To Drown a Strawberry (Tier/Ichigo)

"No."

No other words needed to be given to Tier, at least not as Ichigo saw it. He would be the first to admit that he'd come to respect her more than most, maybe even like her in some small fashion from their time traveling together. But that didn't change that Ichigo had his own ambitions, his own aims. If she'd decided to get in his way, then he'd just cut her down. What was one more loss along the way? Especially after only such a short time.

Drawing his zanpakuto and leveling it toward Tier to match her hostility, his eyes remained cold, empty. Hollow. There was certainly camaraderie to be found, but it would not stand in the way of what was far more important to him.

"If I kneel, I can't walk forward. And nothing will stop me from moving now. You should know that."

She's fast, certainly, but Ichigo is faster. Even after all this time, after all the decades since he'd put any meaningful effort into it, he could feel his body move away from the incoming blade at speeds far beyond what most would call the pinnacle. He was, even now, a straightforward man, and his blade met Tier's with a resounding 'clang' that echoed through the sands.

In truth, Ichigo had thought better of Tier. He felt faintly betrayed, and he wasn't sure how justified that really was. Was this all her ambition? Was she willing to cut herself away that quickly?

Then again, the only thing that had ever held it together to begin with had been his own wishes.

Part of him wanted to ask her what the point of this even was, but most of him couldn't be bothered to care. Stepping backward for only the briefest of moments, Ichigo moved to Tier's side, toward her left and away from her sword hand, and cut upward with his zanpakuto. He doubted that would do much to her, but he also knew he was far too fast for most to keep up with in the heat of battle.

So she wanted to catch him, then? Face him head on? Fine. Ichigo was confident in his strength, if nothing else, and as Tier aimed a cero upward toward him, he fired a blood red cero right back. Once upon a time, it had come from between the two horns of his mask, but now it simply floated where those had met.

At the same time, he used all his strength to simply wrench his sword away, fully intent on either breaking or tossing Tier's zanpakuto to the side. He was confident that, in sheer physical might, he was stronger than she was. Even if he wasn't, he would manage just fine.

"I'm not here to outsmart you. If you want to fight me, then I'll fight you head on."

Trying to overwhelm him? A barrage of cero wasn't nearly enough to give Ichigo even the slightest pause. Those cero he couldn't match with his own, he simply avoided, his speed more than enough to make evasive action a relative breeze. He could certainly feel the impact of those few he had to face with his own, but it wasn't enough to faze him. Not yet.

With one step, his sonido combined with his sheer speed, Ichigo moved up to meet Tier once more, and as he came closer, he swung his zanpakuto in a wide arc, black and blood red energy swelling around the blade before flying from it in an arc. His voice came out empty, a hollow growl rather than the proud declaration which had once accompanied that technique:

"Getsuga Tensho."

If Tier wanted to continue trading blows, then Ichigo would keep up. Maybe he didn't have any right to, and he felt every action draining on his soul itself. But that didn't matter much to him at all right now. No matter what, he couldn't afford to kneel, couldn't afford to give up. What mattered to him above everything else was getting her back.

Seeing her smile again.

It wasn't easy to dodge Tier's attack, but it wasn't impossible, either, and as she approached once more he again lashed out with his blade. He wasn't one for finesse, for technique, and that had only become more and more true with every year that passed here in Hueco Mundo. His attacks were unrefined, raw strikes that aimed only to destroy what was in front of him. Did he like that idea? No, not really. Tier had traveled with him, even if it was only briefly. He'd never admit it to any of them, and maybe not even to himself, but he'd warmed to the little band that had formed around him.

But just because he'd warmed to them, that didn't mean anything if Tier wanted to stand in his way. He had a goal, and that was all that mattered at the end of the day. His blows were ones ready to kill, to cut Tier down without mercy.