Law was left to explain Toshiro and the Heartless to the Straw Hats inside, while Toshiro himself hurried through the halls and back outside the ship. He took no notice of the new figures standing there with some of the Heart Pirates, just Flash Stepped away in search of the source to their problems.

"Whoa, he disappeared!" A young man shouted in alarm, straw hat resting upon his head. "Who was that!?"

"Oh, he's kind of a tag-a-long. Hitsugaya Toshiro, the Captain is trying to help him with something." Shachi explained. "Not sure why he was in such a hurry though."

"Is everything alright inside?" A blonde man in a suit asked.

"Hope so… guess we'll ask Toshiro what's up when he gets back."

"So your Captain adopted another one, huh?" A green-haired swordsman looked off in the direction Toshiro had disappeared with a suspicious look.

"Not... really. Toshiro's not exactly a normal kid. Not really a kid at all, to be honest, it's… hard to explain.

"I'm gonna go see what he's up to!" The straw hat wearer announced loudly, darting off in the general direction the Nobody may have gone.

"Huh-Luffy!" The two other men shouted.

"Damn he's quick like always." The orange-haired woman from before sighed. "Should we let him off on his own?"

"As long as he doesn't touch anyone who's sick he's probably fine." Penguin responded.

There was a moment as the Straw Hats thought to themselves.

"Yeah, we're going." The blonde sighed, as both he and the swordsman made their own pace to follow their Captain.

"Thank you, Sanji, Zoro." The woman winked at them as she waved them off.

"Anything for you, Nami-swan~!" Sanji crooned while Zoro just rolled his good eye and stomped onwards.

Toshiro caught onto his followers, looking back briefly to see who they were. One of the three trailing behind him was another Devil Fruit eater, the other two just very strong. He still had not gotten the chance to properly greet these allies, the Straw Hats they were called if he remembered right, but there would be time for that later. He kept tabs on them for now, in case they stumbled upon the Heartless in hiding, and continued the search for himself. If they found him, he'd have to keep the meeting short to focus on his task. A full day had already gone by at this point, Thursday, Heinrich and Puffin may not have much time left. Turning into a Heartless was definitely not a good outcome.

He'd just moved to a new spot with Flash Step when a yell caught his attention. Confused, he turned back in time to see the Devil Fruit eater somehow launching straight at him. Though baffled, Toshiro had the sense to jump out of the way before the young man landed, letting him hit the building behind him instead.

"…oops." He muttered, remembering most humans didn't do well being slammed into a building.

This one seemed among the exceptions though as with a cheerful yell he jumped out of the dust and rubble.

"Hey, finally caught up to you!" He grinned widely at Toshiro, almost… too wide. It unnerved the Nobody a slight bit. "Man you're fast, can you teleport or something? Cause I've seen lots of people move fast but you were like gone!" He laughed.

"That was Flash Step…" Toshiro answered slowly, not sure what to make of this cheerful person. "How did you… get to me so quick?"

"Eh? Oh, I just rocketed over. Made myself into a slingshot, ya know?" Hands on his hips, Luffy looked proud of his idea. "My landing still sucks though, shishishi."

Toshiro just stared at him for a moment.

"You… sling-shotted… over here?"

"Yeah. Oh! That's right, we've never met!" Luffy now realized why the odd stranger seemed so confused by him. "I'm Monkey D. Luffy, and I'm a rubber man!" He reached up and pulled on his cheek, stretching it out much farther than would normally be possible. This also explained to Toshiro why he was fine after smashing into solid concrete at high speed.

"The Straw Hat Captain."

"Yup, that's me! So you Torao's friend?"

"Torao?" Toshiro's head tilted in confusion.

"Yeah, him." Luffy didn't seem to take notice that the other didn't know who he was talking about. Seeing as he was no help, Toshiro took a moment to think and could only assume Luffy meant Law. What an odd way to shorten Trafalgar.

"I'm with them more on business terms than as friends. I came here by accident, Trafalgar happened to be in the same place. His power may be able to help me with a problem of mine, but right now I'm kind of focused on a different problem so did you need something?"

"Yeah, what are you doing?"

"Hunting."

"Ooh, can I join?" Luffy practically had stars in his eyes, he looked excited for a chase. "Is the thing tasty?"

"You do not want to eat it." At this point Toshiro could only sigh. "It's a monster, not a meal, killing it will hopefully help end the Stigma spreading around this island."

"Really? Sounds great, what kind of monster is it?" Still the straw hat wearer looked unperturbed and willing to help. Toshiro wasn't sure if being rubber was going to be of any use in a fight against a Heartless, especially if it spread by touch and Luffy obviously depended on some kind of melee since he carried no visible weapon.

"I haven't found it yet." He answered instead, hoping to get the young man to be disinterested.

"Well, I'll help look then! Any big scary monster right?" Luffy didn't even wait for an answer, just took off with his idea in mind, eager to assist.

"…No wonder Trafalgar isn't a fan of being friends with him." Toshiro huffed as he watched the rubber man take off. He was surprised someone as serious and strict as Law had made any kind of friends with such a hyper person in the first place. Though… he supposed it wasn't so far off from his own friendship with Sora. Maybe that's how it was, in which case perhaps he wouldn't mind this new Captain after a while. He definitely didn't like him yet, though, not to mention it was a bad time anyway for getting to know each other. It had taken Sora months to open his mind up to the idea that he didn't have to be alone.

He shook the thoughts from his mind and continued his search, jumping to the rooftops again with ease for a better vantage point. The Heartless had to be making itself known somewhere, if its victims were becoming Heartless instead of becoming deceased, but he couldn't find any dark Spirit Energy that would lead him to the main body. Dennis must have been a warning… gritting his teeth, the Nobody kept up his search even as the Straw Hats gave up and got tired of roaming all over the town for him. They returned to the ship, dragging Luffy with them once they found him and distracting him with food so he wouldn't go running off and getting himself sick. It was getting dark as night two passed by for them, night one for the Straw Hats. Thursday and Heinrich were getting worse and nervous, as tomorrow was the starting point for potential loss. Once again, Toshiro stayed out through the night, just as determined in his search as the doctors were in finding a cure.

To pass time, the Heart Pirate crew answered some questions for the Straw Hats who had come to hang out, the Thousand Sunny now docked next to their ally ship so the rest of the group could join in outside the two ships.

"What do you mean he's dead?" Usopp, a long nosed man with outrageous curly hair didn't look convinced as they gave a name to Toshiro's existence, a Soul Reaper.

"I am curious to meet a Soul Reaper, oh, though I hope he doesn't try to take my soul." A stylish skeleton with a large afro, Brook, looked a little worried about him now. They hadn't seen the small figure like the others had, and they weren't sure they believed Luffy's description of a small boy with white and black hair dressed all in black. "He sounds quite scary."

"Eh, I mean, he has a bit of a temper, but I don't think he'd hurt anyone here intentionally." Penguin assured them. "I mean he almost killed Shachi but- "

"He did!?" The two men looked shocked.

"Well, I mean, he didn't, and he apologized later." Shachi scratched his head. "It's all good, there's just some topics he really, REALLY doesn't like to talk about. Some spooky Soul Reaper past stuff."

"So what did you mean by he wouldn't intentionally hurt us?" Nami questioned as she sipped some tea, a bit concerned for her friends if the boy was somehow dangerous.

"He's got a bit of a condition, see, where he's kind of… split in two, I think was a good way to describe it." Penguin started. "So at times he can kind of… snap."

"It's not fun, for sure, but he tries his best to control it." Shachi added. "And even though he said he's a Captain back wherever he's from, he's pretty good about doing what Captain says, like he understands it's not his squad or whatever he runs, which I think Captain appreciates. He scared the shit out of me that time but overall he's not half bad, and super strong."

"Oh yeah, his magic!" Penguin grinned mischievously.

"Magic?" The Straw Hats all asked, doubtful, though Luffy looked more excited in the story than he previously did.

"He controls the damn oceans, man, turns it into ice, makes a snowstorm, anything like that! He's like a little Aokiji but he's not a Devil Fruit user, so no ocean weakness."

"Whoa, no way!"

"Where's he from?"

"How'd you find him?"

Feeling pretty boastful that they had the cool new kid with their crew to gossip about, the engineers were about to continue with what they knew when the very subject of their conversation finally returned, well into the hours of midnight. No one could sleep comfortably at the moment with their own in such danger.

"He's so small." Brook spoke without thinking as he finally saw the infamous Soul Reaper.

Never one to take kindly to being called short, Toshiro shot the skeleton a harsh, icy glare. Brook froze up in surprise, whereas Toshiro's cold look turned to confusion. A moving… skeleton? It was a very strong soul, he could sense that much… and he'd met a skeleton before, but it was still an odd sight. This obviously wasn't the master of Halloween, to which being a walking figure of bones made sense, but a pirate instead. The aura of a Devil Fruit could be sensed as well, he could only surmise that was what let the soul keep the body moving long after decay had finished its work.

"What were you off so late for?" Penguin asked, curious, as he and a few others didn't know what the Nobody was off doing.

"The cause of the Stigma is a Heartless." Toshiro answered curtly.

Having been in the middle of a bite, Shachi spat out his bite off to the side, where thankfully no one was occupying, before joining his companion with a shocked look. Their allies, however, all tilted their heads, confused.

"What's a Heartless?" Zoro was the first to speak up for his companions.

"People who lost to the darkness and have fallen to shadow." The Nobody answered easily. These were allies, they could be allowed in on the secrets, especially since they were now in the middle of it. "They're only instinct is to consume the hearts of others trying to heal their own. Because they're part of the darkness, normal weapons can't really hurt them… I'll find it soon, I just had a thought and need to speak with Trafalgar."

Mind back on his task, Toshiro hurried inside before they could ask any more questions.

"So… people turned into monsters?" Sanji could only hope the Heart Pirates had more to give them since the strange child was clearly distracted.

"From what we can tell, yeah, he's been on this big quest fighting them when he ran into some trouble that turned him into what he is and he came here by accident." Penguin clarified, though looking a bit spooked by what held been told. "We've… seen a Heartless before. A really big one. It took all the people on an entire island."

"What?! A whole island?" Usopp put his hands to his head in an expression of shock, followed by some of his crewmates.

"Definitely sounds like bad news." Zoro growled out, looking towards the dull grey town with a piercing glare as if daring this abomination to show itself.

"Toshiro managed to beat it, but that particular one used fire, so he had some trouble. It was crazy to watch though."

"It was liking watching a ten-year-old take down a mountain." Shachi added to his friend's words. "It was spewing fire and lava everywhere and had these creepy yellow eyes…"

"Wow, your friend definitely sounds strong!" Luffy exclaimed through a mouthful of food. He swallowed quickly and turned back to his companions. "He should join us!"

"I don't think that's a good idea, Luffy." A new voice joined them. Jimbei, the blue whale shark fishman, now added to their numbers as he returned from the sea. He had said he wanted to scout for trouble since they were moving to a shadier part of the island, especially after hearing Dextra talk about the sickness going around.

"Aw, why not?"

"I only just heard the last bit, but this child seems to have his own goals, and far beyond what we can do for him, I doubt he would linger here for long." Jimbei reasoned with the young man, sitting down at the table now too.

"Besides, having a Soul Reaper around sounds like super bad luck, I sure as heck don't want death hanging around my shoulders when a fight is going on." Usopp hissed dramatically, imagining frightening scenarios of little Toshiro hovering over him in a fight with scythe in hand.

"Plus if he gets his dragon back I don't think he'd fit on the Sunny." Shachi added nonchalantly.

"Dragon?!"

Inside, away from the commotion, Toshiro entered the infirmary once more to the doctors still hard at work, not seeming to take notice of him coming in. Dextra had returned after noticing the commotion of earlier and being worried, standing near Robin for comfort with the woman's hand on her head as she kept an eye on everything. Heinrich and Thursday looked understandably stressed.

"Nothing?" Thursday asked with a weak voice.

"It's still hiding…" Toshiro responded, looking ashamed. "I need something to draw it out."

"If you're thinking of dragging it out with the cure we may have what you need." Law entered the conversation, to their slight surprise. Chopper was hopping from foot to foot in excitement.

"It's done?" Robin asked, a smile coming to her face.

Chopper nodded excitedly while Law stood and let out a relieved sigh. That was part of the problem solved, now to find the monster responsible and make it pay.

"Get some more working and take care of Heinrich and Thursday." The surgeon spoke to the little reindeer-human. "Hitsugaya, I'm going with you. I have a score to settle." He pocketed a portion of the cure they'd made.

The Nobody didn't offer up any argument, nodding instead and heading back out of the ship. He understood Law's need to fight, and now had proof his ability was the best offense against Heartless. Tired as the human was, Toshiro wasn't going to tell him no. Chopper wasted no time making a larger batch of the cure, first to use on their own crews to save the ones infected and protect those not, and then hopefully give the rest for the town. This little doctor left no one sick if he had any say in it, he could only hope Nami would be lenient and let him pay the man back for his supplies.

The night still dark as it was barely past midnight, only the lights on the ships and the pale cheap lamps in the streets granted any sight as the pair stepped outside.

"Hey I wanna see your dragon!" Toshiro had to come to a halt as Luffy jumped right in front of him.

"My-what? Dragon?" The Nobody blinked, confused. Understanding he must have been told about Hyorinmaru, the shorter figure sighed. "He's not here, that's part of my problem, but there's a much bigger one right now so if you could move please."

"It's best you stay out of this one Straw Hat." Law spoke up.

"What? Why?" Luffy gave a stubborn pout and folded his arms, not ready to sit out of any fight.

"It's not any of your concern, that's why, and you don't need to get you and your crew sick." The surgeon argued firmly.

"I couldn't get sick if I tried." The other Captain grinned challengingly.

"This isn't a normal sickness, it spreads quickly by touch, and is extremely painful from what we've seen." Toshiro offered, but clearly to little avail as Luffy shrugged and stood firm.

"Come on, the more the merrier, especially hunting in a big town like this." Zoro brought in his argument as he stood up by his Captain. It was now, during this forced stand-off between the crews, Toshiro noticed he had three swords. How odd, he'd never seen anyone carry more than two. Spares, perhaps? They all had a…he couldn't place it for certain, as each was different, but they weren't normal blades for sure. Well, if the conversation went the way it was going he might get to find out. "Do you even know what you're looking for?"

"If you want to help search, the basics to look for are yellow eyes and either a completely shadowed body or a crossed out heart symbol on its body somewhere. Heartless can take all sorts of forms, but those are defining characteristics."

"What happened to not fighting one?" Sanji questioned suspiciously. This was a new person in their ranks, after all, trust had not been earned.

"I would recommend not doing so, as they are shadows; normal attacks wouldn't really do much. Trafalgar's powers, however, have a distinct advantage against them just because of how they exist."

"Oh, so maybe any Devil Fruits are useful?" Brook put his hand up as he spoke his idea.

"Possibly, if it's ability can keep you from getting touched by one." Toshiro answered with a shrug. "Don't count yourself immune though, a heart is still a heart, they will take it."

"But I don't have one! Yohohoho!"

"…you may have a point, actually, you don't exactly have anything for the stigma to spread on…Heartless wise though you could still be at risk, and I don't think you want to test that theory."

The skeleton gave a shudder; he would most preferably NOT like to be eaten by these monsters. However, he still wanted to offer assistance where he could.

"Young man, while we appreciate the thought to keep us away from harm, I do think it would help to have more along with you." Jimbei put in his word, having noticed now that the boy was reasonable and took to logic. Perhaps he could help his new crew on that end to get on better footing with the Soul Reaper. "You say these Heartless aren't hurt by normal means, but most here are far more than normal, they may surprise you."

"Seeing what I've seen so far I don't doubt power, what I'm concerned with is the Heartless' ability to adapt very quickly to whatever world they plague. Every place I've been to they specialize themselves to better use their environment and then destroy it. There's a lot of unknown factors here since they have only just begun to spread… so I won't stop you all from going, but I AM going to make sure you know ALL the risks involved."

"Unfortunately there's really not the time for a sit down explanation, so while I'm sure you still all have questions for him we need to find this thing before it gets worse." Law interrupted any further discussion, a scowl on his face. He would let them help, that was faster than telling them not to, but the timer was ticking and he didn't much like standing around watching it go. He took the vial of the new cure from his pocket. "This should draw it out now that we can stop its damn plague, so just keep an eye out for where."

"Man, hunting something new, this is exciting." Zoro stretched his neck with a pop, a grin on his face, reminding Toshiro vaguely of his fellow Captain Kenpachi. If they had similar crazy raw power, and with swords that had more to them than they looked, perhaps he would be useful after all.

"Don't get lost, moss head." Sanji jeered.

"I hope you get eaten." The other growled back. He paused as he noticed Toshiro giving him an odd look. "What?"

"Nothing…you remind me of someone I know back home. He got lost all the time too."

"I don't get lost!"

"He said the same thing…"

Seething, Zoro stomped off as Luffy and Sanji gave a loud laugh.

Shaking his head, Law hurried off as well, not wanting to waste any more time, Toshiro quick to follow. Seeing as it was go time, Luffy and Sanji picked a direction and went, Brook wanting to help since he had clear advantages and rushing off after one of them. The rest stayed back with the ship.

"He didn't seem too bad." Nami mused aloud to Usopp, Jimbei and Franky.

"Looks young, acts old, he's a bizarre little guy." Franky disagreed.

"His eyes express a deep pain; I doubt there's any child left behind in him." Jimbei said sadly, the other two looking at him curiously. "Shachi, Penguin, you did tell us he had a troubled past, one he almost attacked you for when mentioned?" The two engineers nodded. "Whatever this past is…he may have never gotten the chance to just be a child. If Trafalgar can truly fix him, maybe that will bring it back, but for now we best tread carefully. A troubled mind is a dangerous one."

Was almost late with this one, campus is under a ton of construction so getting to classes and the classes themselves have been hell, only just now gotten a break.