Rui Matsukaze

Rui Matsukaze (ルイ松風, Matsukaze Rui)

Appearance
Rui stands at an average height of 5'8" and has a muscular frame despite his average looking appearance. He sports dark red, almost burgandy-colored hair, even though he will argue in length that his hair color is more of a scarlet color much like Anna Satonaka of Hama Town. His hair is wild, going spikey in the back but splits to two sides to cover his ears.

Rui can usually be seen wearing a long-sleeve white jacket hoodie that he always keeps unzipped in order to feel "unrestrained". He contrasts his white hoodie with a pair of black combat boots with silver trimmings along the bottom. Most of the time, Rui wears plain grey pants with a loosely tied belt around his waist. His twin sister Yukiko Matsukaze has stated that Rui has the appearance of a commoner and a slacker and should dress more properly if he wants to remain a Substitute Shinigami.

Personality
Rui has a very caring personality as he values human life, and is willing to do anything to prevent anyone from dying in front of or around him. It has been noted by Rui's friends that he may be protecting enemies who would kill him if they were given the chance, as in Kagura Narusegawa's case. Rui is goodnatured, out-spoken, and straightforward. Despite being slightly naive, he seems to have a talent of gathering people together.

Although he is seen as a cheerful, bright-smiling young man in the present, Rui was shown as an emotionless young child when he was young. Rui always gives off the impression of being goofy an aloof, but when he realizes that his allies and friends are in danger, he is capable of shocking everyone, including those closest to him by showing them a more somber face. After that he showed them her serious side, which made many note that darkness hidden in his soul. When he truly gets serious, Rui is noted to become more of a beserker and will begin to attack friend and foe alike, often giving off a cold and muderous feeling to those around him.

Powers and Abilities
Great Spiritual Energy: Rui's Spiritual Energy is usually sealed by his own mellow personality. He has enough to get him recognized by hollows and fellow shinigami, but it is not enough for either group to view him as a threat. However, when his anger gets the best of him or he decides to get serious in a fight, Rui's seal on his spirtual energy is released and bursts forth from his body as if it were an eruption waiting to happen. When freed, his spiritual energy is capable of shattering windows several miles away and even causes the immediate location to began shaking with a high frequency. Rui's contol over his unleashed energy is still low, causing him to tire quickly if he isn't careful.

Expert Swordsmanship Specialist: Since birth Rui was trained in the way of the sword. Although he does not like utilzing his swordsmanship abiities, Rui is a natural genius with the blade. From early on Rui made steady progress in learning how to properly fight with a sword, even beating older opponents who have been studying martial arts far longer. Rui's skills are still considered weak by many as they too are 'sealed' by his reluctance to kill an opponent in combat.


 * Dual Sword User: Due to the form of his zanpakuto's sealed state, Rui is adapted to fighting with two swords at once. He typically uses rotating slashes in order to fight against many opponents at one time in order to get the most out of the reach of both swords. However, agaisnt single opponents, Rui does not have a 'proper' fighting style as it mostly consists of wild slashes with his strength behind them. While using only one blade, an opponent is capable of noting that Rui is ambidexterous as he is capable of switching the sword from one hand to the other on the fly without a change in his rhythm.

Above Average Endurance: Rui is capable of taking a serious beating and is able to get back up again time after time. He cannot take an assalut from an opponent for too long as his endurance is only slightly higher than that of a normal human, things like high falls or heavy impacts still pose a serious threat to Rui's general well-being and survival.

Unknown Form
This form was seen briefly in his fight with Azami Satonaka, although he passed out immediately afterwards. Since that fight, he has been unable to access this form again. When he enters this form, Rui's hair lengthens considerably and gains a blue-ish silver coloration and his eyes become a crimson red. While in this form, Rui's appearance has been compared to that of a Wind Diety, striking a combination of both fear and awe in those that witness it.

Zanpakuto
Toshokan (図書館, Library) is the name of Rui's zanpakuto. In its sealed state it takes the form of a pair of kodachi, a sword that is described to act like a shield because its light weight makes it easy to block with When in their scabbard, they appear to be part of a single sheathed sword, one blade appearing to be the hilt, while the second blade is stationed opposite the first and blends in with the scabbard itself, giving it the impression of being a nodachi. A dangerous opponent, he uses his speed together with a mix of sword and hand-to-hand combat moves.

Shikai:
 * Shikai Special Ability: Toshokan has the ability to manipulate the opponent's kotodama. This works by allowing Rui to speak a word of his choosing, however, upon doing so he must attack the opponent with his blade and land a successful strike which fully activates Toshokan's special ability. When the opponent blocks the strike, Rui is capable of speaking yet another word, adding to the list of taboo words to be spoken by the opponent. If an opponent speaks one of the forbidden words Rui has listed, they will lose something of themself that relates to the word spoken. If the opponent chooses not to speak for a period of time, then Toshokan will begin decaying the opponent's body at a rapid rate until they utter a word once more. The rotted effects of Toshokan only stay unil Rui seals his zanpakuto, at which point the body is restored, unless the target is near death.

Bankai: Not Yet Revealed