The next few weeks after Ichigo's first date with Shichiro (and Opera) passed in a blur of activity. Despite being on cloud nine and announcing her engagement to her grandpa. There had been other things that had needed settling.

One of which had been Shichiro moving in with she, Opera, and her grandpa. Another was going over various things with her new family about the wedding. Like how many people should be invited for the ceremony.

She really would prefer to keep things small for the time being. Which she had felt that the three had understood. But only time would really tell.

Then there was spending time with Az. And also explaining to him why Opera was suddenly seeking him out and trying to bribe him to call him 'papa' with toys and candies, which had nearly killed her.

And then there was also spending time with Clara.

Whom hadn't put up any sort of a fight at all when Opera had bribed her into calling him papa. One piece of candy had been more than enough to buy her love and adoration.

Which was not only distressing to Ichigo but also very worrying as well. But for different reasons since it was very obvious that no one had ever taught the green haired girl about stranger-danger.

Then there had also been school, and training as well to add to her never ending list of things to do.

The Monday following her date had been particularly interesting. But only because one of the things of note had been the fact that she had gotten kidnapped by a kid named Amerie Azazel. After the tall red headed girl had dropped what looked like a manga on the floor after they had accidentally run into each other, in the hall after one of her classes. And she had realized that Ichigo could read what the words from the manga.

Needless to say, Ichigo had wound up reading the manga to the girl for some reason she still didn't really fathom. And said girl had taken to her like another duckling.

The few days after their first meeting had been wild.

Especially since Amerie had taken to whisking Ichigo away at any random time she felt like it during school hours. Which had wound up upsetting Az and Clara because she wasn't able to see them like she usually did.

So much so that Clara had absolutely destroyed the large wooden doors to Amerie's private office just to steal her back. A fact that Ichigo had found absolutely horrifying.

After that, Amerie had traded contact info with her so that they could talk again at any time while Clara dropped a net over Ichigo's head and started to literally drag her off as Az apologized profusely to the red headed girl and then quickly scampered off to rejoin, she and Clara.

After all, just because Clara destroyed something didn't mean that he was willing to get into trouble for it.

Then a few days after that had happened, had been the Execution Ball match. Which was apparently a chance for first year students to rank up.

Az had been excited by the mere mention of it and had talked to her in length about what happened and explained the rules and things to her. But all she had heard from him was 'chance to go up a rank' and she didn't want any part of it since she wasn't entirely sure what would happen with her already abnormally high rank if she participated.

But she hadn't wanted to make her disapproval apparent though, since this seemed to interest Az and Clara. So, she had decided to go along with things just to see what would happen.

Which was why once lunch was over with, Az took she and Clara to an underground cave like room where he decided to show her how to play Execution Ball.

It turned out that Execution Ball was actually nothing more than dodge ball, but with a demonic spin on it. Since one could use any abilities they wanted to take out the opposing players.

Needless to say, Ichigo was already planning to sit this one out.

She didn't mind dodgeball. But dodgeball against a bunch of kids with magic and superpowers, with little to absolutely no conscience. No thank you.

She needed that about as much as she needed a hole in her head.

However, she found out via her teacher, Kalego (sadistic bastard that he was) that Execution Ball was mandatory for all first-year students. And there would be no playing dead or laying out of school to escape it. He didn't exactly say that he would hunt anyone trying to skip or lay out down, but it was heavily implied.

After that Ichigo began to hate her teacher with a passion that rivaled Aizen's lust for absolute destruction.

She was so ticked off that once she was home, she completely passed her grandpa and her darlings and went to her room. Where she locked herself in and made a voodoo doll of her teacher and started sticking pins into it in really, really painful and tender places.

Unfortunately for her- her voodoo skills sucked more than she had anticipated for a beginner.

And her teacher was wholly unaffected by her attempts to wring him out like a wet rag and turn him into a pin cushion. You couldn't blame a girl for trying though. Especially given the circumstances.

So she planned to try enlisting her grandpa's aid in her endeavor to get out of it.

But the second that she mentioned the Execution Ball match between the students in her class, her grandpa materialized a video camera and started tearing up.

Sadly, Opera wasn't much better. And Shichiro looked so damn happy about the fact that she was going to take part, even though it was against her will. That he somehow wrung the promise that she absolutely would participate. No matter what.

And what pray tell did she get in return for this promise? Why she got the most wonderful prize of all. Three grown men to cheer her on during the match! Yay her.

Needless to say, that since she'd made her promise to Shichiro, then she'd had no choice but to let her grandpa drag her outside after dinner to 'train' her. Of course, what her grandpa meant by 'training' was drastically different from any sort of training that she had ever encountered before since it mostly consisted of a magic spell that could obliterate the opposition. Literally.

Which basically added up to cheating. And she wanted no part of it since it wouldn't be right. So, after telling her grandpa that cheating wasn't something that she wanted any part of. And watching the elder become depressed, he asked Opera to help her out by training her.

Ichigo wasn't sure what to think about Opera's 'training'. Dodgeball didn't usually require strengthening one's core or legs and arms. Nor did it usually require running several miles or pushups. But Ichigo did all of those things without complaining due to the fact that she didn't want any more drama for the time being.

Then after each of those things were done, she found herself facing Opera from across the yard as he held a red ball in one hand while her grandpa and Shichiro both held their breaths and waited to see what would happen.

"I will throw the ball now." Opera called out. Ichigo merely thinned her lips and waited as he launched the ball at her.

She didn't bother catching the first one so much as she smacked it away with the back of her hand, sending the red ball off into the forest somewhere.

Opera huffed quietly and then grabbed another ball and then called out, "Remember, the aim is to catch the ball!"

Ichigo knew very well how to catch a ball. Especially a big one. She merely didn't feel like it.

So, after Opera threw a few more balls, the cat demon got frustrated with her and then crossed the distance so that he could pinch her cheeks between his fingers and stretched it to show his disapproval. Which...hurt her face a bit. Mostly because it wasn't meant to stretch to begin with. But whatever.

After that the two of them went back to throwing, smacking the ball away. This went on for a while- mostly until the number of red balls had dwindled dangerously. Then just before dark, Opera finally decided to call it quits and begin to clean up the yard.

"We'll do some more training tomorrow." He said as Ichigo grabbed a few of the red balls and walked over to him and tossed them in the bin that they were being kept in.

"If you say so." She said, sounding tired even to her own ears.

Who knew that trying to prevent herself from actively catching a ball would be so damned draining? She thought as she helped him pick up a few more balls before he ushered her into the house to go take a bath and settle in for the night.

The next day was more of the same.

With the small exception of Clara deciding to take an elective class. Which had turned into a fiasco because Ichigo had decided to tag along with her duckling to the class and had become upset by what the other girls were being taught by the teacher.

Needless to say, she gave the Seduction class teacher, Raim the dressing down of the century.

After all, who the hell taught kids that seduction was nothing but looking cute/pretty and posing?! There was more to it than that!

You had to be able to select your targets carefully, carry on conversations about every subject under the sun, you had to walk and carry yourself a certain way, be eye catching, charming, and most importantly of all- you had to be able to use yourself and your body as a weapon.

Knowing when you had to use your sexuality to get close, or even to curry favors with others was a difficult thing at times to realize. But without realizing those things, you could wind up in even more trouble than you could handle. Especially if you were using seduction to collect intelligence.

So of course, Ichigo was upset about what her classmates and others were being taught! The teacher was being irresponsible!

And then once she had finished destroying the woman whose ideas about seduction were downright dangerous for the kids that she was teaching.

So, Ichigo grabbed Clara and then walked out of the class in a terrible fit of temper.

Which had led her to go straight to her grandpa's office, with Clara still in tow, where she spent the next two hours telling her grandpa that Raim was by far one of the laziest teacher's that she'd ever seen. The woman's teachings were nothing like the true art of seduction.

And frankly, in Ichigo's opinion, she should be pulled from teaching the class until she brushed up on her skills/teaching a bit more.

By the time she had finished ranting, her grandpa looked like he wanted to commit murder.

Though she wasn't sure if even she would go that far with Raim regardless of how upset she was with the woman.

It wasn't until her grandpa stood up from his seat and came around his desk to place his hands on her shoulder's that Ichigo even realized that she had maybe given a little bit too much away about herself and her past.

Sure, she had done it without actually coming right out and just saying it. But her rant had heavily implied certain firsthand knowledge that her grandpa had apparently picked up on.

"Dearest, were you sent-" He started to ask if she had been sent on a seduction mission of some kind during her time amongst her Soul Reaper friends. But he stopped when he noticed Clara peeking out at him from behind Ichigo, looking upset too.

Thankfully, Ichigo didn't have to hear his entire question to be able to answer him. "No, I wasn't. I just sort of... stumbled into something and had to...do things to get out of it." She said, deliberately being vague for not only Clara's sake but his as well.

"I see," Her grandpa said before he gently pulled her into a hug. "I'll see what I can do about correcting Raim's teaching methods. But we will speak of this again later."

Ichigo sighed tiredly. "Yeah okay." She muttered. After that, her grandpa released her and then told her to take Clara and return to class. But the damage had been done.

Rumors started to spread like wildfire amongst the students and teachers alike.

So of course, a couple of certain demons found out about what had happened and were waiting with her grandpa when she walked through the door that day after school.

Ichigo was so tired that she was about ready to face plant on the floor when Opera appeared and scooped her up into his arms and then started walking as she laid her head on his shoulder and just...tried not to give into the overwhelming temptation of letting herself doze off.

She had a vague idea of why she was feeling so wiped. And it had very little to do with everything that was going on around her at the moment.

"Are you alright?" Opera asked, his voice forcing her to stay awake regardless of how much she just wanted to sleep right then.

"I'm exhausted. But aside from that, I'm fine." She said.

"Why are you so tired?"

"I haven't been sleeping well for a while. That's all."

Technically it wasn't a lie. She did have trouble sleeping due to insomnia.

More so recently than when she had first come to the Netherworld. Though the reasons had changed drastically since it was no longer just stress keeping her awake.

Now instead of being unable to sleep in an unfamiliar place, she simply had trouble falling asleep and staying asleep. It wasn't really something that could be helped given the fact that her grandpa, Opera and Shichiro were all night owls and did all kinds of work during the late/early morning hours.

So of course, hearing doors slam open and closed, hearing random creaks in the hallway and of course the occasional explosion or crash would cause her to jerk awake. And stay awake from that point on.

She knew that none of them meant to wake her with the noise, so she hadn't said anything and simple kept the fact that she hadn't slept in a few weeks to herself.

At least she was productive during her waking hours and went through her schoolbooks committing as much as she could to memory. And she checked her homework over a few times and when she ran out of school related stuff to do then she worked on those suits that she promised Opera and Shichiro.

The only real downside to her activities when she couldn't sleep- aside from the loss of sleep itself- was the loss of time. To be honest, the loss of time wasn't something that she typically noticed right away when she was having sleep issues. No- it usually took about a month or so for her to realize that she was losing time in any capacity. Which also subconsciously let her know that she was nearing her 'crashing' point.

The crashing point was when her body and mind became so out of sync that when she finally did crash, she crashed harder than any other point before. In all likelihood, once she finally crashed this time, she would probably sleep for a week or so just like any other time before.

She knew that it would scare everyone, but she couldn't really bring herself to warn them for some reason.

"I didn't realize that you were having difficulty sleeping," Opera said. "Would you like me to give you a special sleep aid before bed tonight?"

"No. I'll be okay." She said turning her head so that her face was pressed against the side of his neck. Her breath lightly fanning his skin.

Opera hummed thoughtfully and decided to keep an eye on her sleeping habits for a while just in case he needed to intervene. And made a mental note to mention her lack of proper rest to Shichiro and his master as well, just to be on the safe side as he reached his destination.

Reaching out, he knocked on the door to his master's study and then called out. "I have her!"

"Come in!" His master called back.

After that, Opera grabbed the knob and pulled the door open and then slipped inside of the room while his Lilith lifted her head with a soft groan as he gently set his Lilith on her feet and then nudged her forward with one hand.

"Hi grandpa, hi Shichiro." Ichigo said as she walked over to the large desk where her grandpa was sitting.

"Hello dearest," Sullivan greeted before asking, "Do you know why you are here?"

"I'd be an idiot if I didn't." Ichigo said as she moved to sit down in the large wing backed chair next to Shichiro's own chair. She leaned her body back against the chair and then crossed her arms over her chest while Opera moved to place himself between her chair and Shichiro's, for moral support since he had no idea what they were going to learn.

"Alright, let's begin then." Sullivan said as he laced his fingers together. "Starting from the question that I started to ask you earlier today in my office. Please tell us what happened."

"I stumbled into a bad situation-"

"Yes, you said that already. But you are being vague. Tell us the details, dearest."

Ichigo closed her eyes and got a pained expression on her face since she knew that nothing that she said was going to make anybody very happy. "Yeah okay, details." She muttered as she thought for a few seconds. "I was fourteen at the time and was investigating some..." She glanced at Shichiro, wondering how the hell he was going to take finding out certain things about her past as she went on. "There had been some mysterious disappearances close to where I lived when I was growing up. And because I knew things that others didn't and could track things from a great distance- get in and out of things and places- I was asked to help the local authorities track down some missing people."

"I had worked with them on a number of occasions to close a bunch of cold cases. Tripping over bodies back then was just a way of life. And my hometown was an area that was rich with missing persons. Mysterious deaths and disappearances under questionable circumstances happened every other day or so. We had a whole criminal underground network that made their home in the darkest parts of my hometown. And because of that, they needed a local that knew how to get in and get out. But they couldn't ask just anyone. The person that they asked for help had to know the risks, how to blend in, and be able to take care of themselves against greater numbers."

She paused to look at her grandpa, Shichiro, and Opera to gauge their reactions and had to stop herself from flinching at the utterly murderous looks on each of their faces. Before the three seemed to realize that they were freaking her out and Shichiro took a second to mentally prepare himself as he said. "Go on, darling."

Ichigo swallowed past the lump forming in her throat but did as she was told.

"I may have been just a kid back then, but I was good at taking care of myself. I used to get jumped by entire gangs of grown men in masses. And I was even arrested a couple of times for beating some of them almost to death. My name was well known in certain criminal circles, but my face wasn't. So, I could have said no. But if I had, someone else would have been sent to investigate and they likely wouldn't have made it out alive."

"To help them with the investigation, I had to sometimes check locations. Warehouses abandoned and partially demolished buildings. Anywhere that looked like it might be used by criminals. I managed to find a few things here and there, but none of it tied into the disappearances any. So, I decided to try another tactic and that meant that I would have to infiltrate a group. There was a gathering of a few syndicates. They specialized in- drugs, weapons, prostitution- and a multitude of other things. Sometimes, when someone goes missing, you can find them working off debts and stuff as prostitutes. Or drug mules..."

The room suddenly got ten degrees' colder, and Ichigo started sweating bullets as she stammered out that she infiltrated one of the groups as a new acquisition.

It meant that she had to hang onto some guy's arm and pretend to like his attention, but after a few hours she finally found the missing people. They were being auctioned off at a different location by traffickers. She had been reporting the information back to the authorities when she had nearly gotten caught.

With her back against the wall, and her time almost up, she had to get creative. So, when the guy that she had been with decided to bring some friends in to share her...well, she had played along as well as she could for someone literally about to be gang raped. And she had wound up killing all of the men except for the two that had escaped the room.

The missing people had gotten rescued, and the authorities assigned to help her busted in the gathering and found her curled up in the middle of a room, alternating between vomiting and screaming at the top of her lungs.

She'd had nightmares about killing those men for a few months, but she had gradually gotten better when she wound up meeting a few of the people that she had helped to rescue.

After that, she had slept a lot better and felt a lot less guilty.

"So, your friends had no part in the incident?" Her grandpa asked in a deadly calm tone that sent a chill down her spine.

"N-No. They were actually really, really mad at the authorities for putting me in danger to begin with." Ichigo said, hoping that her response helped as she went on and said. "It was actually that incident took place that a couple of my friends who...uh, used to work using seduction, took me aside and begun to teach me some stuff. I think that the incident really freaked them out and they just wanted to try and take my mind off of things by teaching me something that I didn't already know. In the right hands, seduction can be used as a practical skill in life. And I think it made them feel a bit better to teach me what they knew since it could come in useful later in life."

"I see..." Was all that her grandpa said as he stood up and walked over to her, and dropped down into a kneeling position in front of her chair and pulled her into a hug just like earlier in the day. "My poor dearest. You must have been so very afraid!"

It didn't take a genius to know that her grandpa was crying again. The guy was one of the biggest crybabies she'd ever laid eyes on before. And he wasn't the only one either. Opera and Shichiro were both crying too.

Though they weren't dripping snot on her like her grandpa was at the moment.

She sighed and patted him on the back, comfortingly. "I'm okay grandpa. It happened a long time ago."

"But those people should have protected you!" He sobbed, hugging her tighter.

"Well, they did the best that they could considering that they're attention was divided."

"That's no excuse for incompetence!" Her grandpa said fiercely as he drew back a bit. "Those fools should never have asked a child to investigate anything. They are trained professional's for devi sake! They could have done it on their own."

Ichigo refused to argue about things with him, so she just smiled at him and let him go back to crying.

Needless to say, after their talk, training wound up being canceled for the day. Which was fine by Ichigo. And instead of training, she, her grandpa, Opera and Shichiro wound up in the living room where they all played games and cuddled on the couch for the rest of the evening.

And when it was finally bedtime, Ichigo found herself being cuddled again by her three demons.

She slept all night that night.