Now that Toshiro had gotten food and was feeling more himself, he was interested in the new crew. They enjoyed telling stories more than the Heart Pirates, most of whom preferred talking about women they'd met with and their Captain silent about anything that didn't happen within the week. Compared to them, the Straw Hats were loose-lipped and childish.

And to Law's surprise, having observed the Nobody to be reserved as well and very closed off, Toshiro took to the group a lot faster than he had the Heart Pirates.

It was as if the strange being saw something familiar in all of them, and while still quiet and unwilling to participate in their weird activities, seemed more at ease. Law would stay mostly on his own ship, but since Dextra was still refusing to go back inside, he would return to the Sunny for a bit and sit with the eagle child, making sure she got her space from the rowdy Straw Hats when she needed it. When he wasn't there, he took notice to Toshiro hanging around her when he too wanted some peace.

Within only a day or two, Toshiro pretty much knew all the adventures of the Straw Hats. Usopp used a lot of over exaggeration in his re-telling of past events, which were usually fixed by someone else piping in, but it amused the Nobody. Not enough to get more than a tiny smirk out of him, but enough to encourage the sniper to keep it up. Chopper, like Bepo, took a liking to being within a certain sphere of Toshiro where he kept things a few degrees colder than the rest of the ship.

"So do you have talking animals in your world?" Dextra asked the Nobody curiously. "You don't seem to mind Bepo or Chopper at all."

"I had a fellow Captain who was a wolf." Toshiro answered with a shrug. He never went into a lot of detail about his home, but was less stingy about it than before, and Dextra – curious as always – took advantage of this new openness. "He can't change forms like you two can, he's more like Bepo."

"He sounds scary." Chopper frowned.

"Not really, Captain Komamura took care of his squad well and was very respectful. Compared to some of the other Captains I had the displeasure of working with he was quite friendly."

"Tch, last wolf I knew was a lying little shit." Sanji huffed, definitely not fond of the memory.

"How strong was he?" Zoro had a different question, ignoring the cook's fuming. "You guys all use swords, right?"

"Yes." Toshiro raised a single brow in question, wondering what the taller man was getting at. "If you're wondering who the strongest is, it depends. In terms of sheer raw power, that would be Kenpachi Zaraki. He has no communication with his zanpaktou, and while usually that's a requirement he was strong enough it didn't matter."

"How about you?"

Gaze going distant, the white-haired figure thought about it for a moment.

"Unfortunately I can't give an honest answer to that." He finally responded with a frown. "I'm the youngest, which is an achievement of itself, and I can hold my own against my fellow Captains…but I've also gained new powers since then. I've also had them reduced with my current state and the darkness messes with my control."

"Only one way to figure it out then." Zoro grinned as he finally got to the point he wanted to make.

Toshiro took another moment of thought as the Straw Hats all looked at him curiously for his answer. He supposed sparring with another swordsman wouldn't hurt, Law himself had never showed any interest in doing so, and the Sunny was better suited for it than the metal confines of the submarine. He worried about his lack of control with the darkness…but after the last island, he knew he couldn't keep being afraid of it.

"Alright." Jumping off from where he sat, he stood before the green-haired pirate. His zanpaktou formed willingly into his hand, the chain blade resting in his other hand. "I never got to see anyone's full potential since that Heartless pulled low tricks to weaken us all first."

"Z-Zoro, are you sure about this, he could drown us." Usopp whispered far too loudly to his crew mate, looking concerned.

"I'm not going to sink the ship if that's what you're worried about." Toshiro huffed, not as amused this time around as the sniper jumped back in surprise. "I just recovered my Spirit Energy, I won't use it up in a spar and risk losing control now."

"I just want to see how good your swordsmanship is." Zoro smirked. "None of that magic stuff."

"Fair enough."

Toshiro was surprised as Zoro drew all three swords, having expected the other to try and 'keep it even' by just using one. Finally, someone who didn't underestimate him, he took his stance preparing to offer the same courtesy to his opponent. The other Straw Hats watched in curiosity as they leapt at each other. Zoro's blades were known to shatter other swords, but Toshiro's single blade held up to the force of all three, almost shimmering in defiance. Neither warrior wielded normal blades. The one attack alone said a lot about each of them to the other, and they held gazes for a moment, mutual respect passing between them. They pushed away from each other. Zoro's swords turned black, something Toshiro hadn't seen before, and in response he let off a slight gray glow, his Keyblade appearing in his other hand as the chain wrapped around his arm to stay out of the way.

"Hm, I do hope they don't accidently cut each other apart." Robin mused aloud, her morbid sentence sounding odd in such a casual tone and a slight smile on her face.

"Nah, Zoro's having fun." Luffy laughed as he watched. The sounds of metal clanging echoed through the air from the sparring, and while the air was much colder, Toshiro kept to his word and created no ice, his Spiritual Pressure simply raised because he wasn't sure what the black color added to the swords meant and was making sure to protect himself. It didn't seem to do much other than greatly strengthen the power behind the swords, making them almost unbreakable, and he was glad both zanpaktous and Keyblades held a power that kept them protected in a similar manner.

Figuring the black was just an extra layer of strength, Toshiro switched back to the offensive, using Flash Step for speed and his smaller stature to try and get underneath the other man's guard. Not one to disappoint, Zoro kept pace and made it clear why three swords worked for him. The pirate was impressed with his opponent as well; for all the talk of being unstable and looking like a child, it was clear why a dragon like Hyorinmaru was the boy's other half, a surprising power in his strikes and light on his feet. He definitely wanted to fight Toshiro at full strength, but wasn't going to let the Sunny get hurt, so he'd settle for a good spar.

The pair paused for a moment and locked gazes again, both smirking.

"Why do they act like they've known each other for years?" Chopper couldn't quite figure out why the two looked so satisfied as they returned to attacking.

"You can learn a lot about someone with the way they fight, and there's much more conversation in a sword fight." Law answered, being a swordsman himself. He still preferred interrogations, willing or not, but a good fight had its own way of revealing a lot. He'd used it before when Toshiro first arrived in his spar against Heinrich, obviously holding back and clearly hiding something, which prompted Law to dig further, eventually getting to where they were now; sailing with the Nobody of a Soul Reaper.

Dextra sat quietly next to her Papa as she watched the spar. She was curious if she could spar with her new friend too, he was so fast, and holding up against heavy hits like Zoro's was no easy feat. She wondered how long he'd been training. They all knew at this point he was much older than any of them, even undead Brook, since he'd pointed it out after getting tired of being called a child.

Eventually the boys called it quits, barely breaking a sweat for either of them. Toshiro was glad he'd managed to keep control even using his Spirit Energy to counter whatever Zoro was using, meaning he was getting better. A good sign for battles to come.

"I think once I become the strongest swordsman here, I'll come take a crack at you Soul Reapers." Zoro complimented in the only way he knew how. "If you're not the strongest, I've got a ways to go."

"Fighting a Soul Reaper is like fighting two spirits at once, it wouldn't be easy, and most know a fair bit of Kido and hand-to-hand as well. Considering the kinds of powers here, though, you might be among the rare humans who could stand your ground to one of us." Toshiro responded with a small bow of his head, letting his weapons disappear as Zoro's returned to their normal color and were sheathed, the green-haired man grinning at the confident praise. "What did you do to your swords, by the way? Turning them black?"

"What, Armament Haki?" Forgetting for a moment that Toshiro did not live on this world, Zoro seemed confused that he didn't know about it.

"Another kind of Haki?"

"There's three kinds, kind of like how there's three kinds of Kido." Law spoke up this time, feeling he would be able to explain it better for the Nobody in ways he understood. "Not necessarily the same differences though. The one we told you about was Observation Haki, useful for sensing and hearing others. What he just used is an armor over the body."

"It's super helpful against Logia types who are otherwise immune to physical attacks." Sanji added on. "Weapons, limbs, anything can have armament Haki put on it for a fight. Gives my kicks a little more bite."

"Interesting…" Toshiro mused, looking very thoughtful about something. "What about the third?"

"Oh, I have that one, it's Conqueror's Haki!" Luffy raised his hand as he answered like a child in class, big grin on his face.

"You say you have it like that's uncommon." The Nobody pointed out.

"It is." Jimbei spoke up. "A very, very chosen few can use that Haki. Of all of us here only Luffy has it."

"Could you show it to me?" Toshiro questioned, wanting to know more, following a hunch he had.

"Eh? Why?" The young Captain tilted his head curiously.

"Even if it's rare I'd like to know what it is in case I come across it again. Coming across the Armament Haki in this spar was lucky, had it been in battle the results might have been worse."

"You have a point but it's not super fun to be around." Usopp attempted to argue. This comment only seemed to make Toshiro even more interested as the other gave a slight tilt of his head.

"Yeah, and I don't really want to." Luffy grumbled, scratching at his nose impatiently. Teal eyes narrowed at him.

"Think of it like a shock to the mind, almost like the world pushes down on you." Jimbei offered what information he could, knowing it wasn't as helpful as the real thing but was all that could be offered.

Hand to his chin, Toshiro went into a deep thought with the information he was given.

"Is it something…like this?" After he spoke, his form let off a brief glow, and with it a sudden cold, heavy weight in the air. Everyone tensed up and looked surprised. Law recovered the quickest as he realized he'd felt it before, just never this apparent. It had been a lingering affect in the air in their fight with the plague Heartless, but he had thought it was just the weather. Zoro and Sanji recognized it as well.

"Whoa, you have it too!?" Chopper however looked star struck.

"No." The response confused the reindeer. "That is something all Soul Reapers can do. Spiritual Pressure. It's when we start to let out more of our power and Spirit Energy."

"But it feels so similar." Brook put a finger to his chin in thought.

"I'm starting to think Haki is more like your world's version of using Spirit Energy." Toshiro finally explained his train of thought. "Depending on how we train it, a Soul Reaper can use abilities very much like each of your Haki abilities. Humans capable of using their Spiritual Power isn't uncommon, though hard to obtain, so I wouldn't be surprised if in a world like this, with all the power available to the living, you evolved the same kinds of skills."

"Huh, neat." Zoro wasn't quite sure he followed, but he basically understood it as they all had skills on par with Reapers, and that was an appealing idea to him.

"Is that why you can hide from Observation Haki?" Dextra asked in interest. "You managed to hide from me on the ship."

"Hide from it?" Robin was curious now as well.

"Sensing the Spirit Energy of others is common among Soul Reapers, as well as the creatures we fight, so a version of that skill is to hide your own Spirit Energy so as not to be sensed." The Nobody clarified. "I was… having trouble with the darkness and didn't want to be found, so I used that skill to keep away until I had control again."

"Being able to hide from Observation Haki sounds pretty handy." Sanji mused aloud.

"But if Haki is like your techniques, then that would mean anyone who trains enough could use all three." Robin pointed out. Toshiro tilted his head in curiosity again, wondering what she was getting at. Is that not how it worked? "Conqueror's Haki isn't rare because of people's strength, it's rare because only a few chosen individuals can use it. The Marine Admirals are extremely strong, but not a single one can use this particular Haki."

"Interesting…" Toshiro took another moment to think. A technique not attainable through strict training? Perhaps there was some difference to it from using one's Spirit Energy in a burst. In any case, he at least knew he could withstand the Haki unless the other was much stronger, which was doubtful. He could withstand being near Kenpachi's suffocating Spiritual Pressure, even Aizen's when it got to an insane amount, so at most someone here with this Conqueror's Haki would only be able to stun him briefly just as they could.

"I believe the explanation most people have to this picky nature of the Haki is that those who obtain the power bear the status of kings. So far this seems to hold true, considering the people we've met who can use it." Jimbei added in his word, since he and Robin kept up better with knowledge and information and felt more confident explaining things to their guest.

"Royal blood?"

"Ha! Luffy's not royal though." Sanji snorted.

"I will be once I'm Pirate King!" Luffy didn't look dissuaded in the slightest at his cook's comment, on his feet with a proud stance.

Getting used to how silly these people were, Toshiro ignored the interaction to continue thinking. A special power only those with high status could obtain. Curious indeed. If he had the time he would look into it more, wondering how this vast world developed abilities not far off from his own kind, but for now he was content with it being close to Spiritual Pressure and hoped he could avoid too much trouble with it. For now it was better to concern himself with Observation and Armament Haki, as those were more common. Zoro definitely seemed like a willing sparring partner, and he'd gladly have a go with any others who wanted to so he could be better prepared for any fights to come. He could prepare them as well. They could fight on par against strong Heartless, but they weren't pirates or Marines as these guys were probably used to fighting; he wanted to make sure these new allies knew what to do against these other worldy threats when things became tough. Specifically, to prepare them against magic, as unlike Devil Fruits they had no universal weakness. Each magic type had a different weakness, and while all could be exploited, the smarter enemies knew how to make up for that vulnerability, and that's when things got tricky.

Straw Hats and Heart Pirates both agreed with this train of thought when he explained it to them, happy to help him learn more about the world since he in exchange told them about their new enemies.

When the more serious talk of training and learning tactics was just about done, Chopper cut in with a more childish, innocent question of pure curiosity.

"So what are the other worlds like? Huh, huh!?" The reindeer child's eyes were huge with curious wonder, mind open to any possibilities.

"The other worlds? Well, for starters they're not really supposed to know about each other." Toshiro responded. He was pretty sure they could care less what the rules are, considering their profession, but he felt he should at least point it out. "It can be dangerous."

"I bet they're all super cool places to explore!" As expected, Luffy only seemed encouraged by the warning, eagerly listening, as childish as his youngest member.

"Probably scary too." Brook wobbled where he stood with a concerned tone. For someone already dead, he sure worried about everything.

"And full of lovely ladies?" Sanji looked hopeful.

"I have met several princesses." Toshiro responded to the last comment.

"What? Not fair!"

"We have too, though." Nami pointed out in a dull tone to the chef. "Vivi, Shirahoshi, Rebecca, Viola…" She stopped her list as the blonde looked remorseful and went on a spiel of how terrible he felt leaving them all behind. "Good grief…"

"Most of the princesses were taken anyway, and the only one who wasn't is only fifteen." Toshiro added on with an odd look at Sanji. He was no stranger to a man gripped by hormones, Soul Reapers weren't immune to them, and with a Lieutenant like he had it was almost common to watch her back off lonely men. He, however, found the behavior annoying and tended to avoid it, especially since he usually had plenty of work to do and saw no point to pining after women when he still had such a high goal to reach. It helped that most women saw him as too young, and while he hated being called a child, he did like not having to worry about relationships. No one bothered him for one, and he bothered no one else, so one less thing to worry about. "And the queen I met was a mouse…"

"A mouse?" Several pirates asked in confusion.

"Yeah…the whole world was animals, and the king and queen were mice."

"…. Weird."

Toshiro chose not to mention that two of his companions on his journey across worlds were from this place, a duck and a dog.

"The human princesses were pretty at least?" Sanji questioned hopefully once more.

"…I guess?"

"What do you mean I guess!?"

"I was a little too busy trying to find a way home to go around rating women!"

"Give it a rest, Sanji." Nami sighed.

"Yeah, I wanna hear about other stuff." Luffy cut in with an excited grin.

Seeing as he wasn't getting out of this one, Toshiro let out a sigh. Talking about some of the places he went to really pointed out just how weird an adventure he'd been on. They were fascinated by the places where he had to change forms – forms like a werewolf, merman and even a lion cub – as well as making remarks to their own adventures if they heard something similar. Olympus was another big interest, and while Toshiro left out the more dangerous part of when Ichigo had lost control of his Hollow and nearly destroyed a chunk of the Underworld, his fights with the God of the Dead and his monsters had some of the men hyped, listening to it like children to an old legend. He even told a bit more about his home and some of the people he'd fought alongside.

Robin offered little to the conversation, but that didn't mean she wasn't heavily involved, filing away every little thing and watching their interactions. A soft smile stayed on her face as stories passed along from her friends and their guest, the latter seeming to lose some of the tension in his shoulders and his cold eyes looking less bitter. His dragon was hidden away, sleeping, in his master's shadow, but even having not known him for long she could tell his presence soothed Toshiro somewhat. If he looked uncomfortable, her watchful gaze took notice of a wispy tail moving out of the shadow to pat his master's leg and the discomfort would ease a bit.

Taking a quiet sip of her tea, the archeologist continued to smile to herself. New friends were always nice, and this one definitely needed their help.