Ichigo blinked in surprise before he said, "Sure."
And tell him he did.
Ichigo explained everything and how it went down to Lucifer. From his initial skirmishes with the escaped Sinners, to being duped by that crazy son of a bitch who kidnapped Yuzu, him losing control and going berserk, to finally beating the crap out of Kokuto. By the end of his tale, Lucifer had his face hidden in shadows and Ichigo couldn't make out his expression.
What he could tell, was that the man's-err being's?-shoulders were trembling and shaking.
The next thing he knew, his hand was being held in a firm grip and the Devil decided to get up close and personal. Big watery eyes filled with unshed tears and lower lip quivering violently, the King of Hell began to cry in front of a, now completely, terrified Ichigo.
"Kurosaki-san!" The red-haired Devil cried. "To think you would go so far and suffer so greatly for your imouto! You are a great-no! You are a true paragon for big brothers across all of Creation! Consider any debt between us absolved!"
"Hey now," Ichigo cast a wary glance across the shop as he attempted to shake the red-head's grip off. "You're causing a scene."
Indeed, the entire store was now looking at the two young men in interest. A few of the more imaginative females saw two handsome young men, one of which who was crying, holding hands together. Several noses started to drip red.
Lucifer conjured a handkerchief from thin air and blew his nose rather unmannerly. "Sorry, it's just that I have a little sister of my own and I'm always fretting over her. She's such a free spirited child, so a big brother can't help but worry."
"I-I see."
Ichigo did not see. It was hard enough trying to come to terms that the Devil wasn't all that he was cracked up to be but, he was also a worrying older brother? Things couldn't get more bizarre.
Nodding his head, Lucifer wiped away his tears. "My Ria-tan is going through her rebellious phase so it's been particularly hard on me these last few years."
"Uhh…Ria-tan?"
The Devil gained a wide smile, normally said fact would fill most people with a horrid dread but at this point Ichigo just wanted to be rid of him.
"My sister, Rias! Wanna see a picture?" He asked excitedly and began to dig through his pockets.
Ichigo expected something along the lines of a small photo in his wallet, so when the red head pulled out an entire album seemingly out of nowhere, Ichigo felt exasperation dig into his skull. Somewhere in his mind, an amused part of realized that, a few years back he would have snapped at the man for wasting his time and probably done something rash.
"Look!" Lucifer pointed excitedly. "This is Rias when she had her first dance recital at age five! And this one was from when she first learned to use magic! Oh! And this one was just last year! Her first year entering high school!"
Ichigo watched with no small sense of amused confusion as Lucifer pointed to picture after picture. Ichigo's own eyes softened considerably and he gained a faint smile. It obvious to him, that this individual loved his sister. The shine in his eyes, the warmth in his facial expressions and the way his smile spilled infectious joy were not lost to Ichigo.
'So even the Devil has a heart,' he silently mused.
"Lucifer-sa-"
"No no," Lucifer said flippantly. "Call me Sirzechs. I only use my title for official business."
"Okay," Ichigo gave a small chuckle and prompted his elbows on the table then folded his hands in front of his face. "You said your sister just entered high school last year. Are you saying she's only a teenager?"
"Yup!" Sirzechs smiled brightly. "She recently turned seventeen a few months ago!"
Ichigo blinked in surprise.
"She's even younger than me." He muttered.
"Devils' have a very low birth rate. A couple will most likely have two or three children over the span of several centuries."
"Yes, Devils," Sirzechs said and continued at Ichigo's look of confusion. "There's a separate part of Hell known as the Underworld. It's split between us Devils and Fallen Angels."
"Angels?" Ichigo's eyebrows disappeared into his hairline.
"There are many factions of the supernatural, Ichigo-kun." Sirzechs explained. "And each faction has its own afterlife."
"I…I had no idea." Ichigo admitted.
"Most humans don't. Japan is ruled by the Shinto faction. Their afterlife is governed by the Soul King of Soul Society. And, for one reason or another, the Soul King keeps his subordinates ignorant of the rest of the world. But he is very serious about maintaining the regulation of souls so there's never been a major issue."
"That-That's a lot to take in at once," Ichigo said as every word of Sirzechs caused his eyes to grow.
Sirzechs nodded sympathetically. "The world is much bigger than you think, Ichigo-kun."
Taking it all in, a question suddenly popped into Ichigo's mind. "Wait, if each place has its own afterlife, how come you're in charge of Japan's Hell?"
"Ah, well you see," Sirzechs explained, "Hell is the agreed universal dump for all the world's Sinners. And, as luck would have, I got stuck with the job of running the place."
"Oh…you said Shinto faction?" He prompted for more.
"Yes, the Shinto hierarchy is headed by Amaterasu. The Soul King runs their afterlife under her direct orders, but for the most part, Soul Society is autonomous."
Ichigo leaned back in his seat, the overload of information beginning to take its toll.