In the Forest of Menos, there was not that much sand. More often, there were endless forests of ghastly white trees, and boundless darkness divided by their trunks.
Acidwire had lived here year after year, killing Hollows year after year.
He no longer knew how many blades he had broken, nor how many times he had buried his comrades' bodies beneath this sandy ground.
It seemed he was even close to forgetting his own name.
He remembered only that for every Hollow he slew here, there would be one fewer Hollow in the Living World.
So he swung his blade day and night, cutting down every Hollow that entered his field of vision.
Why did he do it?
So that the people of the Living World would not suffer Hollow attacks, for the final wishes of his fallen comrades, and for the peace buried deep within his heart.
Perhaps it was all of those reasons. Perhaps it was none of them.
But through those long years, he had to keep doing something to hold on to his soul. Otherwise, one day, in this void, his soul too would become part of the pale sand and dust.
More than any of that, though, he did not want to forget the faces of his companions.
He looked at White Sugar, and she seemed to overlap with a familiar face from his memories, though there were also slight differences.
Seeing Acidwire like this, Asano Kiyoshi knew that his mind was likely still in an unstable state. So he did not choose to provoke him and merely said gently:
"No matter what mission you have, no mission should leave you without a moment to rest after more than a hundred years! Now, in my capacity as Chief Kido Master, I order you! You're off