Yuki Kameko [Approved; 1-3+]

» History [M/NSFW]:
The Tale of Shiori and Taichi
The story of Yuki’s origins begins with the tale of her mother, Shiori Kameko. Hailing from ancient Japan, the young Shiori was brought forth to Soul Society during a time of peace, stricken down by an invisible murderer and saved by a man in black robes. Entering Rukongai was entering familiar territory, and at first glance it had appeared that she had entered heaven. Unfortunately, no solace would be found in this new world, and it was similar to her old life in ways less desirable.

While the first district was peaceful, she could find no home here. She was new and nobody cared for her. Hoping to find the sort of life she’d missed out on in her past life, she decided to venture out from the first district, to search for a home. As time and distance passed, the conditions of the city grew worse. Eventually she did manage to find a place of residence within the seventieth division in south Rukongai, although this was brief and she was quickly run out by some less than desirable folks.

Starving, cold, and tired, the young woman continued to wander to the south, until at last she was set upon by a group of thugs. She fled and they gave chase. In her weakened state, she didn’t make it very far, and found herself dragged off into one of the many run down and decrepit buildings of the slums. Unknown to the thugs, also new to the area, was that this residence had an owner.

As they kicked in the door and entered the darkened rooms of the old building, a roaring voice and a flurry of fur and claws met the intruders. Half of the thugs were killed outright, and the young woman’s left arm was left with deep gashes. The pain and loss of blood coupled with her already weakened state caused her to pass out.

When she next awoke, her arm had been bandaged by rags, and a basic meal of yams was provided to her. Sitting nearby was a great beast, a massive wolf-like creature with the demeanor of a human, covered with rags barely held together by thin strings. The being introduced himself simply as Taichi, as he had long abandoned the name of his cursed family. While Taichi typically did not care for the others who wandered the slums, his rage had injured the young Shiori, and his code of honor would not allow him to simply throw her out to the streets. So, while she healed, she would be allowed to stay.

As it turned out, Shiori was an excellent cook, and even the barest of foods were made to taste on a level as of yet unknown to Taichi. Thoughts of throwing the woman out quietly slipped into the back of his mind, and the two shared the place of residence. As time was spent together between them, they grew to further enjoy each other’s company. Shiori did not look upon Taichi as some simple beast, and instead saw within him the kind, gentle, giant guardian that he truly was. In turn, Taichi saw Shiori for the kind soul that she was, and their friendship eventually grew into something rare within the slums of district eighty: true love. After a couple of years, their love spawned the hybrid child, the true focus of this story, Yuki Kameko.

The Tale of Hardships
Yuki can only barely remember her earliest childhood. While initially her parents were able to support the new add on to their family, her later days were most always spent hungry, as there was little food to feed the three of them, and Yuki had begun to develop a growing potential for reiatsu early on. Very few possessions belonged to the family, and her only set of clothes was a poncho of rags given to her by her father, barely enough to cover her body but enough to keep most of the cold away.

Despite the conditions, she was lucky: she had a mother who loved her, a father strong enough to protect her, and shelter to take comfort within. As long as she remained hidden away within the meagre comforts of home, she would be safe, and she would have a chance at life, however pitiful it was. However, as children are to be, Yuki was curious and grew bored easily. When she had mastered walking, she started to venture out into the slums.

All sorts of people traveled the streets, and most cared not for the tiny undernourished child. She had no possessions to take, she was too young for prying eyes, and she was just another denizen of the southernmost slums of Rukongai. However, unlike other children of the slums, Yuki was different. Her father’s cursed bloodline had manifested itself in a way more cruel than it had for her father: while mostly human, a few distinguishable traits from her father remained, most notable being her wolf-like ears and tail. She was just human enough to offer her hope for a life without ridicule amongst the others and just wolf enough to deny it.

Adults looked upon the girl like she was a freak of nature, and ridiculed her. Some would tease her with food, get her to do tricks or to bark like a dog, only to laugh and continue on their way. On the occasions that she was actually given food, she’d get harassed by a group of children who she called The Baka Brigade, or the BBs for short. Mostly boys around her own age or somewhat older, they would call her names, throw rocks at her, steal her possessions, and occasionally beat her up. Thankfully, they knew better than to follow her home completely, as her father had grown a reputation for his ferocity.

As Yuki grew older, the bullying only grew more physical and, at times, bordered on the lewd. She noticed that some of the adults started to pay more attention to her, only in ways that made her completely uncomfortable, so she started to avoid them completely. Unfortunately, the BBs had also grown older, and with age came the physical developments that made them stronger. The girls that once hung out in the group seemed to gradually disappear, and with their disappearance came the increase in aggression within the group.

She started to get into more fights, and due to their greater numbers, she generally lost. While before she would return home with bruises and maybe a few minor cuts and scrapes, it was now common for her to return with a black eye, a gash, or even fractured bones. Growing concerned for his daughter, Taichi gifted her a black wooden sword, one with a heavier weight than any other wooden object of similar size that she had held before. He told her tales of the Shinigami and taught her the very basics of the weapon’s use.

With weapon in hand, Yuki started to even the odds against the other children. She grew stronger, and eventually, she became the hunter. If they had something she wanted, she could fight them for it, and sometimes she could win. This meant more food on the table for her family, and as she grew more aggressive, her father started to teach her his code of honor, so that she would not get out of hand with her actions. Unfortunately, these lessons didn’t really stick at the time, as she was more concerned with the well-being of her family.

On her off time she would train herself, and to keep her strong, her father started secretly giving up more of his rations. Yuki’s personal training ultimately culminated in the formation of her great pride. She started to win every fight against the BBs, and finally deciding that enough was enough, she stormed their little hideout. The battle was fierce, as their numbers were much greater in their home turf, but the end result was a victory for Yuki. The gang of bullies was scattered and Yuki stole their hidden stash of supplies.

When she returned home her family celebrated with a feast, although for any normal family it could have been considered a typical Monday night’s dinner. Her father only lamented, jokingly, that they had no drink to go with their celebration! The next morning, she set out for the BB's hideout, to make certain that nothing had been missed. She had been quite thorough, and the BBs seemed not to have returned.

Deciding that she could finally take a break, she took to seeking out some drink for her parents, feeling that they had deserved it. It took some time, but she managed to find some one day whilst on her way home, a few bottles of the stuff tossed away into a heap of trash. Unbroken and still quite full, Yuki hurriedly returned home with the discovered treasures, which were presented with glee to her parents! Her father praised the young wolf and her parents celebrated during the night. Exhausted from her search and filled with pride, Yuki quickly succumbed to a peaceful sleep. Days had passed and the BBs were nowhere to be seen. Life finally started to look up for the little wolf girl.

The Tale of Blood
When she was awoken from her slumber, Yuki’s senses were assaulted by the stench of blood. It took her a couple of seconds to adjust to the darkness within her home, and by then, it was too late. Standing around her bed were eight boys who she instantly recognized as members of the BBs. They seemed to be soaked with something foreign at first, but as she adjusted to her awakened state, she noticed it was the point of origin for the same scent she had detected earlier.

They held knives, and before she could move from her spot, the largest of the boys, their leader, plunged his knife downwards. A pain rippled through her body instantly, like nothing she had ever felt before, and it originated from her left eye. She tried to move her hands up to grip at the boy’s arm, but the others held them down. She tried to kick her way free, but more hands pinned her legs. She was allowed to scream, and she was allowed to watch, as the knife was pulled free and, with it, one of her eyes. It was plunged down again: a blade small enough not to kill her, but large enough to inflict a permanent wound. Under the pressure of her screams she lost her voice, and within seconds she thankfully blacked out from the pain.

A slap rocked her from her moment of peace, hard enough to make her ears ring. Her body, now bare and exposed, was covered with damp sweat. A hand held the back of her head, pinning her face against the wall behind her very simple bed. She couldn’t move her arms, as they were tied together in front of her. The boy said something, long forgotten by the passage of time, or perhaps never heard at all due to the ringing in her head. Pain followed below her tail, but not something she couldn’t handle by now, as the pain from her left eye seemed to dampen everything else. Eventually something else followed, and the boy took a moment to relax.

While he caught his breath, so too did Yuki, and it was then that she noticed something important: the knife remained in her left eye socket. Adrenaline and rage surged within her body and mind, and she slumped forward, to pretend that she had grown weaker, when in reality it was to hide the withdrawal of the knife by her bound hands. When the boy tried to sit her up again for was she assumed would be another round, she turned and struck out with the knife. His neck was torn open, and his blood splashed out across the faces of his friends who were, moments earlier, cackling and jeering. Their shock was all she needed to push away and to flee from her home.

Weak from loss of blood, body wracked by pain, and filled with fear, Yuki found solace amongst the garbage and remains of an old hut, only a mile from her home. She slipped in and out of consciousness for what seemed like her to be days. Dreams of a mysterious world visited her, one bathed in blue hills and pools of gold, and always present was a figure of black, a figure that towered over her, one which quietly watched over her.

When she finally did manage to recover enough to stand, she found herself naked, covered in blood, and tightly gripping onto the wooden sword crafted for her by her father. She didn’t even remember picking it up on the way out, but here it was, clutched within her hands. After chewing apart the ropes that bound her wrists, she returned home, only to find a pile of charred, smoking wood. Fear filled her heart, and in desperation she searched through the rubble. Unfortunately, she discovered the very thing she’d feared most: the corpses of her parents, charred to a crisp, lying still upon what was once their bed.

A voice, deep and cold yet faint and metallic, spoke up within her mind. Destroy. A single simple word, and yet just enough to fuel her for what was to come. Dragging her sword tiredly behind herself, the girl shambled along through the streets, ignored or avoided by most. The few who actually did speak up to ridicule her were met with her gaze, and immediately they knew to flee. As Yuki neared the hideout for the BBs, she heard the distinct clicking sound of something metallic. Following the sound, she noticed that her wooden sword had opened. All of this time it had merely been sheathed, something real and dangerous and hidden from her by her father for fear of her taking the wrong path.

She wasn’t ready then when she had been gifted with the sword, and she wasn’t quite ready now, as her mind was still frazzled from her earlier experiences. Gripping the blade properly, she removed the sheathe, and entered the hideout. They boys within were quiet, keeping a close eye upon their dear leader, who still recovered from his vicious neck wound. Their initial reaction was one of surprise, and anger, and ridicule. Everything flushed away and only fear remained once she started to cut into them. Only the leader was spared a quick death. With one swift cleave, his legs were removed, and he was awoken from his slumber by his own screams. With some help from a nearby lamp, the hideout was set ablaze, and Yuki took her leave, although now with some rags and some food.

The Tale of New Beginnings
Fashioning the rags into a simple eyepatch and a hooded cloak, Yuki spent years slaying any who dared harass her. Remembering her father’s stories, she made her way to the north, towards the fabled land of the Seireitei. As she calmed down, she stopped outright slaying anyone who messed with her, and by the time she reached the inner districts, her temper had cooled completely, and she was instead filled with intense feelings of sadness, loneliness, and guilt. The death of her parents was her own doing, and while vile, the others certainly didn’t deserve to die. Her father’s code of honor stuck to her, and she pledged to live her life by it, no matter the cost, to make amends for what she had done. A promise was made to better herself, and to better the world, and the only way she was going to accomplish that was to join the Shinigami.

Ridicule followed her even into the central districts, but she had sworn her life to a new cause. Even so, despite her greatest efforts it still affected her, and she kept her ears and tail hidden by the cloak of rags fashioned from her victim’s clothes, ashamed by what she was and fearing ridicule and rejection at the hands of the Shinigami. Finding one of their recruitment offices, Yuki applied to the Spiritual Arts Academy. While she waited for the exam, she spent her time begging for food to get by, as she wished not to cause a disturbance within the central districts. After a couple of weeks, she was invited to one of the exams. Her combat skills were fair enough, but what really impressed the examiners were her reiatsu potential and her raw ferocity, and so she was accepted into the academy.

If there was ever such a thing as heaven, Yuki entered it when she first entered the academy. Clean buildings and clean streets greeted her initially, along with clean people in clean uniforms. Nobody was out to kill her, or hurt her, or take things from her. She was assigned a place to live, and it too was clean, but more than that was the level of comfort it provided: there were no holes in the walls for gusts of wind to invade through, there were no rodents or bugs, and the bed was the most comfortable thing she had ever felt in her life. And then there were the baths! Hot water cleaner than anything she had tasted, and it was used for cleaning the body! She felt as if she were melting away the first time that she used it, and it quickly became one of her favorite things in this new life. She tasted foods that she’d never experienced before, and she could eat to her heart’s content. But the thing that excited her most were the uniforms.

She’d never had a set of clothes that fully covered her before, nor had she ever worn shoes or sandals or anything of the sort. It nearly brought her to tears when she first received them. When she figured out how to properly care for the red and white uniform she was provided, she took the utmost care in its maintenance. She kept her tail hidden down the back of her left pants leg, and the rags were converted into a new eyepatch and a matching hood with face wrap, which she wore in order to cover what could be ridiculed. Despite this, she was ridiculed, only for different reasons. For this reason most she looked forward to her zanjutsu and hakuda classes, as all ridicule disappeared when it came to close combat. If she was to be a beast, then she would become a beast in the training area.

The Tale of Friendship
It was during her first year at the academy that Yuki met the boy named Takuma Wakahisa. She took notice of him during their zanjutsu courses, where he proved himself to be a worthy rival. Or, at least, she considered him to be her rival, as he was one of the few who could stand toe to toe with her in their class. While she held a few victories against him, most of the first year was spent nursing her wounds after defeats. She likes to chalk this up partially to her learning to hold back her aggression while practice sparring, but deep down she knows that it was simple weakness on her part. Even so, zanjutsu was her best course of study during this year, followed shortly by her hakuda training. Unfortunately she seemed to completely lack the skills in any other area at this point.

By the second year of studies at the academy the rivalry between Takuma and herself was openly acknowledged, and their sparring matches grew more fierce. Now her strength in combat matched his completely, and most fights went to a draw. Her skills with hakuda increased somewhat, but still she was very much lacking in other areas. Public ridicule over her appearance had lessened, and most was done so behind her back. People mostly suspected that she was hideous, or covered with scars, and this suited her just fine. Better to be known as a hideous human than the bestial creature that she was.

In the third year Yuki started to grow more comfortable with hoho, although she still lacked skills with it, and more so with kido. She began to fall behind in these classes, and so she begrudgingly approached Takuma and asked for his help. Without even a moment’s hesitation, he agreed to it, and Yuki started to suspect that she had found a good person. With Takuma’s after class training sessions, Yuki caught up in her classes and started to gain the most basic understanding of techniques which, for years, had escaped her grasp.

She grew more comfortable around Takuma as the year stretched on, and when Takuma introduced her to the wonder of strawberries, she was finally coaxed into showing him her true form. While initially surprised, he didn’t ridicule her, nor did he show any signs of ill will. In fact, he encouraged her not to be ashamed of what she was. Despite this, she insisted that what she was wasn’t anything to be proud of, and only during the occasional practice session would she remove her hood.

As the fourth year within the academy rolled around, Yuki’s grasp of hoho techniques and the general knowledge that a Shinigami was required to learn were greatly improving, although her skills with kido were still below acceptable. Knowing that most students graduated within six years, she started to grow worried that she’d never become a Shinigami due to an unacceptable grade with kido. Most of her time spent with Takuma was focused on kido techniques, and even he was having difficulties improving her skills with them. More of her free time was spent studying, and less time was spent sleeping, and all of her classes started to falter because of this.

Yuki’s deteriorating status within the classes only really became noticeable around the start of the fifth year, when students were encouraged to begin communicating with the spirit of their Zanpakutō, and to begin looking into which division they wanted to join. Growing worried for her, Takuma spent much of their time training observing her closely. Eventually, he came up with the idea that she was faltering due to her insecurities with herself, and that the fastest way to fix this would be for her to stop wearing her cloak. Trusting her friend, and after great hesitation, she decided to begin attending her classes without the cloak, although she kept her tail hidden.

The initial level of ridicule was enormous and nearly drove her into seclusion and hiding beneath her hood. However, Takuma stepped in and defended her from the ridicule, and kept her from retreating with his encouragement. With time, even she started to accept what she was, and to take pride in it, eventually making a modification to her uniform to allow her tail freedom. Her classes improved, and she finally managed to achieve the most basic of passing levels with her kido training.

Now able to focus upon her Zanpakutō, she took time meditating within the gardens, in the hopes of contacting it. She started to once again lose out on sleep, as she poured herself completely into trying to contact her Zanpakutō. Finally, after weeks, she awoke within the familiar hilly region that she’d paid visit to earlier within her life, when times were the darkest for her, and there to greet her was a familiar figure of black. Impressed by her level of improvement, they started to chat about what they cared most about in life. While some things were similar, there were many points of contention, and it was only after some time that Yuki remembered that his was the same voice that had told her to destroy those who had destroyed her family in the past.

Angered and confident in her abilities, she challenged him to a duel. Her defeat was swift, merciless, and very surprising, as she hadn’t expected to possibly lose to someone in a fight within her own mind. On occasion, Yuki would find herself returning to the strange dream world to chat with the unknown figure clad in black. Outside of this dream realm, she continued to fare well in her classes and to keep her grades at passing levels. But as the sixth year arrived, and the true exams began, she started to grow inwardly worried.

She had decided to apply for the combat division along with her good friend Takuma, but she still had yet to learn the name of her Zanpakutō. When the exam for zanjutsu finally rolled around, she was paired up in a match against her instructor. Despite her skills, she couldn’t overcome him, and things were looking badly for Yuki. She grew desperate: if she didn’t graduate, she’d be held back, and then she might not be around if Takuma got into trouble on a mission. If he got hurt and she wasn’t there to help him, she wouldn’t be able to forgive herself.

Tossing aside her pride, she made a plea for help, a plea for power within her mind. The deep metallic voice of the black figure within her mind spoke up, and the very same words escaped her lips as a battle cry. With a flash of red light, her Zanpakutō changed. While she still ended up losing the fight, her marks were well within the passing grade. Her other exams were not nearly as difficult, even the kido exams, although she only just barely passed them.

The Tale of Loss
Both Yuki and Takuma were ultimately placed together within the combat division, and initially it worked out very well for them both. The two close friends fed off each other’s success in battle, often times holding friendly competitions with each other, which only further fueled their growth as warriors. Yuki even took to using Kido during multiple outings, and she’d begun to grow more confident in her use of the techniques. With Takuma by her side, Yuki felt as though she could do anything, and their friendship started to blossom into something more.

A great many victories also fueled something terrible, especially for new Shinigami: arrogance. Their games grew lighter, and they started to take their time with the Hollows that they fought. It became a game for them both. Weaker Menos started to flee from them. But with every victory they grew ever closer to their inevitable crushing defeat. It came in the form of an Adjucha who had been stalking the two throughout the day, waiting for the right moment to take his prey. All he had to do was separate them. They would be no match on their own.

The young team was ambushed during the tail end of a simple mission. Neither were tired out, as the Menos they’d hunted was fairly weak, even for just one of them. It had started to rain out, and the two were too focused on each other, celebrating yet another victory and yet another successful patrol with a kiss. Takuma noticed the foul creature first, and for that reason alone Yuki was spared from death. As the creature struck Yuki was separated from her kiss and tossed aside. A familiar coppery scent mixed into the rain, mixed with Takuma’s scent, and she was covered by it, soaked in it, as Takuma fell in two.

Such was the level of shock that Yuki did not even feel the creature’s scythe-like arm penetrate her chest, nor did she notice when she was lifted from the ground, her focus entirely upon her now slain friend. Tears left her one good eye, although they went unnoticed thanks to the rain. Even the Hollow’s arrogant words were drowned out, as he too fell into the same trap that they had. It wouldn’t last quite as long, however. Within those few moments, something snapped.

With a pained scream Yuki unleashed her Zanpakutō and cleaved through the bone white arm that supported her. While in tremendous pain the powerful Hollow lashed out, and over the next few minutes the two of them cut and cleaved into one another, until at last Yuki managed to slay her foe. Darkness befell her soon afterwards. Although she believed herself also slain, she would be proven wrong hours later when she awoke within a hospital.

Takuma’s loss changed her. Once more she was alone within the world, a void left where her friendship with Takuma had once existed, and family before that. When she left the hospital Yuki searched for something to fill that void. The bathes she took were no longer as comforting, the strawberries no longer as sweet, and the fights always left her cold and unsatisfied, as if they were missing something. Her already limited skills with kido grew worse, and she abandoned them completely. They were only a painful memory of what she’d lost.

When she was able, Yuki ventured to Earth alone, too afraid to pair herself with another, fearful of yet another irreplaceable loss. Hunting down the nearest Hollow that she could detect, Yuki threw herself into a battle against it, uncaring that it was stronger than her. She nearly lost her left arm, and it took everything within herself, but after a brief though fierce fight she was victorious. It was faint, but something filled that void within her chest: the battle was satisfying, and she felt warmth again.

As soon as she was fixed up, Yuki started to return to Earth alone, to throw herself right back into the fight. Nothing else mattered to her. Only by hunting and slaying Hollows did she feel alive again. Her trips to the hospital were initially quite frequent, however the experience she gained only made her better. During the next few months she learned more about Hollows than she’d ever had in the classroom. She came to an understanding: most of these creatures were mindless beasts, only hunting to satisfy their hunger. Yuki was no better than they were.

The Current Tale
Now with a new understanding, Yuki’s trips to Earth have become less about slaughtering Hollows and more about saving the people they represent. She has started to regain her life, but that void remains, never completely filled, gnawing constantly at every facet of her life.