It took a few more days to reach the next island, but the relief at finally seeing it made them all excited. At that point their food was really getting low, and they were tired of soup stock for their three meals, not to mention they were bored and were eager to find something to do once on land. They may have been pirates, but the sea only had so much for them, since they could just hide under the waves from passing Marines, so every now and then they welcomed solid ground. Toshiro was just glad to have an extended period of fresh air, keeping the air cool underwater was taxing.

Upon landing, though, they weren't met by too pretty a sight. The city was at least inhabited and alive, meaning they at least didn't have Heartless to worry about, not to mention huge so supplies would hopefully be easy to get…but the people living there looked so…gloomy. The whole island had a stale, polluted air to it, the great spire of the main city in the distance looming and dark. The civilization looked fairly urban and modern, but where they had docked…they must have found the slums part, but Law agreed trying to head to the 'nicer' dock a mile or two down the coast risked being spotted by Marines who would no doubt prefer that spot as well. The Heart Pirates didn't look uncomfortable with the decision…just the people.

"The air feels sick." Dextra said as she remained on deck, scrunching up her nose. Her twin nodded firmly in agreement.

"It does…but I suppose that's to be expected when you live in the part of town everyone pretends doesn't exist." Toshiro added to her statement, looking disapprovingly at the great city just within an hour or two of walking distance, no doubt full of splendor and life, leaving the people here crawling for scraps. Abandoned and ignored. No matter how modern, the slums never changed.

"People never change, huh…" Thursday sighed, patting Dextra and Book on the head as she passed to follow the others off the ship. Sharing a look between them, the twins followed behind her.

Toshiro stayed for a moment longer, surveying the place around them. Crumbling walls, graying pavement with dirt and grime caking it, visible paths through the muck from heavy traffic. Coughs echoed in the stale air though people tried to keep their faces covered from the dusty atmosphere. They acted as if the pirates weren't even there, even beggars avoiding them knowing this crowd would be unlikely to give them anything except knock them down. It was a sad sight for sure.

"I wouldn't go too far in this place." Law's voice brought Toshiro's attention from the land to the surgeon behind him. "I'm sure you could handle yourself, but I don't recommend letting someone get too touchy considering the conditions they live in…"

"Why would they get touchy?" The Nobody questioned.

The pirate Captain shrugged.

"Some people really want a child, they might think they're doing you a favor, taking you from pirates."

"…I suppose you have a point, and while I don't get sick easily considering my temperature, I'll keep that in mind."

"Good, otherwise you're free to look around like the rest of us."

"What do you plan to do?"

Law gave a sigh.

"Well…I WAS going to restock some of my supplies, but it would seem I'd have to take a hike for that…I'll be taking a few men with me deeper in, so keep an eye on them for me?"

Toshiro raised a brow in curiosity. He had just gone through a conversation with the surgeon the other day about his actions against Shachi, how his power had slipped from his control. He had clearly not been happy with the events and the Nobody was surprised the Captain would allow such a thing.

"You're trusting me?"

"Just keep your temper and I think it'll be fine." Law smirked as Toshiro cast him a glare before stepping off the ship.

Giving out a small huff, Toshiro let the jab slide and finally stepped off the ship as well. He kept his senses on alert for the others, letting him keep alert for potential Heartless as well. The polluted air felt stuffy and unforgiving, so he pulled his shirt up a little over his mouth. This really was terrible, at least the slums he'd lived in still had clean air. If his home had been industrial like this…his childhood had been lonely enough, watching everyone get sick around him would have made it even more depressing. And his grandma…he might not have even had one.

"I hate cities…" He muttered to himself.

A thud caught his attention and he turned to look, spotting a young boy picking himself up from some rubble. With a determined look, the boy stepped back in, pulling out what looked like scrap metal with a triumphant look. Toshiro spotted something underneath the child's brown curls, a bruise-like look to the skin of his forehead. Did he hit himself on something? Get hit maybe? It was a large patch of darkened skin, it had to be painful, but the boy didn't seem to mind it, more concentrated on dragging whatever he'd found off. Curious, Toshiro walked himself over.

"Do you need help?" He questioned.

The child gasped and dropped the scrap metal, wide brown eyes looking at the newcomer in surprise.

"Y-you scared me!" The boy let out a breath of air and put a hand to his chest, trying to calm his heart.

"Sorry, I just noticed you were having some trouble."

"Um, uh, it's fine, I got it." Nervous now, the child picked up his prize again and went back to dragging it away.

"Did you hit your head when you fell? That looks like a nasty bruise." Since being helpful wasn't working, Toshiro cut to the chase about his curiosity.

"What?" The boy put a hand up to his forehead. "Oh, no that…that's not a bruise…"

"It's not?"

"…you're not from here, are you?"

The Nobody shook his head.

"You…probably don't want to get too close then." More nervous than ever, the boy looked at the metal he had as if debating dropping it and running.

"Why?"

"It's, um, I'm sick. You'll get it too…so stay away, please."

"You do need help then." Toshiro started to approach, lifting a hand towards the child.

"N-no! It's fine, really, it doesn't hurt right now, g-go away please." Now the child did drop the scrap, turning and running with a fearful expression from the Nobody.

"Hey!" Toshiro thought of chasing, but felt he'd done enough. He obviously wanted no help; whatever that nasty looking sickness was, the boy didn't want anyone catching it. "Guess that means it's not just a feeling…this place really is sick…"

He returned to just roaming, noticing now that many people had these black, bruise-like splotches on their body, covering them up best they could, avoided by those without the illness like the plague itself. There were plenty of other kids searching through piles of rubble for scrap, the purpose unknown, and Toshiro was curious enough to consider following some of them to find out why.

Just as he turned to do just that, a voice made him pause.

"Hey Toshiro." Thursday walked over with Heinrich and Daniel. "You look like someone on a mission, what's up?"

"I'm curious about what these children are doing gathering scrap pieces." The Nobody responded calmly.

Curious, the trio followed his earlier gaze, spotting the same thing he had.

"Probably for a job or something, kids need money too." Heinrich shrugged, not as concerned about it. He and his fellow orphans had done similar odd jobs before they joined the Heart Pirates…not willingly, but it was the milder of tasks they'd been told to do.

"Several of them are sick as well, have you noticed the bruising on the people here?"

"Well, yeah…they're sick?"

"I spoke to one of the children trying to grab some metal, he had it on his forehead. He told me he was sick and didn't want me getting too close."

The older two shared glances, definitely intrigued now, while Daniel watched the children disappear around a corner, indeed noticing some more of the black patches on the arm of one of them.

"Want us to go with you?" Thursday asked, looking a little concerned.

"I'd prefer you didn't, I'm not as likely to get sick, but I won't stop you."

Nodding, Thursday turned to her companions.

"Take Daniel back to the ship? We'll find out what's up and be back in a bit." She told Heinrich. He didn't seem too happy with the idea, casting a look at Toshiro as if to say 'take care of her' before grabbing Daniel's hand and heading back to the submarine. That done, the older girl turned back to Toshiro. "So, off we go?"

Nodding, the Nobody followed after the path he'd seen the children take, following the recent drag marks of scrap metal until they could see the children themselves again.

"Not how I wanted our next island hang out to go, but might be interesting anyway." Thursday spoke quietly to her companion as they followed behind.

Toshiro cast her a confused glance before remembering his conversation with the children back at the desert island, promising to go explore with them if the next island wasn't a summer one. That felt so long ago now after everything that happened, he barely remembered it.

"I suppose so." He agreed. "Just be careful, even my healing Kido may not help much for something like this, it doesn't really work that way…"

"I won't get sick, it'll be fine." The taller child rolled her eyes, appearing aloof about their situation with a smirk, but Toshiro had doubts she was so carefree about all this.

Finally the children came to a stop in a small clearing filled with piles of various scrap. Adults were roaming around, offering money for bits and to have the children – usually the healthier looking ones – to carry it off for them. From what they overheard, this child run business seemed to be for helping people rebuild, an odd sort of rebellion against the main city abandoning them, choosing to fix things up themselves and get out of their situation. The specific group of kids they followed dropped off their prizes and were praised by a large man who greeted them happily and made sure they got some snacks and a break. The man didn't seem to have any of the dark patches, but he didn't avoid those who did.

"If the boss we had way back when was like him we'd have never become pirates…" Thursday muttered to herself. Toshiro did remember them mentioning an abusive boss Law had rescued them from, and thought he detected jealousy in her tone.

"They all live here, it's probably just a sense of needing to work together against the real boss." He responded to her, motioning with his head to the great city in the distance.

"Yeah…you have a point there."

Then, Toshiro spotted a familiar face. The boy he'd earlier found and had run away from him was among the children sitting off to the side, probably avoiding being front and center since his sickness was harder to hide. He still seemed so sad, even as the boy next to him tried to cheer him up.

Purpose in his steps, Toshiro made his way over to the boy, leaving a confused Thursday behind before she hurried up after him. A few people looked their way but otherwise they weren't noticed, just a few more children in the mix, Toshiro's white hair covered and making it easier for him to blend in, which he was glad to use to his advantage here. The boys didn't even take notice until he'd stopped in front of them, looking up curiously. The brown haired boy's eyes widened in recognition.

"Y-you again?" He gaped, shocked.

"Eh? Do you know him Dennis?" The blonde next to him questioned, raising a brow at the newcomers in curiosity.

"N-no, he, um…"

"We happened to cross each other on the street a few minutes ago." Toshiro explained for him.

"So you followed me?" Now the boy, Dennis, looked irritated.

"Not you specifically, some other children, you just happened to be here."

"We were curious about this sickness going around." Thursday cut in, letting them know she was there too. Toshiro nodded to show he agreed with her words. "Is no one able to do anything about it? What is it?"

"Oh, the Stigma." The blonde answered, looking a bit solemn. Dennis turned away, uncomfortable. "It popped up about a week or two ago and has been spreading like crazy. We keep getting promised that the best doctors in Midarin, the city over there, are working on it…but they're certainly not doing anything to help those who already have it. People die within two or four days of getting it, some even sooner."

Dennis gulped nervously at the last bit, hands clenching tightly to his pants at his knees, shaking. His friend put an arm over his shoulder apologetically. A sympathetic expression softened Toshiro's face as he saw this.

"Let me try something, but promise not to tell anyone." He spoke, stepping closer to Dennis.

"No!" Dennis backed away quickly.

"Whoa, hey, it's super contagious, you'll get it too." Dennis's friend stood and got between them at the boy's sudden panic, protecting him.

"I can't get sick." Toshiro sighed. "Now let me try something. If I can't fix it, then I'm sorry, but if I can, I may be able to do what the doctors are taking too long to find out."

"You sure?" Thursday questioned nervously.

Turning back to her, Toshiro nodded, giving her a look to tell her she should know why he would be fine. Her face lit up in understanding and she nodded.

"Well…leave him alone, he's been through enough. Try it on me." The blonde boy lifted up his shirt to reveal a dark patch of his own on his right side, blackened and bruised looking skin over his stomach. It definitely didn't look fun to have…

Toshiro reached a hand out but paused before actually doing anything.

"And you two promise not to tell?" Toshiro asked them, Thursday moving herself casually into a position where no one else could see her companion's hand.

"Yeah, sure." The blonde shrugged, Dennis behind him just nodding nervously.

Looking between them another moment more with a sharp gaze, making them nervous, Toshiro finally looked back to the bruised patch of diseased skin and held his hand just over it. Green light lit up on his palm and flowed lightly over the Stigma patch, surprising the boys. They watched the light as Toshiro concentrated, trying to see if he could get rid of this sickness. If he could, the island would have hope.

But their hopes were dashed as the skin seemed to darken further and the boy let out a sharp cry of pain, doubling over as Toshiro pulled his hand back in surprise.

"…it didn't work?"

Thursday didn't think but just caught the boy before he fell, helping him sit down and rubbing his back until the pain passed. Dennis was on his feet, looking concerned for his friend and angry at Toshiro.

"What kind of fruit power was that, you trying to poison him?" He spat.

"It was supposed to heal, but this thing may be worse than we thought." Thursday defended the Nobody. "My Papa is a doctor, he might be able to think of something if we have time, we won't leave this unfinished."

"Thursday, you shouldn't be touching him." Toshiro warned.

"But-" She attempted to argue.

"He's…right." The blonde boy panted. "I'm…I'm okay now, it's going away. Happens…all the time. It's…it's pretty nasty…"

"Kyle, you sure?" Dennis knelt by his friend.

"Yeah, just another attack…like usual…guess it didn't like trying to be healed…"

"I'm sorry…" Toshiro lowered his head, meaning his words. He had hoped to help at least a few people here. This Stigma…he hadn't been sure if Healing Kido would work, but for it to have the opposite effect…there was something wrong with this disease.

Thursday stood and backed away from the child, letting Dennis help his friend. They were both sick, they held no concerns, but both Thursday and Toshiro knew they were just waiting to die…

"C'mon, let's go get Papa, I bet he can do something." Thursday told her companion, turning to head back to the ship.

Toshiro cast one more glance at the two boys.

"We'll probably still be here." Kyle said in response to the look, the 'probably' not implying anything good.

Simply giving a nod, Toshiro followed Thursday this time as they headed back to the sub, hoping Law would be back from his trip soon.

The Nobody stalled behind a bit, the taller girl off in a hurry and not noticing her companion had fallen behind until she was out of his sight. He was increasingly uncomfortable here, seeing the people suffering, knowing he couldn't help them, and that…he didn't feel as bad as he thought he should. These souls were unfairly abandoned to this plague, but while sympathetic for them, he still felt he could leave and not feel all that bad, whereas Thursday was now invested in getting them help.

"I spent so much time trying NOT to feel, to be the strong Captain everyone wanted…" He muttered to himself, reaching up for the snowflake he'd made as a necklace to keep an eye on his control, the dark ice fortunately still holding a blue tone for now. "But now…now that I'm being forced to lose my emotions the longer I'm like this…I've never wanted to have those feelings back more than I do now…"

He couldn't even shed a tear at his situation anymore, not at the moment at least, what little memory of emotion he had focused on his worry for the people here. That's right, they needed help, and him moping about his existence wasn't going to solve it. Quickening his pace, Toshiro hurried to reach the ship again.

As it turned out, Law was already back. And he wasn't happy.

Happy Labor Day