Noako Tachibana

Tachibana Noako (橘ノー赤穂, Noako Tachibana) is the 3rd seat of the 9th Division in the Gotei 13. Former 14th seat of 11th Division. She is the member of Tachibana clan. After her death in human world she discovered her powers and joined the Shin'o Academy. After some time she became the member of 9th Division and from there on kept working hard to achieve what she currently is.

Appearance
Noako is slim young woman who has long, peach colored hair tied with a purple ribbon. One of her hair hanks is tressed and pinned with golden hairpin. Her eyes are light grey and she also has a white plaster on her right cheek. She is famous for her beautiful face and graceful figure.

As a Shinigami of the Gotei 13, Noako wears a shihakushō. Her robe's sleeves are long and wide unlike her robe's skirt which is short and lets her to move freely. Her waist is tied with white ribbon. Also she has a silver pendant around her neck and she carries her Zanpakuto near side. Her Zanpakuto's Reistu color is purple. Noako also wears traditional sandals and white socks. While in her Gigai in the Human World, she has been shown to dress stylishly. She wears the school uniform with several buttons undone and likes to wear necklaces.

Personality
Noako is generally an upbeat, easy-going, and friendly girl. She has a strong friendship with Hisagi Shuuhei, whom she grew up with. Later her relationship with Hisagi changed and she fell in love with him. Sadly, she never revealed her feelings for him. Though normally kind, her rare bouts of anger can appear rather menacing. Such as she comlains Yachiru for not taking seriously her responsibilities. Although she is her letenant. Noako's main pastimes are reading and drawing. Due to her talent in drawing, she has overseen work for book illustration in the Shin'ō Academy. Her love for books has developed since she frequently visits the library. Noako attends the ikebana lessons held by Captain Retsu Unohana. She also likes cooking. Noako sometimes bakes cookies, and once made a huge cake for all her squad.

Although, Noako is cheerful, she is very reliable and responsable about her tasks. While fighting, Noako always stays concentrated and ready for any kind of attacks. She is cool-headed - never improvises and always has to follow some plan.

Noako greatly respects and admires Kenpachi Zaraki. She idolizes him for his stregh and loyalty to his squad. But she really can not go along with Yachiru, her former letenant, because Yachiru never takes her responsabilities seriously and always are hanging on captain's shoulder. Although, she often argues with her, Noako always gives in and lets Yachiru do that she wants. That way sometimes they talks normally and even has a great time together. Noako likes both Ikkaku and Yumichika because they are fired up with 11th division fire and never gives up. Noako often talked with them and even took same missions. But now as she is a member of 9th Division she spends much less time with everyone and mainly hangs out with her squad and Hisagi.

History
Approximately 100 years ago, Noako and her mother, were brought together to Inuzuri, the 78th District of Rukongai, after they died in the Human World. Unable to live there while caring for a child, Noako's mother abandoned her when she was still a little girl. Noako grew up on her own for a considerable amount of time.

One day, Noako runned into Shuuhei, as they were just a children. They became friends very quickly, so Shuuhei, who was older, decided to take care of Noako. Their bond became very strong, but soon they there separated. Hisagi, Noako and several of their playmates fell prey to a Hollow attack in Rukongai. Luckily, it wasn't long until they were saved by Captain Kensei Muguruma and the 9th Division. They defeated the Hollow and saved children's life, so Hisagi decidet to join 9th Division in order to protect his friends and Noako.

Noako lived some time alone, but when she grew up and joined Shin'o Academy, she learned that Hisagi is already in the 9th division. At the academy she became close friends with Ikkaku and Yumichika who wanted to join 11th division. Without secound thought, Noako went together with them leaving her childhood love in the past. But after some time her squad and Hisagi's had same mission. They fighted against a huge group of hollows. One of them hitted Noako's leg and she was sent flying in the tree. The hollow wanted to finish her off, but suddenly Hisagi appeared and saved Noako, from that day onwards she always admired Hisagi and had a crush on him. Noako joined 9th division and soon reached 3rd seat.

Powers & Abilities
Expert Swordsman: Noako has trained to become especially skilled at swordsmanship so she wouldn't have to rely on her shikai form. She has shown to be very crafty with her Zanpakutō as her skills are great enough to regularly fight opponents who released their Zanpakutō while her remains sealed, only relying on her own Zanpakutō's released form as a last resort.

Very high speed: Her speed is very high, she is one of the fastest shinigami's of the 11th division. Due to her light weight, hard trainings and her natural talent, Noako can move very quickly.

Kidō Expert: Noako is well-versed enough in Kidō to have an understanding of at least fairly high-level Kidō spells without incantation, most noticeably Binding No. 62. She has been seen using them in conjunction with her released Zanpakutō to deliver more damage to her opponents.

Hakuda Expert: She has also shown herself to be a highly proficient fighter even when unarmed. During the Bount Invasion, Noako demonstrated great skill by incapacitating several possessed Shinigami. In battle, she has shown herself to be tremendously agile and is able to attack from various angles with great dexterity.

High Spiritual Power: Being a 3rd seat of the 9th Division in the Gotei 13, Suzuka also boasts a high spiritual energy. Her Reiatsu is purple.

Zanpakutō
Hakucho Tessen (白鳥鉄ファン, Swan, iron fan): The sealed form is just a normal katana with a blue handle and yellow diamond lace on it. The cross guard is a sircle shape with four leafs on it. Noako carries her Zanpakutō at her waist.
 * Shikai: it's release command is "Spread your wings"(翼を広げ, Tsubasa o hiroge)


 * Bankai: Not Yet Achieved.

Trivia

 * Name Noako can mean "obedient child" (ノア子)
 * Noako's surname, "Tachibana", means "wild orange" (橘)
 * Noako's hobbies include: reading, painting and training.
 * Her favorite foods are oranges, onigiri, and takoyaki.

Quotes

 * (To herself) "Do not lose! I want to be strong!"
 * (To Shuhei Hisagi) "I won't let you fight alone anymore... Wait for me!"