Ken ran outside when the girl screamed, but Kage could tell what it was just as much as Ken could. A hollow, right here, right now.
That fool is endangering everything here
Kage turned on the spot and walked out towards the door from the back of the shop. At this point, with his frustration from the squad 11 shinigami having lured a hollow back to the shop, his patiance was gone. And with it, any feelings of sympathy for the plus-turned hollow outside.
Through the window in the door, he could already see it. Quadrapedal with a tail, armored joints and bone claws. All in all, this was a rather standard grade hollow. With this being his second day back in the real world, he already felt like he had a handle on these hollows. The greater hollow in the park, and lesser hollows that flooded the city, and now this. However, he also saw it brush the squad 11 reaper aside like he was a bug. As strong as the squad 11 guys were, this hollow had to be something.
With each step he took towards the door and the rampaging hollow his spiritual power rose. As he released it, the reishi around him grew thicker. Something inside him felt different. After the assassination order, he hadn't quite felt the same. Taking a life like that...it left a cold feeling in him. The same cold feeling he felt when he was around Gleam. It was...scary, terrifying, and at the same time liberating. Inside this feeling, he felt invicible, and nothing else mattered.
Reaching over inside his robes, his fingers curled around the hilt of his zanpakuto. There was that feeling, stronger now. He gripped it tightly and drew the blade slowly while his other hand pressed on the door. The little bell over his head let out a soft *ding-ding* as the door opened with a small squeak. The hollow outside turned at him and snarled, licking its long fangs.
"Another one? And you feel even more delicious. All that reishi dripping off you, you must have tremendous power. Once I eat you I'll be able to go for weeks before I have to slaughter another one of you."
Kage stepped forward and let go of the door. It closed slowly, the piston on it letting out a constant *hiss* as it drew itself shut once more. He held his blade out to the side, letting the sun reflect off it into the hollows face. He looked up at the hollow with the brilliant streak over its mask until the latch for the door went *click*.
"I don't think so. It was foolish to come here. You had to have felt more than one source of spiritual power. You had to know it was more than you could handle." Kage said as he reached into his pocket with his free hand. He pulled out the peice of red cloth, still damp with the salty seawater. Pinching it between two fingers, he held it up.
"Does this look familiar to you? Were you responsable for this?" He asked, keeping his position. He didn't move, neither did the hollow. As far as the girl was concerned, Kage didn't care in the least, and the hollow had its attention elsewhere.
"What is that? A peice of...OH! OH HO HO HO, yesssss, I remember. A human, very much spiritual energy. Delicious...didn't even fight back. I enjoyed taking my time with that one." the hollow lamented as he cackled menacingly.
Kage's fingers curled into a fist around the peice of cloth, "Consider it your last meal. Today is your execution!"
The reishi around him concentrated as he used his shunpo. In an instant he brought himself right in front of the hollows face, faster than the speed of light. The hollow didn't even know what struck it. One moment, he was staring down at a soul reaper, and the next...A gash across his mask along the same streak of light that had been reflecting off that reapers sword. The hollow howled out and reeled back, nearly falling over on itself. The wound was superficial, but the fear it inspired had far more impact.
"Wh-what was that!?" the hollow exclaimed as it reached up with one of its clawed paws, touching the scratch on its mask. Shallow as it was, Kage made his point. But the hollow didn't buy it.
"This? Well, you're FAST, but if this is all the power you can muster, you might want to try harder to at least be entertaining." it told him as it recoverd, moving back onto all fours. Still clutching the red cloth in his hand, he wrapped it around the hilt of his zanpakuo, firmly grasping it in both.
"I'm not even trying yet. COME ON!" He yelled back at the beastial hollow. It was more than happy to ablidge as it opened its mouth wide and rushed him. Rather than go for the bite though, it struck forward with one of its paws, the claws reflecting the sun off their bleached surfaces like white hot spikes. Kage quickly dropped his sword and inverted it, widening his stance as he held it in one hand and slid the other down the back of the blade to the tip. The edge caught between two of the hollows fingers and stopped its strike with one claw barely inches from his face. The force was tremendous though as Kage slid back across the sidewalk, gathering reishi behind him to help push back but to no avail.
"RRRRRR...you're stronger than you look...shinigami...I'm going to enjoy eating you..." the hollow spat out between gritted teeth. Kage held it off as long as he could before using the gathered spiritual power behind him and surging forward, throwing the hollows paw off his blade and making it stumble backwards.
"I'm a lot of things. Strong is only one of them." he said as he moved his zanpakuto off to the side in one hand again. The red cloth that remained in his hand clung to his skin, but the next thing he did was let it go. Casting aside the last remanant of that human, he also cast aside his moderation.
"I'm also a predator. And that makes you prey." Kage told the hollow, narrowing his eyes as he moved his sword up over his head, horizontal with the blade pointed at the beast. Reaching forward with his other hand and holding his palm facing the hollow, he spread his stance, making himself ready for whatever the hollow threw at him.
