Tachibana Jun

"The matron Cricket" -Snakes"Never let anyone tell you revenge isn’t satisfying, because it is. It so, so is."

- Tachibana Jun

Tachibana Jun (立花隼, Jun Tachibana), also known as Sobo Furasshu (祖母フラッシュ, Grandma Flash) is a Shinigami of Japanese descent and a current Co-Captain of the 2nd Division. She was previously retired, and had been the captain of the 2nd Division before Altajin, and hand picked him to lead after her retirement. During Jun's time, the Onmitsukidō was conglomerated into the 2nd, and her wealth and influence greatly changed the face of her division. Jun is known to have been a member of the original Royal Guard, and seems to be good friends with Tatum Silva and, surprisingly, Hattori Fuu. Jun is also the current head of the Tachibana Clan, an extremely wealthy family in Soul Society's nobility. As such, she has a generous amount of wealth and often uses it to let other Divisions embellish their barracks.

Appearance
Jun is a dark-skinned Shinigami of average height. She has a a lean build, with slim hips and a B-cup bust. She has well-toned, slim muscles, most evident on her strong wrists and calves. Her skin is for the most part smooth and apparently unblemished, save for the average signs of aging that she keeps at bay with a variety of methods. She appears to lack any significant battle damage, save for her left ear, which is missing, leaving a thin layer of heavily scarred skin where it once was.

Jun has a severe, diamond shaped face, with angular features, a hooked nose, and golden eyes that appear to be permanently squinted in amusement. She has a few wrinkles, most noticeably around her mouth and eyes, and has full but sharply angled lips. Jun's expression rarely strays from mockingly amused, which probably accounts for the accumulation of laugh lines on her face. Jun's hair is also a rather unusual feature; it is a pale greyish-red in color, and is chopped into a messy A-line cut with the longest pieces heft hanging on the sides of her face. She has a major cowlick on the left side of her head, which sweeps her bangs and most of her hair to the right. She always keeps her ears concealed with her hair.

Jun wears an unmodified Reconnaissance Troops uniform, however she always wears just the left sleeve, leaving the right half of her kosode to hang around her waist. Her patch is located on her hakama's left hip. She will take off the left sleeve in combat as well, leaving her torso bare except for the white bindings she wears around her chest and over her right shoulder. Jun also wears these wraps over her hands and arms, up to her elbows to help manage her zanpakuto's powers. She also appears to be wearing dark blue boxers under her hakama that show when she lets her kosode completely hang. Finally, she wears captain's haori- with orabge piping and inner lining- tucked into her obi an hanging around her waist. She wears her zanpakuto slung over her left shoulder with a dark blue cord.

Before her retirement, Jun had much darker hair, which was also chopped even shorter and showed off her missing ear. She wore a sleeveless kosode, and had the Royal Guard haori over her 2nd Division one, tucked into her obi and left to hang around her waist.

Personality
Jun can only be described as quirky. She's old, so one would assume that she would be somewhat dignified and mature... This is not the case. Although she is highly experienced and is actually somewhat wise, she chooses instead to be competitive, obnoxious, and crude. Jun speaks extremely loudly (although she'll never admit it's because of her hearing issues), which only accentuates her combative personality. She loves conflict, and will often stir up trouble just to be a part of it. She is bold, has no shame, and says exactly what's on her mind at all times. Her huge personality can be abrasive, but she naturally draws people to her and she is a capable and inspiring leader. She has a lot of wisdom and experience to share, if you can handle talking to her for an extended period of time. She happens to care about her subordinates, and shows it by requiring training from the whole division every weekday morning, often running insane and dangerous drills. She doesn't mind if they dislike her or think she's crazy, as long as she knows they're as prepared for battle as she can make them. She dislikes negativity and low morale, and tries hard to keep her comrades happy and focused... when she's not training them to death. She can be described as a 'non-idle rich', and would never stop working to live a life of luxury. Despite being incredibly wealthy, Jun tends to brush off her affluence, and is surprisingly generous with her money.

Jun is a little crazy and eccentric, like a bizarre grandmother that often says and does very strange things. For instance, she has a few unexplainable habits and rituals, like always eating pickles after a night of drinking, or the fact that she calls herself 'Original Recipe'. Her obnoxiously loud laugh is rather infamous as well. Although she doesn't seem to give a lot of respect to others, she will if they earn it, and shows it by making everything a competition with them, from who can eat faster to who enters a building first.

Jun is proud of her abilities, and likes to show off, but she makes sure her job is done right and her duties are completed, and as much as she complains about the rules she'll uphold them to the best of her abilities. She is proud to be a captain for the Gotei, and is loyal to her service. Despite her personality and seeming immaturity, Jun is among the oldest and is greatly respected (though people won't say it to her face, lest they get made fun of). Jun doesn't believe in the importance of one individual over another (although she will admit without squad 4's captain she and her lieutenant would be nothing), and instead believes that every individual has the potential to be great.

Jun isn't particularly booksmart, and can be quite rash in her decisions. Her intelligence comes from experience, and she can be untrusting, often toward new ideas...She's a little stuck in her ways. Often, when faced with a brand new idea or invention, she'll just call it 'nonsense'. Her philosophy is "If it ain't broke, it don't need fixin'" She acknowledges she isn't very smart, and that she's a little nuts. But she gets quite offended if you make fun of her hearing... Even though she often chooses not to pay attention to conversations.

History
Under construction

Equipment
Tanto: Along with her Zanpakuto, Jun carries a small tanto tucked into a pocket under her left breast. It has a plain wood sheath and handle, and no hand guard. It is just a regular blade.

Hearing Aid: Jun wears a small hearing aid in her ruined left ear, designed by Division 12. It barely does a thing. (Probably because she never turns it on)

Natural Abilities
Hoho master: Jun, in all her years, has mastered the art of speed, and is considered one of the fastest in the Gotei. She has mastered the techniques and aspects of hoho, and in her retirement she had the time to create many of her own techniques. She has no trouble leaving a tangible after-image behind, and can leave five or six at a time. Her movements are wildly difficult to track, and in battle she is constantly in motion, rarely coming to a complete stop. Jun likes to stay close to her opponent, and continuously flash around them. Her favorite technique is hardening the reishi under her feet while not on the ground to launch herself, and enjoys doing it at all angles (whether she is upside down in the air, coming out of a flip, or any other imaginable position)
 * One of Jun's invented techniques is rapidly flash only an inch, back and forth until it appears she is standing still but in actuality is nearly intangible.

Maneuverability/agility: In relation to her speed, Jun is highly acrobatic and agile. She has a low center of gravity, and has a low stance, making her balanced and hard to knock over. Some describe her movements as 'water-like' and acrobatic, and no matter what hits her she usually ends up right on her feet. She's also insanely flexible, and can freely dislocate her own shoulders and contort herself in the most bizarre positions.

Zanjutsu expert: Jun is highly proficient with her unorthodox zanpakuto, and it ties in well with her acrobatic style. Since becoming a captain, Jun has taken to fighting with her sealed sword more often, just to show that she can. She doesn't have an incredible amount of power, and instead relies on inflicting small injuries and using her agility to wear down and confuse opponents.

Hakuda master: Although Jun doesn't have much power unless she's built up momentum, she is quite able at fighting unarmed. She generally uses a ba gua-esque style, which ties into her constant motion and acrobatic preferences. She is precise in her movements, and can strike exactly where she aims with any part of her body. She is a highly offensive fighter, and her hoho skill makes her incredibly hard to hit. Her bizarre personality often leads to her toying with her opponent instead of finishing the job quickly.

Vast spiritual pressure: Jun's spiritual pressure is quite high, as necessary for a captain. It's not the strength of her reiatsu that's impressive, however, but her control over it. Her control lends itself to her mastery of hoho, and she can freely manipulate the reishi around her to aid in her movements. Her spiritual pressure manifests as a low-pitched humming mass of jagged, deep blue energy.

Enhanced senses (touch and sight): Jun is basically deaf, which prevented her from ranking up for a long time until she was able to compensate for it. She unnaturally good vision, especially peripheral, and notices small movements instantly and can read lips, which gets rid of the need for sign language. This also allows her to read body language and facial nuance very accurately, making her quite difficult to lie to. It also allows her to pick up people's emotions easily, especially negative emotions like sadness. Whether or not she'll comfort you, however, is completely up to her mood at the moment.

She has also focused on increasing her tactile sensitivity, and can detect vibrations in the ground from her opponents movements, as well as feel attacks coming long before they hit. Her hearing is still an obstacle in battle, as she has a difficult time fighting light-footed opponents. She also can't hear her comrades if they need her, and will only notice if she can see them.

Kido Expert: Jun know the basic requirements to be a captain, but she is too impatient to use it in a normal battle. She does have a natural aptitude, and enjoys practicing it in her free time (which she had copious amounts of in her retirement).

Zanpakuto
Chitose no Ekō (千年のエコー. Thousand-Year Echo), often just shortened to Ekō, is Jun's Zanpakuto, a melee type that grants power over sound (vibrational energy). Ekō's sealed form is a jian with a four-foot dark-silver blade. The handle is black hardwood with a gold cap at the end. Connected to the cap are two gold tassels. The handguard is a gold rectangle, only about two inches wider than the blade, that has the edges by the blade molded up into points. The handguard has six horizontal lines etched into both sides. The sheath is also black hardwood with no decorations. Jun wears the blade slung across her back. When in battle the blade can be heard chirping quietly.

Spirit: Ekō manifests as a slightly larger than average black cricket with red hind legs. She is about six inches long, and has a gold kanji symbol for 'luck' on her thorax. Her antenna are two feet tall, however. She can chirp like a male cricket, and normally chirps constantly. She communicates by sending vibrations through her antenna, which Jun can feel and interpret easily. However, when she first met Eko, communication was extremely difficult.

Eko's personality is much more mellow than her master, and actually seems rather apathetic. She is often amused by Jun's antics, and is just as competitive as her master, although she is much calmer about it. She loves a good battle though, and gets excited along with Jun (which can be heard by her chirping through the blade). Eko's mellow personality is reflected in the fact that she can actually handle Jun's obnoxious behavior and take it all in stride, and is, in fact, rather fond of her master. As for other people, she generally ignores them, as most people can't understand her method of communication anyway.


 * Shikai:  Eko's command is Sora zentai de ofu ni nari (ヴォイド渡っオフ聞こえる, Sound off across the void). To call upon her Shikai, Jun points her blade directly at her opponent and states the command, and the blade begins vibrating violently and emitting a deep-toned humming noise. As it vibrates, the blade gets thicker and changes shape, and the handle lengthens to about 5.5'. As it finishes morphing, the weapon stops vibrating, revealing a 6.5' naginata, the handle plain black hardwood with the same gold cap and tassels as the sealed at the end. The blade itself is mostly gold, and is thick and curved slightly. The edge of the blade is dark grey, and there are four holes through the blade near the edge. The back of the blade is split, making the blade look like a deformed tuning fork.


 * Shikai special ability: Eko's special ability grants Jun control over vibrational energy, through air molecules or molecules of objects she strikes. This also gives Jun power over sound.


 * Although not necessarily a 'power', Eko constantly emits a low, slow chirping. When swung, she will become silent, resuming chirping when not in motion. The pitch and intensity of the chirping is controlled by Eko, and can be manipulated to sound like hundreds of crickets. This can be quite distracting/annoying.


 * Eko Ga e Rareru (エコーが得, Yielding Echo):  Eko's first, and most unique, ability is to manipulate the sound waves emitted by anything around Jun in a fifty meter spherical radius. Jun can either cancel sounds, make them unbearably loud, change their pitch, or multiply and repeat them. This ability simply changes the sound, although she can easily damage her opponent's hearing. This ability requires focus, and Jun has less manipulative ability if she's focused on something else (like not dying)


 * Bunkatsu Eko (分割エコー, Splitting Echo): With this command, Jun rears back her weapon, and the chirping gets louder. She swings in the direction of her opponent, and solidifies the sound waves from the chirping into a razor-sharp 'blade' that heads straight for her opponent. The longer she leaves her weapon cocked back, the louder the noise and the larger the sound blade will be.


 * Kochoha Eko (ハーモニックエコー, Harmonic Echo): When Eko's blade clashes with another, Jun can convert sound energy into pure vibrational energy and force it into her opponent's weapon, causing it to vibrate violently as long as the weapons are still touching. The harder the weapons hit each other, the more violent the vibrations. The more times the weapons make contact, the longer the opponent's weapon vibrates, starting at no seconds after the weapons stop touching, and increases by five seconds each time the technique is used (which is almost every time the weapons clash) The vibrations can get intense enough to dislocate and crack the bones in her opponent's hands and arms. This is why she wears the bandages on her arms, to stabilize them from the vibrations.


 * Bankai:  Chinmoku no Sedai (沈黙の世代, Generation of Silence). Jun will get a cocky grin, throw her sword blade-down into the ground and cross her arms. As soon as the blade hits, it starts making an incredibly loud buzzing sound that drowns everything else out and creates a wall of vibrational energy, shielding Jun from attack momentarily. She simply mouths 'Bankai' and everything suddenly becomes silent. A second later, seven all-black, brightly glowing (blue) copies of her shikai explode loudly out of the ground in a ring around the combatants. The ring has a 200 meter diameter, and in between the naginata the air molecules begin to vibrate violently (as well as the air above the combatants, about 400 meters above them, giving Jun plenty of room for shunpo) creating a basically inescapable dome. If an individual were to attempt to enter or leave, the wall would shatter bones, and only they very strongest can even attempt it. The 'arena' is really just the barrier, so the land it's set around will retain its characteristics (trees, buildings, ect)

Jun herself will completely throw off her top, and a gold kanji symbol for 'luck' will appear on the center of her chest and in the middle of her back. Her naginata remains essentially the same, but now glows in a faint dark blue color and sprouts antenna from the base of the blade, that stick up and frame the blade. Inside the dome, sound waves are completely negated, making it completely silent, and making the battle completely devoid of noise, as long as Jun keeps it that way. She is in complete control of noise in the dome. As the battle progresses, cricket chirping can be heard, starting faintly and slowly increasing in volume.

Bankai Special Ability: Jun's Bankai retains its vibrational powers, and also gains an aspect of luck on top of the arena it creates.
 * As stated before, Jun gains complete control over sound in the arena. She mostly keeps it completely silent, but can allow certain sounds to be heard, and she can freely manipulate them, making a sword clash painfully loud or make the swing of a sword sound off moments before or after she actually swings, disorienting her opponent. She cannot create sound from thin air, but can manipulate the sound waves generated from the battle.


 * Tobu no Bunkatsu Eko (頭部分割エコー, Head-Splitting Echo) A modification of her shikai ability Splitting Echo. Instead of cocking her weapon back to build power, Jun cocks back and slashes quickly, allowing for rapid-fire. the size of the air blades are the same as the normal attack and can't be increased in size, but she can use it extremely close to her opponent, and the blades travel faster.


 * Kochoha Eko (ハーモニックエコー, Harmonic Echo): Jun keeps this ability essentially the same.


 * Kyoshin Chowa (共振調和, Resonant Harmony) An extension of Harmonic Echo, Jun, after she has made contact with her opponent several times, can determine her opponent's weapon's natural resonant frequency. With this, she can manipulate sound waves to resonate around that frequency, causing that object to vibrate wildly and emit a high-pitched, bell-like tone. Jun cannot exactly match the frequency, which would cause the object to shatter; Eko won't allow it. The frequencies are short-lived, and Jun can only perform this a limited number of times, but she can do it at a distance.


 * Rakkieko (ラッキーエコー, Lucky Echo) Jun stomps her foot and uses the sound waves to create a small, momentary shield to block attacks. This technique is hit-or-miss, and its success depends entirely on Jun's focus on the incoming attack, and she pretty much has to be totally focused, which is usually iffy. She, however, enjoys the gamble. The more times she successfully uses it, the brighter her kanji symbols glow (in relation to how much vibrational energy she is absorbing from the attacks) When they are at their limit, she can release the energy in a powerful concussive wave, similar to the force from an explosion, that has the potential to shatter bones on weaker opponents.


 * Saigo no Eko (最後のエコー, Final Echo) This is Jun's final technique. It allows her to freely use any of the seven naginata in the arena. Each can perform a much stronger version of her attacks, but only once (once performed, the weapon disappears). She can also throw them as projectiles, and they travel at the speed of sound. When they strike something, they emit an ear-splitting bell tone and violently explode, creating a large, concussive blast. As soon as she pulls one naginata, the barrier disappears.

Quotes
"There's only one matron of the Tachibana Clan, and that's me! I'm the original recipe, all those other Juns are just bullshit."

"What the fuck are you so worried about? If you can kill things quickly and efficiently, you're in good company." - Hun to Daisuke after his promotion