His yell drowned out the loud splashing sound of the river, bringing forth four shimmering bright red petals into existence.
The four petals of Rho Aias spun swiftly, blocking the incoming claw of the monster.
Clang!
The monster's attack deflected without being able to even put a crack in the outer layer of the shield. It was the weakest version of the shield, but it worked.
The sound of his panting filled his ears. His vision slowly returned as his body staggered slightly backward, barely keeping his posture upright.
However, he hadn't finished yet. The danger was still present. If he didn't continue, then it would spell his death, along with those around him.
"Steel is my body, and fire is my blood."
More foreign yet familiar phrases flowed out from Shirou's mouth like an old incantation.
With a final roar, the Hollow's claw crashed against the shield.
Once again, the attack failed to penetrate Rho Aias.
A twin chinese blade materialized in his hands with blue fire.
White and Black were their color, long and thick were their edges.
Like its owner, Shirou felt a desire to kill radiated from their form. Almost alive and sentient, they glowed eerily.
For the first time ever since its arrival, the Hollow hesitated in attacking Shirou. Its body trembled in pure, primal terror.
He launched forward and slashed the monster's neck. Kanshou and Bakuya cut deeply into the hardened skin with relative ease. It howled in pain before swinging its sharp claws to hit Shirou.
The Hollow growled and slashed Shirou's chest.
It seemed to forget that a deadly weapon remained in the boy's disposal. Shirou stabbed its head easily with the dual blades and finally defeated the Hollow.
"Huff... Huff..."
After it dispersed completely, Shirou slumped on the ground tiredly. He could hardly breathe after expending too much energy from his body.
The blades disappeared alongside his strength. His eyes were heavy, but he forced himself awake. He saw his mother's worried face as she ran toward him.
'That should be enough...'
Then his consciousness faded into black...
***
In Kurosaki Clinic, Shirou was sleeping on the bed with bandages covering his upper body. The wound wasn't serious at least, nothing fatal.
A simple recovery treatment should heal it in a few hours. However, Isshin couldn't believe what he just heard from his panicked wife.
"I-Is Shirou okay?" Masaki, the ever smiling woman, now looked wrecked and weak.
She kept apologizing, saying that everything was her fault.
When they finally reached home with her carrying both Ichigo and Shirou on her back, she told her husband the full story while treating her sons.
Isshin confirmed that Shirou's injury wasn't bad, but he still needed time to recover. It seemed like Shirou used all of his energy during the battle, resulting in a coma.
"He's okay. This is probably just the side-effect from awakening his reiatsu." Isshin explained. "Did you say he protected you from the hollow?"
"Yes. At first, I intended to protect them from harm, but I failed to activate my Blut Vene and he... took the attack in our stead." Masaki recalled. "He conjured a reishi flower and fended it off."
"And he defeated that hollow too, right? With two blades."
Isshin crossed his arms, contemplating what just happened. One thing for sure was that his son awakened his spiritual power. Both Ichigo and Shirou had an ability to see spirits, he knew at least that much, but didn't possess a special power beyond that.
While Ichigo was energetic and cheerful, Shirou had more tendencies to shut himself off.
Not only that, Isshin had suppressed their spiritual power when they were still young.
'Or maybe not completely. Maybe I am too focused on Ichigo because he inherited more. To think Shirou would also have this much spiritual power is surprising.'
Despite this, the boy awakened his potential. Perhaps it was the stress and danger around his family that brought him out. Or perhaps the latent power inside the boy awoke due to trauma. Regardless...
"Masaki, are you okay?"
He was worried about his wife. He knew she wasn't weak and could handle a few hollows by herself. However, the fact she was unable to use her power was... worrying.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She answered with a small smile. "Sorry, I guess I panicked a bit."
"No problem. Don't think about it too much and rest. I will keep my eyes on Shirou for tonight."
"You don't need sleep?"
"You need that more than me." He smiled and kissed Masaki's forehead gently. "It's better for me to keep checking on him to make sure that he's stable. Good night."
"Alright then, good night."
Isshin sighed heavily after Masaki walked outside the room, closing the door behind her.
This shouldn't have happened if only he maintained proper vigilance. How could a hollow sneak up and attack his sons under his watch?
There should be no hollow in the area at all.
"No, that's not important right now."
He had a call to make, specifically to someone he knew very well.
Isshin picked up the phone and dialled Ishida Ryuken's office. The doctor would always answer his call, regardless of the situation.
However, the other party never answered even after several attempts. It was strange, but he kept trying and trying- it finally connected.
But there was no answer from the other end of the line. Only breathing sounds.
Isshin immediately caught the strange response and called out carefully.
"Hey, Ryuken?"
"Why did you contact me so suddenly?" A cold voice came out.
Isshin couldn't help but wonder what was wrong with him. He carefully thought about his next word.
"Masaki couldn't use her Blut earlier when she was attacked by a hollow."
"I see."
The answer was short and curt as if the other party already knew about it beforehand. But that was impossible. There was no way Ryuken knew what was going to happen to Masaki. Isshin had never sensed any unusual activity from him since the incident. But still...
"What did you know, Ryuken?" Isshin asked cautiously.
"Nothing." Ryuken answered dryly, his voice devoid of any emotion.
"Liar! I know you, Ryuken. You're hiding something!" Isshin slammed the table beside his desk.
"You aren't wrong." The voice replied emotionlessly as usual.
"So tell me!" Isshin gritted his teeth angrily. His knuckles turned white from gripping the telephone so hard.
"Isshin... This is Quincy's problem. I advise you to not get involved." Ryuken's cold reply sent chills down his spine.
"You bastard! My son got hurt and my wife almost died! At least explain why she lost her ability as a quincy!" He hissed angrily into the phone.
Silence reigned for a few seconds. For some reason, it felt like Isshin was talking to a rock.
"Very well... But you're not the only one who lost something tonight."
"What... Do you mean by that?"
"If I explain it now, it will become a lengthy lecture. Meet me tomorrow." Ryuken stated, sounding even colder than before.
Then, the call disconnected.
'Something big is happening.' Isshin knew that much.
Something was brewing in the air, something bad.
It made him restless, prompting him to get up and move around in frustration. His expression turned grim as he punched the wall.
'Damn you Ryuken!' He cursed.
A grunt came out from Shirou who stirred slightly on the bed. Sweat rolled down from his forehead as he breathed heavily, groaning painfully like he was having a nightmare.
Isshin immediately realized what happened, cursing himself for being too emotional in front of his comatosed patient. He must have caused too much noise, affecting the sickly Shirou.
"Ah shit! Sorry, boy!"
His face softened considerably as he put his hand on the boy's head.
"I swear to protect you." He mumbled gently. "Please get better soon."
Then he pulled the chair near the bed, sitting on it so he could take care of his son.
***
Chapter end!
Isshin is a loving father and man to his wife. He's not perfect and he hold so many secret, one that he kept until thousand blood war from Ichigo.
Don't be surprised if he don't tell Shirou anything at all.