Ashni


 * Fury that is tightly controlled, but sometimes reveals itself. - Kenji-Taichō

Ashni (Sanskrit origin, meaning Lightning), real name currently unknown, is a Yakubyougami who still demonstrates some of the -like powers she was thought to have relinquished. Her unstable powers and the destruction this unbalance brings, coupled with her emotional outbursts effecting her strength, mark her as one of the strongest of the six. Despite her young age, she is beginning to make a name for herself as both the Ken Kiyoshi (剣聖, Japanese for Sword Saint) and Ken Akuma (剣悪魔, Japanese for Sword Demon).

Ashni's goals and current whereabouts' are currently closely linked with those of Riki Nagakura and Jinta Kanō, as they gave their word that they would help Kentaro rescue Akiye from the clutches of the Imawashī and their leader, Shinzō. As a result she, along with Harumi Kazuki, her mentors Naibu Shizuka and Ashido Kanō have been dragged along in their friends schemes and are now currently within Kōhai Tochi in order to accomplish her mission.

Appearance
Ashni appears as a girl in her middle-to-late teenage years, with a youthful appearance and long, layered light-brown hair that usually spills down her back freely and unhindered, much like a waterfall. She is also quite tall for her young age, standing at an even height with Riki Nagakura; making her one of the tallest among the Rookie Six. She has deep amber-colored eyes and, by Riki's own admission, one stunning figure. Her figure is surprisingly curvaceous for her teenage appearance, especially in terms of her large breasts which has rendered many boys within Horiwari speechless when they see her. Her cheerful and flamboyant personality usually cause her to most often be seen with a happy expression most of the time, though she has been noted to have quite an intimidating scowl which she usually uses to end an argument or row; which is usually turned on both Riki and Jinta for acting the clown.

Ashni's attire usually consists of an average Shihakushō (死覇装, Garment of Dead Souls) that fits her quite tightly, with an all-black design with the sole exception of the kosode which appears to have a golden-colored serpent embroidered into the right-hand side of the cloth, with its head positioned at her chest and the tail curving round to her back. When in her Gigai, Ashni instead prefers wearing an average school uniform, with a white shirt with the top button undone to reveal the top of her breasts; though they are usually hidden mostly by the red ribbon she tends to wear also. Her lower attire consists mainly of a green-colored skirt with a checker design that is quite short, not even reaching her knee. Her casual dress is usually completed with a blue jacket with golden-colored buttons on both the wrist and middle. Secured by a light leather strap on her back, colored brown, hangs her sealed zanpakutō.

Personality
In terms of personality, Ashni usually projects a happy and cheerful persona when interacting with others as she doesn't wish to burden anyone with her own problems or fears; which are many. This outlook generally causes her great deals of pain and inner suffering, as she rarely opens up and confides in others. Aside from this, Ashni is incredibly clumsy, either falling over things in plain sight, slipping on a wet floor or bumping into things she had noted to be there a few seconds previously. She's always falling and grazing knees, elbows or breaking bones with many people describing her as a "walking disaster". But she generally keeps her cheerful facade even when in physical pain. Despite this cheerfulness, Ashni hates it when people argue over minor trivialities and is often the voice of reason whenever Riki and Jinta act the clown or do something stupid, which usually results in a lot of work on her part.

Another problem personality-wise that Ashni is forced to life with is the fact people can see her powers, completely unlike that of other spiritual beings they may be used to dealing with. When in extreme states of emotion, such as anger or sadness, Ashni loses control of her powers and usually lays waste to areas around her by calling forth blasts of spiritual energy that she cannot control. Even in this modern age, people react with fear and have even tried to burn her out of an area on claims that she is a witch whenever she uses her Gigai, sometimes with her in the house. These past encounters have only served to solidify her believe that she is different from other spiritual beings, but something else entirely.

Recently, Ashni has begun to demonstrate sarcastic qualities to her personality, which may very well be a result of her stabilizing emotions and general persona, though this remains mere speculation. She is also described as blunt and opinionated, often telling things as they are whenever others may try and dress a situation up instead. This was seen when she first met Atsuya Tatsumi at the latter's shop, where Harumi Kazuki thought his jokes were cute and Ashni labelled them as "stupid" right then and there. With the same person, she also broke down the situation when asked to look after Haruki and Azami Satonaka, telling him that if they happened to be separated on the way to, they would need to look after themselves. While this makes her appear cold to others, she is actually quite caring, highlighted often in her slip-ups when talking to others about Riki's welfare. She has also, strangely enough, opened up to the young Fōrun-juu, revealing to him matters about her past as well as motivations than not even Naibu is aware of currently.

When necessary, which Ashni finds often to be the case with Riki and Jinta, she commonly and often brutally reprimands the two through violent means. When entering Soul Society alongside the Raze and co. she landed a sound kick between Riki's shoulder-blades without so much as a by-your-leave and kicked Jinta in the fork of the legs, simply because their antics were beginning to irritate her. During the Invasion of Kōhai Tochi Ashni was one of only three people Riki, himself and Jinta included, said would be cautious in their questionings of the realms inhabitants. And while she did prove to be much more cautious than her two male friends, she, next to Riki, gathered the most information, which speaks volumes of her fearlessness, ability to gain information, subtlety and general attitude.

Whenever angered or otherwise frustrated to great extremes, Ashni's personality takes on qualities she once demonstrated during her days as a Vizard, particularly when she donned her mask; especially in regards to her instinctual impulses and high blood-lust during battle, which members of her team have described as close to un-satiable as one can hope to reach. In fact, she once inflicted close to a hundred slashes on Jinta Kanō's body during a particularly bad emotional response to one of his jokes, almost resulting in Jinta's death from excessive blood lose. Though, in thanks to Naibu and Harumi, her reactions have calmed. Now she only punches and kicks people, often with a level of force bordering on excessive. These emotional reactions are theorized to be due to the fact that Ashni has neither an Inner Angel nor an Inner Hollow, but rather a hybrid form of the two which effects her mind and body depending on her own mood.

Synopsis

 * Main Article - Bleach (Kenji Hiroshi).

Introduction Arc

 * Averian Strikes Back: Kentaro attacks Kenji!?
 * The Footsteps of Fate
 * Out On Their Own: The Conflict That Brought Them Together (mentioned)

Soul Society arc

 * A Diabolic Preparation
 * Soul Society arc: Infiltration
 * Soul Society arc: Exploration

Invasion of Kōhai Tochi arc

 * Challenging the Vices Saga

Powers & Abilities
As a result of this, Ashni can either express a single or dual spiritual energy, and in the case of the latter, she is fit to momentarily challenge those of captain-rank for short periods of time; though exertion at that level of spiritual output is incredibly taxing on both her mind and body. Ashni cannot effectively control all her power however; despite her best attempts, especially her hollowfied reiatsu as these powers occasionally cause concentrated blasts of pure spiritual energy to arc from her person to impact people, buildings and the surrounding environment; giving her a rather potent and destructive power if one happens to anger her or cause her some form of frustration. This has led Riki - who is not easily scared or frightened by anyone - to sub-consciously seek shelter whenever her temper frays, such is the fear her powers bring the young Fōrun-juu.

Expert Swordsmanship Specialist: Ashni's skill in the art of swordsmanship is exemplary and quite pin-point and accurate. Her prowess is such that Naibu has labelled her as a prodigy in swordsmanship technique, and believes that with time and proper training, her skills will undoubtedly surpass his own easily. When used, Ashni's style is very dance-like and artistic, with delicate maneuvers and flowing footwork that links together to make for a beautiful and pin-point form that has been compared by Kentaro to appear much like his father's usage of the Yuengiri styles. As a result, Ashni can effectively utilize her skills in swordsmanship as her sole means of combating a foe if she so pleased, and can, without much effort, level buildings with a single precise slash when she uses her skills in fulcrum-based transference.

Fulcrum-based Transference: Instead of utilizing simple traditional forms of physical enhancement to improve her combat effectiveness, Ashni uses a fulcrum-based transference skill that was taught to her by Riki, which allows her to shift the point and force of impact by striking the dead center of an object with her zanpakutō, in essence allowing her to transmit the force of impact wherever she so pleases, as long as a medium exists to transmit her power through. Her strength in regards to this is further supplemented when Ashni transmits her physical and spiritual power through the air. This is achieved by collecting the rotational force of one's motion until it forms into a needle. At that point, the collected atmospheric force would then be directed from the circular motion into a straight line - usually via a punch or thrust kick, or in Ashni's case, a single slash of her zanpakutō; where it is then sent barreling into the target with an extremely high degree of sheer destructive force which can easily shatter bones when used correctly - and because of the small diameter of her zanpakutō's blade, cut aside whole structures such as buildings and other landmarks as though they were made of paper. To achieve this skill though, Ashni has completely abandoned all training in Hakuda with the sole exception of jabs and thrust kicks, and only because they serve to better compliment her transference techniques.

Bakudō Expert: Ashni's skills in Kidō only seem to shine through in her usage of Bakudō, as her hybrid status cause her Hadō and indeed forbidden spells to overload and backfire the second they are utilized, which can be quite damaging and potentially fatal to herself and others caught in the ensuing explosion. Why this happens, though, is largely unknown to even one as skilled Kidō-wise and medically as Ino Hiroshi. However, Ashni's skills in utilizing binding spells is nothing short of amazing, as she can easily utilize spells in the fifties and sixties despite her young age while remaining relatively energetic, explained by Harumi to be the fact she doesn't need to split her training practicing both fields as she herself does and can freely focus on Bakudō. Ashni commonly prefers to bind her opponent in place with spells such as Rikujōkōrō and Sajo Sabaku, or otherwise limit there mobility with spells such as Mizukeimusho and Ekitai Kinko, so she can more easily strike a fatal blow against her opponent with her swordsmanship abilities and transference skills to all but destroy, or greatly main her foes.

Zanpakutō
Kupaya (कुपय, Sanskrit Origin, meaning Swelling with Emotion) is the name of Ashni's zanpakutō, both in sealed and in its released state. Ashni has utilized the zanpakutō itself almost exclusively during battle situations of any kind. Her zanpakutō takes the appearance of a slim nodachi with a rather slim and delicate blade, though it should not be taken at face value to be brittle or prone to snapping by any means. The blade is, in fact, quite durable and can hack having a tremendous degree of force exerted on its edge without actually snapping or chipping. There is no real guard to speak of, instead possessing a U-shaped decoration covering the first three or four inches of blade and the hilt, making that aspect similar to 's Benihime in form. The hilt wrapping is colored a very dark brown with grooves visible that prevent the weapon from slipping from one's hand even in the event the hand in question is slicked with sweat or blood. She has expressed two seperate abilities that are pivotal to the workings of her released state even while the blade is in its sealed state, which are:


 * Vedin: (वेदिन्, Sanskrit Origin, meaning Feeling) Ashni's most basic zanpakutō power is the ability which allows her to interpret the current emotional state of a person in close proximity to her, expressed as a sixth sense of sorts that is constantly active; regardless of her own spiritual strength or emotional reaction, which may explain why she is fit to show some form of restrain - however slight - when she loses control of her powers.


 * Rasa: (रस, Sanskrit Origin, meaning Poison) A poison secreted into a persons body when Ashni successfully wounds them with her zanpakutō, making it quite easy to distribute considering her skill in swordsmanship. While sealed the poison has no effect at all, with the opponent or individual usually being unaware of said poison even after distribution. When her zanpakutō is released, it allows her to control and manipulate her foes on an emotional level, effecting their skills in unexpected ways, or causing one emotion to become prevalent while suppressing others. Since the poison isn't identified as a danger by the body, it can take years to break down within the body and as long as even a trace remains, Ashni's enemies will fall prey to her abilities regardless.


 * Teni Muhō no Kiwami: Not yet Revealed.

Yakubyougamification & Hollowfication
As a former who partially overcame her negative side, thus creating an inner angel-inner hollow hybrid, Ashni has the powers of a Yakubyougami and a, and is quite skilled in utilizing her newfound powers separately of one another and, when angered, in conjunction with one another to create rather interesting and unique variant techniques. However, her skills are not as powerful as one who solely utilizes either their Yakubyougami or Hollowfied reiatsu. As a result, Ashni can don a half Hollow mask to augment her powers with Hollowfied reiatsu, though she only gains half the benefits; and also utilize the Teni Muhō no Kiwami with lessened power overall, which, like her Hollow Mask, has its usual power cut roughly in half as well.

Hakuai: (博愛, Japanese for benevolence) An energy attack that mimics an average Cero, colored amber, which Ashni usually fires from her open palm; though she has also been shown firing it simply from her person whenever her anger and frustration reach their peak and she begins to lose control of her powers. When expressing full control of her mind and powers, Ashni can actually exert her will upon the energy formed and manipulate the accumulated energy around her person to act as a form of defense; a skill she happened to kick up through training from Kireina Shiba and the latter's usage of Mekura Sōkō. Thought instead of utilizing it as a means of augmenting her Hakuda abilities as Kireina tends to do, Ashni usually utilizes the accumulated energy to increase her swordsmanship proficiency and the damage her strikes can cause. However, due to her recent acquirement of said variant, Ashni's usage is far from complete. The energy is not fully under her control, causing it to cycle and clump together, effectively exposing a hole in her defenses that is both clearly visible and easily exploited. When used when her rage hits its peak, Ashni's Hakuai blasts were strong enough to send Riki flying several streets over and slam him through every floor of a multi-story building when he annoyed her enough to save her from one of Rutilus Maculosus Lupus's attacks during their battle; by drawing her anger to the surface.

Jikyuu Expert: (持久, Japanese for endurance) Ashni's raw unhindered speed is quite impressive, as is her skills in the use of Jikyuu to move greater distances more easily. This extends to her long-range travel, as Jikyuu does not require that much in the way of energy to utilize successfully. Ashni's skill is such, in fact, that she can keep up with and follow the impressive unhindered speed shown by Riki without tiring - an impressive feat, considering Riki's skills in regards to the physical aspects of one's power is quite advanced for one so young.

She has also demonstrated variants of the actual Garganta, which are much smaller in size and diameter when compared to the proper version. These variants are commonly used offensively, though in certain situations Ashni has also demonstrated herself fit to utilize it as a defensive tool to shred incoming attacks. Her variant essentially opens a smaller Garganta that follows the line of her sight to lock onto a target, where the gateway is partially opened and subsequently closed incredibly quickly while Ashni causes the opening to spin like a pinwheel; usually resulting in the severing of a limb, or in fatal instances, decapitation. This is explained by Naibu to be because the actual Garganta does not perfectly form, which in essence accelerates the air around the vocal point of her vision, effectively causing the wind to receive incredible cutting power due to the spinning motion Ashni herself applies. Surprisingly, this is actually quite draining as one requires keen concentration and a clear line of sight, and even with those two requirements fulfilled, the strain put on her eyes and energy is nothing short of incredible; as the sudden closing of the gateway seemingly creates a backfire upon her; which once knocked her unconscious during training.

Pesquisa Master: A sensory power granted through Ashni's hollowfied reiatsu. This skill acts as a form of sonar, allowing her to easily and quite effortlessly detect, sense and gauge the amount of reiatsu in her vicinity, as well as that expressed by other spiritual beings. Ashni's utilization of the skill has been honed to an almost unnatural level, allowing her access to a 360º field of vision which allows her to follow and react to threats over quite a considerable distance by honing in on and following the reiatsu traces of an opponent and the actions they take. While individuals such as and  have had to concentrate or make some form of motion to utilize this technique, Ashni's usage is more akin to that expressed by ; though her skills seemingly surpass even his, such is her profound mastery over the skill. While it usually requires some form of concentration, Ashni's instead exists as a passive power that is constantly active; feeding off her usually suppressed hollowfied reiatsu, which results in it usually having no effect on her battlefield performance in terms of energy drain.

Hollow Mask: Ashni's Hollow Mask only covers the left-hand side of her face when donned, due to the fact the inner spirit that grants her power is a twisted fusion of both an inner angel and an inner hollow; resulting in powers from both sides, though releases such as the donning of a Hollow Mask and the Teni Muhō no Kiwami were diluted by half. Appearance-wise, Ashni's mask would take an lozenge appearance should it be a full mask, in a manner similar to 's Hollow Mask. The horizontal eye slit allows her to see from her left eye, though the right also expresses the same black scelera and yellow irises usually seen in a Vizard.


 * Power Augmentation: While wearing the mask, Ashni's Hollow powers supplement her Yakubyougami powers, giving her a vast increase in both strength and speed. However, because her mask is only a half-mask, the bonuses received are only at half strength. Regardless, the bonuses are quite prominent regardless.


 * Enhanced Spiritual Energy: When donned during her battle with Rutilus Maculosus Lupus, Riki noted Ashni's spiritual energy to be around the level of a captain in sheer potency, though that was when her powers were uncontrolled. When in full control it is not as large nor as powerful, being described as slightly below an average captain-class.

Behind the Scenes
Ashni appearance is based off of Aya Natsume from the anime/manga series Tenjho Tenge. Some of her powers are also influenced by the same series, so all credit should rightly go to the original creators.