Drowning in Sand (Tier/Ichigo)

"I guess it is. I wouldn't have thought I'd be here, and I don't think anyone else would've either. But here we are, huh?"

After a few moments, Ichigo finally sat up, though it was really more of a lurch. After all, it took no small amount of mental energy even for that little display. Why even get up? Maybe it was, more than anything, the fact that he didn't know this woman. She wasn't a friend, she wasn't an enemy. She was just there. Barely any different from the sand he'd gotten used to.

"How long have you been looking?"

"Good luck."

There was a genuine ring to that statement, though it was still by and large covered by his overwhelming lack of motivation to even speak. Caring about anything was something Ichigo saw no reason to do at this point in his life, but he also knew to the depths of his core how painful it was not to have those you loved at your side. Even someone like Tier, who he could hardly say he knew at all, earned a bit of genuine care from him just on those grounds alone.

"I guess we are. Maybe it's just coincidence, maybe he rubbed off on me. I don't think much about it."

Ah, now those words did get a reaction from him. It wasn't much, but Ichigo's expression certainly soured. It was one thing to prod at himself, at his own state. But to drag everything that had happened before into it, and to insinuate that this was in some abstract way a proof that Aizen had been onto something, was enough to make him move from sitting to standing.

"Whether or not I turned out like Ulqiorra, and whether or not Aizen left him to fight me, that's not what matters. Compared to everything that came later, that was so much easier."

So why did it bother him? Why did it eat at him? He, who hadn't cared about anything in centuries, was now decidedly angry. Those times he held dear...they were being called into question, even slightly. They were all he still had.

He looked off toward the horizon and began to walk. He didn't know where he was going. He just knew she was wrong. That he wouldn't stand for that. He spoke to her as he walked, but he didn't look back.

"Who knows? But we'll see each other again either way."

He'd prove her wrong. One way or another.

For a moment, Ichigo stopped. He didn't look back at the woman that had asked his question, and really, he wasn't even sure if she would hear him respond. But it also didn't matter one way or the other. He had to answer, even if he couldn't explain why. Maybe it was just on principle, some sort of respect for the fact that she'd managed to make him angry.

"Yeah. That's a promise."

And off he went once more, aimlessly trudging through the sands of Hueco Mundo. He didn't know where he was going. He didn't know what he was supposed to be doing. But he wouldn't let her be right. That much he knew.