Date written: 29/07/09 – 06/08/09
Posted on FanFiction: 10/08/09
A/N: Another plan gone awry, I had thought that after writing Chapter 12. I wanted the battle to be pretty straightforward but I guess free writing a fight makes it unpredictable, like how most real-life fights tend to be. It all comes down to instinct, condition, skills, and precognition as to what your actions will possibly entail. I keep these thoughts in mind while writing a fight. That way, it keeps everything in a definite sense of uncertainty on how the battle will go. Though free writing can cause some plot holes, I find no fault other than that.
Anyway, I thought I was making a huge risk in giving Emi her name this early in the story, but only one reviewer (not telling who) was able to point out a half-truth of her real origins. Other than that, I think Emi's secret is still pretty much shrouded. And I'm excited for this chapter because I'm introducing an enemy I'll be surfacing in my original arc, but that won't come until Part 2. I have to straighten up some issues with Soul Society first. I found some Bleach fanfics that implement this idea, but they're mostly about the Arrancars and not the Hollows themselves. If anybody knows any fanfic that have the kind of Hollow mentioned in the last sentence of this chapter, would they kindly tell me? I'd like to compare notes, so there would at least be some originality (if the mere appearance of it is not enough . . .).
Apart from that, I think my attention over this fic is diminishing at an alarming rate. I'm busy six days per week, which gives me very little time for writing and getting some of my thoughts together. Here's to hoping that I won't be abandoning this story anytime soon. Balancing between schoolwork and my time on the keyboard doesn't really help.
--- CHAPTER 13 ---
6-17: The Ghost of You
"Curse?" Orihime repeated in disbelief. "Wait. I don't understand. What do you mean she is a curse unwillingly given to me by my father?"
The kimono woman paused, almost uttering out the first word for her reply. Taking a deep breath, she said, "Not actually 'unwillingly given,' but rather a curse your father had to live with and it passed onto you. No one would've thought that it was hereditary."
"And she—Emi-san—is taking control of my body right now to fight that black Hollow?"
The older woman nodded. "Yes. But please refrain from calling that creature 'Black Hollow.' It is more than that."
"Then what is it?"
"I cannot answer that. Your father had dealt with its kind before, and he wished for you to not get involved too deeply with the information he found and shared with me."
"Then how—"
"I cannot answer how he shared it with me as well," she interrupted. Throughout the conversation, the kimono woman was calm and her answers were to-the-point. "The past is left forgotten, as I've told you before. Please trust me on this. Your father went through great lengths and vows he made me take to keep you in the dark. All I am doing is honoring his last words before he let the Inoues adopt you . . . before he sacrificed himself."
"Then he's dead . . ." Orihime whispered. It was a shock to realize that she really was adopted, but she didn't expect that her biological father had been willing to sacrifice his life for her safety. To be truthful to herself, Orihime admitted that she was having mixed feelings over the sacrifice—whatever it may be—had done to ensure her safety. It was her own father who saved her, but she didn't know the person. And with the kimono woman's tight lips, she wouldn't learn any more than what she already knew. And that left a question: Why was he willing to shut everything about himself to his own daughter like that?
The kimono woman nodded at her, even though Orihime said that sentence as a declaration rather than an inquiry.
Orihime took a deep breath, similar to how her zanpakuto's spirit did it. She then asked, "What about my mother?"
The woman replied, "I'm not restricted to tell you about her, but I know very little. I apologize for this, but your mother died right after giving birth to you."
Orihime's heart sank. Both of her biological parents were dead before she could remember either of them.
"Your father told me that Misato-san—that's your mother's name—had a weak constitution. She wished to give birth to you at home rather than the hospital but . . . she finally relented with your father's plea in giving birth in the hospital. Unfortunately, there were still complications during labor. The strain was too much for her and she died minutes later.
"If there was one thing your father was sure about during the final moments of Misato-san's life, it would be that your mother loved you until her last breath."
Orihime was silent. She needed time to get over the shock and the revelations.
And thankfully, the kimono woman understood her enough to let everything be solved in the fragile world of silence.
Emi smiled. Her opponent was following her like a dog trying to catch up to a sly fox, and it was just the way she wanted it. What she had in store wouldn't exactly work if it didn't. Preferably, to her, it was more fun to have it following her than not following at all. Whether its target was mainly that Rukia girl was not much of her concern. She saw the way that bitch was looking at her Ichigo, and she'd be damned if any other girl were to get any closer to her man. Orihime was an exception, though; they were, more or less, the same person after all.
It would take less than a while for her to get to Ichigo-kun's area, but that was if she were to put all of her powers to her speed. Currently, she felt like she was running like a snail even though her opponent had a difficult time catching up. This was boring. She didn't mind playing a game of 'Tag,' but the restrictions she would have to make to keep things a little fair was extremely tiresome and also a bother to her fun time. Well, she would have to correct that slight problem.
Stepping on some dry earth, since it rained a while ago, Emi turned around and waited for her shrouded enemy to appear. It didn't disappoint her, as when it took its sights at her standing under a tree, with her hands settled beside her hips, it acted purely out of fighting instinct and came at her without hesitation.
She easily dodged the lunge, though she underestimated the range of her enemy's attack, which caused her to sport a small incision on her left arm. No matter.
The enemy still had the power of its attack's momentum, so it needed a second or two to regain a few of its bearings to about-face and go for a second strike. Two seconds was more than enough for Emi to take advantage of the situation.
Faster than the eye could see, she grabbed onto her enemy's long, slimy (she was disgusted to find out) mass of hair. And with power far beyond comprehension for a simple, orange-haired high school girl wearing a black kimono only in appearance, she yanked onto the hair and began dragging the poor creature without remorse. She didn't have to; these things kill without remorse, so what was stopping her from doing the same to them?
Surprisingly, the creature didn't put up much of a fight. What a big disappointment.
Emi hoped that the Hollow Ichigo-kun was fighting would be more fun to battle than the massive waste of space she had unluckily been stuck with.
Hands clenched, legs pushed to the limit, and eyes filled with determination, Rukia sprinted with all her gigai could handle. This was a sorry excuse for a faux body if she was limited to only the speed of an ordinary human. If she were in her shinigami form, she would've caught up with that other Orihime and the Hollow who was following the brown-eyed shinigami without gasping for air. Honestly, it was like she was a new recruit of the Shinigami Academy all over again!
She felt bad leaving Orihime's body like that, but there was just something unnerving about the Hollow and the brown-eyed Orihime that Rukia couldn't stand around and let things happen without her witnessing it. She needed more information about the presence of Orihime's alter-ego and what that would exactly entail, if by chance, that she wasn't really on their side. Rukia had to be prepared for anything, so she needed any possible intel she could possibly find.
Turning to her right, she took a moment to estimate how much steps the stairs she would have to climb had. She thought it was twelve. And she didn't really care.
Panting a little as her feet met the top of the stairs, she looked around for any visible clue as to where her targets went. That other Orihime had a destination in mind, but Rukia wasn't really sure. It was hard for her to sense the exact whereabouts of particular spirits, which was why she had the radar inside her cell phone. Wait . . . that's it!
Rukia dug out her cell phone and switched to radar mode. She found two targets within a three-mile radius: The altered Hollow and the other Hollow that appeared just recently. Both were close to each other, located twenty-three degrees and eighteen minutes, north of west, from her position. She headed for that direction, while taking occasional glances back at the radar to be sure that she was still heading at her intended destination.
She could tell that the farthest blip was stationary, which meant that something was keeping it from moving. Either it was Ichigo fighting it or it found some helpless souls to feed on. Rukia hoped it was former, but then again she hoped it was the latter, too, but to a lesser extent. If her hunch was right, then the other Orihime was luring the altered Hollow towards where Ichigo and the Hollow were fighting. Rukia was still unsure over what kind of person this alter-ego of the airhead was, or if her agendas were with them or against them, so she was worried over what this turn of events would do to her, Orihime, and, more dangerously, Ichigo.
She quickened her pace.
There was a flash of orange that entered her vision, and she instinctively yelled out, "Ichigo!"
The blob of orange halted. It was definitely Ichigo, but the expression he had was a far cry to what you would usually see there. In a nutshell, he didn't have his scowl. Rukia knew, then, right away that it was Kon.
"Huh?" His eyes then brightened. "Nee-san, you're alive!"
Yup, definitely Kon.
"Where's Ichigo?" She took note of the two bodies he was carrying under each of his arms. Two little girls, one black-haired, the other was a dark shade of blond.
"Back there"—Kon gestured, with his head, to the direction behind him—"and fighting with an ugly-ass Hollow. Come to think of it, I thought I saw Orihime-chan heading there, too."
"Did you see the Hollow trailing her?"
"No. All I saw was something black she was dragging with her hand."
"Something black?"
"She was running too fast!" Kon defended. "One second she was there, the next she was behind me while dragging along a mass of bla—" He paused. A hit of realization entered his features. "She was dragging that Hollow!"
There was a sound of thunder. Light flashed from above as Rukia felt the wet drops of rain hitting on the top of her head. It looked like it had started raining a few minutes ago; she only noticed it now. Not only that, the image of Orihime's physical body lying on the pavement, soaking in the rain.
"Kon, I need you to go back to where we first encountered the Hollow and retrieve Inoue-san's body. You must then get as far away from that place as possible."
"You don't need to tell me twice," he answered. "I also have to get Ichigo's sisters out of harm's way, too."
"Get all three of them to the shrine not far from here. Stay there until we come for you."
"All right, but come back quickly, please." He looked sheepish as his eyes traveled down to the blonde. "I have a bad experience with Yuzu here, and her mere presence is making me nervous."
"Suck your pride and wait for us."
"Nee-san, you're so cruel!"
Rukia didn't waste time to let him have the benefit of saying that sentence right to her face. She was already sprinting again, hoping to get there in time.
Ichigo didn't like his opponent. Not because he was being ass-handled like a ragdoll but because he just didn't like his opponent. It was simple dislike that slowly escalated into something that touched the borders of hatred. He also didn't like his opponent because of its arrogance. The guy was too full of himself, yet Ichigo couldn't deny that there was some proof to back up some of the guy's more flamboyant claims. At least he now knew that the Hollow's name was Grand Fisher. But what really set something off within him was that last comment it made.
"It's been a while since I've eaten a shinigami. Mostly, my preferences are women and children, and how I'd lure them into their doom."
Ichigo fought with everything he could; he really did. But there was such a huge gap between his capabilities and the experience this massive Hollow had when fighting against shinigami. And what made it an even bigger gap was that Grand Fisher had killed experienced and powerful shinigami, compared to his mediocre skills in swordplay and experiences with low-leveled Hollows. Ichigo had prowess when it came to saving lives, but he didn't know how far that would go when it came to saving his own life.
There was pain in his arm, pain in his left leg, pain on his back, and pain in his chest. Not on his chest, but in it. That bastard caught Ichigo off-guard and stabbed him with one of its sharp tentacles hidden deeply inside its furry mane. He was merely keeping up with him due to the adrenaline rush. The current pain was toned down significantly that Ichigo was sure that he'd be feeling each wound with a vengeance once he got through this and the rush dissipated.
"What's the matter, shinigami? Had enough fooling around?"
Ichigo smirked. "No. I'm just waiting for your ass to make your next move. I'll be sure to swipe your head clean next time."
"Hah! A mere crack on my mask compared to the several wounds I've inflicted upon your person is proof of your recklessness. Don't you think it's time for a retreat yet?"
"Like I'd run away from you, jackass." He readied his sword.
"Good. Reckless as well as stupid. The perfect meal. But I want to have a little more fun before killing you. Let's see . . ." Grand Fisher presented its lure to Ichigo like an anglerfish. The little girl lure stared at Ichigo with its eyes before it slowly morphed into someone else. "Anyone look familiar, shinigami?"
Ichigo's eyes widened.
"Ichigo," a female voice whispered.
"No . . . no . . ."
His grip on his zanpakuto quivered. It was like staring into the past at a time before her death. Every feature, every detail, it was all her. So much like her that Ichigo was having a hard time believing that this was not her.
"Still think you have the guts to attack me?" Grand Fisher asked. He wiggled the lure, inching it closer to Ichigo's face. "She's really here, you know. You don't really want to hurt dear ol' Mama now, right—"
"—Ichigo?" Masaki finished.
"M . . . Mo—"
Ichigo felt pain. In his peripheral vision, he saw something red jutting out of the stomach of his mother, leading straight towards his chest. He saw it stabbed into the middle of his torso, where he felt searing pain, where blood was gushing out from the new hole.
But he wasn't one to give up. He lifted his left hand and tightly held onto the tentacle that pierced right through him, while his eyes darted at the face of a woman he had once sworn to protect but failed. Those beautiful eyes that had shown compassion and understanding before that fateful day were nothing more than glass orbs portraying that kind of feeling.
It was a fake. Everything about this Masaki was a fake. But for the life of him he just couldn't let go. Whether it'd be fake or real, there was always a small part of his heart that told him that it was his mother, that his mother was back and here to stay. Childish and hopeless, yet Ichigo couldn't swerve away that feeling in his heart because of his denial. If this were to go on, he would be fighting a one-sided battle as him being on the losing side.
In a sad twist of fate, Grand Fisher was right. He cannot hurt his mother.
Before he realized it, his hand's grip on the tentacle loosened, and then dropped altogether. It was like he lost the will to fight.
"Giving up, I see," Grand Fisher said.
There was nothing left for him to do. He thought of his father, his sisters, his friends from school, the bizarre relationship he had with a midget who called herself a shinigami. He even thought of the times he spent with his mother. But as the images flash through his mind twice the speed of the fastest bullet train, there was one set of images that was going slower. Voices in his head. Memories of that person's voice.
"Good morning, Kurosaki-kun."
"I'm not a defenseless girl, Kurosaki-kun. I can take care of myself."
"Why won't you let me help you?"
"Am I so pathetic that you don't want me to help you?"
"I want to help you, can't you see that?"
Orihime.
They were all about Orihime. From sadness to excitement to every emotion she had expressed in his presence. Ichigo was reliving those moments in time in a slow pace, which was different from all the others. It was as if his subconscious was treating only Orihime different from all the people he'd known, even his family. If so, what was Orihime to him?
What was she to him?
Ichigo blinked as a flash of light snapped him from pondering. When he opened his eyes again, he saw the tentacle still firmly stabbed right between his stomach and chest, but the rest of it was severed. The lure of his mother was inching away from his defenseless form as Grand Fisher screamed in pain.
"You bitch!" it yelled.
He saw black and orange to his right. Trying to stay focused as much as he could but the loss of blood was slowly taking its effects on his body, he saw the orange figure standing right where she had one hand on the black thing and the other on her hip.
"You shinigami are all annoying bugs."
That girl was Orihime. Ichigo was sure, but that pose spoke differently. Combined that with the yawn he just saw her do, it would look more like she was actually Orihime's long lost twin, who had the polar opposite personality. He remembered meeting only one person that radiated an air of dominance, a distinct level of self-esteem, and how she seemed to think more highly of herself than others. Only one person.
"I won't hold back any longer," Grand Fisher stated at the girl.
With his vision somewhat clear again—though he had to squint his eyes to achieve it—he was able to get a good look of her irises: Chocolate brown. It was her.
It was definitely her.
"This has gone far enou—"
As if tired of the Hollow's dragging monologue, brown-eyed Orihime threw the black thing towards it, hitting it directly in the face. Ichigo didn't know how much power she used with that throw, but he had to admit she had a really good arm when the Hollow got pushed back to a few trees when the black thing hit it.
Ichigo tried to stand up but he found his knees shaking and his eyes heavy. His reaction time had diminished as well. He was not fit to continue the fight, but he didn't want to back down. This battle was far from over. All he had to do was stand back up, raise his sword, and . . . and . . . and what? He was injured, beaten, and close to turning up unconscious. The only thing keeping him up was his fighting spirit, and even that was damaged and small.
Damn it! On your feet, he thought, forcibly trying to make his legs stand erect.
"Don't force yourself, cutie," a voice whispered erotically in his ear. It came out of nowhere and so suddenly that Ichigo had let his instincts act first before his mind could comprehend the message. So with an adequate bit of knowledge he had in karate, he swiftly went for an elbow to the gut while facing away from her. His reaction to the situation, however, was slow. Instead of hitting a gut, his triceps was on the receiving end of a well-placed punch that sent some kind of nerve-electrocution through his whole arm. It was as painful as getting tazered . . . though he didn't really have the experience to compare it with.
"Now, now. Play nice, all right?"
Ichigo grunted in response, while nursing his 'electrocuted' limb.
"What?" the other Orihime asked. "No appreciation or even a 'thank you for saving my tail'? You're quite the snob, cutie."
"Like I asked for any of your help," he retorted indignantly. When he turned to face her, their eyes met. And suddenly, Ichigo was lost inside her captivating brown eyes. No, not again.
One smooth hand went to rub affectionately on his cheek, and he couldn't stop the tingles coursing down his spine from the contact. She blew hot air between his lips, as if she wanted them to filter her breath as they enter the inside of his mouth. Another hand reached for the back of his head, slowly guiding it towards a place where he had a faint sense of déjà vu. And through these moments of sensual actions, Ichigo was paralyzed to halt her advancements. It felt like he had lived through this before . . . but where, he couldn't remember nor was he sure if it really did occur. This was the first time he had ever been so close in proximity to a woman's soft and luscious assets.
"Like what you see?"
He couldn't reply.
Suddenly, there was a roar coming from behind him. He tried to turn, but his eyes were still fixated at the pair of alluring brown orbs and his body was still in a state of consternation that it was impossible for him to take a peak.
"Oh. I guess he didn't have enough, did he?"
"I will kill you for this, shinigami!" Grand Fisher's voice erupted from somewhere. The only thing Ichigo could see was the grin plastered on the other Orihime's face. It was predatory and sadistic.
"Come and try," she said, gesturing with her blade to come here.
He didn't know what Grand Fisher was doing, and with brown-eyed Orihime still making eye contact with him throughout the whole conversation, he was worried over what might happen. When she finally looked away to block an incoming attack, it was only then that Ichigo found he was able to move again. He took the chance and moved as far away from the girl as possible. But with his mad dash, he forgot to bring his zanpakuto with him.
He saw Grand Fisher with its lure out. The tentacles it had used to strike at Orihime were quickly moving back to the insides of the Hollow's thick mane, but she was far quicker than it. She made short work in dismembering all eight (from Ichigo's estimation) of them, annoying Grand Fisher even further; Grand Fisher didn't seem really fazed about the loss of its tentacles. If it were him doing the counterattack, he would've followed through with another attack to at least cause some more damage on the Hollow's cracked mask. Just another sword strike from a zanpakuto might be enough to crack it open before it would have time to repair itself. But brown-eyed Orihime did no such thing; she was staring at the Masaki-lure like she had seen her once before.
"You look just like her," she whispered before her nostalgic look turned into a bored one. "And because of that, I find you annoying."
Before Ichigo could utter a word, he saw her throw his zanpakuto right towards the lure. Grand Fisher maneuvered it away from the direction of the projectile, but the Hollow failed to realize that the throw was just a diversion. By the next second, Orihime had disappeared in front of their eyes, causing a loud noise of static in her wake, and reappeared in front of the lure. She then used her long blade to stab through the chest of Masaki, earning a loud and painful scream to reverberate all over the area. The sound was not deafening and it was not fully heard because of the pitter-patter of the rain, but to Ichigo it was like putting his ear next to an amplifier in full volume. It was a scream he dreaded to hear.
But Orihime wasn't done yet. She pushed forward with her thrust, shifting the position of the lure from the tip of the blade to the hilt guard. She kept pushing forward until her blade met with the mouth of Grand Fisher. Her blade stabbed through the Hollow's giant teeth, entering and damaging the insides of its mouth. Grand Fisher screamed.
While she laughed.
And all of this happened within seconds when Ichigo had a difficult time in merely cracking the mask of Grand Fisher. His dread was back, but this time it was directed at the very person that had most likely saved his life. And Ichigo couldn't stop his hands from shaking.
Emi laughed at the Hollow's vain attempt in trying to scream. She made sure that when she thrust her blade, her intended target would be the beast's tongue. Even now, the weakling must be gagging from swallowing the blood oozing out of its own tongue. The thought of it made her happier.
But bliss will always be a temporary feeling. It's the drive of a human mind to seek even more bliss and happiness that satisfaction will be nothing more than a word and an impossible achievement.
Looking up, she saw the face of the woman that had resembled someone she knew from the past. She recalled this person through the memories of Orihime, but Emi was sure that the airhead wouldn't remember that far back. The resemblance was uncanny, but Emi knew right away that this was a different person. It was not because that the Hollow reconstructed the face in a half-assed fashion that there was bound to be mistakes in the facial structures—if it was, then it would clearly be recognizable to Ichigo-kun that this was a fake and wouldn't have become distressed about it. The real reason was from the eyes. People always said that the eyes are the windows to the soul, and it was clear to see that the person used in the Hollow's lure was a different person from the memories Emi had. The two look very much alike, but only in appearance. Their eyes told a different story.
Emi had to congratulate the Hollow for a very thorough job in the remaking of the lure since even Masaki's eyes glowed with a kind of motherly glow but somehow dulled from these recent events. She wondered whether this Hollow had eaten the soul of Masaki; the Hollow wouldn't have been able to construct such a believable copy, otherwise. It was in those eyes did she find something concrete to compare. Though Emi only had fragments of what she could remember from that year, it was enough for her to decipher what kind of person whom Masaki reminded her of. That person's eyes also had a motherly glow, but, unlike Masaki, it was laced with an unavoidable fear. Fear of what, she didn't know. But she could guess the cause: Emi, herself.
But why she thought of that person at a time like this, she was not entirely sure. Maybe it was a one-time thing. Maybe it was a part of Orihime's subconscious quickly drawing a conclusion to the identity of the person used in the lure. But Emi had already established that that person was Ichigo-kun's deceased mother, so why did she classify her as someone who looked so much like that person?
It didn't make sense, but Emi somehow knew that she was only denying the truth. It was already there right in front of her eyes, the evidence of what she had suspected. Maybe in time she would accept it. It was a very view-altering truth that she wasn't sure how Orihime would react to her suspicions. Well, it wouldn't really be beneficial if she were to tell that girl right away. She knew, from their slight bond, that the kimono woman was conversing with her about a topic that had been delayed for quite too long. It was about damn time, too. She had threatened the old hag that if she wouldn't tell Orihime, then she would. But the secrets they were both keeping from the young girl were still as tall as mountains. But the kimono woman assured that it was all for Orihime's safety and peace of mind. Emi didn't like it when Orihime was not in peace of mind. Her nature is unpredictable, and the kimono woman can only do so much until she reaches her limit.
In a way, the kimono woman was right. Emi was both a blessing and a curse.
A roar from her left derailed her from her thoughts. Emi trusted most of her instincts, so when they told her to flee she would flee. She reached a safe distance just in time for her to see the black creature opening its wide mouth and snapping it shut like a bear trap, engulfing one-half of the Hollow's form. And like a snake swallowing its meal, the black beast lifted the Hollow up as if it only weighed a feather. She saw its neck expand to accommodate the entry of the large, foreign object towards the creature's stomach. Grand Fisher's muffled gagging, which might've been its own way of screaming, could be heard.
Emi stood where she was, while peering through the corner of her eyes at Ichigo. Like her, she didn't move from his spot. Probably surprised by the appearance of the black creature.
The beast roared after finishing its impromptu meal, as if to thank the heavens for the wonderful food. The sound reverberated through the forest as some kind of shadow began to cocoon itself onto the body of the creature. Emi thought that the thing was black enough that there wouldn't be any more need for it to be covered in more black. Her eyes narrowed. Something wasn't right here.
The cocoon slowly morphed into a giant bubble, growing bigger and bigger that it was close to—
Crap! Emi thought. "Get down!"
She didn't wait for Ichigo to react to her warning because she was already on top of him, tackling him painfully to the ground.
Just then, the bubble burst. Black liquid splashed onto the trees and bushes, and corroded them by mere contact. Whatever the substance the creature had used in forming that bubble cocoon, it was definitely acidic even to non-spiritual objects.
"Get off me," Ichigo said, and she complied. But that didn't stop her from feeling his chest for a little while. He was still young and far from having any toned muscles, but she still liked the touch.
But any perverted thoughts she had been thinking up were quickly pushed to the backburner as Emi examined the large changes in the black creature. Her eyes narrowed dangerously, and a low growl escaped her mouth as she gritted her teeth.
The creature craned its neck, producing a loud cracking noise as if it was rearranging the vertebrae of its spinal column. It was still human in form, but it had grown to the size of a giant. The long mane of hair was still intact, but not as wild-looking as it once was. Those yellow-brown eyes were still as dangerous and malevolent. But the biggest change happened to be the face of the creature. No, it was more like its first form was shrouded in so much black aura that nobody was able to see its face before. This time, it was clear for anyone with eyes to see.
She heard Ichigo took an intake of breath, and whispered, "What the—?"
Emi couldn't blame him for his disbelief. This was obviously the first time Ichigo-kun had ever seen a Hollow like this without the shroud.
A Hollow with a black mask.
Chapter Afterword:
If you're wondering about that "triceps electrocution" bit, try letting someone punch you in the triceps. I guarantee you'll feel some kind of electrocution resonating from your nerves, running all over your arm. Well, it only happens sometimes . . .