Koori Yuki [shinigami]

Basic Information

Name: Koori Yuki
Nickname: Koori-hime – this is a pun formed from her name because in Japanese ‘Koori’ means ‘ice’ and ‘hime’ is princess, so the name basically means ‘Ice Princess’. She developed this name during her academy years (see history) because of her cold outward demeanour towards other people.
Actual Age: 160
Appeared Age: 18
Gender: Female
Sexuality: Straight
Relationship Status: Single and not really looking at the moment
Division: 10
Rank: Captain

Looks:
Yuki has very light, pale skin that is accentuated by her dark chocolate brown , which is slightly curly and reaches down to just past her shoulders. She likes to wear her hair in two low, messy plaits that rest over her shoulders. and she has a straightened fringe that cuts diagonally - from the right to the left - across her face, but not so much so that it covers her eyes. Her eye colour is an extremely dark brown that at times can almost appear black, and they are framed by thick eyelashes. Her face is slightly angular, but it is also described as being quite beautiful and attractive. Yuki is shorter than average for her age, only being around 5- 5 foot 1, but her weight is proportional to that being at around 48kg. She is very slender with long legs and curves, but she isn't extremely curvy. Her muscles are very firm, but they aren't clearly defined which makes her seem delicate and fragile, especially with her shorter stature.

Yuki wears the traditional shinigami uniform except that the white undershirt is tight fitting with tight sleeves that reach to just above her elbows, and the black top worn over that has no sleeves. The white obi around her middle has decorative blue tendrils of thread stitched into it reminiscent of ice. In her ears she wears small gold hoop earrings, and on the middle finger of her right hand she wears a gold ring with a small diamond stone set in it. Her zanpakuto is positioned at the back of her obi with it slanting to the right so that the hilt is easily accessible with her left hand, which is her preferred hand to use. Also, Yuki wears two sheaths on her upper arms, hidden by the sleeves of her shinigami uniform and captain's haori, and nobody is aware of their existence. In the sheaths are two ornate daggers with delicate and intricately designed powered-blue hilts, which she can get at any time in a fight. They are particularly good for surprise attacks as their presence is unknown to the opponent.

Personality:

Likes/dislikes
Likes: Yuki likes to think whenever possible, preferably in a quiet, private area where she will be undisturbed by anything. She also enjoys gaining more knowledge to further her intellect, and so reads often books and texts from all genres and eras to gain a wide understanding of all literary texts, and of all things to do with the world. Another she loves is the cold and the snow, much preferring the colder weather to the hotter and her reasoning behind this is ‘there are a million and one ways to get rid of the cold, but there are no convenient ways of getting rid of the heat’.
Dislikes: She hates people who feel they have the right to hurt another person, whether that be emotionally or physically, because she knows how much it hurts and how much it can scar.

Sociableness
Yuki is a very reserved and introverted person who would much rather spend time by herself rather than be in the company of other people. She isn't shy and has very strong opinions; she just isn't very good at talking and communicating with other people. When forced into a social situation she tends to just listen and fade into the background.

Attitude
Her attitude is very cool and can even be downright cold sometimes. She also almost never loses her temper, preferring to ignore people who try to make her angry or upset. She never loses her ‘cool’, as some people call it, and she can also come off as very uncaring to those around her. She tries to not get involved in things that she deems ‘immature’ so that people won’t think any less of her, but in reality all that has done is make people think of her as a stuck-up snob who thinks she’s too good for them.

Trust issues
Yuki finds it extremely hard to trust others, though others find it easy to trust her because she never tells a secret or involve herself in 'immature gossiping', and she never says unnecessary information. This makes her perfect at keeping secrets. Because of her trust issues she tends to try and push people away who may be getting too close to her emotionally, and she has built herself a mask to hide away all her feelings and emotions so that she can’t get hurt by them, and so that others don’t think that she’s weak if they’re shown. Her face and body language are always unreadable to others because of the lack of emotion, and this makes her closed off to those around her which serves to isolate and alienate her. She is extremely intelligent and calculating, and she always makes rational decisions based off logic and facts rather than emotion. She has a lot of integrity and a deep sense of justice which stems from her strong ethical and moralistic views, but she isn't blinded by the need to sentence people, because she is also fair and listens to all sides of an argument/disagreement/situation before coming to a conclusion.

Work
She is also a dedicated, hardworking shinigami, making up for her lack of social life by working. She always gives her all to any job, no matter how small and she has great respect for people in a higher position than her that has shown themselves to be respectable. However, she is also extremely ambitious and is always aiming for the top, and if something isn't done perfectly to her satisfation than she will be very displeased with it. Unfortunately her standards are ridiculously high, meaning that it would be impossible for any normal person to be able to reach them. Because of this she sees herself as a failure and she always gives herself a hard time with lots of negative self talk. She always aims to try and improve herself and to be better and stronger than what she currently is at the moment, always pushing her body past its limitations to attempt to become stronger rather than be the weak person she perceives herself to be.

Hidden self
Under the layer of coldness that she has built around herself, Yuki is just a very vulnerable and lonely person who wants to find the place that she can belong to and just be herself without the charade of strength. Her emotional state of mind is very fragile from the continued abuse from those around her and also from herself, but nobody is able to see that, instead seeing the strong persona she portrays. Her heart is like a piece of ice in the respect that if it gets hurt it will shatter into a million pieces, so to prevent that from happening she never lets anyone into her heart. She hopes that one day she will meet someone who will be able to banish all her doubts, fears and self-esteem issues, and who she’ll be able to share all her feelings and emotions with. However she knows that such a person doesn’t exist – or will ever exist – and even if they do there would be no way that she would let them close enough for them to become that person, lest her already fragile heart gets heart.


Skills/Attributes

• Kido/Ginto: intermediate
  
• Zanjutsu/Marksmanship: Intermediate/Advanced – kind of in between
  
• Hakuda: Advanced
  
• Hoho: Advanced

• Power: Intermediate
  
• Stamina: Advanced
  
• Speed: Advanced
  
• Intelligence: Advanced

Zanpakuto Spirit

Name: Touketsu Suru Hi
Translation: Frozen Fire
Gender: Female

Spirit Appearance
She is taller than Yuki, around 5 foot 5, with very pale blue skin - almost translucent - and messy burt auburn hair that is cut short, above her shoulders. Her eyes are a cool blue colour with ice crystals in the iris near the pupil. They also have flecks of darker blue and red making them appear violet at times depending on her mood. When she's angry the red is more prominent and when she's any other emotion the blue is more prominent, and if her mood is neutral and indifferent that is when they are violet. She is slender with slight muscle definition in her arms, legs and torso making her appear extremely fit and she wears a plain, tight black t-shirt and baggy, billowy pants that seem to shimmer different colours in the blue-green spectrum to give the appearance of flowing water. Her feet are bare but you can't tell because the legs of her pants extend past her feet.

Personality
Touketsu Suru Hi is very cold towards others and she has a nasty mean streak in her. She hates communicating with other Zanpakuto, preferring to talk only to Yuki, and only then when it suits her. She generally doesn’t care about the affairs of the world outside Yuki’s inner world; her only concern being to gain more power so that she can be ruler. She’s extremely ambitious and greedy with a great passion for all that she does and some describe that passion as ‘burning like fire’ which is where her name comes from – the fiery passion trapped under her cold demeanour. It’s hard for Yuki to know what Touketsu Suru Hi is thinking sometimes because her actions can be unpredictable – sometimes she’s supportive of Yuki and encouraging her, but other times she’s cruel, pushing Yuki to the limit and beyond with her harsh words. Either way the result is the same – Yuki training in order to become stronger. She’s also very manipulative and cunning with a vast intelligence which she uses to her own benefit. Her attitude toward others is extremely uncaring and cold, not caring whether a person lives or dies, and if it were to benefit her than she would probably be the one holding the killing weapon. While she may not be the nicest Zanpakuto, or have the greatest morals, she still can’t stand to see Yuki upset, so when Yuki is having a bad day than she’s always in her nice mood. Her only aim is to get stronger and to make Yuki stronger as well, and while she has the attitude of “I’m getting to the top and I don’t give a damn who’s in my way” she is always constantly pulling Yuki up with her.

Inner world
Yuki’s inner world is styled after the place from her first memory in Soul Society. It is a river extending endlessly into the distance that has been frozen over with ice. Fluffy white snow covers the entire ground and glistening trees dot the landscape at various intervals. The trees glisten as moisture sticks to them and freeze. Icicles hang from the branches and act as leaves, swaying gently in the occasional cold breeze. The whole place has a feel of it being untouched and undisturbed by the problems of the natural world and human interference. Because of its privacy and quiet, serene atmosphere it is Yuki’s favourite place to sit and think.


Zanpakuto Shikai

Unreleased appearance
Yuki's zanpakuto is a normal katana, with the blade roughly 65cm long. It has an abnormally shaped guard so that when viewed from a certain angle it almost looks like a snowflake pattern. The hilt and grip is a powder blue with flecks and swirls of darker shades of blue swirling randomly around like a snowstorm, making it look quite attractive. The actual blade of the katana has irregular lengths of blue tendrils of differing thicknesses snaking down from the hilt to the end of the blade to give the appearance that the blade is being iced over.

Abilities without releasing her sword:

• Yuki has the ability to create icicles out of her condensed reaitsu, and throw them at an opponent. It has no cooldown, but only 10 icicles may be created in a post - 5 for each hand; she is able to throw them up to 30m away, depending on how hard she throws them, and they normally travel as fast as a seated officer not in shunpo, though she may throw 5 as fast as a captain's shunpo, though she can only throw this fast again after a 1 post cooldown. Also, the needles aren't strong enough to be used as substitutes for daggers, though their tips are extremely sharp.
  
  
• She is able to extend her reiatsu to encompass her daggers when she wields them to create a weakened form of her technique Toushou.
  
  
• She can raise her reiatsu to lower the temperature, which can make mist form due to the differing temperatures of the surrounding air and her reiatsu. Also, it is extremely cold to touch her, and she is able to partially freeze an opponent where she touches, though the ice isn't that strong, though the cold pins-and-needles tingling affect lasts after the ice is gone. She can use this to partially freeze the ground, wall or another object, and the ice stays longer when used on something which doesn't move. This can be used to make someone fall over or undermine their footing.

Shikai call-out phrase: Chikyuu wo koora senasai, Touketsu Suru Hi
Translation: Freeze the Earth, Frozen Fire

Shikai appearance
The blue tendrils on the sword turn into ice and swirl and move so that it reaches up past the blade and onto the guard and hilt. They then encompass her hand, which is still holding the hilt, so that it is connected to the sword, and the tendrils then travel up her arm until her shoulder, so that they resemble veins on her arm, though they’re more frequent than her veins, and some of the tendrils don’t make it all the way up to her shoulder. This effectively makes her sword just an extension of her arm. The blade also shrinks so that it only extends roughly 20cm away from her arm. The ice tendrils are extremely hard and act as a sort of shield on her arm to compensate for the extremely small blade. With the smaller blade and the more freedom in manoeuvrability Yuki’s fighting is similar to that of hand-to-hand combat with a knife or dagger, rather than sword fighting. Her Shikai favours speed rather than power, so her speed increases more than her power level does in order for her to be able to make the attacks that she does. Also, because of her short stature, combined with the speed, she is able to do moves that would generally not be possible with a longer blade – like quickly ducking through a small gap between a person and a wall and cutting them on the leg on the way through.

Shikai abilities

Name of ability: Hisame (Ice Storm)
Description of attack: When this attack is used millions of tiny, sharp ice fragments rain down on the ground and can cut through things that are weaker in power than Yuki with relative ease, but they can be easily dodged or protected against by beings of higher power or skill – but they can still be cut under certain circumstances, for example, if they were previously injured and not at their best. This is an ice based offensive attack that can have a wide circular range up to 30m in diameter. However, because of the large diameter there is lots of gaps where no ice falls, though because of the irregularity of the raining ice, those gaps are hard to predict. For this attack to work there needs to be a high level of moisture in the air, and it needs to come from moisture with the chemical component H2O, so the moisture can’t be absorbed from just any liquid, for example blood. If the temperature surrounding the ice particles raises high enough than they will just melt into harmless water, but for a temperature that high – 100 degrees Celsius – it will usually only be in a concentrated area. This attack can be sustained for as long as there is moisture available, or until Yuki grows tired from the output of reiatsu and that can depend on how large the diameter is, and also how fatigued her body was to start the attack, but it cannot exceed more than 5 minutes of just a constant barrage of ice. With higher powered opponents (two tier levels higher and ones above that) the attack may hurt less because of their increased spirit power which may act as a natural defence, meaning that the ice won’t feel as sharp to them because their reiatsu repels them, possibly not getting cut at all depending on their own fatigue and injuries.

Name of ability: Toushou (Frostbite)
Description of attack: The Zanpakuto blade grows so cold it feels as though it’s burning when it touches skin and ice instantly starts to form over where it has touched. This is an ice based offensive attack that can only be used in close proximity fighting as the ice only an area 5cm in every direction away from where the blade touches. The blade needs to have a period of time to cool down to such a low temperature, and during this time Yuki is unable to use any of her other Shikai abilities in case she warms the blade up. It takes between 5 to 10 minutes for the blade to cool down depending on how much she is using the blade. For example, if she was in the middle of a fight and was constantly hitting her opponent it would take longer for the blade to cool down then if she was dodging and not attacking. When the ice appears on whatever surface Yuki has hit it only stays for a few minutes depending on the strength of her opponent – 5mins maximum for weaker opponents. If the blade touches a surface not part of a person i.e. the ground, then the ice stays there indefinitely until the temperature of the area heats up or until Yuki gets rid of it after a fight. However, on the ground/walls etc the ice is a lot thinner and weaker and so can break, e.g. if somebody stood on it, and once broken it would melt off its own accord in the next minute or so. Ice on the ground can be used to trip the opponent as well because it is very slippery, but once used it breaks and melts. The attack can only be used four times in a row before the blade needs more time to cool back down to the right temperature which would be a further 5-10mins, so it cannot be used excessively.

Name of ability: Mizu ha retsu (Water burst)
Description of attack: A small ball of water – only roughly 8cm in diameter – shoots out from the end of the Zanpakuto at an opponent. If it hit them then it explodes its water everywhere, which can serve to surprise the opponent, but it isn’t painful no matter who the opponent is. The idea of the attack is to act as a diversion rather than an attack that inflicts pain. It is very similar to when a water balloon is thrown at somebody and it explodes. After the water bursts the water is pulled down to the ground by gravity, and it can buy a few seconds of time depending on how quickly the opponent recovers from the surprise of the water bursting. Though it is just normal water, its chemical composition is slightly different to normal water in the way that it has a slightly higher melting point than water usually has, so it can’t be absorbed and used as a source of moisture in Yuki’s Hisame attack. The attack does have an advantage over fire based attacks, but it can only be used once every 10-15mins because it was designed as a diversion attack and not meant to give any real advantages, other than the element of surprise. The attack can be shot up to 5 feet away, but the larger the distance it has to travel the harder it is to aim properly and hit the target. This means that the opponent will be able to see it coming if they are facing toward Yuki and will be able to easily use shunpo, or any variation for other races, to dodge the attack.


Zanpakuto Bankai

Bankai name: Yumi Touketsu Suru Hi
Translation: Gracefule Frozen Fire

Bankai Appearance
The icy tendrils along her left arm reach down and across her back until it covers it with the vein-y blue ice, though it can’t be seen because of her shirt. The ice then goes along her right shoulder and reaches down her right arm exactly the same as the left, with a 20cm long blade extending past her arm. The two blades move with her body and arms as extensions, with their motion being fluid and smooth, often described as graceful. Her speed is increased more than her power - though that is increased as well, but not nearly as much as her speed. Now she is extremely fast and her fighting style is even more like hand-to-hand combat, with her smaller body being able to manoeuvre out of tight situations. Also, the coldness of her attacks has increased, and the ari surrounding her turns extremely cold, so much so that you can see your own breath in front of you.

Bankai abilities

Name of ability: Koori tta hi (Icy Fire)
Description of attack: Cold ice is released from the tip of the Zanpakuto in any direction that the sword is pointed, though it can only travel straight. The ice is said to be so cold that it is as though you were hit with fire instead. This is an ice based offensive attack and the ice can travel up to 5m away from the sord, though the further away from the sword you are when you get hit, the less concentrated the blast so the further away you are the less cold it is. This ability is the upgraded version of Toushou, and just like that attack it needs a cooling down period of 5-10mins, and the more activity the swords have, the more time is needed to cool down. Fire cannot be shot from both swords at the same time, only one at a time, but not in rapid concession. The attack can only be used twice from each sword, so four times in total, before the swords need to cool down again, but this time it takes 10-15 mins to cool down. Because of the mono-direction of the attack it can be dodged and avoided easily enough, and for the strong opponents they can use kido to block the attack.


History and RP Sample

History:

Being alive

Yuki lived on the outskirts of Tokyo with her mum in a small apartment building. She couldn’t remember her father at all because he left when she was only two, almost three, years old. Her mum did her best in trying to raise a child by herself, but money was hard to get so she worked three jobs around the clock to be able to get enough money for the two of them to survive. Because of this Yuki hardly ever saw her mum, usually getting left by herself all alone.

At first she hated it and got easily scared by the many empty rooms in the apartment, but she gradually got used to and came to accept the solitude. As a result of this by the time she was enrolled in school she had developed a disliking for the company of other students and would sit by herself during recess and lunchtimes. The teachers noticed and tried their best to encourage her to join in with other kid’s games, but soon they realised that it was a hopeless cause and began to just let her do whatever she wanted in her free time and the other students asked her to play less and less frequently, until they stopped asking all together. However, it wasn’t Yuki’s fault that she wanted to be alone, in fact she didn’t want to be alone, but because she was always left alone at home she didn’t know how to interact with other people and was too shy to talk with them.

Coming up to her seventh birthday her mum fell sick and was too ill to go to work, which meant that the steady income of money stopped. Yuki had to learn responsibility because her mum was too sick to do anything, so all the tasks such as cleaning and cooking fell to Yuki. There was nobody that she knew to call and so she had to watch as her mum got sicker and sicker while she desperately tried to make her well again. Eventually though, her mum lost the battle that she had been fighting months – during which time Yuki had not attended school. She had just turned seven when her mum drew her last breath and closed her eyes for good and Yuki sat on the edge of the bed and cried for hours until she fell asleep.

Soon Yuki found that she too had fallen sick, probably with the same disease that had claimed the life of her mum, who was still in her room as though sleeping. It had been a few weeks but Yuki didn’t know what to do so she had just closed the bedroom door to pretend that her mum was asleep and at any moment she would wake up and smile her kind smile and tell her that it was going to be all right. Yuki started to lose weight as the disease spread through her small body, working faster than it did before because she was younger and smaller. After a few weeks she couldn’t eat anything and within three days of her lost appetite she went into her mum’s room and lay down next to her mum. She was extremely intelligent for her age, and she knew what was going to happen next and so she wanted to be with the one person who had cared for her and loved her in her short existence for one last time. During that same night she died.

Rebirth

When Yuki woke up, she found herself in a completely different and strange place rather than in her mum’s bedroom on the outskirts of Tokyo. The area she was in was closed in on three sides by thick trees, but on the fourth side was a river that had been frozen over. The ground was covered in thick snow and the few lone trees standing in the clearing glistened with ice. The place was beautiful and quiet, implying an air of untouched and preserved wilderness – she almost felt like a trespasser. She stayed there for a few hours simply thinking but soon her curiosity got the better of her and she stood up in search of some answers.

After hours of walking through the forest that had gotten dark very quickly with the coming of night she found herself on the outskirts of what appeared to be a small village. The dust road intrigued her as she had never seen anything like it before and she had bent down to inspect it further. Suddenly she heard loud laughter and the source was clear, it came from five large men who were staggering her way. She had seen enough drunks – one of her mum’s jobs had been in a bar and she had sometimes visited – to know that these men were very drunk. One of them looked to be on the verge of falling unconscious.

One of them spotted her and she saw how alone she was in the dark, deserted street and she felt scared and unable to move. They had changed course to head directly for her, but before their drunken step could reach her she had been hoisted up by the collar of the traditional blue kimono she wore and was hauled away. She had obviously just been saved from who knows what type of situation that was going to be, but as soon as she saw her rescuer she was instantly afraid again. The man was very rough in appearance with a long, jagged scar along his unshaven jaw line. His mane of wild hair stuck out in every direction and he was so much bigger than her. She cowered in fear of him.

“Cut ya whimpering! If you want to survive in these parts of Rukongai then you need to grow yourself a backbone!” His voice was as harsh as his features and it cut straight through her. She didn’t know where she was, but she wanted to go home. But where was home? She had no clue because nowhere had really felt like home to her before. She hesitantly moved her hands from in front of her face and looked at him with wide chocolate brown eyes.

“Is this... Is this heaven?” Her voice was small and she desperately wanted him to say no. In all the books she’d read heaven had been depicted as a beautiful place that people went to a reward for a good life. He threw back his head and laughed.

“Heaven? Ha! I guess some people call it that, but me, I just see it as another life that needs to be lived. You must be knew to Soul Society – that’s where you are by the way – and this here is the 89th District in Rukongai. You picked a pretty shit place to come.” Yuki looked down at her lap tears welling in her eyes, this didn’t seem like a very nice place. She felt her stomach grumble and she looked up once more at the stranger.

“Excuse me, do you have something to eat?” He stopped whatever it was that he had started to do and looked back at the small girl.

“Eat? Are you hungry?” She was confused by the strange tone in his voice as he asked her the question. She nodded her head. He seemed to be thinking of something as he studied her closely with oddly penetrating eyes.

“You should go to sleep now, you can stay here for the night, but in the morning you should probably make your way to the first district. They have plenty of food for you there, whereas they don’t here. Good night”

The next morning before the sun was completely up she found herself being practically dragged out of bed and to the road that had held her interest the night before.

“Follow this road as far as you can. When you can’t follow it anymore then find another road, but make sure it will take you in the direction of Seireitei. Good luck kid.” He walked off leaving her half awake on the road. She turned her gaze to the road and saw that it extended further than her eyes could see. Taking a deep breath and still not fully understanding anything she took the first step on her journey, ignoring her hungry stomaches protests of negligence.

Journey
Yuki travelled the road by herself for years passing village after village, though she passed plenty of people on the road as well. At night she would go off the road to the trees and make a little shelter for herself that protected her somewhat against the wind and also shielded her from the road. It had taken time for her to learn how to make them but now she could do it in only five minutes. Her knowledge of the wilderness grew as she learned to hunt and gather what she needed.

She often grew lonely on the road, but she ignored it and suppressed the instinctual human need for company. Every time she stopped in a village she would seek shelter from somebody – anybody – but she was always turned away. Nobody wanted to look after a small, grubby girl when they had their problems they needed to work through. The man so long ago had told her to head to the first district, but she had changed her priorities over time to just find a place where she belonged. Each day she could feel something growing inside of her, begging to be let out, but she had no idea what. She had managed to garner a lot of knowledge on her new home Soul Society and the more she learnt the more she understood the world around her and its inhabitants.

After 10 years or so Yuki found herself near the second district. She couldn’t believe that she had made it so far, and as a result of her travelling her stamina had increased exponentially, so much so that she could run very long distances without breaking too much of a sweat. Her physical body was fit and healthy, but her mental state was not quite as healthy. Her heart had begun to feel weighted down with all the rejections she had received, and so to prevent further hurt she had closed the way to her heart and sealed as much of her emotions as she could behind a wall of ice. In the second district she found out that people who require food have spirit power and they should enrol in the Shinigami Academy.

The idea intrigued her, and she had already come this far so there was no point not going. But she didn’t want to be rejected and not accepted, so for the time being she stayed in the second district. She learnt through experience the art of hand-to-hand combat, becoming quite proficient at the skill. That combined with her unrivalled speed meant that she won many fights, though the losses weighed heavily on her mind. She couldn’t help thinking ‘if I had more power I would have won’. She stayed in the second district for a further ten years, honing her speed and stamina, and also her hand-to-hand combat. At times she could win food, but for the most part she still needed to hunt to eat and most people isolated her because of this habit. As she grew older and gained more knowledge and maturity her personality grew colder, showing less and less of the scared and frightened little girl and instead showing the calm, collected and strong person.

When she felt that she had stayed long enough she travelled to the first district, training on the way in the forests by herself. She stayed for a while in the forests training, until she reached the first district. Here the division between the rich and the poor was the largest she had seen in any of the villages. She was no stranger to the cruelties of life, in fact they were part of what made her the person she was at the moment, but to watch people flaunt their wealth while others were dying of poor living conditions was disgusting – it sickened her so much.
Nervous and slightly excited Yuki headed to the academy and applied for enrolment.

It felt like forever before she was reviewed, in which her worst fears were answered – she was rejected. Heart and broken Yuki locked away every last bit of emotion behind a mask so thick it would be nearly impossible to break. Every new rejection was like a stab in the heart, killing her slowly but surely. She stayed in the first division, why she didn’t know, but she felt compelled to stay. There was a part of her that told her to challenge the decision, because she was capable if only they gave her a chance. She trained even harder, often working herself into unconsciousness to be able to gain access into the academy. Again and again she tried, but every time she was turned away with no reason. It wasn’t until her eleventh try that they told adamantly not to come back. She left in shame.

Her training stopped completely as she realised that she was a failure. She had aimed high, but apparently it had been too high for her to reach. She walked everywhere and nowhere each day, sometimes travelling as far as the second district, sometimes only as far as the door of the house she was currently staying in. For every day of her new life she had had a purpose, but suddenly that purpose had been ripped away from her and she didn’t know what to do.

She was just walking through town when she saw a Shinigami. She looked at him longingly, she wanted so bad to be one. As though he could feel her eyes on him he turned and smiled at her before making a beeline over to her.

“Hey there!” He raised his hand in a friendly greeting. He looked at her curiously.

“You know, you should enrol in the academy with all that reiatsu you’ve got, I could sense you from over there.” She widened her eyes before ducking her head.

“I already tried but they told me not to come back.” She omitted the part about her trying eleven times, deeming that as unnecessary information.

“Are you serious? They would be crazy not to take you. I think you should give it another try. Oh, by the way my name’s Okashii Hansamu. Ja ne.” He casually walked away before waiting for her name, leaving her standing there thinking about what he said. He was a Shinigami and he had said she had reiatsu. It was as though a fire had been relit under her as her resolve strengthened. She wanted to be a Shinigami, well she would be a Shinigami!

Academy

Without waiting Yuki immediately starting walking towards the academy with a new will to succeed. As she walked in she could almost hear the ‘not again!’ from the reviewing staff.

“I would like to apply for the Shinigami academy.” She bowed respectfully and the familiar process began. Afterwards she sat and waited while they talked about her, and after a few hours she was called back in.

“During the time between now and your last application your reiatsu has made a serious jump from nearly none existent to definitely there. Congratulations Koori Yuki, you are now a student at the academy.” The rest of the day passed by in a blissful blur as she was outfitted with the uniform and given anything she would need for classes. She was so happy, her dream was being realised. The next day brought her back down to earth as she remembered how cruel people can be.

Academy life was far harder than anything she had ever experienced in either of her lives, made harder by the insults and harmful remarks directed at her because of her cold attitude and want to be alone a lot of the time. She steadily rose through the ranks at an alarming speed, showing remarkable abilities in hand-to-hand combat and speed techniques – they weren’t nearly advanced enough for shunpo. She excelled at kido, though she wasn’t the best, and her theory results were the highest in the class.

At the rate she was going she would definitely pass at the end of the year. Because of her faster learning skills a lot of the other students were very jealous of her and the emotional bullying was upped a notch, though she made it appear as though the insults just rolled off her back. However, they were just being absorbed by her mask and each new insult cut her deeper than the last. One ‘smart’ person thought up the name ‘Koori-hime’ and it caught on like wildfire, spreading to all the academy students until that name was used more than her actual name. Even teachers sometimes had to catch themselves before they referred to her as that in class.

As the years progressed she climbed higher and higher in the ranks, but there was one thing that kept dragging her down, and as she entered her last year threatened to keep her held back from graduating, and that was her sword fighting abilities. She could use a euphemism to describe it, but in the bluntest way possible she was completely and utterly crap. She found it difficult to be able to position the blade so that it was evenly weighted in her hands, and she always felt restricted when moving with the sword. The possibility of failing when she had worked so hard did not sit well and so she trained harder than ever, just her sword fighting.

She trained in breaks, in her free time, when she was meant to be in bed, whenever it was possible to train she trained. After months of training it finally paid off with her being able to make a pass in sword fighting. But a pass wasn’t good enough and so she worked herself to the bone until one day she collapsed, but not through her own doing. When she opened her eyes and sat up she found herself in a very familiar scene, the frozen river extending as far as the eye could see. The place she was in right now was almost identical to the clearing she first woke up in when she woke up in Soul Society. The only difference being that there was no forest pressing in on three sides. She cautiously walked through the thick snow, leaving deep tracks showing her path.

“So you want to get stronger? So do I!” Yuki spun around so quickly that she fell over, landing with a small thud in the snow. Standing before her was an unusual person with blue skin that was almost translucent and she had burnt auburn hair. Her pants shimmered and flowed as she walked closer, bending down until she was eye level with Yuki.

“You, are a very interesting person Yuki. I’m Touketsu Suru Hi, and like it or not but you’re stuck with me. Now back to the issue at hand – you want to be stronger. I want- Scratch that. I need you to become stronger so that I can become stronger, so I’m going to give you my sword. I notice that you’ve been having some problems with the weight of the academy swords, well you won’t have to worry about those useless hunks of metal anymore because my sword will be perfect for you. No go, you’ve already wasted enough practicing time.” With that Yuki felt herself being pushed from what she now realised was her inner world. When she came to she was lying on the grass face down. She slowly pushed herself up and rubbed her sore nose.

“You should be more careful.” For the second time that day she found herself spinning around at the unexpected presence of someone. The person was sitting casually in a tree as he watched her and she recognised him instantly. Okashii Hansamu, though she hadn’t seen him for years – not since he convinced her to try out for the academy again.

“I see you took my advice. I figured you’d get in, and I would’ve visited before now, but, you know work and all...” He looked at her sheepishly as she frowned slightly.

“Do you even know my name?” The question took him by surprise and he thought for a few seconds.

“Yes, you’re Koori Yuki, the Ice Princess.” Her frown deepened as he said this and he laughed.

“Don’t worry, I don’t think you’re an ice princess, though you may be a princess.” He laughed again as he jumped down from the tree. He seemed to see something behind her and he picked it up.

“Is this your Zanpakuto? It’s pretty cool.” Yuki took from his hands and looked at it herself. The scabbard was a dark blue colour, and the hilt was powder blue with flecks and swirls of darker shades of blue swirling randomly around like a snowstorm. She gazed in awe as she slowly unsheathed it. She heard Okashii whistle softly, but she was too enthralled by her sword. Blue tendrils reached down the blade and she ran her finger down one of them. It was amazing, but now she needed to practice.

“Well, it was nice seeing you Okashii-san, but I need to practice now.” She turned her back in a clear indication that she didn’t want to talk to him but he didn’t move.

“Why don’t we fight? Wouldn’t that be good training? I mean, it has to be better than when you come out here by yourself to practice sword positions.” Yuki nodded her head slowly in agreement and then looked at him sharply.

“Have you been spying on me?” He looked sheepish again and shook his head.

“No, I just see you sometimes, that’s all...” She ‘hmphed’ before assuming a battle pose. The two of them sparred and Yuki marvelled at how easily she could manipulate the blade the way she wanted to.

It soon became a habit for the two of them to spar at least once a week, and by the time of graduation Yuki passed sword fighting with flying colours.

Shikai

After being accepted as a Shinigami Yuki trained every day, but that wasn’t new. She talked to Touketsu Suru Hi more or less frequently, and she could tell that the spirit wanted her to achieve Shikai already, but it wasn’t like she wasn’t trying. It was during one of her weekly – though now they could probably be considered monthly – spars with Okashii that it happened. They were fighting as normal, though Okashii must have been training on his own as well because he had gotten better. Suddenly Yuki was thrown off her feet by a particularly hard hit and she crashed into a wall. After picking herself up she looked down at her left hand before readjusting her grip. She was about to attack when she heard her Zanpakuto speaking in her head.

“You know, I can help you win this, you just need to say the word. For all your training and intelligence you couldn’t get the hints I was telling you that all you need to do is ask for it and it would be yours. Baka...” Yuki continued her attacks as though she wasn’t conducting a conversation in her head.

“So what you’re saying is that if I said can I have it right now you would give it to me?” She couldn’t keep the incredulous tone out of her voice as she asked.

“Yes.” Figuring she had nothing to lose she said the words that the ice spirit wanted to hear.

“Touketsu Suru Hi,” she could almost feel the excitement thrumming through the spirit’s veins.

“Can I have my Shikai?”

“YES!” It was almost like an explosion as Yuki staggered backwards. Her sword started to shorted and at the same time the blue tendrils that she had admired so much began to snake up the sword and up her arm; it was cold on her arm, but not unpleasantly so. After a few minutes it was finished and she looked down to see her much shorted blade connected to her arm. She moved her arm to test it out and was surprised out how easily it moved with her, like an extension of her arm. She looked up and without warning attacked. It was amazing; her speed had increased with the Shikai, and she was able to do more hand-to-hand combat style fighting which she was most comfortable with.

The fight ended not too soon after that and Yuki let her sword return to its original state before sheathing it. Okashii was on the ground letting his breathing return to normal, a smile plastered on his face.

“That was fun, definitely going to have to do that again sometime.” Yuki allowed herself a very rare small smile as she replied.

“Yeah...”

Bankai

Yuki steadily moved up the ranks of the shinigami, her skills surpassing those of her peers and increasing at an exponential rate. She knew that she was being ear-marked for higher positions, she was told enough times, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to climb any higher. She was quite content with being the 11th seat of the 10th division even though they told her she could probably be the fourth seat, or even the thrid, if she wanted to. But she didn't. Everyday she would practice with Okashii and it was the only time she ever let herself loosen up, to relax, and she knew if she moved any higher than she was now then she would have more responsibilities and would probably have to forfeit these training sessions which she had come to live for - they were always the highlight of her day.

And she knew that this wasn't because she was getting stronger - that meant nothing to her - it was because for the first time in either of her lives that she had a friend, somebody she was able to let see a small part of her true self, as hard as it was. And as the days moved by Yuki was beginning to feel things for Okashii that she had never felt before, things that made her want to be with him forever and made her always want to see him smile. It was a strange feeling but not unpleasant, and she often wondered to herself whether it was love she was feeling - though having never experienced it she was unsure.

And then it happened; Yuki went to train with Okashii for the ritual daily training, but she couldn't find him. Not one to be easily worried she passed it off as him needing to actually do some work - which he never did do and should as the lieutenant of the division - which also happened to be her division. The days gradually went by without any sign of Okashii, and finally unable to take it any longer Yuki went to the captain to find out where the elusive man was. Never had she been unable to find him before. Getting to the captain's door she respectfully knocked and waited for a 'come in' before entering.

"Excuse me sir, but I was wondering where Lieutenant Okashii is."

"Oh, you haven't heard? He's a deserter; he's betrayed the shinigami and nobody knows where he is now." Yuki couldn't believe - wouldn't believe. The news was so shocking that she couldn't even remembered if she had thanked the captain before leaving. It was all that consumed her thoughts. Okashii, her Okashii was a traitor. He had left the shinigami, and he had left her. The first person she had ever opened up to had betrayed her and it killed her on the inside. The days blurred together and she threw herself into her duties, not caring anymore. She had opened herself up foolishly and she had been hurt - it was too much for her vulnerable heart to take. She would never make that mistake ever again.

As an attempt to make her feel better so that her inner world would stop snowing Touketsu Suru Hi offered her master the gift of Bankai, but Yuki turned it down. She had never wanted to be captain, and to be truthful she had never wanted to be shinigami either. It had been thrust upon her in her vain search for a place where she belonged. Belonging, such an unfamiliar concept which held no meaning for her. She sought it, but in truth she knew not what it was that she sought for but the word. However, a word can't be found, and neither can a meaning that makes no sense to her. Her whole life was dedicated to such a senseless and useless cause - a waste. Slowly she felt herself going down into a spiral of depression, digging a hole for her to sit in so deep that she was unable to see the light at the top.

It wasn't until one day that she realised that her depression was caused by the betrayal of Okashii that she was able to halt her downwards motion. Why should hse waste the rest of her life pining for what never was and what she wished had been? She was worth more than that! It was an insult to herself and to her pride to allow herself any further down that track, and as a promise to herself to turn her life around and to not find a place where she belonged but to make a place she decided to become a captain, to prevent people from following the road she did. She also hoped that by becoming a captain she would have more freedom and would be able to find Okashii and bring him to justice with her own two hands - for closure.

With that in mind she accepted the once offered gift of bankai and strived to become as strong as she could. However, she was unable to function to the best of her abilities in the 10th division, too plagued by memories, and so, because of her superior speed, she was moved to the second division, where she became part of the Onmitsukido, as well as part of the division. She was often encouraged to become the lieutenant, but she refused, only wanting to move up the ranks when she would become captain. Eventually she was picked up by some captains who encouraged her to take the captaincy test, which she passed with flying colours. Because the 10th division had recently become captainless Yuki decided to take that division as her own; a place of familiarity in a world where nothing was familiar. She also felt that she needed to face her bad memories to overcome them; Koori Yuki was never[/i] weak.

[b]RP Sample:

Yuki sat at her desk, in one of her rare moments of lost thoughts, remembering back to a time when all she had to worry about was what she would do next in her social life. Granted that social life was a lot more closed off, private and complicated than the average one but it was still a trivial matter none the less - especially when she now had to worry about life and death for all the shinigami under her command. But at the moment she didn't think of those other shinigami, but instead of a memory, one of the last ones she had of the traitor Okashii Hansamu.

'Yuki walked through the forest deep in thought. She had taken to doing this as a pass time recently when she had nothing else to do. Most of the time she would be training, but for some reason today her heart just wasn’t in it and so she had decided to come out here instead. Winter was setting in and the ground was already covered in a fine layer of muddy snow, trampled on by the many passers-by. The trees held some of the snow in their branches, but so far there hadn’t been any real snow worth noting. Once winter was here the ground would be thick with the snow and the trees would be weighted down by them.

She could hear Touketsu Suru Hi grumbling in her head about the lack of training, but she felt content, and maybe even slightly happy here in this woodland scene. Happiness – or even content – was an emotion that she hadn’t had in a very long time, and that was one of the reasons why she felt the need to come out here by herself to sort out her thoughts.

She slowly sank down onto the ground, mindless to the wet snow seeping through her clothes. Her thoughts had been in confusion lately and she knew the cause – Okashii Hansamu. In all her life since arriving in Soul Society he was the only one to show her kindness and stay with her, even though she tried desperately at times to push him away. It was as though somebody had come along and glued him to her side when she wasn’t watching. They usually trained together, a habit that she had formed in her last year at the academy, but lately he had been popping up in her everyday life, mostly when she least expected it.

And this is where her thoughts got confusing. She didn’t want his company and she didn’t want him to be close to her, but at the same time a little voice inside of her screamed at her to let him in, to share her burdens with him. Her head dropped down into her hands as she thought. She didn’t know what to do. All her life she looked for somewhere to belong, to fit in, and she had thought she had found it in Seireitei, regardless of all the hurtful remarks directed at her. But something was always missing, and it was as though she felt complete, whole, when Okashii was with her, brightening her day with his immature attitude and brilliant smile. She breathed deeply, unable to comprehend these new feelings that she felt, or even the old ones that she hadn’t felt for a long time.

For so long she had hid behind her mask, but now, slowly standing up in this forest, she knew that she wanted to confide in him. He was her... friend. The word felt unfamiliar in her mind having never had to use it before because she had never had one before. But she knew that their friendship must be strong, otherwise why would he have stayed with her for so long? She would go and find him and tell him everything, all her troubles and fears, all her insecurities and problems. She smiled a very rare smile and was about to go find him when she heard a rustling in the leaves. Her hand dropped down onto her Zanpakuto as she stood at the ready.

The rustling increased as the person came closer and Yuki felt her body grow taught in tension, her calculating eyes fixed on the spot. The leaves parted and she let out an exasperated sigh before letting go of her sword. The person whom she had been going to find came to her instead. Okashii stood there grinning like an idiot as he always does.

“How come you weren’t at the training grounds? I waited for you forever!” His look turned accusing, and Yuki realised that she had skipped her training session with him. As he walked closer to her she felt her resolve failing her, until he was only a few steps away.

“Sorry, I forgot.” She ducked her head and went to move past him, her will to confide in him completely gone. As she moved to go past him she felt a hand grab her arm and she was pulled close to him. His eyes were shadowed by his blonde hair, but she could see his mouth set in a rare moment of seriousness.

“How long are we going to play this game Yuki? Because I can tell you now, I could play it forever. Why won’t you just open up to me? It’s not like I haven’t waited long enough.” Yuki pulled her arm free, and without giving any reason walked off into the forest. She may have just lost her only friend. She had wanted to talk to him, but she was too much of a coward. She disgusted herself at times and this was one of those times.'

She had only ever cried twice in her lives that had been caused by emotional pain and that was in her first life when her mother died, and the other was when she had found out that Okashii had deserted her and betrayed Soul Society. She had promised herself that she would nnever again be so weak as to shed tears over that worthless excuse for a human, but thinking back over memories such as this one she felt her resolve waver, if only a little.

Approved