable. But from time to time a particularly painful one would catch her by surprise.
The painful ones tended to double her over depending on whether or not she was feeling as if someone had punched a hole in her and was slowly shredding her insides.
At one point she even sat down at the piano and began to play it in order to occupy herself. But no matter what she did, she couldn't stop the odd sensation within her that felt as if dam was bursting.
After that, she finally couldn't take it anymore. She could almost feel something wet trickling down one of her legs and inwardly cringed because she had no choice but to go to the restroom now. Especially if she didn't want to bleed through her dress.
Opera watched her like hawk as she grabbed her fresh pad from her bag, his expression impassive though his tail twitching behind him certainly gave his thoughts away. But then he wasn't the only one that had been watching her worriedly.
Az was to. And so was Shichiro.
She politely excused herself from the room and disappeared. Though she didn't get very far before Opera decided to join her.
If she found it odd that he wanted to walk her to the bathroom, she didn't say anything. Yet that is exactly what he did. While he was waiting outside of the girl's restroom for her to finish up her business.
Ichigo found a stall on the far side of the girl's restroom and slipped inside. After which she spent a couple of minutes just trying to get her skirt and everything under it out of the way so that she could change her pad out.
It took some doing but once she finally managed it, she was happy to say that that wet feeling hadn't actually been blood. Though there was considerably more of it on her pad than there had been when she had left home that morning. Sighing in relief, she finished using the bathroom and then once her dress was back in place, she went to wash her hands.
Once she finished washing and drying her hands, she stepped out of the restroom to find Opera standing there looking at her strangely.
"What?" She asked in a defensive tone.
"It's begun, hasn't it?"
She wasn't going to answer that question given how embarrassed she was feeling right then. She moved to go back to the teacher's lounge but squeaked when Opera pressed the palm of one of his hands against one of her cheeks.
"Hey, what-"
"Your face has been flushed for more than an hour now. And you've been wandering around the room restlessly."
"So, I'm restless. So, sue me."
"You're warmer than normal."
"That happens when one's temperature spikes." She said as she frowned at him. He was acting so weird!
"I need to get you home. Now." Opera said as he slowly dropped his hand from her face. His expression was grim, his eyes calculating as they swept the area around them for any hint of unknown danger.
Ichigo merely lifted her hands to massage her temples for a second. Completely missing the way that Opera suddenly began to crowd her, one of his arms slipping around her shoulders so that he could maneuver her back to the teacher's lounge to tell her grandfather that her cycle had finally begun.