Kira Izuru

Basic Information
Character: Kira Izuru 吉良 イヅル

Series: Bleach

D.O.B: March 27

Age: Either late 90s or early 100s

Gender: Male

Height: 170.18 cm (5'7")

Weight: 55.9 kg (123 Ibs.)

Appearance:   Kira is an average looking man of medium height at around 5'7", and though muscular, he's rather thin at around 123 pounds. He has light skin, blue eyes, and shoulder length light blond hair, parted in the back with the ends pointed, and a bang covering most of the left side of his face, including his eye. Like all shinigami, he wears a shihakusho, and has his zanpakutou with him at all times.

Character journal: despair in 3rd

Player: Jen

History
Izuru is from a family of lower nobility. Not much is known about his family or really anything before he joined the academy. Shortly after his parents deaths, Izuru joined the Shinigami Academy, this was where he met Hinamori Momo and Abarai Renji. The three became friends after a standard training exercise went wrong, and the three pulled together to try to save Hisagi Shuuhei from a hollow. Despite his bravado only moments before, Izuru began to panic, and said that he didn't want to die. Fortunately for the four academy students, a captain (Aizen Sosuke) and vice-captain (Ichimaru Gin) showed up just in time to save them and purify the hollow.

Years later he became vice-captain of Third Division under Ichimaru Gin. He had been in both Fifth Division and Fourth prior to joining Third. It is unknown how long it had been since he was in either division, but he was in Fourth long enough to learn some healing. He was first shown finding Renji's unconscious body, and having his friend brought to Fourth to be healed. Izuru was fiercely loyal to his captain, even going as far as to try to attack Momo when she attempted to kill his captain in a grief induced rage. He refused to allow her to fight Gin, and was about to use his shikai on her when Hitsugaya intervened. After this, both Izuru and Momo were imprisoned for their actions, and Izuru broke-down in guilt for figting Momo, calling himself a "monster", and at some point harmed himself badly enough that he had be put in restraints.

Eventually Gin broke Izuru out of his jail cell, and Izuru witnessed his captain's fight with Captain Hitsugaya, who stated that he wasn't surprised to see the two together. Hitsugaya told Izuru to leave, but Izuru remained despite the warning, and put himself in danger. Later, with the promise that Momo wouldn't be hurt, he was ordered to distract Hitsuguya, and lead him away from Central 46. Izuru ended up hinting to Hitsuguya that Momo was in danger, telling him that she had followed them to the Central 46 Chambers, and sent him to find her. Izuru then revealed his shikai as he fought and lost to Hitsuguya's vice-captain, Matsumoto Rangiku, after she revealed that she didn't need to hold her zanpaktou in order to fight. Later, when Gin was revealed to be a traitor, Izuru apologized to Rangiku, and shortly after, began drinking with her and Shuuhei, whose captain had also been revealed to be a traitor. The three were found the next day by Hitsugaya, the two men only half-dressed when the captain arrived.

A few weeks after those events, the arrancar (hollows with powers similar to shinigami) began appearing, and caused trouble for both shinigami and humans alike. During this time, Izuru and the other shinigami spent their time training, and he wasn't seen again until he was sent to guard one of the four pillars of the fake Karakura Town, where he fought, and by using his shikai, defeated Avirama Redder, an arrancar and Fracción of the second espada, Barragan. Right before he decapitated Avirama, he explained the nature of his zanpakutou and Third Division, revealing that the flower of Third is a Marigold, which was fitting both for Third and for its vice-captain, as it meant "despair". He explained his view on war, saying that it not heroic or exciting, but full of despair and darkness, sorrow and gloom. Not long after his fight he showed up and knocked out a near hysterical Ayasegawa Yumichika with a shinten (anaesthetic), admonishing him for the way he spoke to Shuuhei, a superior officer, and prevented him from going to his injured friend. He made another appearance after Rangiku and several more allies were seriously injured in their own fights. It was then that it was revealed that Izuru had once been in Fourth Division as a healer, though he feared that he was out of practice as it had been a long time. He began healing Rangiku first, telling Momo to hold on a bit longer. The creature that had injured the others began approaching him, which caused the soutaichou to step in.

Personality
Being from a family of nobility, Izuru always tries to behave in a manner that will represent them, and himself, well. He's incredibly well-mannered and polite. Izuru is a very hardworking man, and is extremely loyal to both Soul Society and his division. He has a strong sense of duty, and will follow orders given by superior officers without question. He takes his job very seriously, and isn't the type to break rules or talk back. He has a strong respect for authority and the laws of the Gotei Thirteen. However, while still respectful, he is not as trusting as he once was, due to his captain's betrayal and all the lies he had been told. This has made him toughen up quite a bit, making him both stronger and colder.

He has a tendency to be very hard on himself when he feels he's done something wrong. One example is when he berated himself in a jail cell for raising his zanpakutou at Momo. He was extremely disgusted with himself, and felt immense guilt for his actions against one of his closest friends. This guilt weighed so heavily on him that he ended up harming himself, and had to be put in restraints.

Despite having good friends and colleagues, he can be somewhat of a nervous and shy person, sometimes making social interactions a bit awkward for him. He's also not particularly optimistic, often coming across as a depressed or gloomy. He doesn't seem to smile very often, which is understandable after his captain's betrayal. He likely has a lot of stress, having to take responsibility for Third Division on his own as both vice-captain and acting-captain. He also has to handle the guilt of the shame he brought upon himself, his family name, and his squad.

Though some may see him as weak, Izuru is a skilled fighter and does his job with unwavering determination. Izuru is not the type to see glory in war, instead feeling that it is full of darkness and despair. His beliefs on war are fitting, considering the Third Division insignia is a marigold, which according to Izuru, represents despair. However, his personal view on war and violence does not stop him from doing what he must, and he's capable of fighting with a somewhat cold detachment that could be mistaken for indifference.