Reizo Kyoji

Reizo Kyoji (冷蔵恭司, Kyoji Reizo), alternatively addressed as Rei, is a Shinigami who survived the events of the Collapse and is currently living in the Reikai along with Miyako Hyakuya, Naoya Kageyama, and Kaneko Takara. They are currently viewing events as they unfold and trying to maintain the peace as the various factions vie for control.

Appearance
Rei has medium length, black-colored hair that falls just below his ears. He does not properly maintain it in any particular style, so it could be said that it is quite messy. Rei has thick eyebrows, a trait his friends often tease him about to no end, giving him the nickname "Bushy Brows". Rei also has sharp, bright green colored eyes. His eyes are more rounded than many others, another distinctive trait that he possesses.

His typical casual attire consists of a long-sleeved grey jersey with red trim on the actual sleeves and a white sleeved T-shirt beneath. During missions on even when he is just in the field, Rei dons a uniform consisting of a black jacket with light green details, and dark gray trousers and black boots which go over his trouser leggings. With this attire, he can be seen sportting a long black cape with a green coloration underneath. Reizo keeps the sheath of Mimei on the left side of his hip as well.

Personality
Reizo is very passive person when one first meets him. He dislikes violence, fighting, arguing, and anything that disturbs the peace. One would assert that he is simply cowardly, but that is not the case. He knows how strong people in the world can be and has trained himself to be capable of defending against these powerful opponents. A more appropriate description of Reizo would be that he is a pacifist by nature. If there is a way to avoid a confrontation, Rei will do whatever it takes to go down that route instead of solving a problem through violence and bloodshed.

Rei is not a fan of people abusing their power. He is known to defend anyone who is being taken advatage of by someone in a higher position or anyone bullying those weaker than themselves. When coming across one of these situations, he will not hesitate to step in order to rectify the situation, even putting his own life at risk if needed. Reizo is extremely adamant about protecting the weak and defenseless, going out of his way to help those who were trying to steal from him or even kill him mere moments earlier.

He is not an enthusiast of death at all. Although, it should ne noted that he is very respectful. He will stop and say a small prayer at a random grave in the road and even plant flowers so the dead will have some beauty around them. Seeing death around him, hits Reizo's heart deeply. So much so, he often becomes quite emotional at the sight of it. He usually stresses himself out with trying to figure out how to fix things, despite knowing in his heart that he can't cheat death.

However, one should note that Rei also has a sort of blind justice to him. He hates seeing senseless slaughter and will try to bring the one responsible to justice. When one has hurt those weaker than themselves, it is one of the only reasons Rei will resolve himself to actually commit to battle in order to take down the "criminal". While this can be a redeeming quality, its also a quality that gets him into trouble. His sense of justice sometimes blinds him to the truth, causing him to not gather the whole story before essentially becoming the judge and jury for the one responsible. More often than not, he will find that he has misconstrued a situation and did not have the facts when he finds the one responsible, leading to unneeded arguments and sometimes even fights. Even in saying that, Reizo's zeal for justice is one of the biggest reasons that his friends have stuck by his side, as they appreciate his willingness to fight for the underdog.

Powers and Abilities
Great Spiritual Energy: A Soul with untapped potential, Rei has demonstrated himself to have a Captain-class level of Spiritual Power. He believes that his power is still dormant and Mimei has even commented that she can feel a power welling up inside of him that is ready to explode like a volcano. During times of great duress or anger, Rei's Spiritual Power will shoot forth from his body, creating a bright green colored aura that flickers like an intense flame. However, he is also capable of completely masking his spiritual presence, which comes in handy for someone like him who is trying to stay off of the radar of the various factions in the Reikai.

Kidō Barrier Expert: Well-versed in the utilization of Kidō Barrier's, due to Mimei's influence, Rei has shown to have put a unique spin on his usage of Kidō barriers. Capable of erecting large shields to protect himself from incoming attacks, as well as the ability to box his opponents in to keep them immobilized. He is capable of using various barrier spells in conjunction with one another, yet he is unable to use any other form of Kidō.

Expert Swordsmanship Specialist: Despite his pacifistic nature, Rei is a natural swordsman. He holds his blade with two hands for more powerful attacks and fights one-handed when he wants to place more of an emphasis on speed. His skill with the blade was noticed back when he was in the academy, as he was able to take down several Meno Grande-class Hollows that were attacking his friends. More impressively, for an academy student, he was able to take down each of these hollows with a singluar slash; a feat more commonly associated with those with much more experience under their belt. Since then, Rei has honed his skill in training and practice with Sozen; being able to deflect fists and parry blades with ease. Rei can even take on multiple opponents at a single time, being able to adjust in the midst of battle to compensate for the odds placed against him. His swordplay style itself is not set in stone as he has shown himself to use traits of iaido, wattojutsu, fencing, and other standard sword skills. These skills together, allows Rei to have a very unpredictable way of fighting an opponent, giving himself different options for attacking. However, despite all of these things, Rei does not often employ his sword skills unless his or one of his friends' lives are in danger.


 * Infinityblade.jpgBlade of Infinity (無限の刃, Japanese for "Infinity Art"): A sword skill that Rei has developed over the years. With Mimei drawn and in hand, he charges the blade with his spiritual power. This results in a large aura, similar to that of his own, to eminate from the sword and pulsate violently; creating what sounds like an actual heartbeat throughout the area. As this continues, Rei traces the Mimei's blade through the air in an arc and creates a series of replicates that float behind his person. Despite their spiritual appearance, the blades are corporeal, but possess no special abilities of their own. Rei can control these blades mentally and can direct them to overwhelm an opponent who he has resolved himself to actually fight, but can only do so for a maximum of two minutes.

Sharp Reflexes: Able to stop and go at the drop of dime, Rei's reflexes are incredibly sharp. Dodging and parrying attacks are made much easier for Rei as he can react to outside influences in order to keep himself safe. Being the pacifist that he is, Rei often uses his reflexes to avoid actually fighting and dodges the opponent's attacks as he tries to get away.

Hohō Expert: Rei possesses a great degree of skill in this art, being only second to his skill with the sword. Being capable of initiating a high speed movement during a seemingly mundane action, Rei is able to take his opponents by surprise. Initiating an attack comes easily as he can quickly overtake an opponent by using his impressive speed to enter the target's blind spot whilst launching an attack. Rei also uses this in conjunction with his Zanpakuto's ability, as a means of escape, allowing him to relocate to a new position should an opponent manage to break through to his personal barrier. However, much like his Zanjutsu, Rei does not utilize these skills unless he forced into battle.

Zanpakuto
Mimei (未明, Japanese for "Early Dawn") is the name of Reizo's Zanpakuto. In its sealed state it the takes the form of an average Katana with a brown sheath. The hilt is a bit extended, giving it an appearance slightly similar to that of a Nodachi.

Shikai: Released with the command "Rise Up", Mimei flashes with a bright stream of colors  as Rei draws her from the sheath. When fully drawn, Mimei glimmers with its onyx colored blade reflecting light and its lime green-colored edge.
 * Shikai Special Ability: Rei notes that Memei is an odd Zanpakutō. Its power revolves around the utilization and creation of barriers to impede, block, and redirect all manner of attack and technique. The size and consistency of the barrier, not to mention the effect it carries, is dependent completely on Rei; this enables him to create a pattern to his barriers and then throw his opponent off-guard by breaking said pattern and utilizing an entirely different effect. The one downside is that only type of barrier can be utilized at once; this is true even if he creates multiple barriers at one time. The types of barrier Rei has demonstrated thus far are:


 * Impeding Barrier: A barrier noted for its elasticity. Reizo will throw this barrier up in order to slow down his opponent's attack, so that he can more easily maneuver out of the way and attack them from behind. The elasticity of this barrier slows the foe down and, upon contact, constricts around their person to prevent them from escaping via Hohō techniques.
 * Redirection Barrier: An offensively-minded barrier that still boasts a heightened defense. This barrier absorbs, cycles, and then redirects the force and spiritual power of an attack right back at its opponent, whilst mixing in some of Reizo's own spiritual power to drastically increase the returned attacks power and speed.
 * Cube Barrier: A defensive barrier initially expressed as a single "wall" to block an opponent's attack or simply cordon them off from entering a certain area. Any damage incurred by the wall is spread out and absorbed, which is further retained within the barrier proper. Rei can then snap his fingers, summoning more "walls" which come together to form a cube-shaped barrier with the opponent trapped within. This is easily one of Rei's stronger barrier constructs because, once entrapped, he has a number of additional effects he can subject his opponent to.
 * Energy Siphon: Rei is capable of sucking the spiritual power from anyone trapped within and siphon that energy either to himself or his allies. The longer a foe remains inside the weaker they become and thus do their chances of escape begin to dwindle further.
 * Omnidirectional Explosion: Using the force of any attacks already directed towards the walls, Rei causes a detonation effect inside the cube. This particular effect does more damage based on the damage already sustained and absorbed by the walls, and thus becomes more powerful if the opponent has panicked and resorted to desperately attacking the construct in an effort to escape.
 * Personal Barrier: A last-ditched defense in the event an opponent gets through his other barriers. Its a thin barrier that covers Reizo's entire person and is capable of blocking only one attack, regardless of strength, before shattering. It's existence is merely the last-line of defense, which enables Rei to back-up and re-establish his more powerful barriers.

Behind the Scenes

 * His nickname is derived from Naruto character Rock Lee.
 * Mimei was designed by my good friend Ken