Yusei Kuroiwa

» Name: Yusei Kuroiwa
» Alias: Daredevil
» Age: 40 [24 physically]
» Gender: Male

» Association: Prior to the disbanding of the Gotei United, he sat in Squad 8.

» Appearance Written: Yusei has thick, feathered charcoal-black hair. It hangs off and over his head in wide bunches like petals on a hyacinth flower. His eyes are a slate-grey, too dark for this to be the case, but under the right lighting could be mistaken for the irises of a blind man. He hides such eyes behind amber-colored sunglasses. His body is toned and athletic, with prominent veins on his forearms, calves, and on either side of his abdomen. Despite that, he's only 5'7 or 170 cm, and his stature and build make him look downright scrawny next to actual athletes and physical specimens. His eyes have dark rings around them, making it clear he has difficulty sleeping. He's a healthy looking peach color, but turns a sickly off-white when winter rolls around.

» Appearance Image:

image:

» Personality: He seems as if he's half-asleep at times. Yusei's face isn't all that expressive, and he doesn't tend to express his feelings very well. He may not even have the language to do so. Nonetheless, he tries to be polite to a fault, moving with slow and deliberate gestures. He doesn't say a whole lot, but his body language communicates that he's confident in whatever he's saying. He prefers to be by himself when off-duty, and might even make a comment to that effect, trying to couch it in a pleasantry or concern for the other person. On-duty, he's serious to a fault, and has a weird intensity to anything he does or says. It's as if he's turning those little tricks to make himself look more confident and take up more space against his enemies.

Around those he feels comfortable with, particularly around his age bracket, he slouches and acts crass, but only if someone else starts it.


» History: His human life was pretty straightforward. Yusei went to school, went home, wanted for nothing. His father was a quant at a bank, and could secure him a salaryman classic 80 hour a week job, even if he didn’t apply himself. All that changed when at the still budding young age of 22, the bicycle he was riding started to hydroplane in heavy rain, eventually dumping him off a railing onto concrete. He remained there as a plus for some time watching people come to mourn at first, but slowly all start to move on.

Arriving in the Rukon district when he first materialized was a sudden shock, going from relative comfort to a working-class uphill battle to do much of anything. He lived in a cramped home fit for one with two other people, all working at a textile mill. His task was mixing dyes and dyeing fabric, with residue often lingering on his skin and clothes. The texture and scent left on him inspired sleep issues.

While uncommon but not unheard of, his home in the western Rukongai was attacked by a few hollows. Nothing massive, just three frog-headed bipedal things with bulky masks and holes in their chests. Yusei’s first instinct was to run interference and evacuate people, pushing the most vulnerable out of the way.

To his surprise, his two roommates were already left in critical condition; he was tailed as he returned to his small home, in tears. While reinforcements were on the way, he stood his ground. He was, for his trouble, left with several deep cuts that looked like marks left by teeth. He didn’t succeed in inflicting much damage, but by the time Shinigami interfered, he’d remained conscious despite his injuries, demonstrating a tenacity they do. After being discharged from the infirmary, he was urged to undergo training, and took to it if it meant saving more lives.

He took to Shin'o Academy well. While Yusei displayed a basic competency in all the things he was tested for, the lion’s share of his time was spent meditating with the asauchi in his lap, unsheathed. Seeing the brief flash of power that saved his life drove him to live by the sword and die by it too. He took to sparring and drills particularly well, and clashing swords proved to be the key here, not his tendency to retreat inward. After graduating and fighting another graduate for real, a rival at school, he finally heard a scant few words ringing in his ears from his zanpakuto.

The next few years saw him as an unseated officer in Squad 8. He was a floating unit, mostly used for peacekeeping in the Seireitei as well as patrols in Rukongai. He prefers running interference and evacuating civilians first and foremost, but the invasion of the Soul Society by Shadow Fall forced his hand. While he wasn't up to the task of taking on waves of monsters by himself, he acted as a shield so others could be swords without worry. His fighting style at this time was near-suicidal, having lived and died once already and had his perspective on this changed forever. Nonetheless, he fought admirably and coordinated with Squad 4 closely. For his trouble, he'd overexerted himself, and succumbed to injuries he didn't even notice with all the adrenaline in his system.

Recently discharged from the infirmary, Yusei is ready to start over.


» Natural Abilities: Willpower: Despite his demeanor, Yusei is incredibly stubborn. A threat right infront of him leads to him digging his heels in and fighting, if there's someone behind him.


» Racial Abilities: Zanjutsu: Yusei put his thousand hours into studying his zanpakuto. Into learning to hear its voice and tune others out. Into learning to wield it both in the asauchi form and shikai form, despite starting with no experience fighting with a weapon at first.


» Zanpakutō Name: Suna no Shiro, 砂の城, lit. Sand Castle

» Zanpakutō Spirit: Suna no Shiro looks like a man that’d done Kabuki in a past life, and been abandoned in the wilderness in this one. Olive-y skin, marked by smudged face paint that in years past went from his eyelids to his chin. As of right now, there’s naught but a sage-green smoky-eye makeup on either side. He’s about 180cm, or six feet tall. Rather lanky too, and adorned in clothes that give him a massive silhouette despite this. He wears an informal sage-green yukata with a wide white obi fastening it to him and wide-legged pants fit for field work, with straw sandals.

He sits still, but in conversations becomes very animated. He’s quick to argue or debate, with his gestures going from polite and measured to exaggerated. Hand-talking on par with any man sufficiently old or drunk. He has strong opinions on things, that he takes to quickly.

Suna no Shiro spends a lot of time trying to “little brother” Yusei. He’s full of advice, and prone to chiding him in the inner world, when he crosses over. He responds to this subdued man by asking if he’s done with this charade, if he’s ready to stand tall, the way he yells “Stand tall!” to awaken Suna no Shiro.

» Inner World: An oasis, with a pool large enough to look like the ocean, from Yusei's point of view. The sand is charcoal-black, with desert flower reds yellows and pinks marking everything else. Roots of errant plants, flowers, large smooth stones, and cacti off in the distance. Just a scant few meters from the water, there's a banana tree, casting a skyscraper-length shadow that occasionally bends and sways in the breeze. The whole place smells faintly of sea-salt. There's a full moon, a pale yellow hanging over everything. The moon, despite everything, dwarfs even the tree in size. The cloudless sky and sand seem to stretch on forever.

» Sealed Zanpakutō Appearance: His asauchi is a slightly longer katana, with a taper and curve at the end. The kind of sword you’d use in a cavalry charge. The guard is flower shaped, with wide round petals lining it in a circle. The handle is wrapped in woven, sage-green cloth with circle-shaped cutouts.


» Shikai Release Phrase: Stand Tall!

» Shikai Appearance: Suna no Shiro when fully awakened takes the form of a greatsword with little if any edge to it. It's more or less a tower-shield on a stick. Its size is 2 meters total, with most of that being the "blade", tall enough to obscure Yusei's whole body. It's thick and dense, but very clearly dull looking.

Spoiler:

» Shikai Abilities: 1. Suna no Shiro is moreso a tower-shield on a handle than a proper sword. However, it's capable of firing off projectiles made of a "black sand": a compound of sand, glass, iron, and flaking material off its own body. This technique can only be used once per attack that Yusei blocks. This scales with Yusei's own power, rather than that of what he's defending against. It's not an ability that lets him reflect attacks or negate all damage.

Using this technique relies on Yusei's reaction time, blocking technique, and whether or not his zanpakuto can actually endure incoming damage without breaking. Failing on any of these three counts just means eating the hit head on, and all that that entails.

2. Suna no Shiro is also capable of drawing minerals out of the ground to build constructs when planted in the ground blade-first, but Yusei has to sculpt them by hand, and defensive fortifications often turn out brittle. A single strike can tear one down. They're moreso useful for buying time or non-combat purposes than actually fighting.

The second ability of Suna no Shiro relies on being on sand, soil, or paved road. Fighting airborne, on rooftops, or in buildings on padded and insulated floors render this technique unusable.


» Bankai Name: [What is your zanpakutō's release phrase?]

» Bankai Release Action: [Does your shinigami do any physical action to release their bankai? Feel free to remove this if not.]

» Bankai Appearance: [What does your shinigami's bankai look like?]

» Bankai Abilities: [What abilities does your shinigami gain in bankai?]


» Equipment: [If your shinigami has any equipment? Put it here. If they don't, skip this section.]


(To Find Out about what these skills are for, please READ THIS THREAD before you try doing anything to it)

General Attributes
» Durability: SS/S/A/B/C/D/E
» Speed: SS/S/A/B/C/D/E
» Strength: SS/S/A/B/C/D/E
» Soul: SS/S/A/B/C/D/E

Will Skills
» Willpower: Elite/Advanced/Adept/Beginner/Untrained
» Deduction: Elite/Advanced/Adept/Beginner/Untrained
» Focus: Elite/Advanced/Adept/Beginner/Untrained

Shinigami Skills
» Hoho: Elite/Advanced/Adept/Beginner/Untrained
» Kidō: Elite/Advanced/Adept/Beginner/Untrained
» Zanjutsu: Elite/Advanced/Adept/Beginner/Untrained
» Hakuda: Elite/Advanced/Adept/Beginner/Untrained


» Roleplay Sample: Despite everything, he was discharged from the infirmary, at last. Yusei shuttered the door for a moment, changing out of the loose white yukata he was given for the time being. His shihakusho, folded neatly in the corner, was calling to him. He still winced, running his hand over a scar left on that span of muscle just barely above his collarbone. It looked like teeth. Like a monster got the jump on him and took a big chunk out of him.

He changed back into his uniform, fastening the sheathed asauchi to his waist with a length of sage-green cord. It hung off the cactus-green obi tied to him, more or less tying a belt to a belt. He blinked, rubbing dust from his eyes with a loosely clenched fist. He could just barely see someone out of the corner of his eye, and blinked again. The battle was months ago, and it still felt like it was only yesterday. Yusei then knelt, scooping up the sunglasses he wore off the pile of clothes and slipped them on.

He opened the door, and slowly made his way down the hall. He greeted other patients and medics alike with brief, curt nods. A chill ran down his spine. Could it be the ambient temperature of the building, or still having his guard up while he was in public? In either case, he made his way to the front desk, filling out a form and meeting the clerk with a bow. As Yusei left, he was greeted to the sight of someone he'd sortied for battle with ages ago. His eyes lit up, seeing the man there. Taller than him, sporting a long scar of his own just below the collar, one he could see with his shihakusho worn more loosely.

"You sonofabitch, you made it." He moved in for a brief handshake, but Yusei lost it, yanking his hand in and clapping a hand on his back in a loose hug.


» Character Intent: My purpose in writing this character is to introduce a character who despite carrying a sword fights cautiously and can soak up damage, with a greatsword at that. Major inspirations here are Souls series bosses like the Fume Knight. His overall demeanor comes from having gotten back into manga, and falling in love with characters who treat everything like a pain in the ass, up until the moment they have to lock in. Characters like Shunsui Kyoraku, Shikamaru, and Seishiro Nagi were key here.