A/N: Welcome to chapter 15 and omg sorry it took so long! I've been busy but that's not really an excuse. I was procrastinating because training sessions are still a bitch to write and figure out. I managed to shorten them though, and figure out how to not end up writing all the details. So far so good :)
I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed and, as usual:

Enjoy!


Ana: Well yes and no. Harry's case is different because he was alive before turning into a Hollow instead of being a Plus first, but I can't say more than that without revealing what I'm going to be writing in the chapters about that. ^^"


"My Hollow talking to me?" He tilted his head in confusion, a small frown settling on his face. He'd never really thought of the Hollow as an entity instead of a power, or perhaps like a dormant animal but those couldn't talk either, could they? Or wasn't that what Shinji was getting at? Gah, talk about confusing!

Shinji sighed and looked the boy up and down again, wondering how the hell he was gonna explain this.

"Well, normally yer Hollow's instincts are to eat souls and battle for power, fighting against yer own mind an' rationality. That happened to most of us on varying levels of intensity. Ichigo-kun especially had a lot of trouble with it, since the moment he activated his mask he lost control. Inside his mindscape he could talk ta his Hollow though an' it was through fighting there that he managed ta control it."

As the other explained, Harry's frown deepened. The word 'instinct' definitely struck a chord but the rest of that was completely foreign to him…

"Can't it be that that hasn't happened to me because my mask hasn't fully formed though?" He tapped the skin around his eye, sighing softly at how cold and hard it felt— unnatural. No, not unnatural. There was that sense again! Instinct, right… Maybe those feelings he'd been having were actually—

Shinji snapped him out of his thoughts with a nod and a thoughtful hum. "Certainly, that's a possibility but we don't know that fer sure. Yer sure you've never heard anything from yer Hollow before then?" Jeez, how hard was Harry gonna make it to work around this, huh?

"Well…"

He raised a brow. "Well?"

"I did get random feelings… Well, not really random but every time I started thinking that maybe being like this is a bad thing, or a problem or something weird and unnatural there's always this feeling that tells me I'm wrong… That I should be glad I was given these powers, that I should use them and that I should be proud. Do you think that's my Hollow trying to communicate with me?" Harry looked up at the other despite the urge to look down as he would have in Britain.

Shinji simply grinned. "That's it! That's yer Hollow, yeah. But you've ne'er had control problems or stuff like that?"

"No sir, none." Oddly enough. From the way Shinji described it he was supposed to feel those kinds of things, having trouble controlling himself and such. Was this his magic interfering with the usual happenings? Come to think of it, Shinji and Ichigo and the others were all Shinigami before becoming Hollows; Visored. Their situation was very different from his own so there were bound to be some differences, even though this was really getting way out of hand. How was he supposed to train if they couldn't figure out how to train him in the first place?

"Well, we can only be happy 'bout that, I s'ppose. Still, the best thing would be ta actually get that mask outta yer skin, I think. Dunno if you'll be able to remove it like we can though." Shinji mused. He and the other Visored were part Hollow, having overcome the transformation. Harry on the other hand had been alive when the transformation occurred and not only that but he had not overcome it in the least. More like he had fused with it, actually.

This was going to be one hell of a challenge, but… 'It's a good thing I like a challenge, eh?'

Shinji smirked briefly as he looked up to the 'sky'. What to do, what to do. They should definitely work on improving Harry's speed and reflexes but other than that the sole focus should be getting that mask out from under his skin. Since they didn't know how to do that yet, they might as well see just how many of the Hollows' powers Harry could control.

"Alright then, let's get back to work!"


The rest of the afternoon found Harry shooting Cero after Cero at targets Shinji raised, as well as practicing the lower-levelled Cero called Bala. It took him quite a few tries to get it right though since, just like at Hogwarts, he had a tendency to overpower his spells and therefor ended up with them exploding in his face more often than not. Once he managed it though, the entire process came more easily to him and he realised just how useful Bala actually was.

While his Cero was powerful and rather accurate, it took a lot of energy from him to shoot, and firing off multiple shots in a short amount of time tired him out too thoroughly to be useful. Bala on the other hand he could fire easily and without tiring because it only took a small amount of magic and reiatsu to achieve.

Magic and reiatsu though, that was another thing he struggled on. All of his skills here were a mash of his newly acquired reiatsu as well as his magic, meaning he needed to find a balance between the two, a point where they could both coincide. Something like that wasn't so easy to find but after a while, he got used to it. His magic and reiatsu still didn't mesh well but at least they could be bent to perform the few spells he had mastered, like his Bala. It also proved to tire him a little less and make his Cero and Kidō more powerful, when he added magic to the mix. Though of course, that was precedented by several explosions.

"Ya did pretty well today Harry." He grinned when he saw the boy's face light up at the praise. Looked like he didn't get much of that on average huh? Well, he had promised not to involve himself too much when it came to this kid, as Urahara said the boy wanted to keep his secrets close but that was fine to him. "How 'bout we switch to seeing what yer pets can do, huh?"

Harry nodded, realising he should hold off on more casting until he had had a little break at least and was ready to continue his training. At least now he knew what to do to improve himself. Some meditation tonight was bound to help as well. He had found a book on occlumency among his mother's things and found that it really helped him find his core and mindscape more easily. If he was there he might be able to find a way to let his powers flow together as one, rather than just leaving it an incompatible swirl of power…

"Vacío." He called calmly and smiled when the two appeared next to him, ready to defend their master from any danger. He ruffled their heads briefly, still somewhat amazed at how soft they were, considering no Hollow he knew of was like that. Menos and Gillians had rather stone-like skin and Arrancar had a technique to harden their skin as well, yet these two didn't have such a thing. That might become a problem if they were attacked and easily injured though. They would need the fortification.

Just as a thought that, a ripple passed over their skin and while their fur was still deceptively soft, the skin underneath it had hardened considerably. Harry could only grin as the Vacío looked up at him, almost looking both smug and proud, despite the fact they could neither smirk nor grin through their masks.

Shinji raised a brow as he watched the rippling effect pass over the Vacío's skin and slowly reached out. "May I?" After Harry nodded he slowly touched one of them, surprised at the hardness he knew hadn't been there moments before. You were able to tell their skin had been like that of a dog's before, yet now it retained its softness and was still hardened beneath.

The only thing he could currently deduce was that while they were there to protect Harry, that wasn't their only purpose. Why else would their base skin be so soft otherwise? He supposed a teenager as young as Harry would need all the support he could get right now. Harry was only sixteen after all. To someone like Shinji, such a number was nothing.

"Alright, let's see what they can do then…"


The next hour was spent with the Vacío showing off what they could do. They could shoot Bala just as Harry did now and were also able to perform sonído, unlike their owner. It was actually rather impressive that the Vacío were able to perform skills that Harry hadn't performed or mastered yet. They were also proven to be very durable and despite lacking a maw in their mask normally, when they were in what they would come to call 'battle mode' their mask transformed to accommodate and their new teeth were razor-sharp.

While the Vacío were showing off, Harry wasn't paying attention to what they were doing as much as how they were doing it. He was connected to them so he could feel how their reiatsu and magic dispersed and moved to accommodate to the skills they were performing. When they once more used sonído to stand beside their master, Shinji turned to find the boy completely lost in concentration. When the boy moved though, it was at half the speed required for sonído and shunpo.

"How'd ya do that?" he found himself asking, since this morning Harry hadn't been able to go quite so fast from standing still. It had taken him time before he was able to come even close to the required speeds, and yet now…

Harry looked at his teacher a little sheepishly and scratched the back of his neck.

"Well, I can feel the reiatsu and magic coming off the Vacío since I'm connected to them and I figured maybe if I made my own powers flow the way theirs did, I'd be able to get a better hang of it."

That was a remarkably smart idea, to follow the feeling of another's example… He hadn't quite thought of that, to be honest.

"Nice going there Harry." He grinned, ruffling the boy's already messy hair briefly.

Next Shinji offered them a dummy to practice on. A moving one, to be precise. The dummy would help Harry learn dodging and such as well as give the boy some help with aiming at moving things. Surprisingly, shooting moving things out of the air was no problem for the boy, not even at higher speeds. He hadn't set it to shunpo levels yet but still, it was remarkable that someone so young had such good hand-eye coordination.

When the Vacío next attacked three large slash marks lit up in the air and raced at the target, indeed slicing it into pieces. Which was impressive since the dummy had been very well reinforced and made out of compressed reishi… Still, he didn't think they'd be able to get much done at this rate. They needed to get Harry more in touch with his Hollow and find a way to finally expose the mask fully.

The process was going far too slowly and while Harry was progressing well and quickly, it wasn't enough. They had limited time before someone from the boy's home tracked him down and tried to hurt him. Magic didn't seem to work to hide the mask so there was no way for the boy to actually hide properly… Poor kid, what a mess.

As a second dummy began attacking the boy, he thought about the possibilities. They needed to put Harry up against something more real but still not dangerous enough to kill him easily. Perhaps making him fight a simple Gillian should bring him the experience and power-ups he needed. He didn't know too much about Hollows fighting each other but since such things were normal in the hierarchy, he supposed it would be a good start. He deactivated the dummy and called Harry over.

"Alright. Yer doin' good but at this rate ya won't be able to get yer mask out and make the full change so I was thinking maybe ya should fight something more realistic. Karakura's always crawling with Gillians. You feel up to fightin' one? I'll be there ta help ya out if ya need it though." He was fairly confident that Harry could handle this, though really anything was guesswork at this point. Still, Harry was faster than the Gillians in Karakura at this point and he should be able to deal a fair bit of damage.

Harry wasn't too sure about fighting a real target so soon but since Shinji and the Vacío would be there to have his back should he need it, he supposed he would be fine…

"Alright, let's do it."

Shinji was rather proud of how determined the boy could be, getting over things that made him worried or scared fairly easily, always ready to do what was right. He supposed that was children's innocence for ya. Though he could only wonder how long it would last before that was shattered. The world was never kind after all, it never had been.


Fifteen minutes later found them on one of the rooftops in Karakura, looking for a Gillian or two to fight. Considering where they were, their wish was granted pretty quickly as a Hollow's roar echoed to their right. Harry had always thought of it as a scream but now that he was more in tune with his powers, he knew that that wasn't the case. Before he knew it he found himself running towards the sound, using sonído to move about more easily from one rooftop to the other until he reached his opponent.

Bloody hell, no one said they were going to be that big!

He sensed Shinji behind him and nodded, steeling himself for the battle that was bound to come. He took a deep breath and fed the Vacío some of his magic, feeling them grow in size beside him. "Let's get this over with." He mumbled to them before vaulting off the building, shooting a few successive Bala right at the Gillian's mask. He knew now that that was a Hollow's weak point, which meant he would be protecting his own thoroughly.

The Hollow roared again and tried to squash Harry, who managed to get out from under the swipe with a quick sonído. He could've sworn he had been faster this time but he couldn't quite tell, considering he was a little busy at the moment. He jumped back as the Vacío landed their slashes and Bala all over the Hollow. Meanwhile, he raised his hand, placing the other on his wrist as he focussed on the magic and reiatsu needed for this spell.

"Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws. Hadō #33. Sōkatsui!"

The power from his hand exploded towards the Hollow, which the Vacío had kept suitably distracted. The blast of blue fire shot at his opponent like a wave but it had noticed him during the incantation and so managed to move out of the way, partially. The blast did cause it to lose an arm and part of its leg though. The Gillian let out a chilling scream of rage and pain.

Harry steeled himself with a deep breath and began zigzagging using sonído to keep the Hollow from hitting him before he jumped atop one of the buildings and got ready to fire something else. If this didn't work then he was probably pretty screwed… He took a deep breath and readied himself in the same position as earlier but was a little startled to see the same red ball forming in the Hollow's camp. Oh hell.

He swallowed and steeled his magic to keep the Cero from exploding before firing it seconds before the Gillian did. He was rather surprised when he saw his Cero blatantly slashing through the Gillian's own Cero, destroying it and the Hollow's mask in quick succession. He hadn't quite expected that but he supposed it was the magic that gave it an extra edge…

He found himself jumping down and was suddenly no longer in control of his own movements. His eyes shone golden as he stretched his hand out and the dying Hollow began swirling into a dark blue ball, which he easily picked up and brought to his mouth. Had he been in control of himself he would never have done such a thing but a voice in his mind told him it was necessary and that voice had not been wrong yet so he might as accept what was happening, for now.

Once the soul was swallowed, he found himself just standing there, a little dazed. "Well that one was bitter…" His Hollow lamented softly before fading back into his consciousness. It was then that Harry crashed to his knees with a pained gasp. He could feel himself digesting the Hollow, it's powers spreading through him, reinforcing him and thinning the layers of skin above his mask.

He was breathing heavily when Shinji finally landed next to him, not having seen what happened due to the dust the Cero caused. "Ya okay there, Harry?"

He slowly looked up, a small golden sheen still over his eyes before it vanished. "Yeah sure, if you don't count the effects of eating another Hollow…"

Shinji definitely had to do a double take there… "You did what?!"