With the Captains suffering casualties and heavy injuries on their side, all hope seemed to be lost... until Shinji Hirako appeared, along with the rest of the former Shinigami. Though the aid of the Vizards certainly helped to draw the battle in their favor, it seemed Aizen's power alone proved too much for them.
Name: Ai Kyouraku Age: 428 Gender: Female Personality:
At one time she was highly regarded as being very diligent, orderly, stern, and well disciplined - the epitome of what is the utter polar opposite of what she is now. These days she is simply flippant and lackadaisical, untidy as her appearance would suggest, even apparently cold-heartedly taking on a stoic stance of "neutrality" out of a seemingly uncaring disposition toward unfolding events. Although, seldom are people so generic and one-dimensional, for deep down the genuine noble and kind heart she seemed to had lost still manages to bubble up when the situation permits it. There is far more to her mantra of avoidance and keeping a balanced view, at times it seems even a little fearful. If she was truly uncaring about such unfolding events, would she really keep training so hard for as long as she has and does - since exiling herself from the Soul Society? Not likely.
Resurfaced: Now having resurfaced back into view after having lived in exile and been dormant for so many years - the respect and loyalty she once held for the Gotei 13 is immensely deminished - seemingly non-existant in fact. She even appears to sympathize with Hollows more than the Shinigami or humans for that matter; ignoring their devouring of human souls as Hollows merely being Hollows and seeing no wrong with it. Albeit, on the same side of that token she does not care about Shinigami eliminating Hollows, seeing the conflict between the two as just how things are and part of the natural order. While herself she sees as walking the line between the two opposing sides, and therein lies the truth of her neutrality and non-involvement. Though, as of late - she has become involved within the conflicts, but where her primary stance will be during them, whether consistantly for the Shinigami or otherwise not even she exactly knows giving more into whim and whimsy than consistancy. Also, despite her differences and disagreements with her own zanpakuto spirit she has a great level of respect for her, and all zanpakuto spirits for that matter, seeing Shinigami who complain about their zanpakutos as ungrateful and arrogant - as she views zanpakuto spirits as symbiont spirits with Shinigami and Vizards alike. To deny or dislike your Shikai or Bankai is to deny or dislike a part of yourself in her eyes... Although... she has the same point of view toward Vizards disliking their Inner Hollow as well.
Appearance:
Regardless of how many centuries she has lived, she looks like a girl simply in her lower twenties. With a fair complexion, dark eyes, very long silky black hair tied back into a pony-tail. She is dressed somewhat in the style of a samurai, though incredibly haphazard and unrefined and disorderly. Hanging off of the overlapping belts holding up her dark red hakama is her old 8th Division Captain's haori (she wears no gi) that to say the least is very worn, torn and tattered. Traditional undergarment white clothe wraps cover her chest and upper mid-driff. On her hands up to the shoulders are part of clothe kendo-style red fingerless clothe gauntlets with white wraps, and on the back of left hand is a diamond shaped light bluish-violet clothe pad with the Kyouraku family emblem sewn in black on the back of it. Lastly, around he neck is a black silk ribbon choker.
Hollow Mask:
Her Hollow Mask essentially looks like a faceless Noh mask with pair of parallel violet slash like marks at the far corner of both its narrow eyes. The whites of her eyes turn black and her pupils deform while turning into a monstrous dark red hue. With her decent amount of stamina she can maintain her mask for a good spell of time, augmenting her abilities significantly like any other Hollow Mask. Though she trains with it, she has never brought it out in an actual fight, more accurately she has never been forced to. In fact, no one actually knows she is truly a Vizard, solely giving the impression that she is a shinigami living in exile. An image and impression she prefers to keep. ((Clicky for partial reference (Did not draw the pic)))
Hollow Powers:
With her Hollow mask Ai has only obtained what would be considered the "standard" abilities that Vizard tend to inherit when wearing their mask. Such as her strength, speed, stamina, and spiritual power are greatly enhanced, though not so much her Mask Shielding to withstand pain - seemingly in its place her perceptions for sensing reiryoku/reiastu levels are vastly increased; which can make her reflexes and reaction times do to her great speed seem far faster than the impressive speeds that they already are. She also has learned to utilized the power augmentation via the dual reiastu greatly through her few centuries of training, as well as the unique reiryoku absoption ability that Vizards are known to possess.
Cero: Hers requires more time to build up than most, while it is a powerful attack, her reason for hers being slower is she is not very proficient with it. Her Hollow powers, beyond maintaining her Hollow Mask and increasing her strength and speed, are not something she really focused upon. So while she can perform a powerful Cero like an Arrancar, it takes her time to release it. However, because it takes her time, while attempting to do it, she is vulnerable to attack while doing it. Therefore, it is something used truly sparingly for her.
She performs it by drawing a circle vertically in the air in front of her almost equal to her height. Bright glowing red energy trails behind the tip of the blade itself, while bloody red energy begins to pour and fill the forming circle's entire center. It often looks as though she is truly carving into the air itself and making it bleed into the circle itself. She then flips her blade into an inverted grip and thrusts it into the very core of the circle at which it point a large, dense bright red Cero energy blast is then preformed.
Though, her Hollow mask does seem to greatly alter her reiatsu, and even effects her Bankai as well.(see Bankai for details.)
Inner Hollow:
Ai's Zanpokuto spirit calls it "the Desolation", she tells Ai that what it is, is a variant of a Soul of Desolation - an evil Hollow spirit that feeds off of the dregs of ruin caused by either it or other Hollows. Within Ai it is more presence than personality. Always does it try to take over, and always does Ai manage to suppress it back down within the depths of her soul, if only narrowly at times. Though the moments when Ai lets down her guard, it does not hesitate to try to corrupt her being. Powerful images of vile and deprived wanton slaughter and destruction it floods within her mind and spirit to the point it feels as though she is suffering a life time of such horrible acts of destruction within the blink of an eye, and the second she cries out in agony from the imagery - she hears its cold, raspy, ghostly laughter echoing throughout her mind. At which point she has been, if only narrowly, able to push it back deep within her. Yet, contradictorily in a way, she oddly seems to have a strong affinity, and even empathizing point of view for her Inner Hollow.
It is an odd being this Hollow, at its core is what looks like a white armor chest piece exoskeleton, and at the chest piece's center a large cylindrical hole horizontally runs right through it. A faceless, featureless white mask is where its head should be, and also has what looks like a white exoskeleton wing armor for the forelimbs. But, each piece is suspended in there place by its ghostly, tendril body of pure darkness. It carries a quiet, raspy, whispering tone when speaking with an echoing reverberation in its voice that seem to bounce around within the walls of Ai's mind always managing to send chills up her spine.
((Did not do this painting))
Zampakuto's name:
Keizen Higure (Radiant Twilight)
Zampakuto Spirit:
Appears as a young, very thin set girl with long dark hair, dark eyes, and a pale complexion. She is beautiful in appearance with a pair of great radiant white angelic wings on her back. When appearing within Ai's mind in the form of visions, the scenery she appears in is always a placid lake surrounded by beautiful lush greenery and bamboo trees. The sky is a clear starry twilight with a grand, brilliant moon looming just over the distant mountainous horizon. The young girl is always walking on the water or sitting on it as though it were as solid ground as sand as she speaks with Ai. Seemingly sweet and innocent in tone and appearance, she is instead a bit of a disturbing creature. Though wise with her advice to Ai, she often seems to like to bother Ai by pulling and tugging events of Ai's past that she would prefer to keep in the past, and does this often out of a desire to attempt to shatter Ai to her core. She often seems to have intimate knowledge of Ai's Inner Hollow as well. Though that may not be so strange considering, they are all apart of the same being, Ai herself.
((Did not draw this pic))
Un-released Zampakuto's Appearance:
Looks like an ordinary zatoichi cane sword. The wooden sheath and hilt are both black, and the blade itself looks like a simple katana blade no different from any other ordinary katana.
Shikai Release phrase::
"Tenshi Higure. Awaken." (Angel of Twilight. Awaken.)
Shikai Appearance::
Upon Ai uttering those three words, the blade transforms into a massive nodachi sword with an elegantly woven red and light bluish-violet cloth (matching her left gauntlet) hilt with a white stone hand-guard in the shape of a perfect circle plate. Then blade itself takes on a fine mirror shine all along its immense length. ((Essentially it is the sword in the pic for Ai's Appearance.))
Shikai Abilities::
Crescent Moonlight: It is a type of slash meant to slice right through an opponents defense, while it may not slice through every defense it is still a strong attack. It is based off of Ai's techniques of striking with precision, in this instance in the form of a slash. The mirror shine of the blade simply absorbs and/or refracts light into it. Then a swift horizontal or vertical cross-slash in the air a trail of light follows the blade forming a crescent moon like shape launching from the blade, and cleanly slicing seemingly anything in its pathway.
Radiance: To accomplish this Ai uses her reiastu to control whatever light is reflected off of the blade to refract as well, and increase the size of the light both reflecting and refracting into it. She then imbues her reiryoku and reiastu into the blade increasing and intensifying the light to even greater extents. It forms an immense spherical barrier (a radius of about 10 meters) of light around her temporarily (15 sec), or until she decides to drop it before that time. The light barrier does little more than conceal precisely where she is the light is so blinding it is impossible to see her within it, while she herself is immune to the blinding effect of her own light barrier. But it does not protect her from being struck by attacks. It can, however, serve as source of light for her to accomplish Crescent Moonlight easily so long as the barrier is up.
Twilight Wave: With a slashing strike on or at her target she sends a wave of cyan light energy. The strength of which is dependent upon how much reiatsu she imbues into the attack. Though the more she puts into it the greater the toll the attack takes on herself.
Bankai Description:
Without Mask: The blade of her sword and even her clothes dissolve turning into a bright pale cyan light that covers her entire body ((Clicky for partial reference)), so she appears a silhouette of cyan light, though still has physical form underneath. A pair of what looks like luminescent violet wings of pure light sprout from her upper back, though they seem to be more just form than function as it looks more like reiastu aura in the form of wings rather than actually being such. Though 'mysteriously', her eyes are what they look like when she is wearing her Hollow Mask, when she takes on her Bankai form. The hilt of her sword turns into a fiery black light, and the hilt sprouts a new blade - a fiery bright white blade of light the length of a common katana.
-----
With Mask: The cyan light that covers her entire body turns black, transforming her into a silhouette of darkness. The brilliant reiatsu wings of violet light converts into ghostly, wispy tendrils of dark reiatsu she manipulate and recede into her upper back. The white blade of fiery light energy changes its hue into a more malevolent violet shade.
Bankai Abilities:
Without Mask: Her Bankai is simply called, Tenshi Higure (Angel of Twilight), because she and her zanpakuto literally become one with each other, so in essence - Ai becomes her zanpakuto, Keizen Higure, so to speak. More accurately she inherits Keizen's true form. Her sword itself possesses the same cutting properties as her Shikai's Crescent Moonlight effect within its normal slashing attacks, but also within its thrust attacks as well. Nor does it need to absorb and refract light to accomplish Crescent Moonlight (or Radiance for that matter) should she wish to utilize a more ranged oriented attack, and manages to do either at a greater increase of what her Zanpakuto's Shikai form can normally do.
Twilight Horizon: While this attack is very powerful, but like her Cero it takes time for her to release it. Ai holds out her blade in her right hand parallel to the ground pointing out to her far right as she simultaneously imbues her reiryoku and reiastu into the blade building up its spiritual energy. Once the blade is thick with a pulsing bright violet light she makes a horizontal cross slash sending a massively wide energy wave rolling outward with tremendous power looking much like a giant ocean wave of brilliant cyan light energy. The problem is that because it takes time, it can possibly be interrupted, and when interrupted she is forced to start over from scratch to accomplish the attack.
Star-light, Star-bright: In some ways this appears as Radiance, but it is far from. It is her strongest attack and burns much of her reiatsu. Ai curls up into a ball hovering in the air as blinding cyan light radiates from her body continually expanding outward until in a flash all of the light radiating from her condenses back into Ai herself for a blink of an eye before exploding in a gargantuan burst of luminescent cyan light energy potentially causing daunting amounts of destruction within a one hundred meter radius.
-----
With Mask: The eerie thing about Ai's Bankai is the fact it is not a normal Bankai largely in part of her suffering under the dormant effects of Hollowification before she achieved it, her Bankai winds up working similarly to an Arrancar's Resurreccion. This also has a peculiar effect when wearing her mask while in her Bankai's form as described in her Bankai's description. But it also has a peculiar effect of altering her abilities, such as her Shikai abilities - the light energy is no longer cyan but rather violet in hue. The greatest effect it has is she no longer has access to her normal Bankai abilities but rather twisted variations of them.
Malevolence: This takes the place of Twilight Horizon and even functions identically. For the most part they seem same in appearance, but the difference being not just the light energy changing from cyan to violet in color; but also the effect and power behind the attack is far more greater do to the combination of both Mask and Bankai form. Though, doing this attack too often deminishes the span Ai can maintain her wearing her Hollow mask.
Blight's Touch: This available only because of her mask's effect converting her reiatsu wings into tendrils. The tendrils strike exactly as the Hollow that corrupted Ai's reiatsu so many years ago leading to her becoming a Vizard. While the attack lacks that Hollow's same effect, it does have the same slicing capabilities. Three pairs of tendrils suddenly lash out at the target, the tips of the tendrils like blades attempting to slice their target. The tendrils seem to have the same passive armor sundering effect that Ai's Shikai blade does.
Desolation Angel: This takes the place of "Star-light, Star-bright", it an expression of raw power, though it leaves Ai exhausted it causes half of her mask to crumble away. Within the same radius as "Star-light, Star-bright", Ai with her dual reiatsu condenses it - making it so thick, dense and heavy that begins crushing and destroying objects within its radius. Which potentially includes those who are caught within it if they are not strong enough to resist its strength.
"She failed us... and now we have nothing left...", uttered Kayo in lament and filled with a seething enraged disappointment of her daughter.
Goro sat quietly for a long moment in contemplation with a clear heavy-heart, staring off into nothing, "I... do not know why... she killed Amaya... but I will not condemn my last living daughter to death... Even if she did kill our first..."
Kayo's eyes shifted to a downcast gaze as she replied conceding to Goro's words feeling the same as he, "Neither will I... then what will we do with her?"
"Disinherit her.", Goro answered, "She will live in exile from the Soul Society, she will not have any place amongst her family or the Kyouraku noble house any longer. She will be dead to us, and we will let her memory fade from the Soul Society as well."
Failure is the only legacy Ai left behind within both the Gotei 13 and the Soul Society itself, and being known as one of the Captains with the shortest careers in the history of the Gotei 13. In the academy she was known for being a very good student. She did not simply go through the motions to graduate, she had definite ambition seeking to further the Kyouraku noble house she was born into and bring honor to it. In those days she was known as Ai Kyouraku of the Kyouraku Noble House, and even at one point became a prominent figure within it for a spell.
Her parents are Kayo and Goro Kyouraku, neither she or her elder sister Amaya were favored over the other. For the most part they were good parents to her growing up; though at times strict when it came to being a proper noble of the Soul Society's noble houses. Ai and Amaya themselves were very close, even on the superficial level of their appearance they looked nearly identical.
From the time she was small Goro trained her daughters in swordsmanship. If did not have any sons he figured he would at least pass on his knowledge to his two girls. Ai proved to have quite the natural talent for sword technique and concept. So much so Amaya, who was a seated member of the Kidou Corps at the time, suggested she join the academy and serve in the Gotei 13 herself. It become a romanticized idea within Ai's mind as a little girl, it was all she thought about - even obsessed about. Ai's family branch of the Noble House, Kyouraku, to this day still wonders how differently things would have turned out had Amaya never made the suggestion to her little sister. For at that point it was inevitable that Ai would join.
Ai was no slouch as a student, in fact, as mentioned she was highly ambitious seeking to further the Kyouraku name within the academy by pushing herself to prove herself to be one of her classes betters. Though, one thing that seemed to irk her often was seeing other students plot everything out within their courses. Anything that involves too much planning Ai tends to take an instant revulsion to. Whether it be training, battle, assignments, studying, or just mundane day to day life - Ai often remarked when on the subject that no plan can compare to honed and perfected instinct. Amaya, more scholar than anything, always took exception to this leading to heated debates between the two sisters. Ai's point was always there is nothing interesting to be gained or experienced if you already know what is going to happen or even already knowing what you yourself are going to do. Taking up a sort of life style of doing things on the fly.
This actually reflects greatly within her swordsmanship, too. A highly offensive style of fighting with a combination of swift, precision strikes all based on innovation to follow along the changing course of battle. Her skill with a blade is undeniable as is her incredible speed, but the problem is with such a reliance on innovation - there are situations where even a weaker opponent can force her to have to react to what their plan is whereas she has none. Against a more skilled opponent the danger is even greater. Although, while it does not solve everything, Amaya had taught Ai a fair number of Kidou spells to help her, primarily various binding spells, which Ai has engrained within her fighting style to further make herself unpredictable in combat. It is from Amaya that Ai actually learned a number of Kidou spells and proper technique. While it does not remove her flaws within her style of combat, it does help cover it up from time to time.
For the most part Ai graduated from the academy with high marks with exception to one particular area, her hand to hand combat abilities and training was utter dismal. It often earned her the label by her peers from the academy onward as "a warrior of polars". Unquestionably highly skilled with a sword, but absolutely terrible without one in combat. Not her instructors nor even Ai herself really understood why she is so poor at hand to hand combat. Whether it be the numerous varying concepts of it or just he ideal of it, it is not entirely certain what repels her from it like a cat to water.
Regardless of her flaws, as no warrior is truly perfect, Ai still proves to be a powerful combatant and highly versatile do to both her philosophy and fighting style based off of innovation with her swift speed being able to perceive and react to its flow quickly and adroitly. It is this that earned her entry into the 11th Division when she graduated from the academy. As per the nature of those within 11th Division, she rose herself through rank by proving she is stronger than her other members. Often times she found herself in hard fought battles, but never shied from it, no one of 11th Division ever shies away from a fight just because it starts getting hard. In her view these challenges while often a test of strength and earning ones place was simply another form of training to enable her to grow stronger with time. Through this she earned herself the 4th Seated position within 11th Division, and held her position for a few decades. Within that time taking it upon herself to help the 11th Division's unseated members grow stronger and hone their own abilities.
As a member of the Gotei 13, Ai often volunteered to aid her sister, Amaya, who held the 4th Seated position by that time within the Kidou Corps. Something Amaya had always had a penchant for studying was spiritual energy manipulation within the very being of a spiritual entity, from Shinigami to Hollow. Amaya was a Kidou master after all, how could such a thing not intrigue her? Albeit, the goings on outside the Soul Society districts at the time, little were they aware that so severely alter both their fates. It originally all started with an investigation into forests outside the Soul Society districts. There was an immense decay spreading from there, and had torn out of a dimensional fabric from else where entering the Soul Society. Amaya decided to investigate it, Ai always tagged along with her sister when on assignments and vice versa, the Vice-Captain of the 8th Division, Yuma, decided to go help as well as it had caught his attention as well.
For numerous acres and still gradually spreading there was a blight, sapping the very life out of the forest. At the core of all of this ruin and blight spreading outward was a singular Hollow, its spiritual pressure was large, very large, they could feel this eerily ghostly looking Hollow's evil practically crawl over their skin. Behind this creature was the rip in the dimensional wall that initially alerted the Soul Society of the obvious presence that something has slipped into their realm. Amaya's reiastu perceptive abilities are extreme to say the least, and what she felt from this peculiar Hollow was nothing but the sheer evil desire and the need to feed off of dying wastelands, precisely what it was attempting to regress the forest into. In utter dismay of the depth to what she felt from this entity, she told Ai and Yuma they have to destroy the Hollow immediately.
Ai and Yuma immediately sprung into action striking at the Hollow, and they separated to strike at it from different angles, but found themselves repelled by the incredible strength of the creature. Amaya utilized her adept skills with in Kidou to try to bind the monster. It continually proved to be all for naught, it always seemed to evade each of their attacks by disembodying itself in a way making itself incorporeal. Its ghostly form of darkness moved like thrashing waves against a wall evading attacks, even Amaya's Kidou, as it struck back with lashing tendrils. Though it oddly focused most of its attention on Ai, the second Yuma used his Shikai, it managed to get a hold of him with its tendrils. As he recounted later, it was as if tried to suck all the life out of him, attempting to drain him dry of his spiritual energy. It was Ai's intervention that narrowly saved the Vice-Captain's life. Or perhaps that is exactly what it wanted as it took hold of Ai with its tendrils, and absorbed her within its own body, locking her within its being. Amaya did all she could to free her sister from the monster, but it seemed to evade her binding Kidou, and what destruction Kidou she knew it seemed to not phase it.
It felt as though every last bit of what tied her to life with all that she had ever known and ever felt was being sucked away from her entire being, her body went entirely numb within the monster, "It's the darkness that creates it, that's what it truly is, Ai... If you just thought things out more... you would've known that, and let the Vice-Captain die... And could have killed it during a vulnerable moment by releasing me... Light illuminates darkness.", she heard an all too familiar young girl's voice speak within her mind as she was dying.
"Keizen... I feel so weak... I'm not sure I can release you...", Ai replied, her severe fatigue and growing close to the death itself evident within her voice.
"You're so dense some times...", retorted the young girl's voice, "You can, too... You just have to reach out and wake me up... Just do it!"
Ai chuckled half-heartedly out of her immense fatigue, but she still desperately reached out to the spirit within her Zanpakuto as she uttered, "Tenshi Higure... Awaken.", the light of the blade as it took on its Shikai form illuminated within the Hollow, it screeched in agony. Imbuing what reiastu she had left into her blade to make it shine, she used that light to absorb into the blade to perform its ability, Crescent Moonlight, with a series of incredibly swift slashes the dense crescent moon shaped blades of light burst out of the creatures body of darkness. It roared in pain as it ejected Ai out of it. She tumbled, flopped and rolled for several meters upon being thrown out. As she slowly out feeling utterly drained and in pain picked herself up, the creature lashed out at Ai, its tendrils like blades of darkness slashing at her and tearing into her flesh.
She screamed in pain, Amaya cried out to her sister, and cast a series of Kidou binding spells hoping at last to hit it with one to restrain it to deliver a coup de grace. Out of her pure desperation she managed to do just that with Kidou #30 Shitotsu Sansen, forming a triangle of light in the air in front of her that launched three triangular beams of light from each of its corners, which stabbed into the Hollow locking it into place as it was focused so heavily on Ai out of vengeance. The light of the triangular beams further caused the creature much distress, the light seeming to weaken it even more. Doing as best as she could to steady herself to face the monster despite what the agonizing torment she feels deep within her wounds on not just a physical level, but even within her own soul as well. It was a wonder to Amaya that her sister was even able to stand, or even still alive.
With her Zanpakuto sword still in its Shikai form, she used the light of the sky to refract and absorb into the blade, giving it form with use and will of her own reiastu. The mirror shine blade illuminated with a bright light blue light, and with a swift cross slash followed up by a quick back slash, a pair of Crescent Moonlights traveling at tremendous speed as they were crossed over one another in an 'x' shape - ripped right through the Hollow. The creature screeched in agony that echoed throughout the forest as it fade into nothing. Once it was clear the threat had died, Ai finally relaxed and her sword returned to its sealed state while she collapsed into unconsciousness.
Something about the Hollows draining ability was odd, Yuma was forced to leave the Gotei 13 because of it, his reiryoku was never able to recover regardless of 4th Division's best efforts. Ai on the other hand, for some reason was able to recover her reiryoku, though it was not clear to 4th Division as to the reasons why. Though the wounds inflicted upon her were getting worse with time, as though she were being eroded from within her soul most of the 4th Division doctors believed. It caused her torturous pain, Amaya desperate to find an answer on how to stop it turned to the books and tomes of the Soul Society's old scholars and researches from times past.
Though Amaya never found a precise counter-measure, she did surmise a method in which it could be stopped, which is by making Ai's soul and reiryoku able to accept the Hollow's spiritual energies and become compatible with one another. She realized it was achievable when it was noticed that Ai's reiryoku was able to recover while Yuma's never did. The residual Hollow reiastu while trying to corrupt Ai's very being from within her wounds it inadvertently made her own reiryoku recover as it strikes at her very soul. By allowing the two to become one, she could save her sister's life. Although, this is treading on dangerous ground, as this for the most part is very close to a form of "Hollowification" - a term she had learned in the course of studying to find a way to save Ai. If it is realized what she has done, both she and Ai will be executed for delving into forbidden Hollow powers.
Amaya created a Kidou ritual of sorts to be able to merge the two conflicting reiastu and spiritual essences of Ai's soul with the residual Hollow reiastu continuing to corrupt her being through her wounds. In a sense, what the ritual did was a more primitive, simplistic, and less perfected variation of what Urahara's Hogyoku would more easily accomplish a few centuries later. To everyone in 4th Division's surprise and the immense relief of the Kyouraku noble house, especially their family's side of the Kyouraku house, Amaya's ritual worked. When asked what exactly it was Amaya did, Amaya merely dismissed it as re-enforcing Ai's immunities to stave off and suffocate the spreading Hollow spiritual energies infection. Naturally, 4th Division was quite interested in this ritual, but Amaya terrified that if she gave them the information on how to perform it, what precisely she did would be realized. So, she lied and told them the ritual was still in its experimental stages and wished to first perfect it before giving it to anyone. In reality, she burned all the information she had on how to do it.
Once Ai had recovered fully from her wounds, she felt strange - she did not fully understand what she felt, something deep within her felt wrong. But at the same time she oddly felt stronger, faster than she was before. Quite a few were impressed with Ai's actions when confronting the vile Hollow that was powerful enough to rip its way through the dimensional fabric into the Soul Society's realm and could defeat a Vice-Captain and even evade a Kidou master's spells, then on top of which - if only ever so narrowly - manage to defeat it. The 8th Division Captain of the time, asked Ai if she wanted to replace Yuma as his Vice-Captain, Ai did not hesitate to accept the offer as it would mean much not only to herself, but the Kyouraku noble house.
Ai proved to be a highly active Vice-Captain, continuously off on assignment somewhere, whether it be on Earth, or the varying spiritual realms - she seemed to always be on the go and invigorated. Though personality-wise she is not very high energy, her actions though certainly exclaim being such. It seemed to slowly but surely to increase over the decades during her training as well as out on assignment, or... facing strong Hollows. The 8th Division Captain was also starting to take advantage of Ai's constant activity, using her to accomplish some of his own Captain's duties simply because she was eager to merely go out and do something - anything. Amaya on the other hand did not like this, more so because it was very odd for Ai, she knew her sister better than anyone, and running around as much as she has was not like her - she was normally more subdued than that. Ai's increase in ability also was an issue that caused Amaya a bit of unrest as well leading her to return to her studies going back to what she researched when seeking to save Ai's life.
What was also a little strange since her recovery her Zanpakuto, Keizen, has been in her mind far more, she felt even closer to Keizen than she had ever felt before. Amaya only noticed Ai's changes because they are so close, others only seemed to believe Ai was becoming more motivated and stronger with her new found position. But Amaya knew better, Ai was becoming less like the younger sister Amaya once knew in days past before the strange Hollow attacked in the outskirts of the Soul Society forests. For decades while Ai went on assignment, fought, trained, taught students and Seated members below her, and even performed some of her Captain's duties - Amaya continued to study into the very nature of Hollow spiritual energies to learn what could be changing her sister so much as time progresses.
Over those decades Ai even seemed to start to become more aggressive and ambitious, so much to the point over fifty years after becoming Vice-Captain of 8th Division, she openly challenged the then 8th Division Captain, Kunio Izayoi, for his position. Despite her growing ambition that most saw within her, it was not expected that she would do something so bold as a result of it. Kunio initially thought it was a joke, she was still a Vice-Captain - he did not think she had risen to his level quite yet, she did not even have her Bankai. Though, the challenge was made, and Yamamoto decided to enforced it sense Kunio was hesitant by the suddenness of it, though first the old Captain-Commander had Ai take the Captain's exam to see if she were even qualified; which she passed with not quite top marks - but her scores were high in almost all fields. Once she had proven herself through the Captain's exam to Yamamoto and a few other Captains that looked over her qualifications and agreed she was ready, the Captain-Commander arranged a place for the challenge to take occur; and the terms being - the first one to cause a significant wound to their opponent wins the challenge. While all of this may have caught many off-guard for how sudden it was, it did not surprise Amaya in the least, aware of the change,and Ai was definitely changing from the girl she once was - the little sister she knew. It was all because of her doing - it was all her fault.
Within a grand stone arena made for such challenges between two Shinigami inside the Soul Society proper is where the challenge took place. It went through the minds of many just how long Ai would last, she offensively powerful and incredibly fast - a Shunpou master to an astounding extent; albeit, defensively she limits herself with her style of fighting, and she is not known for her resilience, while her fortitude is not necessarily weak nor is it really strong, either. Nor is this any ordinary opponent she is about to face, it is a Captain.
As they stood before one another in the center of the arena staring each other down, a long moment of silence passed between them. Ai had a gaze of eagerness - ready to start the duel right then, Kunio held a gaze of bewilderment, he did not understand why she was doing this so soon within her career as a member of the Gotei 13, let alone the 8th Division, the position will be hers anyway in time, "Why are you doing this, Ai? It does not make any sense to me.", he questioned to her.
For a moment Ai did not say a word just stared back at him, then smiled a little, "And that is why I am doing this."
The very second the match was called to start, the two vanished in blinding speed wasting no time to utilize their Shunpou against one another. While it surprised those watching that Ai was not only easily going stride for stride with a Captain when using Shunpou, but furthermore proving to be a little faster than one. Even so, it still guarantied nothing in the battle as the two clashed blades with their blinding speeds. Kunio did not expect Ai to be this talented with a blade, her movements were seamless with a willowy tact to them: redirecting parries to a near off-balancing deflection, turning simple feints into swift counters, a block into a riposte, a miss into a redirected quick strike. It all seemed to come so easily to her as they fought - each move immediately shifted gears into another with ease and fluidity.
He watched her the grip of her hands as they would change from one move into the next, often switching between a left-handed grip to a right-handed one and vice versa. Realizing what exactly it was that made her moves appear so effortless and graceful and change with such ease, "You're ambidextrous.", Kunio chuckled as he deflected a cross-slash and then finding himself dodging thrust which turned out to be a feint, but Ai simply chuckled in return reacting to his revelation as her feint suddenly became a back-slash at his stomach that he narrowly dodged by utilizing Shunpou to take a step backward, though Ai's blade still caught and sliced part of his Captain's haori all the same.
It was apparent to him that he was not going to defeat Ai through a test of speed and skill with a blade, so he had to fall upon more evasive tactics. With an inaudible mumble Kunio uttered a few words, and his sword turned into a liquid like darkness that disembodying itself into the form what looked like a hand-held crossbow. Ai knew this as his Shikai, the second he took aim at her she moved to evade him, but it was not her body he was aiming at, it was her shadow. He fired two rapid shots, and launching from the crossbow shaped darkness held like a gun in his right hand were successive small arrow sized bolts of violet lightning. They two shots struck upon her shadow cast on the arena stone floor, and the small bolts continuously skipped across all over the body of Ai's shadow like lightning skipping across clouds in the sky.
Ai in that instant found herself locked in place, she knew it was Kunio's Shikai, it causes paralysis to a person when their shadow is struck by its bolts that it fires. As Kunio took aim at her, she knew what was next - if those bolts strike her person - it will cause her to suffer stasis, and it will then be nothing for Kunio to end the duel from that point. A little girl's voice snickered within her mind, "Screwed up, didn'cha?"
"Shut up, Keizen.", Ai grumbled in reply within her mind.
"Aw, don't be like that!", Keizen whined, then mocked her, "But it's not like you shouldn't have expected it. It's what happens when you don't plan nothin'. You were bound to lose from the start."
"Shut up, Keizen!", yelled Ai in frustration aloud, which perplexed everyone watching, even Kunio causing him to hesitate to take his next shot at Ai while she is defenseless in her paralysis.
The girl's voice snickers within Ai's mind tauntingly as she then advised Ai, "What did you learn when you fought the dark Hollow fifty years ago? Light illuminates darkness... It forces darkness to shift to avoid its contact, it causes it pain... You can win this if you just think it out a bit. What is a shadow? It's your own personal darkness. Your shadow never leaves you, light never truly obliterates it, but when light strikes it from one angle... it inevitably shifts and recedes to another."
It was at that point Ai understood what the spirit of her Zanpakuto was trying to hint to her, she smirked a little as she uttered, "Tenshi Higure. Awaken.", her entire sword then glowed a brilliant, bright white light as it changed its form. The light of the transformation from her blade caused her cast shadow to recede and shift to change in direction in accordance to the angle the new source of light was coming from, thus freeing her shadow from the bolts struck by Kunio's Shikai and now no longer suffered under its paralyzing effect. Kunio's eyes widen in surprise, immediately he took another couple shots are her, but she saw it coming from a ways off - what else was he going to do? Too late to change course and attempt a Kidou spell, binding or destruction.
He begun firing shots in rapid succession to keep Ai at distance as she narrowly, dodged and deflected the bolts coming at her as she heavily relied on her Shunpou abilities to keep up her evasion from the barrage of attacks. Ai found herself being forced to take a couple steps backward and keep her sword close her body with one hand against the back of the blade to help guide and balance it for quicker deflections and blocks, because of the blade's immense length. The two once again found themselves in a stalemate, while Ai was forced to be on the defensive deflecting and dodging Kunio's attacks, he could not land a shot on her because of her speed, and because of her Shikai's ability to manipulate light, she could change the direction of her shadow to nullify the paralyzing ability of his Shikai. Neither of them could really use any Kidou on one another as well, for Kunio to stop firing to use a Kidou spell - it would create an opening for Ai to use Crescent Moonlight, and for her to use any Kidou spells or her Crescent Moonlight attack, it would only give Kunio an opening to shoot her.
Kunio smirked at this, realizing her is going to have to kick things up a bit if he is to land a decent wound upon her, and so far neither of them have been able to strike the other. In rapid-fire succession Kunio fired a series of fast incoming bolts at Ai, which she went back to her evasion and deflection tactics, while forced to keep distance from Kunio. But the second after firing those shots her uttered with a smirk, "Bankai...", her dark crossbow disembodied into a thick shroud of dark mist that swirled around him covering him completely.
As the dark essence swirled around him, Ai using the mirror shine of her Shikai to reflect and refract the light she could catch with, and imbue her reiryoku and reiastu deeply into the blade absorbing the light that is hitting the blade - intensifying it. The blade eventually glowed a near blinding cyan light, at which point Ai swung a downward slash in Kunio's direction - the cyan hued brilliance that once covered the blade launched at him in the form of a crescent moon. Albeit, black mist-like tendrils rose from the whirling darkness grasping onto the crescent moon shaped blade of light, and simply pulled into the mist as if absorbing the light into itself - eclipsing it into nothing.
Ai cringed a little out of dismay of the sight, Kunio chuckled as the dark mist finally tumbled down around him and covered the entire stone arena floor to the point it could not be seen under the thick layer of dark mist that went up to the ankle. Kunio was unveiled sitting Japanese style on his knees, though holding a western style broad sword with a crude looking jagged edge. Smiling at Ai he told her, "While it is true that light can dispel darkness, but only when it is strong enough. Otherwise, the darkness will always eclipse it."
In that moment Kunio flipped his sword into an inverted grip, and stabbed the sword into the shrouded stone floor in front of him down to the hilt. In that very instant an eight foot long version of Kunio's sword shot up from the black mist under Ai's feet. Swiftly she did a standing black-flip while attempting to block the strike from coming up from under her. But the strength of attack was too great and knocked out of the air sending her tumbling back down to the stone floor. As she fell from the air, massively thick and large black, wispy mist tendrils swallowed her up like ocean waves. With a self-assured chuckle Kunio muttered, "It's over.", he then stabbed the blade into the floor once again to strike her, but his eyes went wide when he could only stab the blade halfway into the floor. He applied more pressure but still the blade did not budge.
Within the next trice, everyone was left in shock when they heard from the darkness Ai's straining voice as she held back Kunio's sword, "Ban... kai!", less than a second later, bursting from the darkness that enshrouded Ai, rays of illuminating violet light pierced through its veil like sunlight through dark rain clouds. Kunio rose to a stand as he was even more taken aback when the darkness begun to recede and swirl around Ai as though it wanted to strike her but it was too pensive and hesitant to.
Ai herself was within what seemed like a cocoon of intense, dense violet light. Which suddenly expanded into a great blinding flash, unveiling her as a feminine silhouette of glowing cyan light with strange violet reiastu aura wings, and in her hand a sword of fiery energy. Though it was Ai's eyes that disturbed Amaya the most, she had read about those very sort of eyes in the course of her research. Why were they part of her Bankai? Though, Amaya was not the only one to notice them, so was Kunio, and he smirked in response to them.
It was the same as with her Shikai, no one was really surprised when they first saw Ai release her Zanpakuto's Shikai during a sparing match back during her 11th Division days. What surprised them was no one knew she had obtained it before hand. Though, it was assumed she had obtained it during the course of her isolationist methods of training, and in regards to her Shikai and Bankai - they assume correctly. She suddenly using Bankai was no different, after all, she was born into a Noble House, and is a strong warrior, strong enough to go toe to toe with her current Captain in fact. It was just no one knew when exactly it was she obtained it.
Though appearing as a silhouette of cyan light, her face looks featureless with exception to those eyes of hers, and by the expression of her eyes it looked as though she were smiling, "It's true... The dark can eclipse the light... But your darkness will never eclipse me, Captain Izayoi."
"Hmph. We'll see.", he returned, the dark mist covering the arena floor receded back to Kunio becoming denser and thicker as it swirled about him. Like a trashing torrent of stormy ocean waves the darkness that whirlpooled around Kunio launched right for Ai. Though seemingly in the blink of an eye as she took one step forward she vanished and appeared to his far right side. His eyes widened in disbelief of how much her speed increased, his eyes could not follow it, only his perceptions to sense her reiastu.
The darkness Kunio controlled swirled and thrashed rapidly changing direction. But in another flash Ai was right in his face, narrowly he was able to bring up his sword to block the attack. The back of his own sword being less than a foot away from his chest as her and Ai locked blades, cringed out of fearful worry of being struck. But the darkness Kunio manipulated soon swirled around them both. He pushed off her blade, pushing them both away from another. His blade still held in an inverted grip, he thrust it into the wall of swirling darkness behind himself. A five foot long version of his blade within an instant sprang out from the wall of swirling dense black mist behind Ai, scarcely her perceptions perceived the attack, and with now greatly increased speed parried the attack. Within the next instant she appeared in a flash outside of the whirling dense black ghostly mist of Kunio, standing seven or so feet in mid-air.
Kunio sneered in frustration at this, it was not so much that her Bankai was stronger than his, it is that she knew more about what his is capable of than he did of hers, and she knew it. He could see it in her eyes, she was smiling, taunting him. It infuriated him, she humiliating him like this - the black torrent swirling around exploded into trashing column of pure darkness launching right for her. Ai's eyes narrowed at the sight of it, she braced herself for the incoming attack. Though her eyes widen when emerging at the head of the column was Kunio, she had forgotten about his being able to transport himself anywhere within his darkness. She realized at that moment he was attempting to catch her off-guard by him striking at her instead of using his dark mist.
Abruptly she vanished in the midst of taking what looked like a step backward, and appeared once again to his sight further back away from him though higher in the air with her odd fiery energy sword held out to her right. The intense illumination of the violet light brightly glowing from the blade was tremendous. Though he assumed it was a variation of Crescent Moonlight she was going to launch at him. So he stopped in mid-air, and stood there while his black mist once again swirled around him, though in this case protectively to shield him.
Ai expected as much from him, it was for the same reasoning she challenged him. He had grown complacent, and rather than take charge, he stands back and waits for things to be done or happen for him. Just when Kunio begun to realize this attack was building up far longer than he initially expected. Ai made a monstrous cross-slash into the air, unleashing a massive rolling wave of trashing, wild effulgent energy that smashed into into Kunio's defenses, and engulfed him completely as it slammed down upon the stone arena floor. The stone floor shattered and cracked as though it were glass under the strength of Ai's attack. In a luminous flash the violet energy vanish in the next second, which revealed an unconscious Kunio at the core of the destroyed stone arena floor.
Ai walked back down to the destroyed arena floor, stepping down from the air as though she were walking down steps as she returned to her normal state, no longer appearing as a feminine silhouette of light but a properly dressed Vice-Captain. Her Zanpakuto back in its released state, she sheathed and carried it like the cane it looks to be like any zatoichi blade. Yamamoto at that moment declared officially Ai to be the Captain of 8th Division.
In the time Ai was Captain of 8th Division, she accomplished as much as she could. Making certain the Division members who were tasked with assignments and missions finished them within the specified time, and the reports of which were immediately turned in. She split the Division's Unseated member into groups to be trained and guided by Seated members she selected personally, each group trained by whom were organized by skill level. She then assigned each group specific duties, and if their duties were completed, they were then to continue a training routine which Ai devised herself. Her goal was to make 8th Division a well oiled machine, and for the time she was its Captain, it was just that.
The Kyouraku noble house was looked upon quite favorably as a result of Ai's ascension as well. Especially her family's side of the Kyouraku noble house, which earned her a great measure of pride and esteem amongst them. Her parents often showered her with their praise and love when she came to visit, and it in no small part made Ai feel proud and uplifted that she could bring such honor to her family and noble house.
Meanwhile, though Amaya was immensely happy for Ai's ascension, it was Ai's eyes she saw when Ai took on the form her Bankai gave her. It caused her at a lot of unrest and concern for her younger sister. All she found she could do though was continue her studying to find away to change what she knew had been done to Ai - more specifically - what she had done to Ai, because she knew it was far worse than what she had originally thought or believed it was. For she realized while trying to prevent Ai's soul from being corrupted, she inadvertently did just that.
It could not have been more than a month when much of the same signs of the Hollow incident fifty years ago, once again occurred - only this time it was in the surrounding area of district 80. Knowing more than anyone precisely what to expect Ai went out ahead of everyone else, though Amaya fearing the worst, followed not far behind her sister. Buildings in the area eroded and turned to ruins and rubble, the inhabitants who possess weak reiastu rotted into corpses. It continued to spread almost a mile in diameter until Ai arrived at its core. At which point, for some reason it stopped, and Ai herself stood dumbfounded, as Kunio stood there as well with a demented Hollow of darkness looking very much like the one she fought and killed decades prier.
A large dimensional tear still existed behind both Kunio and the Hollow, Kunio stood smiling at Ai as she stood with mouth open in bewildered confusion, "W-What are you doing here, Kunio?"
"Waiting for you, Ai.", he replied, his smile - welcoming in a way, unchanged.
"What the hell are you talking about?", Ai responded not understanding what is going on.
"It was him, Ai.", stated Amaya walking up from behind her sister, realizing what brought the Hollow there in the first place, "It was Kunio Izayoi who brought the Hollow in the forest years ago."
Ai's eyes narrowed in disdain as she looked upon Kunio, "Traitor.", she grunted.
Kunio laughed at Ai as he mockingly remarked, "Oh, if I am a traitor, than you are far more the apostate than I am, Hollow.", Ai's head tilted slightly like she was looking at a mental patient, while Amaya's eyes went wide in dismay, even taking a step back out of her being unnerved. This only made Kunio grin as he looked to Amaya, "I knew it. That ritual... it was no 'healing method' like you bullshitted to 4th Division, it was a variation of Hollowification to harmonize the two conflicting reiryoku and reiastu variations within her soul. But, as a result, the Hollow spiritual energies merged with the dark aspects of her soul, and her own personal Hollow spawned within her. It's just lying dormant in there, huh?"
Ai could not look more confused about what Kunio was talking about, and exclaimed it further when she even asked once again, "Seriously, what the hell are you talking about?"
Amaya stood looking ashamed, choosing to finally tell Ai what exactly she did, "The Hollow's spiritual energy that was corrupting your wounds... It was not just striking at your wounds, it was striking at your soul. The spiritual energies of your Shinigami soul could not co-mingle with the residual Hollow spiritual energies - the two were in constant conflict, and it was killing you. So, what I did was create a ritual to harmonize the two conflicting versions of spiritual energies within your soul in hopes to save your life. The result would be your soul would be tainted by the darkness of the Hollow spiritual energies, but it was better than having my baby sister die in agony before me. But, I was foolish, I did not fully understand what it was I did, or... more accurately - the magnitude of it. It was in a way, a form of Hollowification, that I more or less completed. You had no Hollow within you when you were corrupted by the Hollow spiritual energies. But, because of harmonizing the conflicting energies, one was able to spawn within you do to the effects of my ritual. Your eyes when you take on your Bankai form, they are the eyes reported of someone under the effects of Hollowification. Very, very few are learned in such things, so no one noticed when you took on your Bankai form."
All that was expressed on Ai's face was fear, fluster, and confusion standing there frozen by what her sister told her. The ability to know or decide what to do, or even comprehending what was even going on around her. Amaya staring at Kunio with a hate filled in her eyes, "Why are you doing this, Kunio?"
"Me?", Kunio replied with a sneer, "Originally, I wanted to test the strength of one of these Hollows to merge with it in my own form of Hollowification to grow in power. The darkness I wield would become so much stronger if I do. After the ruckus fifty years ago, though, I gave up on it. But, seeing as Ai here is already under the effects of Hollowification thanks to you. I want to see what it looks like at full effect."
Amaya drew her Zanpakuto with an ireful gaze, "Like hell you will!"
Kunio mockingly scoffed at her as he then uttered to the Hollow beside him, "Do it.", the Hollow suddenly lashed out with its ghostly black trendrils catching Ai off-guard in her lost disposition. Seemingly within the blink of an eye one tendril knocking Ai's Zanpakuto out of her hand, while while the several other tendrils wrapped around her pulled her over to Kunio and itself. Being no hand to hand combatant in the least, she found herself unable and ignorant as to how to break free of its grasp; and found herself completely restrained by its tendrils.
"Ai!", Amaya cried out in fear for her sister, hesitant to do anything in fear of harming Ai as well if she did.
Kunio grinning pressed his index finger against where one's third eyes is said to be on Ai's brow. He inaudibly mumbled something, but Amaya could recognize it as some form of Kidou, though what exactly it was she could not tell. The results of it though was realized in the next instant when Ai begun screaming in agony from the torturous pain she was feeling from deep within her soul. Within the next passing trice Kunio drew his Zanpakuto and stabbed right through Ai's stomach - impaling her. Amaya cried out for her sister once again, it was then the Hollow restraining Ai tossed her aside - flinging her through the air before she crashed to the ground with a harsh roll and tumble.
Coughing up blood as lay in the fetal position, Ai clenched onto herself, wrapping herself up in her arms curled up into a ball still screaming from the agony of spiritual torture her awaken Inner Hollow was making her suffer, and the physical pain from wound only seemed to intensify it. Kunio and the Hollow with him only seemed to standby and observe Ai's condition starting to change. A thick white colloid-like matter seemed to burst from the left side of Ai's face and spread to cover the entire left side of her head; while the portion covering her face begun to harden in a mask. It held no visible feature other than the right eye which was a narrow opening with two violet parallel slash marks at its far right corner, and her left eye itself - the white of her eye turned pitch black and the iris turned into its deformed dark red becoming just as it is when taking on her Bankai form. Amaya looked on at her sister in horror as she witnessed Ai suffer under the full effects of the Hollowification, which Amaya had created within her fifty years prier. Amaya with a deep-seeded seething hate suddenly shifted her gaze to the Kunio and the Hollow, both were too distracted observing what Ai was suffering to take notice to Amaya or even consider her a threat it appeared.
Amaya looked to the what was behind them, they had not moved from their place with the dimensional tear still wide open behind them. Amaya smirked, as she uttered, "Too often people underestimate how powerful Kidou can be when properly used.", Kunio looked at her perplexed for a second finally taking his eyes off of Ai, but his eyes went wide open in dismay when she uttered with out incantation, "Kidou No. 63 Sajo Sabaku!", a great chain of golden light flew around both Kunio and the Hollow during their distracted states. The two lassoed together, while the Hollow screeched in pain seemingly agitated by the light of the golden chain restraining both it and its apparent master, Kunio.
It dawned on Kunio then what was happening with the dimensional tear beside her and the Hollow, "Damn!", exclaimed in outrage, "You bitc--!"
But before he could finish Amaya uttered and cast once again without incantation, "Kidou No. 63 Soren Sokatsui!", taking a wide stance with Amaya's hands thrust out in front of her and wrists pressed together a pair of great masses of blue fire formed within her hands, which within the next exploded into a massive column of intertwined masses of blue fire that blasted right into both Kunio and the dark Hollow throwing them into the dimensional tear where the Hollow initially came from. With the one who originally created the tear sucked into it and no longer in control of it, the dimensional tear closed on its own.
Amaya looked to her sister whom she saw on her knees with her sword drawn about to stab herself with it, "Oh God, Ai!", she called out and with an abrupt flash step just as Ai was about stab herself, her blade sank into the mid-section of Amaya's back before she could realize what was happening; while held onto her sister in an embrace.
Ai in further horror and dispear from this only caused her Inner Hollow to run even more wild within her, "Amaya! I'm so sorry!", she screamed in pain, but Amaya with a gentle smile laid her hand on Ai's brow. She could feel the soothing warmth of Amaya's reiryoku and reiastu pour into her. It felt like sunlight. But, it soothed and suppressed the Inner Hollow within Ai.
"For until you learn how to control it on your own...", Amaya smiled lovingly at her sister, "I'm sorry, Ai... that's all I can do for you... I'm sorry for what I did... I only wanted to save my baby sister... You'll have to go now, though... The rest of the Gotei 13 will be here soon, and they won't understand what's happened... They'll execute you, and I didn't sacrifice my life just for you to die...", with that Amaya gave Ai a warm sisterly loving smile as her eyes gently closed never to open again.
"Amaya!", Ai cried as she clenched onto her sister with tears streaming out of her left eye. But, she could feel the reiastu of the members of the Gotei 13 approaching, and with her sister's blood on her blade and half a Hollow mask on her face Amaya's sacrifice would be for naught.
In the years after that night, Ai wandered in exile posing as a Shinigami and avoiding the Soul Society with her sister's murder hanging over her head. All she had left was her training, and mastering her Inner Hollow and keeping it under her will. The Kyouraku noble house and the Soul Society itself over the passing years much later seemed to have completely forgotten about her. But, it would be three centuries after that event that the current troubles would surface.
RP Sample:
"Thank you, miss!", the grateful tone of the spirit of a little boy uttered as his skinny, scraggly haired, brown eyed form begun to fade from sight.
Ai gave the boy a warm smile as she requested to him, "When you reach the Soul Society, tell them Ai sent you."
The little boy's brow furrowed in confusion but nodded anyway at the request and replied, "Ok!", with that he vanished.
The voice of a young girl scoffed at the scene within her Ai's mind, "I still can't believe you do this from time to time... You think it matters any? Besides, aren't you the one who harps on about being neutral or some crap? You call that neutrality?"
Ai sighed as she sheathed her Zanpakuto, carrying it like a cane, for in its un-released state it looked like any other ordinary cane-sword. Not that it really mattered as she stood amongst the throngs of the hustling and bustling lively city. The skyscrapers reaching up to the clouds high above them. The daily masses walking the sidewalks, and the traffic of the every manner of automobile scratching out into the city's horizon as far as the eye can see.
With a sudden leap Ai seemed to vanish, though in the next instant she landed with perfect balance atop a bus stop overhang ten meters or so from where she stood. She took a seat at its edge with her dangling off, and finally replied dully, "Shut up, Keizen."
Snickering the voice of the continued to mock her wielder, "You know I'm right... I can feel it. You're not a Shinigami, you're closer to your Inner Hollow than you'd ever care to admit, and the Desolation knows it, too. Oh sure, you like to pass of the whole exiled Shinigami routine, but it's not you, not truly. Don't know why you keep freeing souls, though. Doesn't make any sense. 'Tell'em Ai sent you', what crap is that? Think you can buy your way back into the Soul Society? Think your parents are going to love you as they once did? Think the Kyouraku house will welcome you back? Think the Soul Society won't try to execute you? Don't be pathetic. Your sist--"
"Shut your damn mouth, Keiz--!", Ai suddenly snapped out of rage, but stopped the second she could just scarcely feel her Inner Hollow stir ever so slightly in response to it. Though Ai still has complete control over it, she knew enough like any Vizard not to push it, even just a little. Instead Ai merely let out a vexed sigh of annoyance.
But the little adolescent girl's voice snickered at Ai, she could feel the girl grinning within her mind; because she got precisely the reaction she was looking for, "Told yah'... You're no Shinigami... Not really Hollow, either... You're one of the outsiders. Why don't you join them? Quit deluding yourself with this maintaining neutrality nonsense."
Ai scoffed in return, "Hmph. It has nothing to do with me. None of that crap does. Anything they do has no impact or affect on me, it doesn't matter. It's none of my business."
The little girl's tone turned to being utterly unimpressed, "You're so full of it... Just who are you trying to convince, me or you? When are you going to quit feeding yourself that line of bull?"
Ai sighed out of a slight annoyance once again, "Just shut up..."
