β Rank/Affiliation
Unseated||Second
β Gender
Male
β Nickname(s)/Alias(es)
Kuma (Bear)
β Age
32
β Description
Kuma stands at a towering 6'9ft and weighs in at 270lbs, the muscular giant stands tall and proud and a friendly grin is rarely gone from his features. His hair is long and spiky, flowing over his shoulders to his upper stomache and down his back to just above his pelvis, a tide of well-kept magenta. His eyes shine with positivity and curiosity, a brilliant orange-gold that always seem to see the best.
Kuma bears a multitude of scars from his time in the Rukongai and beyond, spending time into his late formative years intermingled amongst the darkest regions of the slums and competing with gangs for territory and food. Most notable is his almost mangled right arm, the skin is rough to the touch, deformed bulges appear at the elbow and the forearm after multiple particularly nasty breaks. The arm is littered with deep and wide slashing wounds and the fingers aren't quite straight, a burn snakes its way from the back of his elbow to his shoulder and ends in a spike at his collar-bone. A thinly scarred cut runs across his nose just above the tip and onto his cheeks, masked by make-up most of the time as it requires little effort to maintain in exchange for "A flawless face." as he describes it. Other minor scars litter his body, ranging from punctures from arrows to minor cuts. Where it not for his ruined arm, one could call him an attractive man, but the appendage more oft than not is a deal-breaker to those outside of the Gotei 13.
β Preferred Clothing
Outside of his duties as a member of the Gotei 13, Yasei wears a loose white tank-top and comfortable pants, usually without footwear (Taken from the human world). Within his duties he wears his uniform sleeveless, and when out of vision of authority shrugs off the upper half to hang at his waist on either side.
β Oddities
Physically Kuma bears elongated canines, and uses them to eat obscene quantities of food and drink, even for his size.
Kuma puts himself into a state of serenity prior to battle, but his wild nature turns that into a mere buffer. Like a second health bar, serenity merely delays the inevitable, in his case once that layer of defense falls a beast emerges to wreak havoc with savage excitement, a berserker replaces the warrior.
β Likes
Sweet foods, painting, late night drinking, competition.
β Dislikes
Cruelty, nobility, bitter foods, cockiness.
β Hobbies
Painting, collects mortal memorabilia, long walks.
β Sexuality
Straight
β Personality
Yasei is a big-hearted and forward individual, his personality shines bright and proud and his kindness is well known. He has little sense of social restraints such as unfamiliarity or station, and treats all equally unless they earn his scorn or respect for their individual deeds. All within the Gotei 13 are friend, family, and rival, few command station closer or further from his heart, for better or worse.
Yasei, or Kuma to those who know him, is likened to a bear for several reasons. His gargantuan strength and size, his ferocity in battle, his pride and kindness, and his wild protective nature. Kuma represents the duality of his name perfectly, taking on the aspects of benevolence and ferocity to their fullest. Not much is capable of bringing the tender giant down to a truly serious level, but once their his nigh-cocky pride and jovialness gives way to a calm intelligence, or a raging storm of emotion.
In his down time, Yasei reaches serenity by painting, his quarters strewn with old works and half-finished canvases. The shinigami allows his mind to wander as he paints, and often surfaces to find unfamiliar scenes strewn in vivid detail and colour, to be added to the trove that threatens to swallow even his bed. It is this habit, and his size, that graces Yasei with a private room, standard bunks do not fit him and attempts to end his painting results in the man doodling in his sleep on any surface at hand.
In terms of romance, his charming nature and benevolence gives him popularity with fellow shinigami women, and confessions aren't altogether rare, but his injuries, particularly his arm, bars most others from approaching him. His size adds to the effect, especially when found deep in thought wandering the streets, his face like thunder, or scrunched in concentration.
Yasei spent his formative years in the darkest corners of the Rukongai, where the Gotei 13's law did not reach, and where the only rule was that of the strong. He struggled with abandonment from birth, starvation, hollows, thieves, and gangs. With a strong spiritual energy, Yasei suffered acutely from the hunger that plagued him, and he remembers little of his time in that dark corner of the soul society other than the smell of smoke and the colour red, a theme that infects his mindless painting to this day.
Yasei remained in that dark pit deep into his life as a soul, found by the Gotei 13 only at the age of 17, scarred, burnt, and bloody. He was taken in by a kind woman, a patient seated officer who endured his savage attacks and rage for many years of his life, taking the time to rehabilitate and educate him. She taught him of kindness, compassion, removed the fear of starvation and death, and taught him how she had bested him so many years ago. At the age of 28 under exceptional circumstance he was allowed to enter the academy, the day of her funeral, a ceremony he did not attend. She had taught him not to pity the dead, but to succeed them and their dreams. Four years later and he graduated upon the anniversary, intent on reaching the title of Captain and using his position to change the Rukongai as she had for his small world. To that end he joined the second division, aiming for the punishment or detention squad, both deeply intermingled with the highest points of the Gotei 13, either behind the scenes, or as its public elite.
Beyond lay the title of Captain-Commander, and he would wish his rival, Ryuu, the title of Kenpachi, for he would not allow her what was his.
β Zanpakuto
||Jizen-jΕ«||Benevolent Beast||
A curved katana, its hilt is short and wide, bound in black rope which loops through a small hole at the base, the hilt itself midnight black wood. The scabbard is a black piece, a simple gold inlay of a beast's head ebbs off the sides of the mouth, its features indiscernible as any one animal. Yasei wears his Zanpakuto horizontally on his lower back, held on by a maroon sash and drawn with his left hand.
β Shikai
||"YΕ«zai, hinansho-jaku o ue no ejiki"||"Prey on the Guilty, Shelter the Weak"||Jizen-jΕ«||
Jizen-jΕ« manifests as a roiling beast of black ink, ever shifting from predator to predator. The zanpakuto fights as Kuma's companion, supporting him and fielding blows with its inky form, flanking and feeding its own senses to Kuma. The beast of ink can liquefy itself to slip away into the shadows, only to burst forth with a snap of its jaws, but is averse to the light and the wet, shrinking or melting away under intense duress from either. The creature responds to the name "Kuro" and much like Kuma himself, displays either a relentless ferocity or a protective kindness.
In exchange for its mass and its strength, Kuro is capable of healing minor wounds, fully sacrificing itself can field a fatal blow, but breaks itself in the process. Requiring time to recover and reform like all Shikai, it does so at a slightly elevated rate by comparison.
β Specialties
Durability|| Kuma's natural toughness and scar tissue makes him a difficult target to knock down, little own keep down. Whilst his strength is nothing to scoff at, it is his indomitability that shines true, able to shrug off wounds that others would be rocked by and keep even footing in order to shield his family from whatever comes their way.
Hakuda|| Kuma's damaged right arm makes true swordsmanship difficult, whilst his left is fully capable and his right able to wield the blade, he is more comfortable fighting with his own power. Partnered with a strong body, his life in the Rukongai, and the patience of his mentor, Kuma is able to employ Hakuda to fight on par with those able to employ sword techniques to their fullest. His technique and attitude bringing him rivals from the 11th as well as his own division.