Untraveled Road

by baby-kitsune9

What if Ichigo's dad were part demon, and kin to Sullivan. And what if on the 26th birthday of his eldest child, Sullivan was to give Ichigo and inheritance of some kind. But Ichigo already had everything that she wanted and then some. Welcome to the Netherworld Soul King! Fem Ichigo no pairing yet.

6. Chapter 6

It took a few minutes for everyone to settle back down. And once it finally did and the elderly...uh man? Person- had finally released her, and she found her arm gently being tugged on by the elder as a throne materialized off to the side. Between the couch and her dad's seat.

He led her over to it and then gently maneuvered her to sit in it and then took a knee in front of her. "Forgive this old man, your highness. I meant no disrespect. I merely couldn't refrain from gushing as elders often do." The elder said as he allowed his demon horns, tail and wings to be on full display to her. It's his way of showing the proper respect for someone of my station. Her mind supplied helpfully as soon as the knowledge of what he was doing fully hit her.

Which was nice and all, but he needn't have gone quite so far since she wasn't a very formal person.

"Oh, don't worry about that. I didn't take any offense." She said kindly as she slowly stood up from the throne that his magic had created for her and held one of her hands out to him.

She had obviously startled the elder, given the strange way that his purple eyes locked on her face questioningly. She smiled at him, though it wasn't an amused smile and wiggled her fingers in his face for a second to coax him into taking her hand as she leaned down a bit and whispered to him, "It's okay, I don't bite."

He blinked at her as she straightened her spine but took hold of the offered hand with an enigmatic expression on his face. After that, she slowly tugged him up off of the floor so that he was standing again.

"There we go. That's a bit better." She said as he took a moment to conceal his horns, tail, and wings again before finally saying, "My name is Ichigo Kurosaki. What's yours?"

"Oh, I'm Sullivan. One of the three great demons of the Netherworld."

Ichigo smiled at him and gently shook his hand as the knowledge that she had acquired from her ascent to the position of Soul King, flooded her mind.

And from what she could tell from the information kept on the guy by the previous Soul King, Sullivan was one of the greatest movers and shakers in the Netherworld. Well, sort of.

The guy's heroics during the great demon war were certainly nothing to sneeze at if they were what had caught the former King's attention. Though the rest of the information on him, was fairly benign in nature. Being a war hero had caused him to gain the title of Lord Sullivan. He was about two thousand years old and was still considered fairly young for a demon despite his advanced age.

He had served for a time under the former Demon King Derkila as an adviser/vassal. However, upon the demon king's disappearance Sullivan had stepped down in a sense to live his own life. Though he still protected his king and the king's throne just as fiercely as he ever had.

He currently worked as the chair demon and principal of a school that he had established during the king's absence.

However, the knowledge of the demon didn't end there. In fact, it branched out and extended to those within his personal circle of friends and trusted confidantes.

One of which was the Security Devil sitting on the couch.

Opera, security devil of Sullivan, was an enigmatic man. Little was known about his background, which was strange given the fact that there were gaps in his information that shouldn't exist.

However, despite those gaps in information she did know a bit about him. Though she sorts of got stuck on the fact that he was a hellcat. Which was apparently a cat with wings.

Turning her head, she looked at the cat demon and then asked in a low tone. "You're a cat demon?"

Said man merely gave her a very mischievous/scary smile and lifted his hands so that his fingers were curled like claws as he meowed softly in response to her question.

Ichigo's brain short circuited for a second before she grinned and mimicked his finger curl and meowed back at him, already able to practically see his kitty ears flattening back against his head at her as he let out a soft huff of amusement.

"It's nice to meet you both." She finally said as she turned her eyes back to Sullivan.

"And you as well, my lady." Sullivan said politely.

"Please, just call me Ichigo." She said quickly, startling him a little bit again as she went on to add, "None of that my lady, or my king nonsense. When we're alone, I am just Ichigo. So please, call me by my name."

Sullivan took a few seconds to respond, but finally nodded his head in acceptance of her request to be called by her name instead of any formal titles. "Very well, and you may just call me Sullivan."

"Alright." Ichigo chirped with a warm smile before asking, "You came here to kidnap me?"

Sullivan sputtered at the choice of words while Isshin outright gaped at his eldest child in horror. Of course, it didn't stop her dad from getting a bit offended on the elderly demon's behalf. After all, he had stated that his relative was coming to take her to the Netherworld, not kidnap her.

Though to be honest, her dad was basically just splitting hairs.

"Hey! No! That's not-"

Ichigo held a hand up and her dad's voice was quickly silenced as she said, "I'm just joking dad, calm down already." Her dad did as she said, but she could tell that he was close to starting a riot or something if the mutinous expression on his face was any indication at all.

"Forgive my words, Mr. Sullivan. I know that you didn't actually come all the way to the human world to actually kidnap me." She said kindly. "Dad was pretty vague though about what we were to expect. I mean, he tried to give us some idea of what it was you may do- but it would probably be easier if you tell me yourself what it is that you intend."

Sullivan hummed but understood what she was trying to ask him.

"Oh. Of course, please, sit down and I'll explain everything." He said as he gently released the hand that he had been holding for several minutes now without realizing it and let her move away.

Ichigo merely sat back down in the throne that the elder had conjured out of thin air and made herself as comfortable as possible while Sullivan decided to do the same and sit back down on the couch, though he turned his body to face her to make it easier to speak with her.

"You may not know this, but in the Netherworld, children rarely live to see adulthood." Sullivan started, hoping that that would help to explain some things to his heir. "As such the clans and families that are lucky enough to have them- helped to create a law so that those without children would have the chance to raise one of their own. It's called the Demonic Inheritance Law. And the basic gist of it is that those who have more than one child- can surrender their rights to one of said children to a relative who is of great standing in the Netherworld. Once that is done, the child is adopted as the child and heir of the relative, and removed from their home and is then sent to live with the relative."

"So, it's basically a form of adoption that takes place under certain circumstances? Like when someone is without a child. Is that about, right?" Ichigo asked.

"Yes. That about sums things up rather nicely," Sullivan said with a smile. "Most would typically choose to adopt one of their kin's younger children so that they would have the chance to shape and mold them into whatever they felt was necessary. But I am an old, old man and haven't the energy to keep up with a young one anymore. So, I put a spin on the law and formed a contract with my late sibling- that should he ever have a child, then once it had grown up and I was able to determine their competency- then I would adopt that child as my heir. The only thing that would prevent me from doing so is if the child went missing and couldn't be found in time. Or was married or dead."

"I see. And when dad disappeared, you weren't able to find him which prevented you from taking him as your heir."

Sullivan nodded his head sagely. "Yes, that is true. Up until a few days ago I had thought that my nephew was lost to me forever. Can you imagine how surprised and thrilled I was to know that he not only lived, but had managed to have children of his own?"

"I imagine that you were on cloud nine."

"Indeed, I was."

"Okay," Ichigo said as she propped her chin up in her hand. "Next question, what are your expectations of me as your heir? I mean, what is it that you want me to do?"

"Do?" Sullivan echoed the question with a slightly confused look on his face. "My dear girl, I have little as far as expectations go. In all honesty I originally would have liked to groom you to eventually take my place as one of the Thirteen Crowns. Maybe even as the chair demon of the place I work. But aside from those things, I only wish you to live with me, get to know me and vice versa. Beyond that, your life is your own and you may do as you please within reason."

"That means, that if you wish to live a life of leisure, then you can do so. I will not stop you. If you wish to work in some way, I will support you. You will have the entirety of my resources, and wealth at your fingertips. And if someone tries to harm you- I will destroy them to protect you."

"Thank you, I appreciate your honesty."

"Oh, sure. I rather appreciate honesty over lies myself."

"I get that. Now here's my next question," Ichigo said and then paused before asking, "Will you walk me through how the adoption process works?"

"Oh, alright." Sullivan said before taking a moment to think since he wanted to be as clear as possible. "Well, as I stated before, I'm an old man. So, while you would fill the position of a grandchild easily- I decided that given your age, you would be my daughter instead." He paused for a second to mull over phrasing before finally settling on the easiest phrase possible to help her understand.

"With that in mind, I wrote out a contract. It's legally binding in most realms- but essentially states that you consent to being my daughter and will live in the Netherworld for a set amount of time... Before returning here, if that is what you wish. However, while in the Netherworld as my heir- I will essentially be taking over all of the responsibilities of your biological father. I will feed you, clothe you, provide for you in every way. This will of course include a bit of education on the Netherworld as well."

"I am considered a lord of great standing in the Netherworld and am also part of a governing party that helps to maintain order there as well. So, the education that you will receive will be mainly focused on etiquette- how to conduct yourself properly in a formal setting full of other high-ranking demons. You will be taught how to carry yourself with confidence, how to dance- because sometimes I attend functions where dancing happens. Dinner etiquette, as well as which fork is used for what etc. There will also be a brief education on the current state of the Netherworld and many of the dangers that you may find yourself facing. But...I will do my best to make sure that you never face those dangers alone. And certainly not without arming you with the knowledge of how to navigate yourself safely away from them."

Ichigo listened intently to every last word before finally making a humming sound and asking, "So the adoption process is basically a contract? And it includes everything mentioned?"

"Well, there was actually more to it than just those things, but yes."

"Would it be okay if I looked over the contract with Mizuiro? I'm not sure if he's told you yet but he's a lawyer and is most suited to help me understand certain things likely in the contract."

"Certainly." Sullivan said with a slight nod of his head as he conjured up the contract/adoption papers and then handed them over to her. Ichigo smiled at him and muttered a polite thank you as she took hold of the papers.

At first, she couldn't really understand anything that she was looking at but then, thanks to the knowledge that she had inherited as the new Soul King, everything clicked in her mind, and she was able to read the once gibberish-y mess.

"Mizuiro, is that language spell that I used on you still working?" She asked as her friend/adopted son walked over to her and leaned over the arm of the throne to look at the papers in her hands.

"Yes," He said upon realizing that he could easily understand everything that was on the paper. "Lord Sullivan, you have lovely handwriting." He said as he reached out and gently took the contract from Ichigo's hands.

Sullivan flushed a little bit at the compliment and smiled warmly. "Thank you. Can you both read it okay?"

"Yes." Both of them said in unison as Ichigo pointed to one thing on the paper, eliciting a soft hum from her son as he scanned the sentence/paragraph that she had pointed to.

All in all, looking over the papers took less time than Ichigo had anticipated. But once she and Mizuiro finished, the papers/contract was handed back to Sullivan as Mizuiro cleared his throat delicately and asked, "I know that you worked very hard on those, but is there any way that we can negotiate a few things to add to it?"

Sullivan tilted his head to the side a little bit as he regarded his heir's son but nodded his head in understanding.

"Yes of course." He said as he sat back down on the couch. "What is it that you would like to add?"

"Okay, first of all- there's nothing wrong with the papers, if Ichigo were still even remotely human. But since she isn't, there are certain things that are unavoidable. One is her friends; they are a ridiculously tight knit group-" Mizuiro said.

"Damn right we are." Renji said with a grin.

Ichigo snorted at her friend's words and rolled her eyes in fond exasperation as Mizuiro continued to speak.

"Their presence in the Netherworld for any reason no matter how big or small is inevitable. Even some of her human friends are likely to brave the many hazards of the Netherworld to show up from time to time. The same can be said for her biological family."

"I understand." Sullivan said as he added a clause to the papers stating that any of her friends and family who visited them would be treated with the upmost respect, and kindness. He added a few extra things in the paper's as well, for Ichigo's peace of mind's sake. Then once he finished adding that, he paused and waited for anything else that might need to be added.

"The next thing to cover in the papers, would be who and what she is." Mizuiro said. "And I can't stress this enough... But no one outside of whoever you meet here- yourself, and your companion can know anything about Ichigo's status as the Soul King. I know that like honesty over lies, but this is not just for her sake, but all other living being's sakes as well. If she were to fall into the wrong hands and somehow be broken- everything would burn to ashes. For that reason, secrecy is absolutely necessary."

"Aww, but that's no fun." Sullivan said, sounding like a child. Mizuiro leveled a disapproving stare his way and the elderly demon automatically folded.

"Neither is the systematic death of all living things in creation. Am I understood?"

"Yes, that would be bad." Sullivan said grimly as he went ahead and added that to the papers as well. "What if there were others int he Netherworld that could handle the knowledge of Ichigo's identity? Would it be okay to tell them? Or would that be a no go-"

"Do you have anyone specific in mind?" Ichigo asked curiously.

"As a matter of fact, I do. There are several demons among the teachers and staff of the school I work at that can be trusted implicitly. There's also a few members of the Thirteen Crowns that can be trusted as well."

Ichigo hummed thoughtfully but considered his question carefully for several moments before finally saying, "Okay, it should be added that if I meet a particular demon that I approve of having them know that I'm the Soul King, then you can tell them. But only if I approve of them beforehand. But I also reserve the right to wipe their memories if they are unable to keep their mouths shut."

"That is also perfectly understandable." Sullivan hummed as he added that to the papers as well.

"The next thing to go over are the accommodations in your home for the Royal Guards." Mizuiro said, already knowing that Rukia, Chad, or one or two of the others would want to spend the next week or so in the Netherworld making sure that Ichigo was in good hands. "For the most part, Ichigo can take care of herself pretty well. Even without the use of her abilities as the Soul King. However, despite that, there are certain situations that should be avoided at all costs since it could cause a looot of damage to surrounding areas. The current Royal Guards, mostly act as not just bodyguards, but deterrents for such situations as well."

"I see, and how many of them are there?" Sullivan asked curiously.

"Technically, there are a few hundred million of them-" Ichigo said awkwardly as the elder lifted his head and slowly turned it so that he was looking at her. His eyes impossibly wide, and his jaw hanging slack for a moment or two.

"A h-h-hundred m-mill-ion?" Sullivan stammered out in shock.

Holy hell that was a huge number! Opera leaned forward and peeked around his master's body to look at his new lady with an incredulous expression on his face as Sullivan turned his head to look at him and asked, "Do we have enough room for that many people in the house?"

"No." Opera deadpanned, looking at his master as if he'd taken total leave of his senses.

His master better not expect him to perform the same duties as always for that many people. If he did...well, Opera would have to move out and let his master live in his own filth for a while in retaliation. After all, he was only one person, and they were...legion.

"Sir, if I may, might I suggest a compromise?" Opera asked, seeing that his master had temporarily checked out, mentally.

"A compromise? I'm sorry Opera, but you seem to be under the impression that I would need that many people with me. And I don't since it would be impossible to hide who I was with them all underfoot."

Opera blinked, and slowly nodded his head in understanding. "May I still make my suggestion, my lady?"

"Please don't call me that." Ichigo said. Though not unkindly.

Opera merely stared at her, unblinkingly, waiting for her to give him permission to speak. And upon getting a hand motion from her- went on to make his suggestion.

"My suggestion is this, four guards in total. Two from here. And two of Lord Sullivan's choosing from the Netherworld."

"Again, Ichigo would have to meet them and be able to trust them." Mizuiro chimed in with the reminder.

"I personally can vouch for them. They are among some of the more respected and highly regarded demons in the Netherworld, and while not exactly on par with Lord Sullivan, strength wise, just yet. They will be soon. Besides, if they step out of line with my lady- then I will personally make them suffer for it." Opera said, flashing a little bit of fang menacingly.

Ichigo and Mizuiro both exchanged a look, but Ichigo eventually said, "Very well, we'll add that to the papers too. But I would like you to begin to make out a list of names of the people that I may be able to trust as my guards while in the Netherworld."

"As you wish my lady. I will do so immediately." Opera said, pleased that his lady seemed to be more rationally inclined than his master was. Hopefully, his master could learn a few things from her. But he wouldn't hold his breath.

Ichigo smiled at him and waved one of her hands, conjuring up some paper and a pen that he could use for his task. Reaching out, Opera grasped the items and then re-seated himself and begun to create his list carefully while his master finally seemed to return to his senses and added that to the papers as well.

"The last thing that we should cover," Ichigo started as she reached over and took hold of one of Mizuiro's hands. "Is my adopted son..."

"Oh, they already know about me and my declining health. I even asked if I could go to the Netherworld with you." Mizuiro said as he used his free hand to pat the top of his adoptive mother's hand.

"Oh. Okay then." Ichigo said, looking down at their joined hands and wondered what Mizuiro would do if he wasn't able to come with her. And if he couldn't... What was she supposed to do when he was dying?

"I thought over your request, Mizuiro, and I have no problems with you coming to the Netherworld with your mother. Given the circumstances, with your health and all- taking her away and not allowing her to be close to you when your life has been so drastically shortened- would not only adversely affect her but you as well. And I don't want that." Sullivan said, "But you should be aware that while there, you aren't to let anyone know that you are a human since it could lead to you being eaten. Understand?"

"I understand. And...thank you." Mizuiro said as he looked at his mom and smiled brightly as Ichigo squeezed his hand gently. Her own smile, reflecting how pleased she was to know that she and her adoptive son wouldn't be separated.

While Sullivan added some extra stuff to the papers about Mizuiro and the careful and meticulous care that he would receive while living in the Netherworld all the way up until his life ended. And of course, he also added some new things about Mizuiro's reincarnation as well since his next life was bound to be much, much longer than his current one.

Then once he finished, Ichigo asked to read the papers again to make sure that they had covered everything.

She spent the next fifteen or so minutes doing that while Mizuiro spoke with Sullivan and Opera about their home and other things. Trying to get a good feel for how they usually went about their daily activities.

"So you do various jobs?" He asked Opera curiously.

"Yes. As a security devil, I must care for all of my master's daily activities whether it is work related or play related. My job is to make sure that my master's life runs smoothly on top of my duty to protect him and his kin from harm. Often times this includes helping with chores, paperwork, scheduling, making sure that master keep's his appointments, cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, ect."

Mizuiro's eyes widened a bit in vague alarm and found himself blurting out. "Will Ichigo and I cause any undue distress or trouble with your work?" He asked.

Suddenly feeling very worried about the red-haired demon as Opera considered his question before finally replying. "No. You are but two people, and while I have many duties- I should be able to divide them between everyone easily."

"Can we add something in the papers about Ichigo and I cleaning our own rooms and stuff?" He asked weakly.

Opera blinked at him in surprise but smiled at him. He already had a feeling that both his new lady and the young human would keep him on his toes considerably. And to be honest, he was already looking forward to having the two move in with he and his master.

Finally, Ichigo finished re going over everything in the papers and asked for a pen. Mizuiro watched as Sullivan conjured one for her and handed it to her. She signed the papers and then handed them back to the elderly demon and then slowly stood up and smoothed down the skirt of her dress as she said, "Please excuse me. I'll go and pack up what I'd like to take with me."

"Oh, of course my dear." Sullivan said as she walked around the couch and started to make her way towards the stairs when Opera suddenly stood up and handed his list and pen to his master and then briskly walked over to Ichigo and stopped her.

"My lady, would you like some help packing?"

"I would love some help, thank you Opera. Especially since I don't exactly know what I should pack." She replied awkwardly as she lifted her skirt a little bit and then went up the stairs. Opera made a non-committal sound of understanding and quickly followed after her.

A few moments later, Opera found himself standing inside of a very, terribly small bedroom with pale blue walls.

"Is this...your room, my lady?" He asked wondering why anyone of her present station would consider something so tiny and cramped as suitable living quarters?

Surely life in a palace would be much better for her.

However, despite his initial thoughts about the tuna-can sized room, his lady merely smiled at him from over her shoulder.

"Yup! This was my favorite room in the house when I was growing up." She said confirming his fears. Opera was literally a second away from a meltdown of some kind as she then went on to ask him. "Now, should I just pack the bare necessities? Or should I also include a few changes of clothing too, just to be on the safe side?"

His mind blue screened and he stared at her while she took a second to conjure up a medium sized box and set it on- and he said this in the nicest way, really- tiny, narrow, barely there bed.

Finally, his mind started working again, and in that slight amount of time she had already packed up some handsewn stuffed toys, several books from the shelf against the wall by where he was standing and was heading for the dresser across from the foot of the tiny bed, to grab some clothing when he spoke up again.

"Lord Sullivan will provide you with clothing my lady. So, you don't need to worry about that." He quickly said.

"Oh, alright then. I guess that I should go and grab the birthday gifts that I got earlier and then I'll be done." She said, sounding as if she had expected to need more.

Opera merely nodded his head despite the fact that she wasn't looking at him and decided to go and inform his master of his lady's...er- accommodations. Since he was fairly certain that his master would want to know just how deprived the young lady had grown up.

Reaching out a hand, Opera settled his palm on top of his lady's head and very carefully pet her head so that he wouldn't accidentally mess up her hair and then he excused himself to return downstairs. Leaving the bemused woman alone.

Upon returning to his master's side, he quickly informed him of their lady's less than delightful closet sized bedroom and his concerns that she may have been deprived of things growing up. Which then led to his master excusing himself from his nephew and the other two's presence so that he could go and see the room for himself.

The two were in the hallway leading to the Soul King's room when they both saw her slipping out of another room down the hall a little way. If she was startled to be seen slipping out of a different room by them, she didn't show it.

She merely waved at them both in a friendly manner and then slipped back into her bedroom without a word.

Ducking down so that he wouldn't hit his head on the door frame, Sullivan stepped into the room that she had gone into and paused immediately as his eyes swept around the room. It was indeed as Opera had told him and more. Teeny. Tiny. And cramped.

How could anyone put a child in such a small room? Sullivan wondered before glancing over to see his heir dragging something that looked suspiciously like bedding out of her closet. Then once she had it out in the open, she took the time to carefully fold it up and then put it and a small cushion into a box that was sitting on her bed.

"Ichigo, dear what are you doing?"

"Hn? Oh, I'm just packing up some of Rukia's things since she's likely to be one of the royal guards that go with me to the Netherworld."

"Ah, I see." Sullivan muttered thoughtfully before asking, "Have you already packed your things?"

"Yes. Opera made sure to tell me that I don't need to pack any clothing. So, it's just the few personal effects that I have. A couple of gifts from my sisters and friends. Some trinkets left to me by my mom and some books and pictures."

"I see..." Sullivan said before asking, "And that's all that you want to take with you?"

"Actually, do you think I can get away with maybe stuffing my little sisters in the box and taking them with me too?" Ichigo asked somewhat jokingly. "I'm kind of worried about what will happen to dad once I'm gone since they both have tempers. And the last time I disappeared on them was during the war, and both girls really flipped out on dad and beat the holy hell out of him for letting me participate in the fighting since I was still just a kid. Dad spent three months in the hospital from the beating he got." She said with a small laugh.

Sullivan hummed but couldn't help the small smile that was tugging at his lips.

"They sound like their little hellions." Opera chimed in after a moment or so.

"Oh, they are. That's why I'm worried." Ichigo said as she put one of her hands against one of her cheeks and looked off into the distance for a second or two before finally sighing and dropping her hand back to her side as something occurred to her almost causing her to miss Sullivan say.

"We'd love to meet them."

"You will. They'll be back from running errands soon." Ichigo said absently before shrugging her realization off as inconsequential. After all, she couldn't keep holding onto her mother's ghost forever.

Opera and Sullivan exchanged a vaguely worried look with one another once they realized that something was bothering her. And Opera mustered up the courage to ask, cautiously.

"Is...anything wrong my lady?"

"Hn?" She said as she turned her head to look at them before slowly saying, "No. Nothing's wrong. I was just gathering wool."

Both demons gave her a curious look and she smiled at them in an effort to get them to drop the subject. Knowing the evasive maneuver for what it was, the pair of demons merely nodded their heads in understanding and let her be for now.

---

It got very noisy once Yuzu and Karin returned from their errands to get ready for the party.

And of course, part of the reason for the loudness had a lot to do with the fact that the twins had taken one look at their dad in his demon form and decided to destroy him for some unknown reason.

Naturally, the sudden burst of violence had all but sent Opera and Sullivan's fight or flight instincts into overdrive. So much so that the pair had scrambled over the back of the couch and Sullivan was now wedged between the wall and Opera. So, Ichigo had had no choice but to intervene- before Opera snapped and lashed out- to prevent further bloodshed.

Yuzu had nailed their pop in the face with a cast iron skillet while Karin had him in a choke hold when Ichigo snapped her fingers and their dad disappeared from her twin sibling's grasp and reappeared somewhere outside.

The point of this was so that he could recover long enough to hide, while she sorted things out with her younger sisters.

"Just what the hell do the two of you think you're doing attacking dad like that?" Ichigo demanded as she crossed her arms over her chest and glared at both of her bemused siblings.

"He looked like an alien cockroach!" Yuzu cried, shivering in disgust as she gripped her skillet even harder in her hands. "You know how I feel about cockroaches in the house, Ichigo! How could you let him in looking like that?"

"I don't care about him looking like some nightmare reject. I just wanted to hurt him because he's letting someone take you away from us." Karin said as she studied the nails of her left hand.

Ichigo made a little growling sound of annoyance and snapped. "Yuzu, first of all, dad does not resemble a cockroach in the least. They don't have horns! You sound silly." Her tone became deadpan as she went on to say, "And Karin, you should be ashamed of how black your heart is."

Karin sputtered a bit in outrage. "I do not have a black heart!"

"You literally just said that you hurt dad because you wanted to. And you said it in a totally calm, and unbothered tone. So, unless I helped to raise a borderline psychopath- I suggest that you get over whatever it is that pissed you off and apologize to dad, and our guests. Like an adult." Ichigo uncrossed her arms and put her hands on her hips and leaned in a little bit and growled, "Because any failure on your part to do so will not only get you turned into a toddler, but treated like one until the spell wears off. Am I understood?"

"Fine." Karin hissed before taking a moment to look sufficiently chastised as Yuzu burst into tears and dropped the skillet in her hand with a loud clang so that she could launch herself at Ichigo and hug her.

Ichigo caught Yuzu easily and was running her fingers through her hair while Yuzu sobbed. "I've never seen daddy look like that before! He scared me!"

Ichigo hummed and hugged her little sister tightly, attempting to calm her down and comfort her at the same time. Finally, Opera wandered over to the three of them to make sure that it was safe again.

Ichigo merely gave him a nervous looking smile that bordered on apologetic, earning a head tilted stare from the demon before he reached out and very gently pried Yuzu off of her and picked her up and then settled her so that she was sitting on his forearm, facing him.

"There, there," He said as he pulled a hanky out of one of his pockets and used it to carefully dry Yuzu's face with it. "I know that your father looks scary to you, but that is simply his demon heritage. And also, a part of your own heritage."

"Huh?" Yuzu said unintelligibly as she blinked at him. Ichigo could pretty much see the question marks floating over her head and sighed as she quickly introduced Opera and Sullivan to her sisters.

"Yuzu, Karin, this is Opera. One of our demon guests, and the employee of Sullivan- our dad's relative."

"Hi." Yuzu sniffled.

"So, you're the one taking our sister away!" Karin growled and Ichigo reached out and smacked her lightly on the back of the head. Karin yelped, mainly because she wasn't expecting to be smacked out of the blue by her older sister. Even if she knew that she had it coming, it didn't make it any less startling.

"Apologize." Ichigo hissed at her warningly. And Karin caved like a house of cards and did as she was told.

Once the apologies were made and everything was calm again, everyone sat back down to visit a while longer. Predictably, Yuzu attached herself to Opera- which the demon didn't seem to mind a bit given how sweet he was being with her youngest sibling.

Whereas Karin attached herself to Mizuiro and gave disapproving stares all around because she was still a bit upset about Sullivan taking Ichigo away from them.

Yet despite her disapproval, she eventually warmed up to Sullivan a bit since she seemed to enjoy bullying the elderly demon about his age. Thus far, she had made him cry twice. Which was probably part of the reason why she was beginning to like him at all.

Finally, Ichigo glanced at the clock hanging on the far wall and took note of the time. It was ten til six, and the party started at seven.

"Yuzu, Karin if the two of you want to go to the party- you need to go and get ready now." She said.

"I'm good with what I have on." Karin said.

"It's got dirt on it from when you were playing soccer earlier."

"Still good with it." Karin said with a careless shrug.

"I don't want to move." Yuzu said from her place on the couch with her head in Opera's lap even as the demon paused in petting her hair to look at Ichigo.

"I don't care. Get up anyway."

"No." Yuzu said drowsily.

Ichigo heaved an aggrieved sigh and then said, "I said go get dressed. If you continue to refuse then I'll...just have to dress you both myself. And I tend to choose things that are very embarrassing. Like say, diapers and bibs on twenty-year-olds. I might have to even take pictures-"

"I'm gone." Karin said as she suddenly speed walked out of the room.

"I'm going, I'm going." Yuzu grouched as she quickly got up and ran after Karin and disappeared upstairs. After which Ichigo turned to her dad and asked,

"What are you going to do with those two once I'm gone?"

"Die, maybe." He replied with a shrug.

Causing Ichigo to roll her eyes at him and shake her head before then getting to her feet. "I'm going to go and help them get ready since we're running short on time." She said and then excused herself to go upstairs.

After that, she spent the next thirty something minutes wrangling- er, helping. She meant to say helping both of her sisters prepare for the evening ahead.

Then at about six forty-five, she ushered her sisters back downstairs because the limo had just pulled up and it was time to go. Once they were back in the living room, Mizuiro offered his arm to Karin with a smile. While her dad hid his demon features and then offered his arm to Yuzu, who gave him a little bit of an awkward smile before taking it. Which left...

"Sullivan, Opera, would you two be good enough to escort me?"

Both demons looked totally surprised for a second before Sullivan replied, "We'd be honored to escort you, my dear."

As they got up off of the couch and walked over to her while she took a second to warn Renji and Shunsui to make sure that they were ready, quickly so that they wouldn't be late and embarrass their dates.

The two bowed to her for a second. Though Renji made sure to deviate a bit so that he could kiss her on the cheek- and then they left. Out the window like the idiots they were.

Leaving Ichigo to Sullivan and Opera since the rest of the others had already gone outside to take pictures and get into the car.

"Shall we go, my lady?" Opera asked her, looking as if he could barely contain his excitement at the thought of finally going to the party and cutting loose a bit. She had a sneaky suspicion that he and Sullivan would be monopolizing her time tonight.

But that was fine given the fact that they had a right to now that the papers were signed. Either way, she hoped that everything went well this evening.

"Yes. Lets." She finally said as she took a moment to give her childhood home one last look, a small feeling of sadness welled up. But it was barely there and to be honest, she was sort of looking forward to the new chapter waiting ahead of her.

She smiled at the two demons and let them both link their arms with her own as they then led her to the door.

---

The party had barely even started before they even got there, yet so many familiar people were milling around the vicinity awaiting her arrival.

Ichigo knew all of them by name.

Some were beloved friends and comrades in arms. And others were once enemies turned friends and allies. Some were human, some were Soul Reapers. There were even some Espada present since she could easily sense Nel, and her brothers were around somewhere.

She just hoped that they weren't causing too much mischief.

Some of her guests were nobility, while others were peasants. Yet despite her turbulent history with many of them- she was so very, very happy that they had all come. Especially since this was going to be the first and possibly also the last gathering of this many non-human people in the human world.

The next gathering hopefully would be much smaller and more intimate. Just friends and family only. But she knew why her dad had gone all out for this, so she wasn't bothered by the numbers any.

"So, this is where the party is being held?" Sullivan commented as he peered out of the window at the tall white stone building attached to the ballroom that they would be using.

"Yes, it's one of the nicest places in Kurakara Town." Ichigo said, feeling somewhat impressed by the building's overall appearance. The place might not be the Ritz, but it was damned close in her opinion.

"It looks very..." Opera seemed to have some difficulty trying to come up with a word to describe it.

"Distinguished." Sullivan supplied helpfully.

"Yes, that it is." Opera said after a second or so.

"I like it." Sullivan said with a grin.

Ichigo watched the two, carefully. And was happy to have their approval since her dad had gone to a lot of trouble. Yet even so, she felt the need to say. "We have a buffet for anyone that's hungry since it is getting rather late. We also have an open bar and of course music and dancing too."

Both demons practically vibrated in their seats as the limo finally came to a stop outside of the ballroom that they would be using. And Ichigo was pleasantly surprised to see several of the Vizards- Kensei, Lisa, and Love were working as security.

Unable to help herself, she moved to the door of the car and threw it open and jumped out so that she could greet them since she hadn't seen them in such a long time due to the fact that many of them had relocated from the human world back to Soul Society after the war had ended.

Not that she blamed them any.

At each of their cores they were still Soul Reapers and being re-accepted into the fold had likely been a monumental relief to some more than others.

"Kensei! Lisa! Love!" She shouted as she ran up to the three. Her sudden appearance had obviously caused them all to freeze up for a heartbeat or so, startled. But they quickly recovered as Kensei swept her up into a hug.

"My king!" He said as he squeezed her a little bit. "Happy birthday."

Ichigo laughed and hugged him back, before Lisa and Love wandered over to get themselves hugs too. After all, how could they not when their king was such an affectionate person?

Besides, Ichigo's hugs were sweet like cotton candy, and they didn't get that sort of sweetness from anyone but her. So, they were due for a fix.

"Thank you." Ichigo said as the last of the three finally released her and stepped back. "How's the security gig so far? Any trouble?" She asked curiously.

"Nah." Love said with a grin.

"We had an Espada come through a few minutes ago upset about being in a monkey suit." Lisa said with a shrug.

"I think someone pissed on him or something. He smelled weird." Kensei muttered as he scrunched up his nose in disgust.

"Was it Grimmjow?" Ichigo asked after taking a second to try and figure out which Espada had the nasty temper and smelled funny. But of course, the three Vizard's had no idea what his name was. Much less what he looked like. "Come on guys, Grimmjow. Tall, muscular, pretty eyes, teal hair... Is any of this ringing a bell for you?"

"No."

"Nuh-uh."

"Sorry."

Ichigo sighed and hung her head as she thought, Well won't the overgrown cat be bummed to know that. He'd probably throw a world class hissy fit and damage a bunch of things before going off to sulk.

"Well, just be careful dealing with him if he does come through here. Okay?" She said as she took a moment to reach out and absently straighten Kensei's tie before turning to Lisa and doing something similar to her clothing before finally getting to Love and grinning at the guy because he was weirdly immaculate compared to his friends.

"Are Hiyori and the others inside?" She asked as she felt Sullivan and Opera come up behind her and take up protective positions on either side of her.

"Those of us attending the party are." Love replied.

"I think Hachi decided not to come due to his retirement...but he did send you a gift that he thought that you would really like." Kensei said with a thoughtful look on his face.

"We all picked some gifts for you. Even Shinji." Lisa said with a warm smile.

Ichigo merely nodded her head in understanding and told them not to work too hard and if they needed any help to let someone know. The three promised her that they would, but she knew them better than that. Stubborn and prideful people that they were- they weren't likely to ask for help unless it was completely unavoidable.

After that, she took hold of Sullivan and Opera's offered arms and let them lead her inside to greet her other guests.

---

Sullivan and Opera hadn't been sure what to expect from a human-nonhuman mixed party. But something akin to a medieval great hall certainly hadn't been at the top of their lists. Nor had they expected to come across an actual throne, surrounded by a ton of various blood red flowers to be set up a good hundred feet or so from where the musicians were to perform their music, for their lady to sit in for the evening's festivities.

Everything in the room was very glamorous though. By human standards at least.

Though if they had been the ones to throw this party it would have been held at an actual palace and everything would be ten times more luxurious and better suited for the Soul King.

However, their lady seemed to balk at the sight of the throne and the many, many, many flowers surrounding it- and even actually turned around to leave.

And she would have gotten away too.

If Sullivan and Opera hadn't been the ones escorting her that is. But since they were, the two demons merely dragged her over to the throne and forced her to sit on it so that they could both take some nice pictures of her sitting there.

Sullivan even tried to coax her into making an expression of disdain for some of the pictures. But all he got was a blank stare and an embarrassed expression. Not that either demon particularly minded any. Their lady was adorable, and they would maim anyone who said otherwise.

No matter who it may be.

Finally, once they finished taking their pictures, the shoved their hell phones and camera back into their various hiding places and then looked around the rest of the room. Opera located the large buffet tables piled high with food of all kinds as well as some server's wearing black suits off to the side preparing drinks for everyone.

"Ichigo, my dear, would you like a snack or something to drink?" Sullivan asked, falling back on his many, many years of proper etiquette when dealing with others in a formal setting.

To be honest, Ichigo was starving. Or at least she felt that way due to how her strength was almost constantly siphoned off to help stabilize the many worlds. Which caused her to eat more and more to compensate for any loss that she suffered. So of course she was hungry.

But hungry enough to eat in her dress...no. No way. She'd clumsily spill something on it and then her dad would get upset.

"Uh, I'm not feeling particularly hungry at the moment. But I could probably go for some wine."

"I will go and fetch your drink for you, my lady." Opera said with a bow to her before straightening up and asking Sullivan. "And you sir?"

"Yes, please. And something to eat for the both of us as well."

"Of course, sir." Opera said as he bowed to his master and then walked off to do as he was bid. While Sullivan conjured himself up a nice comfy chair to sit down in and placed it a little way back and to the left from the throne so as not to take any attention away from Ichigo since this was her party and all.

Besides, if he dared to put his chair right next to her then it would upset others. And it wasn't as if the chair was so far away that he couldn't reach out and gently touch her hand or arm and even converse with her. So, this was just fine by him.

Opera returned a short time later carrying a table piled high with all kinds of foods and wine and punch and other things, and gently- she had no idea at all how he even managed to do it without spilling or knocking anything over- set the table down right in front of her and Sullivan and then moved around it to grab two glasses of red wine and then handed them both to them looking very proud of himself for stealing the table and carrying it all the way over to them.

Ichigo couldn't help herself, she spazzed out and clapped her hands like a moron at his display of cleverness and strength as he walked around the table, and then dropped to a knee in front of her and asked, "My lady, what would you like to eat?"

"I-I'm not picky so whatever is fine." She said absently as her eyes went from him to across the room where some of the servers were freaking the fuck out. Not that Ichigo could blame them any.

Seeing someone make off with a meticulously laid out table full of food and drink at a very up-scale party that was supposed to be full of ordinary humans would mess with anyone's mind. Especially since Opera had been carefully balancing the entire table on his fingertips- over his head. So, it was only natural that others would be shocked.

Opera gracefully stood up and then began moving around the table with a plate in hand as Ichigo watched several of the servers muster up their courage and start to march over to them.

Likely to give Opera a piece of their minds for making off with the table and everything else. And while they were doing that, she visibly paled and gulped because she did not want to have to explain to her dad the reason why there was blood on the floor.

Of course, once the servers finally reached them, one of them, a tall man with thick muscles and dark hair stepped forward and tapped Opera on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, sir-" He started as Opera turned around to face them. Ichigo didn't have to see the demon's face to see everyone recoil back from him in fear. So, his expression had to be just...terrifying.

"May I help you?" She heard Opera ask, albeit politely. The small group of servers all flinched and cringed and then quickly scampered away without another word.

Which...seemed to puzzle Opera given how he tilted his head to the side for a second before finally shrugging and going back to fixing her a plate.

"Uh, Opera?" She said hesitantly as he finished preparing her plate and brought it to her. "What kind of look did you give those people?" She couldn't help herself. She just had to ask.

"Annoyed." Opera replied.

"But why were you annoyed?" She asked curiously as she blinked at him while she took the plate from his hand along with the silver that he held out to her.

"They were getting between me and my duty." Opera said before going on to explain. "I serve Lord Sullivan and now you as well, my lady. It is a job that I take a great deal of pride in. So, I do not like it when others interfere in my work and prevent me from doing my job."

"I see." Ichigo said softly.

Taking pride in one's work was something that she understood very well since she had taken a lot of pride in her own job- first as an older sister and daughter, and then as a Soul Reaper. And now, there was also her job as the Soul King.

That was a job that she took pride in as well given how necessary it was to the survival of all beings in existence.

"It's good that you take so much pride in your work," She said as she placed the plate of food in her lap. "It speaks very loudly of not just your work ethic, but also your relationship with your lord. You must like Sullivan very much."

Opera looked slightly startled, but his expression quickly became a pleased one. "Indeed. I do." He said as he bowed to her and then straightened his spine and went to fix Sullivan a plate since the elder was likely dying of starvation right about then.

Ichigo took a second to turn her head to glance at the older demon and check on him since he'd been so quiet since sitting down. And the second that she saw him, he grinned at her.

Ah, so he was paying attention to my interaction with Opera. She thought, instantly knowing that he was doing so to see if they would be able to get along with one another. In all honesty, he had probably been worried that her personality would change to something less pleasant once she was away from everyone.

To be fair, it was a valid concern for a multitude of reasons. And she wasn't bothered by his concerns. But she at least wanted to put them to rest if she could.

"Sullivan," She said gaining the demon's undivided attention. "Are you...concerned about anything?"

"Concerned?"

"Hn. How do I put this?" She muttered thoughtfully. "I mean, do you maybe have some concerns about how Opera and I will get along?"

Sullivan was silent for a heartbeat or so- probably mulling over her question and trying to figure out how to answer without offending her.

Finally, he said, "It's only natural to have concerns in the beginning. Given who you are and the noble status that you hold. I can't help but wonder if you'll truly thrive in the Netherworld amongst us demons... Yet, despite my previous concerns, I'm actually rather happy with things. You, my girl, are very loved and adored by everyone around you. And that tells me much more about the kind of person that you are than any words my nephew or your son could have told me. So, no. I don't really have any concerns for the moment. But it's nice that you are aware enough to notice and ask me such things."

"I'm glad. But if at any time you do have more concerning matters- aside from whether or not I'll thrive in the Netherworld, please don't hesitate to speak to me about them. I don't want you or Opera worrying unnecessarily." She said while looking down at her plate, feeling slightly embarrassed for some reason.

Sullivan was quiet again. Too quiet for her comfort. Every instinct that she possessed practically screamed at her to check on him again. But she was sort of scared to turn her head.

Yet even so, she bit the bullet and forced herself to turn her head. Though she regretted it instantly when she finally caught sight of him.

Sullivan was sparkling.

Like literally sparkling as if he had doused himself in glue and then rolled around in glitter or something else equally sparkly and ridiculous.

Though his expression was one of utter delight.

She started sweating bullets as she gaped at him in horror while a weird high pitch whining sound started to escape him. She twitched at the sound, feeling a little bit as if she had just been stabbed in the ears with ice picks. Honestly that sound was so high pitch that it was practically painful.

I bet the dogs in the neighborhood are having a field day with that sound. She thought before jerking a little bit and squeaking in startlement when she felt Sullivan lean in and press his nose against her cheek.

She tried her best to ignore the feeling of his nose against her cheek and took a small bite of food, just in case he did something else weird and startled her again since she didn't want to choke to death.

Thankfully though, Opera happened to glance over at them and see what his master was doing and decided to intervene by picking up a spoon and throwing it at the elderly demon.

Said demon was nailed by the spoon and squawked indignantly as he flopped over onto the floor before finally crawling back to his seat crying about how mean Opera was to him. Ichigo was so freaked out that she couldn't even form an opinion one way or the other, but if she could have- she likely would have agreed that spoon throwing was a bit much.

But whatever.

She decided to ignore the pairs weird antics and eat while she had the chance. As Opera finally returned with Sullivan's plate and handed it over along with some silver. Sullivan sniffled a bit but took the plate of food with a muttered thank you.

"Opera, aren't you going to get something to eat and drink too?" Ichigo asked.

The cat demon took a moment to consider her question before then replying, "Yes. I believe that I will do so."

She nodded her head and told him that if he needed help figuring out what dishes were what- to let her know and she'd help him. But Opera didn't need her help to figure out what was good for him to eat since he got himself a plate of sushi, shrimp, fish and also confiscated an entire cheesecake with fruit cut to look like flowers on it. And then found himself a nice place between her chair and Sullivan's where he settled down to eat.

Ichigo finished her plate quickly due to practically inhaling her food as various thoughts flitted through her mind. Since she and Mizuiro were going to be living in the Netherworld after tonight...they would have to figure out a way to alter their appearances to look more demonic.

Which meant that she may need to use some of her magic to do the job. But in all honesty, she didn't know much about demon appearances to know where to even begin.

I mean, so far, the only thing that she had really noticed that seemed kind of universal was the fact that demons had horns, and tails.

There were also a few genetic traits that she had noticed between Sullivan and her dad. Like their eye colors. Sullivan had deep purple eyes. Dark lavender purple, if she could name the color. Whereas her dad had a slightly lighter shade of purple eyes. Like lilac.

There was also the fact that Sullivan and her dad's horns were very, very long and sharp.

Mustering up her nerve, since asking certain questions about one's race and appearance could be misunderstood and considered rude- she then stood up and carefully placed her dirty plate on the corner of the table and then moved back to her chair and seated herself on the arm of it facing Sullivan and Opera.

Both demons had obviously been curious about what she was doing when she seated herself on the arm of her throne, and as such, were giving them her undivided attention almost automatically. Which was nice since it meant that they knew that something was on her mind. And they were simply waiting for her to speak.

"I wonder if I can ask you a few personal questions about your...uh, demon appearances without you thinking me too rude?" She asked and watched as both demons quickly set their food aside and made themselves comfortable.

"Not at all. What is it that you wish to know?" Sullivan asked curiously.

Ichigo silently thanked her lucky stars that he was willing to listen and indulge her as she asked. "Do all demons have horns and tails?"

"No. Many do, but a good number of them don't."

"And the wings?"

"Yes, all demons have wings." Sullivan said easily as he watched her get a thoughtful expression on her face for a moment.

"Okay, what about claws and fangs?"

"Yes, my dear." Sullivan replied, sounding a bit amused. "All demons have those. Though some may have lost them due to torture, fighting, or even illness."

"Okay, moving on." Ichigo said before then tacking on. "I noticed that there are certain genetic traits passed down in your family to my dad. From one of his parents, I guess. For instance, the both of you have very long and sharp horns and purple eyes. So, I was wondering if there were other traits that were typically passed down through your side of the family that I could maybe use to help myself and Mizuiro blend in a bit more?"

"Ah, so that's what the questions are for." Sullivan said thoughtfully. "Let me see if I understand you correctly. You wish to know if there are other genetic traits that were passed down in my family. Something that could possibly help you to blend in better while living amongst demons?"

"Yes."

"I suppose that there are some common traits. The males in my family are known for our purple eyes. Whereas the females in the family are generally known to have deep blue eyes or even magenta eyes. All of us were born with dark hair and pale skin."

"When you say dark- how dark?" Ichigo asked quickly.

"Oh, well various shades of black."

"Oh!" Opera suddenly blurted out and then quickly covered his mouth for a second, embarrassed by his outburst when she looked at him questioningly. "I was just thinking that you would look even more striking with black hair and magenta eyes, my lady."

Sullivan gasped and looked weirdly happy by Opera's words. And even cooed, "Oh, your right! She would." Before quickly backtracking and saying, "Not that you aren't lovely already! The colors would simply be very interesting and eye catching!"

Ichigo lifted a hand to her reddish-blond hair subconsciously wondering if they were right. She filed the information away, along with some ideas of her own, for later since she was likely to do a bit of experimenting before finally settling on something permanent. Hopefully she would be able to find something that she would like. Or at the very least be able to live with.

She hoped Mizuiro did as well since she wanted him to be happy during the little bit of time he had left.

"Is that all that you wished to ask?" Opera asked her, his voice cutting through her thoughts and bringing her back to the present.

"Actually, how many demons have animal-esque appearances?"

"Almost all demons have animal-like appearances. Though some are simply more difficult to spot than others."

"I see. That helps a bit then."

"I have a question!" Sullivan said as he put a hand up in the air, reminding Ichigo of a kid in school trying to get a teacher's attention. "What holiday here in the human world is your favorite?"

"I have several favorite holidays. But my most favorite is Halloween. It's considered a pagan holiday where people dress up in costumes and go to parties to socialize and stuff. Children do something called trick or treating in some countries where they dress up as little monsters and go from house to house and get candies."

"I also like decorating my home in fake spider webs, and fake bats. And participating in ghoulish games. I tend to go to haunted places and taking tests of courage. I like dressing in costumes and attending parties and dancing. It's so much fun!" She said, watching as both demons got super excited looks on their faces and this time, they both did that sparkling thing as she then tacked on. "My other favorite holidays are Christmas and New Years. Those are times that I get to spend with family and close friends, so I really like them too."

"Halloween sounds amazing!"

"It is. Everything is dark themed, even the foods." Ichigo said with a sigh. "I'm going to miss it."

"You don't have to miss it my dear girl. We can always do things for this Halloween holiday in the Netherworld." Sullivan said, more than happy to take up her favorite holiday if it meant that she would be content.

After all, the holiday sounded like a scream to him. So, it would be no hardship to do so.

And Sullivan was sure that both he and Opera could come up with some spooky stuff to add to the decorations and costumes. Not to mention that those tests of courage sounded super neat too.

They would have to not only plan a party for the holiday. But maybe they could even invite the Babyls faculty to one of the parties for some fun. That could be pretty fun too. And it would also force everyone to socialize outside of a work environment. Which was good not only for relationships but morale as well.

Sullivan was preparing to say something else when a couple of people walked over to them, drawing Ichigo's attention away from him and their conversation.

One of the people that had interrupted them was a young lady with bob cut black hair that fell just above her shoulders, and wide violet eyes. She was dressed in a dark sapphire blue dress that fell to her knees, with black lace trim and small and dainty looking silk shoes with ribbons wound around her ankles and legs.

The other was a man, taller than Sullivan himself. Which was quite a feat considering that most humans tended to have health problems if they were so tall. Aside from that, he was a man with dark tan skin, and slicked back wavy brown hair and dark eyes. The suit that he was wearing must had been specially made to fit his muscular form.

Ichigo greeted both of them with hugs and compliments on their choice of attire. And then she conjured up a sittee on the other side of her throne for the two to sit on as they made their way over to Sullivan and Opera and introduced themselves.

The woman's name was, Rukia and apparently, she and the man, Chad? Were both royal guards. The second that they had arrived at the party location, they had both set out to find their king and do their job. But not before they both produced a couple of colorfully wrapped boxes and handed them to Ichigo.

Chad leaned down and kissed her on the cheek, earning a musical laugh from their king before she turned to come back to her seat and sat back down while the pair seated themselves on the sittee and waited for her to open their gifts.

Sullivan and Opera quickly abandoned their respective places so that they could see just what sort of gifts these new people would buy their king. Sullivan couldn't help but wonder if the couple would gift Ichigo with something expensive and wonderful. Befitting Ichigo's station.

Whereas Opera wondered if their gifts would be something more practical.

Both demons watched curiously as Ichigo carefully removed the wrapping from the first present and then opened up the box. Inside was a pretty royal blue piece of fabric with vivid crimson lilies and gold and black butterflies embroidered across it here and there.

"Oh, my Rukia, it's lovely." Ichigo breathed as she lifted the fabric up to get a better look at it. "This isn't one of your sister, Hisana's old kimono's, is it?"

"No. This is something that I had commissioned specifically with you in mind. The fabric was carefully crafted and dyed, and then embroidered all by hand over the span of months. I'm sorry, I know that you don't typically wear kimono's because of how restricting they can be...but I really wasn't sure what to get you and I sort of overheard my brother mention that you may be in need of some more traditional clothing for certain events."

"I really do like it, Rukia, so don't worry about that. Okay? And your brother does have a good point. Even if I am reluctant to admit it."

Rukia gave her a radiant smile and nodded her head, happy that her gift was so well received.

"Mine's next." Chad said with a grin at the subtle reminder that Ichigo still had one gift in her lap that wasn't open yet.

"Yes, yes, it is." Ichigo said as Opera reached out and gently removed the box with the kimono in it from her grasp and winked at her to let her know that it was safe with him. She mouthed a quiet thank you to him, and then began to tear into her other gift while Sullivan frowned.

Unlike the first one, this one had a bow on it that was bright, shiny red. And unknown to Sullivan and Opera- Ichigo tended to rip the bows off of any gifts that had them and stick them to herself and others as hair accessories. It was a childish thing to do, she knew. But she really, really prided herself on being unpredictable to others.

So, once she had the bow off, she reached out and attached it to Sullivan, right in front of where one of his horns would be. Which...startled both of the demons. Though Opera recovered quickly and began to snap pictures of his master while he laughed hysterically.

And Sullivan, upon realizing what had just happened to him, began to flounder, flail his arms around and then in the end settled on striking poses. Which made Ichigo, Chad and Rukia all laugh aloud at his antics before settling down again as Ichigo returned to her gift and opened it up.

Inside the box that Chad had handed her was a cool black leather jacket with little silver star accents and a matching pair of women's biker boots.

"Chad..."

"Yeah?" Chad asked.

"I fucking love you."

Chad snorted a laugh and then replied. "I love you too, Ichigo."

"Oh, those are nice!" Rukia commented as Ichigo took the jacket out of the box and held it up. "I think I'm jealous now." The dark-haired woman said playfully.

Ichigo growled at her, "Find your own Chad, midget."

"Aww, you mean you won't share yours?" Rukia asked as she reached out and linked one of her arms with Chad's and laid her head on it as she smirked at Ichigo. Causing the man to reach over and pat Rukia on the head as Ichigo deadpanned.

"Nope. Not sharing. Move along hussy."

Rukia gasped in mock outrage and then removed herself from Chad so that she could pick up a piece of wrapping paper and throw it at Ichigo who merely grinned at the other woman.

Sullivan and Opera watched the strange display of affectionate play between Ichigo and her guards and then looked at each other as if to say, This is strange, isn't it? Neither demon had ever seen such a peculiar dynamic between someone of higher authority and their lesser's before.

There was no fear, no mistrust, no...wariness of stepping out of line with Ichigo despite her station as the Soul King. It was as if the guards knew with absolute certainty that Ichigo would never harm them no matter what they said or did to her.

Such faith in others was incredibly rare to them.

They simply didn't know what to make of it.

"Have the two of you figured things out? As far as who's going with me to the Netherworld?" Ichigo asked all of a sudden.

"As a matter of fact, the both of us have decided to go with you." Rukia said.

"I have a gig on Tuesday of next week that I don't want to miss, but this is very important. And I don't want to flake on you." Chad said as he awkwardly reached up to rub the back of his neck with one large hand.

"I can have you back here Monday evening if you like. After all, I don't expect either of you to give up your own lives for me."

"Except that's exactly what royal guards do, Ichigo. We serve you. We're meant to devote our lives, and every breath to you."

Ichigo held a hand up and Rukia fell silent automatically.

"I won't argue about this with you again. Just know that you are both very dear to me and I want you to be happy. If that means supporting you as you chase certain relationships and dreams- then it's a small price to pay in the long run. Besides, I hashed out some details so neither of you have to stay with me all the time. I'll have a few demon guards to pick up the slack if you need a vacation, or to take time off for other things. And...I can also open a secret portal here in the human world, that connects to the Netherworld. That way everyone can easily check on me and vice versa if need be."

"I see," Rukia muttered thoughtfully. "You've really thought this out, huh?"

"Yes. I can make the portal in my home, like in my bedroom closet or something. But I know how dangerous that can be. So, I was thinking that maybe I can put it in Kisuke's place. That way who ever passes through is seen and spoken too by him first."

"Oh! Kisuke would be the first line of defense if there are any impostors or brainwashed assassin's hanging around." Rukia gasped, looking impressed.

"That's a good idea. He can make sure that you're warned if someone that isn't supposed to tries to pass through to get to you." Chad said.

"There's also the fact that if anything happens, everyone should be able to evacuate to someplace safe much easier too."

"Well, that's certainly true." Rukia said with a sly smile as she said in a joking tone. "Who knew that you could strategize like a pro?"

Ichigo said nothing to her friend's teasing, instead she merely sighed and got quiet for a little while. Which was sort of...alarming? At least to Sullivan and Opera anyway.

And though the pair had no idea what to do, they didn't like Ichigo's silence one little bit. However, before they could figure out what to do about it, their little group began to be invaded by the other party goers.

Both human and non-human alike had come over to them to greet their king.

Ichigo to her credit handled the newcomer's presence much the same way that she handled everyone else's. With jokes, smiles, teasing and laughter. Though the two demons could tell that some of it was forced.

Obviously, Rukia's teasing remark had hit a sore spot of some kind.

And judging from the worried look on Rukia's face, she seemed to realize this and wanted to say something. But she didn't dare to just yet since many of the other people present were practically swarming Ichigo in masses since she was surrounded on all sides at the moment.

Opera, being the prideful security devil that he was, walked over to where Rukia was still sitting next to Chad- and took a moment to loom over the smaller woman threateningly while he popped his knuckles menacingly.

Rukia tipped her head back and looked at him oddly for a second before huffing softly. "My comment isn't what's really bothering her."

"Oh?" Opera said as he crossed his arms over his chest. His red eyes never leaving her face.

"I mean it is," Rukia said, hoping to clear things up a bit. "But at the same time, it isn't." Well, that didn't help explain things at all, did it? She thought warily as she eyed him.

"Explain."

Though Opera's tone didn't change from his usual soft one, there was no arguing with the steely demand detected underneath the soft tone.

"We know that Ichigo is strong, intelligent and cunning. And she can even be very ruthless when it's called for. So, I wasn't calling any of those things into question. It's more like..." Rukia floundered a bit underneath Opera's stare. Had the guy even bothered to blink the past three or so minutes? No. Her mind supplied helpfully.

This is unnerving. Rukia thought as she silently began to will the demon to blink already when Chad cut her off with, "Rukia's teasing might have triggered a flashback to something less than pleasant. Maybe something from a former battle?"

"Yes! That's it!" Rukia shouted, her voice rising a bit more than it should have. She quickly slapped a hand to her mouth, even as several of the other party goers over by Ichigo turned their heads to look their way. Their expression's varying from concerned to amused as Rukia awkwardly waved at them to show that everything was okay.

Opera's lips quirked slightly as he waited for the small woman to settle back down before asking, "What do we need to do to make her feel better?"

"Oh, well. Usually anyone that notices will give her a hug or do something to distract her. Since we're all at a party, seeing if she's willing to dance might do the trick. But if it doesn't then a hug or a cuddle might. She may also need more hugs and stuff later on tonight... uh, once we're in the Netherworld."

Opera got a contemplative look on his face for a few seconds before asking, "Would sleeping in the same room help?"

"Like a slumber party?" Chad supplied to be helpful. "Yeah, it will. She may not seem like it- but Ichigo is a bit touch starved. So, sleep cuddles work pretty good too."

"I see." Opera said before then turning and motioning for his master to come over.

Sullivan had been waiting for the right moment to join them without seeming as if he'd been eavesdropping on them. Since eavesdropping was rude regardless of one's species or rank.

So, when Opera finally waved him over, he was quick to join them all. Hunkering down a bit so that he could hear them better, and Opera took a second to fill him in and get his thoughts on the matter.

And of course, Sullivan felt sympathetic, after all, he had had flashbacks from the great demon war more than a few times in his life. None of those flashbacks had been very pleasant for him. And they had always left him suffering from nightmares, loss of appetite, cold sweats, panic attacks, and even nausea on more than a few occasions.

So, he understood how off Ichigo was likely feeling at the moment. And the fact that she usually dealt with her flashbacks with physical touch and affection was... well, not terrible in his opinion.

It was certainly better than how she could have reacted to the flashback- with violence and bloodshed. Maybe even drowning someone in one of the various punch bowls?

Well, whatever. While he wouldn't condone such actions, he also wasn't going to let her party be ruined. It was time that he step up and do something.

"Let me take care of this. Opera?"

"Yes sir."

"Please be on standby." Sullivan said as he straightened up to his full height again and then turned to go and see if he could steal Ichigo from her friends. He barely heard Opera's response as he walked over to the crowd and carefully pushed his way through the throng of bodies until he was right behind his heir and gently placed a hand on one of her shoulder's to get her attention.

Ichigo tipped her head back to look at him as he smiled and said, "Pardon me, I was wondering if I could steal away the birthday girl for a little bit for a dance or two."

There was a quiet murmuring among the crowd as Sullivan locked eyes with Kyoraku, who merely grinned and said jovially. Shutting down any whining from some of the more reluctant guests. "Not at all. I was just thinking about hitting the floor to dance with my lovely Nanao, myself."

Taking that as permission, Sullivan offered his arm and then once Ichigo looped her arm with his, lead her away. And once they were out of earshot of everyone else, Ichigo asked, "You're worried about my mood?"

"Yes," He said, feeling it best to be honest. "But I also really do intend to dance with you."

"You don't have to worry. It's over and done."

Sullivan chuckled, not doubting that in the least. "I know my dear. However, some scars simply stay with us forever. And if you ever feel like talking about it, you'll find that Opera and I can both be very attentive listeners." He said as he came to a stop in the middle of the floor and slipped one of his arms around her and took hold of one of her hands.

"It's been quite a while since I last danced here in the human world. So please forgive me if I step on your feet." He warned her with a wink as music started to play.

To say that Sullivan was a beautiful dancer- would be an understatement given how surprised Ichigo was. Yet that was exactly how she would describe his dancing. The elderly demon spun her around the ballroom with practiced ease, and not once did he step on her toes the entire time that they were dancing.

Ichigo enjoyed dancing with him thoroughly. And of course, once they were done dancing Opera wasted no time at all whisking her away for a dance too.

"Are you feeling a bit better, my lady?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah. I feel fine." Ichigo said with a sunny smile. "I just can't figure out how you and Sullivan manage to dance so well."

Opera chuckled, amused by her words. "Demons are very old creatures. So, from time to time we wind up here in the human world for a spell. And while here, we tend to pick things up. Some human behaviors and skills simply help us with blending in easier."

"Oh! That makes sense."

"Indeed," Opera said before then adding. "Though sir has been to this world several times in the past... He mostly stays in the Netherworld since disappearing for a long stretch of time could cause many others back home a lot of trouble. Not only that, but he and I have been attending parties similar- though much grander- in the Netherworld. The parties are called, Deviculum's."

His lady looked a bit lost, so Opera explained. "A Deviculum is a ball for high-ranking demons and the nobility of the Netherworld. It's an event where demons socialize but also where they can make or develop relations that would help realize their ambitions in the Netherworld. And one day, my lady, you will attend one." He said as their dance ended and they came to a stop, and he took a moment to grasp both of her hands in his and lift them so that he could kiss the knuckles.

Causing her to flush and made a funny little sound in the back of her throat.

"Thank you for the dance, my lady." He said as he bowed to her.

"No, thank you, Opera. Both you and Sullivan dance wonderfully. I really had fun." Opera blinked at the compliment to himself and his master and felt his lips quirk up a bit again.

My, but our lady is very easy to please. He thought as he walked back to where his master had vanished to, to go and report that their plan had worked. The second part of the plan would be a bit of a surprise, but hopefully their lady wouldn't mind that much since his master was a little bit of a cuddle bug.

As well as a menace.

After a few dances, Ichigo made her way back to her chair to sit a while and refresh herself with another glass of wine that she was sipping on when Orihime and Uryu finally made their appearance.

They past six years had been fairly kind to the two. Orihime especially since she had managed to marry herself an excellent doctor and was presently expecting her first child. So naturally upon seeing she and Uryu making their way over to her, she abruptly stood up and set her wine aside.

Rukia and Chad also got to their feet to greet the two since Orihime was a fellow war hero and Uryu another royal guard.

"Ichigo!" Orihime called with an animated wave. Her expression more excited than Ichigo, Rukia, and Chad had seen since their school days together.

Orihime's presence, as well as her calling out and waving caught Sullivan and Opera's attention since the two had been making polite conversation with some of the other party goers brave enough to try and engage them.

After all, it wasn't every day that either demon met such peculiar and slightly unfearful beings.

So, conversing with them was the pair's way of sort of complimenting their bravery. Besides, they were learning such interesting things about their new heir/lady.

The stories that they were both told about her younger days as a mere human/Reaper were certainly entertaining enough. But not nearly as entertaining as some of the times she had gotten herself in trouble.

Blowing up part of the Reaper's stronghold while black out drunk, being chased around by rabid fans of her swimsuit calendar, helping one of the Captains write an erotic book... the fighting tournament champion, the parades, the party incidents with fireworks- which were now completely banned for some horrible reason.

There were so many people willing to give dirt on her that Sullivan and Opera had taken to writing down everything just to keep up with it all. They would likely compare notes at some point in the morning before everyone else woke up.

So, when the auburn-haired woman appeared, the two had almost visibly sighed with relief since it meant that the stories tampered off and everyone decided to move on to something else. Leaving them with far more scribbled notes than either demon was used to having.

Opera had his pen clenched between his teeth and was frantically going over the notes that he'd taken while idly wondering how his lady had even managed to survive to adulthood.

Honestly, even normal demon children didn't quite get into this much mischief! It was simply unhealthy for them to do so. Though Ichigo had grown up as a human for the most part, so maybe that had something to do with the amount of trouble?

Well, Opera could only hope that that was the case anyway.

If it wasn't then his master may need to hire a few more security devils to help him wrangle his lady and keep her safe.

Whereas Sullivan merely shook his head as his sharp eyes scanned his own noted, an amused laugh bubbling up in his throat as he thought, Oh, but my heir is an entertaining child. She would certainly keep he and Opera on their toes for the next couple of thousand years. That was for sure.

Putting his notepad away for the time being, Sullivan then made his way over to Ichigo to meet the new couple and was only a bit put out by the fact that the auburn-haired woman had practically wrapped herself around his heir like a squid and was talking a mile a minute about...everything?

Honestly it was hard to tell what she was saying a good portion of the time.

Ichigo seemed to be able to follow her chattering easily though. And she was 'uh-huh'ing and 'really'ing every now and then. Her expression one of serene calmness as she stroked the woman's hair in an almost motherly way. While the other newcomer- a tall man with blue hair, blue eyes, and glasses- stood just off to the side watching the two women with a fond but exasperated expression on his face.

"Hello," Sullivan said jovially, somehow managing to sneak up on the stranger. The guy jumped a bit and turned his head to look at him before calming himself down again. "My name is Sullivan. What's yours?"

The man shifted a little bit and held his hand out to him. "Uryu Ishida. Are you the one that everyone was warned about a few days ago?"

"The demon relative, yes." Sullivan said with a smile as he shook Uryu's hand.

Uryu hummed but didn't comment for a second before finally saying. "I see," Followed by the polite question. "How are you liking the party so far?"

"It's nice. Nothing like what we have back home. But nice, nevertheless. Everyone has certainly been friendly."

Uryu's lips quirked up a little bit into a small smile. "Yes, everyone can be quite friendly."

He didn't bother to say what he was really thinking about that friendliness. Nor how very deceptive it could be.

But somehow, Sullivan was able to pick up on what went unsaid and despite being a bit upset by it, he didn't bother to let it show.

After all, as an outsider- and a demon- it was perfectly understandable that many would be deceptive in their words and actions. Especially given who Ichigo was. It was only natural that they be that way until they knew him a bit better.

Though he couldn't help but wonder if the woman had had to order many of her guardians and friends to be on their best behavior around him to help keep the peace. And honestly, he couldn't blame her if she had since she likely didn't like the idea of any of her friends or him rampaging through the town that she called her home.

At some point during his silence, the auburn-haired woman had run up to him and was now chattering at him. Startling him a bit considering the look on his face. Yet despite that, the woman merely smiled at him in amusement and continued speaking.

"Hello, my name is Orihime Ishida! Uryu and I are married," Sullivan nearly jumped out of his skin when she grabbed the blue haired man's wrist and held it up along with her own hand- showing off the matching bands on both of their ring fingers. "I'm also Ichigo's friend and one of her medics. I'm expecting my first baby too!"

Both hands were dropped, and she took a small step back and grinned up at him mischievously as Sullivan's eyes noticed her stomach. Oh my... She was huge! Did she swallow something? He worried as she giggled and started chattering at him again.

"What's your name? What's your favorite color? You're favorite food? Music? Do you like it here? Have you tried eating anything from any of the buffet tables? Is there anything good that you can suggest? I'm getting kind of hungry..."

Sullivan put his hands up and internally panicked a bit. So many questions! How was he supposed to answer them all when he couldn't quite keep up with her.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on whom one asked. Opera came walking over to see what was going on, and the second that he did- Sullivan watched in horror- unable to look away from the impending disaster about to play out before his eyes. As the woman locked her eyes on the other demon and then cheerfully skipped over to him and began chattering at him just like she had done to him.

Sullivan got the distinct impression of Opera's tail fur fluffing up a bit from startlement before he slowly settled and began to respond to the woman.

Sullivan watched in relief as Opera asked if he could touch her stomach and even suggested some foods for her as Ichigo wandered over and saved the younger demon from the woman's grasp by bending down and scooping her pregnant friend up bridal style and walking back to her throne.

Passing both Sullivan and Uryu while on her way back. She said a polite 'hello' to them while Orihime giggled and curled up in her arms.

Then once she reached her throne, she carefully put Orihime down in it and then began conjuring a footrest for the woman to put her feet up on, as well as some nice cushy little cushions that she spent several minutes stuffing around her friend. And then last but not least, Ichigo conjured a throw blanket and draped it over Orihime to help her stay warm and cozy.

"Thank you, Ichigo." Orihime chirped as she took hold of one of Ichigo's hands and rubbed it against her cheek like an overly affectionate cat.

"Uh-huh." Ichigo said as she used her free hand to ruffle the woman's hair a bit as she asked. "Hungry?"

"Ohmygod, yes! I'm starving." Orihime whined a little bit. Ichigo merely hummed and removed her hands so that she could do what she needed to.

"I'll go and grab you some stuff to eat then."

"Thank you!"

Ichigo then turned and after grabbing Chad to keep Orihime company she walked back towards Uryu and Sullivan. Both of whom had been just standing there, silently observing her interactions with Orihime.

"I'm going on a food run. Anything in particular that I should look for, for her?"

"Watermelon, veggies, and other fruits. Finger foods should be fine too. Stay away from fish though. She can't have any until after the baby is born."

"Got it. Fruits, veggies, finger foods- no fish."

"She might also like some punch-"

"Actually," Renji said as he walked up to them. "I think I just saw Grimmjow sticking his dick in one of the bowls."

"Ew!" Sullivan, uryu and Ichigo all said in unison.

"Very," Renji agreed with a nod of his head. "Thankfully the punch bowl has been removed from the table and a nice clean batch is on its way out."

"And our unruly guest?" Ichigo asked, her tone turning to ice.

"Was just grabbed by security and dragged outside. I thought that I saw Nel head out there with Harribel too."

Ichigo sighed. "Thanks for the warning, Renji." She said as she looked at Uryu and said.

"Orihime is not drinking kitty flavored dick punch."

Uryu and Renji both made strained sounds in the back of their throats and had to look away from her just to prevent themselves from laughing aloud at the use of her words.

Kitty flavored dick punch!

Try saying that ten times fast.

"I'm getting her some tea, just in case." She announced as she walked off. Ignoring the barely suppressed sniggering of her friends while Sullivan simply stood there gaping at the two men as if they had just lost their minds while his brain blue screened.

---

As the evening wore on, Sullivan and Opera found how Ichigo spoiled her friend Orihime and allowed her to remain on her throne utterly fascinating. They had never seen a king of any kind engage in such behavior.

Ichigo allowed- yes that was right- She, the Soul King and current ruler over all realms and the people within them- allowed the other woman to not only make demands of her, but also forced her to give her foot massages and other things.

Granted, part of them understood the reasons behind Ichigo letting the pregnant woman have the best and most comfortable seat in the place. But she could have just as easily conjured a cushy chair for her friend.

Yet despite that fact, they couldn't seem to find it in themselves to object or voice any complaints since Ichigo had already knocked someone on their ass for making a comment about her expectant friend a few hours ago.

And the sheer menace behind the blow that had struck down the person that had almost reduced Orihime to tears had left a lot of people speechless and sent others scampering for cover. Though no one really seemed all that upset by the spectacle that she had made.

At the moment, Ichigo was opening some of the gifts that had been gotten for her by some of her friends.

Some gifts were small, and delicate. While others were large and bulky.

Some people got Ichigo books on various things. Some ranging from the many worlds and their histories to medicinal plants of the realms and their many, many uses. Others got her jewelry and trinkets.

Metals embedded with gems of all colors and sizes.

Some people got her clothing such as kimono's, T-shirts, jeans, socks, and jackets. Some got her perfumes and makeup. A few people- some of the non-human guests that took Sullivan a moment to place- gave her tree roots, and incense as gifts.

Orihime and Uryu had given her hair pins shaped like flowers.

Orihime wore one in her hair similar to the ones that they gifted to Ichigo. Though Sullivan could tell that Ichigo's were very special because they were made out of gems set in white gold. The gift was expensive, but very lovely.

And Ichigo's smile when she put both of the pins in her hair was totally worth any price.

Some of the others present, gifted her with ancient relics, chests full of gold and fine silver and many, many other things. Though there were a few people among the party's guests that gifted her with property- both within the human world and Soul Society.

Finally, the evening was unwinding, and Opera had had to force him to conjure a few wagons and things to carry all of the gifts on when they left.

Orihime and Uryu had left a little while ago, mostly due to the fact that Orihime tired easily thanks to her pregnancy. But the couple had made sure to give Ichigo hugs and exchange a few words before they left.

Rukia was yawning a little bit from her place on the sittee and Chad was barely able to keep his eyes open when Ichigo finally sighed and said, "Well, I guess it's time." Causing both of the guards to suddenly snap to attention and look at her as she stood up from her throne. "Let me go and say bye to some of the others and grab Mizuiro and then we'll leave."

Chad and Rukia slowly got to their feet while Sullivan meandered over to her.

"Are you sure that you want to go now?" He asked. "There are still some people here. We can stay a bit longer if you wish."

"No. The party ended at midnight. Anyone still here is here because they don't want to leave. Besides, everyone is tired. And I don't want to keep them from their homes."

"I see. Alright then. Go and say goodbye."

"I'll be back in a few minutes." Ichigo said as she scampered off to do just that.

All in all, saying goodbye to everyone didn't take her nearly as long as it probably should have considering everyone's attachment to one another. And once she finished up, she reappeared with Mizuiro in tow. The young man was practically dead on his feet from exhaustion, and she was supporting his weight and keeping him upright with the arm that she had wrapped around his waist.

"Alright, I've bye to everyone. I also found out that dad went home with my sisters earlier so that no one would make a scene."

Sullivan wasn't sure what to think of his nephew leaving so abruptly without saying goodbye to any of them. But he tried not to let that bother him, even though it did.

"Opera, do you need any help with the gifts?" Ichigo asked as Chad walked over to her and gently took possession of Mizuiro.

"No, my lady."

"Alright then," Ichigo said as she scrubbed her face with her hands and then looked at Sullivan and said. "We're ready to go."

Sullivan stared down at her for a heartbeat or so before opening a portal to the Netherworld. Once that was done, he reached out and took one of her hands in his. "Let's go home, dearest." He said gently as he led her through the portal with Opera, Chad, Rukia, and Mizuiro right behind them.