Ritoru Box [APPROVED, 3-2, HAZARD RANK D]

Coding In Template By: [THEFROST]

» Name: Ritoru Box
» Alias: -
» Age: 47/16 Appearance
» Gender: Male

» Association: Gotei



» Personality:

»» Aggravating Cheer:

Box's external personality is, well, irritating. The world is a rough place and is usually not met with unending cheer and optimism. This is the first and most immediately recognizable rift between Box and the average Shinigami. The boy is loud, the boy is happy, and he jumps at the chance to serve the illustrious Gotei and it is the first immediately noticeable thing about him. Box is happy, genuinely. While most approach their duty with a sort of solemn gravity, Box could not be happier to be able to shoot lightning from his finger tips, to play with magic swords, and to save the world from evil monsters. This world is his dream and being a warrior in it is the role he knew he was born to play. The notion that Shinigami are anything but blessed is so foreign to him

»» Utmost Loyalty:

It is in line with that however that Box carries an intense, borderline pathological sense of loyalty toward the Gotei. The Gotei was what gave him purpose and his life long aspiration and for that, in his mind, Box owes them everything. As such, Box is fervently obedient to and protective of the Gotei. As a result, Box holds an almost reverent admiration and respect for his superior officers and an ironclad sense of obedience. He follows any order given by anyone above him in the hierarchy without a second thought, equating him more to an unfeeling automaton than a functioning, sentient being when performing his duty despite the abundance of "personality" he typically demonstrates. This tends to result in Box carrying out orders, occasionally horrific ones, with the same smile on his face that he would use for greeting a friend.

»» Childish Behavior:

Anyone who has had, been around, or has seen a child knows that children are all, indiscriminately, assholes. It's not necessarily because they're evil, or even necessarily "bad" people. They just don't realize what "right" and "wrong" are a majority of the time. Such things are learned through experience. Box, both due to his early demise in his human life and his relative youth as a Shinigami, consequently has a very childish viewpoint. He is prone to being selfish, prone to being violent, prone to rudeness, prone to all manner of inappropriate behavior. None of it is done particularly out of malice or a desire for evil or any other negative prescribed sense of morality. He acts inappropriately because he just, genuinely, doesn't realize the way he's behaving is wrong. He never objects to morally questionable orders because he doesn't understand what the notion of morally questionable is.

»» Surprising Intelligence:

Despite the boy's outward demeanor being more akin to a bratty child than a master scholar, Box is blindingly intelligent. Terribly perceptive and tactically brilliant, it is often very difficult for most to get a proper read on the boy as a result. One moment he'll be acting like an obnoxious kid and the next he'll be breaking down complex systems or tactical states as simply as someone would explain tying a knot. This intelligence manifests primarily in combat situations, where Box is required to put his tactical and/or mathematical abilities to use, but it rears its ugly head quite often in more day to day situations where Box proves to be especially perceptive, almost irritatingly so. He doesn't quite have the wisdom to go with that intelligence, so he'll notice that a man is cheating on his wife and pick up on the clues to solve the puzzle, but be completely oblivious to why the man would do this or that maybe he shouldn't announce his infidelity publicly. He'll also come up with multiple ridiculous tactical decisions that without the benefit of hindsight sound insane and somehow seem to work.

»» Perfectly Unpragmatic:

Box has a penchant for grandstanding that borders on the absurd, a penchant that seems entirely at odds with his choice of squad. While this translates slightly into his preferred style of combat being entirely based on misdirects and indirect combat, it is most immediately noticeable whenever Box introduces himself to someone new. He will tend to go full fanfare, quite literally, conjuring loud lines of trumpets and entire marching bands to herald his arrival on the scene, much to the chagrin of basically everyone around him. This is further encapsulated in how Box chooses to fight. Most people follow a script, a style, a pattern...Box does not, or at the very least has patterns and tendencies that are obscured beyond on all practicality.

»» Zanpakuto Obsession:

Box is pathologically obsessed with his Zanpakuto, Oyamain, firmly believing it to be the souls of his true parents due to his emotional attachment to the idea imprinting itself upon the Shallow Hilt. He relies heavily on his Zanpakuto for emotional support, advice, affirmation, and love as far as Box is capable of understanding the concept. As such, while all Shinigami tend to and commune with their Zanpakuto as if it were their own soul, because it is, Box takes this to an uncomfortable extreme by polishing his two Tanto on an almost bi-hourly basis if possible and by taking every possible opportunity to engage in Jinzen. If any danger comes to his Zanpakuto, either in battle or by someone getting just a bit too familiar with his soul, Box's happy demeanor shifts immediately and frighteningly to something bordering homicidal rage.

»» Aversion to Blades:

Unfortunately, the one time Box has succumbed to homicidal rage has left its scar on him. Box, ultimately, is a decent person beneath all the...well...everything. Box's first kill has consequently left a very notable and painful subconscious impact on his soul. While he cannot remember anything from his life as a human beyond his name, box carries a strong dislike for bladed weapons, specifically swords or daggers. Remembering the trauma killing Main's abuser left on both him and the one he held dear. As such, even in their blunted state, Box very rarely will use his sealed Zanpakuto in combat and if he does, it'll be exclusively to block another blade.

»» Kleptomania:

Another hold over from his time as a human, Box seems to be constantly stealing things. Kleptomania is not quite the correct word for it, as it is not necessarily a compulsive habit for Box, but he seems to constantly just take things that belong to others without seeming to understand that people might be upset by that. It's not even clear if Box enjoys the stealing, he just seems to randomly do it unless he's explicitly told not to by a superior.

»» Foodly Fascination:

After the Gotei, Box's second passion is food. In spite of or perhaps because of his general lack of nutrition before his death and for quite some time after it, Box loves cooking and eating and the man is usually always found with some kind of food at hand. Food he often tries to share with those around him. However, undoubtedly because of his background, said food always seems to have some questionable ingredients involved. Sometimes it ranges from turning a can of spam into a delicious fried rice to turning a rat and a beetle into a delicious sauced kebab. In general, it's always best to never let Box build up any steam when it comes to the wonderful world of unorthodox food.







» History:

»» In the Realm of the Living:

Box's tenure in the land of the living was not long nor was it particularly enjoyable. The boy was abandoned at a young age, left on the street and discovered alone, cold, and in a box. The boy, unsure if he was two or three and the time and not remembering anything close to a parent, was found by a gang of thieves who, in a master stroke of creativity, named him what he was, Box Baby. In later life, Box would learn how cliche and story book such an origin would be, but at the time it was entirely what he knew. It was his whole world. He didn't understand territory, he didn't understand city names, he didn't understand the politics of the different races. He was a small, hungry human who desperately needed to eat. He couldn't tell you about the powers of a demon, he couldn't tell you about the machinations of the Shadowfall, he couldn't even tell you what country he was in. All he could tell you was that he was a Little and if he didn't steal enough money from all the gullible, suffering people out there in the city, he would starve and the Bigs would beat him.

Box lived this life for what would be a fairly short life, but the boy was good at it. He learned to steal effective, always paid his dues to the gang, learned how to avoid most beatings from the Bigs, he all and all became very talented at being a despicable street urchin. He even began to develop what could loosely be considered a friendship with one of the Bigs, a girl they called Main. Box never understood what she did, she said she didn't steal like the rest of them, but she always brought home more money than everyone else and whenever she upset the other Bigs they were always very careful not to hit her in the face. Box assumed she was just really lucky and smart to get away with it, but the two of them managed to get along fairly well despite Box's jealousy...mostly because Main shared her extra bread with Box. It was Main that began teaching Box about the outside world and telling him all sorts of stories. It was from her that Box learned about families, about parents and siblings, about how they needed to protect each other with weapons like swords and guns. And help feed each other and help each other grow. She even began teaching him about the monsters in the world, the Hollows and the Demons that prowled in the night and would get him while he slept if he was ever mean to her. They terrified Box. He had never known what a parent or a family really was, but to Box, Main was as close to a "mother" as he was capable of understanding it.

Two years had passed since Box had met Main and the small boy had been promoted to windows work, finding himself quite good at it. His time had improved and he was, relatively of course, happy...until Main came back to the den with injuries on her face, disfiguring ones. Large gashes carved across her face, giving her a terrifying half smile and her eye had been swollen shut entirely. She wouldn't tell Box what had happened, but it hadn't been especially difficult to figure out what had happened. The other Bigs let him know that she was useless now that her client mutilated her, she couldn't bring in anymore money, no more clients would want her, she should have been more careful and not pissed off someone with such depraved tastes. With enough prodding and a few beatings for being so nosy, Box found who was responsible.

It wasn't hard to find him, he'd spent all his life that he could remember tracking marks who would be profitable to steal from, and this man would for sure be profitable. He made his way up to the second floor where the man slept, crept in through his window, and immediately saw a knife on the table. Box had no way to be sure that it was the knife that had "ruined" Main, but it may as well have been. Grabbing the knife from the table, Box struck, driving the blade straight in to the fleshy bits of the man's face. It only took two stabs and minimal struggle before the man grew limp, but Box didn't stop. He kept thrusting, slicing, carving, simply brutalizing the man's face as much as a seven year old could until it was barely recognizable. Box left, bringing the knife with him and all the money he could find in the room. He brought the money back to the Bigs, that kept them happy and placated about sheltering Main, and he gave the knife to Main. He didn't need to explain what happened further. He gave it to her to use on the monsters, whether they were people like that man or the hollows, he wouldn't leave her unguarded again. He couldn't bear to hold the knife any longer, it made him sick and he left the weapon there with the sobbing Main.

Life trudged on however, Box went back to his daily routine and things were fairly predictable for awhile. Box stole, Box ate, Box occasionally got beat, but for the most part it was steady. Naturally, because stories have to story, Box would not avoid his boogeyman for long. Hollows struck the part of the city Box was in, their attacks becoming more and more violent and frequent as the world deteriorated. They moved through the neighborhood, slaughtering all in their path, the small...powerless humans. Bigs and Littles killed en masse as they fled in terror. Box and Main fled through the streets, desperately evading the monsters coursing through the streets. However, there was only so far two young, weak people could go. Box heard a voice perk up from behind him. "If you get killed by a Hollow, you become one." Box turned to face the voice of his friend and found a knife buried into his heart. Main, tears streaming down her besmirched face, backed away from the Box and the knife, Box's knife, embedded in his chest. Then, Box saw nothing.

Box awoke as a spirit, a plus, sometime later and far away from the carnage of what was once his home. Box's vision came in to focus to find a Shinigami before him. They explained somethings, like what they were, but it seemed a moot point as they let him know he probably wouldn't remember any of this anyway, and then performed the Konso, sending Box to Soul Society, where he'd begin a life where he wouldn't remember the previous seven years, wouldn't remember anything.



»» In the Realm of the Dead:

Anything except his name. Like any newborn, living or dead, Box's first bit of time in Soul Society was a haze. He was given his ticket and mindlessly followed directions and was sent off in a random direction. He wasn't sure what he was, what was happening, who he was, or why he was there. He just knew that he was called "Box" and that he was very, very used to being in the slums of Rukongai, as if that was what he had done his whole life. He settled into a familiar pattern, moving in with a bunch more "kids" around his age and they formed a sort of "Family" that they coined the Rituro, for Little. It made sense to Box, random people who happened to share a roof lined up with Box's subconscious concept of a family. There was something decidedly missing however. While Box wasn't subjected to quite the harsh conditions in death as he was in life, the boy was still a far cry from being in a healthy situation. The home was rudderless, didn't really have a sense of leadership or really any semblance of nurturing love. Expected, perhaps, but it nagged at the back of Box's mind, like he was forgetting something important and his "family" was wrong because of it.

Still, it was all he had. Twenty years elapsed in that state, the boy and his family scraping by to live. However, without the threat of constant beatings and the clean slate that death provided him, both mentally and literally, Box began learning about the world he was now in at a much faster clip. He learned of Shinigami first, obviously, and that notion of power immediately elicited a reaction from him. His understanding of a parent was that they needed to be caring, loving, and most importantly, strong enough to protect you. If he was going to find his parent, it would need to be one of these Shinigami.

Fortune would favor him though in the form of a massive, inebriated, typhoon. Very few things could rile up an entire district of Rukongai like the arrival of Suika Ibiki, especially when an establishment refused to serve her any more alcohol. It didn't take long for Box to find her and see, for the first time, that flowing black robe of the Shinigami...angrily bursting through the front wall of a tavern that had simply run out of alcohol and tearing down the street in an energetic huff...an energetic huff that Box did not hesitate to chase after. Ibiki, even drunk, was a master Shinigami, it was not hard for her to notice that a little street urchin was sprinting full tilt after her, leading to a quick confrontation. With no semblance of fear, young Box asked to become a Shinigami, clearly not actually understanding what that entailed, but asked with such earnest and confident idiocy that Ibiki couldn't resist the chance to test the boy, she did love her challenges and excitement and she wasn't about to let this opportunity go without having some fun. So she posed her game for Box, she was still thirsty, Box needed to bring her enough booze to be satisfied, then she would take him to the Academy. Box, not even bothering to ask for clarification on how much that was, immediately set off with determination lighting up his eyes. Apparently he already had a plan.

A few hours later, Ibiki would see a massive cart being pulled along by two boys a few years older than Box, with her challenger walking along beside it with an immensely pleased grin plastered across his face. That cart was laden with barrels and barrels of ale and garnished with various bottles of wine and a few cases of premier whiskey, all labeled with a very distinctive boar head, the signet of the largest, wealthiest, and most pretentious establishment in all of Northern Rukongai. When asked how he'd done it, Box casually and matter of factly went through each step to distract the owners and their paid guards by having one of his family wearing a set of Nobles robes they had nicked off a previous visit by the high brows into Rukongai and having him get in a fight with another in the family. A few punches were thrown, a fire cracker in someone's pocket accidentally went off and set the dining hall on fire, and in the chaos no one noticed the rest of them had broken into the store house and were nicking the whole of the reserves.

Ibiki, after downing enough alcohol to kill a herd of elephants, honored his victory and took him into Seireitei and to the next step of his goal, the Shi'no Academy.


»» In The Academy:

One thing was immediately clear upon Box's induction into the Academy. He sucked. The boy had next to no talent with Zanjutsu, in fact he seemed visibly queasy at the very notion of holding a blade for reasons completely beyond him and he did not have any impressive amount of Reiatsu to speak of. In fact, he barely qualified for the Academy despite getting near perfect results on the entrance exam. He did well in his other lessons, picking up Kido remarkably fast and his lithe, flexible body, making him naturally acceptable at Hakuda and Hoho. He never really stood out in any of these subjects though, despite his speed at learning the fundamentals of Kido, he simply didn't have the energy to produce the same results as the other students. His spells would just never be more powerful than his classmates, this seemed like an unavoidable truth. And while he was successful in the other classes, he definitely didn't stand out in the slightest. Add skipping Zanjutsu lessons to that resume and it seemed very unlikely that Box would graduate, most simply assuming he was too young to properly become a Shinigami or perhaps just too weak.

To a degree, it didn't look like the boy actually cared if he would graduate either. He didn't find any parents here in the Academy. Maybe it was where they sent all the weak Shinigami. No one here was even close to as impressive as Ibiki had been. It was so depressing. The only thing Box found remotely interesting at the Academy was Kido and it was coincidentally the thing he spent the most time invested in. Every night after his lessons were spent either delving further into the intricacies of Demon Magic, a name he found particularly amusing given the actual existence of demons, or sitting alone with his Asauchi ruminating on the parents he didn't have that he so desperately wanted to find.

However, Box had survived and gotten to the Academy by being resourceful and clever and he did not suddenly lose those skills. If he wasn't going to be capable of the raw power of his peers, he was going to take the power he did have and simply use it better than everyone else. It was then, after three years in the Academy, that young Box began to get noticed as exceptional. Within three short years, Box had become flawlessly proficient in Eishōhaki, Nijū Eishō, and Kōjutsu Eishō, all Kido skills far beyond what a 3rd year academy student should possibly be capable of. That was remarkable on its own, but what really got Box known, what allowed him to graduate early from the Shin'o Academy and what had everyone earmarking him for the Second Division, was when Box began casting Kido without any incantation at all. Using a technique that Box termed "Idō Eishō" or Kinetic Incantation, he managed to cast No. 8, Seki, without saying a single word and simply by moving his arm in a motion similar to a forward chop, demonstrating a power slightly below the full incantation, but considerably more than the wordless variant. This revelation caused the Academy to Graduate him early and move him directly to the Gotei Squads despite the boy not having any talent or skill with the sword whatsoever. However, instead of the 2nd Division, like everyone expected for him, Box was unwilling to forgo the majority of his life and joining a bunch of stuff scholars didn't suit him at all. Instead, feeling the need to rebel for the sake of rebellion, Box joined the 5th division, fully intending to utilize his background before the Shinigami as much as his training afterward.

Graduation did not bring the satisfaction Box had hoped for though and while creating new and interesting applications for Kido, including a way grow past his personal deficiencies with new and unique ways to combine and strengthen "weaker" Kido, Box still wasn't happy. Box still hadn't found his goal. This resulted in the boy's time away from Missions being spent less on Kido theory and more on those silent ruminations with his sword, whose edge continued to make him weary. Eventually, emotions caught up to him. On a rare night that Box attempted anything vaguely akin to sword practice an outburst of petulant, childish anger, as children are prone to do Box struck a striking post, say that five times really quickly, at just the wrong angle. The screech of splintering steel pulsed through the room before everything went dark.

When Box's vision cleared, he found himself standing on water, the surface rippling beneath his feet. Before he could fully appreciate his new found ability to ignore physics, Box felt an overwhelming sense of warmth encompass him. His view snapped up to the source as a pair of glowing, effervescent balls of light glowed in the distance. He couldn't describe the feeling, but somewhere deep in the etches of his soul, he knew what this warmth was, what this intense overpowering sense of love was. This was what he was looking for...these were his parents.

"Oya...main."

Box snapped back to reality, shaken. When he looked down at where the shatter Zanpakuto once rested, there were now a pair of short, blunted tanto streaked straight black, almost looking like a block of obsidian than anything else. They seemed completely incapable of cutting anything and for all intents and purposes seemed to barely have a point, figuratively or literally...and they were perfect for Box. His Shikai when released proved to be even more suitable for him.

With his recent acquisition, Box's name began to pick up speed in Seireitei and the Gotei before he settled in to (hopefully) his seated position in the 5th squad as a noticeable change in Box was blatantly apparent to all who knew him. The unmotivated, frustrated slacker they knew was no more. The boy had a new found admiration for and loyalty to the Gotei and approached his duties with a fervor that was borderline pathological. He was still goofy and unorthodox, but the hesitation was gone. He never bothered to explain to anyone why, to justify himself. The Gotei gave him the Zanpakuto. The Zanpakuto gave him his parents. The Gotei gave him everything. That was all he needed.

END OF THE POST