In the days that had passed at the sea restaurant, Luffy hadn't been able to strike a deal with the Head Chef of the Baratie and was forced to work off his debt that would last a year. He had been forced to clean, kitchen work, basic chores, take orders and a variety of other tasks befitting that of a chore boy around the restaurant.

Or… at least he tempted to take on the chores he had been given, only to cause a bigger mess then what he had begun with! Broken dishes, dirt literally swept under the mat, if it got that far, food eaten before it could be served. In the days that Luffy worked at the Baratie… it was hell for all of the Chefs aboard along with most of the customers. To Luffy's crew it was hilarious. Ichigo had to wonder if their was actually something mentally wrong with Luffy, when he brought it up with Nami she told him to forget about it, that it wasn't worth the trouble.

The days that passed, the rest of the crew simply bided their time, waiting for Luffy to come up with something just so that they could move on. They were hear to recruit a cook, not give up their Captain. Ichigo could almost see the irony in it. Ichigo grabbed a meal from the restaurant from time to time, but to do so he had to borrow money from Nami since he was literally flat broke now that he was here, Zoro and Usopp were the same and were racking up a debt to the orange haired navigator as a result, yeah she got free food from the love sick chef while she made money off the poor losers, so when Usopp suggested that they try fishing, Ichigo was all for it. Sure he had never done it before, but how hard could it be?

Very, very hard and very, very boring. With the Merry docked at the Baratie as it was, the water was always restless with the coming and going ships meaning the fish never came near the floating restaurant and they never caught anything. After every failed attempt, they could hear Nami laughing off in the distance in a maniacal way. When they did eat at the restaurant they always messed with Luffy to the point he just got in more trouble by the other Chef's, it was a seemingly way to pass the time for Zoro at least.

Over the course of time, Ichigo began to note that Nami was becoming withdrawn from everyone on the crew, keeping more to herself no longer joining in on the fun in teasing Luffy. He had even seen her a few times just staring at the bounties that Yosaku and Johnny had.

But, as the days passed that they were stuck here waiting for Luffy, Ichigo's mind began to settle and with that came the thoughts he had wished to avoid. Nami noticed it first when she made a passing comment saying he had bags under his eyes from lack of sleep. When he did sleep his subconscious mind always drifted to home and to stop that from happening, he pushed going to sleep away from his mind. But the lack of sleep was getting to him, he was less responsive than what he should be, his mood had deteriorated to the point Usopp, Johnny and Yosaku down right avoided him unless they got chewed out for looking at him the wrong way. Eventually, Ichigo's body couldn't take it and he needed rest.

Having launched himself up to the crow's nest after breakfast when the others were still inside pestering Luffy, he got as comfortable as he could in the small space and lay down to sleep, just to replenish his stamina. One or two hours should be enough, he had thought to himself as he closed his eyes, simply letting sleep come.


She was crying. When had been the last time he had seen her cry like this? It wasn't after he defeated Aizen, no they were tears of joy. The battle of Ulquiorra atop of Las Noches, when he had in a literal sense been dead. She had been crying so much, it was what had reached him the most and had pulled him back and forced his inner hollow to act. But now she was crying again, the sadness was so much more present than that time… her hands raised up in front of her, extended towards him but not as a gesture of help, her cheeks were flooded with tears as more dripped down her chin, the golden glow of her Shun Shun Rikka in it's full effect.

Being used on him.

Ichigo himself was stunned as he lay there on the rooftop of Tsukishima's mansion, pain coursed through his entire body as it was showered with golden glow beneath the shield of Orihime's power. Where it had once been used to heal his injuries, was now tearing him apart bit by bit. He didn't even have legs to stand on at this point they had been completely rejected from his knees down. Both he and Orihime were helpless to stop what was happening, Ichigo would never bring himself to hurt her and Orihime wasn't in control. Tsukishima who stood behind Orihime was grinning as he leaned down and whispered unheard words into Orihime's ear… anger flooded through him as more tears flowed down Orihime's cheeks as she nodded and the erosion of his body became quicker, even more pain flooded through him as he cried out in complete anguish as his body was ripped apart, for a moment it all stopped before he spotted the movement of Tsukishima's sword pierce Orihime again, using his ability once more and the destruction of his body was even more forceful than before.

What could he say to snap her out of it, at this point her eyes were lifeless like she was a mindless doll, just a plaything for Tsukishima to control. Gritting his teeth as he saw the battle between Ginjo and Chad overhead, Tsukishima had made it that Ichigo had no support. The only one on his side was completely occupied with Chad's outrageous strength.

"It's over, Ichigo Kurosaki." Tsukishima stated as he traced a hand along the curve of Orihime's neck causing rage to grow within him once more. "Do it." The order was simple but Orihime, in the state that she was in, even now resisted, but with Tsukishima's ability warping her mind, it only lasted a second before Ichigo's entire body began to disintegrate before them.

"TSUKISHIMA!" Ichigo roared as he reached out, only for his hand to already be missing from his wrist.

"ICHIGO!"


Ichigo's eyes snapped open as he shot up into a sitting position, Riruka's cry of his name reverberating in the depths of his mind as she had come up from the mansion to see his state, his mind was slightly foggy on what happened after that, the pain had been unbearable at that stage. Even now, the lingering feeling of his body being obliterated by Orihime's power could be felt. He would never forget that painful presence of his body being turned into nothing. Leaning back on the rail of the crow's nest, he looked up towards the sky, his eyes landing on the Jolly Roger of his crew flapping in the wind. How had Orihime's power gone from rejecting his very being, to sending him off to this world? Sitting there for a while, taking in deep breaths to steady himself he came to notice something else that was amiss, the ship was moving. Sitting up he groaned, having slept at an awkward angle and looked around, the Baratie was nowhere in sight.

"I guess Luffy got out of the year of work… or we just bailed." Ichigo thought to himself with a yawn, not having slept all that well. Standing up, his joints were tense, he'd have to get a pillow or something up here if he was going to start sleeping up here and with his position as lookout being signed off by Luffy over a meal at the Baratie, he'd be up here most of the time. Stretching his arms above his head he let out another yawn before looking over the side of the railing of the crow's nest, however his brow furrowed, Luffy and Usopp weren't doing something childish, Zoro wasn't napping in his usual spot. The only one on deck was Nami, she was standing towards the bow just, staring off into the water.

Green static light ignited down to his feet as he disappeared from the crow's nest, appearing on the deck without effort he stretched his arms once more as he looked around. It was way too quiet for it to be normal. Heading towards the bow where Nami had yet to notice him approaching he came to a stop as he heard her speak.

"They really were good people." Her soft voice drifted back to him on the wind making him frown slightly. "If we meet again, I wonder… will they still let me join them?" Her voice trembled as her shoulders began to shake, Ichigo seeing her hands clench as tears fell onto the railing of the Merry she was leaning up against. "Will we ever… meet again? I want to be free, soon..." Ichigo watched as Nami crouched down and hugged her knees, crying as she muttered the name Bell-mère over and over again. Deciding he should announce his presence, he spoke up.

"I don't know about everyone else." Nami's head shot up as she turned, falling on her butt as she stared up at Ichigo with wide eyes, tears still running down her cheeks. Ichigo glanced away from the crying girl as he scratched at his cheek, he had never been able to correctly comfort someone who was crying, he just didn't know how too. "But with what I just heard, it sounds like you've got no choice in the matter."

"Ichigo!" Nami snapped, wiping away the tears from her face. "What are you doing here!? Why are you on board, I thought you were back on the Baratie!" Ichigo ignored her shouting as he walked to the side, the Navigator glaring at him as her eyes traced his path to where he leaned up against the railing.

"You stole the Merry then." Ichigo stated having come to the conclusion that Nami had done so, glancing down at her to see her glare, it was more serious than the one she gave the others when they did something to piss her off. "Abandoned Luffy, Zoro and Usopp back at the Baratie." He added with a sigh, he could tell that something had been bothering her since they ran into Johnny and Yosaku and she saw those wanted posters. He didn't think that she would do something this drastic though. "Just how far did we get? How long was I asleep?" He mused, it was unlike him to sleep through this much trouble had he really been that tired?

"That's right! I stole the Merry, left everyone back at the Baratie during the confusion of Don Krieg arriving, it's what I do! I'm a thief that hates pirates! I only steal from pirates for..." Ichigo's glance stopped her dead as she lowered her head slightly, his eyes were serious like the first time she had seen him when he had been pulled out of the water before they arrived on Usopp's island, she hadn't seen him serious since that moment. "I'm not fooling you, am I?" She questioned, her hair hanging down around her face.

"Not with what I overheard earlier, no." Ichigo stated with a shrug before silence drifted between the two for some time. "Where are we headed?" He asked only for Nami to get to her feet and head across the ship, Ichigo leisurely following after her. She entered the cabin where the Merry's rudder control was and checked that the ship was still on course.

"You can't stop me." Nami told him as she glared over her shoulder. "So don't even try and stop me, you can have the ship but all the treasure is mine."

"I won't have to stop you." Ichigo told her. "Luffy won't be long, probably accuse me of being your accomplice or something." He muttered under his breath having come to know how Luffy jumped to conclusions. "You've known that idiot longer than I have, you really think he's just going to let you walk away from his crew?"

"Shut up, it's none of your business what I do." Nami growled at him. "Just go back to the Baratie, swim for all I care." She huffed angrily. "How'd you even get aboard before I set sail anyway!?" She shouted at him, clearly frustrated.

"After breakfast I headed up to the crow's nest for some sleep, thought I might get some peace and quiet up there." He told her, her eyes widening slightly before she set her face in a scowl, not one capable of matching Ichigo's usual one but it was clear she was annoyed that she had missed that, she thought she had the perfect getaway until a few minutes ago. Adjusting the rudder control slightly she sighed gently.

"I'm going home, to the Conomi Island archipelago..." Nami told him, answering his earlier questioned of where they were heading. "I don't care what you do, take the Merry back to the Baratie for all I care but don't take one step off of this ship, or you're dead!" Ichigo rose an eyebrow slightly at the threat, it was clear to him that Nami wasn't a fighter, sure she made idle threats to the others which usually ended up in a physical beat down of some kind, but she was genuine in saying that he was dead if he got off the ship.

"First of all, I probably couldn't navigate my way out of a paper bag let alone sail this ship back to the Baratie." Ichigo told her. "Secondly, there's something on that island that you clearly don't want me to see, which only makes me curious as to what it is."

"It's none of your business, Ichigo!" Nami shouted with clenched hands, only for her head to shoot back in surprise as Ichigo flicked her in the forehead surprising her as she rose a hand up as Ichigo lowered his own back down into his pocket.

"You'll come to know this about me Nami." Ichigo began as he turned and headed for the door. "When it comes to my friends, I have a habit of making things my business." Nami's eyes widened as Ichigo exited the cabin, closing the door behind him. She quickly wiped another tear that was beginning to form as she rose a hand up to her left shoulder, gripping it tightly. Moving to the cabin door she peered out of porthole window, just to see Ichigo standing on the deck below leaning on the railing just looking out into the ocean.

"You're making it even more difficult you idiot..." she whispered quietly, already having a hard enough time of abandoning the ones that had come to accept her. Over the course of her time being a member of the crew, she had truly enjoyed herself. Yes there was the idiocy of her crew mates, but even then they had the qualities of good friends."What am I supposed to do, Bell-mère?" She thought to herself before going back to the rudder control to keep her mind occupied on the course to her home.

It wasn't a short journey for the two, it actually took a full day and a half before they reached the islands that made up the archipelago of Nami's home. In that time, little was said between the two of them, just Nami giving Ichigo a few orders to adjust the sails from time to time which he had no problem following.

The Going Merry had just docked at an unmanned dock lining the island when Nami, who was dressed in a green camisole with dark green flower shapes, tight black pants with two yellow rings on the sides, and light orange high-heeled sandals, jumped over the side of the rail landing effortlessly on the dock with a bag on her shoulder. When Ichigo had first seen the rather large tattoo on her arm he hadn't asked questions after he saw just how self conscious Nami was of showing it to him.

Glancing back up at Ichigo, the two locked eyes for a minute before she gave him a rather forceful grin.

"I'll cya around, Ichigo. It won't be too hard to get back to the Baratie, even a novice could do it." Before Nami could even comprehend the movement, Ichigo was standing beside her.

"Probably, but I'm sure Luffy is already on his way." Ichigo stated simply wandering off down the track.

"That moron!" Nami growled as she chased after Ichigo. "Didn't I tell you, if you stay here you'll die!"

"No, you said if I step foot off the ship I'll be dead, hasn't happened yet." Ichigo retorted causing Nami to grit her teeth as she glared at his back. "I thought you had somewhere to be?" Nami clenched her hand into a fist ready to run up and smack the teen before holding off on her anger. Ichigo glanced back over his shoulder at her, it was again now that he saw the defenceless Nami that had been crying when he had awoke from being in the crow's nest. "Nami." The girl jolted slightly as she looked up to see his eyes more serious than she had seen them before, she found herself averting her gaze from his own. "What's going on here?" Shifting the bag on her shoulder she walked towards him keeping her eyes down.

"It's none of your business, just leave." She whispered as she forcefully pushed past him, Ichigo grunting slightly and stepping to the side to get out of her way. Ichigo simply watched Nami rush off down the path and off into the distance before disappearing around a bend causing Ichigo to sigh, he truly hadn't expected to get an answer out of her. Scratching at the back of his head, he glanced over his shoulder at the Merry simply sitting there. However something caught his attention, the all too familiar rattle of a chain. Ichigo turned to the ghost that now stood beside him watching after Nami as he had been. The ghost had, a rather unique light pink hairstyle similar to a Mohawk. The green chequered shirt that she wore housed the chain of fate that had been severed upon her death, a large portion of her shirt was covered in blood showing that she had been shot in the chest.

"Damn that Brat." The ghost of Bell-mère muttered. "Every time she comes back here, she just feels worse and worse." She continued to mutter as she stood beside the teenager, unaware that she herself could be seen.

"You know Nami then." Ichigo stated causing the woman's eyes to widen as she glanced at Ichigo who glanced at her from the corner of his eyes, Bell-mère looked behind herself only to see that there was no one else around. "Yeah, I can see you." He told her causing the woman's jaw to drop as she stared completely dumbfounded. "Care to tell me what's going on?" The woman blinked a few times, unsure of what the hell the orange haired teen was going on about.

"You can really see me?" The woman questioned, just to make sure.

"Yeah, I've been able to see ghosts since I was a kid." Ichigo nodded as he eyed the wound on her chest. "From the look of you, you had one hell of a death."

"Yeah, you could say that." The woman chuckled before a frown came to her face as she turned to look where Nami had headed off too. "Nami's my daughter." Ichigo's eyes widened slightly at that, his hand unconsciously forming a fist hidden from sight. "Adopted mind you, but still my daughter..." She glanced at Ichigo once more. "I can't remember the last time I talked with someone."

"How long?" Ichigo questioned.

"Eight years." She breathed out surprising Ichigo as he turned and reached out, grabbing the chain of fate attached to her chest causing her to smack his hand away and glare at him. "Where the hell do you think you're touching." She glared.

"Has this ever eroded?" Ichigo questioned seriously causing the ghost to tilt her head slightly as she looked down at the chain.

"No, not that I'm aware of." She gained a look of worry seeing the confusion in his eyes. "Is it meant too?" Ichigo scowled as he looked at the chain, it had more that seven links still connected. He wasn't an expert but he was sure that the chain corroded over time to signify the plus losing itself to become a hollow.

"Eight years, and she hasn't passed on, or turned into a hollow?" Ichigo mused to himself as he glanced at Bell-mère to see her once more looking in the direction that Nami had headed. "Just how strong is her will to stay by her daughter?" Bell-mère, sensing Ichigo's gaze turned back to the teen.

"You came here on that ship with Nami." Bell-mère gestured to the Merry behind them. "How well do you know Nami?"

"Not well enough it would seem." Ichigo sighed, everything that she had told him and the rest of the crew, how were they suppose to know what was the truth and what wasn't? "She was apart of the crew I'm with, she was our navigator. She ended up stealing the ship with me on it, without knowing that I was aboard." Bell-mère gave a somewhat awkward grin as she rested a hand on Ichigo's shoulder.

"I'm sorry for the trouble." Ichigo could see that she was trying to hold back her snickering as much as she could causing Ichigo's eyebrow to twitch, she was proud of Nami… that was good at least. "You said you wanted to know what was going on here, right?" Bell-mère started getting a nod from Ichigo. "Well, follow me. I've got a place we can talk, it's not a short story."

"Sure thing." Ichigo nodded as he followed after Bell-mère.


Sorry the update took so long, but I'm happy to announce that from the start of Thriller Bark, to the end of the Sabaody Arc has almost been completely written for this story. Yes, I know it's a long way off and changes will have to be made for adjustments along the way that will be happening before then.

I've also decided that the rating of this fic will be changed to M for the intimate scenes... yes, lemons.

For those who had been hoping for a Ichigo vs Mihawk fight, I'm sorry. I did intend to write the fight between the two to show Ichigo that the level of strength is higher than he thought. However the fight between Zoro and Mihawk is far to necessary for Zoro's development. So I sent Ichigo ahead of everyone to Arlong Park, with Nami.

I don't think I've ever read a bleach crossover story where Ichigo, interacts with the dead, so I hope that it's original.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter.