Ryushin Chaozu [The Quincy] [Quincy; 0-5++]

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The child that shouldn't be: Ryushin was born into what you would consider your average family on Earth around 100 years ago. They were nothing special and generally got by on minimum wage, living off of simple food and never really going out of the way to get anything fancy or exciting. His parents were not exactly talented, nor did that have any real goals or aspirations. They never spoke of their past and wanted nothing major out of the future. This was because they all lived their lives in hiding. This was because of their rebellious actions towards their own families. For several centuries, the Chaozu and Chaozi families were both incredibly entwined with one another as well as fate. The chaozu family always gave birth to male children and the Chaozi family only ever had female. The tradition between the two families was to give birth to a child at the same time. Everything was planned. On exactly the same day, a new boy and a new girl were born. These two children would eventually become Ryushins parents 30 years later and they had no choice in the matter. There were never any questions asked about whether or not this was a humane or correct thing to do, nor did anybody ever have a reason to question it. The two families dubbed their names upon them as though it was a title so that to the public eye it would come across as two people that were completely unrelated but had their surnames switched, What was really going on was much more disturbing to some. Ryushins parents were just a few of the people that disagreed.

Although the two were married, the tradition was for them to reproduce with their own respective family to create another son and another daughter. Rebelling against this idea, Ryushins parents were often caught together and separated to reduce the risk of them having a child and breaking the tradition. They absolutely hated this and constantly tried to find ways to meet. The first couple of secret meets they had were nothing major. A meal in a local café, a walk by a nearby lake and sometimes they were allowed to mingle at parties the families attended. They couldn't do anything if they were being watched could they? These meetings, even if someone had managed to watch them, was only the build up to a much larger plan.

A huge party was thrown with masses of food and entertainment and Ryushins parents were both on the guest list. Everyone that meant something in the town attended and most of the attention was draped over the two with questions about the children they would be raising after the ceremonies were complete. They talked as though they were fine with everything. They agreed with what everyone said and laughed over jokes and stories of previous generations. It wasn't until they were supposed to give a speech that they were nowhere to be seen. Their plan was about to unfold as they had in fact slipped away to a bedroom at the top of the building, committing the ultimate act of treachery to destroy the line of unnecessary and forced incest. The hatred towards the system caused the two to make love in the hosts main chambers, remaining as silent as they possibly could as to not draw attention to their location. The deed was done, the bed was left a mess and the two recorded the entire thing on a camera that they left behind in the chambers for everyone to find. Then, they rejoined the party. Strapping clothing back on, entering from two different doorways and acting as though nothing had ever happened. They knew nobody would go near the main chambers. They were private to all. Except for the one man they wanted to see the footage.

He was the high overseer and watcher of the two families. He came from an outside source, completely unrelated and only there to control them. It was his mansion they were in and he was too occupied with being the perfect host to notice anything. The night went on, the party ended and everyone was escorted home. It wasn't until the following morning that everything went into a horrific uproar. Ryushins parents suddenly had a bounty on their heads, everyone was out for blood and the entire town was made aware of their treachery. As every guard under the High overseers command and every family member available for the riot stormed the family houses, they discovered that the two lovers had already escaped. Already many miles away, they masked their names and threw away their old life to continue living on as anybody else would. They had no reason to want any glamorous items, the luxuries they were force fed. They just wanted to be together with a child that they had brought into the world. The seed that was to become Ryushin was planted firmly, and the child that was to break the family tradition was to be born far away from all of this madness. On the day of Ryushins birth, he was given his father surname of Chaozu. Nobody in their new home would know who they were and from here on out they planned to continue the family legacy but this time Ryushin would make his own choices.

The Haunted: His early life moved along as you would expect. he was quite the large child upon birth but quickly lost weight around 2 months of age. It was when Ryushin was 7 months old that his parents realised how much he took after his father. the boy was relatively tall and very slim, losing a lot of his baby weight within 7 months to the point where he looked 6 months older than he was. he grew up quickly, but this doesn't mean he grew up smart. Ryushin was quite the confused and bewildered child and by the age of 3, he was questioning simple things on an incredibly regular basis. What his parents didn't realise was that his silly, cute little questions were actually directed towards something utterly different. Once, his mother explained what the front room mirror was to him, but in actuality he was pointing to what was in the mirror. A face, watching him. it moved side to side and simply stared with a straight mouth as though it had been trapped there. His mother could not see what he could see so she was never made aware of it. Another instance of this peculiar phenomenon was at the age of 5 where he freaked out and fell off his chair when he saw a very similar face appear on the kitchen window. He tried to explain what he saw to his father, but he couldn't understand what Ryu was trying to say. The boy just didn't know the words to describe it at the time and so it was ignored. it was twisted, glowing a more noticeable green and silent. It had no body. Just a face.

These strange faces began to appear more often after he was 8, haunting Ryu mostly at night whenever a bright light passed his bedroom window. On the far wall of his room, a face would appear then vanish as the light shone over it. Every time he tried to explain it his parents couldn't see it. They even sat in his room one night to watch for it but they both said it was probably just his imagination turning the bright light into a face. Ryu was not convinced. He spent many nights under his sheets, trying to keep the face out of his line of sight. Once Ryu was 10 however, things got worse. At midnight exactly, Ryu awoke from his sleep to notice that the face was already there without any light to summon it. The face was floating off the wall this time, hovering at it's own leisure with it's gaze locked onto Ryu. the boy couldn't move. He was frozen in fear as he knew the only way to get his parents was to move straight through the face. his eyes fell upon the face's glare and they both stared for several minutes. Then, as Ryu went to call out in a desperate attempt to get help, the face reacted in fright of his screams. Darting rapidly towards Ryu, the faces torso and limbs burst into reality. it had no legs, only arms but they were sharp. The creature screamed in response to Ryushins screams and crashed into the wall just above the boys head, vanishing from sight. It was then that Ryushins parents darted into the room. Ryu was shaking uncontrollably, tears streaming down his cheeks and reaching out to be held. He had never been this terrified before.

The following day, Ryushin was taken to a psychologist to figure out what the problem with him was. He was seeing ghosts. The remnants of the dead that had not passed on properly. In this day and age, people knew about the spiritual world and information regarding shinigami and hollows were fed to his parents so they could relay it back to Ryushin in ways he would understand. He had to accept the fact that a ghost was haunting him. So, every night, he slept in his parents room. For some reason, the ghost never showed up there. He looked around every single night, even under the bed to see if the ghost was there but it wasn't. He could sleep properly for the first time in his life. He had never been so happy. This joy though was not to last. He slept with his parents for several weeks. He even managed to go to bed before them and sleep perfectly fine without interruptions. they then decided that maybe he was ready to return to his own bedroom. The ghost was no longer appearing so things must have settled down. Ryu however was not prepared for this and requested he could stay for one more night. he slept in his parents bed, then when he awoke suddenly at midnight, he had the worst feeling imaginable. The ghost was not here, but he couldn't help but feel like it was. he climbed out of bed, his parents fast asleep as he scurried out of the bottom of the sheets. He then slowly stepped across towards his room. He opened the door, and there it was. The ghost was floating there, staring at Ryu's bed in it's usual place. this time however, it had most of it's body excluding the legs. Ryu gasped, stumbled back and tripped. the thud he created caused the ghost to jerk to the side and glare right at him. This time though, it's face was less distorted. It could be seen as who it was. Ryushin would not know who it was, but to everyone else, it was the High overseers ghost.

Cursed Ancestry:There was a secret kept from the Chaozi and Chaozu families that not a single member was aware of. Only the High Overseer was allowed to know and he would pass this knowledge down unto the next High overseer when he was elected. This secret would bring light to the family tradition and explain why it was enforced as much as it was. The first to hold the names of Chaozi and Chaozu were once poor people that met were met with a fortunate chance. They hated the way that their lives were unfolding and sought to break fate. Their wish was brought to fruition by a devil from Hell with magical power that could move their future down a different path away from poverty and away from despair. All the devil asked for was the souls of the children to come. However, there was a catch. The devil also laid down a curse where they must never create a child outside of their own blood. If a chaozi and chaozu member at any moment in history were to conceive a child, the curse would trigger it's dramatic effects. Everyone of the chaozi and chaozu bloodline would suffer eternal agony in hell after dying an abrupt death. The child would not be included in this however. They would live on unaware, with a rewritten memory of an orphan. This curse is why the high overseers existed in the first place. They were specifically males of whom were not related whatsoever to the families. They would become the vessel of the curse, and in exchange for bearing the curse within their bodies and becoming the families eternal watchers, they would be granted an immunity to 'death by ageing'.

This however did not stop some parties from attempting to assassinate High Overseers for their decisions. Whenever an Overseer was slain, the curse would move on to the killer and the Devil behind it all would collect them, giving them the briefing on their now permanent future. They would automatically be elected into power as the Devil would twist everything into their favour and people just accepted these peculiar changes, never questioning it. When Ryushins parents gave birth to their child however, the curse was broken and everything was set to decay. Every member of the Chaozi and Chaozu families began to die abruptly from scripted events. One was hit by a truck, another fell into a sewer, another was trapped by machinery at work and another drowned. The deaths were all triggers chronologically from the oldest to the youngest members of the family. What the Devil never told the High overseer however was what happened when the curse triggers. Their own bodies would be the first to die, exploding into a plume of flesh and blood. The most recent overseer was in the middle of a meeting when this occurred. He stood up, stumbled into the corner of the hall and soon after, blood littered half of the room. This is what started the hauntings in Ryushins home. Without a killer to take on the next Overseer and the curse now broken, the High Overseer at the time was bound to the spiritual realm similar to a spirit that was to become a hollow given time. However his soul chain was tangled around Ryushin's neck, watching his every move. This was why the high Overseer was still here.

One Hundred Deaths: The High Overseer continued to haunt Ryushin throughout the remainder of his life. It didn't take him long to understand the ghosts movements since all it ever did each night was appear at midnight and stand there, watching Ryushin sleep. Ryushin was never told that this ghost was the High Overseer but his parents certainly knew. Many conversations brought up his name and the two would often disappear for the day to go meet with individuals Ryushin was never to know about. Through all of this, Ryushin tried his best to continue on with public education and when he was 17, got a part time job at a local supermarket. The boy spent a lot of his time away from home but every night he would be visited by the ghost. One night, he decided to try something he had never tried before. At midnight, Ryushin was wide awake and sitting straight in bed, just watching the corner of the room. Slowly, the ghost began to materialise itself and do it's usual thing. It stared right back at him with no intention of doing anything else. It was then that Ryu opened his mouth and asked it for it's name. The ghost was weirdly hesitant at first, but it actually responded. It's usual glare became a look of confusion as it heard the question.

At first, there was only silence. Then, the ghost opened it's mouth and slowly began to squeak out sounds that could be formed into sentences if you listened hard enough. It spoke of his ancestors and of itself. Ryushin sat and listened eagerly, taking in it's words. The Overseer explained all he wanted to so Ryushin could understand what was happening. it didn't let up on the details as it was quite happy to speak in a sadistic sort of sense. However, the ghosts confused face became a great frown of anger as it began to speak about Ryushin directly. He was the problem. The curse from the first Chaozi and Chaozu had dragged the entire family into the dirt because of his birth and because of it, he shall pay dearly. This was not part of the curse at all. This was what the family wanted. The deaths had technically already ended, but it still had two more family members to kill. The ghost chuckled, telling Ryushin that every single member of the family was now dead except for his parents and this was the night that they were to die. They would not die from an accident however. The High Overseer had planned something else.

Ryushins parents laid in bed fast asleep as everything began to unfold. Hollows. 99 Hollows burst into the building, every single one pouring up the stairs in a rage. They roared, they screamed, they trampled one another to get to the parents bedroom. Within seconds the door was blown off it's hinges and the monsters piled into the room, leaping onto the sleeping two and tearing them apart in a flurry of negative emotion. Meanwhile, Ryushin heard everything. All he could think of doing, was to run. He bolted out of bed and dashed down the stairs. the hollows in the parents room were finished with their act of violence and set their sights on Ryushin now. he left the building and began to sprint down the road with tears pouring from his eyes in fear. He couldn't see any more. he felt like he was having a nightmare. Suddenly, he tripped and fell flat on his face. Turning round, he could see that the High Overseers ghost had it's grasp firmly around his ankles. Every hollows had managed to catch up. Some were wounded badly from being trampled but not a single one was to let up in the chase.

The Overseer held the boy down, and each hollow stood around him with gazing eyes. The overseer would then begin to talk. He was the reason the family was now dead. He was the boy that should not exist. He was going to feel the rage of the entire family line. Then, in turn, 99 hollows clawed at the poor boy. They took turns to pull his flesh from his body and rend his organs. He would not be let be until all 99 of them had their turn. then to top it off, the High Overseers ghost removed his head. Ryushin and the entire chaozi and chaozi line were now dead.

Vengeance Inescapable: Ryushins life had come to a dramatic end. Meeting with a painful, agonising death that he had no clue was headed his way, his spirit was released from his shredded corpse and as luck would have it he was moved to another location away from where he was slain. Confused, frightened and alone, Ryushin wandered the streets of his town in an attempt to find some form of help or aid that could both explain what was happening to him and how he can progress through it. he was no fool. he knew he was dead but this was not what he expected to happen. he himself had become a ghost just like the High Overseer but there was a clear difference: Ryushin was still whole. He wasn't mutated or mangled. He looked just like he always had and this only brought up more questions. All he knew was that the dead became monsters like those that had attacked him. His time as a wandering spirit would not be easy as he moved into the future.

He spent several days watching living people wander around. He even saw many that were once his friends, now mourning over his death and the death of his parents. He found that everyone had organised a funeral for them and Ryushin was determined to attend. Making sure he could survive till that time would prove difficult though. 5 days after Ryushin had died, he spotted something moving through the town. Floating on by with it's ominous teal glow was the ghost of the High Overseer. It had begun to patrol the area for reasons unknown to Ryushin. The best option he had was to make sure he never encountered him again. Is it even possible to die when already dead? He didn't want to think about it and certainly didn't want to find out. Instead of wandering any more, Ryushin went into hiding. The Overseer absolutely petrified him now.

Several more days passed and Ryushin had not left his hiding spot. He found a home lived in by a family similar to his own: A mother, Father and son. Ryushin spent his time simply sitting in the front room and watching out of the window whenever the curtains were pulled apart. During the day, he would watch the television but was limited to the programmes that the father watched. He controlled the TV it seemed. The mother spent most of her time out of the house whilst the son spent most of his time in his room. The family was definitely simple enough, but Ryushin never had these luxuries. He spent all of his time with his parents. They couldn't afford much of this stuff. Staring out into the street became his pass time for a short while until the father came home from work. if Ryushin didn't have a goal in mind, maybe he would have stayed here longer. A few more days passed, 18 since his death to be exact, and his funeral was to be held today in the afternoon. It was quite fitting since it suddenly began to rain. Watching every street as he moved, Ryushin left the home and slipped away towards the graveyard. He made it undetected luckily. No human would have noticed his presence since he was completely ethereal to them. It was the ghosts he was worried about. People he wasn't sure were still alive or even those that clearly looked out of place such as the Overseers deformed body. Luckily, nothing came up and he moved on.

Arriving at the graveyard, he moved into the small crowd that had gathered to make sure that if anybody was watching, which is highly likely since the Overseer was so bent on finding him again, then he wouldn't be spotted easily. Chairs were set up underneath large parasols to keep the rain off of those that attended. Ryushin found a seat that was empty between two sets of people and sat there. luckily, thanks to social anxiety, Humans never really liked to sit beside people they were not comfortable with so seeing the odd free chair gave Ryushin the option to blend in perfectly until somebody comes along and sits on him. The funeral went on as expected. Words were shared from friends of the family, school friends Ryushin knew well and even a few of his teachers had arrived. What was odd, was when the man hosting the funeral brought up Ryushins ancestors. They spoke of how they would have been proud of the family if they were able to see them now. Ironic, but also terrifying. As this line was said, a voice leant close to his right ear and spoke to Ryushin directly, commenting on the irony themselves. it took Ryushin a few seconds to realise that he was being spoken to and stood up instantly, spinning round and freezing on the spot. Behind him, grinning menacingly from cheek to cheek was the High Overseers ghost in the row behind him. With no time to even think, Ryushin ran as fast as he could away from the funeral. He was probably sitting there from the start of the entire ceremony. He had no clue.

As Ryushin got some distance away, he decided to look over his shoulder as he ran. The ghost was indeed following him from behind to the other end of the graveyard but it was doing something odd. it's mouth was wide open, spewing a sort of white liquid and gagging loudly as it flew along. Ryushin couldn't take his eyes off of it to the point that he ran right into a wall. Admittedly, some ghosts can walk right through obstacles but he didn't know any better. He stopped, spun round and widened his eyes as the Overseers body grew in size on approach.

It's face was now drenched in the white ooze and it's body was growing at an alarming rate. Within seconds it had grown to a towering height, easily over 10 storeys in size. The green glow had become jet black, it's legs sprouting from a now armour plated torso. The white goo on it's face had moulded into a skull mask which was complimented by a set of fear inducing horns. As it came closer, it spun itself round and crashed in front of Ryushin on it's hands and knee's with a gigantic explosion of dirt and sound. It's skull face stopped only a few feet away from Ryushins cowering body, opening it's truck sized mouth to show off it's flaming throat within. It's words were no longer legible and very demonic, clearly the world of the Devil from all those years ago. Ryushin wouldn't figure that out however. the monster that was the High overseer in his cataclysmic form brought itself onto it's feet, stretching gigantic wings across the entire graveyard. Following this, he roared victoriously as it brought a blazing fist furiously down onto Ryushins location. Ryu simply closed his eyes and accepted that he had no chance against this beast, quivering in fear and losing the will to stand. He felt like the wind around him was blowing hard from the force of the fist moving down, but that wouldn't make any sense would it?

Another chance: What had actually occurred that time was unclear to Ryushin after the Overseer became that monster. he thought that the force of the attack was creating a vortex around him, but that was incorrect. As he opened his eyes, he discovered that a Shinigami had in fact swept in at the last moment and pulled him to safety. Rushing to a nearby building, he was brought to his knees and the Shinigami addressed him quite fiercely. It was a woman and she made it clear that she no power to deal with the monster before them. Doing the only thing she could think of, she sent Ryushin to Soul Society. The monster was clearly after him alone and this was the only real option to hopefully cause it to back down. The womans sword was whacked into Ryushins forehead quite forcefully, connecting him to the Soul Society and quickly sending him on his way. Ryushin didn't see what happened to the Overseer, but he could only guess it did leave after that, otherwise he would have likely heard about it later on.

Ryushins arrival in Soul Society went as expected. He appeared in the Rukongai within district 38. It was here that he would spend the next few years of his life, trying to piece together some kind of aspiration to follow. he knew he needed to do something with himself since the afterlife does go on for quite some time. His first year was spent mingling with several groups of people that had taken residence in district 35. He wandered between districts and tried to make friends with people, sharing his story of how he ended up here. Many grew attracted to his tale and spread the word around that a young male had survived an encounter with a gigantic beast and was in the Rukongai. Slowly, Ryushin built up a name for himself and to go along with their positivity towards him, he decided that he wanted to find that monster again and slay it. Everyone he would say this to would think him as suicidal since he only escaped thanks to a shinigami travelling by. He would only smile at this, since he knew that's exactly what he wanted to become. He learned from the people here. He was taught how to look after himself and cook by a mother figure in a group from district 28. She spent a lot of her time moving between groups to show people what she knew and help them on their way. Ryushin was no exception and his tale had actually given him a sort of vip access to her. She wanted to help him meet his goals but as he was, she knew he wouldn't get far alone. The first year of his life in Rukongai ended with him now staying with this woman in district 28, sharing a shack with 4 others of whom were all talented just like her.

The second year was where Ryushin became more and more enthusiastic. He wanted to better himself and so he asked each person in his group to teach him. A younger male taught him how to fish, an elderly man taught Ryushin patience as they spent days sitting by a river silently. A large muscular male that was also quite old taught Ryushin how to fight with his hands of which took the longest for him to cope with. He often walked away with bruises and cuts from the mans relentless training methods but each day he would return as excited as ever. As the year went on, Ryushins fighting ability began to excel to a point where he actually managed to knock the man down onto his back. Slowly, from all of this training, Ryushins spiritual power began to grow and the man noticed it. That was where his training went a step further. After mastering simple fighting basics, Ryushin was shown how to control his reitsu. This was no simple feat as it required the two to simply stand by the side of the river and meditate. Ryushin could see that this man was able to push the blades of grass away from himself. The tree's were blowing and the water ran faster. This was all Ryushin needed to do before he could continue. If he couldn't do it, then he should stop doing the training. Ryushin spent several weeks trying to focus his energy but to no avail. He was caught once standing by the lake during the early hours of the morning where he would usually fall asleep. Instead, he was glaring intently as he tried to focus.

A month passed, and Ryushin was told that he just wasn't capable of controlling his inner power. That was when he spoke out to his teacher that he was doing this to become a shinigami and find the beast that killed him. This stopped the training instantly, as the old man was fully aware that he could not provide such a teaching. Instead, he demonstrated what his own power could do. Standing firmly, he shattered a huge boulder with his palm, spewing dust and mud into the sky. Amazed and slightly frightened by his ability, Ryushin pleaded that he taught him how to do that too. the man shook his head and declined, stating that if he couldn't do this simple task then he had no chance. That was where Ryushins determination took hold and forced him to stay where he was. he concentrated everything he had into his inner power in the way he was instructed. Days later, and Ryushin was managing small results. He put his feet in the water of the river and stood perfectly still. Then in an instant, jabbed the water and yanked out a small fish. Pleased by his sudden speed, Ryushin wanted to try to do more. He found a tree standing alone in a clearing and focused his power once more. What happened next shocked him greatly. His fist shot forwards and smashed into the bark of the tree trunk, causing the plant to snap in two. Shrapnel blasted outwards from the collision point Shocked in awe from his punch, he ran away to find the man who would not train him. Demonstrating his newly found ability, he confirmed that Ryushin had gained a very basic understanding of his inner power. The next step, was to apply to become a shinigami.

Academy Years: It wouldn't take Ryushin long to fully settle into his new home. He had a room he shared with another male in his class named Dexter. To make life simpler, they quickly became friends and decided to use each other to complete tasks. One would depend on the other to learn and better themselves until eventually they would pass lessons and clear objectives with decent results. People found their pairing pretty strong as the two would slowly develop a rivalry with one another as time went on. There was one difference between the two that made some things difficult. Ryushin excelled in kido since his training prior to joining the academy had already taught him of Reitsu control. Since he had this advantage, Kido flew by without much issue. He picked it up quickly whilst Dexter struggled. What really threw Ryushin out of the loop was the physical training they performed. Since Ryushins training was half focused on reitsu, everyone else had noticeably not bothered with it and spent their time building their strength. Where Ryushin would quickly understand how to launch kido at targets, he would fall behind when he had to run across the fields with his class. There reached a point where Ryushin was no longer showing much improvement in his physical ability and his tutors were concerned that maybe he wasn't the type to do this. He continued on however, knowing that if he fell behind he would never catch up to Dexter or the rest of the class.

The first year went by and the two began to show their difference more and more. Dexter was beginning to beat Ryushin in combat quite easily since Kido was off limits in spars. As soon as it came to target practice or medical work, Ryushin was the first to eradicate his targets and finish writing his notes. The competition between the two was heating up to the point where they took sides. Kido could beat strength and vice versa. The tutors found the idea hilarious and the end of the second year came with a new kind of event. Ryushin was nominated to fight Dexter in a controlled environment with Kido allowed. For the first time, Ryushin could adapt his knowledge to a fight against an actual enemy. The fact that it was Dexter made it all the more interesting. the gun was fired to signal the start of the fight and both fighters were at each others throats instantly. Dexter threw punches, kicks and was even allowed to bring a makeshift sword into the fight to represent his Zanpakutō. Ryushin on the other hand spent a lot of his time dodging and using binding kido to restrain Dexters arms. He too had a makeshift sword but had chosen to throw it aside and not use it. After 2 minutes of this, the fight was going in Dexters favour. The restraints were too complex to use properly and Ryushin was losing stamina which was something Dexter had plenty of. Once Dexter had landed his first strike, everyone knew it was over. That was when Ryushin executed a little trick. Firing a shakkaho into the ground between Dexter and himself, he caused a detonation that would hurl Dexter off of the fighting platform. What Ryushin didn't realise was that he was much more sturdy than that and had managed to stand his ground. In the dust and confusion, Dexter lunged Ryushin and planted his fist firmly into Ryu's cheek, sending him spinning off the platform and onto the grass surrounding it.

Cheers raged for Dexter and those in favour of Kido consoled Ryushin quickly. The tutors noted their fighting styles and had a comment for them both. The swords they were given were to represent their Zanpakutō's. Since Dexter held his but only chose to use his fists, he was scolded. However because Ryushin threw his aside and relied on his own knowledge to win, he was told he was the most foolish and condemned to lose the fight. This would be only the beginning of Ryushins failures. In the third year, Ryushin was pushed more into using his sword but seemed to fall flat at every turn before relying on his kido once more to complete the task. A scouting mission held in a controlled hollow environment highlighted this the most where Ryushin decided to bind his target early instead of attacking a weak point, draining the energy he needed later on and eventually being defeated. luckily for him, Dexter had successfully stormed through the rest of the trial so the two did not fail the task entirely. The tutors started to feel that maybe Ryushin was never going to improve in anything other than his kido. He always said that was all he ever wanted to improve on since he learned it, but he was likely to fail his final year at the academy.

Time slowly moved on and eventually, the final exam took place. Ryushin was to show everything he had learned to his tutors in an attempt to pass the Shinigami academy and move on to the Gotei 13 where he could gain the power to defeat that monster so many years before today. He sat his tests and managed to pass theory well without going too overboard. He then moved onto his kido exam and easily came top of the class in both Hadō and Bakudo. He even displayed the ability to conjure kido of higher levels than anyone else. Already impressing his peers, his tutors and his examiners, he moved on to the physical assessment. Here, he was once again pitted with Dexter but not in a fight. The two had to complete a series of tasks in the hollow controlled area again. The two set off rapidly, dispatching Hollows at alarming speed.At the point where the two would usually meet, only Ryushin turned up. Concerned, he moved over to the area Dexter would have covered and found that he was wounded and that a Hollow had managed to land a decent strike against him. using a strong Bakudo to bind the hollow, Ryushin pinned the creature down for Dexter to finish off. With all of the examinations over, the two were graded. They both passed, where Dexters faults were in his decision making and spiritual ability and Ryushins physical ability being lacking, but everything else was more than impressive. The two moved on to the Gotei 13, Ryushin into division 4 and Dexter into division 11.

The rising superstar: Division 4 handles all of the Gotei 13's medical business be it simple wounds down to those on deaths door. Any Shinigami had the given right to be carted off to the 4th division for healing, repair and restoration. Ryushin at first felt that another squad would have felt more at home to him, but because of the increase in people wanting to simply be the best, most destructive and powerful, Ryushin decided to sit back elsewhere and brew his strength away from the light. He had enough attention from those that remembered him from the academy and on his travels, some in Rukongai would recognise him and praise his work. This caused Ryushin to want to return to the people that taught him in the first place. He found the group he was with in Rukongai to discover that the man that taught him how to fight passed away from deadly wounds under unknown circumstances. Ryushin joined in mourning their loss, attending the 2nd funeral of his lifetime but with a difference. He was the man with the power to make a difference. When the funeral service was over, he left to return to his barracks and request that he was given a task to complete. His sudden dedication to the division he was in was sparked by the loss of a man that was once very important to him. He would not be here without him and so he would not waste his time. Within a few months, Ryushin was spinning the injured between his fingers, keeping death at bay and preventing the most injuries the division had seen since the time of Unohana Retsu.

Out of nowhere, he became renown as the most determined member of his division and other squads knew him well. He would talk to his patients, reassuring them when they are in pain and treating them to the best of his ability. His captain certainly took notice, and it wasn't long before Ryushin had risen to the squads 5th seat. Now in a more suitable position, Ryushin was invited out on patrols to the living realms to track down distress calls and recover the lost. Many more lives were saved out in the field and Ryushin got to see what real hollows were like. He had only trained against controlled hollows under safe limitations. Now, they were out for blood. Several missions passed before Ryushin was given a job that would push him beyond what he had ever encountered. the 11th division had moved into a Hollow infested area but were not expecting a sudden demon attack to stampede into them. the results were disastrous and a few more squads were dispatched along with the 4th division to control the area and recover those that were still alive. Ryushin entered the fray quickly, using kido to remove nearby threats.

The demons and Hollows soon turned tail and ran from the increasing numbers of Shinigami entering the field. Many gave chase, attempting to track down those that would pose a threat later on. More shinigami found themselves at risk when doing so and the 4th division had to continue moving the wounded back to the Sereitei. Ryushin moved ahead alone after letting his group clean up the bulk of the mess. He had to find Dexter. He was in the 11th division and couldn't have possibly been killed. giving chase after the shinigami that had raced ahead, he stopped as he approached a half dead male sat with his back against a rock. Dexter had indeed been caught out but he was not dead, just badly wounded. Ryushin pulled Dexter onto his shoulder and tried to walk back the way he came but was cut off by a stray pack of demons that could sense the distress. Ryushin had to do something. He put Dexter aside and drew his blade, holding his other hand out for kido use. A short battle followed, with Ryushin combating the beasts as best he could. His sword clashed with claws and fangs but he could feel his power dwindling in his desperation. He pulled several Hadō based Kido to fight with and blew up much of the surrounding area with explosive attacks. To his despair, Ryushin realised that it was not going to be enough as more demons were approaching to tackle him. For the first time in his life, he fell back on the only thing he never wanted to trust. He gripped his sword firmly and swung the blade sharply at the demon clawing for him. He put all of his hope into the swing and it paid off.

A bright light burst from the blade as the weapon began to curve into a corkscrew shape. As it did so, Ryushin could hear the voice of a young woman shouting to him to fight on. She was his Zanpakutō spirit and he had to continue. He couldn't stop now. Holding his faith within his blade, Ryushin began to fight back as a yellow glow engulfed the area, causing the demons to run away in fright and the few he managed to strike fall down. Ryushin cut them through and fell onto his back, breathing deeply and exhausted.

The beast unbound, a warrior awakened: With his Shikai now earned and his Zanpakutō spirit able to communicate with him, Ryushin couldn't feel better about his situation. Dexter was alive and Ryushin had personally treated him. Dexter had yet to earn his Shikai of which made Ryushin even more pleased with his progress. He could slay the wicked now. He was going to one day be able to defeat that monster. the next 5 years would go on as anybody would expect. Nothing truly amazing would occur. In fact, there are literally no notable events to mention in the span of this time. Ryushin trained himself daily to perfect his shikai and Dexter managed to obtain his own through sheer strength as expected of him. Ryushin was definitely starting to shine however after 5 years passed, he became the vice captain of squad 4 and he was able to navigate the world on his own instead of needing to go with others in fear of his own safety. He was strong enough now to do things his way and he relished in this fact.

This is where Ryushin decided it was time for him to hunt down the High Overseer. First, he checked the records. Had the creature already been slain? Luckily for him, it hadn't. Somewhere on earth it was still wandering around as though it was trying to find him still. It hadn't stopped moving either. Apparently the gotei has been watching it's movements but have no needed to act as it is has been so docile. This led Ryushin to believe it really was only looking for him. It had even tried to get to areas he had patrolled before during missions with the squad. It was somewhat creepy, but also very helpful. It clearly knew where Ryushin would be but was just arriving way too late. if that was the case then all he had to do was alert it to his location and wait. Pretty simple right? Well this is where Ryushins master plan would come into effect. There was only one other person he could think of that could help him here. Ryushin approached Dexter with an offer: to kill the biggest shit he'd ever seen. In those words as well.

The two moved down to Earth, away from the Gotei so that they could complete this mission without drawing any attention to themselves. It was a simple operation. the only complex issue would be how the creature would react. It was probably much stronger than before and Ryushin needed to take that into account. However, they were also very strong. At least they thought they were. The first thing they triggered was a hollow bait to lure many types of hollow to their location. killing as many as possible, they even managed to lure demons over. The fight raged on for a few hours before pretty much every threat had been vanquished. Once the pile of bodies had been created, they waited. The creature must be on its way now meaning neither of them could sleep. They had to be alert. A few more hours went by and they heard nothing. Dexter questioned if the creature was even real and threatened to leave if it was all just a bad joke. Ryushin convinced him to stay, and so they waited a while longer. Eventually, in the distance, something came floating into view. Miles in the sky, a huge, jet black visage of a monster was flapping its gigantic wings. It moved above them before proceeding to fall directly downwards onto their location.

The two men dived to the side as it crashed into the ground with a huge wave of debris. The monster roared at the top of its powerful lungs and immediately looked around for Ryushin. It's cold, dead eyes brushed over Dexter at first before completely ignoring him. It reacted to Ryushin of whom was cockily commenting on it's size in a joking manner. From there, the battle began. The three thought with all of their might. Both shikai's had been released and the monster was breathing clouds of flame, causing an avalanche with its roar and generally destroying everything in its path. As the fight went on, it seemed that the beast wasn't slowing down like Ryu and Dexter were.Things began to go wrong as more attacks were connecting with the shinigami. The beasts armour was not denting as much as it should be. No progress was being made at all. The fight slowly got worse as Ryushin and Dexter took more and more damage from miscalculated dodges. Eventually, it became too much and they found themselves in a very difficult position. The beast attacked as strong as it always had been and smashed Dexter aside, taking him out of the fight. Ryushin tried to move over as fast as he could but it struck him as well. Now separated, the beast took its sight off of Ryu for a moment and turned to Dexter. In one huge, fell swoop, it's fist crashed into Dexter. Blood shot all around. His skeleton was crushed to dust. There wasn't even a sound of pain. Just death.

Ryushin pulled himself to his feet, his eyes showing his loss of all feeling. He yanked his body up from the ground with all of his might. he had to do this and stop the creature before it kills him too. It moved aside and raised its fist to do the same to Ryushin, covered in Dexters blood and dripping down to the ground. The fist shot down and in retaliation, Ryushin swung back with his sword and shouting as loudly as his lungs could allow. The blade connected with a bright flash of intense light that caused a huge surge of intense power to erupt from Ryushin and engulf everything nearby. His sword grew into a pole arm, a halberd to be exact. Ryushin stood firmly, gripping the pole tightly with the look of pure death in his eyes. he spun himself round, he began to run and leapt high into the air, grabbing a hold of the beast. He then began to climb. All he could think was to climb higher. the beast was slow and couldn't turn its body to get a good view of Ryushin until he had already climbed to it's shoulder. Slapping itself with its hand, Ryushin smashed the arm away with his newly found Zanpakutō and charged up to the beasts skull face. To end the spree of this monster, Ryushin plunged his halberd deep into its face and twisted the blade in complete anger and frustration. The monster let out a roar in its dying moments as it fell onto the ground, dissipating like a hollow but melting away like a demon. Ryushin however, simply tried to walk away.

The two embodiments: Ryushin spent the rest of his time in his squad. he had made his mistakes. he had gotten his best friend killed. He was a failure in his own mind. The abilities he had gained from the fight were like a gift from Dexter. His Bankai. It showed Ryushin a girl. The spirit of his weapon in voice and appearance. She was his sword and he was her master. Although, she told him of how the two were inseparable. They were two parts of a whole that wouldn't work without one another. Ryushin accepted this. As a sort of nickname, he decided to begin calling his sword Chaozi in the memory of his mothers side of the family. As chaozu and now chaozi, the two moved on to try and forget their past. Years had passed and he rose through the ranks as best he could. He became the captain of his division in fact. That, is where his story shall begin, several months after gaining his captain-hood.