Shirou could feel the hollow coming from the distance and it was coming right at their direction.
'Not good.'
Orihime also seemed to notice it and looked at him.
Looking back at her, he gave a small nod. He would handle this problem.
"I just remembered that I need to buy something else. Can you go with Inoue first, Tatsuki?"
"Hm?" Tatsuki raised her eyebrows in question, "What is it? I can buy it for you. No need to make us wait."
"No need to. My house is close so it will be safer for you girls to just go there. It's already night after all. And what I need to buy is just... some spices." Shirou made up an excuse and showed her a smile.
Orihime immediately knew what was happening, and so she decided to help Shirou by adding her words to the conversation.
"Yes, I am scared walking at night alone." She said with a fake fear on her voice, "So please accompany me, Tatsuki-chan. I will feel safe with you there. It's okay, right? We will wait in Shirou's home with the others."
She tugged Tatsuki's shirt, causing her to sigh.
"Yeah yeah. Whatever. Let's go then." Tatsuki shrugged her shoulders, her eyes looking at Shirou with suspicion. "Just come back quickly. We are hungry, you know. Especially this glutton."
"Hey! Don't call me glutton!" Orihime protested but Tatsuki just chuckled and ignored her, walking ahead and leaving her behind.
Smiling wryly at them, he turned around to face where he felt the reiatsu was coming from. His eyes narrowed dangerously and he disappeared from where he stood with Hirenkyaku, appearing high in the sky above Karakura.
From this position, he could easily spot the Hollow. A strange creature that had a white skull as a mask, and its body was black, covered with a hole on their chest.
Its shape was like a bird's with wings and claws on its legs. It had a long beak, sharp and pointy.
However, its reiatsu was higher than a normal hollow. Most probably it's strong enough to take on a Shinigami officer, which was not good at all.
But he was not scared. Instead, he was calm. His face showed no emotion as he looked down at it.
"Trace, on."
A black bow appeared in his hand, with blue light dancing on the tip of his finger. The spiritual pressure around him became thicker, almost visible to the eyes as the air itself became heavy.
He aimed his arrow, his gaze was focused on the enemy. He traced an arrow and knocked it to the bowstring.
Light danced around him as he reinforced the bow with his magic. He took a deep breath, calming himself and he could feel the world around him becoming still, waiting for him to take his action.
Shirou's mind was now blank. Everything around him became nothing, as he only focused on the hollow, which noticed him as soon as he traced his weapon.
It screamed loudly, its voice distorted like it came out from an old radio. The Hollow turned around and flew at Shirou, aiming its sharp beak to stab him.
Shirou took a deep breath and exhaled. His eyes focused on the hollow and then...
Thwang!
The arrow was released and it hit its target right in the middle of its head.
"Gwaaakk!" The hollow screamed as the arrow destroyed half of its mask.
Usually, hollows would die after a fatal injury like that, but this hollow didn't. Instead, it seemed to have gone into a frenzy.
"You!" It growled at Shirou. "I will kill you!"
Its reiatsu suddenly spiked up as it grabbed a sword that Shirou somehow missed on his waist. From the shape of it, the sword should have a considerable length and looked eerily similar to Zanpakutou.
Even when Shirou used structural grasp on it, he could only deduce the sword as a Zanpakutou. Just that it was still not bonded perfectly yet, a normal weapon that couldn't even turn into Shikai. A weapon that couldn't even match against a Shikai, or so he thought.
More importantly, 'What the hell? How could a hollow get a Zanpakutou?!'
Something like this wasn't supposed to exist in this world. Or was it a case where someone dropped their Zanpakutou in this world? It's not something that could happen, but it's not like Shirou could deny it.
Not when the Hollow had a Zanpakutou on his hand.
Shirou dodged a horizontal slash that could have cut his torso in two if it hit. He jumped back, maintaining the distance between them and creating more arrows, firing them in quick succession.
The arrows split the air and left a red trail behind. It pierced a few parts of the Hollow's body, creating another hole like the one in its chest, but it's not enough to bring it down.
The Hollow roared, its beak opened as if it was going to devour him. Its claws glinted with bloodlust, and it charged toward the boy.
'Its attack is getting wilder, but its power is getting stronger. Is this hollow's ability?' Shirou mused.
The Hollow swung its sword, cutting the air as it tried to slice Shirou in half.
At that moment, the black bow disappeared and was replaced by a twin sword.
A loud clang resounded as the swords met, sparks flying and a metallic smell permeating the air. The force behind the strike caused Shirou's arm to feel numb, his muscles screaming at him to let go of the swords.
He jumped back, his body twisting to dodge another swing of its blade.
'This is not a good time to hold back. It's too strong for a normal Hollow.'
Maybe this was the new hollow that Ichigo talked about.
'I need to face this one seriously.'
Standing on top of a platform he created from Reishi, Shirou reinforced his body and disappeared. He reappeared behind the Hollow, and with Kanshou and Bakuya, Shirou struck the Hollow from both sides of its body, making a cross shaped scar on it.
Its body was cut into four pieces and disappeared into the air. The fate of its soul was unknown because what Shirou used was not a Zanpakutou.
Shirou watched the disappearing Hollow before sighing.
This hollow was definitely a strange existence. Something stronger than a normal one yet weaker than a seated officer from Gotei 13.
'I will have to ask dad or Urahara-san about this.'
Unfortunately the former was busy and he didn't know whether the latter would tell him or now. And it was already night so it's not really the best time to visit his store.
He then jumped down from the platform and landed on the street.
For now he would make the best sandwich he promised Inoue.