Kyousuke Tsukimiya
月宮 京助

Kyousuke wears his uniform with a certain dignified grace, keeping it unmodified and in immaculate shape. He realizes that it is a largely functional garment, but sees no reason to let it fall apart from misuse. His posture gives him an air of humble nobility and calm, and while he does his best to blend in with his surroundings and keep a generally low profile, he possesses an indescribable charisma. This charisma mingles with the unavoidable feeling that there is something not quite right, something that sets him apart from most. The way he smiles, talks, carries himself, hide his true nature, and while most are oblivious to what lurks underneath, some feel—on an almost unconscious level—that there is something amiss.

When in a gigai, Kyousuke defaults to a crisp, untucked dress shirt and unfaded jeans.

Race: Shinigami

Rank: 8th Division Officer

Reiatsu: 200

Strength: 50

Defense: 70

Speed: 50

Spirit: 30

Unarmed Combat Proficiency: 3

Hōhō Proficiency: 2

Weapon Combat Proficiency: 2

Hadō Proficiency: 1

Bakudō Proficiency: 2

Weapon: Kannaduki (神無月): Godless Moon
Okoridase, Kannaduki (怒り出せ 神無月): Fly into a rage, Kannaduki
In her sealed state, Kannaduki takes the shape of a wakizashi. A relatively short, unadorned 40 cm blade joins the 25 cm sky-blue hilt, a black plum flower-shaped tsuba separating the two. Kannaduki's appearance in Shikai remains unchanged. Kyousuke keeps Kannaduki in a black, full-length katana scabbard tucked into his belt, creating the illusion that Kannaduki is longer than she truly is. As a result of this, Kyousuke draws deceptively fast and is able to engage at shorter distances and in closer confines than a standard-length katana would allow, using a blend of swordplay and unarmed fighting techniques to defeat his opponents.

Spirit and Inner World:
Kannaduki takes the form of a petite young woman wearing traditional shrine maiden's attire—red hakama and a white gi. Her long, dark hair flows down her back, accentuating her pale skin and framing her delicate Asian features. Her seemingly supernatural allure is strengthened by her eyes, eyes that glow with the soft color of embers in a fire, and hint of playful mirth.

Though short, Kannaduki has more than her fair share of personality; she will switch at the blink of an eye from playful teasing to towering rage, and back again equally quickly. Her emotions are uncontrollable, unpredictable, and varied. Hotheaded, brash, quick to judge and quick to forget, she is the polar opposite of Kyousuke. Kannaduki is the fire to Kyousuke's ice.

The  manifestation of Kannaduki's inner world is ever-changing in a strangely appropriate sense—it is always a desaturized reflection of the world around her. Lush greenery and blue skies give way to innumerable shades of grey, light and dark become sharp whites and deep blacks. Only Kannaduki herself and the enormous moon that hangs lazily in the sky, mirroring the color of Kannaduki's eyes, remains chromatic. Kyousuke finds himself simultaneously ill at ease and oddly relaxed while visiting the inner world of his zanpakutō, as if he can't decide which is more appropriate.

Ability 1:
Kannaduki's ability when released is the ability to manipulate dimensional space in close proximity to the sword, creating openings to parallel dimensions and worlds.

Technique 1:
Kannaduki's primary technique uses the dimensional openings to multiply the amount of concurrent strikes by "pulling out" duplicates. This can be used to strengthen single attacks (multiple, simultaneous strikes in the same place) or perform attacks that come from multiple directions simultaneously. The ability can also be used to defend. Raises Assault comparison tier by 1 at the cost of 20 Stamina if used to attack, 10 Stamina if used to defend.

Personality Traits:
Though he acts amiable on the surface, Kyousuke displays certain sociopathic tendencies (one could argue that his amiability is one such tendency) and a detachment from the emotional issues that plague others. He observes, analyzes, processes and calculates, but intervenes very seldomly. When under duress, he will remain calm, seldom letting overzealous emotions intervene as he methodically attempts to overcome whatever situation he finds himself in.

His superficial charm, relaxed attitude and urbane mannerisms are jarring opposites to his true self; brutal efficiency, deception, and manipulation define his character. While on friendly terms with almost everyone he meets, people will often get the impression that Kyousuke is not all that he seems, for better or for worse.

The concept of morality, while not entirely unfamiliar, is rarely applied when Kyousuke decides his actions—he will let the tangible much moreso than the intangible influence his decisions. As an example, a life without purpose or potential is worth much less to Kyousuke than a life that has not yet outlived its usefulness.

Due to extensive field work outside Soul Society, Kyousuke has become very accustomed to modern human life around the world, and as such displays a varied multicultural knowledge. North American, European, and East Asian cultures have all left their mark.

History:
Born in Osaka in 1917, Kyousuke grew up as an only child in the modest Tsukimiya household, inheriting very little besides his father's quick reflexes and physical fitness and his mother's considerable intellect. Kensuke, his father, a soldier and veteran of the Russo-Japanese war, urged Kyousuke to join the military, whereas Aya, his mother, wanted him to take advantage of his intelligence and study at higher institutions of learning. Though initially at odds with one another, Kyousuke's parents finally agreed to send him to university, which he attended until the outbreak of the second Sino-Japanese war in 1937. Fueled by nationalistic pride and influenced by the redoubled efforts by both his father and mother to persuade Kyousuke into joining the military, Kyousuke enlisted in the Navy, attending Officer's School and graduating as a junior naval officer.

During the following years, Kyousuke saw his fair share of combat and soon caught the attention of his superior officers, who noted that Kyousuke displayed the potential for higher command. Unwilling to let such a promising asset go to waste, he was stationed on the aircraft carrier Soryu in the beginning of 1942, where he participated in a number of successful operations. During the Soryu's final battle at Midway in 1942, Kyousuke suffered major injuries, and was thrown overboard as explosions rocked the carrier from within. In the azure waters of the Pacific Ocean, Kyousuke Tsukimiya drowned.

---

As Kyousuke's soul transcended the physical world and began to manifest itself in Soul Society, his memories from life sloughed off him like the skin of a snake. He awoke in the eighth district of Rukongai, where he stayed for several years passing the days by performing odd jobs, playing the part of a drifter in a loose sense of the word. He was by no means unhappy, but he was bored. Nothing kept his attention for long, he would learn how to do something new and then grow tired of doing it. He did everything from plowing fields and building houses to calligraphy and acting as a bodyguard, but nothing could keep him interested once the initial thrill of learning it faded. The shinigami, uncommon as they were, at first seemed mysterious, and the first time he laid eyes on Seireitei he was awestruck by the grandeur of it. Kyousuke started asking around after that: what were the shinigami, why did they exist, who became shinigami, how did they become shinigami? His questions were met with a mix of derision and adoration, it became pretty clear that the opinion of the black-clad mysteries varied hugely. The decision for Kyousuke was not difficult; it seemed an inevitability that he would don the black kimono and hakama. The alternative, to remain in Rukongai, was not something he felt particularly interested in doing. He sought out the Academy, and just as he did when he was alive, he enlisted.

The Academy welcomed him with open arms, and just as in life, he showed promise. Though the strength of his soul was far from remarkable, he did indeed possess a higher than average spiritual pressure making him an excellent candidate for becoming a Shinigami. His training proceeded without a hitch, and his studious nature helped him quickly advance through the programme. His skill with a sword was lackluster at first, but during his second year, when his true zanpakutō manifested itself, he quickly developed a rough foundation of what would become a custom fighting style to suit the considerably shorter blade. A brutal mix of hand-to-hand combat, deception and swordplay, Kyousuke finally began to win his sparring matches, often resulting in heavy bruising on both sides and plenty of cuts to go around. Kyousuke's mobility was exceptional, and he would use this to his advantage to close the distance, putting himself as close to his opponent as possible, where he would unleash a barrage of slashes, stabs, punches and kicks.

Although Kyousuke was apt at combat, his Kidō skills were found to be severely lacking. Only the simplest of spells were available to him, and he became prone to forgetting the incantations of the Kidō numbered past the early thirties. This seemed contrary to his otherwise bookish attitude. Perhaps the problem was that he had not quite adjusted to the idea of "magic", and his practical mind preferred the intrinsic values of hard evidence and information to fantasy mumbo-jumbo. Whatever the case, his interest in Kido plummeted. This, however, did not sit well with the Academy staff. Urged on by his instructors to redouble his efforts in Kidō, he applied himself once more and pushed the doubts to the back of his mind. To his own surprise he found that, with work, he was proficient at the binding arts, vastly preferring them to their destructive counterparts.

It wasn't until after his graduation and subsequent placement in the Second Division that Kyousuke perfected his rather unique fighting style with the aid of several of his seniors over the course of several decades. He retained the three core ideas of mobility, brutal efficiency and trickery, but shifted the focus from being heavily offensive to maintaining a much more balanced harmony between offense and defense. He had realized that a using a such a short blade combined with an array of hand-to-hand techniques wasn't quite suited for overly offensive engagements, and in truth left him at something of a disadvantage unless he was able to stay close enough to his opponent. Because of this, he decided to forfeit some of his offense in favor of more defense, balancing the style. The primary strength of the style shifted from offense and raw speed to defense, unpredictability, and adaptivity. Naturally, it was weak at everything from middle to long range, but coupled with clever use of binding arts and flash stepping, Kyousuke found that he could cover his weaknesses sufficiently.

Kyousuke learned much from his time in the Second Division—including the name of his zanpakutō—but Kyousuke's own combat style made him question the prospect of continuing a career in the Second, leaving him with the feeling that it didn't quite suit the duties he performed anymore. The Second Division's mantra of killing quickly and quietly wasn't something Kyousuke felt he could adhere to anymore with his new style, even factoring in Kannaduki's released abilities. While still an able fighter, he fought to live more than to kill. Unwilling to transfer to any of the combat divisions, Kyousuke applied for a transfer to the Eighth.

The skills he had acquired as a member of the Second Division served Kyousuke extremely well in the Eighth Division, and he found that his style no longer posed an inconvenience. Often deployed as a field agent for reconnaissance or intelligence gathering purposes, Kyousuke took to the Eighth Division like a fish to water; his analytical mind a valuable asset and ability to remain undetected and survive prized skills. Behind the walls of the Records and Reconnaissance facility, he could drop his facade and his behavior wouldn't garner a second glance—it seemed as though many of the members of his new Division displayed a certain sociopathic element. His detachment was nothing special, certainly nothing out of the ordinary amongst his new colleagues. He couldn't have been more happy with the arrangement: he was offered the opportunity to keep his swordsmanship keen while performing field work, he often met with members of various other divisions, accompanying them on missions as an intelligence officer, and he was given a safe haven where he could be himself.