Gekkō Kirameki

 

"Born of the Darkness. Champion of the Light"- BraveHeart Gekkō Asakura (月光朝倉, Moonlight Asakura) is the mysterious and enigmatic Shinigami of Karakura Town. He has been rumored to be one of the powerful Sōzōshin, although this is just speculation. He has been noted to be a very dangerous individual due to the three facts that he is not only one of the Asakura, but also has strange powers due to experimentation, and also a former captain of the Gotei 13. Therefore, he has a considerable amount of skills and finesse that makes him a noticeable threat to Soul Society. However, the reason why Soul Society are very weary of him is the fear that he still holds animosity towards them because of the various Hollowfication experiments they conducted on him.

Appearance
Despite his relatively advanced age, Gekkō bears the appearance of a handsome young man in his late teens. Being incredibly handsome, Gekkō possess a body that simply signifies perfection, with a slender and athletic frame for the most part, illustrious and well kept coal black hair, and smooth alabaster skin that is entirely smooth and pleasant to the touch. While seeming slender, he is also well muscled and ripped. His eyes are a strange reddish brown, and his facial expression is that of a constant stoicism. In terms of attire, he usually wears either street clothes to blend in with the World of the Living, or his Shinigami attire, which consists of a hooded tattered black shihakushō that flares out into ragged ends. When in the World of the Living, Gekkō dons all black attire which has a blueish tint to it, this clothing consist of dark blue shirt, pants, shoes, overcoat, and armored gautlets which rest on his hands.

Personality
As stated above, Gekkō is an enigmatic and mysterious individual. Being a man of very few words and decisive actions, Gekkō believes in the philosophy that a man is defined by the actions he takes and not the words he boasts. One important thing one must know about Gekkō before any interaction with him, whether negative or positive, is his love for his friends. This is in special regards to that of his long time friend, Misora Kurosaki. He values his friends above his own life and anyone else's.

Normally, Gekkō is a reserved, calm, and yet wise man. He is not an easy one to anger unless his friends are involved. His calm composure is due to the constant state of Fudōshin he is in. This, combined with his state of mind makes him almost impossible to anger in any way. However, despite his seemingly distant and cold composure, Gekkō can actually be a friendly person and a easy person to get along with. However, when around his friends such as Yorokobi Keshin and Misora Kurosaki, Gekkō's general attitude transforms almost totally. He becomes more animated and humorous. As stated by Misora, Gekkō and Yorokobi tend to rub off on each other, normally doing silly things even when things are important. A testament was when he fell asleep during Mukei Tsuki's lecture about his zanpakutō's abilities and his fighting style.

However, the reason for the vices of his heart are due to only one thing. The Asakura Family. After learning of his heritage and their ties with the darkness, Gekkō almost never talks about his family or relatives. Fear of transforming into a monster resolves him to fight only for the protection of his friends and never for revenge. He constantly bears the weight of his family's past sins on his shoulders, much to his friend's chagrin. As such, his resolve to protect and constantly bathe his mind and spirit in peace is set, and his determination to never destroy or harm those close to him are en grafted into his heart.

History
One Millennium ago, Gekkō was born. However, his mother died while he was only seven years old, leaving him alone with no one to care for him. For months Gekkō traveled along the streets of the poor district of the Rukongai. He normally would find scraps of food in various restaurants where some sympathetic employees would allow him the leftovers. However, this would not last as among learning of his clan, the employees would curse and banish him form the restaurants. When he felt like giving up and just letting death grasp him, Gekkō discovered a young, homeless girl and a homeless boy who both where of similar condition to himself. After befriending them, his resolve to live began to slowly return. Thus, he protected them from the various thugs and bullies they encountered along the way.

Three months later, they unknowingly entered the Soul Society, or to be more specific, the Kuchiki Clan household. Gekkō, needing a haven from the harsh cold and food for Misora, all but broke into the home with the help of Yorokobi. They ran towards the kitchen which had an abundant quantity of food. He, Yorokobi, and Misora ravished to food until a young boy arrived in the kitchen and spotted them. The young boy yelled for them to leave and retrieved his zanpakutō from his side. Gekkō had no way to defend himself, so he took Misora's hand and ran through the house away from the apparently agitated young man.

They ran until they where intercepted by an aged man, who of which was accompanied by a younger man who bore a striking resemblance to the boy he's just outran. The boy skidded to a stop among seeing them. The older man introduced himself as Ginrei Kuchiki, while the slightly younger man was revealed to be Sōjun Kuchiki. They welcomed Gekkō into their household despite Byakuya's comical chagrin. Upon closer inspection, Ginrei sensed an unnatural level of spiritual pressure coming from the young boy. The Kuchiki clan leader immediately arranged for the boy to be enrolled into the Shinō Academy to begin Shinigami training. Gekkō immediately came out on top of all of his classmates, making perfect scores and showing a considerable skill level.

The boy's incredible level of skill and heritage as an Asakura peaked the interest of the mad scientist stereotype, Mayuri Kurotsuchi. Knowing of an Asakura's affinity to the dark powers, he ordered for a major Hollowfication experiment on the boy. The experiment was a success, but not in the way they had predicted. In fact, Gekkō's Inner Hollow attacked the entire Shinigami Research Institute, killing all except for Mayuri, who escaped his grasp.

Upon learning of the experiment, the Head Captain had issued an all out man hunt for Mayuri and declared him an enemy of the Soul Society for experimenting with the Seireitei's natural enemies.

Gekkō was exited about the news but still felt the duty of killing Mayuri was his, and his alone. However, staying within the Soul Society with Hollow powers would be no easy feat. Although he knew this, he still tried, but was rejected, being told that he should be happy the Gotei 13 didn't order him to be executed. Despite this however, the Kuchiki clan demanded that he stay and continue his training. The Head Captain, Yamamoto was unsure of this, until Ginrei proposed that they create Hollow accustomed Reiryoku Seals that would prevent Gekkō from using his Hollow powers. Trusting him, the Head Captain reluctantly agreed.

Two hundred years had passed since those events. Gekkō had become the captain of the Fifth Division, with Misora as his Lieutenant, and Yorokobi as his Third Seat. During his captaincy, Gekkō had trained extensively with Byakuya, further honing his Zanjutsu and Kidō skills against the captain. His skills soon began to rival, if not surpass that of Byakuya's as the two continued training with one another. Among the captains he knew personally and trained with, was Yoruichi Shihōin. They to trained extensively, the only difference was they trained in the art of Hakuda and Hohō. Gekkō's prowess in Shinigami combat was again shown when he bested the latter in both arts.

Many years later, Gekkō learned of the Gotei 13's various experimentations on him. Feeling betrayed and used, Gekkō left Soul Society with Misora Kurosaki and Yorokobi Kenshin by his side. Kisuke Urahara, Yorouchi Shihōin, and Tessai Tsukabishi left with them. After a few weeks of consideration Gekkō decided to enter Hueco Mundo to master his Hollow powers. After years of training with his Hollow powers in Hueco Mundo, Gekkou noticed the weaknesses of Hollowfication. These weaknesses where the fact that he could only don his mask for a certain amount of time and that his Inner Hollow would not stop disturbing his powers until he took over his body. Acknowledging this, and remembering his Kidō training, Gekkō stripped his Inner Hollow of its power and sealed it away using the spell Ginrei and Yamamoto used onKoga Kuchiki. After doing this, Gekkō gained access to its powers without any need to interact with his Hollow at all. After another two years of further mastering his powers, Gekkō returned to the Human World. He then started attending school at Karakura High School.

Upon returning, Gekkou saw that crime in Karakura matched that of a low-level district within the Rukongai. Knowing this, he cloaked himself in a black trench coat and equipped himself with a knife and metallic wire. Finally, he donned a mask that he crafted after his Hollow mask. Due to his training, he was more than ready to take on the worst threats, whether natural or supernatural.

Synopsis
Eternal Youth! The Battle of two Prodigies!

Opposition against the Shiroyasha

Equipment
Shikigami (式神, shikigami): These serve as messengers and servants of the Asakura, and as such are "born" from the Asakura Clan member they serve, in this case Gekkō. These at times are created from the souls of the fallen, those who were killed by the clan member and now eternally serve them.

Rapier: Forged from a certain fallen soul that Gekkō killed, this blade was made into a weapon instead of a normal Shikigami. Something strangely requested by the soul Gekkō defeated. The Rapier is a large sword with a bright red blade. Gekkō is able to channel either Kidō, or the dark energies that make up the Harudōga into his rapier, endowing it with a bright red aura and causing runic symbols to appear along its length.

Powers and Abilities
Being both a direct descendant of the Asakura Family, and a former captain of the Gotei 13, Gekkō has an incredible amount of skill. His prowess in Shinigami combat has earned him a great reputation of both respect and fear among the residents of the Soul Society.

Immense Reiryoku:  He can exert an immense amount of  Spiritual Pressure, which, in addition to his already admirable combat skills and finesse, makes him one of the most formidable captains. Due to Gekkō's lineage, being a direct descendant of the Asakura Family, Gekkō has a large amount of untapped spiritual energy, despite being a captain-level combatant. While not one to exert his energy, he can easily tune and distribute it to fit his needs in battle. His power has been noted by Misora to parallel that of an Espada. While not gargantuan in volume, it still enables him to be able to fight other captains on equal footing.

Master Swordsman: Being, by far his greatest skill, Gekkō almost always demonstrates a natural aptitude and affinity for the ways of the sword. He is able to wield a sword with great proficiency in speed, power, and skill, allowing him to perform feats such as fighting on par with other captain level combatants. His skill enables him to be able to operate with little or no effort, deliver skillful strikes to weak points with great precision. Gekkō is exceedingly skilled at using his Zanpakutō in combat. In terms of his sword fighting style, Gekkō relies mostly on a mixed variation of both Shinigami Zanjutsu, and Japanese Kenjutsu, and thus could be considered a master swordsmanship specialist. His ingenuity in it is much greater than most Shinigami as he is able to use his skill in more versatile and effective maneuvers. Gekkō's prowess has proven to be a match for master swordsmen of Byakuya Kuchiki's caliber.


 * Scythe Proficiency: Gekkō can wield a scythe with tremendous dexterity and skill, accurately and precisely slicing through the enemies without being hindered by the scythe's heavy weight. This is due to his zanpakuto being a scythe while in its released state.

High Speed Master: His skill in the art of Hohō is rivaled only by fellow captain-level Shinigami such as Byakuya Kuchiki and Yoruichi Shihōhin. His speed enables him to move at speeds only comprehensible by other masters of this art. He can strike his opponents multiple times before they are able to even detect in which way he is moving. His steps are silent and do not give off the consistent "Swish" or "Woosh" sound that other steps do. He can  move fast enough to instantly close a huge gap of space between him and his opponent, and even seemingly disappear from sight. In battle, he can strike with incredible speed in rapid succession, making it highly difficult for his opponents to find an opening and counterattack.
 * Hyper-Speed Combat: A "side effect"of his constant use of Hohō, Gekkō's body movements appear as mere blurs, if anything else. With his arsenal of powerful techniques and styles, along with his vast arsenal of equally lethal punches and kicks his fighting technique is incredibly destructive. Using his speed and reflexes he can quickly take out his opponents. In addition to having the aforementioned powerful kicks and punches, Gekkō has also shown proficiency in counterattacks, takedowns, and body locks, of which he can shift to and from at astonishing speeds.

Hakuda Master: Gekkō is a master of Hakuda. His fighting styles consist of minimal movement with maximum effect and extreme speed, and also breaking his vast array of fighting techniques and skills into ranges which include kicking, punching, trapping, grappling, and combinations with techniques flowing smoothly between them. He has incredible high-speed Taijutsu attacks that he uses to overwhelm his opponents. He can strike his opponent in rapid succession. His skills enabled him to fight on par with Yoruichi Shihōin, a great fighter in her own right. In battle he is able to strike with incredible speed in rapid succession, making it highly difficult for his opponents to find an opening and counterattack.

Kidō Mastery: Understanding the flow of energy within one's being is a key component to understanding how to use Kidō properly. Knowing this, Gekkō has trained himself to understand the flow of his own energy. He now has considerable knowledge of high level Kidō spells, casting several in quick succession, with no incantation and almost no effort, and still possessing formidable power.

Physical Attributes: Gekkō's physical capabilities epitomized the perfect mixture of strength and versatility in many ways. Being extremely agile and quick, while steal maintaining a great amount of physical strength. He uses a variety of acrobatic moves and without resorting to any of his Shinigami arts. This fighting style was overall similar to the martial art of Baguazhang, which consists of an intricate set of foot and palm movements to dodge, walk circles around the enemy and strike unexpectedly as well as defend from all angles, an art which emphasized the pursuit of harmony in conflict situations, rather than destroying or defeating the opponent. He uses his physical prowess in both the Spiritual and Human world. His prowess proved great enough to defeat a lieutenant level Shinigami without the need of his zanpakutō. He also demonstrates his agility and is a nimble fighter, allowing him to maneuver gracefully and evade assaults from both the thugs and Hollows he fights regularly with ease, even at close-range.

Intelligence:  Gekkō was very intuitive and clever, even from a young age. During his time at the Shinō Academy, he quickly excelled in his classes. This, combined with his connection to the Asakura, has gained the interest of many individuals, including that of Mayuri Kurotsuchi. During difficult events, he was still capable of maintaining his composure, assessing the situation, and devising appropriate plans of action. After seeing a technique once, he could correctly deduce the basic mechanics behind it, such as the strengths and weaknesses of Byakuya Kuchiki's Senbonzakura.

Zanpakutō
Bankai: Shi No Sakibure (死の先触れ, Death Harbinger): While initiating Bankai, Gekkō's form erupts with an immense white torrent of flames that expand outwards, illuminating the entire environment and atmosphere for a one mile radius. The flames begin to swirl into a fire twister before they finally implode into a thick rain of reiatsu that drenches the surrounding area. Strangely, while this rain seems acidic, it is nothing of the sort. In fact, the spiritual liquid begins to actually restore and heal whatever it lands on, of course, except for Gekkō's opponent. The reason for this is because Gekkōs's will influences his reiryoku's properties. Whether they be for creation or destruction. When one takes Gekkō's influential will into perspective, they will uncover the reason behind this phenomena is because of Gekkō's will to protect and his rejection of his birth right as a destroyer. Once this process is complete, Gekkō's appearance changes drastically. His eyes are now narrow and turn red and his hair grows longer and the top half of his hair is white while the bottom half of his hair is black. A blue cloak lies over his black kimono zōri. His zanpakutō in this form is a standard nōdachi with a wooden hilt and no proper guard.

Bankai Special Abilities: Since Maebure is a melee-combat zanpakutō, it dramatically enhances all of Gekkō's physical abilities. His already amazing agility, speed, endurance, dexterity, durability, intelligence and natural strength are incredibly enhanced, to the point that his physical attributes become augmented to inhuman levels. His Bankai gives him uniquely inhuman abilities and endows him with physical prowess far beyond that of what it was before.
 * Power Augmentation: While in Bankai, Gekkō's physical and spiritual abilities are increased by the prime factor of ten times his base spiritual energy level. While in Bankai, Gekkō has the ability to fight on par or above that of captain-level Shinigami while in their Bankai while still not using his full power.
 * Enhanced Spiritual Power: While in Bankai, Gekkō's spiritual power takes a dramatic increase. His power now totally transcends what it was pre-Bankai. His is already vast spiritual energy increases grandly and explosively. In this form, Gekkō produces a stark white reiryoku with a black outline. He becomes a beacon of hope for his allies, and the harbinger of death for his enemies.
 * Enhanced Shikai Abilities: As stated above, Gekkō's former Shikai abilities are greatly enhanced, making them natural Bankai techniques. For example, his Shikai's normal durability is enhanced to the point of being a nigh-indestructible weapon.
 * Enhanced Strength and Durability: While in Bankai, his new physical prowess greatly increases his already great strength and durability. While not his primary attribute, his strength aids him in fighting on par with other powerful opponents. His new durability and resistance to injury allows him to be highly resistant to most forms of injury that is not inflicted or performed by a captain's Bankai. This was seen during his battle with Shindō Takuji.
 * Enhanced Speed and Agility: If anything, Gekkō's incredible agility, tremendous balance, and full body supremacy and coordination are enhanced to levels that are beyond the natural physical limits of what they where prior to being Gekkō's Bankai activation. His almost divine grace and elegance enables him to evade most attacks with remarkable ease and nigh-supernatural finesse. While his god-like body is incredibly strong, it is also incredibly flexible and limber. He is capable of exceptional balance, being able to balance himself on nearly any surface. This is something Gekkō uses while having "fun" with his opponent, as he normally mocks them by balancing himself onto their blade with great ease.
 * Enhanced Harudōga Mūshō: Gekkō's Bankai retains the Harudōga Mūshō. It is stark white in color, and possesses incredibly potent speed and power, capable of decimating the area around him. He can use this technique in several varieties, including that of augmenting his sword swings, or firing them from the tip of the blade as if they were bullets.
 * Bankai-Enhanced State of Mind: While in Bankai, Gekkō enters a state of understanding his self, and everything around him. He gains new abilities, as well as an increase of his current abilities. He is also able to achieve outstanding feats that others are rarely capable of. His intelligence increases, he gains enhanced awareness, increased speed, strength, reflexes, etc. While in Bankai, even his persona changes to that of a sarcastic and insulting warrior. He becomes more ruthless and sinister. However, he retains two attributes: his rejection of the Asakura, and his calm and wise personality.

Hollow Powers
Due to not awakening his dormant Sōzōshin blood, Gekkou is regarded as a normal Shinigami with Hollow powers, or a Visored. Due to this, Gekkou can access Hollow powers in a similar fashion to a standard Shinigami. Along with this, the Hollowfication experiments that where conducted on him by Soul Society's Research and Development team gave him an innate ability to have total control over his Hollow powers.

Hollow Mask: Gekkō's Hollow mask is what is best described as a menacing joker. The mask is white with a purple "Lightning" strike and symbol going down the right side over the eye. The mask also has a red marking on the bottom that represents a type of disturbing "Smile" of some sorts. Typically, Gekkō gained this mask by subjugating his Inner Hollow. He normally dons his mask by placing one of his hands over his face, and concentrating spiritual matter on it in order to manifest the mask, summoning the mask in a "ripping" fashion. His bodily appearance changes as well. His black hair remains mostly the same however. His robe remains nearly the same. Being a long-sleeved, ankle-length black coat (or shihakushō) with white lining that is closed at his chest, then left to flare out into ragged ends. With the mask in place, Gekkō's eyes are virtually unseeable, however like most Vizards, his irises become yellow, and he has black sclera and pupils. His voice also has a slight Hollow echo to it. With the mask, he gains access to increased physical enhancements, and the traditional Hollow powers. Due to being the first to obtain Hollow powers, Gekkō has enhanced mask duration and can maintain the mask for an extended amount of time. Gekkō prefers not to use this power in addition to his Bankai, as such a combination could cause drastic and in the worst cases, fatal results.


 * Power Augmentation: Like with most Vizards, Gekko's mask gives him a tremendous increase in all of his former abilities. His strength, speed, and overall power input is now far greater than what they where before. An example of this would be his strength; with one well placed punch he can decimate the ground below and turn it into complete ruble.

Enhanced Spiritual Power: While wearing the mask, the already formidable spiritual power Gekko possess is greatly enhanced. Also due to his immense, yet controlled Reiatsu, Gekko can stay within this form for extended amounts of time. While wearing the mask, the spiritual power Gekko possesses increases drastically. Misora noted that the volume, concentration, and catastrophic nature of his reiatsu didn't seem like that of a Shinigami, but more like she was watching her friend transform into a demon. These effects that his reiatsu give off could also be an side-effect of his dark heritage.

Hollow Combat: Being in this form allows Gekkou to tap into his more primal side. With his hollow powers released, Gekkou becomes a warrior of supreme skill, as his natural instincts are greatly heightened,his fighting style becomes more instinctive than practiced. The Hollow form also makes Gekkou more ruthless. Throughout the duration of the Hollowfication, Gekkou displays less concern for injuries to his person, even going so far as to ignore grievous wounds to continue fighting. Gekkou's instincts reach an unfathomable level, and his rate of adaption increases drastically. After only seeing a certain attack once, Gekkou can automatically develop a counterattack to completely negate the attack.

Enhanced Physical Prowess: Gekko's already impressive physical abilities increase tremendously, as a result of the Hollow mask. This gives him uniquely inhuman abilities and endows him with physical prowess far beyond that of a normal Shinigami. His incredible strength, speed, agility, endurance, and durability increases dramatically.

Cero: While in his Hollowfied form, Gekko can call forth and fire a crimson cero. Its destructive properties are almost unholy as it can cause a massive explosion on impact.

Trivia
Contrary to the canon story line, Gekkō Asakura is the captain of the 5th Division instead of Shinji Hirako.

His Hero Theme is Well Enough Alone by Chevelle

His Battle theme is Anthem of the Angels by Breaking Benjamin

According to the author, despite his seemingly vast array of abilities, Gekkō is only a captain level combatant.

Most of Gekkō's appearance was based off of Another Poetic Spartan's Tenshi. All credit goes to him.

Credit for Gekkō being an Asakura goes to Nisshou.