The moment that they returned to the teacher's lounge Ichigo found herself quickly being handed over to Shichiro and gently placed into the confused man's lap. While Opera leaned over and whispered something into the giant demon's ear before he then pulled back to go and inform her grandpa that he was taking her home. Immediately.

And once he was gone, Shichiro looked down at her as if she were a bomb that was about to go off in his face. It was probably one of the most interesting and insulting looks that Ichigo had ever had cast her way before.

"Is everything okay?" She asked, idly wondering what it was that Opera had whispered to him.

"I think that I should be asking you that." Shichiro replied as he sort of hunched his massive shoulders so that he was leaning over her a bit. His head just barely brushing the top of hers as he adjusted himself so that he was basically wrapped around her without actually being wrapped around her and then asking her, "Are you in any pain? Discomfort?"

"No. But I am feeling just a tad overly warm." She said honestly knowing that her body temperature was already beginning to rise.

It was normal to her to run a bit of a fever of a hundred degrees or so. But given the fact that her period seemed to set off weirdness from the people around her- she decided to keep certain information to herself from now on if she could help it.

The giant demon hummed and gave her a somewhat sympathetic look before seeming to spot something that he disliked. It took her a second to turn her head and see what had him going completely stiff and still, his very manner shifting from relaxed to on guard in an instant when he spotted Az heading their way.

She opened her mouth to call out to Az but was too late since a very loud and utterly menacing growl escaped the large demon's throat. The volume of it not only elicited a jump of surprise from her, but from Az as well since he came to a very abrupt stop and looked more than a tad bit confused about why the man had just growled at him.

Az floundered for several seconds but then seemed to realize that something was wrong, and quickly shifted gears from whatever he had been wanting before to ask her in a vaguely panicked tone, "Master what's wrong?"

Ichigo wished that she had an answer for him.

But given the fact that people tended to act as if her period were some bizarre version of an extinction level event- she was reluctant to speak even in response to his question.

Thankfully, or not, depending on who one asked...Clara decided to finally climb out of her chocolate pool and join them. And apparently, she was also aware of what was going on given the way that she sauntered over to and then waved at Az to lean down so that she could whisper in his ear.

Az's reaction was one of both deep concern as well as horror. Both of which he managed to convey quite loudly when he shouted, "What?! What do you mean Master has begun her reproductive cycle?"

Ichigo could swear that there must be something terribly wrong with the entirety of the demon race after that. After all, one didn't go around blurting such things out at such volumes. Especially at a school.

It was not only rude but mortifying to her.

So much so that she actually turned to Shichiro and asked him, "Can you just kill me now?" Causing the giant's face to actually blanch as white as his hair and quickly assure her that he would be doing no such thing. And neither would anyone else either.

It wasn't what she wanted to hear right then so she merely huffed and crossed her arms and pouted a bit while Az tried desperately to get a grip on himself. And while he was trying to do that, Opera finally returned with her grandpa in tow.

The second that her grandpa saw her, his eyes teared up and she stopped pouting because it was alarming to her to see her grandpa cry at a time like this.

"Ichigo dear, are you okay?" Her grandpa asked her worriedly once he reached her. He even bent down a bit so that they were eye to eye as he spoke.

"I'm fine, grandpa. Just...really wanting to go home right now." She said as Shichiro chimed in with,

"She said that she was feeling a bit overly warm a few minutes ago."

Ichigo tipped her head back to glare at her 'guard' and muttered, "Traitor." As her grandpa reached out and carefully took her from the giant's lap and lifted her up so that she was held tightly against the elder demon's chest in a hug.

She didn't recall much after that. Not because she wasn't trying to pay attention, but because everything that happened after that happened so fast that her head literally spun from it.

There were some things that she was acutely aware of though.

A strong sudden wind blowing her hair into her face. The colors green and blue spinning and mixing together in a way that hurt her head and eyes just seeing it. And then after an unknown amount of time, there was nauseating lurch in her stomach that came from descending from somewhere high up.

After that, all she could recall was being set on her feet and immediately falling to her knees while trying to push the nausea and pain in her head aside. She was only somewhat aware of the fact that both her grandpa and Opera called out to her with panicked tones.

"Miss!"

"Ichigo! Are you alright?"

Finally, she was able to shove her discomfort aside and raised her head so that she could respond to their frightened questions. "I-I'm fine. Just a bit dizzy..." After that, she gave herself another minute or so before she moved to stand up. She felt a little off balance upon standing, but it was nothing that she couldn't deal with.

And of course, both her grandpa and Opera used her balance being questionable to help her inside since they were home.

The second that they were through the door, Ichigo wasted absolutely no time at all shedding her dress. She was only vaguely aware of apologizing to Opera before stripping it off and leaving it laying in the floor as she walked away, uncaring of the fact that she had just stripped right in front of two male demons.

Sullivan gaped at Ichigo is shocked disbelief as she dropped her dress to the floor and stepped out of the pool or red silk at her feet in nothing but her panties and bra before she started walking away from them.

He only managed to make a strained sound while slowly turning his head to look at Opera to gauge his reaction to her lack of inhibition.

But all he got from the younger demon was a surprised sounding, "Oh my, she is quite out of it."

"Out of it would be an understatement." Sullivan managed to croak out, "Isn't she self-conscious of her scars?"

Opera blinked at the mention of her scars. To be honest, he hadn't really been paying much attention to the old wounds that his mistress sported. He had been much more distracted by the fact that she had the body of a goddess of war.

Every inch of her lightly tanned skin, despite much of it being littered with terrible, puckered and in some places disfiguring scars, was utter perfection to him. If anything, her scars only made his mistress that much more appealing given the fact that it was evidence that she was battle tested.

"Opera?" Sullivan said questioningly once he realized that his companion seemed to be lost in his thoughts.

"I should go and tend to my Mistress." Opera said as he bent down and quickly collected Ichigo's discarded dress and then went to see where she had run off to.

Meanwhile back at Babyls-

Az couldn't move. He couldn't even think!

He was having trouble digesting the news that his master- his sweet, kind, and utterly wonderful master- was beginning her reproductive cycle. But from the way that the white-haired giant of a demon had growled at him before... Not to mention both Opera's and the principal's behavior towards his master- then it was true.

Which was probably the cause of his current deeply rooted fear and panic.

He needed to protect his master. He had to, he had to, he had to!

But despite his desire and instinct to do so, he was helpless to even take a step towards his master when she, her grandfather and Opera all disappeared out of the window.

Each of them on their way back to their home where his master would be placed under lock and key until her cycle was over. While her grandfather and Opera protected her from the demons that were likely to attack them for the chance of gaining a mate and even one or more powerful ally's.

He was still freaking out when he felt a small hand smack him. The sting of it bringing him back to his senses so that he could turn his head to stare at the one who had dared to strike him.

It was Clara who had smacked him, and caused his face to hurt. He knew that he shouldn't have been surprised by this fact, but for some reason he was. Maybe a bit too much given the look of utter disbelief on his face.

"Clara! W-Why did you-" He started to ask her just what the hell she had hit him for, but he didn't get very far before she cut him off.

"Ichi-ken is probably really scared right now and needs comforting. So, we should go and help her feel better."

"Huh?" Az said unintelligibly as her words slowly began to sink in to his slightly addled mind. Clara was right. His master was afraid. She would need comfort and care as well as protection.

Clara was a genius!

Finally, he was thinking clearly again and had an idea of what to do. A smile split his face and he got a crazy determined look that by all right, made him look as if he were completely insane as he said, "I have to go and help master."

Clara merely nodded her head.

Though it was hard to tell if she were simply doing so because she agreed with him or because she suddenly felt as if he were nuts and she didn't want him to set her on fire. Either way, he quickly made his way over to the window, and unfurled his wings in preparation to take flight.

He didn't even bother to be startled when he suddenly felt something- or someone rather- jump on his back and wind their legs and arms around him. Instead, he let a slightly demented grin slip across his lips as Clara announced loudly, "To Ichi-ken's house!" Before jumping out the window and quickly disappearing into the distance with a whoop.

Shichiro watched the kids with an expression of alarm. Especially after they had decided to go after the principal and Opera to 'help' their friend and sighed.

He had been hoping to be able to get some work done today but had decided to put it off after receiving his old friend's phone call late last night asking him for a favor.

He'd never been able to deny Opera anything, no matter how much he didn't want to do something. The cat demon simply had a way about him that tended to wrap Shichiro around his little finger. And Shichiro didn't mind that. Most of the time.

So, he had been happy for his old friend when he had heard that he was courting someone. Even after being told that that someone was a student, Shichiro's happiness on opera's behalf hadn't diminished.

And after being told what his part in today's events would be- he had even been more than happy to participate. He didn't mind guarding someone. Especially when his friend held affection for that person.

Besides, this was a chance to meet Opera's chosen. Such an opportunity couldn't be missed! Especially since it would only happen once in their collective lifetimes.

He had been meticulous about his bath that morning and had even groomed himself according to Opera's specifications. After all, he wanted to make a good impression on his friend's chosen. Maybe if he did, she'd want to be his friend too! The mere thought was quite exciting to him.

He hadn't known what to expect of Opera's chosen once he laid eyes on her. But he had definitely been impressed by her beauty, though he knew enough about his old friend to know that Opera wouldn't be drawn to someone for just their appearance alone.

No- Opera was drawn to strength.

In fact, he tended to gravitate toward it instinctively.

True, the girl was young. And in truth she didn't look that strong even once she was sitting on her throne, staring at him. But he was no fool. At such close proximity he could feel the strength of her mana stroking him almost as if it were a physical caress.

It had taken everything that he had possessed just to meet her eyes and not react to the feeling. And then she had suddenly asked Opera if he had kidnapped him, and broke not only the silence between them, but the eye contact too.

Shichiro had shivered. It was barely noticeable, but the shiver was there if one bothered to look closely enough at him.

Thankfully, Opera hadn't noticed it. In fact, the demon had eyes only for his chosen and was quite amused by her question. Shichiro couldn't fault Opera for being amused by her.

He had found her question pretty funny to. Though he hadn't laughed, he had smiled.

After that, he had settled into observing her in silence. But he was only silent as long as she didn't ask him anything. And she did ask him stuff. It was mostly all related to his work at the school, but a question was a question and he responded nevertheless. Finding her curiosity about him interesting as well as entertaining.

Occasionally, she would become distracted by something. But for the most part she either focused on him or Opera.

And then Shichiro had noticed that Opera, despite the relaxed atmosphere that had been created for the girl, was tense. It was startling to see his friend in such a state to begin with given how playful and relaxed Opera usually tended to be. But the cat demon's tenseness screamed to him of danger.

What sort of danger, he had no clue. But it had kind of put him on edge as well. Still...he remained watchful despite his curiosity. So, when the girl finally got up from her throne to wander around the room a bit, he was well aware of the fact that he wasn't the only one watching her. Opera's red eyes locked on her with a worried but calculating light in them that was difficult for Shichiro to decipher.

And when the girl occasionally began to double over as if in pain, he had known that something was wrong. Shichiro's eyes had shot to Opera's face and noted that the cat demon was gritting his teeth. Almost as if he were in pain as well.

Then when the girl had decided to excuse herself to go to the restroom, Shichiro had noted that she didn't leave until she pulled something out of her bag first. A pad.

And while simply noticing a pad in someone's hand wasn't a crime or anything, the colorful wrapping on the item had all but announced what it was to him. His stomach had sunk in dread as Opera had gracefully gotten to his feet and gone after the girl.

Now that he had a better understanding of what was going on, he couldn't simply stand back and be idle. Not when Opera's chosen was in danger and certainly not when the other two kids were now in danger as well.

He would go to the principal's home, and he would participate in the battling. If only to be sure that nothing happened to the kids or his friend's woman.

He moved to the window and quickly took flight himself, hoping that he reached his destination before something horrible happened to everyone.

Ichigo had never felt so crappy before in her life as she finished getting redressed in nothing but a large white, long-sleeved button-down shirt. After which she went and flopped down on her bed face first, only vaguely aware of the fact that Opera had just entered her room with her dress in his hands.

"Miss?"

"I'm okay." She said.

Her voice was slightly muffled by the fact that she was still face down. And to be honest, at this point she wasn't sure who she was trying to convince of her 'fineness'. Him, or herself.

Either way, she felt awful.

She continued to lay there like that up until she heard something fall to the floor and got curious enough to lift her head and see what he was doing.

Of all the things that she had thought he would be doing right then; undressing wasn't even in the top five. Yet that was exactly what he was doing. Getting naked.

She sat up with a shout for him to stop just as his hands went to the front fastenings of his pants. Opera froze and looked at her. His expression was puzzled and just a bit concerned as well. Whereas her face was burning with embarrassment.

"What are you doing?" She finally managed to squeak out as she slipped off of her bed to go and stand close to him.

"Undressing." He said.

"I can see that," She said as she bent down and grabbed his shirt up off of the floor and then straightened her spine. "But why are you getting undressed?" She asked, making sure to emphasis the why so that he would understand.

He tilted his head at her for a moment as if he needed to think but then he simply said, "I am undressing so that I may help you."

"Help me?"

"With your cycle, miss." He said, looking a bit uncomfortable before saying, "Surely you are aware of that fact."

She had no idea what the hell he meant by 'helping' her with her period. But given the fact that he had been undressing, she could hazard a guess about his meaning.

"Opera, w-were you p-planning to have s-s-sex with me?" She stammered out, not sure if she wanted to really know the answer.

"Yes." He replied, looking at her strangely.

Ichigo merely huffed and reached a hand up to push her hair back from her face, nervously before saying. "Uh...please don't take any offense, but no."

"No?" Opera echoed, looking puzzled.

"No." She said again in the same tone as she held his shirt out to him. He looked at it with a frown but didn't move to take it. Instead, he lifted his eyes back to her face and asked.

"Why?" She didn't know why she would even need a reason to say no to sex with him. So, she was uncertain about what he was wanting from her until he clarified. "Why would you deny your desire for a partner and mate? aren't you in pain?"

She was. But she didn't want him to know that. "Because I'm saving myself for marriage." She said, beginning to feel a little annoyed as she tacked on lamely. "It's...just what some human's do."

Opera just stood there for a moment, expressionless before finally saying in a determined tone, "I will marry you. So, it should not matter." And before she could so much as argue with him, he grabbed her and kissed her.

Ichigo would admit, that when it came to kissing, Opera wasn't her first. In fact, she'd had a few people kiss her before. Many of them had been drunken kisses from friends who were feeling overly affectionate at the time. So, there had never been any romantic aspect to them.

Which was probably why she melted into it a bit. That or he was just a really, really good kisser.

Her arms coming up to wrap around his neck and shoulders as his tongue slipped past her lips to deepen the kiss while he rested his hands on her hips. Both of his thumbs rubbing along her flesh in slow motions that made her shiver against him.

She wasn't sure how long they stayed locked together like that, but she enjoyed herself thoroughly before finally coming up for air.

Her heart was beating hard against her ribs, her breath was coming out in small pants, and she was sure that Opera was feeling pretty good about himself right then from the way that his lips quirked up at the corners. The smug jerk.

Opera was a sight, he was sure. Riled as he was, he doubted that his mistress would be able to deny him again. But just in case, he demanded. "Tell me again why." To see if she was indeed in full control of her faculties.

If so, then he could afford to back off. At least for a little while.

"I'm saving myself for marriage." She said again.

Opera gave her a curt nod and then reached out and took his shirt from her limp fingers. He understood though he still desperately wanted to take care of her. But even in her vulnerable state, his mistress was a stubborn creature and refused to back down from her choice. However painful it may be for her later.

And he would respect her wishes.

He would admit that he rather liked and hated her stubbornness at the moment as he pulled his shirt back on and began to button it while she found his tie and vest and waited for him to finish before holding them out to him.

He gently took them from her, but not before leaning into her personal space and pressing a few drugging kisses to her lips before backing off again.

He finished dressing within seconds and once he was fully covered again, he asked. "How would you like me to proceed, Miss?"

Ichigo thought for a moment about what he was asking before then saying, "Pain meds. If we have any."

Opera nodded his head in understanding, and then walked towards the door. "I will fetch them for you."

"Thank you, Opera." He heard her say softly.

Something inside of him thrummed warmly as he glanced at her from over his shoulder and smiled before slipping from her room to go and get her medicine. He returned a few minutes later with it as well as a glass of water for her to drink with it and found her curled up on her side on her bed asleep.

Gently setting the medicine and glass down on her bedside table, he then busied himself with making sure that she would rest as comfortably as possible. Then once that was done, he took a moment to press a tender kiss against her forehead and then left the room to go and check on his master.

Sullivan couldn't help but stare at the guests that had decided to drop by his home for an impromptu visit.

Shichiro, he could understand coming. Given the man's protectiveness of the people around him as well as the students of Babyls. However, the kids- Asmodeus and Valoc- were another story altogether.

He couldn't imagine what had brought them there. Not really anyway. But as young Asmodeus pushed past him and into his home shouting in a frantic tone, "Master!"

Well, he couldn't help but groan at the trouble that his granddaughter had just created for him. Though he very much doubted that she had done so knowingly and on purpose. He quickly went to collect the boy before Opera could find him.

Especially since Opera would probably tear him to pieces from pulling him away from Ichigo's side if he got too far into the house. And had just managed to grab the boy when Valoc went charging past him at breakneck speed, causing him to shout at Shichiro in alarm to grab the girl. Quickly, quickly! Before she can get away!

Shichiro knew that he was a bit frazzled by their presence. Especially since a mate hunt battlefield was no place for children. And he used some of his vines to catch Valoc before she could scamper upstairs.

Which was a huge relief, but now he had a couple of kids to reign in and the battling was just about to begin. He grabbed Valoc from Shichiro's vines and carried both of the kids into his living room and set them down on a lounge chair and told them not to move an inch. And then turned his back to think of what he should do with them, after all, they couldn't participate in the combat.

They had no idea how to even fight. They'd be killed!

He had to protect them since they were the Netherworld's- not to mention Babyls- treasures. But simply sealing them in the room would only end in some sort of mischief. And then there was also the fact that they may somehow get free while he was fighting since his attention would be divided.

What to do? What to do?

An idea suddenly occurred to him, and he turned back to give them orders to stay put and out of the way so that he could set it up- but the two were missing.

He had a brief moment for his heart to stop and his soul to leave his body, but he really had to pull himself together after that and go and find them.

Opera scowled in displeasure at the sight of Asmodeus and the green haired girl that his mistress seemed so fond of barreling towards him. Or more specifically, towards his mistress's bedroom which was located behind him.

How the hell had they gotten there?

He didn't really care how. All he knew was that his master had better have a damn good explanation for letting them get past him to the inner depths of the house. Especially when his mistress was in such a vulnerable state right now.

Half-dressed and lacking in lower body covering- yeah, he definitely wasn't letting these two get to her bedroom.

The two kids skidded to a stop a few feet away from where he stood. Opera had to suppress the urge to grin madly at the two since their fight or flight instincts had to be screaming at them to run away from him, right then.

Yet Asmodeus surprised him by going steely eyed and then igniting and tossing a fire ball at his head.

Opera rolled his eyes when the boy missed him by a mile, but still... he had at least managed to set the carpet on fire. Which was something that Opera quickly had to stomp out before it could spread.

He found it was rather shocking that the kid would even dare to try and attack him regardless.

"You will not get past me, children." He said as he sent the pair a glare that should have frozen them in place.

But again, Asmodeus surprised him by trying the same attack for a second time while the girl next to him tapped her skirt pocket and pulled a large double-bladed ax out and prepared to attack him too. Opera shot the girl an are you serious look. Because the ax wouldn't do anything at all to him aside from damage his home and annoy him.

"Where is my master?" Asmodeus growled at him. Fury and concern warring with each other inside of his magenta eyes.

"Yeah! Where is Ichi-ken?"

"The mistress is resting and unable to play with you." Opera replied honestly. Asmodeous still looked as if he wanted very much to set his head on fire and force himself past him. Whereas the girl lowered the ax in her hands a bit and asked,

"Resting? As in beddy-bye?"

"Yes. Cycles can be rough on a girl." He said, semi-explaining just why his mistress was unable to play with the kids at the moment.

She seemed to be mulling over his words for a second or so, before finally saying. "Oh. Well, I can wait until she wakes up then." She held the ax out to Asmodeus and added. "Here, Azz-Azz. You can use this if you want."

Asmodeus took the ax from her with a devious smile and a muttered word of thanks that had Opera narrowing his eyes at the boy in silent warning. If the kid came at him with that ax...

Opera just might forget himself and shove it up his little ass.

"I wish to see my master!" Asmodeus said loudly. His tone tinged with fear.

"No." Opera said with a glower.

"But- I have to know that she's truly alright!" The boy shouted at him.

Opera sighed. To be honest, he somewhat pitied the boy because he was so worried. But at the same time, he could not allow the kid close to his mistress.

Young ones like the two in front of him didn't know it but cycles were dangerous because of more than just mate hunting. They were dangerous because the demoness going through the cycle tended to become...less restrained. As well as more uninhibited.

He worried about the fact that the longer that his mistress went without the care that she needed because of her desire to remain untouched...that something may snap in her. And it was for that very reason that he refused to let the children near her at the moment.

It had absolutely nothing at all to do with the Asmodeus boy being a threat to him somehow. And thereby a threat to his mistress by extension.

It was simply that he did not want his mistress to accidentally lash out at the two kids and wind up hurting them while she wasn't feeling like herself.

She would never forgive herself is she did.

And Opera would never forgive himself for allowing it to happen in the first place.

He opened his mouth to tell the boy that he could see his mistress once her cycle had ended. But he didn't have the chance to get any of the words out before there was a loud crashing sound from downstairs followed by a series of explosions that shook the house.

Forcing him to abruptly shut his mouth before he accidentally wound up falling and possibly biting his tongue off. He staggered from the violence of the shaking. But then so did the kids.

"What was that?" The green haired girl yelped in alarm once the shaking had abated.

"The mate hunt battle has begun." Opera said sounding none too pleased as he quickly walked over to them and grabbed them both by the back of their shirts. The two squirmed in an effort to escape his grasp, but now that he had his hands on them, that wasn't going to happen unless he let them go.

"Come, we must go." He said as he began to drag the kids back the way that they had come at a brisk walk. His ears picking up the sounds of clanging, cursing, screams and other things as he went.

Ichigo wasn't sure how long she had managed to sleep.

To be fair, it was difficult for her to tell when her internal clock was more than just a tad bit off right then. But that mostly had to do with her concept of time being messed up anyway due to stress and other things.

Stress tended to make time drag along at a snail's pace to her. Agonizingly, slow. Whereas when she wasn't stressed her concept of time tended to be much faster. Like being fast forwarded to a specific point.

It was a pain in the ass either way.

She lifted her head up off of her pillow, only vaguely aware of the fact that she had been covered up by a blanket, but couldn't recall having covered herself up at any point. Not only that but there were some tablets and a glass of water sitting on her bedside table too.

Which meant that Opera had returned at some point, and she'd been conked out.

She felt a bit guilty about that, but only moderately so since she couldn't exactly help it as she pushed herself up. After that she took a moment to do a mental check of herself to see how she was doing physically.

Her fever was holding, was the first thing that she really noticed. The second thing that she noticed was that her temperature was higher than it usually got during her period.

The same hundred-degree fever that she always got had somehow morphed into a fever of one hundred and three. Which wasn't good.

So, she reached over and grabbed the medicine tablets off of her bedside table and quickly popped them in her mouth and swallowed them dry.

The next thing that she noted was that she was sweating more than usual. Her clothing was clinging to her skin uncomfortably. Making her itch in places that a girl simply shouldn't itch.

It was wrong. And gross.

So, she climbed out of bed and quickly went to the bathroom where she spent the next few minutes standing underneath icy cold water in her bath just trying to clean some of the sweat and grossness off while also trying to lower her temperature.

The fact that she did so with her clothes still on was completely irrelevant.

Once she was certain that she had washed as much of the sweat and grossness away, and lowered her temperature enough for her to manage it easier- she got out of the bath, grabbed a towel, stripped and then wrapped herself up and went to go and get some more clothing.

She was in the middle of buttoning up her clean shirt when the house shook. She frowned, wondering if that was normal for some demons, but when it happened again- she began to focus her senses on the sounds in an effort to see what the hell was going on.

That's when she realized...that something was terribly, terribly wrong.

She could feel that there were more than just Opera and her grandpa present in the house. There were thirty- no fifty seven people present in the house downstairs. And all of them were fighting.

"Grandpa! Opera!" She didn't bother to get dressed the rest of the way. She simply couldn't afford to with her family in grave danger. And dammit, period/fever or not- she would protect them!

She ran out of her bedroom and down the hall, she skidded when she reached the stairs, and almost fell. But managed to catch herself in time to prevent herself from doing so. And then went tearing down the stairs towards the front of the house when she heard Az and Clara's voices screaming in fear.

She raced around the next few corners with her heart in her mouth, and rage pulsing through her veins as she rounded the next corner just in time to see an unknown demon about to kill Az.

The boy was on his knees, and from the looks of it he was injured to. Clara was huddled behind him, clutching his long white jacket in her hands, crying and shaking uncontrollably.

"Oh, hell no!" She snarled as she went running towards the demon.

She had to weave her way through everyone else, and narrowly missed having her head taken off a few times by her startled Grandpa and Opera. Not to mention her 'guard dog' who was also there and fighting as well.

But somehow, she managed to get to her friends, and stopped the demon about to kill them by slamming her body into him from the side. The two of them hit the floor hard in a tangle of arms and legs. And the demon's weapon went skittering across the crowded floor as she let out a bellow of rage and lifted herself up and started to slam the demon's head against the floor by his horns.

Over and over and over again. She slammed his head against the floor, totally unaware of the fact that everyone around her had gone utterly still and was barely even breathing.

All of their eyes were locked on her as she continued to beat the demon's head on the floor until he spat up blood, and his bones cracked and eventually the entire back of his skull caved in completely and his body went still.

The second that she was absolutely sure that the life had left him, she released his horns and then slowly got up and let her reishi lash out at each of the intruders surrounding them.

The strength of it sent some of them turning tail and running while others were knocked off of their feet or put on their knees with screams of pain as their bones snapped and broke because they had tried to stay on their feet.

Turning to face them, she gave them her most furious and terrifying look, absently noting that her grandpa, opera and her teacher were all frozen in fear as she extended a hand and allowed her reishi to summon Zangetsu from its new sheath within the very depths of her being and wrapped her fingers around its grip.

"If you motherfuckers want a fight...then come face me!"