The rest of the day at school passed in a blur, and once it was time to finally go home, Ichigo politely excused herself from Az and Clara's company and ran like hell. Which seemed to amuse Opera considerably, despite the fact that he wasn't able to join her in her mad sprint for freedom because he had to drive the carriage back to the house.

Yet the moment that he got back, and put the carriage away, he automatically went to find his Lilith.

He wasn't expecting to step into the house and see her in the arms of her grandpa, crying. Nor was he expecting to see his master look so worried either.

Both things took him a bit by surprise as his master asked him, "What happened at the school today?" Obviously hoping for some sort of explanation as to why Ichigo was clinging to him and sobbing her little heart out.

Opera was completely baffled since he stayed close to her throughout the entire day and hadn't seen or heard anything that could have remotely resulted in his Lilith's tears.

"The first-year students got their ranks today." He replied as he frowned. "And speaking of ranks," He walked over to his Lilith, and silently slipped his hand into the pocket that she had stored her badge in and pulled it out so that he could see it as he said. "Shichiro let me know that Lily lied about hers for some reason."

He didn't have to see his master's face to know that he was upset. Though he wasn't really sure what was more upsetting to the elderly demon. The fact that Ichigo had lied. Or the fact that she had lied about her rank.

It was hard to say without knowing what her rank was first. Carefully turning the small gold colored badge in his fingers, he cast a curious glance his Lilith's way before finally looking at the word etched into the metal. And blinked in astonishment.

"Sir, you should see this." He said, feeling as if he could easily run a marathon right then. His heart was beating faster, his eyes focused on his Lilith's back, and he smiled with so much pride as he held the badge up for his master to see.

Sullivan got a funny look on his face for a second as he stared at the metal badge that all first-year students were given once they were properly assessed. And then once his brain finally caught up with what he was looking at, the elderly demon let out a happy scream and started to jump around in place.

"Chet! My first-year granddaughter is ranked Chet!" Sullivan crowed. "Oh, just wait until I tell the others. They'll all be so jealous!"

Opera laughed, happily. His tail flicking gently behind him. He loved it when his master was so happy. It made every ache, and pain, and sacrifice he'd ever endured well worthwhile.

Ichigo slowly released her grandpa from her hold so that she could grab the badge out of Opera's hand and stuff it back into her pocket as she glared at the two of them as the two gradually fell quiet despite still fairly vibrating with joy and excitement.

"No! No telling anyone!" Ichigo said, her face still wet from crying. She used one of her hands to wipe her face angrily as her grandpa and Opera both visibly deflated at her words. Their confusion evident even as they both opened their mouths.

"But dearest, this is unprecedented-" Sullivan started to argue when opera chimed in and cut him off.

"Yes. It's very, very seldom that a student manages such a remarkable feat from the beginning. This is something that you should be proud of. This rank tells others that you are on par with all of the strongest demons that reside at Babyls."

Ichigo waved them off and the two demons exchanged a look and then knuckled down.

"Dearest, this is a good thing," Sullivan said gently as he went over to her and knelt down in front of her so that he could take hold of her hands. "It means that you will have the privileges and honor that other students will have to work so very hard for."

"No." Ichigo said stubbornly. "It might be a good thing if I were wholly demon, but I'm not. And honor and privileges? I have no use for those. Grandpa, I need you to look at this from my point of view. I'm a first-year student. One with far more power than any kid should have because I'm part Soul Reaper. Do you really think that others will understand that when they're picking fights with me?"

" And what about the teachers, hn? You said that it's rare for someone to achieve the rank of Chet. And if that's the case, imagine how the people who did work hard for it- will feel about a 'kid' just starting school, achieving what probably took them years to do. That rank, will be more trouble than it's worth."

"But-"

"No. No buts. I need you both to understand how dangerous this can be. Not just to me but to the people around me. People will think that I somehow cheated to get that rank-"

Sullivan and Opera both opened their mouths to argue with her but stopped when the gears in their heads finally started turning.

"Think about it, I'm your granddaughter. Others, including the teachers will think that I got the rank by somehow manipulating the results or cheating. Or even because I came 'crying' to you about having a lower rank than I felt that I deserved. It will cause trouble! Not just for me, but for you and Opera too. And I don't want that. I don't want either of you to be singled out or ridiculed because of me. Especially if it means that others will stop trusting you."

Opera listened to his Lilith's words and felt his heart drop a bit in realization.

His previous joy from the discovery of her rank, dimmed. Oh sure, he was still very proud of her. How could he not be when the ranking owl had given her such a high rank?

However, the fact that her rank worried her this much bothered him.

There was a tinge of anxiety that he could feel through his bond to her that had him stumped completely. What was it that was bothering her so much about her rank? Sure, he knew that she had made some pretty valid points about why she didn't want her rank known by others so far.

But there was more to it. He could feel it in his gut.

Which was why he moved forward and knelt down beside his master and took one of her hands from the elderly demon's grasp and prompted gently, "There is more to this than you are saying, my Lily. Please, do not feel that you need to hold back on our account. Tell us what it is that is truly bothering you about being ranked Chet."

Ichigo stared at them both for a second before saying in a small voice. "Everything that I've already mentioned is just part of what's bothering me about this. The rest has to do with the fact that I'm still new here. What's common sense for each of you, isn't for me. Because I grew up differently from demons."

She watched their faces as she said this, and could see that they were beginning to understand. But they still needed a bit of a nudge to really get it, so she continued to speak.

"I'm an adult human-Soul Reaper-demon hybrid in a school full of children that aren't aware of who or what I am. So, despite the fact that I'm still new, and everything else just mentioned. There's also the fact that I didn't really earn my rank. Not like others have. So, to me, it just wouldn't be right to keep it."

Both Sullivan and Opera looked at each other again, their thoughts being communicated silently before finally the two sighed.

"We understand, Ichigo. Truly we do. However, we have to disagree a bit." Sullivan said, carefully. Not wanting her to start crying on him again since he didn't like it when his granddaughter cried.

It made him want to destroy something terribly whenever she was so distraught.

"Yes. To begin with, you have earned your rank." Opera said firmly before going on to explain. "The feats that you pulled off today during the flying race- while not demon in nature- still reflect your power. Though it is more the power of a Soul Reaper than a demon. The ranking also reflects your potential to grow even stronger. To surpass others and become more." He shrugged as he then decided to tack on. "Frankly, I think that you should have ranked much higher than a simple Chet. But the owl and the magic used to assess your skills and abilities are both limited."

Ichigo scowled at him as her grandpa shifted a little bit in place and then decided to say, "Opera is right, dearest. At least, I believe so anyway. But may I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Alright then, how do Soul Reapers rank their own? You are one of them, so surely, they have given you a ranking of some kind?"

"No." Ichigo said as she shook her head, slowly. "Grandpa, I'm just a Substitute Soul Reaper. Which means that even though I have power- I carry no official rank at all. I can neither give nor receive orders as far as the other Soul Reapers are concerned. And while many of them have built relationships of mutual trust and comradery with me... I merely assist them when they need me. In actuality I'm sort of like a mercenary."

Sullivan looked as if he'd just been slapped. And Opera had a weird look on his face too even as his ears drooped.

Ichigo noticed the absolutely stunned expression on their faces, and quietly pulled her hands from both of their grasps and waved them in front of their faces for a second. And then when neither of them moved so much as a muscle- she started poking them in the cheek with her index fingers.

She was able to get away with that for about...oh, twenty seconds longer than she thought that she would before one of them finally grabbed her hand. Nearly causing her to jump out of her skin as both demons slowly got to their feet, and her grandpa snapped his fingers. Causing both she and Opera to snap to attention automatically.

"Opera, please ready my carriage. Then after that, help my granddaughter dress for travel in something suitable to her station."

"Of course, master." The cat demon said with a bow.

"Ichigo..."

"Uh, y-yeah?" Ichigo said, nervously as she studied her grandpa.

His energy had literally gone from sweet/happy/fun to destroy all things in zero point two seconds flat. So, she had a bad feeling about whatever he was thinking right then.

"We will go and have words with your Soul Reaper friends. They will give you a rank whether they wish to or not." Sullivan said with a malicious glint in his dark eyes.

Ichigo did a funny little full body twitch, and seriously considered running away from home right then and there. But instead squeaked out, "What? Grandpa no!"

"Grandpa yes!" Opera said, encouraging Sullivan's nonsense instead of helping her try to stop him.

"You stay out of this, Opera!"

The cat demon merely placed a hand against his cheek and simply uttered the damned words, "Alas, I simply can't. My master has spoken."

She started to sputter, as he shot her a wicked smile. And then he grabbed her and began to herd her upstairs to prepare her for their trip to Soul Society.

A short time later, Ichigo found herself stuffed into an absolutely stunning black kimono top style dress with red spider lily print all over it, with a loose skirt that fell past her knees, and a scarlet-colored obi belt. Her hair was styled in at upswept do with pretty little spider lily hair barrette accents.

Her eyes and lips were both expertly painted red to match the rest of her outfit.

And then she was handed a pair of delicate black silk shoes with three-inch heels and told to put them on once her black silk stockings were in place.

Upon finally putting the shoes on, Opera snapped a few pictures of her in the outfit and makeup and then began to usher her back downstairs since Sullivan was patiently waiting for them.

Ichigo grumbled the entire time Opera was taking her back to the room where they had left her grandpa. If her grumbling wasn't about her Chet rank, it was about her damned dress or shoes. She even grumbled a bit about Opera herding her like a human cat would. Acting as if he ruled her and the world both.

Opera merely bit back a grin and did his best to continue 'ruling her' since it pleased him to do so. Especially since she was saying such nice things about him at present.

The second that they finally rejoined Sullivan, they found the elderly demon sitting in a chair with a piece of paper and a feather quill floating in the air next to him. And another piece of paper in front of his face, where he was reading it. And the second that he heard Ichigo grumbling, he lowered the paper that he had been reading and looked at her.

"Oh my," He said as he quickly set the piece of paper in his hand down and then stood up. "Dearest, that dress is lovely on you."

"Thanks grandpa." Ichigo said sweetly before looking at Opera and deadpanning in a sarcastic tone. "It's always secretly been my dream to model frilly outfits for the masses."

"Then far be it for us to not support your dream, Lily." Opera said with an evil little smile as Ichigo eeped and muttered,

"Please don't help me, Opera."

The cat demon simply gave her a much too innocent look and argued, "But you're adoring fans will fall to despair! And we can't have that, now can we?" He said as he looked as if he were about to pounce on her.

Ichigo couldn't help it. She panicked and called for help.

"Grandpa help me! Opera's being evil!" She shrieked as she quickly scampered behind the elderly demon, while Opera laughed at her silly antics.

Sullivan merely patted her on the back in a soothing manner before telling her that he couldn't make Opera stop anything. He simply did as he pleased.

The elderly demon didn't say it aloud, since it was a bit of a taboo subject. But he'd never been able to really bring Opera to heel whenever he had his own ideas about things. All he could do was let him do whatever he wanted and try to stay positive no matter how much damage the cat demon did.

Opera even ruled his household with an iron fist whenever he felt it was necessary. And Sullivan had learned long ago to just stand back and let him.

"Well, now that you're dressed for our trip," Sullivan said, deciding to change the subject back to the matter at hand. "Here, read this and tell me what you think." He said as he handed Ichigo the piece of paper from before and waved Opera off so that he could go and fetch the carriage.

The cat demon bowed respectfully, and left the room while Ichigo was distracted.

"Grandpa, what am I looking at?" Ichigo asked after trying to read the piece of paper for several seconds. But the handwriting was so...manic?

No- that wasn't the right word. Scribbly? Nope. That wasn't it either. In all honesty, her grandpa had the handwriting of a serial killer. And she was suddenly very afraid to continue looking at the paper.

"Ah, that's a list of demands that I expect your Soul Reaper friends to give/do."

"Grandpa, as nice as it is to know that you have a list of some kind. They don't exactly negotiate with terrorists. They destroy them. Especially since it makes for less paperwork."

"Really? Well, they also haven't known terror like the kind that Opera can rain down upon them either."

"Grandpa...no." She said weakly, her eyes impossibly wide with dread at the mere idea of her grandpa siccing Opera on her friends. Soul Reaper bodies don't bend that way! She thought in fear as she thought back to what the cat demon had done to her teachers.

Sullivan merely smiled at her and then booped her on the nose as he said, "Grandpa, yes."

A short time later, Ichigo was carried- literally over Opera's shoulder- out of the house. Growling at both demons while trying to come up with a plan to stop them from whatever they were planning to do. Hopfully before they reached Soul Society.

She wasn't going to lie, she did some pretty embarrassing and humiliating things in her efforts to end their trip any way that she could.

She gave them the wrong directions while they were in the precipice world. Which as it turned out sent them in a great big circle.

She feigned fainting spells and nausea in an effort to make them turn back. Which had backfired spectacularly on her since the two simply decided to keep going and let one of the Soul Reaper healers check her out. After that she wound up being placed in her grandpa's lap where Sullivan began to pet her hair and coo at her. Making her super uncomfortable, so she escaped.

She even tried convincing Opera that she would really, really rock his world by making one of the sexiest and most scandalous promise's a virgin girl can ever make to anyone.

All he had to do was fucking stop the carriage and he could have her, completely.

Opera's response to her proposition was to simply give her a hot once over with lust gleaming in his eyes, his teeth biting his lower lip, and then went back to driving. Which had left Ichigo completely speechless.

And maybe a little bit hurt as well. But she still kept trying.

After all, without Opera at the helm of the carriage to drive them surely, they wouldn't make it to Soul Society at all.

Her grandpa was paying extra close attention to how desperate she was getting, and was amused by her many, many tries to prevent them from visiting her Soul Reaper friends. Though he probably wasn't as amused by her antics as Opera was.

Sullivan shook his head as he thought, My poor girl has no idea what she is in for once Opera has her alone again. Especially after her promise to him. Resistance would be futile.

There was no doubt in the elderly demon's mind that Opera was going to use that promise against her as soon as he could. Which was why Sullivan pulled another piece of paper out of midair and started on a list of names for Ichigo's future kitty eared children.

A list of baby names would not only occupy his mind, but also keep him out of trouble until they reached their destination.

He wasn't sure how long he was working on the list of baby names, but he was more than half a page along before Ichigo finally settled down and simply started glaring out of the window at the passing scenery. Even though there was nothing really worth any notice.

The plant life in this region of the precipice world was pitiful. The plants weren't lush or green, but instead were withered as if they had never gotten rain or sunlight before. Everything else was just stone and dirt.

He turned his attention back to his list for a bit longer when Ichigo startled him by suddenly moving over to his side of the carriage and knocking on the wood to get Opera's attention. Curious, he lifted his eyes from the paper again to see what his dearest grandchild was up to now.

And was just a tad bit disappointed when she called out, "Opera, up ahead is a town with a dense population. Please be careful to go slow when you get there! The streets are usually full of people. Most of which are very young children."

Opera could be heard saying that he understood and after that everything went silent again for a short time.

Sure enough, they reached a town a little while after that. At which point Sullivan had decided to put his list of baby names away for the time being and look out the window to see what Soul Society looked like since he had never been there before.

It was distressing just how impoverished the area that they were beginning to pass through was. There were so many shacks that passed for houses, so many sick and dirty people teeming around them that Sullivan almost started crying. But the feeling only doubled when Ichigo decided to get out of the carriage without any warning of any kind.

Startling him badly enough to call out for Opera to stop.

The carriage came to an abrupt stop and Opera jumped down to run after Ichigo who had disappeared between several lopsided homes and could no longer be seen. But the second that the cat demon went to slip between the lopsided houses, Ichigo reappeared and sighed as she slipped out from between the buildings and then took a second to dust herself off.

"What were you doing running off like that?" Opera asked, looking slightly upset with her.

"I know someone who lives around here. I figured that since we were already in the area then I could check on them." She said with a slight shrug.

Opera's expression softened a bit in understanding as he reached out and gently took hold of her hand and led her back to the carriage where her grandpa was peering out the window at them, looking concerned.

He walked her back and began to reach for the door so that she could get back in the carriage, but Ichigo merely told Opera and her grandpa both that it would be best, as well as easier on them, if she just traveled next to the carriage on foot from now on. The two looked as if they wanted to argue with her.

And for good reason, she supposed. But she told them in no uncertain terms that unless it looked as if she were escorting them- it would cause all of them trouble with the Soul Reapers.

Sullivan simply sighed, knowing that she wouldn't be saying so unless she was sure that it was something that she had to do. So, he allowed it. Even though Opera shot him a glare the second that her back was turned. And then the cat demon took the opportunity to kick the carriage hard enough to bring it up on two wheels before it crashed down onto the ground again- scaring the devi out of the elderly demon inside of it.

Ichigo merely looked at the carriage as it jiggled on its wheels and then looked at Opera who sent her a warm but far too innocent smile.

Such smiles were out of place on such a devious demon's face, in her opinion. And smiles like that have had a long history in the systematic terrorizing of many, many beings.

Which was why she didn't trust that smile any.

Yet even so, she still turned her back to Opera as the carriage started to move again. Slowly. Almost painfully so given how many people were meandering through the streets ahead of them.

Ichigo lost track after that, mostly because she had spent a good portion of her time using her reishi to send the many, many inhabitances of the district skittering away from them so that the carriage wouldn't have to be left behind. While Opera kept a close eye on her and took care of anyone who got far too close to her while her back was turned to them.

But eventually, after what seemed like many, many hours they finally reached their destination.

It is...weird just how very tall the walls of the Soul Reaper's home is, Opera thought as he stared at the unbelievably tall white stone. It looked both interesting and uninteresting at once.

How was that even possible?

Either way, he was already planning to try and scale the wall when Ichigo moved away from the carriage and made a beeline for the massively giant person standing in front of the gate.

"Hey, Jidanbō!" She called out, and smiled when the giant looked at her and simply blinked for a moment. "Hey, big guy. They still got you guarding this damn gate?" She called out playfully.

It took the Soul Reaper a few seconds, but he finally seemed to realize who she was and grinned as he knelt down so that he could get a better look at her. "Ichigo Kurosaki, is that you?" He asked, as one of his palms hovered over her head.

"Yup, it's me." She said as she materialized her zanpaktou so that he could verify her identity while slyly flaring her reishi a bit to alert everyone else within the Seireitei of her presence as well.

Then once that was done, she asked as she gave the big guy's hand a hug, "How come you haven't been promoted yet?"

Jidanbo looked a bit embarrassed by her question, but simply said. "Gatekeeping is a very important job. I like it."

Ichigo simply hummed thoughtfully but told him that it was indeed a very important job. So, he should do his very best to keep hoodlums like her out. Which caused the giant to let out a booming laugh before asking her why she looked so pretty.

Ichigo blushed and said something along the lines of she was trying to be more lady-like. That seemed to amuse the giant as well, but at least he was nice enough not to laugh at her over it.

After that, she introduced him to her grandpa and Opera, and even took a few minutes to fill out some papers so that they would be allowed to visit if they needed to. Then once all of that was done, the giant waved goodbye to them as Opera drove the carriage through the gate.