Chapter 18 - Black Hollow

(Genryujin's POV)

"Ara ara, Isshin Shiba had a son?" Kisuke said, "That's something else." 

"Hehe, good for him." Yoruichi said as she took a chug from a soda can, "What's his name?" 

"Ichigo." I said

I was in the shop, eating junk food with Yoruichi and Kisuke, sitting down in the table. I decided to come to Karakura and just hang out because I was bored. 

"That's a good name." Kisuke said, "I wonder if he'll grow up to be a good Shinigami like his father." 

I shrugged, "We'll see." I said

"I bet Katori is elated about it." Yoruichi said with a smirk

I sighed, "She has baby fever." I said, "It's hard to deal with....poor girl, I can't do much about it. We've tried for a long time, maybe it's me who's the problem..." 

"Ara, Gen-chan! Don't think that way!" Kisuke exclaimed, "That is a negative way of looking at things. You know we Souls don't reproduce like humans. Souls come to being as the cycle of the natural order, that is all." 

"Yea, Gen." Yoruichi said, "Besides, if Katori truly wants to be a mother, why don't you ask Retsu to make a child with you? You all are still married, it won't matter much." 

"Retsu is a Captain, she doesn't have time for that." I said, "I don't know....I'll ask her.....it's been such a long time since I've had that conversation with Retsu....Last time we spoke about it, she was still known as Kenpachi." 

"Ara, that's a long time...." Kisuke said

"Yea...." I said, "I'm married to two Gotei 13 Captains, the only one that has time and wants a kid cannot have.....or maybe, like I said....." 

"Don't say that." Yoruichi said, "Your seed is potent, I can tell." 

I raised an eyebrow, "What?" 

"Hehe." Yoruichi smirked, "Joking....want to cheer you up, that's all." 

"Yea...." I said, "Well-...What the fuck is that??" 

For some reason, I felt an odd and immense spiritual pressure off into the distance. It felt like a Hollow's a strong one. But it was strange, it was mixed with that of a shinigami's as well....

I stood up as Yoruichi and Kisuke felt it too. 

"Whoa..." Yoruichi said, "That feels like a strong one.....shall I go and handle it, Kisuke?" 

"No. It's in the territory of the 10th Division's patrolling route." Kisuke said, "If they see us, we'll be in trouble. Well, at least if we engage in any hollow fighting...." 

"I'll handle it." I said

"Gen, your Gigai is severely limited to your Reiatsu's 1% output." Yoruichi said, "This feels like an Adjuchas or Vasto Lorde, you can't-" 

"I said I'll handle it." I said as I drew my sword, "I'll fucking handle it...." 

"Be careful, Gen-chan." Kisuke said, "I'll be on standby, just in case." 

*******************************************

"What the hell are you?" I said as I faced off with the humanoid hollow

It was pitch black, tall, and had two massive curved blades as arms. The mask it had, however, was white. And there was one distinctive trait about it as well; its hole was filled with some flesh-like substance. 

I had no idea what kind of Hollow this one was. It had a mixed reiatsu, that of a hollow's and of a shinigami's. And its power was on par with that of a high-level Adjuchas and border-line Vasto Lorde.

It looked at me as it's red eyes glowed, "Grrr....." It let out a low growl

It stood over the bodies of three shinigami, members of Isshin's Squad. 

"Tch...." I said as I raised my blade, "You fucking abomination. Come, I'll put you down!!" 

In an instant, it disappeared. 

I then immediately parried its two blades as it appeared again to my left. The force of the impact was strong enough to send me reeling a couple of inches. 

"Rrrrrrrr....." It growled

I straightened up as I looked at it, it seemed like it was surprised at me parrying its attack. 

"What?" I said as I readied a stance, "Is it because of my Reiatsu? Don't be stupid, I don't need Reiatsu to deal with weak hollows like you. My Zanpakuto is all I need....I am the Sword God, after all..." 

It then lunged at me with blinding speed, swinging its blades at me with rapid speeds. I easily parried the blades, this time, bracing myself to withstand the impact.

I then kicked the Hollow in the chest, sending it reeling back as I thrust my blade at it, piercing its shoulder and swinging it upwards and causing a massive gash. 

"RAAAAAARRRRRRR!!!!!" It bellowed in pain as blood gushed out

"Tch." I said as I followed up with a swing

The Hollow immediately parried my swing as it tried to counter with its blades. I saw this coming and took several steps back, avoiding its swing as it let out a deep growl. 

"Damn..." I said as I parried the attacks with ease, "You're quite tough, huh?" 

"GRRRRRR....." It growled as it swept at my legs

Its leg hit mine and caused me to trip. It then took this opportunity to swing its blade at me with such ferocity that I would've been cut in two if I was some random shinigami. 

I wasn't, though.

I parried the blade and jumped away to compose myself, reading my blade as the hollow's wound began to close. 

It was shaking violently as it glared at me. Something was off about it.

I had no idea that it would be capable of doing what it just did. A leg swipe isn't unbecoming of a humanoid hollow, they're beasts that might think of animalistic behaviors during combat. I wasn't surprised if it was capable of kicking a leg. 

But to swipe at My legs during combat? While I'm using a sword? Now, that was surprising. And to top it off, it managed to stumble me. Nobody, not even Gramps would ever think of doing such a thing while in sword combat with me. Not to mention the fact that I noticed a shift in its attack patterns, even a slight one. 

In this brief exchange I just had, I could tell that this thing was dangerous. Even a normal Shinigami might have trouble with a regular hollow. This one was a Death Sentence. 

But so am I. 

"Come." I said, "Whatever you are, I will make sure to kill you thoroughly." 

The hollow then looked to my right, letting out a deep growl. 

"Huh?" I said as it lunged past me

I turned around to see a familiar face standing at the corner. The Quincy Girl; Masaki. 

Masaki had a look of surprise on her face, almost as if she didn't expect to run into this. 

"GET OUT THE WAY!!!" I yelled as I lunged toward the Hollow

The Hollow swung its blade at Masaki, but she was able to jumped out of the way at the last second, tripping in the process and falling to the ground. 

"Ah!" She yelled out

The Hollow braced itself as I lunged at it and immediately swung its blade back at me as I reached it. 

"Fuck!!" I said as I blocked the attack 

The force of the blade was so strong it reeled me back even further. 

Was this intentional? Did it lunge at Masaki to bait me into this? I wonder how much damage the blade would've done if I didn't block it. 

"You bastard, you're adapting to the fight??" I said, "What are you?!" 

Its blade then glowed white as it swung it at me, sending an energy slice. 

I parried the attack as it dispersed, causing me to buckle slightly. This was pure reiatsu thrown at me, it was heavy, very fucking heavy. 

It felt like this thing was evolving rapidly, I wonder what the fuck it was. It must be some sort of modified Hollow, no regular Hollow was like this. 

I was about to lunge at it again when it let out a deafening roar that caused an immense spiritual pressure strong enough to immobilize me for a second. 

"Shit!!!" I said as I covered my ears, "What the fuck?" 

I blinked, seeing Masaki in the Hollow's maw, her shoulder bleeding profusely. 

"W-What?" I said 

What the fuck just happened?! It was so fast, I didn't see it. Were my senses disrupted? Something didn't feel right!!! 

"Ahh....." Masaki groaned as I began to run towards them, "What was that? Some sort of.....disruption of the senses?" 

So she felt it too?

"Masaki!!!" I said as I drew my blade, "Hang still, I'll-" 

"Either way, I gotcha, stupid hollow," Masaki said

I saw as she fired off an arrow from her hand straight at the Hollow's head, causing it to stumble backwards as it shrieked in pain. 

Masaki collapsed to the ground, clutching her shoulder. 

"Tch..." I said as the Hollow thrashed around in pain, "You fucking shit....." 

In an instant, I swung my blade at its neck, cutting clean through.

I heard its head dropping to the ground, followed by its body. 

I turned around to see the Hollow's corpse in front of Masaki as she panted slightly. 

"You!!" I exclaimed, "What the fuck were you doing here?! You could've died!!!!" 

She managed a smile, "S-Sorry..." She said, "I know how it seems....this was pure....coincidence, I promise....." 

I knelt down and pressed down on her wound, it was deep and looked terrible. 

"Ahh!" She yelped

"I gotta apply pressure to stop the bleeding." I said, "Didn't you use your Blut? You Quincies are supposed to use that for defense." 

"I tried...." Masaki said, "But something weird happened.....I...." 

"I know." I said, "I know what you mean....Wait....what's that sound?" 

I heard a loud humming, followed by the rise of reiatsu. I turned around to see the Hollow's corpse glowing brightly. 

"Shit." I said grabbing Masaki, "Self-Destruction?" 

"It's gonna blow!"