The day of the Cannonball Execution match came quickly.

And while Sullivan, Opera, and Shichiro were making their way to where the game would be played, to watch Ichigo. The three of them couldn't help but think back on the evening a couple of nights prior when they had learned a bit about their girl's past.

To say that they were still bristling a bit at what they had learned would be an understatement. The story of Ichigo's past and the trauma that she had suffered back then had roused the three's protective instincts. So much so that they had been making utter menaces of themselves for the past few days.

Of course, Ichigo wasn't oblivious. Nor was she dim witted. She knew that what they had learned bothered them significantly. But instead of calling them out on their...bizarre behavior, she simply took it in stride and didn't say a word unless they were worrying her.

For instance, Lord Sullivan had wanted to take them all out for dinner the other night, and some local thug had bumped into Ichigo and knocked her down. And then had started to berate her.

Naturally this was a bad move to make for a multitude of reasons since Ichigo was not only Lord Sullivan's granddaughter, but the bride to be of two very powerful and high-ranking demons. Opera had been the first to realize that something was wrong and had come upon the thug laughing while Ichigo had been pushing herself up off of the ground.

The clothes that she had been wearing for their outing had been dirty, and even torn in one place. Not only that but her hands had been skinned a bit from her fall.

So, Opera had responded as only he could. He snuck up behind the demon that had done such an unforgiveable thing to their darling and raked his claws along the guy's face and throat. Tearing his flesh open all the way to the bone in some places and causing him to let out an ungodly shriek of pain as blood had gushed out of the wounds.

Opera had pretended as if the guy wasn't even there and helped Ichigo dust herself off while the girl had blanched at the sight of the thugs shredded face and neck and turned a little bit green. But she hadn't said anything even as Opera had tsked and hugged her tightly against his body in a protective manner and shot a dark look the other demon's way. While Shichiro and Lord Sullivan both came over to see what the commotion was about.

To say that they had been pissed that anyone would dare to harm their girl was a gross understatement.

Lord Sullivan had decided to 'educate' the howling and bleeding thug on what not to do to his granddaughter. And after Shichiro had used his vines to wrap the moron up like a spider wrapped its prey.

The elderly demon had left them for several moments so that he could toss the shrieking unknown demon into the carriage for later, and then returned to them. He had insisted on taking Ichigo shopping to get her a new shirt, but the girl had refused.

Dinner had been a lively affair between the four of them. But nothing unusual. However, once they had returned home had been a different matter altogether.

The unknown demon had been dragged into the basement of the house where he had been tossed into a cell. And to Opera and Shichiro's knowledge, the guy was still in the dungeon underneath their home. Where he was now rotting. After the multiple visits he had received from the three upset demons.

If Ichigo was aware of what had happened to him, she hadn't bothered to say anything about it one way or another. And they had simply gone on acting as if nothing had happened at all.

"Do you think Ichigo will be able to rank up?" Shichiro couldn't help but ask.

It wasn't that he doubted his darling or her abilities. At all. After all, he knew damned well that she had incredible reflexes and could fight very well. It was just...she didn't seem all that interested in ranking up to begin with. And it had been showing more and more recently during her training with Opera.

She pointedly allowed the ball that Opera threw at her to hit her, despite the fact that it had to hurt like hell. After all, the cat demon's strength was nothing to sneeze at. His physical strength was nearly on par with Shichiro's own.

So, Ichigo getting hit by the balls being thrown at her had caused more than a fair bit of alarm. Especially when it had happened more than once.

There was also the fact that anytime he, Opera, or Lord Sullivan mentioned the Cannonball Execution match these past few days, Ichigo had gnashed her teeth and hissed at all of them in a very feline manner that had each of them raising a brow at her. And then slowly backing away so that she wouldn't become even more angry and frustrated with them.

Which had made the fact that they were actually excited to see her rank up- sort of...difficult to express.

"She will," Opera said confidently. "She can catch the ball."

"Except that she has no desire to do so." Sullivan said almost worriedly. "You don't think that she's feeling ill, or anything like that do you? I mean, she left the house this morning outside of her uniform."

"She said that she didn't wish to get her uniform messy or torn." Opera said, hoping to alleviate some of his master's concern.

"I figured that it was something along those lines, but...did she have to leave the house looking so- so messy? I mean, isn't she worried about what others will say about her? They could start rumors!" Sullivan said, referring to his dearest granddaughter's appearance that morning.

Ichigo had been a sight dressed in a simple cotton shirt and pair of sweatpants. Without any makeup on her face and with her long hair pulled back into a messy bun at her nape.

If they hadn't already known that she was Sullivan's grandchild, and their intended, then it would be fairly easy to mistake her for a penniless ruffian or hoodlum of some sort.

Honestly, it was such a peculiar sight for the normally very immaculate and fetching girl that Opera had taken a few pictures of her while they had all been still reeling in shock. Though Ichigo's two friends hadn't fared much better upon seeing her.

The Asmodeus boy had outright fainted while Clara had zipped around Ichigo and struggled to find the words to ask her what had happened. If not for the fact that the two's spazzing could have made all of them late, then Ichigo might not have bothered to pick the boy up off of the ground and walk off. Leaving the utterly stunned green haired girl to awkwardly follow along at a discreet distance.

"There are already rumors about her." Shichiro said absently, missing the way that both Opera and the elderly demon flinched as he tacked on. "Though, I don't know if she's heard any of them."

Yet. Went unsaid between the three but was understood, nevertheless.

Ichigo hated the world today.

Why you ask?

Well, it could have been because her period had started. Or it could have been the fact that she was feverish and had been vomiting off and on for the past hour or so. It could have also been because her stomach kept cramping terribly and it made her feel like curling up in a ball somewhere so she could cry in misery.

So, yeah.

She hated the world today.

And as if those weren't enough of a reason for her to hate anything, today was the Cannonball Execution match too. Which made her hate everything even more.

Thank god, Clara had caught on to what was going on earlier that morning! The imp girl had been running interference for her so that Ichigo wouldn't have to deal with anyone asking her silly questions. Which was good because she was about ready explode.

And honestly, she didn't want to be at the school when that happened since she was likely going to explode in spectacular fashion and fuck some shit up.

"Ichi-ken?" Clara whispered from outside of the bathroom stall that Ichigo had locked herself inside a few minutes ago so that she could vomit/die in peace for a little while.

"I'm here." She replied in a raspy voice, not bothering to raise her head from the toilet seat.

She didn't even care that some demon had sat their bare ass on the thing and made it gross with butt germs. Right now, it was the only thing holding her up from flopping over onto the floor like a dead fish. Not to mention the fact that it was cool and she really, really appreciated that on her fevered skin right now.

"I have cold tea and chocolate." Clara whispered.

Ichigo perked up instantly, her mouth beginning to water at the mere thought of either item.

"I'm coming." She said as she lifted her head from the toilet seat with a groan as she pushed her way up to her feet and unlocked the bathroom stall. She pushed open the door and there was Clara with a canned tea in one hand and a chocolate bar in the other.

Both of them held out towards her.

Ichigo scrubbed her face with her hands and then took the offered drink and snack from the smaller girl with a grateful look. "Thanks, baby." She said as she pressed the cold can against her face with a relived sigh before asking, "What's Az doing?"

"Pacing outside the bathroom door." Clara said before awkwardly adding. "He's very worried about you."

"I know he is." Ichigo said as she removed the can from her face and popped the tab. "Has he set anybody on fire?" Ichigo asked next, already knowing that if he hadn't yet then he would very soon. Her duckling was nothing but consistent when it came that fire magic of his. Especially when he was upset about something.

"No." Clara said as she nodded her head slowly.

Ichigo heaved an aggrieved sigh and then asked, "How many people?"

"Three. Teachers."

"Shit. Really?"

"Yes."

"Can you please drag Az in here for me?"

Clara tilted her head to the side a bit but hummed before saying, "Okay."

And then went over to the door to do just that. Ichigo tore the wrapper on her chocolate bar so that she could break it into pieces, when she heard Az sputtering while he was forced into the bathroom by Clara.

"Hey! I can't be in here. It's for girl's only!"

Clara merely tapped her pocket and pulled a wig out of it and placed it on Az's head and waited for him to say something again since the act of putting the wig on him seemed to have sent him into a stupefied state.

"Problem solved." Clara chirped as she started dragging him again. Ichigo watched the small girl maneuver Az around as if he were no more than a stuffed doll with a bemused expression on her face.

Finally, Az recovered and upon seeing Ichigo leaning against the far wall, shook himself free of Clara's grasp and rushed to her side.

"Master!"

Sadly, as happy as Ichigo was to see her Az, his voice made her head hurt. So, she had to sacrifice a small piece of her chocolate bar to shut him up.

Az was startled by the fact that she had just shoved a piece of candy into his open mouth and flailed for a second before falling onto his butt and sitting there chewing reflexively.

"M-Master," He said again once he had swallowed what was in his mouth. "What's wrong? I can tell that something is off."

"She's on her cycle again." Clara replied, trying to be helpful. Ichigo shot her a look. But Clara merely smiled innocently as Az processed what he had just been told.

"Really?" He asked worriedly.

"Unfortunately." Ichigo said as she broke off another piece of her chocolate bar and handed it to Clara before taking a bite of it for herself.

"B-But how? That should be a literal impossibility." Az said looking more and more alarmed by the second. "Demons do not usually have more than one reproductive cycle every twenty years or so."

Ichigo rolled her eyes and muttered. "Birth defect." Around the bite in her mouth as she gave a shrug.

Az got to his feet and mouthed the words, 'birth defect' as he seemed to mull over this new information for plausibility before then looking at her and asking carefully, "How often does your...birth defect cause more than one cycle?"

"Every month."

Az's eyes got impossibly wide with horror, and he made choking sounds. Clara merely looked between the two of them until Ichigo handed her another piece of chocolate to munch on.

Of course, by then the silence had stretched on for more than a few seconds and Ichigo had reached out and poked Az in the chest a couple of times to see if she could get him to react. But he didn't even so much as twitch a muscle.

"Hn, I think Az just broke."

"Better him than me." Clara muttered with a sage nod of her head.

Ichigo merely broke off another couple of pieces of her chocolate and handed them to Clara before stuffing the rest into her mouth. She didn't feel that she had any right to comment at the moment.

With the Cannonball Execution match about to start, they needed to move.

"Where is she?" Sullivan muttered anxiously from his place next to Opera, as he scanned the area below them. The Cannonball Execution match was about to begin, and Ichigo was nowhere to be seen. Yet.

But the fact that she wasn't there just yet seemed to unnerve the elderly demon for some reason.

Neither Opera nor Shichiro was bothered by her lack of presence just yet, though they were a bit nervous about what could be keeping her.

It was another five minutes or so before they managed to see her walking out to join the rest of her class, carrying the Asmodeus boy. Again. While her small, green haired friend walked close to Ichigo's side.

After that, roll was taken by Kalego to make sure that none of the students were absent. Then once that was done, everyone was divided into teams.

Team A consisted of Sabro Sabnock, Jazz, Clara, Ichigo, Elizabetta, and Picero. While Team B consisted of Goemon, Lied, Kerori, Kamui, Schneider, Asmodeus, and Purson Soi.

Once everyone was placed on their teams, Kalego called out.

"Alright you fools, pay attention while I explain the rules!" What little bit of talking amongst the kids died down so that everyone could hear him speak. "This sport is played between two teams dispatch at the beginning in their half of the infield except for one player of each team in the outfield. Players try to eliminate the players of the opposite team in throwing the ball at them across the demarcation lines of their territories."

"If a player is touch by the ball before it touches the ground, then that player is eliminated. But when a player catches a ball before it touches the ground it is his turn to throw. A ball that has touch the ground once is safe to pick up. An eliminated player is placed in the outfield and has still a chance to come back in the game if they get a chance to throw a ball from there. But they can't come back into the infield."

"A team wins when all the players of the opposite team are all eliminated. Magic can be used on the ball to defend or attack but not on the players. Any break in the rules is ground for elimination! And more importantly, a failing grade!"

And then once that was done, a ball was tossed to one of the teams and then Kalego moved out of the line of fire since he likely didn't want to be targeted by one of the more fearless students in his class. After that, the whistle around his neck was blown and the match began.

The first few times that the ball was thrown, it hit several of the slower and weaker kids on both teams, eliminating them from the match. While some of the more agile kids managed to dodge and sidestep the ball whenever it was thrown their way.

Ichigo, being as quick and agile as she was managed to make it to the very end of the game. However, she was pitted against Asmodeus who had finally regained his senses enough to evade being taken out. And everyone was sure that neither of the two would be able to go all out against each other due to their friendship.

Ichigo was inclined to disagree.

In her present mood she was feeling pretty cutthroat. So not even the fact that Az was her adopted son was going to prevent her from doing whatever she felt like.

Az however, was sweating buckets and internally freaking out.

Don't get him wrong, on one hand he was certainly proud of his master for managing to make it so far into the game. Especially in her present state.

But at the same time, how could he throw a ball at her when she was feeling ill?

It was simply too terrible a thing for him to comprehend! After all, he didn't want to hurt her. And if he hit her then he would hurt her. He was sure of it. Especially if he dared to use any of his magic to prevent her from catching the ball.

Yet the longer he stared at her, and saw her determined expression, the more he felt ashamed of himself for worrying so much. Come on Alice, your master is anything but weak. And she has worked hard to get here. Now stop being such a wuss and show her what you can do!

"Here I come master!" He called out, a smile curving his lips as he gathered his flames around the ball in his hand and prepared to send it right at her.

Ichigo smirked a little bit evilly and planted her feet as Az threw the ball.

The fire surrounding it was intense, the heat causing sweat to run down her face and neck as she steeled herself for the burns that she was about to suffer. While she reached out and pushed her hand through the flames to cup the ball in her palm.

The ball was spinning in place against her skin, the impact of it hitting her hand snapping a couple of her smaller and more fragile bones completely as she held onto it.

But the rotation wasn't slowing, and the fire wasn't dissipating either.

And if she kept holding it, she was likely to suffer even more damage as the flames licked along her arm, wrist, her chest, shoulder and face. Burning her and causing painful blisters to begin forming on her skin.

She wouldn't entirely swear to it, but she even thought that she saw a few stray strands of her hair melt from the intensity of the flames whipping around her.

Then, because she couldn't hold the ball any longer, she decided to fire it back at Az.

She added some more momentum to it by spinning on her heel really fast, but the second that the ball was launched back towards the other side of the room, Ichigo sank to the ground holding onto her injured arm in relief as her vision swam and started to turn black.

She was barely aware of the fact that the ball caught Az's shoulder, ripping his shirt, and startling him badly enough for him to fall onto his ass.

Or the fact that she had won.

Ichigo was barely aware of the cheers and shouts of victory from her classmates, everything seemed to be so far away now. Her vision went dark again and before she fell over and lay still, she thought. Fucking really?