A few years later-

The last few years of checking in on their future Queen had been strange. So strange in fact that Conrad had decided to return to Earth to keep a better eye on her highness. He had even dragged his longtime friend Yozak, as well as his former sword master, Gunter along with him because there had been some difficulty keeping track of her highness.

Apparently from time to time over the past several years, her soul just...disappeared and stayed gone for weeks and weeks- and even sometimes months at a time. Which was alarming at best. It certainly inspired panic in many of them at worst since every time it happened it sent many of them scrambling for answers.

Which was simply part of why Conrad and the others had made the trip to Earth. It would be much easier to understand what was going on if they could see whatever was wrong with their own eyes. It also made it easier to keep a closer eye on her highness and gave her an extra layer of protection as well.

And once there, the very first thing that he had done once he was back on Earth was contact the Demon King Bob and let him know that all of them would be there for a while.

The second thing that he had done was acquire money and other things, thanks to Bob's help, so that they could live easily among the humans without rousing any suspicion from anyone. Bob had even generously found a home for them to stay in that was oddly enough, right across from her highness's own.

Though Conrad had no idea how he had managed that.

So, after checking the house out and doing other things- like getting necessities- food, dishes, furniture, clothing etc. The three men moved in and then settled in and got comfortable.

Once that was done, Conrad worked on helping Yozak, and Gunter the Japanese language so that they could easily hold conversations with others. Something that was a bit easier for Yozak to do than Gunter since when it came to the new language, the older man's age tended to show a bit. He had much more difficulty with the language.

Or more specifically, the pronunciation of the words.

Aside from that, he picked it up pretty easily. Which was wonderful, really since he at least understood what was being said to him. But he still had some difficulty understanding stuff.

The first two or so weeks after moving into their temporary home was quiet. It didn't stop any of them from noticing certain occurrences going on at their Queen's house and making note of those things though.

Strange people dropping in all hours of the day and night, Ichigo leaving all hours of the day and night, random but loud screams, crashes and other very alarming noises being heard from across the street. And then showing up carrying injured people into and out of her home in her arms, randomly jumping out of a second story window and taking off like her pants were on fire.

Being dragged around by others while yelling for help. Why there were even a few times a couple of strange people showed up at her home in the late night/early morning hours and dragged her off in a net!

Honestly the list went on and on.

And Conrad and the others weren't entirely sure what to make of any of it. All they knew was that she usually came back within a set amount of time. Either on her own or with someone/several someone's else with her.

They had gotten to meet her a few times outside of those things. Which was much less worrying to them since it actually gave them a chance to see her up close and check to see if she was injured.

The first time that they got the see her up close, was a week after moving.

Conrad and Yozak had both gone out to do some grocery shopping when they had come up on their Queen walking with a short, petite, dark-haired beauty. The two were walking at a leisurely pace, talking amongst themselves since the street was basically deserted.

"Are you sure that you're alright Ichigo?" The smaller girl asked as she turned her head to look at the taller one.

Up close like this, Conrad could see just how much Ichigo had grown over the past few years. The girl wasn't just taller, but her body was maturing as well. And she had one of the most breathtaking faces that the soldier had ever seen. But she had changed more than just physically as well.

She carried herself with a dignity and grace that was not terribly unlike his own. Her expressions when she interacted with others had been more closed off the past few years as well. Even now, when she was looking at her friend, he could tell that she was closing herself off.

"I'm fine Rukia. A few broken bones aren't going to keep me down for long."

Conrad's eyes widened in horror and concern, and the bottom of his stomach dropped in dread as he started to take a step towards her. And was stopped when a firm hand settled on his shoulder and he turned his head to look at Yozak who merely shook his head no and mouthed the words, "Not yet." to him.

Conrad heaved a silent sigh but steeled himself against interrupting the two girls, at least for the moment as his Queen then leaned down into her friend's personal space and said, "You know that." with a grin that looked several shaded too dark to mean anything but trouble for someone.

The smaller of the two, Rukia stared at her wide eyed for a moment before laughing softly.

"You're right. Broken bones are nothing to you. You just shake them off anyway."

"I've never been the kind of person to stay down. Not even if I was dying."

"Oh, I know." Rukia said absently. "You're simply too strong willed for your own good." She paused for a moment before saying softly, "Honestly Ichigo, your strength sometimes frightens me."

Ichigo shrugged her slender shoulders, "It frightens everyone at one point or another. I've just started to ignore it." She said when she finally turned her head to peg Conrad and Yozak with a look that startled the two of them before shifting around for a second and using her free hand to grab her friend's and then picked up her pace as she asked loudly.

"How's your brother doing these days? I haven't been by lately to terrorize him any. Be honest, does he miss me?"

"Oh, yes. He misses you terribly when you aren't around." Came the loud reply as the smaller girl turned her head to glance at the two men curiously before they disappeared from sight.

The second that the two kids were gone, Conrad let out a hiss-like breath while Yozak looked off to the side awkwardly at one of the buildings while letting out a low whistle as Conrad muttered, "Well damn."

That could have gone better.

"So that was her? The tall girl?" Yozak finally asked. Conrad sighed and nodded his head.

"Yeah, that was her." He replied, uncertain about what to do now. This had been the closest that he'd gotten to his Queen since returning to Earth.

Thankfully, this wouldn't be his only chance to see her. Nor would it be the only chance to interact with her. In fact, the next time Conrad saw her, was several days later.

He was while putting some dishes in the sink after a few hours of brainstorming a way to interact with her.

Gunter had been somewhat envious of he and Yozak for managing to get even a little bit close to their Queen several days ago when they had been out. And had expressed his desire to bask in her presence himself but wasn't entirely sure how to do so without 'creeping' her out.

Conrad couldn't exactly say that he blamed the older man. He too wanted to be close to their Queen and bask in her presence. But he also wasn't willing to scare her just to do it.

Yozak, didn't really understand what either of them was feeling.

Sure, he understood their Queen was nearby, and they were there to protect her due to her many, many, many disappearances without them being able to track her over the years. But otherwise, he didn't exactly share their feelings. To him, both Conrad and Gunter had lost their damned minds, and he was simply caught in the middle of it.

Conrad knew that he would change his opinion once he finally interacted with their Queen a little bit. But dammit everything was beginning to frustrate the three of them.

How did one get close to someone who was on guard around others so much?

Surprisingly the answer came after Yozak decided to go for a walk around the neighborhood for a while and just get out of the house for a bit. Weirdly, he wasn't gone for more than a couple of minutes. And when he returned it was obvious that he had run back since he was panting and sort of having trouble catching his breath.

Conrad made a mental note to force him to jog with him during the early morning hours from now on to make sure that he stayed in shape.

Finally, the red head straightened himself up and held up a paper.

"I've got how you two can meet her highness and interact," He said with a grin.

Both Conrad and Gunter stared at him expectantly, waiting for him to explain. "There's a school festival going on at Karakura High School, starting today. I say we head over there and check it out."

Frowning, Conrad walked over to him and took the paper from him and let his eyes scan it. Sure enough, it was an advertisement for a festival at their Queen's school alright. It even listed some attractions.

A haunted house, a play, musical performances by various bands, arts and crafts, games, food, dancing and a kissing booth. Whatever that was.

"What do you say Commander? Wanna give it a shot?" Yozak asked as he waggled his eyebrows at him.

Conrad took a moment or so to weigh the pros and cons of going, but in the end, he gave in. His mood had been fairly black these past few days, and though he wasn't prone to snapping or lashing out at others, he was generally unpleasant in other ways. So, getting out might do them all some good.

"Very well." He finally said. "We'll go and try to relax and have fun even if we don't see our Queen. Does that sound fair to the both of you?"

"Yes sir!" Yozak chirped, the man fairly vibrating in place.

"I suppose that it can't hurt anything." Gunter muttered, looking somewhat depressed as he slowly stood up from his seat at the dining room table.

"Alright, let's go then." Conrad said as he went to grab his wallet and keys to the house. Hopefully this would be good for all of them since he wasn't sure how much more stress, he, Yozak, and Gunter could take.