Erina Ayaka

Erina Ayaka (絵里奈 絢香, Ayaka Erina) is a young woman of Heisekai, one of the twelve Captain-Generals of the Shuuten, as well as the youngest in the history of Heisekai to reach that rank. Erina, alongside Fujimoto and Shiori Nakamura, heads up the 2nd Division and, as a result, help commands the Jōren and safeguard Heisekai's borders.

Personality
Erina is best described as a disinterested young woman, a trait which has served her well in the past as it has allowed her to remain impartial and unbiased in the face of important decisions, when others may be anything but. This was the case with the Invasion of Kōhai Tochi, as Erina did not participate in that conflict, as she thought it a bad move when weighed with Heisekai's future security. One of the few things that can spur her interest is the safeguarding of Heisekai's borders, whether that be through action or inaction. She believes strongly that her actions could drastically effect her people, and as such gives each decision equal weight. When it comes to her people, Erina has and always will put them first, even above her own interests. Though by no means is she uninterested. Nothing could be farther from the truth in fact. She has various hobbies, among them stamp collecting, and enjoys long walks along the coast of her island home.

Synopsis

 * Main Article - Bleach (Kenji Hiroshi).

Dragonforce arc Part I

 * Escaping Splendor
 * Gears laid in Motion

Dragonforce arc Part II

 * Reunion and Ambition

Powers and Abilities
Mixed Martial Arts Master: While skilled in the Shinigami arts even from a young age, Erina does not truly excel in any particular combat form. Instead she is a jack-of-all trades-type of combatant. Her knowledge regarding the four main combat forms - Zanjutsu, Hohō, Kidō & Hakuda - are such that she can link individual styles together to perform various hybrid techniques, which is her true strength in battle.

And while a large degree of it is untapped as of yet, Yoichi Yamashin believes that, in a mere century, she'll have surpassed even him. The sheer size of her spiritual energy is reflected in the constant-released state of her zanpakutō, though Yoichi admitted that she'd eventually be fit to seal it once she learned to control the untapped regions of her power.

Expert Swordsmanship Specialist:


 * Sebunsu: Onkōteishi (セブンス, "The Seventh: One Step Death"): a technique that was developed solely for "occupying an enemy's territory". Constant movement is needed to ensure that Sebunsu: Onkōteishi is used at the most opportune time, highlight the prevalent use of Hohō. When that time arrives Erina shifts quickly in-front of her target so quickly that she appears to have vanished to the targets eyes. A single vertical slash is then inflicted at blinding speed to cut the foe cleanly up the middle. When in use, Erina becomes quite difficult to hit, as she's constantly moving and dodging to pick out an opening; aided by the instincts honed through her Hakuda training.

Hakuda Expert:

Shunpo Master: Erina is masterfully skilled in the art of Hohō and, as a result of that, Shunpo. Her footwork is flawless, at times being compared to a dancer, as she is fit to perform Shunpo in any situation whilst retaining almost all her maximum speed with only a single leg to perform the movement with; or when injured. With the use of Shunpo, Erina can effortlessly change position, and is held as one of the foremost practitioners of the art; as she is capable of mixing it with other combat forms to create potent hybrid techniques. The extent of her skills have allowed her to emerge victorious in races against the likes of Yoichi Yamashin, and Karris, who, like Erina herself, is a Hohō master in her own right.


 * Shinjisoku (神事速, Godlike Speed): a hybrid technique combining the speed of Hohō with Kidō. When in use, Erina's legs glow with a white aura, accompanied by a reishi discharge that appears somewhat like lightning spreading to her body, signifying the techniques activation. When in use, Shinjisoku allows her to move around the battlefield at speeds normal Shinigami would have their bodies give out at, enabling her to appear and disappear as though instantaneously, while leaving behind a dust trail as the only sign of her presence. In the air not even this is visible.


 * Weakness: The main downside with Shinjisoku is the strain it puts on Erina's muscles. The influx of Kidō, in conjunction with Shunpo, causes immense friction; which in turn causes an uncomfortable pain, followed by cramps, and ending finally with bleeding. At this point her legs are all but useless without medical attention or extended bed rest.

Kidō Specialist: Erina was trained personally by her Grandfather, who happened to be a Kidō master of some renown, prior to his death. As such she is intimately familiar with various aspects of sorcery, amongst them the ability to augment herself positively during battle; giving rise to the various hybrid techniques she uses predominately. When it comes to Kidō itself, Erina prefers fast and hard-hitting Hadō spells like ', the ' in conjunction with ', and '; amongst others.


 * Kidō Enhanced Physical Attributes: a use of Kidō that enhances Erina's base physical strength, allowing her to imbue her body with greater levels of strength. She achieves this through a two-step process: the first involves casting a Hadō spell as one would normally. The second step involves breaking the summoned spell down again, and then cycling it through her system, stimulating her muscles and improving physical strength. The stronger the spell, the greater the benefit.


 * Weakness: Should Erina cycle too much energy back through her body, she risks a back-lash of energy upon herself; which can often result in an explosion roughly equal to the strength of the Hadō spell used. The risk only grows larger with higher spells, as Erina almost killed herself through the use of  once.


 * Jikoiyashi (自己癒し, Self Healing): a supplementary Kidō spell developed by Erina's grandfather and taught to her before his death. Jikoiyashi takes control of the loose ' particles all spiritual beings leak sub-consciously, and puts that wasted energy to use. This reishi is imbued with basic healing energy which all students of the Heisekai Academy are taught, which causes Erina to sometimes glow in a green light when her body receives injury. The effects are similar to ', though the restoration of limbs is beyond her skills currently; nor is Jikoiyashi as fast.

Zanpakutō
As a constant release-type, Erina's zanpakutō cannot be sealed, even though she can control her spiritual energy fairly well. Yoichi explains it is the part of her power that is untapped and unexplored that causes it.


 * : The release command of Erina's zanpakutō is unknown, as it exists within its Shikai form. Her zanpakutō takes the form of a medium-sized cleaver with two blades. The outside blade is the larger, forming roughly three-quarters of the zanpakutō, while the inner edge sports a smaller curved blade. As such it doesn't matter which side Erina uses to cut her foe, as each is as sharp as the other. The larger blade loops down into a hand guard. In addition two hollowed-out slots are visible upon the larger blade, while the smaller has various Japanese characters engraved upon the flat sides.


 * Shikai Special Ability: Not yet Revealed.


 * : Not yet Revealed.

Behind the Scenes

 * The pictures depicting Erina where drawn and colored by Ninjatic, on deviantart; who kindly allowed me to make use of the images. All credit for the artwork goes to him, for he rightly deserves it.
 * Erina's character draws various parallels with existing characters; both from the fanon and the canon universe. The most noteworthy are Tōshirō Hitsugaya and Shinrei Kurosaki, both of whom are prominent prodigies in the authors work.