A little while later, Ichigo, her grandpa, and Opera all found themselves standing before the Head Captain of the Thirteen Court-Guard Squads and a number of the other Captains and Lieutenants who had all finally managed to catch up with them.

Renji, Rukia, Rangiku, Ikkaku, Yumachika, Sajin, Yoruichi, Soi-Fon, Byakuya, and a few others were among some of the ones that managed to make their way into the meeting room before the doors were closed for privacy.

Ichigo, as per custom greeted the elder in her usual way.

Disrespectful and with a smile while her grandpa and Opera both scanned the room. Their eyes flickering from one face to another, taking note of the other Reaper's positions around the room and the elderly man sitting in the chair a good hundred or so feet from them.

So, this was the leader of the Soul Reapers and also the one responsible for Ichigo's betrayal.

Opera flexed his fingers subconsciously lengthening his claws a bit before stopping himself and shortening them again while he hovered close to his master and his Lilith, whom had fallen strangely quiet after her greeting and seemed to be lost in thought.

Yamamoto was an old guy and didn't deal well with change of any kind.

Ichigo knew this because of several facts. Though the one that most stood out to her was the one time for Christmas she had gifted him with a Playboy Calander with pretty scandalously clad women in it that had made Shunsui positively green with envy.

She had thought it a nice enough gift.

And he'd had it for at least a month before the Head Captain had begun to act weirdly. And had claimed that one of the girls from the thing was haunting him. It was sort of a funny thing to claim, or at least she had thought so.

But he had only started acting weirder and weirder for a few more weeks, which had begun to really freak the other Soul Reapers out. Everything had reached its end one day when he'd up to work wearing some of Rangiku's red lipstick on his lips, a bra over the outside of his uniform and a blond wig with curly hair.

The calander had met a grisly end after that due to the trauma of some of the Captains and Lieutenants.

And she was now banned from giving the Head Captain gifts of any kind unless she stuck to a strict list made for her by Shunsui, Unohana, and Ukitake.

The head captain said her name and then paused as he stared at her strangely for a few minutes before then turning to Unohana and whispering something to her.

The woman, nodded her head at what he whispered to her and then turned her head in Ichigo's direction and smiled as she said. "Ichigo, could you please follow me."

"Huh?" Ichigo said unintelligibly as the woman walked over to her. "What for?" She asked as Unohana reached out and took her hand.

The girl shot a worried look at both Opera and her grandpa. Idly wondering if the head captain wanted to say anything to the two demons. And if so, should she refuse and stay?

"It's nothing terrible, I promise. I'll bring you right back in a few, okay?" Unohana said as she began to drag her along behind her, giving Ichigo no choice but to follow her out of the room even though she tried to dig her heels in and prevent herself from being dragged off.

Unohana took her to a room not too far from the one that they had just walked out of and then pushed her into it. It turned out that it was a bathroom. And the woman then began the task of wetting a kerchief that she had produced from somewhere, and then used it to forcibly wash the makeup off of Ichigo's face even as the girl shrieked, tried to escape her grasp.

All in all, it took five minutes, and once she was done Unohana told her that they could go back to the other room now.

Ichigo followed the woman back, though she was grumbling a bit under her breath. If Unohana had heard her say anything too rude, she would absently correct her and then smile at her when Ichigo looked at her and paled.

So, the second that they returned to the room, Ichigo wasted no time at all in returning to her spot next to her grandpa while Opera hovered to her right a bit looking concerned.

"That's much better," Yamaoto finally said after a second or so. "You look more like the insubordinate brat I know without the cosmetics. Though the color red is lovely on you, I would prefer it if you were yourself when you stand before me, Ichigo Kurosaki."

"Sorry, old man." She said sheepishly. "Grandpa and Opera wanted to show me off a bit."

"And for good reason, child. You have grown into a beautiful young lady." Yamamoto said before finally asking curiously, "Now, who are the two demons that have come before me today?"

Ichigo took the time to introduce her grandpa and Opera to the Head Captain, absently noting that the old man was studying the pair intently.

She wasn't sure why, but she almost couldn't help but bristle a little bit when she realized that the old man was trying to take their measure and see if they were threats of some kind or not.

And if he felt that they were...they would have to fight their way out of the Seireitei just for her grandpa and Opera to escape.

"Be at ease, Ichigo Kurosaki." Yamamoto said upon realizing that she knew what he was doing and was beginning to tense up in anticipation of a fight. "I have no intention of orphaning you at this point nor any other."

Beside her, she could almost feel her grandpa's anxiety spike a bit at the old man's words and reacted to it by reaching out absently to take hold of one of Opera's hands since he was a hairsbreadth away from turning hostile on everyone.

"You are happy?" The head Captain finally asked her.

The question blindsided her a bit because it was strange of him to ask her something like that. But she responded with an automatic, "Yes. I am."

The old man's aloof behavior changed in an instant and he smiled warmly at them, "I am glad that you are well, child. You've had many of us in an uproar over the message that you sent."

"Rioting. The word that you're looking for is rioting, Head Captain." Byakuya chimed in, helpfully from behind them.

Ichigo squeaked and tried to resist the urge to snarl at Rukia's brother. After all, how the hell could her message have caused rioting of any kind? That not only required being physically present but also organized to a degree. And she had been neither of those things.

"Not to mention those in the Women's association who have decided to go on strike because someone didn't invite them to her wedd-" Unohana was cut off when Ichigo suddenly screamed, startling everyone in the room.

"Ichigo, dearest-" Why the devi was she screaming?!

"My lady? What's wrong?" Opera demanded as he grabbed her upper arms and began to look around the room for some unseen threat.

"I-I just thought I saw a cockroach..." Ichigo lied while she stared hard at Unohana and watched as the woman's eyes widened a bit in awareness and she quickly hiked up her leggings a little bit and quickly said,

"Oh my! A cockroach!"

"They carry diseases! Kill it with fire!" Ichigo blurted out thoughtlessly as she pointed to some random place off to the side, as several of the guys quickly ran over to destroy the made up insect.

After that, there was some screaming and jumping around from some of them. Some furniture being overturned during the search for the cockroach. And as if that wasn't bad enough, Opera decided to join the search and wound up setting the room on fire to smoke it out while her grandpa grabbed her and quickly made his way to the door and exited the building.

Ichigo stared over the elderly demon's shoulder at the meeting hall as everyone ran out of the building in a panic. Except for Opera, that is. He sauntered out at a leisurely pace, not the least bit bothered by the fact that the building that he had been in was burning down around his head.

And once everyone was outside and a head count was done to make sure that no one had been left behind for some ungodly reason Ichigo heard Unohana suddenly say, "Well, that escalated quickly."

"What the hell was that?" Ichigo asked once her grandpa put her down. Her red eyes flickering from one face to another in what could only have been concern. After all, this was not a normal response to an insect of any kind appearing.

"To be fair," Ukitake started as he gave her a serene smile. "None of us are willing to face the insect. Especially when there is a high likelihood that it has had offspring."

"Insects are disgusting." Yumachika said with a sneer.

"Yup." Ikkaku muttered with a shiver.

"Well, it isn't as if the building didn't need repairs and stuff anyways." Rangiku uttered as she watched the flames jump higher.

"Pitiful." Byakuya muttered as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"If our enemies could see just how much we dislike bugs invading our places of work, they would then have a weapon to destroy us." Sajin said sagely as Soi-Fon nodded her head behind him in agreement.

"Nobody tell Kurosuchi. He's just crazy enough to make an army of mutant bugs to exploit our weaknesses." Yoruichi said.

Ichigo looked at the woman with an incredulous expression on her face before asking. "Yoruichi, you're afraid of bugs?"

"Yes." The burgundy haired woman replied.

"But I have literally seen you chase down and play with cockroaches before." Ichigo said in confusion.

"And I literally don't know what you are talking about." Yoruichi said with a smirk as Ichigo stared at her in frustration.

The head captain came wandering over to them, clapping his hands together. "Children, stop fighting."

Which caused Ichigo, Yoruichi, Rangiku, Renji, and Rukia to all respond in whining tones all at once. "Aww, but we don't wanna!"

Eliciting amused laughter from some of the older Soul Reapers as well as some sniggering from Sullivan and Opera.

The head Captain shook his head at the lot of them and muttered something along the lines of 'brat kids' underneath his breath before then saying, "Well, it looks like we need to find a different place to hold our meeting now."

Everyone was quiet for several seconds as they tried to think of what to do now. After all, they had guests and thus far all said demons had seen was their willingness to go to extreme lengths for pest control.

Which both did and didn't exactly make a great first impression.

But no matter how hard they thought about how to salvage things, none of them could seem to come up with any ideas. Thankfully, Sullivan decided to say something. "Oh! I have a suggestion, Head Captain...that is, if you're willing to hear me out?"

"Please." Yamamoto said as he inclined his head to the demon to indicate that he should say what he was thinking.

Sullivan smiled at the elderly Soul Reaper and then suggested that since the meeting hall had just gone up in flames- literally- and it was a nice day out, then why not have a picnic. That way if anyone else freaked out everyone would be outdoors, and the local buildings weren't likely to suffer any more damages.

It would give everyone a chance to socialize and catch up. Plus, they could all sit down and eat something too.

All in all, it was a pretty good suggestion so Yamamoto all but jumped at it and then instructed everyone to get what they needed for the picnic.

With everyone was assigned some sort of task with the exceptions of her, Sullivan, and Opera since they were guests. But everyone else was given a small frame of time in which to gather what was necessary for the picnic and meet up again at the place behind the Squad Eight barracks.

Ichigo looked around as everyone else scampered off and wondered what she was supposed to do since the Head Captain hadn't given her a task of any kind when Opera walked over to her and gently put a hand on one of her shoulders.

"Is everything okay?" She asked. It was automatic for her since she was feeling a little bit lost right then and couldn't help but worry that anything could and very likely would go wrong at any moment.

"Everything is fine," Opera said softly before then pointing out. "You are stressed."

"I can't help it. I'm always worried about something." Ichigo replied as she tried to stuff her hands into her pockets only to recall that she was wearing a very nice and pretty dress and had none. She floundered for a second before finally lacing her fingers together behind her back while she sighed.

Opera said nothing for several heartbeats as he studied her. His sharp eyes noticing far more than the fact that she was stressed. He could practically feel her chaotic emotions through their bond. Her thoughts and feelings were all over the place. Worry, fear, happiness, concern, and pride were all tightly woven together into a tangled mess that practically sang to him of her desires.

He could feel that she wanted everyone to get along with one another. He could feel that she wanted them to like her friends and allies. Because they were all important to her.

But he could also tell from her emotions that if they didn't then she wouldn't force the issue, though it would likely bother her significantly.

Opera sighed, knowing that if it would give her less to feel concerned about- then he would let his grudge against the Soul Reapers go and instead focus on protecting her from further harm at their hands. "You worry too much, my Lilith." He said as he framed her face with his hands and then leaned in and pressed a tender kiss to her forehead and then touched his brow to hers.

The two of them stayed like that for just a few seconds, but it was long enough for Ukitake to find them, and interrupt with a small coughing fit.

The two of them separated and stared at the man with wide eyes. Ichigo feeling very much like a kid caught doing something that she wasn't supposed to. While Opera merely stared at the Reaper while his tail flicked slowly behind him in a small display of aggravation.

Dumb Reaper. He thought without malice.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt the two of you." Ukitake finally managed to croak out, his face a vivid shade of red even as his curiosity finally got the better of him and he asked, "Sir Opera, are you...Ichigo's husband?"

Opera's expression didn't change a bit. Instead, he simply wrapped his arms around Ichigo and pulled her against his body and tucked her head underneath his chin before staring at Ukitake with unblinking eyes as he replied, "Yes."

Ukitake merely arched his brow at the cat demon wrapped around her like a vine and smiled. "I see."

"Please keep the information to yourself, Ukitake!" Ichigo said in a rush. "Grandpa is...super excitable and we're kind of trying to keep things low-key until the official ceremony."

"You aren't officially married yet?" Ukitake asked in confusion.

"Yes and no." Opera replied before explaining. "We did a blood exchange. Which is technically recognized as an official marriage by many, but not everyone. My Lilith wishes to spend what time we can still getting to know one another before we will approach master Sullivan about the ceremony."

Ukitake stared at the two of them for several seconds, and then blinked and said thoughtfully, "I see."

Ichigo could tell by his tone that he definitely didn't see. In fact, she wasn't sure if he understood at all or was simply chalking the blood exchange up to Opera simply being a demon. Either way, this stuff was making her head hurt just thinking about it.

She was about to say something in the hopes of getting the subject dropped when they suddenly heard her grandpa call out to them. "Yoo-hoo! Ichigo! Opera! What are you two doing way over there? Are you hiding?"

Opera pressed a quick kiss to Ichigo's cheek and put his index finger up to his lips, to indicate quiet as he glanced at Ukitake. Then once he was done doing that, he walked off to rejoin his master.

"My, and here I though he was simply a guard of some sort." Ukitake said as he watched Opera stay close to her grandpa as the elderly demon spoke with the Head Captain.

Ichigo wasn't very comfortable talking about Opera's job as a security devil since she didn't really know or understand all that his job entailed. So, she didn't bother to comment and instead simply, patted Ukitake on the arm as she brushed past him to go and join her grandpa before he said or did something completely ridiculous.

Turns out, she was right to worry about such a thing. No sooner than she'd rejoined her family- it was happily announced by her grandpa that she would be doing some new musical videos to help raise funds to pay for the damages to the meeting hall that had been destroyed.

Ichigo was less than thrilled, and it probably showed given how dark her expression got. But her grandpa and Opera were both pretty insistent that it happen. As well as helping to organize, create costumes, do her makeup and hair, as well as set it all up so that the videos would be just perfect.

Frankly Ichigo thought that the two simply wanted to push her into something that was fun from their perspective. They probably didn't care overly much if she had any talent or not.

And it wasn't like she could stop them anyway, not when the Head Captain gave them the green light to make as many musical videos as they wanted.

In fact, once the picnic was well under way, someone made sure to mention the fact that she was going to perform some more music for everyone. And in the excitement of the moment some various musical instruments somehow found themselves being dragged out of a couple of store houses and left lying around in an effort to tempt her into doing something with them.

It was far more tempting to Ichigo to claim that the cockroaches had spread and just set the damned things on fire and walk away. However, she resisted the urge because she'd done enough damage to her friend's stuff for one day.

But once Opera and her grandpa realized that there were instruments just lying around, neglected, the two demons gave her the sad puppy dog look that was a weakness of hers due to having younger siblings that were adorable as hell.

Needless to say, she wound up preforming after all. It was a duet, one that she managed to con Rukia into participating in so that she didn't feel like such an idiot. Though she could easily claim that she needed Rukia since she didn't know how to play the Japanese harp like she did a piano, harmonica, fiddle, guitar and other things.

But it worked out in the end since the two of them were able to play the song that she had in mind easily. Their voices rising and blending together in harmony as they sang the words and played their instruments for their hushed and eager audience.

Sullivan and Opera were having a hard time containing themselves throughout Ichigo's performance. She looked like she was having so much fun! Not only that but she was very good at music. The two of them had never heard anything so beautiful and melonic before. Not even the most popular Akudol performances could compare to this.

It was simply that amazing!

"She's an incredible girl, your granddaughter." Sullivan heard the Head Captain say from beside him. Causing him to look away from Ichigo for a moment.

"Yes, she is." Sullivan said after a heartbeat or so of silence.

"Ukitake explained to me a few minutes ago what prompted your visit." Yamamoto said, to explain why he was interrupting Sullivan's observations of his dearest grandchild.

"I'm sorry. I must have forgotten to explain that to you earlier when we were talking."

Yamamoto chuckled and waved the demon's apology off. "I understand. It's hard to look away from someone who shines as brightly as Ichigo does."

"Yes, that's true. It's almost as if I'm staring at a small sun." Sullivan admitted, already knowing that at this rate he'd never be able to take his eyes off of the girl again even for an instant. The more that he learned about his adoptive granddaughter the more enchanted he became.

He felt a great deal of love and pride swell within him.

"You wanted to know why Ichigo doesn't like the rank that she earned?"

"Yes."

"It's simple... She is what we here in Soul Society refer to as a shadow King. I may be the Head of the Thirteen Court-Guard Squads, but Ichigo is one who calls the shots from behind the scenes." Yamamoto said with a sly smile. "It is simply the way that it has been since she came to us as a child. She exists as an unseen and unknown variable. Even our worst enemies whisper her name with both such reverence and fear. She likes things that way and will not give that up very easily. So, I will simply have to stick around a bit longer."

Sullivan listened intently, his mind latching onto the words 'shadow" and "King' as it dawned upon him just who and what his precious granddaughter was.

She was an unofficial King of sorts to these people. One who held their hearts, respect, and deep admiration. So much so- that an official place had been created for her already.

One of great authority and power.

Yet as proud as Sullivan felt for her accomplishment, he was also just a bit jealous as well. Especially when the Soul Reaper was thoroughly convinced that he could somehow entice her to take his position one day as the new Head Captain.

It felt as if he were being challenged by the other man. And that was simply something that he couldn't allow since he planned to keep his granddaughter as close to him as possible. Forever.

If a throne was what it took to keep her, then he would help to pave the way for her to get one. A plan was already forming in his mind long before he finally decided that it was time for them to return to the Netherworld.