Takei Kaoru

This article, Takei Kaoru, was added by Stargazza who determines its usage on this wiki.

Takei Kaoru
Race	Soul
Birthday	July 27
Gender	Female
Height	1.62 m (5'3")
Weight	53 kg (116 lbs)
Professional Status
Affiliation	Tano Katsuro
Previous Affiliation	Soul Society
Division	4th Division
Partner	Tano Katsuro Anzai Kaede
Base of Operations	Seireitei Human World
Personal Status
Relatives	Tano Katsuro (Relative) Anzai Kaede (Adoptive brother)
Education	Shin'ō Academy
Zanpakutō
Shikai	Hekigyoku
Bankai	Dosei no Enjin
First Appearance
Voices

"Unfailing beliefs, yielding heart."

—Stargazza

Takei Kaoru (香る武井, Kaoru Takei) is a female soul and a lower noblewoman related to the Katsuro clan by way of a past marriage. She serves as the right-hand-woman of Tano Katsuro and has devoted her entire life to fulfilling this purpose. Prior to Nakano's death and Tano's defection, she lived under their care and served under their leadership as the 3rd Seat of the 4th Division as well as leader of the 1st Advanced Relief Team. When the clan took in Anzai Kaede, she raised him as her own brother, eventually adopting him into her care. Following the noble houses crises, she fled Soul Society along with Tano and Anzai. In her exile, she alternates between the Human World and Hueco Mundo. As of the Quincy Blood War, she aligns herself with the Shinigami and fights against the Quincy alongside her family.

Appearance

Takei appears as a woman in her late twenties with strict features. She sports light brown hair which she keeps straight down with two braid locks running from behind her ears. Her hair usually reaches down to her mid-back. In some instances, she styles her hair into a bun or a high ponytail, maintaining the two braid locks in both hairstyles. In rarer instances, perhaps when she feels like it, she would style her hair into a single, braided ponytail, mirroring the same style she had back when she was still in Soul Society. Her messy bangs always frame her face with some bundles parting down between her eyes.

Like Tano, she wears the standard Shinigami shihakushō with shortened arm and leg sleeves, exposing golden forearm and lower leg armor. Hers appears to be more worn and rusted in comparison to his. When in the Human World, her Gigai wears an outfit resembling a cross between a military and school uniform: a light blue shirt underneath a dark blue jacket with white trims, matching dark blue knee-length skirt, and thigh-length white socks. She often switches this uniform out for a white jacket with a similar style. As for adornments, she always wears a ribbon tie, the color of which seems to vary from day to day. She claims to own a collection of ribbon ties, one for each existing color.

Powers & Abilities

Great Spiritual Pressure:

Expert Swordsman:

• Kusarigamajutsu Master:

Expert Hand-to-Hand Combatant:

Shunpo Master:

Kidō Master:

• Kaidō (回道, Turn Way):

Enhanced Agility:

Perceptive Combatant:

Keen Intellect:

• Expert Tactician:

Zanpakutō

Hekigyoku (碧玉, Jasper) is the name of Takei's Zanpakutō. In its sealed state, it assumes the form of a standard katana with no particularity to its design. As is the case with all Shinigami Zanpakutō, its handle is bronze, featuring a hilt that is riddled with yellow wrapping. Its tsuba is octagonal in shape with a circle embedded within it. Its blade is silver. Takei keeps it tied to the waist sash by her left.

Perhaps due to her role as healer during her years of service in the Gotei 13, Takei's Zanpakutō maintained an aura of mystery and ambiguity. Most observers and fellow Division members didn't know what its released state looked like or what it was capable of; the majority didn't even know its name. In fact, like her co-captains, its released state has only seen proper combat only once before recent events.

Takei releases Hekigyoku.

• Shikai: Hekigyoku is released by the command "Entrap" (閉じ込める, Tojikomeru). This action envelops the Zanpakutō in a bright yellow light, changing its form. Its released state is that of a metallic black spiked ball, roughly double the size of a basketball, connected to metallic black chains which seem to stretch out indefinitely. In this form, Takei is able to use Hekigyoku as a direct melee weapon, using the chains to manipulate the movements of the spiked ball and weaponizing momentum to inflict greater levels of harm. Its shape also allows for defensive and supportive maneuvers: the spiked ball and chains are durable enough to withstand attacks from opposing Zanpakutō, and said supposed indefinite chains can be used to ensnare or disrupt enemy movements.

Shikai Special Ability: Takei is deceptive in that she purposefully does not use Hekigyoku's Shikai ability early on in the fight, creating the illusion that it is a mere melee-type Zanpakutō. In truth, Hekigyoku is a Kidō-type Zanpakutō. Its primary ability is akin to that of terragenesis and terrakinesis: the power to create and form earthly substances and manipulate them in various manners to achieve certain goals. Takei explains that it cannot fully be appropriated as an elemental-type Zanpakutō because it does not manipulate the earth element as much as it weaponizes Takei's reiatsu to form earthly substances and uses it for various purposes. In other words, it does not have full control over earth because its primary ability is to convert Takei's reiatsu, allowing it to adopt properties similar to those of earthly substances, and uses that converted reiatsu to fight. This ability centers around the spiked ball; whenever its ability is in use, it generates earth-like liquid substance from the surface of the weapon, enveloping it until the substance hardens, becoming identical to a rock in appearance, texture, and solidity. It then allows for further control and manipulation, creating constructs that serve various combative purposes.

• Daichi (大地, Solid Earth): A simple technique. Takei envelops the spiked ball in earth-like substance which then hardens to form a durable rock construct. It is able to serve both offensive and defensive purposes in that its rocky exterior allows the spiked ball to deal and endure additional damage. Takei would often adorn this exterior with rock spikes for increased damage.

• Hakaihoshi (破壊星, Destruction Star)

• Hametsuhoshi (破滅星, Ruin Star)

• Chikyūrensa (地球連鎖, Earth Chain)

• Wakusei Enjin (惑星円陣, Planet Circle)

• Bankai: Dosei no Enjin (土星の円陣, Circle of Saturn): Not yet revealed.

Behind the Scenes

• Takei's Zanpakutō was originally called Mikazuki (三日月, Crescent Moon), an elemental Zanpakutō with power over water. Its Shikai was an oversized boomerang-like weapon shaped like a crescent moon, and its power was to generate and manipulate water based on its movements, mirroring how the moon is able to manipulate tides by its movement. Its Bankai was Mangetsu (満月, Full Moon), a wheel-like chakram with enhanced water-based abilities. The author scraped this idea as it didn't fully suit what the author had planned for Takei's character and personality.