User:Kenji Hiroshi/Sandbox

Personality
Kenji tends to think only of himself and rarely looks to the needs of others, leading many to consider him a loner. He is determined not to forge bonds with others as he prefers the isolation he has known since childhood, and has gone to great lengths in the past to ensure his isolation. His survival as a child hinged on his ability to stay one-step-ahead of the others, especially the other children and merchants; a trait of his that had barely diminished throughout his six-year academy stint or his tenure within the Gotei 13, only he was now looking to keep ahead of his fellow Shinigami. His unkempt appearance and usual habit of going for periods without a shower is an extension of this attitude and wholly intentional on his part. Kenji figures if people find him repulsive or unapproachable then they'll leave him alone, which is how he prefers things. His loner attitude also extends to his own Zanpakutō. Kenji has never attempted to forge a bond with the blade's inner avatar and when asked why by his fellow Shinigami, who noted it strange for a seated officer not to have access to their, Kenji responded by saying that his Zanpakutō "was a tool and what he decided to do with his tools was completely up to him and that everyone else was to mind their own business". However, one person Kenji has nevertheless bonded with despite his best efforts, is Maya Zhijun of the 13th Division. By his own admission her interest in his development and in his wellbeing confuses Kenji; he simply cannot fathom why anyone would take an interest in his life nor can he figure out what she gets out of it. It has never occurred to him that she doesn't get anything out of it all. He has repeatedly told her to mind her own business and to leave him to his own devices, but because she is the one person he can tolerate being around and can actually work somewhat effectively with in a team-environment they are often grouped together on missions. A prime example of this was Kenji's first prolonged deployment to the World of the Living. He and Maya where required to operate in Gigai when not out on patrol and while Kenji found the whole situation akin to his personal Hell-on-Earth, he nevertheless put up with it because she had to put up with him. This reasoning marked the first time Kenji thought of someone other than himself.

It could be argued that Kenji possesses a self-criticizing attitude. Prior to his successful entry into the Shin'ō Academy he failed the entrance exam twice and was ready to pack in his dream of becoming a Shinigami on account of this, putting himself down in the process and beating himself up over his own perceived inadequacy. It took Maya's goading to enrage him into a third attempt before he was successful. Maya would later state that all she saw reflected in his red eyes was grief but Kenji quickly discounted this. In a rare demonstration of trust Kenji told her all he ever felt since he was a child was anger; anger at the world, anger at those around him, and anger at how his life was being repeated by thousands of children throughout the Rukongai. He went on to say that he had never been given a proper chance to make anything of his life and that his attitude (which he admitted was lousy) was a result of his childhood circumstances. Maya, upon hearing his, said she finally understood why Kenji had been so heavy-handed whilst sparring at the academy. He needed an outlet for his anger and during his academy tenure it was his fellow students and when he became a Shinigami it became the Hollow he fought on the dangerous assignments he was always volunteering himself for. In addition to this he is also victim of his own high-standards; he knows his strengths well and plays to them, whilst ignoring his weaknesses and gets annoyed at himself when he cannot perform something he knows he is good at; such as Zanjutsu techniques that deal with the handling of a sword. As a student Kenji advanced on his own terms at his own pace, regardless of the intervention of his instructors; to the point he stayed on after class-hours to practice alone after the other students had already long-since departed, which is how he developed his skills. He did receive some respect from his instructors for this dedication but he always greeted anyone attempting to help him with the harshest word in his mouth, which did nothing to endear him to anyone. His Captain speculated this to be the reason for Kenji's rigid and oftentimes brutal combat skills; he is almost entirely self-taught, his skills adapted through trial-and-error and observation from afar.

In his free time Kenji enjoys satisfying his vices. He is an impulsive gambler, a chain-smoker of cigarettes and border-line alcoholic; these three things combined ensure he rarely has any money left to show for his hard work. He loves games of chance, detests s (thinking them cumbersome) and drinks alcoholic spirits on-the-rocks without a mixer of any kind; the type he prefers is expensive and has to be gotten from the World of the Living. One of the only times Kenji will break his normal isolation is when he is gambling, for he drinks alone as well. His preferred game is poker but he is known to turn his hand to any card-game and quickly understand its many intricacies. In fact the only reason Kenji works so hard to rise through the ranks is to increase his pay-packet: more money equals more drink, gambling and cigarettes in Kenji's mind.

Powers and abilities
However the strength of his spiritual power and his skills in Zanjutsu and Hakuda, combined with his dedication to his various strengths, have nevertheless enabled Kenji to advance through the ranks as a seated officer in the. His spiritual power is violet and is noted to be feel "depressing".

Gwyllgi Transformation: During a prolonged mission in the World of the Living, Kenji encountered a dog-like spiritual race known as the Gwyllgi, two of which he saved from a large. One of the creatures subsequently bit Kenji before succumbing to its wounds and passing on. This occurrence enabled Kenji to assume the form of a large mastiff-like dog with a coat the same color as Kenji's hair: predominately black with a silvery tinge throughout, which gave him an appearance almost identical to the Gwyllgi, as well as some of their powers. In this form he sported a black mask, a dark brown head, his tell-tale coat and brown paws. His eyes, like the Gwyllgi who bit him, where noted to "burn like torchlight". Due to his dislike of interacting with others Kenji spent more time in his animal form than he did in his normal state, using the transformation to escape from society and maintain his preferred isolation. Jet, the second Gwyllgi Kenji saved that night, also noted that, upon assuming this form, Kenji became what could only be considered a form of Gwyllgi-hybrid. Within the this transformation is known only to Maya. This secrecy is aided also by the fact his spiritual power between both forms feels completely different.


 * Illusionary Control: Whilst transformed Kenji can trick three of the five senses which include sight, sound and smell via a series of illusionary techniques. His most used application is merely to make it appear as though he is not there, ensuring that no one can bother him. However he has demonstrated a number of uses during battle that allow him to compensate for the fact he cannot (or will not) build a relationship with his Zanpakutō, preventing his use of Shikai. His uses include but are not limited to; creating copies of himself to fool his opposition and launch surprise attacks; to enlarge his physical form to intimidate others; to conceal his location; to instill doubt in his opponents heart, and to waylay his opponents in order to buy time.


 * Enhanced Speed: Whilst transformed Kenji's speed is comparable to the Gwyllgi, which is typically on-par with a developed Shunpo. As such he demonstrates much more mobility whilst transformed than he does in his normal form, which is another advantage.


 * Weakness: Jet would refer to Kenji's transformation as unnatural. Perhaps because of this Kenji often tires himself out if he prolongs the transformation; the rate of fatigue increases under the stresses of battle. He once hospitalized himself by staying in the form for too long and subsequently baffled the of the Gotei 13, who could not identify what had been draining his reiryoku to such a degree.

His skill and understanding of the art was notably high even during his studies and he was known particularly for his aggressive offense and strong defense, though he was often ridiculed by his instructors for willingly causing injuries to his fellow students. His style of combat has been called "rigid" and "brutal" by some, and this boils down solely to the fact Kenji is a self-taught swordsman; his skills have been built-up through countless hours of individual training based upon trial-and-error on his-part and memorizing what his instructors where demonstrating during their lessons. Though he never asked for their guidance or help Kenji nevertheless developed as a swordsman and passed in the top-half of his Zanjutsu class. Upon entering the Gotei 13 he found his skills where mediocre at best however but dedication to his strengths paid off and Kenji was soon besting his fellow Shinigami in swordplay simply by mimicking their styles and adapting it to his own. For himself Kenji is a known iaidoka as he practices. His skills, whilst still rudimentary, are noted to have promise and he is currently training his abilities in this particular field to disable his opponents by directly striking them before they can unleash the spell or get out their incantations.


 * Jūsei (獣性, Brutality): a vicious Zanjutsu technique Kenji first employed with a wooden sword, but even then his instructors noted that if he had used his Zanpakutō he would have completely destroyed his opponent. Kenji strikes low at his opponents legs and then circles the blade upwards to not only deprive them of their vital limbs but also their sword arm; effectively ending the engagement should it connect.

His form was brutal and focused almost completely on crippling his opponent in order to quickly bring them down; this particular focus brought down on Kenji the anger of his academy instructors, who considered his approach to the martial arts unnecessarily forceful. Maya offered some degree of insight into the reason behind this overhanded approach. She described Kenji as a "scrapper" during his childhood; he had to fight tooth-and-nail to keep ahead of the other children or he simply didn't eat. Kenji learned quickly that a solid blow with enough force on a particular area could bring even a grown man low, and failing that a finger in the eye worked just as well to stave off pursuing merchants. When he entered the Gotei 13 his Hakuda skills where the only combat form he practiced that wasn't eclipsed by his fellow Shinigami; in fact, Kenji was fit to hold his own with a good majority of his fellow division members, and a great deal of that came down to the fact he was willing to employ far from honorable means in his battles with them. He favors kicks, throws and joint-locks and once offered an opening he exploits it almost immediately.

He instead relies on his physical strength to move his body, though he is noticeably slower when compared against his fellow division members.

The only spell he was ever capable of performing perfectly without mishap was. Any other spell he attempted -- no matter the school -- often violently backfired upon him. He abandoned the skill almost completely upon entering the Gotei 13 with the exception of the one spell he was capable of performing, which became his sole long-range option during battle. Due to this singular focus Kenji's skill-level with the Byakurai spell is much higher than it should rightly be, as he has developed a slew of techniques derived from its overall form and function. His was also of sufficient strength to burn through the body of a fellow student when Kenji himself was still in the academy. Another example of the ease at which he commands the Byakurai is the fact he can rapid-fire the spell without a name or incantation and still retain more than half of its overall power with name and incantation declared.