Post by Munemasa Iroka on Aug 16, 2022 20:44:21 GMT -5
-Opening-
Discord/Chatango Username (include nicknames): Ronin
Password 1: Kitai's Debt
Password 2: Sanctus Teamwork
Type:
{Support}
Description: These are the Types of characters that never directly fight in combat. They have and use abilities that support their allies, changing the tides of battle with merely their presence. They can have abilities that range from healing, to shielding, to buffing an ally's power. However, they are almost useless without an ally to help, as they rely on said ally to defend them when the need arises. They will never be found on the front lines, yet their abilities directly influence the battle.
Advantage:
Rank 1: 50% increase in any two desired Stats (100 would be 150).
Rank 2: Double any two desired Stats (100 would be 200).
Rank 3: Double any two desired Stats (100 would be 200), plus 25% increase to one more (100 would be 125).
Rank 4: Double any two desired Stats (100 would be 200), plus 50% increase to one more (100 would be 150).
Disadvantage: Release cannot be combat-based and must consist mainly of support moves. Support Types cannot possess more than one direct offensive ability in Release, with the exception of Mod Soul Gigas and Nakabakki, which gain one for each of their two ability sets. Support types will have one Physical or Spiritual Stat decreased by 50% (100 would be 50). Senses or Instinct is decreased by 50% (100 would be 50). Increases from Advantages cannot be made to any Stats that have been cut by Disadvantages.
Race Restrictions: Available to all Races except Hollows.
Initial Weapons: One Starting Weapon (i.e. one Zanpakutō, one Doll, etc.)
Description: These are the Types of characters that never directly fight in combat. They have and use abilities that support their allies, changing the tides of battle with merely their presence. They can have abilities that range from healing, to shielding, to buffing an ally's power. However, they are almost useless without an ally to help, as they rely on said ally to defend them when the need arises. They will never be found on the front lines, yet their abilities directly influence the battle.
Advantage:
Rank 1: 50% increase in any two desired Stats (100 would be 150).
Rank 2: Double any two desired Stats (100 would be 200).
Rank 3: Double any two desired Stats (100 would be 200), plus 25% increase to one more (100 would be 125).
Rank 4: Double any two desired Stats (100 would be 200), plus 50% increase to one more (100 would be 150).
Disadvantage: Release cannot be combat-based and must consist mainly of support moves. Support Types cannot possess more than one direct offensive ability in Release, with the exception of Mod Soul Gigas and Nakabakki, which gain one for each of their two ability sets. Support types will have one Physical or Spiritual Stat decreased by 50% (100 would be 50). Senses or Instinct is decreased by 50% (100 would be 50). Increases from Advantages cannot be made to any Stats that have been cut by Disadvantages.
Race Restrictions: Available to all Races except Hollows.
Initial Weapons: One Starting Weapon (i.e. one Zanpakutō, one Doll, etc.)
Squad: Division 4
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-Basic Information-
Name: Munemasa Iroka
Nicknames: Ninjinke, Masamune
Age of Death: N/A; ‘Born’ in Soul Society
Real Age/Age of Appearance: 10(?)/Early 20s
Birthday (Month/Day): Assumed to be January 1st
Blood Type: O Negative
RP Sample (Optional):
{Promotion Exams}The four Shin’ou Academy students ran through the woods, hands on their sheathed zanpakutou and senses peeled, as they navigated through the dimly lit area. It was as odd a mission as they’d ever had, but the reason for its oddity lay in the fact that this was a promotional exam. There had been so far a number of exams which had been had, and Iroka was sure she hadn’t done well in most of them. The most disastrous had been the written exam and the combat assessment exam. In the written exam, she had taken note of the questions, delighted to realize that they were apparently quite simple. Her passing in flying colors was sure to please her parent. And she thought of her parent with their bright pink hair; she had seemed to inherit just a patch of her parent’s hair color on her otherwise orange-haired head. Were there any other similarities between her and Kimyou? What was her parent’s favorite food? What was…? The sound of the alarm signaling the end of the exam had brought Iroka to the present, as she realized she had lollygagged through the entire exam with her pen in her mouth and her hands absolutely idle. In the combat assessment, they had paired everyone with similarly heighted individuals, and Iroka had been paired with a kid. It didn’t matter that people said he was competent and a genius; she couldn’t bring herself to fight him, and had thrown the match. The boy had felt insulted, and she had promised to buy him candy as a conciliatory gift. Why had he become angrier? Maybe he was sugar intolerant. Maybe she would try to buy him something spicy instead.
Oh yes, this exam. Iroka knew she had to do her best; this was her last chance to prove that she was not a failure. The details of this exam did seem troublesome, though. There were four students, each one having reasonable proficiency in one of the four Shinigami martial disciplines. Their job was to enter the wooded area and locate a sashimono, scoring one point on doing so. This location would then serve as their ‘base’. Having established the base, they would seek to locate and retrieve a differently designed banner from somewhere else in the forest (another point), and return this other banner to their base for a third point, to score full points. Three points were the highest number of points to be earned, but two points were necessary to pass this exam. There was a problem, though: the forest was crawling with ‘hostiles’, automatons designed by the R & D guys, which would seek to take their banner. If the hostiles took their banner, they would lose two points (automatic failure). The hostiles were not so powerful, but could be an issue when faced in numbers. Oh, there was another problem: one of the four of them was a traitor, meant to steal their sashimono and escape with it, resulting in the loss of two points. And the rule was, there was to be no discussion regarding the traitor, overt or covert, unless there was sufficient evidence to accuse the traitor. And if the accusation was wrong, automatic fail. To prevent any secret discussions, R & D had come up with weird flying camera things, each capable of capturing sight and sound over wide radii, and the whole forest was saturated with them. And a point would be lost every time candidates showed signs of suspicion for no apparent reason. The best course of action would be to just act normally, and try to see if the traitor would expose themselves, and if not, try to set a trap. This exam was aimed at evaluating the candidates’ ability to analyze data and respond to unexpected events.
Iroka wondered silently who the traitor could be. Her eyes roved over the members of her team, as she soundlessly mulled over what she remembered about each of them, trying to recollect the little information that had been given to each candidate about their teammates. ”There is Hachimoto Aika-dono, the other girl on this team, who’s a zanjutsu expert. She could be the traitor, because she’s talkative; maybe she’s trying to distract us. There is Jyuuzen Ruiji-dono, the hakuda-based baldie. He’s been smiling at me whenever I turn in his direction. Very suspicious fellow. And then there is Kuchiki Haidate-dono, the hohou maestro. He’s very quiet, so it will be difficult to say much about him. Maybe he’s the one, because he’s probably very fast, which would be good for evading us and running away when he steals the sashimono. But why is he this hot? Yes, he’s probably the one… the one that I… wait, what was I thinking about again?” A voice to her left broke her reverie. ”I notice someone has been staring a lot at Haidate-kun,” Aika said with a mischievous grin. Iroka gasped, as she realized that was possibly true. Haidate was watching her now with a raised eyebrow, as though silently asking her to explain herself. ”Y—you’re being ridiculous, Aika-dono!” Iroka protested vehemently, her face coloring slightly. ”Please stop saying such questionable things.”
”Isn’t ‘dono’ a bit formal for relating with your peers, Iroka-chan?” Ruiji asked. Fortunately, Iroka was spared from answering as Haidate spoke up. ”Frankly, we’re all being too informal, if you ask me,” he stated gruffly. ”Please refer to me as ‘Kuchiki-san’. And I think it would be better if we all shut up and focused on the mission at hand.” Aika scoffed. ”Stop being such a stick-up-your-ass, Haidate-kun,” she said, waving a hand dismissively. ”We’re all supposed to be working together, so we should get along.” Haidate replied with a stony silence. Aika glared at him, as some level of uncomfortable silence reigned. Ruiji rectified it. ”Ah… so you guys, what divisions would you want to join after graduation?”
”First Division, duh!” Aika answered, as though everyone was supposed to join that division. ”There, I’ll be able to avoid field work, and I’ll find a way to shift my work to other people’s desks. Working hard is a fool’s errand.” Iroka wanted to disagree, but she said nothing. ”And what about the hottie? Don’t tell me you want to join the Twelfth. Come with me to the Eleventh, Masamune-chan. That’s where all the cool guys go.” ”Oh, I think I’ll stick with the Twelfth, Tamago-san,” she said with an innocent expression on her face. Ruiji looked confused, but then realization soon followed, as he realized that Iroka had just nicknamed him ’Egg’, most likely due to the absence of a strand of hair on his head. ”Tamago-san?” he could only ask dumbly. Aika struggled in vain not to laugh, but failed. ”I really wish we’d be more serious,” Haidate sighed. ”What if we’re ambushed?” Aika rolled her eyes. ”The four of us fighting together will be able to repel any hostiles if they came. As a matter of fact, I think drawing the hostiles to us now that we haven’t yet located the sashimoto would be a good idea, as we can fight them without bothering to protect the banner. Besides, I’m sure ‘Tamago-kun’ would love to show off his Eleventh Division-worthy skills in order to impress a certain someone, right?” ”I hope that someone isn’t me,” Iroka said dismissively. ”I don’t like Eleventh Division guys. They’re as salty as seamen.” Even Haidate stopped and looked at her.
”What?” Iroka asked, concern and fear written all over her features. ”Is something wrong?” Deep down, she was already panicking. She wasn’t the traitor, so how had they jumped to such a disastrous conclusion? ”And here was I, thinking you were an innocent damsel,” Aika said, looking shocked, though there was a hint of a smile on her face. ”I’m innocent, you have to believe me!” Iroka exclaimed in anguish, her heart pounding. ”Innocent, right. And yet you know the taste of--?” Aika paused her speaking, and performed a rather salacious gesture, eliciting a laugh from Ruiji. Iroka gasped in outrage, a hand reflexively resting over her heart. ”Oh my days! That’s appalling, Aika-dono. You shouldn’t be saying or doing such lewd things in public; it’s even worse because I never said or insinuated such a thing. And here I thought I was backward when it came to common slang. For your information, it’s a pun; saltiness has to do with irritable behavior, and who else are steeped in as much brine and saltwater as sea--?” Iroka paused, realizing the homophone of the words she had used. She gave a distressed cry and covered her face with both hands. It was now Ruiji’s turn to laugh. Haidate cleared his throat loudly and pinched the bridge of his nose. ”Now that we’ve all made fools of ourselves, may we get a move on?” That seemed to be the best thing to do, so they all consented. With Iroka’s hands still on her face, the group continued, until they entered a clearing, and before them was the sashimono. They had arrived at their ‘base’.
”Yeah!” Ruiji exclaimed. ”we’ll be done in no time! And then Seiuchi-sensei will see my merit as an Eleventh Division member.” The name seemed unfamiliar to Iroka. ”Seiuchi-sensei?” she asked. ”Who’s that again?” Ruiji cracked his knuckles. ”The guy in charge of Division Eleven recruitment. Don’t you remember him? He taught the course on basics of combat. Rather… uh, plump fellow. And meaner than a mad shark.” Iroka’s eyes widened with recognition, as she let her hands drop from her face. ”Ooooooh! You mean the guy that stood on the weighing scale and it read ‘to be continued’?” Haidate’s mouth dropped open, and then he placed a hand on his face, trying to look stoic as he battled with laughter. Aika was not so subtle, flinging herself on the grassy earth as she howled in amusement. Ruiji’s eyes and mouth were saucers, then he said, ”Oh, Seiuchi-sensei is surely going to hear of this.” Iroka gave him an appraising look, but failing to understand why Ruiji really felt like telling the recruiting officer, shrugged a single shoulder and simply said, ”mmmkay.” Aika stopped laughing. ”Are you brave or plain stupid? Seiuchi-sensei will definitely roast you if he hears what you said,” she declared as she sat up.
”What?!” Iroka cried out in alarm. ”Why? I only spoke the truth. If he were--” And suddenly, her brain seemed to switch gears, and she understood why she was in trouble. Her face paled considerably, and then she simply fainted, collapsing to the ground in a not-so-graceful heap. Haidate slowly face-palmed, as he closed his eyes and sighed. At this rate, they wouldn’t even need the traitor to steal their sashimono to fail this mission. ”We are so unfortunate….”
Oh yes, this exam. Iroka knew she had to do her best; this was her last chance to prove that she was not a failure. The details of this exam did seem troublesome, though. There were four students, each one having reasonable proficiency in one of the four Shinigami martial disciplines. Their job was to enter the wooded area and locate a sashimono, scoring one point on doing so. This location would then serve as their ‘base’. Having established the base, they would seek to locate and retrieve a differently designed banner from somewhere else in the forest (another point), and return this other banner to their base for a third point, to score full points. Three points were the highest number of points to be earned, but two points were necessary to pass this exam. There was a problem, though: the forest was crawling with ‘hostiles’, automatons designed by the R & D guys, which would seek to take their banner. If the hostiles took their banner, they would lose two points (automatic failure). The hostiles were not so powerful, but could be an issue when faced in numbers. Oh, there was another problem: one of the four of them was a traitor, meant to steal their sashimono and escape with it, resulting in the loss of two points. And the rule was, there was to be no discussion regarding the traitor, overt or covert, unless there was sufficient evidence to accuse the traitor. And if the accusation was wrong, automatic fail. To prevent any secret discussions, R & D had come up with weird flying camera things, each capable of capturing sight and sound over wide radii, and the whole forest was saturated with them. And a point would be lost every time candidates showed signs of suspicion for no apparent reason. The best course of action would be to just act normally, and try to see if the traitor would expose themselves, and if not, try to set a trap. This exam was aimed at evaluating the candidates’ ability to analyze data and respond to unexpected events.
Iroka wondered silently who the traitor could be. Her eyes roved over the members of her team, as she soundlessly mulled over what she remembered about each of them, trying to recollect the little information that had been given to each candidate about their teammates. ”There is Hachimoto Aika-dono, the other girl on this team, who’s a zanjutsu expert. She could be the traitor, because she’s talkative; maybe she’s trying to distract us. There is Jyuuzen Ruiji-dono, the hakuda-based baldie. He’s been smiling at me whenever I turn in his direction. Very suspicious fellow. And then there is Kuchiki Haidate-dono, the hohou maestro. He’s very quiet, so it will be difficult to say much about him. Maybe he’s the one, because he’s probably very fast, which would be good for evading us and running away when he steals the sashimono. But why is he this hot? Yes, he’s probably the one… the one that I… wait, what was I thinking about again?” A voice to her left broke her reverie. ”I notice someone has been staring a lot at Haidate-kun,” Aika said with a mischievous grin. Iroka gasped, as she realized that was possibly true. Haidate was watching her now with a raised eyebrow, as though silently asking her to explain herself. ”Y—you’re being ridiculous, Aika-dono!” Iroka protested vehemently, her face coloring slightly. ”Please stop saying such questionable things.”
”Isn’t ‘dono’ a bit formal for relating with your peers, Iroka-chan?” Ruiji asked. Fortunately, Iroka was spared from answering as Haidate spoke up. ”Frankly, we’re all being too informal, if you ask me,” he stated gruffly. ”Please refer to me as ‘Kuchiki-san’. And I think it would be better if we all shut up and focused on the mission at hand.” Aika scoffed. ”Stop being such a stick-up-your-ass, Haidate-kun,” she said, waving a hand dismissively. ”We’re all supposed to be working together, so we should get along.” Haidate replied with a stony silence. Aika glared at him, as some level of uncomfortable silence reigned. Ruiji rectified it. ”Ah… so you guys, what divisions would you want to join after graduation?”
”First Division, duh!” Aika answered, as though everyone was supposed to join that division. ”There, I’ll be able to avoid field work, and I’ll find a way to shift my work to other people’s desks. Working hard is a fool’s errand.” Iroka wanted to disagree, but she said nothing. ”And what about the hottie? Don’t tell me you want to join the Twelfth. Come with me to the Eleventh, Masamune-chan. That’s where all the cool guys go.” ”Oh, I think I’ll stick with the Twelfth, Tamago-san,” she said with an innocent expression on her face. Ruiji looked confused, but then realization soon followed, as he realized that Iroka had just nicknamed him ’Egg’, most likely due to the absence of a strand of hair on his head. ”Tamago-san?” he could only ask dumbly. Aika struggled in vain not to laugh, but failed. ”I really wish we’d be more serious,” Haidate sighed. ”What if we’re ambushed?” Aika rolled her eyes. ”The four of us fighting together will be able to repel any hostiles if they came. As a matter of fact, I think drawing the hostiles to us now that we haven’t yet located the sashimoto would be a good idea, as we can fight them without bothering to protect the banner. Besides, I’m sure ‘Tamago-kun’ would love to show off his Eleventh Division-worthy skills in order to impress a certain someone, right?” ”I hope that someone isn’t me,” Iroka said dismissively. ”I don’t like Eleventh Division guys. They’re as salty as seamen.” Even Haidate stopped and looked at her.
”What?” Iroka asked, concern and fear written all over her features. ”Is something wrong?” Deep down, she was already panicking. She wasn’t the traitor, so how had they jumped to such a disastrous conclusion? ”And here was I, thinking you were an innocent damsel,” Aika said, looking shocked, though there was a hint of a smile on her face. ”I’m innocent, you have to believe me!” Iroka exclaimed in anguish, her heart pounding. ”Innocent, right. And yet you know the taste of--?” Aika paused her speaking, and performed a rather salacious gesture, eliciting a laugh from Ruiji. Iroka gasped in outrage, a hand reflexively resting over her heart. ”Oh my days! That’s appalling, Aika-dono. You shouldn’t be saying or doing such lewd things in public; it’s even worse because I never said or insinuated such a thing. And here I thought I was backward when it came to common slang. For your information, it’s a pun; saltiness has to do with irritable behavior, and who else are steeped in as much brine and saltwater as sea--?” Iroka paused, realizing the homophone of the words she had used. She gave a distressed cry and covered her face with both hands. It was now Ruiji’s turn to laugh. Haidate cleared his throat loudly and pinched the bridge of his nose. ”Now that we’ve all made fools of ourselves, may we get a move on?” That seemed to be the best thing to do, so they all consented. With Iroka’s hands still on her face, the group continued, until they entered a clearing, and before them was the sashimono. They had arrived at their ‘base’.
”Yeah!” Ruiji exclaimed. ”we’ll be done in no time! And then Seiuchi-sensei will see my merit as an Eleventh Division member.” The name seemed unfamiliar to Iroka. ”Seiuchi-sensei?” she asked. ”Who’s that again?” Ruiji cracked his knuckles. ”The guy in charge of Division Eleven recruitment. Don’t you remember him? He taught the course on basics of combat. Rather… uh, plump fellow. And meaner than a mad shark.” Iroka’s eyes widened with recognition, as she let her hands drop from her face. ”Ooooooh! You mean the guy that stood on the weighing scale and it read ‘to be continued’?” Haidate’s mouth dropped open, and then he placed a hand on his face, trying to look stoic as he battled with laughter. Aika was not so subtle, flinging herself on the grassy earth as she howled in amusement. Ruiji’s eyes and mouth were saucers, then he said, ”Oh, Seiuchi-sensei is surely going to hear of this.” Iroka gave him an appraising look, but failing to understand why Ruiji really felt like telling the recruiting officer, shrugged a single shoulder and simply said, ”mmmkay.” Aika stopped laughing. ”Are you brave or plain stupid? Seiuchi-sensei will definitely roast you if he hears what you said,” she declared as she sat up.
”What?!” Iroka cried out in alarm. ”Why? I only spoke the truth. If he were--” And suddenly, her brain seemed to switch gears, and she understood why she was in trouble. Her face paled considerably, and then she simply fainted, collapsing to the ground in a not-so-graceful heap. Haidate slowly face-palmed, as he closed his eyes and sighed. At this rate, they wouldn’t even need the traitor to steal their sashimono to fail this mission. ”We are so unfortunate….”
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-Appearance-
Height/Weight: 5’3 / 125 pounds
Physical Description: If Iroka is going to be described as anything, it won’t be ‘intimidating’, seeing as she just barely made it to 5 feet and 3 inches in height. Still, one doesn’t have to be intimidating to leave a visual impression. Silky, long, straight orange hair crowns her head and descends to the small of her back, while two thick bangs frame the sides of her face, dropping to just past chin-level. It is this notable feature of hers that earned her the nickname ‘Ninjinke’ (Carrot-hair). A patch of hair at the fore of her scalp is naturally bubblegum pink, and it is often erroneously assumed she dyed it as a fashion statement. Her large chartreuse-colored eyes contrast pleasantly with her hair, and her facial features are considered in general opinion to be gentle and rather pretty (of course, views vary; beauty is in the eyes of the beholder and all that). Iroka’s frame is voluptuous and soft, making her deceptively appear a stranger to physical exercise, and she possesses well-formed and graceful limbs. There is a mole on the upper right side of her chest. The nickname Masamune is a pun; it is the inverse of her surname (in kanji), but can be written such that ‘masa’ means ‘proper’ or ‘correct’, and ‘mune’ means ‘chest’, in reference to her ample bosom. She feels the nickname is puerile. Iroka’s voice is high-pitched, soft and pleasant to the ear; even when yelling, her voice is not as loud as the average person of her apparent age and size. Her movements are reflective of her name: elegant and unforced with sensual undercurrents; ‘Iroka’ means ‘charm’ or ‘loveliness’. It’s as if she knows just the amount of energy to expend for each action… that is, until she runs into a door or does some other vacant or awkward thing.
Iroka’s dress style is simple and minimal, minimal in both a literal, as well as figurative sense. She seems fine with wearing as little as possible, and although this is a coping mechanism to deal with her high internal body temperature, she plays it off as though enjoying the sexy look, and has eventually gotten relatively comfortable with it. Her Shinigami uniform consists of the usual black Shinigami shihakushō, although its wide sleeves are long enough to almost reach her wrists. She does not wear the accompanying hakama, resulting in the garment ending up more like a mini-skirted dress. She also allows the front portion of her shihakushō to hang considerably open, but keeps the garment in place with a magenta colored rope-like sash, to which she attaches her zanpakutō when she chooses to carry it, and she also wears a white headband. When in combat situations, Iroka shrugs off the upper part of the robe so that it hangs around her waist, revealing a strapless bra underneath. She also tends to do her hair into a ponytail when about to fight or perform research work. She usually wears heart-shaped earrings, a choker, and a few bangles for jewelry. She also sports a navel piercing. On her feet are an okobo-style variation of the usual Shinigami sandals; as a matter of fact, Iroka almost always wears wedge heels, in order to attempt to compensate for her height. When not in the Shinigami uniform, Iroka’s dress style remains minimalistic, and she often favors rather short, light dresses with quite deep décolletage, with wedge-heeled shoes. She wears less at home, usually a tank top or low-necked tee that has lost all its midriff section, and a pair of cutoff shorts that more resemble underwear. Since the desire to compensate for her wanting height is minimal at home, Iroka will go barefoot or wear slippers.
Munemasa Iroka
Iroka Again
Iroka Info Sheet
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-Personality-
Dislikes:
[*]Hot Weather: All the sweating, humidity and clamminess… she genuinely wonders why people like summer. The major reason is that due to her crazy metabolism, she often feels hotter than is normally expected. When the weather is not suitable for cooling off, it’s extra suffering for her.
[*]Bullies: Whether tyrants, classroom toughs or administrative meanies, once someone has a position of power, and they seem to have a habit of abusing that power, Iroka will dislike them. And as someone who isn’t very good at lying, she will show her disdain, whether by word or deed.
[*]Bitter food: Did you know that most poisonous substances are bitter to the taste? Isn’t nature trying to tell you something? Or at least, that’s what Iroka thinks. She cannot fathom why coffee (especially black) is so popular.
[*]Loud noises: As someone who thinks a lot, Iroka likes being able to concentrate on whatever thoughts are running through her head. As one who gets distracted easily, loud noises make productive thinking almost impossible. While it does not provide any visible disadvantages in combat situations, loud sounds, be they music or no, will make her quite uncomfortable. Good luck trying to get her to go to a heavy metal concert.
[*]Cruelty: Iroka is keenly aware of the brutality of the world. Why people will delight in extending their suffering to others is something she does not understand. She tends to react quite hotly to people she perceives to be cruel. People who care nothing for the taking of lives will be held in contempt by her. Those who revel in killing may find her openly confrontational and hostile, even though she wouldn’t physically attack them.
[*]Wastage: Iroka will get irritated by people who don’t seem to care about how they spend resources, be it money, food, or anything else. She believes that all resources must be well managed and that which isn’t used should be recycled or given to those who need such resources. Acts of wastage, unless she perceives they can’t be helped, offend her.
[*]Killing: The average Shinigami is meant to be a killing machine. I mean, they’re even called Death-gods. That doesn’t meant Iroka likes the idea of taking lives. She will kill, if she has to, but only as a last resort, usually preferring to show mercy to her defeated foes. Hollows do not apply. After all, Shinigami purify hollows, not actually kill them. Iroka will readily kill a being she considers to be quite evil, or to have caused a lot of suffering, though she will lament having to do so.
[*]Arthropods: The only exempt animals are butterflies. If it has a jointed body, compound eyes, antennae, please, don’t bring it near her. As a matter of fact, while this young Shinigami values life, if she heard of a genocide of cockroaches, she would probably nod her head in approval. Iroka is known to have very dramatic reactions to bugs of any kind (except butterflies). Things only get worse when they fly.
[*]Rats: Rats are just… ewww. Furry vermin that carry disease, and they can bite. What could be worse (except cockroaches)? Iroka’s reaction to rats is similar to her reaction to arthropods.
[*]Snakes: Cold, legless, and squirming, with their beady eyes and hissing, snakes disgust Iroka. She can barely look at one of them slithering across the ground. She will avoid them as much as she can.
[*]Attention from many people: Positive attention is great, but whatever type of attention it is, when coming from so many people at once, flusters Iroka to no end, and makes her panic. As panic only makes awkward situations worse, it doesn’t take a genius to understand why Iroka does not like such ‘attention overload’. This also makes her uncomfortable in crowds, and she prefers quiet, unpopulated areas.
Likes:
[*]Food: Especially sweet stuff. Iroka loves eating; she can hardly be blamed due to her high metabolism which leaves her always hungry. And since most sweet stuff packs calories, she will gladly help herself to such. Doesn’t help matters that they are so pleasant to the palate. Iroka has an unnaturally sharp tongue, and can usually discern the ingredients of whatever she puts in her mouth, going by taste alone. As a result, she places great emphasis on having food with very pleasing, or interesting tastes. The definition of interesting varies, though, and often times, her ideas about food frighten others.
[*]Cooking: Iroka’s love of food has made her quite an expert in the preparation of such, an activity she enjoys to no end. It’s like a science project with the stipulation that you get to eat what comes out of the incredible lab called the kitchen. Iroka takes cooking like a science venture and will always attempt to cook for anyone who makes the mistake of visiting her. Only problem is, usually the ingredients of her food often sound scary, due to her knack for experimenting on all sorts of things as ingredients. Somehow, she usually manages to end up making something that actually tastes nice and isn’t poisonous. Usually.
[*]Research: Whether it be working on some new thingamajig, trying to tweak something from the Store, or considering the workings of the universe, Iroka loves scientific pursuits of all kinds, and can spend hours pursuing the subject, without realizing how fast time has gone. Anywhere she lives is automatically transformed to a makeshift lab, whether she is given dedicated laboratory space or not. Though she likes all sorts of research, her focus fields are on medicine and transportation.
[*]Swimming: Unless it’s in hot or warm water. Due to the fact that bodies of water are usually colder than the ambient temperature, Iroka loves to swim, as the coolness of the water is so relaxing. This interest in water has made her a very good swimmer, and she engages in the activity whenever and wherever she can.
[*]Cold Weather: In cold weather, Iroka isn’t struggling to lose extra body heat. As such, she feels more comfortable in winter and colder seasons, during which she dresses as though the weather was simply temperate. That she doesn’t have to worry about sweating is something to look forward to.
[*]Compassion: As someone who is quite considerate of the well-being and feelings of others, like-minded souls are cherished by Iroka. Especially if she realizes such people have gone through a lot in their lives. Iroka finds it quite easy to like those who care about alleviating the sufferings of others.
[*]Strategy Games: Iroka is quite intelligent, and it shows in her love of strategic exercises. Things like chess, go, and even video games based on strategy and puzzle-solving intrigue her. She is however horrible at actually playing these games, as she often loses track of what she was thinking of doing over time. Although she is a lot more effective on the battlefield (probably due to the focusing effect of adrenaline), Iroka is very useless when it comes to playing a strategy game, especially with a human opponent. You’ll most likely win your game if she was on your side, giving you advice, though.
[*]Kids: Because kids are so cute, and innocent, and they always ask questions, and make you see things that you may have missed as an adult. Iroka is good with children, but she does not like brats.
[*]Pro-wrestling: What’s there not to like? It’s so dramatic, larger-than-life, and you have well-built men sweating and grappling… okay, let’s skip that last part. In any case, Iroka has even managed to incorporate a few pro-wrestling moves into her fighting style, due to her love for the 'sport'.
[*]Table Tennis: Because it’s so much fun, and the white ball is so white… okay, not all the time. Still, Iroka does enjoy the sport, and it is probably one of the very few games that she will give you a real challenge in, if you play against her.
[*]Good-looking males: Yes, guys who are easy on the eyes, especially the tall ones. While Iroka isn’t particularly boy crazy, she does like observing fine specimen from among the male folk. From a distance, of course, seeing as she is too shy to approach them. It must be said that a good-looking fellow with poor morals in her opinion is an instant turn-off.
[*]Positive Attention: Especially if it’s from the boys. Oh yes, flattery will get you a lot of places. Too bad Iroka tends to be quite good at reading people’s intentions. Trying to take advantage of her after praising her will not yield the results desired. The truth is, Iroka simply wants to feel valued, and is particularly appreciative when she feels that the positive feelings towards her are genuine.
Flaws:
[*]Low Self Esteem: Iroka’s greatest flaw is her lack of faith in herself, a trait which was ingrained in her by her parent. She doesn’t feel she is intelligent enough, or strong enough, or pretty enough, or even Shinigami enough. This has made her forgiving of most people’s faults, but very harsh in judging herself. Still she tries to smile and pretend she’s fine, when she is dying inside.
[*]Obstinacy: You do not want to argue with this girl. She is the textbook definition of stubborn. If she has an opinion, especially in the height of emotion, she will keep it, come hell or high water, even if it is wrong. Fortunately, she is not mindlessly illogical; the best way to get to her is to drop your points and let her be. She will later think on them, and make more reasonable decisions (doesn’t mean she’ll agree with you still). But to think she can be convinced in a shouting match is a sure try at futility.
[*]Self-sacrificing: Iroka believes she must help other people solve her problems, but will not allow others to help her solve her own. This is because she does not feel she is worth someone wasting their time over. As a result, she may get isolated in situations where she really needs help. This can be very dangerous, whether the situation is a physical, or emotional one.
[*]Devoted: Threatening or attacking those Iroka really cares about will throw her into a state of frenzied desire to protect her loved ones. This can be used against her in battle, or in a ransom situation, with the loved one used as a bargaining chip.
[*]Overly Trusting: If Iroka gets to trust you, you will stab her in the chest, and she will still try to think up reasons that will excuse your actions. She is not gullible, but once she has been given a reason to trust a person, she will trust them with her whole heart. This makes it easy to manipulate or betray her. It must be stressed that eventually, Iroka will get over her trust, and the former object of her trust will become a bitter foe.
[*]Vindictive: Iroka does not like to owe, for good or for ill. If you have been good to her, she will try to repay you over what you did for her. If you caused her pain, she will try to repay you beyond what you made her suffer. When the object of her vengeance is before her, she will tend to ignore other things just to go after them. This can prove to be a great situational hazard, especially when there are probably multiple enemies, or the enemy that must be defeated first is not the object of her ire, or there are more important things to do than pursue personal vendettas.
[*]Children: Unless the situation is an extreme one, which probably involves people dying if she does not act, Iroka will not lift her hand against a child, or even a child-looking opponent. She also finds it rather distasteful to show violence to a child, and will be thus unwilling to fight if a child is around, unless she has to protect the child by fighting, or she is left with no other option.
Habits:
[*]Ditzy: Iroka is one of the biggest klutzes you will come across. From being clumsy, to forgetting what she was doing, to missing social cues, she has them all. It’s one of her most defining features.
[*]Soliloquizing: Iroka has a habit of talking to herself. When she does, she usually talks very quickly, with her brow furrowed and expression as though she is deep in thought (she usually is, when she talks to herself). Unless interrupted, she keeps going on, until she arrives at a conclusion, upon which she will realize that people have been staring weirdly at her.
[*]Unintentionally Blunt: Even though Iroka doesn’t intentionally like to hurt people’s feelings, she sometimes can be very blunt, saying things exactly as she sees them, or missing sarcastic ripostes. She is quite quick to seek redress if she realizes she has hurt anyone, though.
[*]Hygienic: Iroka is a clean-freak. She likes things being kept clean and in order. While working, she can seem to be a horrid mess, but as soon as she is done working, she will attempt to clean up as well as she possibly can. The same applies to battle. She will get dirty and bloody in combat, but once it is done, the first place she would attempt to go to is the bathroom. If she cannot, she will be sure to complain. Her cleanliness and tidiness also make her a very good record keeper, and she frequently is tricked by colleagues to do the drone office work that no one likes to do.
[*]Doting: Iroka is the sort of person to lavish those close to her with care and attention, even if they don’t want it. You can be sure that she will heckle them about not overworking themselves, sleeping well, and other things that relate to their health and well-being, even if she hypocritically does not regard her own well-being as much. Woe betide anyone close to Iroka whom she suspects of not eating well. They will be inundated with home-cooked food until she is sure that they are getting the proper nutrition. And she can be quite overbearing if her suggestions are being refused. Especially concerning food. You will be forced to eat. For your own good.
[*]’Ne?’: Iroka has a notable verbal tic: she usually uses the particle ‘ne?’ as a sort of ending to many of her sentences.
Fears:
[*]Shift + Delete: Iroka is not scared of death. What she fears is the absolute destruction of the soul, the removal of its existence from the soul cycle. The thought of that sudden and violent lack of continuation, that bleak non-existence frightens Iroka to no end.
[*]Quincy: Due to their ability to totally destroy the souls of those they kill, Iroka is afraid of the Quincy, as they are capable of subjecting a soul to absolute deletion, of which she is afraid.
[*]Remaining Unloved: For Iroka, the fear that no one will truly look beyond her quirks and see a person worthy of love is very real. Due to the abuse she has received from Kimyō, her parent, she fears she isn’t worthy of love, and that she will never experience what it feels like to have someone cherish her.
[*]Arthropods, Rats and Snakes: Because, eww. Just being as close as ten feet away from any such creature will make Iroka very jittery and nervous. If possible, she will try to get away from the creature as far as she possibly can. In situations where the vermin approaches her, or, worse yet, touches her, you can be sure of a dramatic response, ranging from fainting to excessive violence.
[*]Strict People: Due to the critical demeanor of her parent, Iroka is scared of strict people, and those who appear rigid and very regimented. She will attempt to hide from them, and if she cannot, will show visible signs of fright, which can result in rather interesting situations. Most times, when interacting with a strict bully, her disgust for them overrides her fear, allowing her to attempt to rebel.
[*]Loss of Loved Ones:If there is anything Iroka agonizes over frequently, it is the possibility that someone she cares for will die. Even though it’s a dangerous world out there, with existence-threatening threats all about, anytime Iroka’s mind ventures on such a thought that someone she loves will probably get killed, she is filled with distress and sorrow.
[*]Losing Her Mind: Already, many people think the girl has a few screws loose. Maybe she does. In any case, she is quite interested in not having anything else loosen. The mere thought of getting a newer permanent mental concern makes her quite uncomfortable, especially as she fears to lose her powerful faculties of deduction.
[*]Nightmares: Iroka tends to have frequent vivid nightmares ranging from bordering-on-the-comical to the downright frightening. This is not helped by her habit of speculating deeply about the events of these dreams, which only serves to unnerve her the more. She always prays every night before she sleeps that she doesn't have them. If Iroka looks miserable and disheveled in the morning, it's almost certain she had a nightmare.
Goals:
[*]Parental Acknowledgment: Perhaps Iroka’s strongest desire is gaining some degree of repute in the eyes of her parent. Due to her mental programming, she is relentlessly invested in making Kimyō proud of her. Sadly, it does not presently seem as though this will be achieved.
[*]Finding Love: While Iroka is interested in having meaningful relationships with people, she is very desirous to find that special someone, perhaps with whom she could settle down and raise a family. She is not sure she can achieve this, though.
[*]Gaining Respect: By virtue of gaining strength or expertise, Iroka wants to get to a level where her colleagues will look at her with admiration for her achievements, and not see her as some bungling airhead.
[*]Protecting Loved Ones: One of the reasons Iroka strives to be stronger is simply so that she will be able to protect those dear to her from harm. The fear of losing those precious to her is enough motivation for this goal.
[*]Daily Improvement: Iroka believes that life is motion; one must advance in order to exist. For this reason, she believes that there is some new skill to learn, or power level to reach, and she cannot rest on her haunches and assume she has achieved anything, as there are always people ahead of her, and as such, there is space to grow. After all, if the people ahead managed to get to where they are, why shouldn’t she at least try?
Alignment: Good Chaotic
Overall Personality: Munemasa Iroka, on first contact, usually appears as a shy but pleasant, if naïve, girl. She’s quite awkward in social situations, but tries not to let this get in the way of being genial. As she gets more comfortable in her interactions, she begins to reveal more of who she truly is: soft-hearted, sensitive, sincere and friendly. Still, this doesn’t change the fact that she gets into many socially awkward situations, because she is terrible at reading social cues, and may sometimes come off as blunt and scathing, even if she doesn’t mean to. Her thoughtfulness makes it possible to realize when she is making others uncomfortable, and it doesn’t take long for her to retrace her steps, although it doesn’t insure her from making that same, or a similar, mistake, in the future. She can be rather flirtatious at times (she is largely monogamous, though), but in most cases, she doesn’t realize she is acting this way; when she does, she will usually respond with embarrassment.
If the general opinion of Iroka is that she is an agreeable, yet strange person, they could not be more right. Those who get closer to her discover an extremely quirky individual; not at all unexpected for a member of Seireitei’s R & D Division. Aside the fact that she often appears naïve and clueless, she is quite ditzy, and oftentimes loses her train of thought, or forgets what she had been saying or doing, right in the middle of it, or doesn’t often realize she is in awkward situations, until she catches on the responses of observers. She also sometimes says apparently indecent things without realizing, or arrives at naughty interpretations to normally harmless comments, and while she has no problems with communicating via speech, she sometimes reads literal meaning to figures of speech. Iroka is also incredibly ambidextrous, but thus often confuses ‘left’ for ‘right’, as she doesn’t have a leading hand, only serving to exacerbate her apparent clumsiness. Coupled with the ease with which she displays her emotions, this makes many people come to the conclusion that she is vacuous and stupid, an opinion she does little to correct. In truth, however, Iroka has a rather sharp mind, and is surprisingly a genius-level inventor and analyst. It is only in combat, or when working on her research, that she exhibits a rather keen, if frightening, level of focus and efficiency. She is also incredibly dramatic, and tends to like naming things (and sometimes people) with magniloquent, ridiculous or affectionate names, depending on her opinion of such things or people.
Due to how she was ‘programmed’, as well as the emotional abuse she received from her parent, Iroka does not think too highly of herself, seeing herself as ‘not quite Shinigami enough’, and usually brushes off compliments as taunts or teasing. In truth, she does love being praised, and responds happily to positive attention, especially from members of the opposite sex, but Iroka is quite used to overthinking things, and often ends up later disparaging herself eventually in her own mind. Although this makes her somewhat vulnerable, there is bad news for those who try to get fresh with her, simply because she seems to enjoy their verbal compliments. Despite being quite amorous in nature (but then, who doesn’t get naughty thoughts from time to time?), Iroka, as a strict rule, will only get intimate with someone with whom she has created a strong emotional bond, based on mutual trust, respect and admiration. Thus, trying to take physical advantage of her is much less successful than people imagine, and often results in a broken nose, black eyes, bruised ribs, and her being on subsequent high-alert whenever she is around said person, having branded them as a liar and pervert. She may be good-natured enough to apologize for causing such a person physical pain, but saying sorry doesn’t heal a smashed face, nor does it restore broken trust. Despite this happy-go-lucky and cheeky mien, Iroka is not a stranger to depression, though she often pretends as though she is happy, so that others do not worry about her, as she feels she is not worth the effort of others worrying about her. She has been programmed to care for her parent, whom she refers to as “Mother”, even though they do not seem to think fondly of her, and Iroka often checks on her parent and gives them a status report of herself, in the unlikely hope that she may one day impress them. This is probably part of her programming, as well as would be her inclination to faithfully perform her duties.
A pivotal aspect of Iroka’s persona is a rather obliging nature. While she is not a door mat, she is known to be quite willing to help people. The major force behind her accommodating nature though, is her altruism. Iroka, by nature is rather selfless, and will help others for absolutely no desire of profit or reward, going so far as to stand up against injustice, if she feels the sufferer has been abandoned, even if she is not certain of victory. Iroka is even more obliging to her friends and children, although making her an errand girl will meet with disaster for two reasons: firstly, she might forget she was on an errand and wander off, and secondly, she will quickly catch on such a person’s manipulative nature, and avoid or ignore them. She might not think very highly of herself; this does not make her stupid or overly gullible. Once Iroka has established that someone is a friend, however, she can be caring to the point of smothering, due to her maternal and self-sacrificing tendencies. She also has a bad habit of wanting to be the one to bear all the burdens, and not letting others bear hers. This can lead to a buildup of emotional trauma, causing her to display uncharacteristically mean streaks in such moments, which will usually result in deep regret later. Fortunately for Iroka, she forgives easily, and seeks forgiveness just as readily. Should someone perform a favor for Iroka, she responds with gratitude, often excessively and exuberantly so. Should she determine that someone appreciates her as a person, there will be hardly anything she won’t sacrifice for said individual. One of Iroka’s strongest points is her ability to endure; this has even shaped how she engages in battle. Capable of shouldering great amounts of physical and mental stress without complaining, she will work at any task she sets her mind to perform diligently and consistently, until she has completed it. This makes her a very dependable character, but she is often in danger of overworking herself, in order to cover for the slack of her colleagues, if they shirk their duties.
Of course, Iroka seems like such a good girl, barring her low self-esteem, which is not particularly a cardinal sin as far as human interactions are concerned. But everyone has their dark sides, and Iroka is no different. For starters, you do not want to argue with this girl. She is the textbook definition of stubborn. If she has an opinion, especially in the height of emotion, she will keep it, come hell or high water, even if it is wrong. Fortunately, she is not mindlessly illogical; the best way to get to her is to drop your points and let her be. She will later think on them, and make more reasonable decisions (doesn’t mean she’ll agree with you still). But to think she can be convinced in a shouting match is a sure try at futility. She also can be hypocritical when it comes to reliance on friends. While she will take great pains to make sure her friends are happy and comfortable, she feels similar efforts directed at her are wasted, and thus is not quick to reveal her struggles and sufferings, due to the fear that she will place burdens on another, which she considers selfish of herself. Even those she deeply trusts will have to make extra effort to wring her woes out of her. Also, although Iroka is quite accommodating and forgiving of others, she is extremely harsh with herself, holding up almost impossibly high standards which she has to meet in order to see herself as a useful member of society. As a result, when she fails, she takes it pretty hard, and often gets depressed, though she will try to pretend to others that everything is fine. She isn’t used to giving herself treats, or having large amounts of leisure time and usually just takes her successes as the fulfilment of her duty, immediately moving on to the next task at hand. She tends to deflect her struggles as being much less than they really are, or as being her personal proclivities. For instance, her crazy level of metabolism results in excessive hunger and production of higher body heat than is normal, causing her inclination to wear less, and eat more. Iroka has camouflaged this as simply as referring to herself as being a foodie, and liking to dress sexy. The fact that she will hardly explain herself, except to those she trusts, does not help matters. Finally, Iroka may be cheerful and amiable, but anecdotal wisdom relays that the anger of a gentle soul is a thing to be feared. While Iroka will more readily cry than get angry (aggressive responses to e.g. perverts, and expressions of frustration are not actual expressions of ire), should she actually get enraged, her anger is fearsome. And a surefire way of getting her riled is to target those she deems dear to her, or exhibit delight in suffering and loss of life. An interesting sign that she is really furious is that she becomes a lot less expressive. If you thought that this was control, you could not be more wrong. She is more reckless in her wreaking of destruction when angry, and often overdoes it. As such, she tries to avoid getting really mad. Best to live with as few regrets as possible.
Iroka’s positive marks, aside her warm and affable personality, are her resourcefulness, and reliability. Despite her apparent penchant to be scatterbrained, Iroka has an incredibly perspicacious mind, which she puts to good use in the laboratory. She easily restructures things as makeshift tools, comes up with sound strategies on missions or in battles, and gives surprisingly wise advice if asked. She is also the kind of person you can give a job and go to bed, knowing that she’ll not only get it done, but you’ll get extra value for your money (if she ever decided to get paid). Her horrible reputation for failing to run trivial errands successfully is that no matter how most try to hide their manipulation, Iroka is a surprisingly good reader of people and their intents, and her subconscious will file the request as trivial, leading her to get distracted and not complete the errand. But if you were looking for someone who had your back, who would defend you through thick and thin, you couldn’t find a better ally in Munemasa Iroka. Be careful though, while she will stand up for a friend, if she realizes they were in the wrong, they would get a spectacular chewing up one side, and down the other, though she’ll usually do that in private.
In conclusion, Iroka has, for such a pleasant girl, an incredibly sharp tongue, although she mostly is polite, and hardly uses it on friends, except in playful banter, or in response to an insult she recognizes, in which moments her ironic sense of humor and mordantly dry wit are revealed. Despite her clumsiness, she is also quite capable of shouldering leadership responsibilities. She dislikes to lead, though, due to her faulty assumption that there is definitely a better leader on the team than she, but if she must, she will function more as a mom than a major general, more nurturing than commanding. However, attempts to undermine her authority will be met with another strange switch to her persona; even though she may be smiling, her aura becomes rather scary and overbearing, and her words, though gentle, will be responded to by many with immediate compliance and profuse sweating. To Iroka, nothing works as well as teamwork, and so she will try to understand her followers’ personalities and strengths, so that she can better deploy them to get the job done. This makes her a great leader, though she is scared of the responsibility that comes with it. As a follower, Iroka is very compliant and not at all problematic, maybe except for her air of mildly irreverent cheer, which overly strict leaders may take umbrage with. She will however not comply with an order that involves turning on her colleagues, or other selfish and cruel acts, no matter the punishment involved. Iroka takes great displeasure in showing violence to a child, and will be quite unwilling to fight an enemy that appears to be a child. Those who attack minors are held in very high disdain by her.
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-Powers-
Fighting Style: Although this is not immediately evident, Iroka is a very intelligent fighter, although she will always prefer to avoid having to fight, if she can. With her sharp mind and resourcefulness, she can quickly run simulations of ideas to be implemented in combat through her mind, select those likely to work best, and execute them effectively. However, to make feasible plans, Iroka will first try to get to know something about her enemy, be it through discussion, observation, or any other data-collecting means at her disposal. While she is smart enough to improvise and shoot from the hip, so to speak, Iroka is more comfortable having at least two plans in mind, when entering a fight. Normally, in most cases, Iroka will shy away from violence, and attempt to escape fighting, but once she has decided to fight, she will throw her back into it as judiciously as she can, though she will likely apologize after the fight.
When fighting, she will try to win the fight with sudden and decisive attacks, as well as utilize the environment to her advantage. She is the kind of person that will set traps until her opponent is expecting a trap in the next move, only to get a slap to the face. Or act like a very straightforward fighter, only to set off an elaborate trap that she had been secretly leading her opponent into. The keyword to describe Iroka in combat is unpredictability. She is not reckless in the sense of throwing herself into battle without a thought and running into an opponent’s attack just to get one of her own in. Instead, she’s the kind of person who will butt, when you expect her to kick. She uses her head (not literally) quite extensively in battle, thinking up plans by which she may confuse, mislead, and outmaneuver her opponent. If this does not work, Iroka will attempt to play the long game, often relying on her stamina to outlast her opponent in battle, while maintaining her resourcefulness and capriciousness. It must also be noted that Iroka utilizes her deceptively sharp tongue liberally in battle, often goading her opponents into getting angry and careless, or mind-gaming them into making mistakes (she often acts contritely for being annoying once the battle is over). This stratagem is simply either to try to create an advantage, or to develop a more accurate insight on the personality of her opponent. While she appears unpredictable, Iroka tends to remain rational and controlled in battle, even when angry. The only times she will lose her composure are when she is quite shaken or worried. Or she might just be trying to confuse you, who knows?
When in a team, Iroka often serves as the team support, or (though this is not advised) donates herself to be the ‘tank’, opting to distract enemies and draw fire, so as to free her teammates to carry out other activities. No stranger to physical trauma, thanks to the cruel experiments which had been conducted on her, Iroka was designed to possess some degree of masochistic tendencies, in order to make her less inclined to avoid pain in battle, and is not averse to engaging in some degree of reckless behavior like taking hits in order to secure an advantage. It must be noted that the longer she fights, the more uncharacteristically ruthless and brutal she seems to become; this trait is another result of her mental programming, and one that she takes great displeasure in. Even though this is the case, Iroka strongly values life, and will not kill unless it is absolutely necessary, although this doesn’t prevent her from dealing as great damage as possible to her opponent, when in the thick of it. Although Iroka has some merit as a competent fighter alone, she shines best when working with a group, and her ability to think up strategies on the fly and execute them makes her a worthy addition to any team.
Having described Iroka’s mentality towards combat, her favored style is kidō-based, and she will usually begin by casting spells at her opponent. Most will try to close the gap, seeing as long-range fighters are not expected to be proficient at close-quarter combat, this sentiment made all the more believable by Iroka’s soft appearance. Getting close enough will however reveal Iroka’s proficiency in hakuda; her variant of the Shinigami’s hand-to-hand style is called Shintenken (Heaven-Shaking Fist). Shintenken is a fighting style which utilizes graceful but explosive motions to attack and overwhelm an opponent. It rarely utilizes strikes with a completely closed fist, opting instead for chops, palms and slaps, as well all sorts of kicks. It is strongly rooted in the Chinese martial arts Piguaquan and Bājíquán, but it also involves a number of rather acrobatic maneuvers, as well as grapples and locks, taken almost to the extreme by Iroka’s incorporation of judo and pro-wrestling techniques into the form, which serves to create some degree of unpredictability, seeing as many opponents will assume Shintenken focuses mostly on strikes. Perhaps what makes Shintenken most dangerous is its incorporation of reiatsu into its attacks. While nothing near the level of Shunkō, releasing reiatsu just at the moment of impact allows Shintenken practitioners to improve their prowess on the battlefield, making their strikes much more dangerous. It is better suited for fighters who do not focus on physical strength to deal damage to their foes.
Zanpakutō Spirit Appearance: Shugyoku Hirenaga is a huge, silvery-white butterfly koi fish, with a black circle on its forehead, and golden fins. Its scales look metallic in constitution. It is about six feet from head to caudal fin. As is expected of a butterfly koi, Shugyoku Hirenaga possesses quite long fins, which billow about in the pool in which it swims. Interestingly, though, this zanpakutō spirit takes the form of a great, majestic golden dragon, if Iroka enters her inner world, while in Bankai. If Shugyoku Hirenaga must manifest in the outside world, it takes its fish form, floating and swimming through the air as though it were water.
Inner World: A seemingly infinite ocean with an island in the center. A hill sits near the center of the island, and a waterfall descends the hill into a surprisingly languid pool at the base of the hill, in which Shugyoku Hirenaga swims. At the top of the hill, standing over the source of the waterfall, is a red torii gate. The skies of this world reflect Iroka’s emotional state. Sunny when happy or calm, overcast when moody or sad, stormy when angry. It is almost always daytime here. When Iroka goes into her inner world, she usually appears standing on the pool, as if it were solid crystal, with the fish swimming beneath her. If she is unsure of herself, the pool takes the form of a mirror, and she cannot see her zanpakutō spirit, but only her reflection. If she is troubled, she appears submerged in the pool, with Shugyoku Hirenaga swimming around her.
Zanpakutō Release Names
Shikai: Shugyoku Hirenaga (Gemstone Longfin)
Bankai: Nyoihoju Kōryu (Cintāmaṇi Ascendant Dragon)
Release Command: “Ganbare, Shugyoku Hirenaga!” There is no special callout for Bankai; Iroka just says the name of her Bankai.
Zanpakutō Concept Details:
Shugyoku Hirenaga means Gemstone Longfin. 'Hirenaga', literally translated to 'long fin', is Japanese word for the butterfly koi. As expected of a zanpakutō, Shugyoku Hirenaga is a reflection of Iroka’s soul, and its concept reflects pivotal aspects of her personality. The zanpakutō’s mirror themes reflect Iroka’s personal struggle with self-acceptance; just as a mirror does not show a true image, Iroka is not sure she is a ‘true’ soul. Also, the koi fish represents perseverance, and the themes of Iroka’s inner world possess similar motifs to a Chinese legend about koi fish and a waterfall gate, said legend being more or less a tribute to diligent persistence and resolution, Iroka’s strongest trait. It must be said here that in many circles, the butterfly koi is not regarded as a true koi fish. This reflects Iroka's deep-seated fear that she is not really a Shinigami.
Shugyoku Hirenaga’s release command, ‘ganbare’ may be translated to mean ‘do your best’, but it may also mean ‘stand fast’, or ‘keep going at it’. In any case, it is a call of encouragement, urging the listener not to give up. This alludes to the motifs of the koi representing perseverance.
In the legend of koi fish and waterfall gates, if a koi can swim up the waterfall and jump over the Dragon Gate at the top of the waterfall, it is transformed into a mighty dragon. This is represented in Iroka’s Bankai name: Nyoihoju Kōryu (Cintāmaṇi Ascendant Dragon). The Cintāmaṇi was a gemstone reputed to be able to grant any wishes, obviously a much higher level above a regular gemstone. So in Bankai, the gemstone koi becomes a Cintāmaṇi dragon.
Zanpakutō Appearances:
Sealed: In its sealed state, Shugyoku Hirenaga takes the form of a black, guardless katana, with no extra features except a golden ring on its kashira (pommel), to which a magenta ribbon is tied. It also has a golden habaki (blade collar).
Shikai: Shugyoku Hirenaga when released takes the form of a meteor hammer, its chain being about 4 meters long. While a normal meteor hammer has its heads having a spherical or elliptical shape, Shugyoku Hirenaga’s heads look a lot like large Buddhist prayer wheels. The meteor hammer seems to be made of silver.
Bankai: Retaining its meteor hammer theme, Nyoihoju Kōryu’s heads take the form of giant spherical bells, each one about half a meter in radius. They are no longer connected by a chain, but by a long thin silk scarf, which floats in an arc over and behind Iroka, much like a ‘hagoromo’ or celestial scarf that usually appears in East Asian art to depict divinity. The silk scarf is pure white, but as hard as steel, and the bells are golden. Also, a giant, transparent, shattered pane of spectral glass hovers behind Iroka. It is about 2 by 3 meters in dimension. Unlike Shugyoku Hirenaga, which Iroka has to wield to use, she can utilize Nyoihoju Kōryu telekinetically.
Overall Ability: The general theme of Shugyoku Hirenaga is mirrors. Just as a mirror normally does not possess its own image, but takes images of the world around it and projects them for observers to view, Shugyoku Hirenaga operates by reflecting things, mostly on a conceptual level. While the assumption is that this zanpakutō’s power will reflect attacks thrown at it, the workings of this zanpakutō are not that straightforward, as Shugyoku Hirenaga is much more subtle and profound in its working. It reflects concepts, rather than only attacks or light, allowing Iroka a versatile repertoire of techniques to use in combat. However, just as mirrors reflect the nature of the object which stands before them, Shugyoku Hirenaga has very few offensive abilities, reflecting the pacifistic nature of Munemasa Iroka, although the fact that it is not devoid of means of offense reflects her willingness to fight to protect whatever she considers precious to her.
Shikai Overall Ability: Shugyoku Hirenaga’s major ability in shikai is to reflect the physical properties of the world around it. This allows Iroka to defend against attacks by turning them against her aggressors. It also goes a step beyond just reflecting the properties of things; it can also reflect harmful statuses affecting people. A lot of care must be taken while using this particular ability; while it is quite powerful, it can be a double-edged sword. One other aspect of Shugyoku Hirenaga's ability to reflect things is that it confers on her a unique ability which she calls 'Kyōten (Specular Heaven)'. Kyōten allows her to create white reiatsu 'shrouds' on her hands, for 25 Reiatsu per shroud. When these 'shrouds' come in contact with any substance, they 'reflect' said substance, gaining the elemental properties of that substance. This allows Iroka a great deal of versatility, and is especially useful when fighting against opponents with elemental weaknesses. Note that while substances without particularly combat-useful qualities may have their characteristics reflected, the elemental aura will have no particular characteristics. Iroka can reflect two different elemental auras at a time, one on each hand. Also, if a shroud has reflected any substance, in order to have it reflect another substance, it must be dispelled and recast. When in Shikai, the shrouds resemble koi heads. If used in Bankai, the shrouds resemble dragon heads.
Bankai Overall Ability: Nyoihoju Kōryu goes beyond merely reflecting concepts in the external world; it now begins to reflect concepts from deep within Iroka’s soul, allowing her to project her perceptions of the world onto others, the same way a mirror reflects a beam of light, projecting it onto another surface. Its specular theme also becomes more obvious, as the shards of glass floating behind Iroka can be constructed and deconstructed for offense and defense, creating shards which will cut as easily as slivers of a broken glass mirror, or resist damage like a bronze mirror.
Zanpakutō Techniques:
{Zanmai no Hansha}Technique Name: Zanmai no Hansha [Samadhi Reflection]
Technique Type: Shikai/Bankai [Defensive]
Technique Reiatsu Cost: 100 Reiatsu/250 Reiatsu
Technique Description and Effects: Iroka grips her zanpakutō firmly and begins to spin one of the heads. An opalescent shield forms in front of the circular path of the spinning weapon, about 3 meters in radius. The shield is ethereal, and will phase through solid constructs without harming them in any way. Physical attacks will also pass through the shield. Its true usefulness lies in the fact that any spiritual-based attack launched at it is reflected back at the caster, just as a mirror reflects light, although the power of the reflected attack is reduced by 50%. Close-range attacks that have a 'spiritual component' e.g. a flame-infused punch, will have their damage reflected, as they use spiritual energy, and the Zanmai no Hansha reflects spiritual energy of any kind. It can only reflect attacks of an OS up to Iroka's own, or below.
In Bankai, Iroka does not require to hold her zanpakutō to perform the Zanmai no Hansha; instead the floating mirror behind her reconstructs in front of her, and can grow as large as 20 x 20 meters in area, though Iroka can manipulate the size to be smaller, if she so desires. In Bankai, it can reflect attacks of an OS up to 1.5x Iroka's own.
Technique Drawbacks: Only one shield can be made at a time. It is useless against physical attacks. In Bankai, Gōmetsu Rin'nebari cannot be used while it is effective. The shield may only last for 2 posts before the reiatsu cost is needed to be repaid to recast it.
Technique Type: Shikai/Bankai [Defensive]
Technique Reiatsu Cost: 100 Reiatsu/250 Reiatsu
Technique Description and Effects: Iroka grips her zanpakutō firmly and begins to spin one of the heads. An opalescent shield forms in front of the circular path of the spinning weapon, about 3 meters in radius. The shield is ethereal, and will phase through solid constructs without harming them in any way. Physical attacks will also pass through the shield. Its true usefulness lies in the fact that any spiritual-based attack launched at it is reflected back at the caster, just as a mirror reflects light, although the power of the reflected attack is reduced by 50%. Close-range attacks that have a 'spiritual component' e.g. a flame-infused punch, will have their damage reflected, as they use spiritual energy, and the Zanmai no Hansha reflects spiritual energy of any kind. It can only reflect attacks of an OS up to Iroka's own, or below.
In Bankai, Iroka does not require to hold her zanpakutō to perform the Zanmai no Hansha; instead the floating mirror behind her reconstructs in front of her, and can grow as large as 20 x 20 meters in area, though Iroka can manipulate the size to be smaller, if she so desires. In Bankai, it can reflect attacks of an OS up to 1.5x Iroka's own.
Technique Drawbacks: Only one shield can be made at a time. It is useless against physical attacks. In Bankai, Gōmetsu Rin'nebari cannot be used while it is effective. The shield may only last for 2 posts before the reiatsu cost is needed to be repaid to recast it.
{Han’nyagake}Technique Name: Han’nyagake [Prajna Shard]
Technique Type: Shikai/Bankai [Healing]
Technique Reiatsu Cost: Variable/Variable
Technique Description and Effects: Iroka creates auras on the heads of her meteor hammer, firing any of them like a projectile. Their range is 100 meters in Shikai. The aura projectile takes the shape of a spectral koi fish, travels in a straight line, and flies at a speed equal to Iroka’s spiritual OS. On striking a target, it heals them of damage equivalent to how much Reiatsu she invested into the projectile. 50 Reiatsu will heal all minor injuries (scratches, minor lacerations, scrapes). 100 Reiatsu will heal up to two major lacerations, or moderate burn/corrosive damage.
In Bankai, the range of this technique is 250 meters, and it can target up to five different targets, the released aura transforming into five dragon heads which fly at any five targets of Iroka’s choice. These projectiles fly in curved trajectories, and they change direction to pursue their targets. They fly at a speed equal to Iroka’s OS. Bankai can heal according to Shikai Reiatsu costs, but as expected, it will heal a lot more, if more Reiatsu is used. 200 Reiatsu will heal a severed body extremity, like a hand or foot., or a single compound fracture. 400 Reiatsu will heal major injuries such as internal bleeding and organ failure. At its limit, 800 Reiatsu is strong enough to restore a full severed limb.
Technique Drawbacks: An enemy who intercepts this technique will be healed if hit; it does not discriminate.
Technique Type: Shikai/Bankai [Healing]
Technique Reiatsu Cost: Variable/Variable
Technique Description and Effects: Iroka creates auras on the heads of her meteor hammer, firing any of them like a projectile. Their range is 100 meters in Shikai. The aura projectile takes the shape of a spectral koi fish, travels in a straight line, and flies at a speed equal to Iroka’s spiritual OS. On striking a target, it heals them of damage equivalent to how much Reiatsu she invested into the projectile. 50 Reiatsu will heal all minor injuries (scratches, minor lacerations, scrapes). 100 Reiatsu will heal up to two major lacerations, or moderate burn/corrosive damage.
In Bankai, the range of this technique is 250 meters, and it can target up to five different targets, the released aura transforming into five dragon heads which fly at any five targets of Iroka’s choice. These projectiles fly in curved trajectories, and they change direction to pursue their targets. They fly at a speed equal to Iroka’s OS. Bankai can heal according to Shikai Reiatsu costs, but as expected, it will heal a lot more, if more Reiatsu is used. 200 Reiatsu will heal a severed body extremity, like a hand or foot., or a single compound fracture. 400 Reiatsu will heal major injuries such as internal bleeding and organ failure. At its limit, 800 Reiatsu is strong enough to restore a full severed limb.
Technique Drawbacks: An enemy who intercepts this technique will be healed if hit; it does not discriminate.
{Niōmonkyō}Technique Name: Niōmonkyō [Two Kings Gate Mirror]
Technique Type: Shikai/Bankai [Defensive]
Technique Reiatsu Cost: 100 Reiatsu/250 Reiatsu
Technique Description and Effects: Iroka creates an aura on any of the the heads of her meteor hammer, releasing it to form a large barrier in the shape of a spectral Buddhist temple gate. It is meant to defend against attacks, and will take damage equal to 1.5x Iroka’s OS before shattering. Its dimensions are 3 x 3 meters sq.
In Bankai, the shield’s durability will be increased to damage equal to 2x Iroka’s OS, and is 20 x 20 meters sq in dimension.
Technique Drawbacks: No offensive capabilities whatsoever. Only one shield can be made at a time.
Technique Type: Shikai/Bankai [Defensive]
Technique Reiatsu Cost: 100 Reiatsu/250 Reiatsu
Technique Description and Effects: Iroka creates an aura on any of the the heads of her meteor hammer, releasing it to form a large barrier in the shape of a spectral Buddhist temple gate. It is meant to defend against attacks, and will take damage equal to 1.5x Iroka’s OS before shattering. Its dimensions are 3 x 3 meters sq.
In Bankai, the shield’s durability will be increased to damage equal to 2x Iroka’s OS, and is 20 x 20 meters sq in dimension.
Technique Drawbacks: No offensive capabilities whatsoever. Only one shield can be made at a time.
{Bosatsu Kyōzō}Technique Name: Bosatsu Kyōzō [Bodhisattva Mirror Image]
Technique Type: Shikai/Bankai [Support/Indirect Offensive]
Technique Reiatsu Cost: 300 Reiatsu/600 Reiatsu
Technique Description and Effects: This technique is something of an endgame. On activating the technique, Iroka begins to glow, after which she touches a target, and wounds and negative statuses they had received in the space of 24 hours disappear, as she ‘absorbs’ their condition into her zanpakutō world. The glow around her then transfers to her zanpakutō, at which point she attacks another target. Targets struck by any of the glowing heads of her meteor hammer will find that the damage absorbed by Iroka will appear on them, albeit ‘reflected’; in other words as a mirror image. For example, if Iroka uses Bosatsu Kyōzō on a friend with a broken right leg and a punctured left lung, transferring reflecting their injury on an enemy will give said enemy a broken left leg and punctured right lung. In Shikai, Iroka can only absorb and reflect a single major injury, while in Bankai, she can reflect all injuries present at a given time.
Note that opponents with a higher OS than Iroka can resist the damage being reflected on them, in which case they will take no damage at all. In Shikai, an opponent with an OS higher than hers will automatically 'reject' the damage reflection. In Bankai, opponent OS has to be at least 50% higher than Iroka's (e.e. Opponent's 150 OS to Iroka's 100 OS) to reject reflection. Note that for every class above Iroka, the OS stat requirement is reduced by 10%, while for every class below Iroka, the stat requirement is increased by 10%. For instance, an opponent two classes higher than Iroka will only need their OS to be 30% higher than Iroka's to reject the damage, but an opponent two classes lower will need theirs to be 70% higher than Iroka's.
Fortunately for Iroka, even if an opponent rejects the damage reflection, she will not take damage, as long as she has been able to reflect the damage she absorbed into her zanpakutō world. While it seems to be such a powerful technique, its downsides make it a technique Iroka will only ever use as a last resort.
Technique Drawbacks: First drawback is its relatively high cost compared to other techniques of its level. Also, if Iroka cannot reflect damage on anyone after 2 post cycles, the damage will be reflected on her instead. It cannot be used on the dead, or on inanimate objects. Also, it loses the power to harm opponents of considerably higher power levels than Iroka. Finally, it is a relatively short-range technique; Iroka needs to hit an opponent with any of the heads of her weapon to reflect the damage.
Technique Type: Shikai/Bankai [Support/Indirect Offensive]
Technique Reiatsu Cost: 300 Reiatsu/600 Reiatsu
Technique Description and Effects: This technique is something of an endgame. On activating the technique, Iroka begins to glow, after which she touches a target, and wounds and negative statuses they had received in the space of 24 hours disappear, as she ‘absorbs’ their condition into her zanpakutō world. The glow around her then transfers to her zanpakutō, at which point she attacks another target. Targets struck by any of the glowing heads of her meteor hammer will find that the damage absorbed by Iroka will appear on them, albeit ‘reflected’; in other words as a mirror image. For example, if Iroka uses Bosatsu Kyōzō on a friend with a broken right leg and a punctured left lung, transferring reflecting their injury on an enemy will give said enemy a broken left leg and punctured right lung. In Shikai, Iroka can only absorb and reflect a single major injury, while in Bankai, she can reflect all injuries present at a given time.
Note that opponents with a higher OS than Iroka can resist the damage being reflected on them, in which case they will take no damage at all. In Shikai, an opponent with an OS higher than hers will automatically 'reject' the damage reflection. In Bankai, opponent OS has to be at least 50% higher than Iroka's (e.e. Opponent's 150 OS to Iroka's 100 OS) to reject reflection. Note that for every class above Iroka, the OS stat requirement is reduced by 10%, while for every class below Iroka, the stat requirement is increased by 10%. For instance, an opponent two classes higher than Iroka will only need their OS to be 30% higher than Iroka's to reject the damage, but an opponent two classes lower will need theirs to be 70% higher than Iroka's.
Fortunately for Iroka, even if an opponent rejects the damage reflection, she will not take damage, as long as she has been able to reflect the damage she absorbed into her zanpakutō world. While it seems to be such a powerful technique, its downsides make it a technique Iroka will only ever use as a last resort.
Technique Drawbacks: First drawback is its relatively high cost compared to other techniques of its level. Also, if Iroka cannot reflect damage on anyone after 2 post cycles, the damage will be reflected on her instead. It cannot be used on the dead, or on inanimate objects. Also, it loses the power to harm opponents of considerably higher power levels than Iroka. Finally, it is a relatively short-range technique; Iroka needs to hit an opponent with any of the heads of her weapon to reflect the damage.
{Gōmetsu Rin’nebari}Technique Name: Gōmetsu Rin’nebari [Samsara Extinction Glass]
Technique Type: Bankai [Offensive]
Technique Reiatsu Cost: 200 Reiatsu
Technique Description and Effects: Iroka's only true offensive zanpakutō ability. On calling the name of this technique, the giant fractured mirror behind Iroka splits into multiple shards, which are sent flying in various directions. On striking targets, the shards explode, resulting in an explosion that will cause splash damage to anyone close by. This technique has three forms, which are simply the three ways in which the glass shards may fly:
Gōmetsu Rin’nebari: Tessenka [Samsara Extinction Glass: Clematis]: The shards are fired out in all directions at the same time. This variant is good for attacking enemies that surround. Due to the fact that the shards are spread apart, the explosions caused by each individual shard is just about 5 meters in radius, and their furthest range from Iroka is 20 meters, creating a ring of explosion around her (as the shards explode at the same time), with a blast buffer zone of 10 meters radius with Iroka in the center of it.
Gōmetsu Rin’nebari: Shobu [Samsara Extinction Glass: Iris]: The shards are fired in one direction. They fly close to each other, and so when they strike a target/targets in their flight path, the resultant explosion covers an area of about 50 meters.
Gōmetsu Rin’nebari: Renge [Samsara Extinction Glass: Lotus]: The shards are fired to converge on a single target from all directions. The resultant explosion is the biggest, covering an area of about 100 meters.
Technique Drawbacks: Gōmetsu Rin’nebari: Tessenka has a ring formation to its explosion, meaning that the splash damage can be easily avoided by getting into the buffer zone within the ring. Also, if an enemy is struck by a shard before the flying shards have left the 10 meter radius zone, they will explode nonetheless, destroying the safe buffer zone. Gōmetsu Rin’nebari: Renge is a bit slower than its other variants to set up, allowing for alert enemies to quickly get out of the way before the shards converge on their position. This technique cannot distinguish friend from foe, and even Iroka can get damaged by the splash damage, if she gets caught in it. Also, it requires a two-post cycle cooldown, during which neither it, Zanmai no Hansha, nor Nehan Mangekyō can be used.
Technique Type: Bankai [Offensive]
Technique Reiatsu Cost: 200 Reiatsu
Technique Description and Effects: Iroka's only true offensive zanpakutō ability. On calling the name of this technique, the giant fractured mirror behind Iroka splits into multiple shards, which are sent flying in various directions. On striking targets, the shards explode, resulting in an explosion that will cause splash damage to anyone close by. This technique has three forms, which are simply the three ways in which the glass shards may fly:
Gōmetsu Rin’nebari: Tessenka [Samsara Extinction Glass: Clematis]: The shards are fired out in all directions at the same time. This variant is good for attacking enemies that surround. Due to the fact that the shards are spread apart, the explosions caused by each individual shard is just about 5 meters in radius, and their furthest range from Iroka is 20 meters, creating a ring of explosion around her (as the shards explode at the same time), with a blast buffer zone of 10 meters radius with Iroka in the center of it.
Gōmetsu Rin’nebari: Shobu [Samsara Extinction Glass: Iris]: The shards are fired in one direction. They fly close to each other, and so when they strike a target/targets in their flight path, the resultant explosion covers an area of about 50 meters.
Gōmetsu Rin’nebari: Renge [Samsara Extinction Glass: Lotus]: The shards are fired to converge on a single target from all directions. The resultant explosion is the biggest, covering an area of about 100 meters.
Technique Drawbacks: Gōmetsu Rin’nebari: Tessenka has a ring formation to its explosion, meaning that the splash damage can be easily avoided by getting into the buffer zone within the ring. Also, if an enemy is struck by a shard before the flying shards have left the 10 meter radius zone, they will explode nonetheless, destroying the safe buffer zone. Gōmetsu Rin’nebari: Renge is a bit slower than its other variants to set up, allowing for alert enemies to quickly get out of the way before the shards converge on their position. This technique cannot distinguish friend from foe, and even Iroka can get damaged by the splash damage, if she gets caught in it. Also, it requires a two-post cycle cooldown, during which neither it, Zanmai no Hansha, nor Nehan Mangekyō can be used.
{Nehan Mangekyō}Technique Name: Nehan Mangekyō [Nirvana Kaleidoscope]
Technique Type: Bankai [Healing]
Technique Reiatsu Cost: 200 Reiatsu per post
Technique Description and Effects: This technique reflects Iroka’s soul itself on the world. To perform it, she calls the name of the technique, and the giant fractured mirror behind her explodes into dust. A perimeter of 100 x 100 meters is created, demarcated by glowing golden spectral images of giant prayer wheels lining the area. The prayer wheels begin to spin, and the power of Nehan Mangekyō takes hold on all enemies within the perimeter. It reflects Iroka's resolve to protect her loved ones onto the world, creating a perimeter in which any and everyone within is quickly healed of their wounds and negative statuses. However, there is a catch: everyone within the perimeter will find their reiatsu costs doubled. They will also lose 150 Reiatsu per post due to their bodies healing automatically. Whether anyone is on the brink of death or in perfect health, all are subject to these effects. Just like everyone else within the perimeter, Iroka will heal as well.
Technique Drawbacks: Standing outside the perimeter will prevent one from undergoing this technique’s effects. The prayer wheels are spectral and intangible, so they do not prevent anyone from escaping the perimeter. Also, Iroka cannot use Gōmetsu Rin’nebari or Zanmai no Hansha when this technique is activated.
Technique Type: Bankai [Healing]
Technique Reiatsu Cost: 200 Reiatsu per post
Technique Description and Effects: This technique reflects Iroka’s soul itself on the world. To perform it, she calls the name of the technique, and the giant fractured mirror behind her explodes into dust. A perimeter of 100 x 100 meters is created, demarcated by glowing golden spectral images of giant prayer wheels lining the area. The prayer wheels begin to spin, and the power of Nehan Mangekyō takes hold on all enemies within the perimeter. It reflects Iroka's resolve to protect her loved ones onto the world, creating a perimeter in which any and everyone within is quickly healed of their wounds and negative statuses. However, there is a catch: everyone within the perimeter will find their reiatsu costs doubled. They will also lose 150 Reiatsu per post due to their bodies healing automatically. Whether anyone is on the brink of death or in perfect health, all are subject to these effects. Just like everyone else within the perimeter, Iroka will heal as well.
Technique Drawbacks: Standing outside the perimeter will prevent one from undergoing this technique’s effects. The prayer wheels are spectral and intangible, so they do not prevent anyone from escaping the perimeter. Also, Iroka cannot use Gōmetsu Rin’nebari or Zanmai no Hansha when this technique is activated.
Mask Appearance:
Like the average hollow mask, Iroka’s Vizard facial covering is predominantly white, although it does have a generous helping of dark orange streaks in wide, symmetrical arrangements, as well as a few simple, but notable features that set it apart from the normal hollow mask. For starters, the upper frontal area of the mask is circular and bulges slightly forward, and there is a sort of cleft at the very top of it, which resembles a shaft connected to a circle. This gives the top of the hollow mask an almost horned appearance. The eyes of the mask are almost slits, and there is also a small hole at the mouth area. The mask does not seem to be designed to be able to open its mouth, but there are two protrusions on either side of the upper jaw reminiscent of fangs.
As for the dark orange streaks, the most notable are six curved streaks which emanate from a similarly colored ring, showing a sort of solar design. The two lowest ‘rays’ run into the eyeholes. Two wide stripes run along the side of the mask on its cheeks, beneath the circular upper frontal area of the mask, and terminate on the upper jaw and coloring the fang-like protrusions, while a final stripe originates at the mouth area and runs down to the lower jaw of the mask.
Inner Hollow: Iroka’s inner hollow is named Mushoku, which means “colorless”, a rather fitting name for the hollow, seeing as the two kanji which make up Iroka’s name literally mean color and scent, respectively. Mushoku stands at a height of about 5’7, clearly taller than the physical form of the soul in which she resides. However, her shoes, whose heels are about eight inches, increase her height even past six feet. Mushoku looks nothing like Iroka. Her hair, although quite long like the Shinigami’s, is jet black in color. Her form is less voluptuous, although no less feminine, and her features are somewhat sharper and more austere than Iroka’s. Her favorite expressions are a mocking smile, or a disdainful sneer, which, coupled with her white skin and beautiful, yet cruel face, give her a rather striking mien.
Mushoku has her hair done in an extremely elaborate style, with a lot of traditional kanzashi (hair ornaments) adorning it. As has been mentioned earlier, her skin is white, not very light like a human with little to no melanin, but stark white, like snow, or chalk. She is dressed like an ancient oiran, or Japanese courtesan, with a long, elaborate, flowing, layered kimono, with many patterns of different sorts. As per tradition, her obi is done up and tied at the front as opposed to the back in the case of obi worn by women who were not oiran. On her feet are the traditional koma-geta sandals, with 8-inch long heels. Also, like a traditional oiran, she does not wear socks. Her face is heavily made up like those of traditional oiran, and she has her fingernails and toenails well-manicured and painted as well. One thing that must be noted about Mushoku is that despite her flamboyance, she appears to be in a monochromatic greyscale. Everything about her is devoid of color, from the make-up on her face, to the elaborate designs on her kimono, to the nail varnish on her fingernails and toenails. They are all just in various shades of grey. Except her eyes. Mushoku’s irises are golden, on black sclera, like a traditional hollow’s. Those are the only things about her that have any color.
As is to be expected, Mushoku and Iroka are just as dissimilar in behavior as they are in appearance. Mushoku is extremely violent, with a mean streak the length of Rukongai. She seems to take great pleasure in the suffering of others, and ironically does not like killing, because why kill someone when you can keep them suffering? For Mushoku, killing an opponent is a mercy that no one deserves, and so she loves torturing those she can lay her hands on, while drawing out their pain and suffering and refraining from giving a killing blow. She is also a very experienced liar, and has no qualms about betraying anyone and everyone, just so she can have an advantage, or even for laughs, seeing as she takes delight in making others suffer. The only thing Mushoku has in common with Iroka is the possession of a very sharp mind, although Mushoku is of the opinion that Iroka’s intelligence is lost on her. She seems to enjoy watching Iroka suffer, but is quite unwilling that the girl should die, seeing as Mushoku herself will be extinguished if this happens. Also, Iroka being alive presents many opportunities for the young woman to suffer, occasions that Mushoku looks forward to seeing with relish. Why Mushoku hates Iroka so, the latter does not know, but it may just be that Mushoku hates everyone just as vehemently.
Other Techniques:
Bakudō
{Bakudo #9: Horin}Technique Name: [Bakudo #9: Horin (Disintegrating Circle)]
Class: [7]
Technique Type: Kido
Technique Element: [None]
Technique Description and Effects:
The second Bakudo of this number, Horin causes an orange tendril of condensed spiritual energy to spiral out of the caster's fingertips and attempt to enclose around and bind an enemy. These tendrils, once having bound a target, can merge to connect the targets.
How to use technique:
The caster needs to point at the victim, not unlike casting any regular Hado.
Incantation and Effect:
If used, the incantation allows a 10% increase in reiatsu strength. (I.E. A reiatsu strength valued at 100 would instead be worth 110.) ("Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini!! Look upon yourself with horror and tear out your own throat!")
Class: [7]
Technique Type: Kido
Technique Element: [None]
Technique Description and Effects:
The second Bakudo of this number, Horin causes an orange tendril of condensed spiritual energy to spiral out of the caster's fingertips and attempt to enclose around and bind an enemy. These tendrils, once having bound a target, can merge to connect the targets.
How to use technique:
The caster needs to point at the victim, not unlike casting any regular Hado.
Incantation and Effect:
If used, the incantation allows a 10% increase in reiatsu strength. (I.E. A reiatsu strength valued at 100 would instead be worth 110.) ("Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini!! Look upon yourself with horror and tear out your own throat!")
Hadō
{Hado #4: Byakurai}Technique Name: Hado #4: Byakurai (Pale Lightning)
Class: 7
Technique Type: Kido
Technique Element: Thunder
Technique Description and Effects: The user fires a concentrated, powerful lightning bolt from their finger that pierces a target.
How to use technique: Speak the spell and point hand at the target.
Incantation and Effect: "Arise god of thunder! Awake mother of storms! Unleash the lighting on the sinners!" When the incantation is spoken, the Reiatsu Strength used to determine the power of Byakurai is increased by 10%. (i.e. 100 Reiatsu Strength is treated as 110.)
Class: 7
Technique Type: Kido
Technique Element: Thunder
Technique Description and Effects: The user fires a concentrated, powerful lightning bolt from their finger that pierces a target.
How to use technique: Speak the spell and point hand at the target.
Incantation and Effect: "Arise god of thunder! Awake mother of storms! Unleash the lighting on the sinners!" When the incantation is spoken, the Reiatsu Strength used to determine the power of Byakurai is increased by 10%. (i.e. 100 Reiatsu Strength is treated as 110.)
Kaidō
{Kaido #1: Shindan Suru}Technique Name: [Kaido #1: Shindan Suru (Diagnose)]
Class: 7
Technique Type: Kido
Technique Element: None
Technique Description and Effects:
Shindan Suru is a moderately weak kidou that is only good for diagnosing a persons injuries. The range at which you can use this kidou is as far as you can stretch your arms. To use this kidou you must be able to touch the person you are using it on.
How to use technique:
To use this kidou you must be touching the person you are using it on as before mentioned. First you place both your hands over the sternum of the person's chest from either the left or right of the body. Your hands will be placed side by side on the sternum. Then the user gathers reiatsu to their palms and focuses. They then send the reiatsu through the person's body like tendrils to search for any injuries both external and internal.
Technique Drawbacks
The drawbacks of this kidou are that you leave yourself completely vulnerable, because you have to focus on maintaining the reiatsu tendrils. Also this technique has absolutely no battle capabilities.
Incantation and Effect:
Extends the range at which this technique can be used by five meters. ("I see your Achilles heel, your tie to the realm of nether! I see it, and I know how to cut it away!")
Made By: [Ryoga Karibe]
Class: 7
Technique Type: Kido
Technique Element: None
Technique Description and Effects:
Shindan Suru is a moderately weak kidou that is only good for diagnosing a persons injuries. The range at which you can use this kidou is as far as you can stretch your arms. To use this kidou you must be able to touch the person you are using it on.
How to use technique:
To use this kidou you must be touching the person you are using it on as before mentioned. First you place both your hands over the sternum of the person's chest from either the left or right of the body. Your hands will be placed side by side on the sternum. Then the user gathers reiatsu to their palms and focuses. They then send the reiatsu through the person's body like tendrils to search for any injuries both external and internal.
Technique Drawbacks
The drawbacks of this kidou are that you leave yourself completely vulnerable, because you have to focus on maintaining the reiatsu tendrils. Also this technique has absolutely no battle capabilities.
Incantation and Effect:
Extends the range at which this technique can be used by five meters. ("I see your Achilles heel, your tie to the realm of nether! I see it, and I know how to cut it away!")
Made By: [Ryoga Karibe]
Hohō
{Shunpo}Technique Name: Shunpo (Flash Steps)
Class: 7
Technique Type: Kidō
Technique Element: None
Technique Description and Effects:
A movement technique that allows the user to move faster than the eye can follow. The focal point that determines the basis of this technique is speed. As speed is the main point of the technique, the method is best characterized by how fast one can get from Point A to Point B in the least amount of steps. Training and skill are what determines how fast a user of Shunpo can move. Those of little skill in the technique or those who haven't used it for an extended amount of time would obviously be out of practice, causing those individuals to be considerably slower. This requires the use of more steps to move the same distance and become tired more easily in a shorter amount of time. A single step magnifies speed for that step by ten times. Shunpo uses fifty Reiatsu per step. This one is automatically learned in the academy. All Shinigami know this when created. This technique does not take up a technique slot.
How to use technique:
Focus of Reishi around the feet area and launch off into a single blurring step. It is not unlike teleportation in appearance, but it is simply extremely fast movement. It is often used to gain an edge in a single moment of combat or to dodge incoming attacks.
Class: 7
Technique Type: Kidō
Technique Element: None
Technique Description and Effects:
A movement technique that allows the user to move faster than the eye can follow. The focal point that determines the basis of this technique is speed. As speed is the main point of the technique, the method is best characterized by how fast one can get from Point A to Point B in the least amount of steps. Training and skill are what determines how fast a user of Shunpo can move. Those of little skill in the technique or those who haven't used it for an extended amount of time would obviously be out of practice, causing those individuals to be considerably slower. This requires the use of more steps to move the same distance and become tired more easily in a shorter amount of time. A single step magnifies speed for that step by ten times. Shunpo uses fifty Reiatsu per step. This one is automatically learned in the academy. All Shinigami know this when created. This technique does not take up a technique slot.
How to use technique:
Focus of Reishi around the feet area and launch off into a single blurring step. It is not unlike teleportation in appearance, but it is simply extremely fast movement. It is often used to gain an edge in a single moment of combat or to dodge incoming attacks.
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-History-
Birthplace: Secret Lab, Eastern Rukongai District 80
Current Residence: Seireitei
Memorable Figures:
Kimyō: Iroka’s ‘parent’; Iroka refers to them as her mother. An unscrupulous, manipulative and sociopathic soul, who is the subject of many self-inflicted body modifications. Former member of Seireitei’s Research and Development Institute before being thrown into the Nest of Maggots, where they currently reside. Iroka cares a lot about them and visits them from time to time to give a progress report. If they care for Iroka, they do not show it.
Kajiya: A deceased member of Seireitei’s Research and Development Institute. He performed illegal experiments on Rukongai citizens, in order to design Iroka’s AI mind core. He was subsequently cannibalized by Kimyō.
History:
{The Life and Times of Munemasa Iroka}It will be difficult to recount the history of Munemasa Iroka without first talking about the life and times of a bunch of high-aspiring members of Seireitei. It all began when some members of the Shinigami R & D felt inspired to increase the life expectancy of the Gotei 13 by creating a prototype foot soldier. The idea was to build some sort of reiatsu-utilizing robot, which, given the proper funding and research, would eventually be able to be produced en masse to bolster the Gotei’s numbers, and would serve as the ground forces of the Gotei, as well as cannon fodder, if necessary. The whole idea was initially to create a soulless machine; if it had no soul, it could not be considered to be living, and as such would have about the same rights as a shield or piece of armor. The project’s working title was Ichidaime Rōdō Kara (First Generation Labor Shell), which was a short but precise description of what the researchers wanted to achieve: a prototype shell (soulless machine) which could do work for the Gotei. The two researchers in charge of this project were called Kajiya, an expert in artificial intelligence and software-hardware interfacing, and Kimyō, an expert in body modification and prosthetic creation. The project was abbreviated to IRŌKA (Ichidaime Rōdō Kara), but was nicknamed “IROKA”, seeing as ‘irōka’ doesn’t particularly mean anything, but ‘iroka’, a very similarly sounding word, means ‘loveliness’, and it did feel like a convenient pun.
There were a number of setbacks as the two researchers worked on Project IROKA, but the major setback was a growing rift between Kajiya and Kimyō; Kajiya claimed that he had developed a very advanced AI (artificial intelligence), his masterpiece, but nothing Kimyō created was excellent enough to match the superior processing power of the AI, causing the hardware into which the AI was installed to burn out quickly. Kimyō however countered that Kajiya’s AI was full of bugs and glitches, and its quirks made it very difficult to create a hardware that could easily maintain the ridiculous power consumption the AI needed for data processing and functionality. Kimyō proposed a solution: Kajiya would give them his blueprints of his AI, so that Kimyō could use said blueprints to design a shell that would properly match such a quirky artificial intelligence. The other option, which seemed easier, was to ‘imbue’ the AI with a soul, but that had a lot of ethical issues. In any case, Kajiya refused both suggestions; he felt that if Kimyō got their hands on the blueprints of his AI, they would poach his greatest invention and claim the glory of designing it, and the second suggestion would not fly, because it would probably involve souls as test subjects, and it was likely that said souls might suffer irreparable damage or demise as a result of these tests. This was because Shinigami were spiritual beings composed of more or less spirit, unlike humans, who possessed a physical body which was animated by a spirit. To imbue the AI with a soul would mean creating a spirit body for the AI, and one which had to be natural, seeing as all artificial spirit bodies created so far had quickly burnt out, unable to keep up with the AI's processing power. This meant that the ideal body for the IROKA AI would be a soul, whose mind had been deleted, so that the AI could serve as the mind for this body. This essentially meant that whoever the body belonged to would technically be erased from existence, with the AI filling their space in the death-rebirth cycle. Thus, Project IROKA was put on hold.
Kimyō was not idle, anyway. Secretly gaining access to Kajiya’s files, they discovered a dark secret: the reason Kajiya’s AI was so advanced was because, against the agreed stipulation banning the use of souls, he had stolen test subjects from the furthest districts of Rukongai, where people disappearing would not draw too much attention, and had created his AI using their thought patterns, neurological systems and soul essences, at the expense of the lives of these test subjects. Kajiya had been initially unwilling to descend to such unscrupulous practices, but his desire to outshine Kimyō, and the unhealthy curiosity that so frequently plagued the mad-scientist type got the better part of him, and he had excused himself with the explanation that what he was doing was not only for the furthering of science, but for the intended betterment of Soul Society. However, he had known that he would have been arrested, if his secret was exposed. And with the secret no longer his alone, it was only a matter of time before word of his misdeeds came to light. Shortly after Kimyō's discovery, information regarding Kajiya’s unethical practices mysteriously reached the Gotei top brass, and Kajiya suddenly and mysteriously disappeared. He had, however, left behind a note explaining that he was leaving all his research work to Kimyō, to continue, and, if possible, finish the IROKA Project. Initially, the Gotei top brass wanted to discontinue the project, but Kimyō convinced them that the project had never intended to involve souls as test subjects, and they would ensure that further research remained ethical, with reports being given frequently to update the higher ups on the progress of the project. Having all the resources available to the IROKA Project, Kimyō began researching on building the perfect body for the IROKA AI. But in the end, they experienced the same problem: nothing strictly artificial could house such an advanced intellectual entity. So Kimyō decided to attempt to fit the AI into an artificially created organic body, while hopefully skirting the questionable areas of using souls as test subjects. It ended in failure, with the AI running the body's metabolic processes into a catabolic ruination. Thus, Kimyō eventually resorted to doing what had destroyed Kajiya: dabbling in the use of soul test subjects. For this reason, secretly, Kimyo moved their most important equipment into the furthest reaches of Eastern Rukongai, where it would be more difficult for Seireitei to keep tabs on their activities.
Like Kajiya, Kimyō stole people from the more dangerous and lawless Rukongai districts, and secretly used them for their research, to discover that the IROKA AI would be able to function autonomously, but only within a modified ‘soul-shell’, which required the body, and thus life, of a soul as raw material. And for the last time, Kimyō stole a number of test subjects from Rukongai to use in the attempt to create an optimal soul-shell, deciding to target conventionally attractive individuals, as a tribute to the pun that gave the project its name. However, it was difficult to fully smuggle that number of test subjects surreptitiously to their secret lab. Those who knew of Kimyō's activities were bribed or coerced into silence, and nothing was revealed. Essentially though, the IROKA Project was finally successful, and the result was obviously designated IROKA. Still, it was clear that if Kimyō revealed the results of the IROKA project, it would soon be realized that souls had been illegally used in this research. As such, for about ten years, Kimyō studied and subjected the IROKA to further experiments and tests, trying to see if they could reverse-engineer the IROKA into an absolutely synthetic model. Kimyō also forced the IROKA to undergo grueling combat and mental training, with the suspicion that instincts and memories could probably be transferred to the automatons to be developed, and the IROKA would be the perfect template for that, allowing soldiers with considerable fighting prowess to be mass-produced at once, if successful.
But projects on such a grand scale cannot be kept secret for long, and Kimyō’s frequent clandestine trips into Rukongai were soon taken note of, and began to be secretly monitored. Suspicious actions were reported, and investigations were surreptitiously launched from Seirietei. Past events of people getting missing without traces were brought to light once more, and people who had been bribed or threatened into silence were discovered, and made to reveal whatever information they had about the disappearances of people and the relationship these events had with Kimyō and their experiments. And for the second time, word reached the Gotei 13 administration of the project’s unethical continuation. Kimyō was arrested, all resources and assets allocated to the IROKA project were confiscated, and the project was suspended indefinitely. On going through Kimyō’s files, it was revealed that they had secretly killed Kajiya and, in a technique which married science and forbidden kidō, had extracted Kajiya's brain, and ingested it, in order to gain the information he had possessed of the IROKA Project, and then had disposed of his body, while creating a distracting front that Kajiya had either vanished to avoid being arrested by the Gotei, or had committed suicide. For that crime, as well as the wanton abuse of lives the Gotei 13 was meant to protect, Kimyō was stripped of their Shinigami status, had their Saketsu and Hakusui pierced in order to rid them absolutely of their spiritual power, and thrown indefinitely into the Nest of Maggots.
As for the IROKA Project, all files and equipment were commanded to be destroyed, so that the project could not be replicated. However, those who went to carry out the directives encountered an unfamiliar individual within Kimyō’s secret lab, who referred to herself as Kimyō’s daughter. It was realized that Project IROKA had actually been successful, although it had long deviated from its original purpose to build a ‘soulless’ machine. For all intents and purposes, this ‘daughter’ seemed to be a fully-functional Shinigami, although she did seem to differ from the run-of-the-mill Shinigami in terms of genetic makeup, as well as mental and physical function. It seemed rather unethical to destroy the Ichidaime Rōdō Kara, and so she was assigned to be placed in the Shin’ō Academy to evaluate her ability to become a Shinigami, and what possible ways by which she could lend her service to Soul Society. As she had no recollection of her past before awakening in Kimyō’s secret lab, she was named Iroka, after the project. Most of the Project IROKA data had already been destroyed by Kimyō, on realizing they would be soon arrested, and information concerning the test subjects was practically all but non-existent, save a single name: ‘Munemasa'. That was unanimously chosen to be used as the surname of the new Shinigami, who was enrolled in the Academy. Even though she had an initially rocky assimilation into the Shin'ō Academy, Iroka managed to hold her own in her studies, and eventually proved that she does have what it takes to join the ranks of the Gotei 13. Despite her aptitude for science, Iroka was placed in the 4th Division, as she had also revealed a natural talent for the healing arts, and that Division seemed relatively understaffed. While she had hoped to be placed in the 12th, Iroka decided to accept her posting, as she realized that her work in the 4th would not particularly affect her research negatively, and she would be allowed to carry out her research, as long as she performed her 4th Division duties effectively.
And thus came Munemasa Iroka to be. Based on Kimyō’s not-wholly-successful attempt to reprogram of the IROKA AI, she deeply loves, and is quite loyal to, Kimyō, whom she refers to as ‘parent’, often seeking the latter’s validation. However, despite Kimyō having gained Kajiya’s knowledge of the IROKA AI though somewhat unpalatable means, they did not eventually gain mastery of the knowledge of the AI to Kajiya’s level, and their attempt to reprogram the AI to a more ‘satisfactory’ state instead created a few errors and glitches where Kajiya’s previous programming, and Kimyō’s present tampering, clash. As such, the result was a rather unstable (in Kimyō's evaluation) individual, whom Kimyō sees as defective and imperfect, and thinks very poorly of her. Still, Iroka hopes that one day, she will achieve enough to gain her parent’s respect, and perhaps that of the whole of Seireitei as well. While Iroka fears that her posting to the 4th Division would make her journey to prominence longer, due to the amount of relegation that Division faces from the rest of the Squads of the Gotei 13, she has armed herself with her sheer determination to succeed and her willingness to meet adversity, and will meet every difficulty in her path as resolutely as she can, with the hopes that her desperate striving would be met with success. But as to whether her best will be enough, only time would be the judge of that....
There were a number of setbacks as the two researchers worked on Project IROKA, but the major setback was a growing rift between Kajiya and Kimyō; Kajiya claimed that he had developed a very advanced AI (artificial intelligence), his masterpiece, but nothing Kimyō created was excellent enough to match the superior processing power of the AI, causing the hardware into which the AI was installed to burn out quickly. Kimyō however countered that Kajiya’s AI was full of bugs and glitches, and its quirks made it very difficult to create a hardware that could easily maintain the ridiculous power consumption the AI needed for data processing and functionality. Kimyō proposed a solution: Kajiya would give them his blueprints of his AI, so that Kimyō could use said blueprints to design a shell that would properly match such a quirky artificial intelligence. The other option, which seemed easier, was to ‘imbue’ the AI with a soul, but that had a lot of ethical issues. In any case, Kajiya refused both suggestions; he felt that if Kimyō got their hands on the blueprints of his AI, they would poach his greatest invention and claim the glory of designing it, and the second suggestion would not fly, because it would probably involve souls as test subjects, and it was likely that said souls might suffer irreparable damage or demise as a result of these tests. This was because Shinigami were spiritual beings composed of more or less spirit, unlike humans, who possessed a physical body which was animated by a spirit. To imbue the AI with a soul would mean creating a spirit body for the AI, and one which had to be natural, seeing as all artificial spirit bodies created so far had quickly burnt out, unable to keep up with the AI's processing power. This meant that the ideal body for the IROKA AI would be a soul, whose mind had been deleted, so that the AI could serve as the mind for this body. This essentially meant that whoever the body belonged to would technically be erased from existence, with the AI filling their space in the death-rebirth cycle. Thus, Project IROKA was put on hold.
Kimyō was not idle, anyway. Secretly gaining access to Kajiya’s files, they discovered a dark secret: the reason Kajiya’s AI was so advanced was because, against the agreed stipulation banning the use of souls, he had stolen test subjects from the furthest districts of Rukongai, where people disappearing would not draw too much attention, and had created his AI using their thought patterns, neurological systems and soul essences, at the expense of the lives of these test subjects. Kajiya had been initially unwilling to descend to such unscrupulous practices, but his desire to outshine Kimyō, and the unhealthy curiosity that so frequently plagued the mad-scientist type got the better part of him, and he had excused himself with the explanation that what he was doing was not only for the furthering of science, but for the intended betterment of Soul Society. However, he had known that he would have been arrested, if his secret was exposed. And with the secret no longer his alone, it was only a matter of time before word of his misdeeds came to light. Shortly after Kimyō's discovery, information regarding Kajiya’s unethical practices mysteriously reached the Gotei top brass, and Kajiya suddenly and mysteriously disappeared. He had, however, left behind a note explaining that he was leaving all his research work to Kimyō, to continue, and, if possible, finish the IROKA Project. Initially, the Gotei top brass wanted to discontinue the project, but Kimyō convinced them that the project had never intended to involve souls as test subjects, and they would ensure that further research remained ethical, with reports being given frequently to update the higher ups on the progress of the project. Having all the resources available to the IROKA Project, Kimyō began researching on building the perfect body for the IROKA AI. But in the end, they experienced the same problem: nothing strictly artificial could house such an advanced intellectual entity. So Kimyō decided to attempt to fit the AI into an artificially created organic body, while hopefully skirting the questionable areas of using souls as test subjects. It ended in failure, with the AI running the body's metabolic processes into a catabolic ruination. Thus, Kimyō eventually resorted to doing what had destroyed Kajiya: dabbling in the use of soul test subjects. For this reason, secretly, Kimyo moved their most important equipment into the furthest reaches of Eastern Rukongai, where it would be more difficult for Seireitei to keep tabs on their activities.
Like Kajiya, Kimyō stole people from the more dangerous and lawless Rukongai districts, and secretly used them for their research, to discover that the IROKA AI would be able to function autonomously, but only within a modified ‘soul-shell’, which required the body, and thus life, of a soul as raw material. And for the last time, Kimyō stole a number of test subjects from Rukongai to use in the attempt to create an optimal soul-shell, deciding to target conventionally attractive individuals, as a tribute to the pun that gave the project its name. However, it was difficult to fully smuggle that number of test subjects surreptitiously to their secret lab. Those who knew of Kimyō's activities were bribed or coerced into silence, and nothing was revealed. Essentially though, the IROKA Project was finally successful, and the result was obviously designated IROKA. Still, it was clear that if Kimyō revealed the results of the IROKA project, it would soon be realized that souls had been illegally used in this research. As such, for about ten years, Kimyō studied and subjected the IROKA to further experiments and tests, trying to see if they could reverse-engineer the IROKA into an absolutely synthetic model. Kimyō also forced the IROKA to undergo grueling combat and mental training, with the suspicion that instincts and memories could probably be transferred to the automatons to be developed, and the IROKA would be the perfect template for that, allowing soldiers with considerable fighting prowess to be mass-produced at once, if successful.
But projects on such a grand scale cannot be kept secret for long, and Kimyō’s frequent clandestine trips into Rukongai were soon taken note of, and began to be secretly monitored. Suspicious actions were reported, and investigations were surreptitiously launched from Seirietei. Past events of people getting missing without traces were brought to light once more, and people who had been bribed or threatened into silence were discovered, and made to reveal whatever information they had about the disappearances of people and the relationship these events had with Kimyō and their experiments. And for the second time, word reached the Gotei 13 administration of the project’s unethical continuation. Kimyō was arrested, all resources and assets allocated to the IROKA project were confiscated, and the project was suspended indefinitely. On going through Kimyō’s files, it was revealed that they had secretly killed Kajiya and, in a technique which married science and forbidden kidō, had extracted Kajiya's brain, and ingested it, in order to gain the information he had possessed of the IROKA Project, and then had disposed of his body, while creating a distracting front that Kajiya had either vanished to avoid being arrested by the Gotei, or had committed suicide. For that crime, as well as the wanton abuse of lives the Gotei 13 was meant to protect, Kimyō was stripped of their Shinigami status, had their Saketsu and Hakusui pierced in order to rid them absolutely of their spiritual power, and thrown indefinitely into the Nest of Maggots.
As for the IROKA Project, all files and equipment were commanded to be destroyed, so that the project could not be replicated. However, those who went to carry out the directives encountered an unfamiliar individual within Kimyō’s secret lab, who referred to herself as Kimyō’s daughter. It was realized that Project IROKA had actually been successful, although it had long deviated from its original purpose to build a ‘soulless’ machine. For all intents and purposes, this ‘daughter’ seemed to be a fully-functional Shinigami, although she did seem to differ from the run-of-the-mill Shinigami in terms of genetic makeup, as well as mental and physical function. It seemed rather unethical to destroy the Ichidaime Rōdō Kara, and so she was assigned to be placed in the Shin’ō Academy to evaluate her ability to become a Shinigami, and what possible ways by which she could lend her service to Soul Society. As she had no recollection of her past before awakening in Kimyō’s secret lab, she was named Iroka, after the project. Most of the Project IROKA data had already been destroyed by Kimyō, on realizing they would be soon arrested, and information concerning the test subjects was practically all but non-existent, save a single name: ‘Munemasa'. That was unanimously chosen to be used as the surname of the new Shinigami, who was enrolled in the Academy. Even though she had an initially rocky assimilation into the Shin'ō Academy, Iroka managed to hold her own in her studies, and eventually proved that she does have what it takes to join the ranks of the Gotei 13. Despite her aptitude for science, Iroka was placed in the 4th Division, as she had also revealed a natural talent for the healing arts, and that Division seemed relatively understaffed. While she had hoped to be placed in the 12th, Iroka decided to accept her posting, as she realized that her work in the 4th would not particularly affect her research negatively, and she would be allowed to carry out her research, as long as she performed her 4th Division duties effectively.
And thus came Munemasa Iroka to be. Based on Kimyō’s not-wholly-successful attempt to reprogram of the IROKA AI, she deeply loves, and is quite loyal to, Kimyō, whom she refers to as ‘parent’, often seeking the latter’s validation. However, despite Kimyō having gained Kajiya’s knowledge of the IROKA AI though somewhat unpalatable means, they did not eventually gain mastery of the knowledge of the AI to Kajiya’s level, and their attempt to reprogram the AI to a more ‘satisfactory’ state instead created a few errors and glitches where Kajiya’s previous programming, and Kimyō’s present tampering, clash. As such, the result was a rather unstable (in Kimyō's evaluation) individual, whom Kimyō sees as defective and imperfect, and thinks very poorly of her. Still, Iroka hopes that one day, she will achieve enough to gain her parent’s respect, and perhaps that of the whole of Seireitei as well. While Iroka fears that her posting to the 4th Division would make her journey to prominence longer, due to the amount of relegation that Division faces from the rest of the Squads of the Gotei 13, she has armed herself with her sheer determination to succeed and her willingness to meet adversity, and will meet every difficulty in her path as resolutely as she can, with the hopes that her desperate striving would be met with success. But as to whether her best will be enough, only time would be the judge of that....
