Hotaru Fujibayashi

Hotaru Fujibayashi (藤林蛍; Fujibayashi Hotaru) was a shinigami of the minor noble family Fujibayashi and former corps commander of the Onmitsukidō's Patrol Corps. She was arrested, charged and convicted with treason by the Central Chambers 46, but was later rescued by Yoruichi Shihōin. Spending much of her time hidden in the human world, Hotaru opted not to help Soul Society in its later missions, including when Sōsuke Aizen commenced assault on Karakura Town to obtain the King's Key. She was one of the few shinigami who suspected Aizen of treasonous activity before his defection, though a victim of Aizen's schemes.

Years after Aizen's fall, Hotaru was approached by Seireitou Kuchiki and reluctantly accepted membership in the Vizards, under the condition of not having to actually become one. It was later revealed that Seireitou holds something deeper than a liking to Hotaru, though unclear whether Hotaru feels the same way about him.

Early Years
As the young heir of the Fujibayashi Family, Hotaru was expected to be raised as an ideal head of family for the noble house. This was met, however, with opposition from Hotaru herself. She cared little for noble status and wanted to live the life of an ordinary female shinigami. Out of respect for her family, however, Hotaru was taught the most common applications of noble behavior. When Hotaru graduated from the academy, she immediately went to apply for the Onmitsukidō, out of self-interest. Hotaru barely passed the examination process, creating more friction between herself and her family who claimed that her scores prove that she was not meant for the harsher forms of work as a shinigami. Despite this, Hotaru plowed through her new job as a lesser member of the Patrol Corps.

The Patrol Corps
Although she enjoyed her work, Hotaru was always nervous when going on a new mission, out of fear that she would fail and disenfranchise her family even more. But, her team has made it through all of its assignments successfully. Her initial fright for work faded with every successful mission and she eventually transformed that accomplishment into an advantage. Hotaru eventually began taking on a great leadership role within her team, eventually garnering some attention from the Commander-in-Chief of the time, Yoruichi Shihōin.

A time arose when Hotaru's team was in mortal danger while attempting to apprehend a "criminal" to send to the Nest of Maggots. The unit commander was badly wounded and on the brink of death after a devastating kido spell. Hotaru was quick to step into the role of leadership, coordinating the other team members to neutralize the shinigami resister. She was applauded for her work and was promoted to unit commander. From there, Hotaru's leadership skills blossomed, leaving little space between her time as a unit commander and succeeding as the Corps Commander of the Patrol Corps.

As the head of the Patrol Corps, Hotaru spent most of her time within Seireitei's walls: dealing out assignments to her subordinates. It was at this time that Hotaru met and became acquainted with Kisuke Urahara, the Corps Commander of the Detention Unit and future Captain of the Twelfth Division. It was this acquaintance that led to the demise of Hotaru's career; Aizen was watching everything.

While spending time by herself in Rukongai, Hotaru encountered one of the first vizards. She initially was going to call in reinforcements and kill the shinigami-hollow hybrid, but it was described as something within its eyes made it seem less primitive and more civilized. She let it into the human world, to test its reaction in a tempting setting. It did nothing of the sort, and Hotaru reluctantly returned to Soul Society, not reporting the incident. This shinigami-hollow hybrid was a hollowfied Seireitou Kuchiki. This incident was discovered and manipulated into evidence of Hotaru's supposed involvement in the uncovered hollowfication experiments not long afterwards.

Hotaru had a run-in with Corps Commander Takashi Ishigawa from the Commando Regiment later on in her career. Being sent out with her patrol corps on a mission to isolate a region for the commandos to take the field, Hotaru found the corpses of the two targets that Takashi's task force was supposed to locate. As Hotaru and the corpsmen with her began analyzing the bodies for the cause of death, Takashi and his entourage entered, given the orders to eliminate the now-deceased targets and eradicate those who were connected to the perpetrators.

Arrest and Escape
"Patrol Corps Commander Hotaru Fujibayashi: for assisting in the taboo experiments conducted by Kisuke Urahara, you will be imprisoned in Underground Prison 2!"

- Sentence given by the Central 46



Roughly 100 years before the events of the main storyline of Bleach, Hotaru was approached by members of the Executive Militia, declaring her arrest for aiding terrorist action against Soul Society in the form of helping convicted then-Captain Urahara and Tessai escape with the hollowfied shinigami. She did not resist arrest, voicing her protest of innocence before the Central 46. Her words were left unheard, and she was sentenced to imprisonment in an underground prison.

It was later revealed that Hotaru was completely innocent of the alleged involvement in the hollowfication experiments: documents were planted in Hotaru's office, as well as in Urahara's laboratory, with information suggesting the false accusation to be true, as well as Hotaru's presence in Soul Society throughout the incident.

As she was being transported to a holding cell to await execution day, Yoruichi came to her rescue, to clean up her act before going into hiding. Though Hotaru expressed her gratitude for the release, she and the ex-commander in chief split up to avoid getting caught; they only met again right before entering the human world by entering the same senkaimon, in the northern Rukongai districts, heading for Japan. Neither met the other for many years.

The Human World
Hotaru originally sought refuge in Tokyo, but ended up leaving for a more spiritually vibrant community after numerous attempts by the Onmitsukidō to capture her in Japan's capital. After years of experimentation with different locations, Hotaru settled down in Karakura Town, purchasing a gigai from Urahara's shop to serve as a guise for communicating with the humans of the town. At this time, Hotaru began investigating the incident that forced her into exile.

In order to integrate herself into society, Hotaru became a student at Karakura High School in order to help get herself a job later on. Despite the fact that she could see shinigami activity about her, Hotaru said and thought little of it, to remain in obscurity. Even when Aizen commenced the attack on Karakura Town in order to create the King's Key, Hotaru did nothing: she was positive that the shinigami would prevent it from happening at all costs. If Barrangan's fracción was successful in breaking the four pillars that kept the fake Karakura Town in place, Hotaru may have stepped forth from the shadows to fight Aizen's forces.

The Vizards
Years after Aizen's fall, Hotaru met an older Seireitou. He approached her with an offer of joining the Vizards, as a way to repay his debt to Hotaru from the many years before and with the promise of greater power to protect loved ones. Hotaru initially refused the invitation, but Seireitou persisted, in which Hotaru asked for time to reflect upon the choices presented to her.

The next day, Hotaru concluded that she will join the vizards, but under the condition of not having to actually become one. Seireitou laughed and said that she never had to in the first place, taking her to the vizards' hideout to introduce her to the others.

Personality and Traits
A rebellious nature marked Hotaru's early life, which was maintained throughout her life. It unwittingly helped Aizen frame Hotaru for participation in the hollowfication experiments, suspecting Urahara's connections in the Onmitsukidō would come into play when arrested. Aizen's goal in this was to prevent Urahara's more powerful friends and acquaintances from investigating the matter further by scattering the more powerful connections.

Hotaru has uncanny dedication when committed to a task, displayed when she defiantly remained in the Onmitsukidō, against her family's bidding, and by the amount of information she has uncovered about the hollowfication incident while in exile in the human world.

An interesting thing to note is that Hotaru generally avoids flirtatious actions involving her, though not immune to a romantic behavior. This was best seen when Seireitou gave her a kiss as thanks for saving him, which Hotaru did not lash back for, though a kiss the next day resulted in a light slap to the cheek.

Powers and Abilities
Hotaru is most skilled in hakuda and kidō, often combining them to devastating effect. Though she does not appear to know Shunko (lit. "flash cry"), Hotaru's combative abilities are far from lacking.

Expert Swordsmanship Specialist: Though she does not focus much in zanjutsu, Hotaru is capable of fighting most lieutenant level opponents in a sword-fight.

Master Spiritual Anatomy Specialist: She has shown high proficiency in spiritual anatomy, especially in the art of seishin-koshijutsu, capable of temporarily paralyzing, or even kill, an opponent with a single, well-placed blow.

Expert Strategist and Tactician: Hotaru has shown high competence in her ability to overcome superior opponents, as well as deduce facts with little information. A prime example was when she suspected Sōsuke Aizen as a possible traitor of Soul Society before Ichigo's excursion to Soul Society, in order to rescue Rukia, revealed the fact.

Flash Step Expert: As a former member of the Onmitsukidō, learning shunpo was among the most important skills she had to learn. Hotaru's skill in flash stepping is substantial enough to keep up with at least lieutenant level shinigami.

Master Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Since hakuda is her specialty, Hotaru is assumed to have high proficiency in this field.

Master Assassin: Hotaru believes that the best way to win a fight is to keep it from beginning in the first place, and has trained herself to be able to sneak up on her victims and subdue them quickly.

Kidō Expert: Hotaru has not been seen using any yet, though her training in the Onmitsukidō makes her proficient in the study.

Enhanced Endurance: Combining her will to accomplish what she sets her mind towards, Hotaru has shown capability in ignoring weaknesses in her own body and standing up to daunting challenges with no doubts.

Zanpakutō


It has been revealed that Hotaru's zanpakutō is Hayanome, a kidō-type zanpakutō that is peculiar among other initial releases. In its sealed state, it takes the form of an ordinary tantō, which could be easily hidden in Hotaru's clothes. Once released, Hayanome becomes an assortment of small, rectangular metal seals which could cling to Hotaru's skin like body armor, or serve as a medium for kidō spells. The incantation for releasing her zanpakutō is "Genkai wo yaburu, Hayanome" (限界を破る, 鷹の目; lit. "Break the limit, Hayanome").

Though not yet seen, Hotaru's zanpakutō spirit is assumed to be in the form of a hawk-like creature; "Hayanome" literally translates to "hawk's eyes."

Appearances

 * The Offer (first appearance)

Behind the Scenes

 * It is unknown whether Hotaru would be pardoned for her sentence, like what happened with Kisuke Urahara, since she did not aid Soul Society in any way after fleeing for the human world.
 * There has been no indication that Hotaru was also the lieutenant of the Second Division, despite the suggested link between leading the Patrol Corps and the second seated officer position.
 * Hotaru and Yoruichi were rarely seen together, judging from Soifon's flashbacks in regards to her past as one of Yoruichi's bodyguards, despite the importance of their respective positions.
 * Before Aizen's betrayal and capture of the Hōgyoku, Hotaru did not suspect Aizen to be the one behind the hollowfication experiments. By the time Aizen defected from Soul Society and fled to Hueco Mundo, Hotaru suspected Aizen to be involved in some form, from the scraps of information she was able to retrieve over the years. The likelihood of Hotaru communicating with the former captains about the incident is slim.
 * Hotaru means "firefly."
 * Hotaru has been positively received by reviewers with its "well-written" and "outstanding" contents.