I do not own Bleach nor One Piece. I am not going to say anything witty to that effect about what would be if I did for either or preferably both... because I'm greedy like that! With that said, this story is for entertainment purposes only and I hope you I hope you enjoy this whilst I brood.

A Reaper amongst Straw Hats

Chapter 7: ... just had to wake up

Galley-La company bunkhouse, Water Seven

Slow as they were to open, he immediately clamped them back shut in a wince as fresh air kissed his eyes. After taking a moment to 'recover' he dared to crack his eyes open once more, carefully in the vain hope of lessening the sting that came with it. Though it still stung a bit he looked up at the blurry ceiling above him as he began to rapidly blink away the tears and the fog that afflicted his sight till it was clear enough so he could count the individual planks of wood that made up the roof. With a fresh scowl he attempted to sit up in the bed he had found himself in only to labor in even making it a fifth of the way up with a grunt before collapsing back into the bed proper.

"Oh! You're awake." Plop!

"Huh?" Thankfully turning his head was by no means as taxing as moving his body. As such he had little trouble in turning his head against the pillow beneath it to eye who had spoke up just as she was setting a book on a nearby nightstand. "You're..." he spoke up only to come up short as the dark haired woman gave him a genteel, perhaps soft smile.

"Nico Robin," she introduced herself.

"Ah." He couldn't help but eye her considering that last time he 'saw' her she was a near indecipherable figure. As she was now, he could easily make out her fair skin, her chin-length black hair, her blue eyes, the pink company shirt she wore as well as the jeans and high heeled sandals she wore. All the while though she was smiling in reigned in humor as he scrutinized her image for his own edification. She was still smiling that same smile as he began to eye his current environment as well.

"Isn't this one of the company's... longhouses?" Built largely for the workers whose actual homes were on the other islands the sea train was connected to for their brief stay for work, these were free lodgings for all of the employees of Gallay-La and even their families if given permission. They were unused most of the time however barring emergencies such as Aqua Laguna, destitution or other such problems, provided of course that the tenant in question doesn't cause too much trouble at least. In any case it was filled with the necessities of life and then some, though it wasn't much for luxury for the sake of communal interests beyond a transponder snail by the door.

"Yes, it is. Since our escape from Enies Lobby, Iceberg had been kind enough to let us reside here till we procure a new ship for ourselves. As I understand it one is being made right now as we speak."

"Huh... I missed out on a lot, didn't I?"

"Indeed," she answered good naturedly with a slightly mischievous smile afflicting her lips.

"... do I even want to know?"

"Probably not, Mister Death Wish," she replied, one side of her lips tugging in a growing smirk. At his glower her tugging threatened to become an actual smirk despite the smile in place. Regardless, with a sigh he turned his attention back to the ceiling above.

"How long was I out?"

"Just under a week," she answered him.

"Geez, that long?" he groaned as he weakly propped a leaden arm up so he could rub his face for what it was worth. It was a bit of a hassle in the effort he put forth to do so but he felt a little better nevertheless. "I just hope they're going to qualify that as vacation time."

"You certainly do work hard," Robin agreed. "In fact that may have contributed to your apparent lack of strength."

"Huh?" With his hand resting on his chest he turned to her once more in time to catch her shaking her head, her smile never waning nor changing one bit, her eyes closed.

"It's nothing," she replied before opening her eyes to regard him once more. "Suffice it to say that Chopper has been personally looking after you as oppose to have taken you to the hospital. In fact we have been taking shifts to look after you while you were out so to speak."

"Thanks I guess," he mumbled as he found the energy to partially scratch at his chest in lieu of his head.

"You're welcome. But now that you're awake, and it's on my mind no less..." He watched her straighten herself and then give him a deep bow from her seat. "Thank you," she murmured respectfully. "You had risked both your position and life to prove my friends were innocent, and risked much more in following them to rescue me from the World Government despite knowing who it was you were facing. You are a rare soul indeed and as such you have my deepest gratitude."

"It's nothing," Ichigo muttered in discomfort, his face reddening in embarrassment. When she looked up at him with that same smile as before he did everything he could to turn away without making it look like a deliberate effort to hide his embarrassment. In the end he had managed to turn his body on its side with a bit of effort. "I'm going back to sleep," he muttered once more.

"Very well then, 'goodnight,'" she offered with good-natured humor. She even chuckled slightly as he pulled the covers of his head without a word, eliciting a groan from him which in turn extended her chortle.

XVX

Days later

The days had come and went as they often do without fail... In all that time never had he been so interested in going back to work despite being confined to a bed for the better part of the day. To make matters worse it seemed that the entire apartment complex in which he had originally resided in had been demolished by Aqua Laguna, thus cutting off any place to retreat to short of a hotel... At risk of being dubbed a penny pincher, though for a good reason, he was not going to waste his savings just to avoid the usually loud antics that was half minded by the more reasonable half of the Straw Hat crew. It was tempting though. At the very least they could've drugged him when Luffy was either bored or worse yet in an jazzed up mood thanks to something in town; him or Luffy, either way would've worked.

It wasn't entirely horrible though. One mishap or two, reactions and performances were worth a smirk or a chuckle. The times when nothing was worth noting beyond the lack of noting itself were pleasant when they had retired to the longhouse for the evening. And Chopper, after some initial worrying for his condition thanks to his experimental drug, only made routine checkups even as the fullbringer's strength returned in increments to the point he was made mobile with a pair of crutches and even then when he was fully mobile once more. Unfortunately it didn't mean he could go back to work yet in any capacity; being on "sick leave" as it were, there were more than enough paper pushers as it is despite the reconstruction efforts going on, never mind shipwrights on duty. As such he spent his days reading when there was peace and was even roped into a board game or two by his current roommates, sometimes against his will of course thanks to those rubber arms of their captain.

Still, being essentially stuck in an oversized cabin and forced to share it had left him privy to some things...

"The log had been reset!" Nami exclaimed as she lounged back in her chair. Gone were the clothes he had seen in Enies Lobby in favor of a linen shirt with a zipper as oppose to buttons. Even then the zipper went as far as the middle of her chest. As usual she wore a skirt, a dark brown one with rings of gold stitched to its side. "It's now pointing to the next island!" she announced as she held out her arm to Kokoro who sat in front of her, the log pose equipped to the navigator's wrist.

"All we need now is the ship then! I can't wait!" Luffy added as he flipped onto the bed's wooden headboard in excitement like an acrobat. Whether it was due to his natural agility or perhaps he had indeed practiced at some point, Luffy easily made a handstand atop the wooden end and held himself up in an upside down fashion as he clapped his feet like they were hands in excitement. Like the others his garb had changed to that of company clothes. Or at least clothes sporting the company logo.

"Yeah. He told us not to come until it was done because he wants to surprise us.

"Do you know where following that log will take you?" the older woman asked as she set down her bottle onto her lap.

"No. Where is it?" In turn the orange haired woman brought her log pose back for a closer inspection and frowned. "It somehow looks like it's pointing downwards." At Kokoro's laugh she brought her attention back to the older, ever smiling woman.

"Of course it is. The next island is a paradise on the seabed... Fishman island!"

Everyone, or rather almost everyone paused from what they were doing to gape or stare in wonder at the older woman. Ichigo however frowned. "Kind of tough to get to, isn't it?" In response the conductor chuckled rather heartily.

"Indeed it is if you don't know what you're doing!"

In the meantime however one... overzealous... borderline perverted cook really once he got to know him, cook began to spin in place like a ballerina before coming to an abrupt stop with one arm held out in a dramatic fashion toward the ceiling as the other covered his heart. "Fishman is a famous place in the Grand Line! Beautiful mermaids draw arcs over the water and play with fish. It's a dream kingdom!"

Chopper joined in as well, same pose and all. "Is that right? That's amazing!"

"That part sounded a little made up to me," Ichigo grumbled from his spot on the edge of his bed. Similarly Zoro sat before him on another bed with a go board on a nightstand between the two.

"Same," Zoro agreed just in time for Kokoro to hum loudly as it to deliberately draw attention to herself. In any case it drew Sanji from his reverie out of curiosity to look at the older woman. Next thing anyone knew the man was on all fours on the ground with a cloud of despair hanging over him. He was even pounding his fist against the ground to that effect.

"Can't I be allowed to dream? I'm a pirate!"

"They do have young ones there!" Kokoro roared in indignity.

"I missed something, didn't I?" Ichigo intoned as he watched the scene before. Yet despite his asking he was content in the fact no one seemed to have noticed it in favor of Kokoro settling into her seat once more. Idly though he couldn't help but notice the pensive expression of Nami's face as he glance in her direction.

"But it's not easy to reach this paradise," the conductor added on her own accord. Before he came Luffy who quickly sat himself on the ground next to the table.

"I'm more concerned with it being on the seabed," Robin noted from her own place at a nearby table where an open book was laid out.

"Well, we'll see once we go there," chirped Luffy, infallible grin still plaster on his face.

"Hey Nami, is everything alright?" Ichigo intoned. With the focus of attention now on her and having her name called out the orange haired navigator snapped herself back into focus.

"Huh? Oh, uh... just..." She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "Just... I had a bad experience with some fishmen before. So I have mixed feelings about Fishman island."

At this Luffy's grin faded. "Yeah... Arlong and his crew back at your home village."

"But even though they were fishmen, they were pirates, right?" Zoro half asked as he placed a stone on the board.

"Even paradise has its troublemakers," Ichigo supplemented as he too took his turn. "Gah!" With a smug grin he glanced up at Zoro as he gaped in abject horror that he lost a significant territory.

"Hm? What's this?"

As he scooped up the captured stones Ichigo and even Zoro looked over to Nami who now held a newspaper in her hands.

"Fourteen ships have disappeared this month." She looked up at Kokoro in open curiosity with a confused frown. "Is there something we should know?"

At this the older woman nodded. "Strange as this may sound, getting to the seabed wouldn't be the problem. Before it is the Devil's Traingle, also known as the Florian Traingle. You can't reach paradise without passing through that area." As the two closest to her stiffened in rapt attention she continued. "In that sea, more than a hundred ships go missing a year. And after they go missing, sometimes ships will show up with no crew, and increasingly, people are seeing ghost ships with a dead crew on them."

"Ghosts?! That's scary!" Chopper screamed.

"We can meet skeletons that are alive?!" Luffy likewise screamed, albeit in excitement than fright. Still, it was more than enough to have Ichigo give him a deadpan stare.

"You're more likely to find ghosts than 'living' skeletons," he grumbled.

"Don't encourage him!" Nami snapped at the foreman.

As this was going on, Kokoro was quietly chuckling to herself as she watch the scene play out. Not only that but as he laugh purposely deepened she grabbed a candle seemingly out of nowhere and lit it just in time for Nami to return her attention to the conductor. Seeing her with an ominous flame flicking in her eyes, Nami paled in terror as she began to cringe as the corner Kokoro inhabited seemingly darkened...

On a hunch he looked to the windows to see the curtains had been pulled to a close. Likewise a group of human hands, much to his delayed shock, sprouted from the ceiling to block out the lights from the chandelier above. Blinking at it and blinking hard, he searched the room in hopes of finding the source of the strange phenomena only to find Robin, ever so calm Robin, smiling in restrained puckish delights as she held her arms across her chest in an X fashion. When she noticed him looking at her she canted her head with a cheerful smile and from her partially covered shoulder a naked arm sprouted up to wave at him.

He could only hang his head and shake it derisively much to her evident delight as soudned by a soft chuckle. All the while Kokoro continued her own haunted chuckling.

"It's a dark sea with a deep fog. There's no telling what would happen once you enter it. So be careful."

"Noooo!" In an instant Nami was halfway across the room clutching at Chopper and he grabbing her in return for support.

"Anyway, it's a dangerous sea where lots of disasters happen. Make sure you are well prepared before you set sail."

And in an instant the light returned. Robin, for her part, was casually leaning against the table with an arm propped up so she could cup her own face for mild support. With a casual smile she spoke up. "Along with stories about ghost ships, in other words, wrecked trading ships and pirate ships, there are legends of treasure ships, right?"

The reaction and mood of Nami was nothing short of a one-eighty but instantaneous as well. "Let's go find ghost ships!"

"Leave it to me!" Luffy exclaimed, only more out of genuine enthusiasm than greed.

"... doesn't take much to change her mind, does it?" Ichigo muttered as he watched the scene as everyone went on their own tangents.

"She still expecting me to pay interest on the money she loaned me, which I gave the same day," Zoro grouched as he placed another stone on the table. Once his hand was free he brought it up to his chin in thought. "I wonder if I can find a new sword on one of those ships."

At this Ichigo perked up one of his brows as he picked up another stone between his index and middle fingers. "Don't you think three is enough?"

"Hm? Oh, right. You were knocked out when it happened."

Clack. Shink!

Ichigo couldn't help but automatically scowl at the rusted stump of what used to be a proper sword pulled from its sheath. "I ended up finding a guy with a devil fruit."

"Sorry," Ichigo muttered. Zoro only hummed in response as he stared at the sword a moment longer before sheathing it and grabbing a new stone.

Bamf!

"Huh?"

"What brought you guys here?"

Looking over he saw the twins from before as well as Kokoro's granddaughter and her... pet... thing... All of whom were out of breath, yet it was the one in yellow who found enough strength to speak up. "Big Bro Franky asked us to bring you guys!"

"The dream ship has been completed!" the red one join in.

"They built an incredible an incredable ship!" Chimney shouted as well.

"Dream ship?" Ichigo murmured as he blinked at him. He knew a new ship was being built for the Straw Hats, yes, just not who was building it. More accurately he thought that Iceberg, being Iceberg and perhaps out of gratitude as well, had one being built for them. Had Franky joined in as well to show his own thanks for the incident or had he been wrong in assuming who was building the ship to begin with?

"What?! It's already done?! That was really quick!"

"Five top-notch shipwrights worked on it all day and night!"

"Yeah, they did!"

In his head Ichigo immediately imagined what was left of Dock One's foremen at work, knocking three out of five people to guess at. Franky, if what he was inferring correctly, seemed the be the fourth, but who was the fifth? He couldn't help but scratch his head at that.

"Alright! Let's head there right away!"

"Yeah!"

Already most of the crew were jazzed up by the sudden news and made for the door, leaving Robin and Zoro behind. Or rather unlike the others they were content with taking their time in getting up and following them outside.

"Straw Hat!" someone bellowed out loudly from outside.

XVX

Outside

He heard them talking. He honestly did. He just couldn't understand a word of what they said as he stared at the wanted poster he had found when he followed them outside for the sake of interest. It was of him, alongside numerous other wanted posters of the Straw Hat Pirates... "Wanted Dead or Alive, Moon Reaper Ichigo Kurosaki, 50,000,000 Berries." He barely noticed, if at all, that he was a part of a four man band, including Nami, of sullen folks who likewise gawked at their own wanted posters. The image showcased was of him on the bridge at an angle, presumably from a tower, with his sword drawn back. While whomever took it didn't get a good enough shot of his face beyond a portion of which, his clad-type fullbring was distinctive enough for anyone and their great-grandmother to tell who he was should he use it or has been seen using it.

"I'm doomed," he muttered to himself.

He never once pretended he wasn't going to get into some kind of trouble. He was of course of the mind that that said trouble was exclusive for pirates, thugs, monsters and everything in between given the stories he heard and some of the things he had witnessed thus far. For all he knew he was bound to disturb some ancient something-or-other in his search for a way back home and he wouldn't be overly surprised if that indeed happened given his luck. But no. Trouble with the World Government in general, he drew the line there if it could be helped. The last thing he needed to be worried about was either a marine chasing him down the street or a bounty hunter waiting for him to fall asleep. And even with his carefully amassed fortune he didn't exclude the possibility of needing a job here and there thanks to some emergency... Now, he would be lucky that whatever crew he hired or town he finds himself in never even seen a wanted poster before.

Hell, while a good deal of the people within Water Seven were nice enough to him, there were more than a few who would like nothing more to make him suffer for one reason or another. Namely the pirates and thugs he had to maul on a semi-regular basis at work... Oh dear god, what if his coworkers find out?! While some creep out there from another dock might just pull some kind of stunt, there was no guarantee he could work here for a little extra cash if he suddenly felt he hadn't collected enough!

Clap!

"Hey, are you alright?" He snapped his attention up from the ground where his poster lay to blankly stare up at a concerned Nami. By the time he blinked away the glaze from his eyes to fully realize his current predicament, Nami looked to the side and cringed at what she saw. "Oh I'm so sorry," she offered in a murmur. Then she turned to him with a forced, beaming smile that would easily break at the drop of a hat. "Fifty million though isn't a bad start though!" At his unresponsive glare she drooped and hunched over while using his shoulder for support. "Yeah... that's crap no matter how you slice it," she sighed. She collapsed onto her knees, reached behind her and pulled out another wanted poster featuring herself, wearing the top half of a bikini, posing for the camera by what looked to be a pool. "I got one too, thanks to that incident." Sixteen million was her bounty.

"Hey, Nami! Are you coming?" Looking away from her he quickly found the rest of her crew was by the gates, some of whom were laden with backpacks. Nami was as well now that he was paying attention. As for the Franky Family whom had delivered the wanted posters to begin with, apparently they had left some time ago... had he really been lost in his own little world for that long?

"I'll be there in a minute!"

Whether it was from the stress of the situation and what it entailed for his future or perhaps at some point a devious, calculating side had risen in some dark corner of his mind during his time here but his mind was already dredging up tidbits and facts. Between the Franky Family and what he had inferred over the days about some sort of "wild party" which he unwittingly slept through, the Straw Hats were hurting financially weren't they? Nami, from what he had seen, held some significant sway over the crew as quiet possibly one of the more grounded members of the crew aside from Robin, though to be fair he didn't know any of them that well. As such he could, theoretically at least, barter passage on the ship without being declared a member of their crew; if Enies Lobby was an indicator of anything then it would be in his best interest to keep his bounty as low as possible; being with a bounty now, his thoughts of hiring a spotless crew were a pipe dream without an adequate disguise or some other defense in mind. Besides, what else did he have left to lose?

"Hey."

"Hm?"

XVX

An hour later, Scrap Island

His main job as a foreman provided for the bulk of his finances and even allowed him to take the occasional, almost rare reprieve in the form of a movie theater, trip to the bar and anything else barring his apartment when it was still standing. That was for his own sanity when he could barely sleep the last time he tried to live in one of the longhouses with a coworker's entire family, including eight kids, as his roommates. Needless to say having his own space was a negligible and perhaps unavoidable expense, especially after he was promoted to foreman. But in all honesty even if he was immediately hired as a foreman and somehow gotten the biggest paycheck available he wouldn't have made his quota in just a year. No, that came with a numerous number of odd jobs he could find after hours from work. Body guarding, trash sweeping, carpentry, if it had a large payout and was available then he at least heard of it. He took what side jobs he could as often as he could, and the end result, as he learned from Nami, would've had him living well into his eighties in a mansion with money left over to afford the finer things in life...

Had he not fought tooth and nail for their current agreement, even going so far as to get it in writing and notarized no less, he would, without a doubt, have had to fight her off to keep the rest of his fortune for any at all emergencies to come. It didn't however keep her from ogling each and every suitcase he could find that was filled to the brim with cash as they were being loaded onto their new ship by the less enthused members of Dock One. And though he couldn't quite begrudge them, they weren't the ones whom was left behind to scavenge or buy suitcases, load them onto a cart and lug them all the way down a steep earthen ramp seeing as the massive staircase that lead to there was gone. At any rate, between finding, loading and hauling, he apparently missed the unveiling entirely for the loin headed ship. He did not miss his employer though...

"Hey, Iceberg." While he half expected Paulie, Lulu and Tilestone to be there, in truth he wasn't sure what to expect since beginning his move to the ship. Given how late he was he was surprised to even find them lingering around, Iceberg included. In fact it was almost as if they were waiting for him, or rather his employer was and the others were just lounging around. They were also most likely regretting it at this point seeing as they had only made it halfway through his collected valuables at this point, and that was with the use of a crane.

"Ichigo," the older man replied in kind. Gone was his usual business attire in favor of slacks, work shoes, a long sleeve shirt, a sweater vest and some bandages around his forehead, all of which sullied by work. His arms were crossed over his chest as a neutral frown lining his lips. To this the teenager bit back an uncomfortable groan as he scratched at the back of his head while looking to the side.

"I'll just get to the point then..." he grumbled as he straightened himself and looked to the man. "I know it's last minute but I'm resigning... but thank you, for everything."

The man hummed in response. "The bounty poster, right?"

The mixed offspring of a cringe and a scowl splashed itself along his face. "Already seen it?"

"No." He then turned slightly and pointed at Nami who was now yelling at Tilestone for dropping a suitcase. "She filled me in on what was happening."

"Ah..." A moment of semi-awkward silence ensued between them before Ichigo spoke up again. "Hey, I've got a question and frankly it's been on my mind for awhile now."

"Hm?"

"Why did you promote me? Hell, gave me special duties?" Ichigo asked with a frown.

Iceberg regarded him for a moment before looking to the sunny and vibrantly colored ship in the distance. "Frankly... you were in it solely for the money, weren't you?"

The teenager frowned but let the man continue. In his silence it seemed Iceberg found the confirmation he was looking for in his conclusion.

"Since confederating the shipping companies and starting Galley-La I've seen my share of workers and shipwrights who did what they did for their own reasons: for fun, to provide for their families, to provide for themselves... And while you are not unique so to speak, I've seen people work for my company simply for a paycheck; good as they are, it's nothing more than a job for them."

"Though they often mean no ill will, when such people show up I'm usually a little curious as to why they were there; a sick family member in dire need of medicine; debts to be paid; other reasons..."

"No friends outside of work, no family to speak of, no known place of birth, I wasn't sure what to think when my investigators kept turning up with nothing to show why you were working as hard as you were. In fact I was even surprised to learn that aside from your position in Galley-La you were job hunting for additional cash. You even made it a point to visit thrift stores for anything of neccessity even after I promoted you." He turned to regard the fullbringer. "And did you know that throughout your time in Galley-La you only 'used' barely two weeks of your vacation time?"

At this the teenager scowled at him. "I didn't apply for vacation time," he grumbled.

"My point exactly: we counted your sick days and medical emergencies such as your coma as your vacation to save your sick days," Iceberg countered before looking away to the ship once more. "Whatever your reasons may be, I knew you were amassing a fortune for something. And, young as you are, you were essentially killing yourself in doing so if you kept up your pace in a hard labor job like that..."

A wan smile afflicted the older man. "Well, whatever it is you're hoping to do, I'll rest easy knowing you're not out to conquer the world." He slowly turned on his heel and began to saunter away. "I mean, you would have to have a Death Wish to go against the World Government just to save someone's friend."

"That is getting real old, real fast!" Ichigo growled at the man only to receive a bark of laughter for his effort.

"WAAAAH!"

CRASH!

"Huh?" Everyone from Ichigo and Iceberg to those by the ship turned to the source of the crash... already some of them were regretting it.

"... Nope." Immediately Ichigo blocked the sight with his hand and made for the ship. "Just no." He promptly passed an upside down Franky and made damn sure his hand blocked the sight. "Hey Nami! I'm going to get some coffee! Do you want me to get you anything?" he purposefully bellowed as he neared the rope ladder leading up to the ship. It was enough to snap her attention away from Franky to Ichigo but not enough to unsurely twist her head back and forth from the disturbing sight and the now retired foreman as he climbed up the ladder as fast as he could.

"I, uh..." She looked to the last of the suitcases being hoisted up by the both distract and semi-stunned team of foremen who just couldn't look away for the life of them. Each one's face was either that of shocked uncertainty or liken to witnessing a train wreck in progress. "Coffee sounds good!" Without wasting time she scrambled for the ladder and climbed up after the other teenager.

"Hey! Franky!"

Like before everyone's attention went to the new disturbance, this time being Luffy standing atop the railing of the ship holding up what appeared to be a speedo. "Thanks for the ship! It's the best ship ever! We'll take good care of it!"

"Yeah," Franky, now standing, called back. "I wish you a safe journey!"

The pirate captain brought down his hand, said hand having balled into a fist to ensure the swimwear within his grasp didn't slip away. "If you want me to give you this swimsuit back to you, then join us!" Luffy bellow with a cocky grin.

"... Is it too late to renegotiate our contract?" Ichigo drawled.

"Just keep moving!" Nami grumbled as she slapped his leg. "I don't want to stare at it any longer than I have too!"

"Right!"

Soon enough they scuttled themselves over the railing, shuffled past Robin who had come to stand near Luffy, scurried past Chopper who was in his diminutive form was hanging off the ledge as he looked over it and made a bee line for what was assumed to have been the kitchen. Thankfully his random guess was correct.

Slam!

And with the closure of the door they were effectively sealed off from the world at large just as a new bout of shouting came around. When he finally turned around he had not only found himself in an apparent dining room with a bar-like divider to cut it off from the kitchen but Nami had long since beaten him to it. By the time he arrived in the kitchen the coffee maker was lit and the process had just begun.

"You know, after everything we've been through as a crew, you'd think a naked perv would barely register as weird at this point for me," Nami sighed as she watched the coffee slowly begin to bubble. In response Ichigo hummed.

"Though to be fair it seems like your captain stole his speedo to begin with so the perv thing..."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it." Nami waved him off. Some shouting managed to be heard through the door yet it was muffled all the same, making whatever was being said unintelligible. "What are they doing now?"

"I'll check," Ichigo grumbled as he went back to the door and opened it.

"—I still want him to be a man when he joins us!"

Slam!

"... I don't even want to know."

"Seconded," Nami intoned from the kitchen as she idly searched the cupboards for mugs. After a few tries she managed to find a pair for them to use when he entered the kitchen once more and leaned against the bar.

"Hey, since we have time at the moment, do you mind if I ask you about something?"

"Hm?"

The navigator set the cups down on the counter was the coffee finally began to boil on the glass apparatus it was hooked to and turned around to lean on the counter.

"I kind of get that you were preparing for an expedition out into the Grand Line and that your options are limited now, but what were you hoping to find?" she asked with a quizzical frown. "I'm not complaining or anything, just you could properly hire a small army of mercenaries with all that money and probably take over a small kingdom with them if you really wanted to." She sighed as she hoisted herself onto the counter.

Ichigo was silent for a moment as he contemplated his answer...

"I'm trying to get home."

"Huh?" she tilted her head in clear confusion.

With a sigh he elaborated. "My home is... nowhere near here. You won't even find it on a map even if you tried."

She straightened her head and gave him a skeptical scowl. "It's not some sort of "lost city" is it?"

He couldn't help but narrow his eyes in response—

"Hey now," she held her hands up in a disarming fashion as she offered him a chuckle to defuse his irritation. "I didn't mean to antagonize you. We actually found a lost island once and even half of a supposedly 'mythical' city once in the clouds."

He stared blankly at her as he wracked his brain for a moment for any collected stories similar to what she was talking about. "Are you saying Sky Islands are real?"

"Yeah! I'm a little amazed you heard of them but yeah!" she answered enthusiastically with an added nod of her head. She even chuckled when Ichigo hung his own and groaned. When it didn't rise her chortling died down as a somber frown crossed her lips. "Look, if you're worried about being dubbed as a weirdo or something, we've been a lot of weird things already. Some of which even I thought was impossible at the time." She grinned again. "I would even said it was impossible for a weapon to have devil fruit powers too had we not been fighting in Alabasta."

"Say what?" Ichigo whipped his head up with an incredulous expression etched upon his face.

"Sounds impossible, doesn't it?" Nami asked with a cheeky grin before losing it in a sigh. "In all honesty I thought Chopper and Usopp were making that up until I asked Vivi about it. Turns out its a thing!"

"You got to be kidding me..."

"I know!" Ichigo once again hung his head and shook it whereas Nami laughed good-naturedly.

"Don't worry. You'll fit in with us."

"I'm a little afraid of that."

Nami chuckled once more. "Yeah, I can't blame you there."

"HEY!"

"Hm?"

XVX

"Set sail!"

The moment it was learned by all that the marines have come to arrest the Straw Hats only to arrive on the other side of the entire city, it didn't take any more than two minutes for the anchor to be raised, the main sail to be unfurled and for the ship to cast off in a surprisingly slow drift. However...

"Are you really sure you don't have to wait for one more person, Straw Hat?" Franky, now clothed back in his customary speedo, asked the Straw Hat captain as he sat back against the main mast at the primary deck of the ship. Even if he hadn't asked, both Nami and Chopper seemed all the eager to badger Luffy with his own name in lieu of speaking what was truly on their mind. Even so it was obvious their message was clear to the pirate as he wore a forced grin on his face. It was all the more evident he was stressed by whatever it was he being criticized as well by the telltale beads of sweat dripping down his face.

"I did wait. Ever since I heard what Sanji told us, I tried so that our room at Galley-La wouldn't be empty. I waited for him all this time, but he didn't come. That's his answer."

Ichigo couldn't help but blink at the other teenager before looking around at the various states of discomfort exhibited by everyone, even the normally cool Robin, but Franky and himself. As for the aforementioned man, he adjusted his shades.

"I'm sure... he'll have a fun life too. He probably won't quit being a pirate, so I hope I'll see him again some day on the sea!" Luffy added before laughing a half hearted, forced laugh... Throughout it all Ichigo couldn't help but scowl at the entire situation yet... aside from Enies Lobby, as an outsider and acquaintance at best, he had no say in the situation, whatever it was. Especially since he did not know the intricacies of the problem itself. As such all he could do without adding fuel to the fire was turn his back on it, both literally and figuratively, by walking to the railing and leaning on it.

"Usopp," Chopper whined loudly from the deck above.

"Luffy, let's wait a little longer. We're not in a rush or anything. Hey, Luffy!"

He didn't bother turning around to know Luffy was ignoring her. As for himself, he slightly clenched his hand for catharsis' sake.

BOOMF!

In the edge of his line of sight he saw a geyser of water shoot straight up from the sea, yet the sheer shock of the explosion that caused it rocked the ship enough to have everyone stumble and even fall for the less fortunate.

"What was that?!"

BOOMF-BOOMF!

Two more geysers shot up, each one tall enough to tower over the mast in their height and once more the shock rattled the ship. Yet everyone was already on the move toward the aft or the side where a massive Navy warship crept out from the edge of the circular city. Though he couldn't quite tell from the distance but it looked that the very bow of the ship was carved into the likeness of a grayed hound.

"Damn it! They found us!"

"Grandpa?!" Luffy blurted out as he joined Franky along the railing.

"Huh? Grandpa?"

Robin hummed at the former foreman's unasked question as she and everyone else stared in trepidation at the approaching warship. And even though the great distance still dulled the finger points of detail, it was close enough to tell that someone was standing atop the massive dog head. "Interestingly enough Luffy's Grandfather is no other than Vice Admiral Garp of the Marines.

"Huh?!"

"Hey, Luffy! Can you hear me?!" a grizzled voice bellowed out from what sounded to be a megaphone. Squinting, it appeared that the man atop of the customized front of the ship was indeed the one shouting. "This is Grandpa! If you can hear me, say something!"

"Hey, Grandpa!" Luffy shouted back at the top of his lungs. What're you doing?! You said you weren't going to capture us here!"

"Well, the thing is, a lot has happened since then. Sorry, but I'm gonna send you to the bottom of the sea!"

"WHAT?!"

"Well, I'm not doing this as an apology an apology for that or anything, but I'll fight your gang all by myself!"

"There's no such thing as normalcy with you guys, is there?" Ichigo deadpanned as he fetched his badge out from his belt. Likewise Zoro drew one of his swords. In response though Robin offered him an unaffected smile.

"It's something of a blue moon occasion to be honest when it comes to that."

"Uh-huh..."

"What's he trying to do?" Sanji muttered aloud as what appeared to be a struggling marine stepped onto the dog's head carrying what looked to be a cannonball in his arms. He more than gladly offered it to the other man who accepted it... and began to toss it up and down as if it were a baseball while testing its weight.

"... Shit."

KA-BOOM!

Having said that, Ichigo was not exactly surprised that with wicked speed the aged man on the Navy warship had chucked the cannonball. What floored it him however, literally no less, was the fact that instead of the water, the man had aimed at the very edge of Scrap Island. The resulting concussive force of the blast shunted the ship well out into open water and knocked Robin atop of him.

"WHOA! He fired a cannonball with his bare hand!" Sanji cried as he stared in shock at the opposing ship as he pushed himself onto his feet.

"That came flying at us with more power than the ones fired by a cannon!" Zoro added as he ran to the aft. Soon enough everyone else began to dash there as well as soon as they could pick themselves up from the floor.

"This is one of those times I wish my life was normal," Ichigo grumbled.

"I know the feeling," Robin heartily agreed.

"He's here! Usopp's here!"

For a moment Ichigo hesitated and looked to Chopper who, during the chaos, made his way to stand on the railing as everyone else made for the rear as the wind took them further out to sea as if it had a mind of its own. Unlike Robin though who had stopped, he joined the others as his fullbring came into existence and, with his coated blade at the ready, stood ready.

He didn't have to wait long for the first wave of cannonballs to arrive. Few in number but no less dangerous.

"Getsuga TENSHO!"

Despite the devastating nature of the attack a few of the projectiles slipped through. Like himself however the others were on them, freeing him up to ready another blast on another incoming wave of cannonballs.

"Gum-Gum Balloon!"

"Getsuga Tensho!"

Out of the corner of his eye between each blast he had seen Luffy expand to bloated proportions much like his namesake attack and bounce back the attacks to fall into the ocean.

BOOM!

Sanji outright kick cannonballs out of the way.

BOOMF!

Zoro slice through others.

"How many cannonballs is he going to throw at us?!"

Franky pop open his hand like a lid to reveal a cannon built inside his own arm.

"Usopp's coming, luffy! Usopp's coming!

"Protect the ship!"

And nets made of hands catch the very few that were missed altogether.

Throughout it all though despite how impossible it seems if one ignored the sheer ludicrous amount of strength and skill displayed by an elderly man alone, he could barely hear someone far off yelling something from the shore as if trying to get their attention. However he didn't have the luxury of trying to discern what was being said as the sheer frequency of attacks was increasing. He could almost swear he heard demented laughing from the old man as well but that may just have been his imagination.

"I know you can hear it!" Chopper yelled at the guys.

"We're busy right now!" Ichigo countered as another wave at another wave of cannonballs hurtled toward them. "Getsuga Tensho!" And they were still coming, in greater numbers than before no less.

"I'M SORRY!" Though it grabbed his attention, he couldn't devote more than a distracted glance whereas Luffy stilled entirely as he looked to the shore.

"I'M SORRY FOR BEING BULLHEADED! I WAS WRONG!"

"Getsuga Tensho!" BOOM!

"But, is there any chance I can take it back?!" the person of the shore sobbed in his yelling. "Can I? Please? Please let me stay with you! One more time... let me join you guys!"

"Whatever it is, you better do it—" Ichigo grunted only to—

"YOU IDIOT! GRAB MY HAND ALREADY!" Luffy cried as he yelled.

After unleashing another blast the orange haired teenager snapped his head in the direction of Luffy as he began to reel in the person from the shore. And even as they were still being attacked it seemed everyone took the time to laugh, to cry, or even smile at the turn of events. The mood was so infectious that even both of the newcomers shared in a smirk... Of course that was before Ichigo realized he was standing right behind Luffy as he was pulling his arm back.

WHAM!

Like the idiots they were Luffy and what he could only assume was Usopp had crashed into him, smothering him beneath themselves as they laughed.

"You know, I think I'd rather be back in that coma now..."

A/N: Sorry if this isn't one of my better works. Normally I would take longer but I'm trying to implement a new schedule for myself which, frankly, is cutting into my fanfiction writing. Even then, though a typical excuse admittedly for many writers including myself, there are a few personal things happening in my life at the moment. Tax season only makes it worse.

Again I apologize though. Couldn't think of anything creative per se to connect some scenes and even then I didn't think it would contribute to the story as a whole for either good or ill if I even wrote them. Even then I had to do some editing now and then.

Monkeybandit2, making off with your attention! No refunds. You managed to read this story to this point so no refunds period! (Mwahahaha!)