I do not own either One Piece or Bleach.

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Beta read by the wonderful lincoln time, mellra, KyonSmith13, and MasterQwertster. Could not have done it without you!

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Guest Review answers :-D

Xodarap

Great to hear you love reading and re-reading this so much!

Here is the latest chapter, and I hope it was worth it! Looking forward to hearing your newest thoughts! :-D

Thank you for your Review and Support! :-D

.

Nobody styles

LOL I like your line on how Luffy "recreated the freaking French revolution with kaiju sized mechs and cyber pirates in the soul society? Well that's a thing now."

Originally was not going to do the Zanpakuto Rebellion arc, said as much in an earlier Author Notes, but yes now I have Plans. :-D

I confess that is a less bloody and nauseous way for Zoro/Unohana to happen :-P

Not planning to do the beach filler arc with the Shinigami Women's Association thus far. Although I admit that would be a terrifying volleyball game. Probably the most violent since Azula from Avatar: The Last Airbender played :-P

Here is the latest chapter, and I hope it was worth it! Looking forward to hearing your newest thoughts! :-D

Thank you for your Review and Support! :-D

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Seas of Souls

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Chapter 8: Settling In—Daytime

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Previously:

After raiding Las Noches for about everything they could grab, the Straw Hats head to the World of the Living where they are utterly enchanted by the place. The final selling point though is when they see a sunrise for the first time in countless years. Unbeknownst to them, their new home in an abandoned warehouse is right next door to the Visoreds, a rogue group of Shinigami-Hollow hybrids.

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World of the Living

Karakura Town

Creeping across the land was light that pushed away the shadows.

Rising over the horizon was something too bright to look at, bringing a warm end to the empty darkness.

"The sun," whispered Luffy, as they squinted and shaded their eyes, still enthralled by its beauty.

"Wh-what is it?" whispered Lilynette.

Luffy, Usopp, Nami, Franky, Sanji, Chopper, Brook, Apacci, Mila Rose, Lilynette, Nel, Pesche and Dondochakka, all had tears in their eyes. The rest were not far off.

"It's the sun. It means the end of the night, and the beginning of a new day," Robin softly answered.

"A sunrise, and the dawn," added Luffy. "A new day. And a new age for us all."

.

.

.

After a while of staring, though, the Straw Hats were starting to cry from their emotions from it all. Plus the glare in their eyes.

The light from the sun became increasingly intense, but they tried to fight against the sensation until tears started to form. Unfortunately, this was a foreign sensation for Hollows.

"What is this water from my eye?" grumbled Zoro, wiping it while trying to remain stoic.

Franky pretended to ignore the tears, knowing a real man showed no shame in such things.

"Troublesome," muttered Starrk, who closed his lids and looked away.

"Uhm," said Nami. "I think they're called 'tears'?"

"Well, what're they for?" demanded Apacci.

"I don't remember!"

"I think it's to help deal with the light?" offered Jinbe.

"No, it's how you show emotions!" argued Chopper, looking at the droplets in his hands.

"Which emotions?"

"Uhm, being sad. I think? Or was it happy?"

"That makes no sense," pouted Luffy, before brightening up. "Oooh, a mystery!"

By this point, they were all thoroughly distracted from the sunrise. Moreover, while they would carry the memory of its beauty for the rest of their days, they were remembering how they had originally left the warehouse to stretch their legs and get some fresh air. Instead their break lasted an hour.

Now the more responsible members were murmuring, however reluctantly, about going back inside to clean up their new home some more. Moreover, they all knew they could see this sublime sight every morning if they so wished. Plus, staring at the sun like this really was starting to hurt . . . .

"What do we do now?" Luffy eagerly asked, once they were back indoors.

Franky stretched out his arms wide, before eagerly saying, "We should keep unpacking! Who knows what sort of SUPER stuff we've haven't dug up yet?"

"There are some files I need to look over more," Robin serenely added. "I'll tell everyone the important details once I'm done."

Luffy was a bit downtrodden at his friends doing such boring things, but reluctantly agreed they should get their loot out of the bags some more. "Besides," he perked up, speaking his thoughts aloud, "I didn't get to see what you guys packed up!"

"Another nap sounds good to me," yawned Zoro.

"Same," Starrk said as he stretched his jaw, too.

"No, you idiots!" barked Lilynette, frustrated at the lack of exciting action. "Training! Or helping Franky find all the cool stuff we grabbed!"

"I've got some more cooking I want to do," said Sanji, which made the rest of them all perk up more. After all, for everybody except for Nel and her brothers, once they had successfully given up eating other Hollows upon becoming Arrancar, they had survived off of Reishi in the air, and eating what were basically rocky stick trees, which were decidedly tasteless.

"FOOD!" cried Luffy. Everyone else grinned in anticipation, and more than a few licked their lips. Bliss, pure bliss!

At that moment, though, the first real threat the Arrancar faced came from an unexpected source.

A certain, strange sensation began building up at the thought of eating more food . . .

"Uggh!" moaned Usopp, clutching his gut. "Why does it hurt so much!? This pressure, it just, urgh!"

Concerned, the others came over to him, trying to figure out what was wrong, while Franky and Chopper scrambled to find something from all the boxes that would work as a medical scanner.

"Huh," mused Luffy. "Y'know, with our new bodies, and eating food and all, Usopp, d'you have to poop?"

Everyone stared at him in disbelief, before remembering a little facet of Human biology they had overlooked since attaining Shinigami powers, and had been subsisting solely on Reishi.

Rapidly peering around the cramped warehouse, Brook raised the next point. "Do we have anywhere to, well, go? Like, what were they called? Toilets?"

Panicking, Pesche waved his arms. "That creepy scientist guy would've had one! A toilet! Did we steal that, too!?"

"Yeah, of course we did! We had to carry it!" cried Dondochakka. "Where is it!? Don'tcha know!?"

Usopp was merely the first, as more and more of them began to develop cramps of varying intensity.

"Tch," grunted Zoro, keeping his face impassive. Halibel remained silent, yet she was helping toss things around to find a 'toilet.'

"How is this worse than being clawed!?" Nami weakly demanded. "Or cut? Or burned? Or—"

"We get the message!" snapped Apacci.

"I did see some toilets when I was organizing earlier," Franky said, eyes twitching at how his nakama were disturbing all his progress unpacking as they were haphazardly throwing things out of the remaining boxes and bags.

"What'th it look like?" asked Nel.

"Big and white," answered Chopper.

"No, these were pink!" Pesche said.

"Why?"

"Because the guy who owned them was a psycho, that's why!"

Scrambling frantically, the Straw Hats were miraculously able to find three toilets, which had even been in portable stalls—possibly to move them around while making adjustments to the building without having to change the plumbing.

During all this though, their self-control over their Reiatsu never wavered, which would later be a proud achievement for them all.

But with only three toilets available, the same could not be said for their tempers . . .

"Hurry up and get out of that stall, Mosshead!"

"Why don't you come in here and make me!?"

"Because there are some horrors a man shouldn't suffer, so I'll just kill you when you come out!"

"I'd like to see you try!"

"Shut up!" shrieked Nami from her own bathroom stall. "I can't hear myself think!"

"How do Living Beings endure this!?" moaned Lilynette.

"Well, I'm sure it's only this bad because we haven't done this since we were alive," assured Usopp.

"Yeah," said Dondo. "I bet Humans only do this once a week!"

"Oh, what a relief!"

"Wait one moment, please, Pesche," said Brook.

"What?"

"That was more toilet paper you just threw aside. And buried under other debris."

"Oh, is that what it looks like?"

"Yes."

"What are we going to wash our hands with?" asked Starrk. "We don't have any running water."

"Which is a disgrace," growled Sanji, turning his ire away from the Mosshead. "It's basic hygiene!"

Halibel was being studiously stoic, having sent her girls ahead of her in line, but they could tell she was really uncomfortable. With that distraction though, she closed her eyes for a long moment, before stabbing one finger at a part of the floor. "There's water running underneath there."

One quick hole later, Franky found a pipe carrying water, and discovered he was a highly competent plumber when under pressure. "Okay, just give me a minute, and I'll solder our own pipe on. We grabbed a few sinks, right?"

"Probably," said Robin. "In the meantime, I found some air fresheners."

"Oh, you are a Super goddess!"

"What'th thoap? Ith it yemmy?" asked Nel, holding up a clearly labeled bottle.

"If you mean 'yummy,'" Robin gently said as she plucked up the young girl and her prize, "no, it is not. However, it is something we definitely need. Well done!"

Well done indeed! Because for all the Straw Hats may yell at each other at times, with the exception of hitting Luffy when he was being an idiot, there was no actual violence between them; even with Zoro and Sanji. If any of the fighters drew blood from the other, their predatory instincts would rage, and in all likelihood it would escalate until somebody was dead.

Whatever they had been while alive, living in Hueco Mundo had changed them in more ways than were readily apparent. The Great Poo Crisis was the closest the Straw Hats came to blows with each other, but in the end they faced their greatest test yet, and emerged triumphant!

(They would later realize Luffy was the only one amongst them who did not use the facilities. Apparently his body literally processed and converted every single scrap of what he ate and drank.)

(After their initial consideration of that, the rest of the Straw Hats resolved to ignore this little detail on account of how it only got more disturbing the more they thought about it.)

—Seas of Souls—

Urahara Shouten

Silently, Kurosaki Isshin watched Urahara Kisuke try to put together a proper defense for Karakura.
It was not going so well.

Usually his friend did not keep him in the loop, except this time Isshin had insisted on getting details, despite the help the man had already provided. Yes, Tessai had gotten Karin (and Tatsuki) to safety when the Hollows first arrived, and now both of his beautiful daughters were back home behind a barrier and blissfully ignorant of the danger they were in. Unfortunately the invaders were still an imminent threat, and Isshin was feeling a kernel of concern for Ichigo. Maybe his son had gotten in over his head?

Regardless, Isshin had seen Urahara's surveillance feeds, displaying the resident Shinigami in town (who was utterly unimpressive aside from the size of his afro), and unable to contact the Seireitei for reasons unknown. Kisuke's own attempts to reach the Gotei 13, even at the risk of Soifon leading a kill squad after his head, had also met with failure. From what Isshin could recall from his time as a Taichou, at bare minimum, the entirety of the Twelfth Division would have to be gutted for them to fail to notice what was happening.

While it would have been handy to have someone check on Soul Society, Isshin knew they did not have anyone available trustworthy, strong enough to survive whatever may have happened in the Seireitei, while not so strong that their presence would be sorely missed if the invading Hollows went on the offensive in the meantime. He couldn't go back, Ryuuken would just give him Disgusted Glare #23 (I'm-Only-Even-Considering-This-Because-You're-Absolutely-Pathetic), and probably shoot at him, if he even suggested the man do it. As for Ichigo's friends, the only ones who might have fit the bill, were still over in Soul Society. Meanwhile, who knew what dire preparations Aizen's own lackeys were preparing for here in town?

—Seas of Souls—

Straw Hat Warehouse

"Back, foul odor! Back, I say!" wailed Usopp, waving the air freshener in front of the toilets as if it were a crucifix to ward off zombies. "Back to the pits from whence ye came!"

"My goodness, why, oh, why must I be cursed with a nose!" moaned Brook, holding the offended organ.

"It'tha thtin' tho nathty!" yelled Nel, running around in circles without actually moving away from said toilets. This new game was fun!

—Seas of Souls—

Urahara Shouten

Yes, whatever nefarious schemes the Hollows were up to in Karakura, staying put was the best –and only— option.

Besides, even if Kisuke were desperate enough to send him back to Seireitei –maybe thanks to him unveiling some sort of secret way to accelerate Isshin regaining his powers that he had been sitting on—it still wouldn't do anything. He would be executed for desertion and treason by the Soukyoku without trial, and when they dragged him up that hill, they would just ignore his words as the ravings of a deluded criminal trying to save his skin.

Fortunately, of course Urahara had another trump card. And of course his pal neglected to mention his other friends: Hirako Shinji and his gang of exiled Shinigami.

At least he knew now the official reports had been wrong, and the Visoreds had not been criminals intentionally trying to acquire Hollow powers through forbidden methods. Instead they had been victims of Aizen.

Isshin just wished he could feel surprised to learn this about Urahara or Aizen.

"No," said the voice over the speakerphone after Urahara finished outlining his plan.

"Well," the hat-wearing man tried, maintaining his usual lackadaisical manner, only to be cut off.

"We don't care abou' this city or the Humans," Hirako coldly said. "We're sittin' put. 'Cause right next door'll be where Aizen shows up first. Then we'll jump 'im an' finish it once an' fer all!" With that he hung up.

Privately, Isshin knew the other man had a fair point. It was sheer dumb (and possibly bad) luck that the Hollows had taken up residence right beside the Visoreds. From what Urahara had offhandedly mentioned while giving Isshin a quick briefing –probably to leave Isshin too disoriented to start asking questions— the band of renegades were virtually undetectable, making the situation seemingly perfect for an ambush.

In their place, Isshin would probably be doing the same.

Oh-kay, fine! No 'probably' about it, he definitely would do it!

Except he also could tell that Urahara was . . . 'concerned' was not the right word. Because even ex-Onmitsukidou were incapable of that. Moreover, Isshin was well aware the man was concocting anew an absurd number of plans and contingencies to handle this fiasco. So he would follow the man's lead without complaint.

Unfortunately, Isshin also knew that Aizen had stolen the initiative and taken the 'humble shopkeeper' by surprise, and apparently awoken the Hougyoku early, allowing him to begin creating his army. In contrast, the only 'pawns' Urahara had available were himself, one loving father, and Tessai.

For the life of him, Isshin had no clue how the guy was going to pull this off, but was looking forward to finding out.

Of course, even better would be Ichigo hurrying home already. Didn't he know his sisters were starting to worry? Dear Masaki, when did his son become such an irresponsible delinquent!?

—Seas of Souls—

Visored Hide-out

Despite how angrily he had spoken to Kisuke, Shinji was quite calm as he hung up his cell phone. A marvelous invention. Beats butterflies any day of the week.

Even though he knew perfectly well what the rest of his family were doing right now, he still took the time to look around at the rest of his fellow Visoreds. Hachi was crouched down, mentally checking over his barrier for the hundredth time. Love was re-reading his latest manga since they were stuck within their underground home without being able to go out for more, and Shinji recognized that edition to be one the afro-haired man saved for when he was particularly stressed. In that same light, Rose was playing some soothing music to himself and everybody else. Hiyori was pacing back and forth, the aggressive young woman having been forbidden to be upstairs with the rest.

The Visoreds needed people outside, and safely behind the barrier, to spy upon their new Arrancar 'neighbours.' While said barrier kept the Visoreds perfectly undetectable, it also muted their own senses enough that they could not guarantee they would know what the Hollows were doing, nor when Aizen arrived. Lisa, ever the voyeur, was the first to volunteer. Kensei went along with her, as while he was every bit as aggressive as Hiyori, the ex-Taichou was more level-headed, and would react to genuine threats. Predictably his former Fukutaichou, Mashiro, was at his side.

Unfortunately for their efforts, their new 'neighbours' had been too out of earshot earlier, and were now inside their own warehouse. They could very well be laying out in detail Aizen's schemes, and the Visoreds would never know.

"Tch, nothin' new," he told the others with his regular cheery attitude. In turn they stopped pretending to not be eavesdropping, and gave him their full attention. "Kisuke only confirmed those three ladies were the strongest, said that brat leakin' power's probably re-usable food, an' he asked for help. He has no idea why the Gotei 13 'asn't done anythin' yet."

"So does that mean Aizen's taken out Soul Society?" asked Love. Hiyori threw him a particularly volcanic glower, and the former 7th Division Taichou defensively said, "What? We're all thinking it!"

"Like we care what happens to the Shinigami!" she spat. "They can all just die!"

"It matters in terms of what enemies Aizen has," Shinji calmly reminded her, with the seriousness expected of a man who had once been a powerful and terribly insightful Taichou in his own right. "An' not ta mention the question of how he pulled that off is pretty darn important in itself." He paused before adding, "Also not ta mention the question of what happened ta Kurosaki Ichigo."

The others shifted uneasily at that. As much as they recognized the necessity, and were driven by a dark need for vengeance, it remained distasteful how much they knew Kisuke was relying upon a hybrid kid to help them handle Aizen, and their own complicity. The brat was a little trump card with supposed enormous potential, but he was, until a few months ago, a civilian, an outsider with no business getting mixed up in the supernatural.

As Shinigami, they had all buried such moral concerns for the greater good. Being exiled for unwanted Hollow powers, becoming Visoreds, had given them a fresh perspective of what being on the other side of that 'greater good' really meant.

At the end of the day, Aizen had to die.

Unfortunately, now it was looking like it was all down to whoever was left in Karakura Town.

Except now they also had Arrancar showing up.

At first Shinji had been 100% confident that Aizen had sent them. They were wearing uniforms that were the antithesis of a Shinigami's, and the megalomaniac was the only person besides Kisuke who they knew to be experimenting on Shinigami-Hollow hybridization. Now though, something he had pointedly not told Kisuke, he was only 80% sure, because these Arrancar were acting very strangely. Less 'advanced scouts,' and more like 'tourists,' according to Mashiro.

Certainly Shinji and the rest had no explanation as to why the Hollows had been staring at the sun for so long. Maybe they did not have one in Hueco Mundo?

Although, they're still actin' very . . . un-Hollow-like. I mean, I could've sworn they were cryin'!

"I still say we should kill the Hollows to lure out Aizen!" snapped Hiyori, breaking his line of thought.

Granted, their group of exiles could take down the Hollows. Back in the old days it had been their jobs after all, as respected Taichou and Fukutaichou of the Gotei 13. The key words though, were 'old days.' No such obligations existed now. Only one left was to help that Kurosaki kid if he was indeed also a Visored.

If he was still alive, of course.

"We've been over this," sighed Love. "We can't let Aizen have the slightest hint we're here."

"So we bide our time," concluded Shinji. "For as long as we can."

Hiyori paused at that. "What does that mean?" she asked in a calmer tone.

Rose paused strumming his guitar and coughed into his fist. "We're going to need to make a grocery run eventually," he replied. As an 'artistic' man, he prided himself on his cooking, and liked to do it a lot for them. "But, once again, we can't go outside without risking revealing ourselves."

"We'll just play it by ear," Shinji said with finality. "Whatever Aizen's up ta, we'll make sure he regrets it."

Then his familiar, Cheshire grin returned. "Or if all else fails, we go ta our new neighbours ta ask fer a cup of sugar ta do some bakin'!"

—Seas of Souls—

Relieved how the whole mess where she and the other Straw Hats dealt with the consequences of eating was over with, Halibel was washing her hands in the newly installed sink.

Fortunately that's over with, she thought as she scrubbed. Although it's ridiculous that out of everything we've been through, that would be our greatest challenge!

Rinsing off the soap suds, Halibel let the tension in her body relax as the water flowed over her smooth skin, relishing in the feeling. Water was a luxury rarely afforded within Hueco Mundo, and never to this extent.

While she used to regularly create her own water from Reishi to wash herself, the sensation of her own Reiatsu seemed to lessen the experience. Using Jinbe's water felt better —and before her joining up, his water was what the others used to keep clean— to wash with, but he could only create limited amounts at a time, and far less than she could. Here and now, though? Halibel felt like she could keep the water running indefinitely!

Endless water!

Feeling her call, some of the water from the tap began to flow up her arms, increasing the sensation. As a Vasto Lorde, Halibel and Jinbe retained some of their elemental powers even in their sealed state, and this was well within her abilities.

(Indeed, earlier she had spotted Sanji lighting one of those 'cigarettes' with a flickering flame which bloomed upon the tip of his index finger. He had been promptly banished outside by Nami though, as the smell offended everyone else within the packed warehouse.)

Beneath her mask and the scarf covering it, her lips twitched upwards in the unfamiliar sensation of a smile.

More and more the heavenly liquid swirled over her skin. One part of a seemingly bottomless whole. Infinite . . .

Infinite!

Gasping with sudden comprehension, she dropped her control over the water and reached out with her senses, straining with all her focus.

"Jinbe!" she cried, before taking off in a blur of Sonido.

Wordlessly the large man trusted her and followed.

They raced across the city, moving at an angle which presented a new view. With a bright flash of the sun's reflection they saw it.

A river.

Even Jinbe was straining himself trying to keep up with Halibel as they raced there.

Quickly stopping, Halibel hovered over the rushing water, marveling at the sheer sight of it, the sublime beauty as it rippled away. She may have created more water at once in the past —such as her failed attempt to provoke Sanji into seriously sparring with her— yet deep down she knew she could never rival the seemingly endless volume that continued to move by. A mere drop of the vastness which spawned this . . . this . . . this!

Words failing her, she stopped manipulating the Reishi beneath her feet, and plunged down beneath the blue surface.

Halibel cried out in bliss at the sensation, twirling around underwater even as she felt the water shift as Jinbe shortly joined her.

Breathing freely even now, they swam about, feeling the sensation of the currents. Halibel's mask parted, letting the water flow against the entirety of her face, and drinking as much as she could manage. There was a definite taint to the water, doubtless the result of the Humans and whatever animals —Fish! she remembered— lived here, yet it was the sweetest thing she had ever tasted. She knew she would cherish this experience for the rest of her life.

With a pleasant thrum, she recognized an ability she had never used before, as she sensed the precise location and general form of Jinbe and his movements, and the fish, without sensing for Reishi. An instinctive part of her mind knew it was something similar, if superior, to a shark's electroreception, allowing her to sense others in the water with utter precision. No doubt this was related to how she had known this river was here and ultimately feeding the pipeline.

She could also tell Jinbe could do the same. It truly was fascinating. What were the odds of two shark-based Hollows meeting and befriending each other? Especially as a part of her knew the Living animals were cannibalistic in nature.

Putting the thought out of mind, she joined her friend in dancing through the water, enjoying a way of life they had lost in death.

It took her awhile to realize how much time must have passed, and that the others, particularly her girls, must be wondering about them. Halibel reluctantly pulled herself out of the water, taking as much time as she would allow herself. Sitting against the riverbank with Jinbe, she readjusted her sopping scarf so it covered her Hollow mask. Once more her expression was one of calm detachment.

"Jinbe?"

"Yes?"

". . . Later, I would like to go visit the ocean. When we are done with this city."

Huffing in amusement, Jinbe grinned and said, "We did tell you 'senchou' means a ship's captain, did we not? Only appropriate we go sailing."
"Excellent."

—Seas of Souls—

While Jinbe and Halibel were off doing whatever —everyone knew Luffy was keeping a close eye on them for any harm through his Pesquisa— the rest of the Straw Hats continued to work on making their new warehouse home more livable.

Well, as livable as can be for beings made up of dead Souls.

"It's weird with so little Reishi in the air," mused Usopp.

"It's thicker than what it was outside the city," pointed out Sanji. "So this place is probably a good spot to lay low for now after all. The more concentrated the natural Reishi, the harder it'll be for anybody to find us."

"Psh," scoffed Lilynette. "Like they'd come after us after Jinbe blew them away like that!"

"They're Hollows like us," Robin pointed out. "Hollows don't forgive attacks lightly. Doubtless they want to hunt us down and tear us apart in our sleep."

On cue, Starrk gave off a loud snore to display the depth of his concern. It was a testament to his ability to relax that he pulled it off, having spent all that time sleeping on sand dunes, and now having to make do with laying on a thin blanket thrown on a crate, and a small pillow.

If only they made something like a giant pillow to sleep on, but firmer for some back support. Alas, that was probably just an empty dream.

Lilynette visibly considered violently waking her partner up, before deciding this conversation was more important in the short-term. Not like Starrk was going anywhere. In fact, this was the perfect time to prove to everyone how mature she really was!

"There is one other thing," Brook pointed out. "Regretfully," nodding his head to where Apacci, Sung-Sun, and Mila Rose were just joining them, "we came here before you three had learnt to really hide your Reiatsu. Others will be able to sense you."

"Not just us," remarked Sung-Sun, now wearing a shirt with wide sleeves to cover her lower face. Looking at little Nel, she said, "She is leaking large amounts of Reishi for some reason."

"Yeah!" barked Apacci. "Worry about the brat first!"

The girl in question was busy with Luffy, emptying out one of the bags to see what was inside, oohing and awing at what they uncovered. It was a real haphazard sack, containing Szayelaporro's former hair and eyeliner products (Luffy had given Nel half of a make-over before they both got distracted and forgot about it), a variety of biscuits to snack on (one box already empty), a satchel of spare scalpels and syringes (Chopper grabbed this for himself), and various highly delicate and advanced scientific instruments to analyze spiritual beings, which of course they were throwing back and forth like a game of pass.

Robin had taken the young girl aside earlier to the big sink Franky rigged up, and with Halibel's daughters holding up a blanket for privacy, had given Nel a bath. While not nearly as comfortable as Robin would have wanted for the child (they had yet to find where they put Szayelaporro's collection of bath salts and strange yellow birds), the stink was getting a bit much. Fortunately, Nel had treated it all like it was all another game, and Robin was happy to note no further scars aside from the one on her forehead which ran from a crack in her mask.

The very same crack leaking Reishi. A lot of Reishi.

Enough to make one wonder how Nel was even alive.

While those Straw Hats observant enough knew something was wrong, they did not pry. Las Noches was a dangerous world, so a scar like that was no real surprise, and likely very personal. It was Nel's and her brothers' own business, and they had only met less than a day ago, so they were all still coming to know one another. If the trio wanted their new friends to know, they would say so.

"She's a bit too young to be learning that," Brook responded. Whatever else he was going to say was cut off as Pesche and Dondochakka barged back into the warehouse. They had been sent outside with Usopp to wash in two conveniently large buckets, and were now trying to run from their long-nosed friend while wearing nothing but the towels around their wastes.

"You'll wear pants and like it!" yelled Usopp.

"Noooooooo!" Pesche wailed.

"Nothing wrong with my old clothes, don'tcha know!" said Dondochakka.

"They need to be washed! Just put on this stuff until they're done," Usopp snapped, waving a large white garment from Aizen's stores. "At least you dress decently!"

"Brotherth!" Nel cried out. "Lookit what Nel ith wearin'!" She got up to twirl around in a cute, low hanging dress. While it was a plain white dress, the pattern of the black hem made it somehow stylish.

(Some might wonder why Aizen even had a kid's dress, except it was originally for a fully-grown woman to wear while barely covering up her unmentionables.)

"Oh, you look very sweet Nel!" praised Pesche with a thumbs-up, with Dondochakka gushing right alongside him. Alas for the duo, this distracted them enough for Usopp to tackle Pesche and start shoving him into a pair of pants.

Lilynette and the others in her little discussion group watched the spectacle for a few minutes, before turning back to their original conversation. As entertaining as the sideshow was, they really should finish without further distraction. Although it had been pretty funny watching Nel 'helping' her brother by jumping up and down atop of Usopp to get him to stop, while accidentally and simultaneously pressing him down against a pinned Pesche. Meanwhile Luffy's laughter rang through the warehouse, putting everyone at ease.

"So you guys've got to actually get your butts into gear!" Lilynette ordered Apacci, Sung-Sun, and Mila Rose.

"Oi, who'd you think you're bossing around!?" snapped Apacci. "The only reason you can hide so well, is because you're so weak!"

"What'd you say to me!?"

"There might be another solution," Franky said, interrupting what was to be another hissy fit. "Robin found a mention of Gigai, artificial bodies to let the Ethpada and their lackeys infiltrate the World of the Living."

"Cool!" beamed Luffy, ambling over. "Where are they?"

"Somewhere in that pile," deadpanned Franky, jerking a thumb at the small mountain of boxes and bags. While everybody had been making progress in unpacking earlier, the mad scramble to find toilets had created new piles of stuff dumped aside. Careful organization would be necessary for later attempts.

Zoro cracked open his only eye from where he had been resting. "Any way to narrow it down?"

"Nope."

Luffy took his own assessment of the chore ahead of them, and authoritatively declared, "Not before we've had some fun first! Senchou's orders! Sanji! We need a meal before we go!"

"Yes sir!" barked everyone in earshot, and the prepared to depart.

—Seas of Souls—

As much as Franky wanted to keep going through the massive pile of stuff they had stolen from Las Noches, he also understood Luffy was right and he should look around town a bit. So he and his bro Usopp set off together, taking in the sights while dragging Starrk along by his ankle.

They also invited Apacci to keep her from fighting with her sisters, while planning on distracting Mila Rose by 'casually' wondering aloud if being a place so poor in Reishi would affect their skills, particularly swordsmanship. The busty lady was rather committed to her art after all. Surprisingly, all the trio wanted to head off together. Even Sung-Sun, who Franky thought would have wanted some time alone to enjoy the peace and quiet.

Before heading off, the Straw Hats waited for Jinbe and Halibel to get back, and the dripping shark duo had shooed everybody off to explore the city. Meanwhile, they would start looking through the piles for the Gigai, using the pictures Robin had brought up on a computer.

With that settled, Franky and Usopp went off at a brisk pace across the sky, wanting to see as much as they could. Meanwhile Starrk dangled in the air from Franky's grip, not even bothering to free his foot. "Why won't you let me sleep?" grumbled Starrk.

"Because otherwise that's all you'll do, and then Lilynette will throw a fit. After she's done beating on you, she'll accuse us of enabling you, which'll set off Apacci and Mila-Rose, and it'll escalate from there. Again," Usopp deadpanned.

"Yeah, and she'd be right!" threw in Franky. "You need to get out and smell the fresh air! See our new home!"

Looking about from ten or so meters in the sky, it became apparent none of the Humans could see the three of them in the air. Although it took a while for the Arrancar to realize this, as they were soaking up so many different things.

In fact, something of particular interest to them were the metal contraptions moving around at such a fast pace, carrying people and various items. Things which he was having an annoyingly difficult time defining. Thankfully hazy memories came to the fore for Franky, and he figured out the gist of these radical surprises. "Whatever those things are, I think they replaced horses," he speculated. A massive grin split his face. "Super!"

"Much faster though," noted Usopp. "How's that even safe?"

"How're the Humans doing that?" Starrk wondered. His own brilliant if underused intellect was prodded into motion as he was faced with an actually interesting puzzle. Back in Hueco Mundo, the most he had available was from talking with others, particularly Robin and her own wickedly sharp mind. It was easy to get into the habit of being lazy.

Starrk was also feeling rather uncomfortable seeing all the people gathered around. As much as he despised being alone, he also had trouble interacting with other people. For all that he had joined willingly, the Straw Hats had essentially dragged him in with their kindness, and patience for his and Lilynette's numerous (mostly Lilynette's) quirks, while they in turn adapted to the eccentricities of Luffy and the others. Now though, there were large crowds all around Starrk, filled with individuals and each of their own idiosyncrasies. It was almost overwhelming.

In fact, he could tell Franky and Usopp were a little uncomfortable, too. They were simply better at distracting themselves with everything else going on. However, now it appeared Starrk had found something intriguing enough to divert his own unease.

"We should take one apart!" declared Franky.

Looking around, Usopp spotted something better. "Or watch somebody else do it for us!"

—Seas of Souls—

Tazuna grimaced to himself as he tried another adjustment to his truck's engine.

Under his breath he muttered some particularly foul commentary about what his supervisor could do with this junky engine. Ever since Tazuna (stupidly!) mentioned within earshot of the stuck-up man how fixing motor engines was a hobby of his, he had been assigned to drive all the oldest most unreliable trucks to serve as free labour. "No good union can kiss my—"

He stopped as something flickered in his peripherals.

Glancing aside, the wrench dropped from nerveless fingers at the sight of a bottle of Coke from his trunk hanging in mid-air!

It tilted back, and the pop poured out of it, only to disappear into thin air.

As if . . . somebody . . . was drinking . . . it . . . .

Gulping, Tazuna took a shaky step back, which the invisible drinker seemed to take as an invitation. They quaffed back the rest of the bottle, grabbed another, and the second bottle approached the engine. His wrench jumped into the air before being put down beside the tool bag. A shuffling motion and the sound of metal clinking against metal gave the distinct impression of somebody or something ruffling through the tools.

Distantly he realized that the way everything was being held meant whatever was in front of him was a few feet taller than him as well.

The pop was put down beside the bag, and then the engine was being dismantled, piece by piece.

Only a touch of morbid curiosity to horror kept Tazuna from running away screaming.

—Seas of Souls—

Watching Franky dismantle the engine was a real treat for Usopp.

Franky was over the moon with not only his first new project in forever, but also that they were carrying 'cola.' While different than the big man remembered, he was guzzling it down without a care. Even now he was on his fifth bottle.

Starrk remained in the air, yet still upside down and following along as well with intense interest.

"Alright," muttered Franky, "this liquid seems to just shoot out at the windows for some reason."

"Maybe to make it shine?" offered Starrk.

"Or clean it," said Usopp. "Not just to make it look nice, you'd also need something to make sure the window didn't get too dirty so you can't see."

"Ah, makes sense."

"Good one, Usopp," smirked Franky.

"Ah it's nothing," said Usopp, looking away for a moment in false humility. This motion made him look around them though, and to his shock and dismay realized they had gathered an audience. About a dozen Humans staring at Franky in silent stupefaction.

Or rather, he realized with growing dread, at the tools moving in thin air, and the drink disappearing into nothing. Who knows how long until everybody knows about us!?

Usopp felt his skin crawl while being surrounded like this. After the oppressive desolation of the deserts when it was just his nakama, it was unnerving. Not as bad as it was for Starrk, yet still something uncomfortable.

An oily voice whispered inside of him how they were all prey, if unappetizingly weak. The dominant part of Usopp which is — or was? Whatever — Human himself, slapped down the pest, and put it out of mind.

However the incident reminded Usopp he did remain a hardened predator, an apex predator in this world.

The Humans could not see them, and certainly not hurt them. Where was the harm?

An older part of him also chimed in how the Straw Hats merely had to be sure they did not abuse this opportunity. You'll remember what it's like being with crowds of people, and how much fun it can be, it seemed to cajole. Just be patient. It'll be worth it.

Besides, if it gets too bad, you can just catch a break while claiming you're just getting some space so your sheer Awesomeness does not overwhelm them all!

Letting out a long breath, Usopp decided to observe the Humans now. Going back into the air a few meters for a better view, he examined them to learn what he could, and to relearn what he could about who and what were basically his new neighbours.

Maybe it would even help him and the others figure out his memory issues.

As he looked around, something else caught his attention. Strolling over in the air over their heads, he bent down to see what he recognized as a notepad. It was blank, with a few sheets torn out to the side with drawings on them. For some reason, he felt this was important as he picked it up.

Art. Yes, he had been good at art at one point, right?

Picking it up, he turned the bundle of paper around in his hands in fascination.

A voice broke through his thoughts, making him jump. "Uhm? Honoured spirit?" Whirling about, he saw a young man nervously bowing at him. "Please accept my humble notepad. And my pencils."

There was a whole case of them, and they looked very fine, but Usopp only took a single one. Returning the bow, he hoped the Human got the message from how the notepad dipped in place, and ambled back over to Franky.

—Seas of Souls—

Later

Trying to control his shaky legs, Tazuna climbed into his truck.

The entire thing had been disassembled into every single piece and put back together again.

Within . . . how long had he been standing around? A few hours!?

Gulping, he looked at his watch when he noticed a persistent beeping noise that had followed him into the truck cab. Realizing the source, he paled and frantically pulled out his pager only to discover he had a number of messages from his supervisor demanding to know where the delivery was. Half of Tazuna's pop was gone now, so he was genuinely unsure how to respond to this.

The truth?

HAH!

Wait . . .

He popped his head out the window and opened his mouth only to choke on his dry throat. Trying again, Tazuna called to the crowd of stunned spectators which had only grown. "Did anybody happen to take any pictures?"

Their expressions of confusion and regret were answer enough.

Great. Now what?

The truck suddenly rocked as if somebody, a certain impatient somebody, was telling him to get driving to test out the repairs.

Swallowing again before rattling off a quick but decidedly heartfelt prayer, Tazuna then turned the key in the ignition and started to drive. He may as well deliver what little pop he had left. Maybe the routine of it all would let his nerves settle a little.

To his pleasant surprise, his truck drove more smoothly and softly than before.

Of course, what else would you expect from spirits? Or was it gods? Godly spirits? Clearly he needed to brush up on those 'myths' he had dismissed as a young boy.

. . . Never mind his supervisor, how was he going to explain his day to his wife?

—Seas of Souls—

Nami's hands twitched as she walked through a wall to behold the outfits within what apparently entirely a storehouse for women's clothes. Glorious!

Already she could see several designs she intended to 'borrow' indefinitely.

Ooooh, and the cat Arrancar just knew that Halibel would love that scarf over there! Her friend seemed to prefer covering the fragment of her mask which covered most of her face, except they only had a single one from what they stole, and you could be sure it would get dirty and tattered soon enough.

Hmm, Lilynette would probably like that kimono. And maybe one for Sung-Sun, too? What about the others?

Something else caught her eye, and Nami rushed across the air to get a closer look.

Cocking her head in curiosity, she asked aloud, "What are bras? We didn't see anything like that in the stuff from Las Noches."

Something was niggling at the back of her mind though, fuzzy memories trying to be heard.

A ringing sound interrupted her thoughts, and she saw a woman come in and start turning on the lights. Checking to make sure the clothes were all still here?

Nami looked around a bit longer, and was about to leave when a brief ringing sound caught her ear. Going over to investigate, she saw the Human putting some stacks of flat rectangular objects decorated with slightly different various colors, patterns and faces into a boxy machine. Paper?

Comprehension struck like lightning as her memories slotted home. This was a store! The woman was putting in money!

~~Money~~ whispered the melodious word.

Shaking her head, Nami stopped to think about the situation further. Obviously she could steal all the products if she wanted to, and in fact had been heading off to grab some more of the ladies to help her carry it all. However, if she bought the stuff, maybe with those Gigai thingies Franky was mentioning, she could make special orders! Oh, and find out what 'bras' were.

Now, how was she going to get some money?

~~Money~~ ~~Money~~ ~~Money~~

Make that a lot of money, Nami knew as she danced on air, because she was willing to bet this town had a lot more to offer than just this!

~~Money~~

~~Money~~

~~Money~~

~~Money~~

—Seas of Souls—

Atop the highest building in Karakura Town, was a most unusual sight.

On the apartment tower, only about fifteen stories high, Apacci, Sung-Sun, and Mila Rose were enjoying a rare moment of peace amongst themselves. As much as they constantly fought, belittled, and otherwise antagonized each other, there remained a deep bond between them which went beyond merely cooperating because Halibel told them to. After all, they were her daughters, a description they had embraced, and so deep down they did genuinely and strongly care for one another.

How else could three entirely separate Hollows come to possess the ability to merge and multiply their power to create Ayon?

This city had nothing on Las Noches in terms of size or grandeur, yet it was colourful and alive in a way that that palace and the entirety of Hueco Mundo could never match.

Apacci chose to break the silence and admit aloud what they were all thinking. "This place is nice."

"Yes," Mila-Rose softly agreed.

"It's good for Halibel as well," Sung-Sun added. Once she would have said "Lady Halibel," and the others would have furiously berated her if she failed to do so, yet their time as Straw Hats had left them much more informal. Relaxed with each other in a way foreign to Hollows. "You saw it too, right? Not just when she and Jinbe came back from the river, I mean the way she was when we saw the sun."

Her mother's eyes, usually cold and sharp, had lit up with awe and hope and other emotions Sung-Sun could not describe. It was proof that all their Sacrifices to reach this far had been worth it.

"I did," Mila-Rose agreed, with Apacci nodding along. Feeling she needed to contribute more than just agreeing with whatever the others said, the statuesque woman tacked on, "Or how she looked while eating all of Sanji's food?"

Only Luffy had eaten more than her, and their arms had been nothing more than blurs across their plates.

(Although they had no idea how Halibel was getting it through her mask. The current theory was it actually hinged like some other Hollows, and she was moving too fast for anyone to see.)

"It is delicious," Apacci defended with a spark of her usual temper. As annoying or even outright infuriating as Sanji could be, no one could criticize his cooking.

"Oh, yes."

"No question. It was just nice to see her so . . . enthusiastic. Happy." Not that they saw her actually smile, but they knew. "This place, with the Living, it's good for her."

"For all of us," Sung-Sun said with a bit more force. The others turned to look at her, and she elaborated. "We finally have a chance for a better life than we ever had in Hueco Mundo."

"Obviously," Mila-Rose frowned a little. "What's your point?"

"My point being that we have to be sure we don't actually destroy this city. You can feel how much weaker everyone here is to us. Weaker than most Hollows in Hueco Mundo even. To the point we have to be careful we don't accidentally hurt or even kill them all."

The penny dropped for Apacci and Mila-Rose, and they grimaced as they realized she was right. With their strength, they would have to be careful they did not wipe out the town by sheer accident. Including during any further arguments with one another.

"What if the guy really deserves it?" offered Apacci. Obviously if anybody was going to do something to irritate them, it would be a male.

Sung-Sun said nothing, trying to think of a good counter-argument, only for Mila-Rose to come up with it. "If Humans start dropping dead," —from having their heads crushed like overripe fruit— "then the rest will probably run away and soon the town will empty up. Not like they can fight back."

Grunting, Apacci bit out, "Fine! Whatever."

"We can still smack them around," Mila-Rose reminded her.

"Better." Also agreeing, Sung-Sun gave a slight nod.

"What about our Reiatsu hurting the Humans? That's not going to be a problem, is it?" asked Mila-Rose.

"Don't be stupid," scoffed Apacci. "If it was gonna do that, they'd already be dropping like flies!"

"Why you—!"

"It wouldn't hurt to train some more later on," Sung-Sun smoothly interrupted. "Just so there's less chance of Aizen's slaves or the Shinigami finding us."

"Not if it's going to interfere with our other training!" snapped Apacci.

"We'll have to do that further away from the Humans," said Mila-Rose, which made the others state their agreements. Ayon was the very sort of ability which could level this town in a few minutes at most.

In fact, the reason their ability to suppress their Reiatsu was so far behind the others was not mainly because they had joined the Straw Hats so recently. It was more because they had been spending so much time trying to learn how to properly control Ayon. As Luffy taught them, strength is control.

With that settled, they went back to enjoying the view for another hour or so, before drifting back to their new home. It wasn't like there would be any consequences for leaking Adjuchas-class Reiatsu all over an inhabited city, right?

—Seas of Souls—

When everybody split up to explore, Luffy left Nel behind to play with her brothers and Zoro, who last he checked was having trouble finding the door out of the warehouse. Instead he chose at random to explore with Chopper and Robin.

"Books?" asked Luffy.

"Yes," said Robin with her special, all-knowing smile. "I had forgotten about them until I found some in Las Noches."

"Me too!" chirped Chopper, strolling on air two stories high beside them. "So I was wondering what kind of medical knowledge is available in the World of the Living."

"As well as a good way to find out about the World as a whole," said Robin. "Customs, adventures to be had, recent history, with books the possibilities are endless."

"Well that sounds great," grinned Luffy. "I'll do something else though!" He remained hazy on what a 'book' was, but it did not sound too fun.

"Oh, that looks promising!" chimed Chopper, pointing with one finger.

The words 'Book Store' on the shop window certainly gave that impression, while Luffy was intrigued by the park across the street. "I'll give this a look while you're with your backs," he proclaimed.

"Books," Robin gently corrected before he took off with a shot.

The two intellectuals discretely entered the bookstore by phasing through the window, stopping to bask in the sight and smell of all those beautiful books.

Conveniently there were signs saying where all the different topics and contents were, and there was only one person in the store. Experimentally Robin poked an upright book so it plopped on its side. Immediately the woman at the desk perked up, and hurried over to see what was wrong. Mumbling something about the wind, she set it upright, oblivious to the soul-eating ghosts who passed right by her. Robin grabbed a book on world history, and another from a pile about 'Japanese' history. Apparently 'Japanese' was important here. Following her lead, Chopper grabbed a book from the science section about pharmacology, which stirred happy memories.

They ducked around some shelves before the lady turned around, and tested to see if they could phase the books through the window with them. Confirming they could not, the two of them settled down to quietly read within the store. Robin chose an angle which allowed her to keep an eye on the apparent owner through a gap in the shelves, as well as keep an eye through the window at what fun Luffy was up to.

—Seas of Souls—

Hueco Mundo had been a difficult experience for one Monkey D. Luffy.

The never-ending violence of eat-or-be-eaten had forced him to behave entirely serious, all the time. Otherwise, his nakama might die, and he knew being alone was worse than not having enough time for fun. In fact, it had taken a while for Halibel and Starrk to really understand that the seemingly mature and wise Vasto Lorde they had initially met, was not the 'real' Luffy.

Here and now?

Here and now? Adventure! And the Freedom to be his own, true self!

"WOOHOO!" cried out Luffy as he spun around a merry-go-round at high speeds before finally being flung off of it. Laughing he kept rolling on the ground until he found himself amongst a bunch of dandelions. "Oooh!"

As much as he loved to run after whatever new thing caught his eye, he also appreciated the need to sit down and absorb what was right in front of you. Especially for something so alien to Hueco Mundo. So Luffy took his time sniffing the flowers and drinking in the sight of them. He was so still, almost unnaturally for someone of his usual attention span, a bee even came to start buzzing around the flowers. "Because it's spring," he teased out, jumbled memories of looking at flowers with a lady with . . . green hair? A relative of Zoro's? Meh, not important right now. "Awesome!"

Young voices shouting got his attention, and he skipped over to a patch of cement where a couple of kids were launching spinning discs down into a wide plastic bowl. Oh, and they were hitting each other.

"You stand no chance against my ultimate dual-blade disc attack! Go mighty Tiger Warrior!" boasted one boy.

"Hah hah! You don't have the Heart of the Disc!" retorted the other. "My Sapphire Dragon disc will defeat you for sure!"

"It's a battle?" wondered Luffy aloud with awe, staring intently at the discs still slamming against each other. "Is this how Human's fight each other? Cool! Why're you fighting? What's so special about those discs? Is it fun? Should I do that instead of punching jerks? Nah, I like fighting. Not as much as food of course, but we only just got Sanji cooking again now. He's so happy 'bout it! Do other people cook as good as him here? No, probably not. Oooh yeah that's neat how they smack against each other! Guess this is better than getting eaten, but not as fun as an actual fight. You're not strong enough for that though."

Deaf to Luffy's rambling, the kids cheered when the disk Sapphire Dragon triumphed.

"NOOOO!"

"YES! I banish your soul to the Phantom Realm!"

The loser fell over, eyes closed and tongue sticking out as he laid motionless.

"Why're you laying like that?" asked Luffy, remaining unaware they could not hear him. "Your soul feels fine."

Suddenly the 'soulless' kid popped back up, "Hah! Thanks to my pact with the Greek Gods, I am free of the Phantom Realm, back to wreak my vengeance!"

With that, the Duel Disc Contest for the Sake of the World resumed, with Luffy an avid spectator, cheering along with them.

Eventually though, the Vasto Lorde wandered off to follow some butterflies, followed by another romp among the dandelions.

"That looks fun."

Looking up, Luffy gave a sunny smile to Robin, "You bet!"

"Ooh, I want to try too!" cheered Chopper, handing Robin his share of the books they 'borrowed' before hugging the ground to get up close and personal with the plants. Chuckling, Robin knelt down to examine the dandelions too. "We should get a garden," she mused, knowing that there were proper flowers out there.

"Sure!" said her Senchou. "Hey Chopper! Let's go try that thing over there!"

"What thing?"

"The thing hanging by two ropes! A, uhm, swing? Yeah, swing! I'll push you first."

"Okay!"

—Seas of Souls—

Straw Hat Warehouse

Humming to himself, Franky finished up the final touches to his newest toys.

Peering over them curiously, Chopper queried, "So these are those 'Gigai?'"

"Yep. Apparently Shinigami use them when they want to interact physically with the World of the Living. Puts their body in a sort of fake, Human shell."

Franky was particularly interested in getting those going, as that way he would be able to properly appreciate cola again. The problem was that while the stuff he and the others had brought with them was made of the same matter as this world thanks to the conversion process, their bodies remained composed of Reishi. Fortunately they could still interact with the material world to a degree, and for some reason he had been able to taste the cola, but his body could not process it. His stomach had just been holding what he had drank, until Chopper removed it. Once he had a proper, physical body, it would be time for them to have fun.

(He still had no idea as to why they could go through walls, but then hold tools. His best guess though, until he and Robin had the chance to look at the computer records properly, was that even objects held a miniscule amount of Soul to them. Enough for him and the others to unconsciously manipulate to a limited degree.)

"Why would Arrancar have them?"

"Reading between the lines on what Robin said, basically the guy we ripped off is a weasely suck-up. He made them so he could prove to his master, that Aizen guy, he could. Plus have them available if Aizen ordered the Ethpada to infiltrate Karakura. That was his real reason. Lucky for us though, since he put in a lot of useful doo-dads."

"Oooh, like built-in rocket jets!" gasped Chopper.

"Super idea! I'll see what I can do for the next generation. Point is, we can retain some of our combat abilities despite being, quote, Human. Unquote. Also, they incorporate something to supposedly make them detectable only to fellow Arrancar. Apparently we've got some bracelets around here which do the same."

"Awesome!"

"I know, right!?" Leaning back, Franky folded his massive arms behind his head. "Just what we need to keep ourselves hidden away." He scowled a little. "Problem is we only have a few right now. These Gigai will take on the appearance of whichever one of us uses them, so no trouble there. Only that we can't all use them at the same time. It'll take me a while to get more up and running you understand."

"No problem," Chopper rubbed his hands together in anticipation. "Can I try one out first?"

"Sure can do!" boomed the equally giddy man.

—Seas of Souls—

The Straw Hats were all gathered together to watch the sunset.

However, the sight of the sun dipping down over the horizon did not make them sad, for they knew it would rise again for a new day.

More importantly, the city remained lit up showing it was still awake and alive, and a bunch of the Straw Hats remained just as active, ready to see what happened next.

Their adventures earlier today, and the ones to come, would be the first ripples of change across the world. Repercussions which would bring tears to gods, break armies and create other ones, inspire new forms of art and beauty, and shatter fate.

Not that the Straw Hats were concerned about such trivialities. Time to go see what fun they could have next! Party 'til they drop!

—Seas of Souls—

Author Notes:

Did a bunch of rewriting for chapters 2 and 5. Nothing major, but cleaned up the wording, and made a few small changes to improve consistency.

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Yeah, many readers were hoping for the last two chapters for Straw Hat shenanigans-and for good reason, as One Piece is the superior series. However, this story is not just about them. After all, it would quickly become a bland story if they were the sole individuals driving the plot, with the Bleach cast doing nothing but reacting.

Make no mistake, Ichigo and Co. will be active participants in what is to come, and while the Straw Hats may have started the AU ripples, many of decisive decisions to come will also be made by others, and it was important to lay the foundation as to how they will come to those opinions-for better or worse. Plus, it was a good opportunity to show the beginnings of said AU ripples. Finally, there is character development I want to see done for the Bleach cast, and it would be impractical and unlikely for them to be all connected to our favourite pirates.

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My thanks to Roo808 who brought up that point about poop, and made me wonder if maybe the reason that Luffy keeps asking about poop is because he sincerely does not. I mean, look at those times he rapidly processes an enormous amount of food and then gets right back to what he is doing . . .

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The part about how Halibel eats even with her face covered is a shout-out to "Sea of Second Chances" by OceanLord2017. Keep it up with those sharks! :-D

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I strongly recommend readers try out "Soul of Fire," by Zeionia aka Disturbed. It is a Naruto and Bleach crossover, and honestly probably the best example of a Bleach crossover I have read – I abstain from considering my own due to bias :-P – and seriously helped me get into Ichigo's character.

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Finally, I and other authors have been having difficulty getting PMs through email as usual. If you leave a comment on this fic and want to see my reply, check your PM folder on this site instead of email.

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Next Chapter: "Settling In—Nighttime"

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Please Review, and I will get back to you!