A little while after that, Ichigo found herself seated by her husband across the table from he and his friend while their server anxiously flitted around their table doing what he could to make their dining experience more enjoyable after his previous mistake.

Ichigo felt a bit bad about how she had spoken to the man. And made a mental note to be more polite in the future since her papa's mischief was hardly his fault. Not only that but he had simply been trying to fulfill a request made by one of the restaurant's more prominent patrons.

She knew that her papa was important demon. After all, he was not only one of the three great demons but also one of the Thirteen Crowns as well. And it was only logical that both titles came with a lot of clout.

So- yeah. She couldn't really blame their server for trying his best to make her papa happy given all of those things.

"I hope that the food here is to your liking Ichigo," She heard Balam say as he gave her an eye smile. "I've only been here a couple of times, but I think that the food is incredible."

She smiled at him and wondered if she would like the food. After all, the only Netherworld cuisine that she had had thus far had been everything prepared by Opera. She wasn't a picky eater though. So, even if the food was utterly terrible none of it would go to waste since she would stay seated and eat it until it was all gone.

But he didn't know that and probably thought that she was used to high end restaurants and other places.

"The food here isn't terrible," Balam's friend finally chimed in. It was weird to her how his voice sounded as if he were growling even when he wasn't. But she did her best not to do something strange like ask the guy about his voice sounding like that. "But it is hardly the best for bluebloods like our companion."

Ichigo blinked and looked at her husband, feeling some of his excitement drain from him at his friend's words. His expression didn't seem to change any though. So, it was a mite harder for her to tell what he was thinking or feeling as she suddenly decided to chime in and say something.

"I'm sure that the food will be fine compared to some of the food from the barracks." Both demons looked up from their menus to stare at her for a second. Causing her to feel almost a little bit defensive. "The food there is terrible. Almost like eating mud, really."

"Barracks?" Shichiro muttered with a frown as he turned his head a bit to regard her with a calculated gaze.

His Buzzer ability hadn't reacted to any of her words. Which was strange. Especially since it was a well-known fact that many noble families preferred to keep their offspring as far away from the military as possible given how often bloody skirmishes and battles tended to break out in various places across the Netherworld. And they didn't want their heirs to suffer from any severe, debilitating or fatal injuries that could cause their clans issues in the future.

After all, a clan or family without an heir was doomed to die out.

Still...despite knowing all of that, Sullivan did have a reputation for going against the norms of demon society. And given the amount of scarring Ichigo's body possessed- it was more than just highly likely that she had been a victim of many, many bloody battles herself.

Which was why Shichiro found himself asking almost anxiously, "Ichigo, are you...a soldier?"

"I used to be." She replied as she folded her menu neatly and placed it aside so that she could turn her full attention to him. "In fact, I've been a soldier since I was fourteen."

The mention of her young age during the time of her activities as a soldier nearly made Shichiro slam his hands down on the table and growl. Thankfully, though, he didn't.

Now, don't mistake his carefully cultivated control of his temper for being okay with something when he absolutely wasn't. He knew that a battlefield was no place for a child.

How Sullivan could allow his only child and heir to go off and join the military at such a young and tender age was beyond his ability to fathom. But it awakened a steely resolve in him not to allow such a thing to happen ever again.

"Are you still active?" He asked next, already plotting various ways to keep her home and close to him where she could be protected from further horrors and harm if she said yes.

"No. I'm retired actually," Shichiro couldn't hide his shock, or his relief from her very well. Especially given the way that he visibly sagged a bit in his chair while Kalego remained silent and watchful. His ally's mind must have already been going over the various ways that he could commit Sullivan's murder. And for once, Shichiro almost felt like joining in even as Ichigo went on to say. "I mean, I still do things here and there around the barracks and stuff. And I occasionally negotiate treaties with foreign countries and kingdoms for them. But aside from those things, I don't really do anything too major anymore."

"Negotiating peace treaties is nothing major?" Kalego said skeptically before Shichiro could even manage to form words on his tongue. Next to his ally, all he could do was nod his head as he stared at his wife with impossibly wide eyes.

"Well, of course that's somewhat major," Ichigo said with a small huff of laughter. "It's not exactly something that just anyone can do. And a lot of the times, I'm requested to do the negotiations specifically due to how important and high ranking the other participants are. Many of the foreign royals and those working under them hold me in very high esteem and prefer to have me sit with them during the negotiations because they trust me to give them the best deal and see to it that anything in the papers are enforced immediately. Whether the others like it or not." She gave them a rueful smile before tacking on, "What I meant was combat-wise. I'm not allowed to participate in any fighting anymore." She explained to them, somewhat hoping that they would drop the subject.

But her new husband and his friend seemed to have other ideas.

"You sit down with foreign royalty? And negotiate with them?" Kalego asked her in disbelief. After all, how the hell could this slip of a woman manage something so...impossible?

Such a feat was usually reserved for others among the royal family, or those high-ranking nobles close to them. Those considered equals to actual royalty were few and far between regardless of their rank among other demons.

And to be honest, at first glance, Sullivan's heir wasn't all that impressive to Kalego. Power-wise at least.

So how?

She has to be lying. Kalego thought to himself as he glanced towards Shichiro. Figuring that perhaps the lie was to impress his ally. Or maybe she simply wanted to make herself seem more important that she actually was. Either way, the hellhound was thoroughly convinced that she was lying and could already feel himself becoming bored with her dishonesty.

Which was a pity since her dishonesty aside, she seemed like a rather sweet and thoughtful person.

"I do." She finally said, responding to his question. "I have a certain reputation among some of them as someone who can get things done as well as squash any opposition. Any promise that I give or make, I do everything I have to do to keep. Even if it means taking up arms and fighting others and shedding blood for it."

Shichiro was fairly certain that he was shaking by this point. The mere idea of such a sweet and kind woman having to battle for any reason- promise or not- was disturbing to him in the extreme.

So much so that he flexed his hands a few times underneath the table where they couldn't be seen. The urge to reach out and drag his wife over into his arms and shield her was strangely overwhelming to him. But it was there, nevertheless.

"And you no longer participate in any fighting?" Kalego asked in a bored tone.

"No. I'm not allowed anymore because of the amount of collateral damage I cause."

Shichiro sighed and then managed to then ask about her guards. While it was true that many high-ranking demons had security devils and bodyguards of some kind. Many were also at least powerful enough to fend for themselves and thus didn't need any guards of any kind.

Granted, he could understand Sullivan wanting to protect her. But wasn't that what Opera was for?

"I've been meaning to ask, why do you have so many guards? And military personnel at that."

"Yes, did Sullivan pull a few strings? Perhaps order them to come?" Kalego asked.

"Uh- no. Actually, they decided to storm the house shortly after you left, Balam-"

"Shichiro." The gargoyle corrected quickly. "As my wife you may call me by my name, my lady."

"Then you can call me, Ichigo. Not 'my lady'."

Shichiro inclined his head in understanding as Kalego let out an impatient sound and snapped. "Finish what you were saying, already!"

Ichigo looked at the hellhound oddly as she arched a brow at his lack of manners before then going on to finish her previous sentence.

"Oh, right! Well, they basically stormed the house because I sent Rukia back home in temporary exile for what she had done. And part of her punishment was to explain to them that she married me to Shichiro, unwillingly. So, they came to demand answers and speak about what had happened. We didn't get very far though before you called to invite me here for lunch- and since they still want answers, some of them decided to tag along and keep an eye on things. Ya, know? Meet you and see what kind of person you are."

"Ah," Shichiro said in understanding as it dawned on him just why she had so many guards. "They came because they are protective of you." The fact that it wasn't necessarily because Sullivan had pulled some strings with the group was both enlightening and slightly curious to him.

Ichigo nodded her head sagely. "Very."

"I'm guessing that your guards are actually ally's that you made during your time as a soldier?" Shichiro asked, his curiosity finally getting the better of him.

Ichigo chewed on her lower lip for a moment before saying with a slow nod, "Yes. They are."

Kalego slammed his hands down on the table before Shichiro could form any other questions in his mind to ask and jumped up and pointed his finger at her. "Shichiro this wench is outright lying to us! She has to be. There are no demons powerful or high ranking enough to manage to do what she had mentioned. Not even Sullivan himself has gone before royalty of foreign nations and negotiated treaties before. And he's practically royalty himself around here!"

Shichiro stared at Kalego with wide, horrified eyes as he continued to spew his accusations. Yet even as his ally spoke, he was carefully turning every bit of information that Ichigo had given them over in his mind. And not once the entire time that they had been speaking had his Buzzer ability activated to indicate any dishonesty on her end.

Which meant...

"Kalego, you should apologize to my wife." He finally said as his brows drew down in a disapproving frown. Kalego sputtered and started to argue that Ichigo didn't deserve an apology from him when Shichiro tacked on. "She hasn't lied to either of us. Not once. I would know it if she had."

Kalego's face went from outraged to pale and nearly bloodless as he turned his head to glance at him, his mouth opening and closing several times before he finally flopped back down into his seat and just stared at Ichigo with an uncomprehending look on his face for a few heartbeats. And then stammered out an embarrassed sounding apology as he lowered his head in shame.

Once he fell silent, Shichiro looked over at Ichigo to try and see if he could gauge her mood now. Figuring that she must be pretty upset by Kalego calling her a liar and such. And in all honesty if she decided to leave and never speak to him again, he would understand. After all, no demon liked being confronted by strangers, regardless of the reason behind it.

However, Ichigo didn't seem all that upset.

In fact, she looked downright amused to him. Which was confusing since he was pretty sure that normal people would be quite upset about being shouted at and called names and things like that. Even he was more than a little bit perturbed about his ally's behavior.

And yet...

"I told you that I wasn't easily offended, Shichiro. And I'm not. Your friend's accusations and assumptions would normally be true of anyone else." She said as she propped an elbow up on the table and rested her chin in it.

Kalego had been staring down at the table up until then, waiting for her to punish him for the insults that he had hurled her way, suddenly snapped his head up and looked at her, obviously startled by the fact that she wasn't offended by his previous behavior.

Shichiro couldn't say that he necessarily blamed his ally any for feeling that way. Any other demon would have already torn into Kalego and left him bleeding on the floor and walked off laughing.

But the fact that Ichigo was willing to let Kalego's behavior slide was...strangely endearing to Shichiro.

Mostly because it meant that she was someone who didn't care for other people's opinions of her. Whether they were right or wrong. But to him, it also meant that she had a very kind and forgiving nature as well.

And Shichiro liked that. A lot.

"You know, if you're really in doubt about my work...then you both could always come with me the next time I have to go before Harribel. I'm sure that she won't mind since I usually take a few others with me anyways."

"Harribel?" Kalego questioned curiously as he continued to stare at Ichigo.

She grinned as she said. "Yeah, she's the current King of a place called Hueco Mundo. I negotiate things and services with her. I think you'd both like her. She's a pretty nice person."

"Oh?" Kalego said as he finally blinked his eyes. He wasn't very sure about what his ally's wife was suggesting. The concept of a 'nice' king was something that was difficult for him to imagine. Shichiro, however, was a different story altogether. His curiosity was piqued.

"She sounds nice. What else do you do for her? Work-wise, I mean." He asked curiously as Kalego turned his head just a bit to look at him oddly.

"Well, the last time I was in Hueco Mundo, she asked me to help with their food shortage. Typically, Harribel's people are a race that devours the souls of other living beings just to survive-" Shichiro's eyes widened and he got a vaguely alarmed look on his face. Kalego merely winced slightly and returned his eyes to his ally's wife. "But since she's the ruler now, she wants them to try other things as food sources. But Hueco Mundo's environment is beyond harsh. There is no greenery or living plants anywhere. There are no animals. Honestly, the only environment that I can even compare that place too is Hell itself."

Shichiro made a choking sound at that. Kalego merely returned to staring at her with unblinking eyes as his mind screamed, Hell! Hell itself?! Just what sort of person was his ally now tethered too? He wondered worriedly.

"So, because they're trying to survive on plants and animals now- that means that something has to be done to fix the damage to the environment and stuff. Usually that would take thousands upon thousands of years to do. If not more. But thankfully, I know a few mad scientists that are more than happy to take on the task of getting their hands dirty to get the job done."

"Thus far a massive greenhouse has been built that covers nearly two hundred miles of land. And a ton of trees and plants of all kinds, both edible and non-edible have been growing there. There's also been several thousand wild animals, captured and altered a bit genetically and then released in Hueco Mundo to live and repopulate the devastated animal population."

"Ah, that certainly sounds like it's interesting work." Shichiro said as he tapped his mask with his fingertips thoughtfully. "It must take a lot of time and patience." He finally said, idly wondering if today was one of her days off of work. If so, then he felt a little bit bad about dragging her out when she likely would have wanted to rest.

"It takes a lot of both. Plus, a staggering amount of magic too. But I manage." She said with another grin.

Shichiro couldn't help but grin back despite the fact that she couldn't see it. Her smiles and grins were simply infectious. "Going with you to meet this...king Harribel is rather tempting, but we usually don't have much time off from our own jobs. So, I'm not sure if we would be able to manage without leaving our co-workers in a bind."

"That's totally understandable. By the way, what do you do for a living? Papa said something about you being a co-worker. But I'm not sure what job he was referring to since he has several."

"Ah, I'm a teacher at the school Babyls. Kalego is as well." Shichiro said, his tone becoming excited as he thought of his classes full of kids, listening in rapt attention to his teachings about mythical creatures.

"Really? That's awesome! What do the two of you teach?" Ichigo asked curiously.

Kalego finally snapped to attention again and replied. "I teach practicals for using magic and lectures."

Ichigo smiled, as her mind worked to supply the information so that she would better understand what the stern demon meant by 'practicals'. It took a second, but she eventually got it.

"I see." She muttered after a moment or so of silence. "That must be very interesting."

"Vexing, is more like it. The hellions that I teach rarely pay attention to anything being said about magic or the lectures." Kalego said, trying not to growl in annoyance.

Ichigo hummed in understanding and nodded her head a bit as she said, "Well, they do say that teaching is one of the most thankless jobs in the world. Teaching kids with absolutely no attention span can leave you feeling as if you're wasting your time and your breath." She lifted a hand and put it against her chest as she bowed her head towards him in a sage manner. "You have my undying respect for not killing any of the brats yet."

Kalego stared at her for a second or so before suddenly busting out laughing. His whole body shook as he pressed a hand over his mouth in an effort to hold his laughter back.

Shichiro chuckled in amusement as well. Not killing the brats yet, indeed.

To be fair, it wasn't as if Kalego didn't occasionally try in his own warped way to maim or destroy the kids for not paying attention during his classes and earning his wrath. He was simply too spiteful to hold himself back when the urge struck him. Especially if his students made him feel like he was wasting his time on them.

It was simply part of the reason why so many feared and respected him alike. It was also likewise part of the reason so very many respected him too.

"What do you teach Shichiro?" Ichigo asked as Kalego coughed a few times to cover his chuckles as he tried to sober up again so that his ally could speak without him giggling and distracting him.

"Oh, I teach biology, and mythical creature studies."

Ichigo cocked her head as her mind quickly supplied the information desired to understand what 'mythical creature studies' even were. Upon realizing what her husband meant, she awwed.

After all, what kid during their youth didn't want to learn about creatures like mermaids, unicorns, dragons, etc.

Those things, plus many of the myths and fables surrounding their existence were fascinating! So, Ichigo could definitely see why her husband would want to teach kids about them.

"That sounds so cool! Which mythical creature do you like teaching about the most?" She asked, already beginning to feel something akin to an electric charge gathering in the air around them. Was this feeling coming from Shichiro? She wondered as she looked him over carefully. The guy seemed to be practically vibrating in his seat as he quickly replied to her question.

"Humans are actually my favorite subject."

"Humans?" She echoed with a small frown, she had temporarily forgotten that her papa and Opera had filled her in on his fascination with human beings. Her cat ears twitching ever so slightly as Shichiro grinned at her from behind his mask as he said.

"Humans are basically extinct here since no one has seen them in several thousand years. Yet they are an important part of our history. So of course, I want to learn more about them and also teach what I know to others."

Ichigo hummed in understanding and asked. "So, humans are considered mythical creatures because no one has ever seen one before?" She couldn't help but ask such a silly question. Mostly because the idea of human's being extinct in any capacity was laughable to her. Especially when there were just so damn many of them.

"That's right. Though I'd like to meet one."

"Oh? And what if you did? What would you do? I mean, correct me if I'm wrong but don't demons eat humans?"

"Oh, well yes. But..." He started fidgeting with his fingers. "I'd really like to meet one. I have a ton of questions that I would like to ask them about how they live, and about their world."

"Ah, I see... Well, I think it's wonderful that you have something that you're so very passionate about. I hope that one day you do meet a human face to face." She said honestly, wondering if she really should introduce him to Chad or not since it would likely cause them a little bit of trouble. At least until she was able to explain that no one was breaking any laws and thereby couldn't be in any trouble with Border Patrol.

Shichiro blushed and fidgeted a little bit with his fingers as he said, "I hope so too." Even if it was an impossibly long shot. He just couldn't help but hope that someday he would meet a human face to face.

"Now that we've gotten some of the introductions out of the way, shall we go on and order? Or do the two of you intend to simply talk all day instead? Don't get me wrong, you may do as you please. But I'm particularly hungry and plan to eat either way." Kalego drawled out in a bored manner.

Eliciting a couple of quickly worded apologies to him from she and Shichiro as they both quickly grab their menu's up again and scan them while the hellhound waved a server over to finally take their orders.