Toshiro stepped out onto the deck to see the Straw Hats back to their usual – that he could recognize – chatter and chaos. Bepo, Penguin, Shachi and the children were on the Sunny as well, their Captain nowhere to be seen. The Nobody himself paused for a moment to appreciate the new clothes he had before going to meet them. Jimbei and Robin had apparently been kind enough to make him something after the events of the stigma plagued island destroyed the sleeves of his other one. The Fishman seemed to recognize someone of familiar taste, helping Robin with a dark blue kimono with a white edge and a black waist band. He kept the black pants and boots, donning a similar style as Zoro, though he refused to leave his as open. It wasn't quite the same as his Soul Reaper uniform, but it was a lot more familiar and therefore comforting.

"Yo, Snowy!" Luffy waved to the Reaper upon noticing him.

"Will you quit calling me that?" Toshiro grumbled.

"I wanna challenge Maru!" The Captain responded, not giving any indication he would stop.

"You-what?" Forgetting the nickname for now, the Nobody gave Luffy a bewildered expression.

Luffy proudly held up a fishing pole with bait on it.

"I'm gonna catch a fish bigger than him!"

Toshiro just looked at him with a deadpan expression, processing the situation. He could only assume the rubber man was referring to the giant size Hyorinmaru had gotten to just that morning to smash the Heartless Ships. The dragon they spoke of returned to his master's shoulders, curious as well about the challenge.

"But Luffy, I wanted to race him first!" Dextra darted over with a determined huff.

"No way, we never finished fishing!"

"I challenged him to a race first!"

"Good to know I'm only here as your host." Toshiro muttered to himself as the pair argued, Hyorinmaru giving an amused snort in response.

He headed down to the deck with them, keeping to himself and letting Hyorinmaru pick which to do first. While the dragon had their attention, Nami scooted over and sat next to the small figure.

"Hey, can I pick your brain for a second?" She asked. Once she had his attention by way of a curious tilt of his head, she continued. "It's about all the stuff that happened in the mountain. Any clue who that girl was working for? Because she was definitely after you."

"I noticed that too… there's only two possibilities, neither of them good. One is she's with Maleficent, the other is Xehanort."

"Xehanort?"

"I mentioned him to you as Xemnas, who is his Nobody."

"Oh… the one who made you a Nobody too. But I thought you said he was defeated." Nami looked a bit concerned about the contrary.

"Xemnas was… but I'm beginning to think that might not be the end of Xehanort himself. After those memories I got in the cave… I believe there might be a trick Xehanort is hiding. His Heartless, Ansem, was also super powerful, and I can't be as certain that half of him is gone, or that even if he is that Xehanort is completely gone."

"You've got some really tricky bad guys after you, don't you?" She tried to make a joke out of it, but her eyes could not hide her concern.

"Yes… and for reasons beyond my control." He let out a heavy sigh. "I never wanted to be a guardian… I just wanted to survive."

Their conversation paused as Hyorinmaru rose up from the water in his larger state, having jumped in earlier. His head was nearly as big as the Sunny herself, the rest of his body concealed in the ocean. There was no threat this time, however, as the Heartless was just showing off, head high as some of the boys and children praised his impressive form.

"Luffy, if you're going to catch a fish bigger than him, you'd have to catch a Sea King." Usopp pointed out to his Captain.

"Then I'll catch one!" Luffy looked more determined than ever.

"We don't have anything to catch one with!" Usopp wheezed in despair. "They'd tear us apart!"

"If he can catch one, I shall kill it." Hyorinmaru hummed, Chopper translating for them so Toshiro could hang back and stay out of it.

"No way, it's my catch!" Luffy argued back, wanting to do all the work. "Go get your own!"

Snorting at the challenge, the black dragon turned from the ship and dove back under the waves. They watched the arch of his back until even his tail vanished under the waves before Usopp turned back to his friend.

"Luffy, you maniac, he'd bring back three before you could even hook one!"

"Bet!" The rubber man grumbled stubbornly, casting out his line and sitting down to wait impatiently for the unlikely bite.

"Oh boy…" Toshiro sighed again, this time in exasperation. He couldn't speak to Hyorinmaru this far away, even telepathically, so he could only hope his dragon wouldn't cause any trouble.

"At the least we'd eat well." Sanji commented from the side. "A Sea King would be hard to fit in the tank though…"

"He'd likely eat half of it first." The Nobody grumbled. "Maybe… he's never had to eat anything before."

"Well, what's your usual appetite?"

"The only reason Soul Reapers have to eat is to help restore their Spirit Energy, so I need decent meals, but I prefer lighter ones with the occasional snack."

"Well there's half your height problem, dead guy, with a spirit like him you should be eating way more." The blonde teased, earning an icy glare.

"Heavy meals slow you down." The Nobody argued.

"Tell him that." Nami pointed to her Captain with a snicker.

"He's… I don't know what's wrong with him."

"Neither do we." The two Straw Hats spoke with smirks.

Luffy shouted in excitement, reeling in rapidly and catching their attention. When he pulled up nothing but a chunk of black ice, everyone but him laughed, Luffy himself griping at Toshiro that his dragon was cheating. The Nobody just laughed as well, a refreshing feeling, and the others looked ecstatic. Nami and Robin shared a smile with each other, remembering their conversation before that revealed how trapped their guest was, happy he could get away from that momentarily.

There was one who was not so happy with the unfolding events. Maleficent removed the visual magic from her staff's orb with a scowl; he wasn't supposed to be smiling and laughing like that. He wasn't supposed to be making friends. It was Sora all over again; no matter what she tried these pirates didn't budge. The Heartless ships had been a complete failure. Her aim had been to have them demolish the Marines and tell her little angel that Toshiro had been the cause, but she had never expected such an intense power protecting that fleet. This Admiral had obliterated several ships without ever moving from his spot. He was dangerous.

Not to mention she hadn't expected Toshiro to try and be the diplomatic one, nor had she thought the Marines would listen. Somehow both had happened, and not only did her fleet get completely slaughtered, the two forces had come to some kind of agreement. The cure that the annoying surgeon had made was passed on, meaning that soon her Heartless would be annihilated on every front. She was no longer an unknown.

The only success was making her new minion believe it was some elaborate plan devised by Toshiro to gain their trust and use them. The Angel user was still willing to believe that Toshiro was the one who needed to be stopped.

This was only a good thing because Tebliel's ability was very strong against the darkness. As an angel, she could reverse anything negative, and Maleficent wanted to use this hypnotic ability to bring Toshiro under her control, and by extension Hyorinmaru. An abused and neglected soul like Toshiro would be easily swayed by the comfort and light of an angel's touch, Reaper or not. Setting up the scene for such an event was proving quite difficult, however, as this world had its own twists throwing wrenches into her plans, especially now that her nightmares no longer worked on him. Something was blocking her spells.

There was also Lacia. After having her angel observe the Chaos user it was clear that Xehanort was pulling strings from somewhere again. Xemnas may have been defeated, but the man was still somewhere, waiting, plotting. Unlike Toshiro, she had the knowledge of what normally happened when Heartless and Nobody were both destroyed.

The original came back.

Xehanort himself was by no means gone, and he was stretching his reach even further to get a hold on the elusive Heavenly Guardian. Maleficent was thankful to the man for revealing other worlds to her, but after realizing it was just part of his own plot, she was having none of it and sought to have the guardian for herself. She had to. She would not be slighted!

"Tebliel, my dear, we must continue in our efforts to catch the young Nobody and his dragon." The dark fairy spoke, her tone calm and smooth, revealing none of her inner turmoil.

"Of course." Tebliel was quick to her bird-like feet in order to follow Maleficent as the witch led them away.

Elsewhere, all the way back to Marine HQ, Fujitora endured the usual angry lecture from the current Fleet Admiral about returning empty handed before speaking as casually as a friend would. Sakazuki, usually known by his Admiral moniker Akainu, was every bit as hot-headed as his fruit power, the Mag-Mag Fruit. He had distinct orders for Fujitora to be kept away from HQ until he brought back the dead bodies of Luffy and Law.

"I have word of a much worse threat than those two, sir." The gravity user stated calmly. "We have a name for those shadows that have been snooping around and causing trouble. The Heartless."

"And what source did you get this from?" Akainu snarled, not about to accept this excuse for disobeying orders.

"A reliable one." Was all that was given as an answer. "He also passed on a particular fluid that can aid in stopping this new plague. I have sent it to Vegapunk to be analyzed and perhaps put into a usable form viable for fighting with. This occurred at the same time my fleet was attacked by an opposing fleet of these Heartless, where our source did his best to aid us before leaving to continue fighting them. He is but one man, however, and asked for our help."

"Why didn't he come to us directly?"

"If you were in the middle of chasing down pirates, would you turn away to talk to someone in charge instead of pursuing and finishing the job?"

The Fleet Admiral gave a warning growl at the question, deciding Fujitora had a point and moving on.

"During the surprise attack by these Heartless, I did lose sight of Straw Hat and Trafalgar Law. However, I did notice there was a new member among the Heart Pirates. He's young, but surprisingly strong."

He motioned for the Marine next to him to hand over the image. While the paper was exchanged, Fujitora did give a mental apology to their informant, but there was no way he could let Toshiro continue moving freely, guardian or not. He would keep his secret as the informant, as that would make it near impossible to get Akainu to take action against the Heartless, but that was the most leeway Fujitora could allow. He was still traveling with pirates.

"Another freakish child to watch out for." Akainu sneered as he looked over the picture of Toshiro, unknowingly taken of him back during the exchange, white hair with blackened ends plain to see as he had lost his hat long ago, teal eyes bright and knowing, dangerous. "What ability did he have?"

"For one, it was not a Devil Fruit." Fujitora answered honestly, causing his superior to look at him oddly. "He fell into the water after defeating a ship and could swim just fine. That, and his ability seems to be ice."

"That's Kuzan's fruit…"

"Precisely. He may become a problem later, but I would first like to prepare everyone against the Heartless. They have become far more widespread than one child."

Akainu gave the picture one more frustrated look before setting up the plans for this Anti-Heartless force. The mysterious ice user could come later, Fujitora was right that this new plague needed to be dealt with, especially if pirates got involved.

So many things were being put in motion at this point, a storm forming in the distance, waiting for the trigger to release its rage. Toshiro had a bad feeling rising in his gut, but for once he felt he was welcomed somewhere again, and he ignored it. He had finally taken Nami and Robin's advice, had begun to let go of the chains binding him to be a Captain of Soul Society, to just enjoy himself.

It felt great.

It was finally a peaceful day, and they took advantage. Little Daniel was in Nami's lap, learning everything he could from the navigator and her maps, his photographic memory serving him well and making her proud, Bepo nearby as Daniel's best friend and comfort. Thursday still seemed to avoid Toshiro, but was learning a new recipe from a more than willing teacher Sanji, Law back on the Sunny and casting glares at the cook as if daring him to try anything. Luffy was still trying to out-fish Hyorinmaru, who had not yet returned, with Usopp and Chopper keeping him company and trying to help. Book, Shachi and Penguin were marveling at something Franky made, though when the group approached Toshiro he became a bit worried. Zoro was sleeping, Robin was reading, Jimbei and Brook were having a calm chat with their Nobody companion until Franky and company approached them.

"Hey, when Maru comes back, can you ask him to go small?" Shachi asked the small figure.

"…why?" Ignoring the nickname that was now stuck for his dragon, Toshiro worried what they were hiding behind their backs.

"Franky made some super cool stuff for him." Book responded with a beaming grin.

Toshiro only worried more.

"I don't think a dragon made of shadow and ice would particularly like being armored." Law spoke up, his seat giving him a clear view of their secret.

"Papa, don't ruin the surprise!" Book pouted at the Captain. Law just shrugged with a mischievous smirk.

"I'd have to agree with Trafalgar, Hyorinmaru wouldn't be too fond of armor when his ice already serves that purpose." Toshiro spoke up, relieved now that he knew what they were up to. He did, however, start wondering what his partner would look like in shiny medieval armor.

"But these are SUPER cool!" Franky displayed his creation proudly since the surprise was ruined. Each of the four people held a piece of the bright steel set of armor, and while it did look impressive, Toshiro still had doubts his dragon would agree to wear it. "There's a light for cave exploring, some extendable saber teeth for a bigger bite, steel claws, retractable spines so he can roll his enemies over, and-"

"That's… all really cool, but Hyorinmaru doesn't really… need it." The Nobody felt bad refusing it, as it was impressive, but there were little the attachments added to the powerful creature, other than making his smaller form easier to fight in… which perhaps was the intention, though Hyorinmaru would only see it as a hindrance to becoming his larger form.

"He'd need it in a cave." Franky argued with a proud grin, saying aloud the theory Toshiro had reached on his own. "He might be big and scary in the ocean but what if he gets stuck in a small tunnel?"

"Um... well, I suppose see what he thinks." Though still skeptical, the Nobody consented to letting them try to armor his Heartless. He only hoped the dragon didn't try to freeze them… he was a lot easier to offend in his current state.

He had stated it in such a way because he could sense the dragon returning, a disturbance in the waves letting everyone else know this as well. A moment later, the shadow black head of the Heartless rose above the water, an enormous creature clasped in his jaws, nearly as big as the dragon himself. The Sea King was quite the sight, covered in scars from no doubt defending itself against the Heartless. Hyorinmaru looked untouched, but it was likely he'd already recovered any wounds with the water around him.

"They are most definitely not easy prey." Hyorinmaru grumbled as he approached the ship to gaping expressions.

"Well of course not, they're kings for a reason!" Chopper replied without translating for the others, though they could guess what he was responding to. "Even an adolescent like that can destroy warships!"

"Adolescent?" The Heartless was understandably surprised that his catch was not an adult. "I did not anticipate the species to be larger than me."

"Yo, Chopper, what's he saying?" Luffy demanded, unable to interpret the growls. Chopper quickly translated and Luffy let out a laugh. "Yeah, you're not the biggest here, Shishishi!"

Hyorinmaru bared his teeth a little more, not amused, and shifted his catch in his mouth to begin devouring the sea creature as a snake would eat its prey.

"Well… so much for stocking up food." Sanji said with a sigh while the three who had been fishing all shouted in surprise and annoyance.

"I am not used to him being so spiteful." Toshiro admitted with a frown.

Hyorinmaru surprised them again as he stopped about halfway down the creature's body and crushed his jaws, effectively biting the body in half. A large wing rose from the water and lifted the dissected body up towards the ship. It seemed he was just messing with them, still allowing them to share in his catch.

"That's better." The Nobody said with a slight grin.

The dragon looked pleased.

Both crews ate well that day, though naturally Luffy devoured the most, but with a sea dragon that could catch a Sea King for them they weren't too concerned. Hyorinmaru didn't mind the new role, as picking fights with the monsters gave him something to sharpen his skills against. Having had his share, the Heartless became small once more and returned to his master's side, the four engineers all giving Toshiro side glances to remind him of their earlier question. He shot glares back at them, silently telling them to do it.

Having no problem with this, Franky approached as boldly as he always did, grinning from ear to ear.

"Yo, little Maru, me and the boys made something for ya!"

Hyorinmaru tilted his head, curious enough to want to know what that might be, a piece of watermelon protruding from his mouth as he partook in dessert, a treat for catching the sea monster.

"Come over here, we'll get it set up!" Franky beckoned the Heartless over to where Shachi, Penguin and Book were waiting eagerly.

Now a little on guard, Hyorinmaru looked to his master. Toshiro simply nodded back that it was okay and with a huff the dragon followed the self-made cyborg.

The four of them together had little problem outfitting the small dragon in their armor. With a big 'ta-da' they let Hyorinmaru observe his new 'outfit' while some of the others looked over curiously.

As expected, he didn't much like it, lifting a forewing up to try and push the head-piece off with a growl.

"Aw, but you look so cool Hyorinmaru!" Dextra pointed out before turning with pleading eyes to the four who made it. "Can I have some armor?"

"Ah, well, birds don't really do well in heavy armor." Penguin replied with a nervous scratch of his head.

"But he got some!"

"Yeah, but… he's made of ice, he's already heavy, so he can probably fly just fine."

"Plus he's a dragon…" Shachi added in.

The eagle user sent them her best angry pout.

There was the sound of metal hitting the grassy deck and they turned to see that, having been unsuccessful with clawing it off, Hyorinmaru had moved into the shadows to get out of the armor, popping back up just beside it.

"I don't much appreciate being dressed like a pet." The dragon grumbled, turning away to groom himself with a grumpy glare.

"But it's got all this cool stuff you can use if you're stuck in a small place." Book tried to persuade the creature – Toshiro had told them what he said.

"I will just make it bigger." The dragon snorted, unimpressed.

"What about that mountain we were just at? If you had gotten bigger, wouldn't you have crushed everyone?"

Hyorinmaru paused in fixing up the ice on his wing to look at the child with an indignant look, angrier that he had a point more than anything else.

"I still don't need such ridiculous contraptions to help me fight." He puffed out some chilly air, at this point refusing just to keep his pride.

As the others tried to convince Hyorinmaru to give the armor a chance, as well as figure out what to do for Dextra as she continued to ask for a set of her own, Law shook his head and decided to approach Toshiro. Jimbei had moved away to admire the dragon's armor, part of the convincing group, but Brook was still there, the two dead spirits managing to get along somewhat well when the skeleton wasn't cracking jokes.

"Hitsugaya." Law called out, grabbing the Nobody's attention again. "I'm going to need your help with something next time the Heartless show up… I need to start figuring out how to fix you."

Teal eyes lighting up in determination, Toshiro nodded.