Post by Knowledge on Jun 21, 2015 5:07:37 GMT -5
Truth—I think it was Truth—came up with the term Royal, and as far as his ideas go, that was easily one of the worst. It implies value in a way it should not. Call us Transcendentals. That’s what we are.
Transcendental
Ask no Questions, Hear no Lies
Height & Weight: 180 cm, 75 kg
Hair & Eye Colour: Coal-black hair, cut fairly short in a practical, nondescript sort of way. Eyes like a clear night sky, faint twinkling of stars included.
What do you mean I skipped the important bits? My name? Not important. As long as I know yours—and I can assure you, I do—we’ll get along just fine. Age? Older than I look. Probably a lot older. And let’s be honest, at this point, does my gender even matter? Suffice to say, I’m Knowledge. Pleased to meet you.
Appearance
Irregular eyes notwithstanding, Knowledge’s physical traits are in and of themselves unremarkable—his 180 centimeters isn’t far from the average, and weighing in at around 75 kilograms, he’s neither fat nor skinny. In broad terms, he’s nothing out of the ordinary: a fairly young man, late twenties or early thirties with dark hair, dark eyes, and forgettable northeast Asian features typically bearing some form of knowing half-smile.
As with all things, however, the specifics are far more interesting. His build is not entirely unlike that of a predatory feline: lithe, graceful, deceptively strong and slightly intimidating. With a straight back and confident stride, Knowledge gives the distinct impression of having a background in the military, as he carries himself like a senior officer—relaxed yet proper, with an economy of movement most readily associated with those in the martial profession. If there’s one thing that’s abundantly clear, however, it’s that Knowledge not only possesses the body of a fighter, he possesses the skills of one, too. There’s a certain fluidity and intent in the way he moves, a balance and harmony that suggests that Knowledge knows exactly what his body is capable of.
The myriad scars that cover his body seem to reinforce that conclusion: it’s very clear from the gashes across his shoulders, back, chest, arms, and legs that at some point in his past, Knowledge lived a life fraught with violence. One scar in particular stands out among the rest, an angry burn on his left shoulder the sheer size of which dwarfs the others. Though quite severe in appearance, Knowledge shows no signs of his marred skin troubling him in any way.
His sense of dress is tasteful and refined, though always worn with a carefree attitude: dark suit pants—dark, yes, but never black—and a white dress shirt form the basis of his wardrobe, and he complements it with well-polished black leather oxfords, a discreet belt, and a penchant for rolling up his sleeves to just under the elbow. Very rarely does he wear a suit jacket, and he outright refuses to wear a tie. With the exception of a plain sterling silver band on his left ring finger, Knowledge wears no jewelry whatsoever. He endeavors to remain clean-shaven, but every once in a while he just can’t seem to find the time.
Though he speaks every language ever conceived by man, Knowledge finds himself conversing in either Japanese or English a great deal more often than not. His Japanese, of course, contains a faint touch of melodic Osaka-ben, and his English is marked by an impeccable Oxford accent.
Personality
Given the nature of evolution, reaching its pinnacle implies some form of perfection. Perfection, in the classical sense, means without fault, but Knowledge is far from faultless. Rather, he has come to terms with his faults, embraced them, and ultimately accepted them as integral components of his persona.
He’s a humble man at his core, and possibly the most naturally inquisitive being in existence, but as much as he loves to mingle with lesser beings, he takes great care to not become overly involved with their lives. Too much meddling has its risks and there are none as intimately familiar with them as Knowledge. A bookish man himself, he likened the common man to a single letter in a vast, unending library—carrying very little meaning on its own, but when combined with others, meaning and purpose begin to emerge. When letters are changed, new meaning is formed. With enough changes, you’ll have rewritten the entire library.
But even on their own, people change. That’s what sentient creatures do best. Their ideas change, their beliefs change, but above all, they constantly learn. They constantly forget. Sometimes it is Knowledge that influences them, sometimes not. The thing to take away from it all is that because of the risks, Knowledge doesn’t invoke his Concept without a very good reason, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t a little capricious, a little fickle, and very mischievous. Slow to anger, quick to laugh is the best way to describe him, really, given that he has very little baggage weighing him down, despite shouldering the collective burden of mankind. Maybe it’s the fact that he sees it for what it really is that leaves him so carefree: from where he’s standing, it’s all progress.
There is no central morality that guides Knowledge’s actions, only a goal—amorphous and in flux as it may be. He’s always working towards something, guiding humanity forward by subtly poking and prodding from behind. Given his physique, it’s no big surprise that he prefers a somewhat hands-on approach to his work, but he’s not always the most honest—
Oh, don’t look at me like that. I do what’s necessary, alright? Truth is far too rigid, and nobody can ever get a straight answer out of Wish. With me, you get something concrete. Sometimes, yes, I use underhanded means, but I’m the first to admit it to anyone who asks, and let’s face it: the ends always justify the means. The world would be an awfully boring place if Truth and Knowledge were the same thing. Since they’re not, I’m well within my rights to lie and cheat every once in a while. It’s all for the greater good, right? In any case, I’m always very polite, and I know that counts for something, right?
His good manners and pleasant demeanor make Knowledge very easy to engage in conversation, and anyone who does typically stands to take something away from the interaction. Though his attitude constantly borders on smug, the edge is somewhat dulled by his sense of humor and easy smile, making it far less grating.
Subjective Reality
Concept: Knowledge
Form
In Transcendent Form, Knowledge appears to turn into a hole in the fabric of reality, all his features replaced with a vast starscape contained in his silhouette. Though he remains three-dimensional, he cannot be perceived as such. His voice takes on an oddly penetrating quality, as if it were bypassing the listener’s ears and instead being interpreted directly by their minds.
Power
Ah, here’s where it starts to get tricky. Knowledge is a fairly abstract term, so I’m going to have to try to explain it to you. Think of it like this: Truth is objective reality, right? And Wish, that’s potential reality. Knowledge, in the same sense, is subjective reality. I simply control what people know and don’t know. You see, like Wish, Knowledge is intensely personal—it differs greatly from person to person, and it’s a deciding factor in how they approach life. At the same time, Knowledge is tangible, like Truth. People are certain of what they know, regardless of how accurate that knowledge is. And I do mean know, not think or suspect. Knowledge is far, far deeper than both of those. Knowledge is the bedrock upon which a man lays his life’s foundations. Put at its simplest, Knowledge is the past, Truth is the present, and Wish is the future. That’s what I meant before: I come from behind to push people in the right direction. It’s all very poetic, isn’t it?
Knowledge controls just that: Knowledge. His power doesn’t allow him to change the world around him directly, instead it offers the ability to perceive and influence the minds of those who inhabit it. The sway he holds over others’ Knowledge is so absolute that he can effortlessly add to, remove, or rewrite even their most intense experiences, their most treasured memories—and in so doing, steer them in a certain direction. Despite this, Knowledge prefers to use his ability indirectly, often choosing to speak candidly with someone or provide some form of evidence. He doesn’t take the decision to directly alter someone’s mind lightly, though this is mostly because he sees it as an easy way of ending a game he enjoys playing. Because the Concept of Knowledge is so at odds with the idea of death, Knowledge cannot use his Concept to kill.
The Past
For someone so interested in the past, Knowledge is surprisingly ignorant of his own—he remembers nothing about himself from before he achieved Transcendence, having paid for his evolution with his memories.
However, this doesn’t alter history, it merely obscures it. Knowledge may not be the same man he once was, but the world still remembers him as Kyousuke Tsukimiya.
Kyousuke Tsukimiya was born in 1917 to Kensuke and Aya Tsukimiya, an Osakan couple of average means. From his father, a former soldier and veteran of the Russo-Japanese war of 1905, Kyousuke inherited good health and a talent for martial arts, and from his mother, a brilliant but humble woman, Kyousuke inherited a quick mind and modest disposition. His early life, like that of so many others during the 1920s and early 1930s in Japan, was characterized by an increasing pressure from the government to make their generation one that would build upon the successes of the Empire. The fervor of nationalistic pride seeped into every aspect of life, and Kyousuke, young and impressionable, was compelled to submit to it.
Though his parents were were initially at odds with what they wanted their son to do with his life—Kensuke felt he would do well in the military, just as Aya felt he would be an excellent academic—they eventually agreed to send Kyousuke to university. He enjoyed his university life, in no small part due to the fact that he had found his great love when he was 16 years old. Yozora Hanazawa was her name, and just as Kyousuke’s parents had done at that age, the two of them adored one another. They planned to marry once Kyousuke graduated, but the outbreak of the second Sino-Japanese war in 1937 put a damper on those plans. Old habits died hard, and Kyousuke’s desire to give his life for the glory of the Empire had not diminished. When even his parents seemed to think him joining the military was a good idea, Kyousuke promised Yozora he would return as soon as he could, and enlisted in the Imperial Japanese Navy, who deemed him a suitable candidate for the Naval Academy. He was sent to Etajima for training.
By 1941, Kyousuke had graduated and been promoted to ensign. His superiors very quickly noticed his potential for higher command, and in early 1942, following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Kyousuke was assigned to the IJN aircraft carrier Soryū in recognition of his flawless service record thus far.
In August of the same year, however, Kyousuke came to realize that his reassignment had been a curse in disguise. He took part in the Soryū’s final battle at Midway, and was thrown overboard as the carrier was targeted by American dive bombers. In the azure waters of the Pacific Ocean, Kyousuke Tsukimiya drowned.
Death, however, was not the end. It simply marked the transition from appetizer to entrée.
Kyousuke soon found himself in Soul Society, no memory of his life among the living surviving the transition. He took up residence in the eighth district of Rukongai and spent his days filling the time in whatever way he could—some days he was a bartender, others a bodyguard. This lasted some years, until the first time Kyousuke laid eyes on Seireitei. He had encountered Shinigami before, of course, but the grandeur of Seireitei struck him with awe and filled him with curiosity. As if a flame had been ignited in his soul, Kyousuke began asking around after that. What were the Shinigami? Why did they exist? Who became Shinigami, and how?
The opinion on Shinigami among the residents of Rukongai was varied; some viewed them with derision, others with adoration, others still with fear. For Kyousuke, the choice was easy. Rather than remain in Rukongai simply waiting out his days, he took a step into the unknown. Just as he had done in 1937, Kyousuke entered the Academy.
Though his spiritual strength was far from remarkable, Kyousuke was an ideal candidate, and showed significant promise. Academically, he performed well: Kyousuke found the theoretical subjects engaging and displayed a clear aptitude, but the range of his results in the practical subjects was slightly more varied. Almost instantly, he found himself at the top of the class in unarmed combat, though his swordplay was lacking—he found the Asauchi he had been issued long and cumbersome, and while it was a graceful weapon, he found he could not wield it effectively. His proficiency in the Demon Arts was abysmal, but he managed to scrape by, barely managing a passing grade throughout the course. Deep down, Kyousuke suspected that his difficulty was rooted in his adherence to rationality—Kidō did not conform to his world view, and so he made no efforts to improve.
Initially, it seemed as though his interest in zanjutsu would soon follow suit. When his Zanpakutō finally manifested itself in its true form, however, Kyousuke’s swordplay improved drastically. Finding the short blade much more comfortable, Kyousuke was able to develop a rough foundation of what would he would eventually turn into a lethal mix of brutal unarmed combat, deception, and swordplay. He progressed through the curriculum at breakneck speed, and when graduation loomed and the different divisions of the Gotei 6 began looking for recruits, Kyousuke found himself drawn to the Fourth Division, its dedication to higher learning resonating with Kyousuke. The Academy instructors felt his expertise was better used elsewhere, and when Kyousuke finally earned his black uniform, he was assigned to the Second Division.
The Second Division was a learning experience for Kyousuke, and ultimately one that was far more valuable than his time in the Academy. His assignments aided him in the perfection of his personal combat style, and it saw a shift from an attitude of hyperaggression to one that balanced offense and defense in order to mitigate the dangers posed by the close proximity to his enemies he had to maintain. The style evolved into one that focused on adaptivity and on exploiting the unfamiliarity and unpredictability of Kyousuke’s actions.
The Second itself fit Kyousuke like a glove—his reticence was well-suited to the work they did, given that they were expected to do as they were told and not ask too many questions. He fit in, yes, but never really felt like he belonged there. He ended up meeting Kasumi Suzumei for the first time during his time in the Second, though they didn’t grow close until much, much later. The division culture being what it was kept everything shrouded in secrecy and suspicion, and it made making friends difficult—not that Kyousuke cared much.
Kyousuke’s Zanpakutō, Kannaduki, first made contact during a barely-completed assignment in South America. With all his team members dead, Kyousuke was left to fend for himself. In the critical moment, she revealed herself to him, and upon his successful return to Seireitei, he was promoted to Fifth Seat in recognition of his actions, given that his attainment of Shikai qualified him for the position.
As a seated officer, Kyousuke came into contact with the upper echelons of the division a great deal more often, and though he rarely met the captain, Zozo Hurley, he very quickly became infatuated with the lieutenant at the time, Satine Purpureo. Knowing not only that it was highly inappropriate for a lieutenant to engage in a relationship with a junior officer, but also that Satine was already in a relationship with another man, Kyousuke loved her from afar, never letting his feelings for her show. When Satine was then promoted to captain, Kyousuke realized he had nothing left to gain from remaining in the Second Division, and put in for a transfer to the Fourth Division.
He had been a Shinigami for just over thirty years when he entered the Fourth, and he soon realized that this was his true home, of that there was no doubt. Not only did he feel perfectly at ease in his new surroundings, he felt that he had a great deal more in common with the members of the Fourth Division than he had with those of the Second. Despite this, he had some trouble letting go of the past, and for some time acted as a go-between for the intelligence war that Satine and the Fourth Division captain, Aros Ryokai, waged. Kyousuke had been permitted to keep his former rank, and he was very soon making not only a name for himself within the division, but also friends: Mitsutaka Karahashi was one such friend, a young researcher who Kyousuke felt displayed a great deal of promise. In time, Kyousuke was promoted—first to Third Seat, and eventually to lieutenant. News of his promotion reached him amidst a crisis. Three captains had simply disappeared from Seireitei: Satine Purpureo of the Second, Aros Ryokai of the Fourth, and Artix von Creg of the Fifth. Kyousuke was just as shocked as everyone else, but he had little time to worry, as there had already been a new captain assigned to the Fourth.
Xyliver Iruna had, up until that point, been a member of the Third Division, and it became painfully obvious that he was not suited for command already on his first day as captain. Kyousuke’s new captain was a man filled with suspicion, and needless to say, the two of them didn’t get along. As lieutenant, however, Kyousuke was able to peek at the files his former captain had left behind, and he was shocked to find that Ryokai had subjected both Satine and von Creg—both volunteers—to some sort of biological weapon. There was very little documentation as far as results went, and what little information Kyousuke could scrape together was vague and ambiguous. Despite his best efforts, he was unable to piece together what had happened to the three missing captains.
Luckily, Iruna’s tenure as captain was a short one, and Kyousuke, the highest ranking member of the Fourth Division, was instructed by the Central 46 to take the reigns as acting captain until a new captain could be appointed. His new duties exposed him to many of the inner workings of the Gotei 6 and Seireitei at large, and he found himself disillusioned by what he saw. The bureaucracy the Gotei found itself mired in was a result of incompetence and power struggles within the Central 46, and creeping disease that was the Shinigami superiority complex was slowly strangling all development among the people of Seireitei. The Shinigami had hit a self-imposed ceiling.
Alongside all this, a darker side of Kyousuke’s psyche had awakened and begun to splinter off from the rest, and when he finally decided to abandon Seireitei to its own devices and defect, he was simply pouring fuel on the fire.
Kyousuke feigned his death, destroying an entire city block in the process, and something within him drew him to Hueco Mundo. It was there he met Riko Suzumei and Tova Diabló—the former a being who seemed to have advanced beyond rudimentary labels such as Arrancar, and the latter a man whose mind so closely mirrored Kyousuke’s own that it was unsettling. Though he didn’t have many friends in Hueco Mundo, the ones he did have were more than enough. In Tova, Kyousuke found not only a powerful ally, but an intellectual equal, and together they worked to unravel the mystery of transcendence.
Their conclusion was thus: if Arrancar were Menos who had torn off their masks, then surely a Shinigami equivalent existed. They stipulated that if a movement in one direction necessitated the removal of a mask, then a movement from the opposite direction necessitated the addition of one, and Kyousuke offered himself as a volunteer to broach this new ground. Tova, armed with years of Hollowification research, initiated a process in which the minuscule fragment that had broken free from Kyousuke’s mind grew into a complete being within his soul—an inner Hollow.
As Tova battled with the Hollow that controlled Kyousuke’s body, Kyousuke himself battled the Hollow in the recesses of his own mind, fighting to maintain not only his sanity, but his sense of self. Kyousuke was having considerable difficulties, just as Tova was reaching a point where the only remaining option would be to kill Kyousuke. In the nick of time, however, the realization that Kyousuke didn’t have to fight the Hollow alone would prove to be what made him victorious. With his body returning to normal after having subjugated his inner Hollow, Hazuki, Kyousuke had attained a new, forbidden power: a Hollow mask on a Shinigami. Tova dubbed the phenomenon Vaizard, and Kyousuke was the first of his kind to ever exist.
Weeks passed, and on one of his usual forays into the world of the living, Kyousuke encountered Kasumi Suzumei, who had eventually taken Satine’s place as captain of the Second Division some time after Kyousuke’s defection. Kyousuke was shocked to find that she was suffering from the same thing he himself had suffered, and that in time, she would also have to fight to retain her sanity lest it be taken from her by a deeper, darker, part of her mind. He warned her of what was to come, urging her to break ties with Seireitei, knowing that she would be hunted if she chose to stay. Together, they feigned Kasumi’s death as Kyousuke had done months before, and Kyousuke could do little but admit that he felt a certain kinship with this girl.
Not long after that, Kyousuke found himself experimenting more and more with the abilities of his Zanpakutō, and by chance, he stumbled across a place where time flowed differently than he was used to. In what felt like a week for Kyousuke, nine months had passed for everyone else. By then, Kasumi had become a Vaizard, and Tova had become something else entirely. Kyousuke felt very much like a stranger in a strange land, and when news Kasumi’s sudden and unexpected death reached him, Kyousuke was shaken to his core. He was apprehended by a small Second Division task force and taken back to Seireitei for questioning, after which he was sent to the infamous Special Detention Facility—the Maggot’s Nest.
Days of solitary confinement within the deepest circles of that hell stretched into weeks, months, and finally years. With his sword confiscated, there was no company but his inner Hollow, and Kyousuke began to explore the darker side of his psyche. His relationship with Hazuki strengthened despite every day being a struggle to remain in control. It was all that kept him from losing his mind in that place, and a newfound realization that Hazuki, together with Kannaduki, were just as much part of Kyousuke as his own self-image was, led Kyousuke to a deeper understanding of the inner workings of his fractured soul. United he may have stood, but remaining divided as they were now—with each facet possessing a persona of their own—was far from falling.
Shortly his two-year anniversary of incarceration, Kyousuke was visited for the first time, but not by anyone he knew. Outside the Nest, a series of events had transpired which had led to Gilgamesh, an alternate persona of a member of the Shinigami nobility, taking control of Seireitei. His visitor was the very same: Gilgamesh, the self-styled Golden King of Soul Society. Gilgamesh offered Kyousuke a place in his inner circle as captain of the Second Division, willing to pardon him of his past crimes if he sword loyalty to his Golden Court.
Kyousuke accepted the offer, fully intending to abscond as soon as he was able, but a surprise visitor in the Second Division’s Command Annex nipped those ideas in the bud. Tova, who Kyousuke hadn’t seen in years, appeared in his kitchen and told Kyousuke of what had occurred in his absence. He asked Kyousuke to act as a double agent under the guise of a captain, and while the Vaizard was more than happy to oblige, he knew that there was no way Gilgamesh would trust him without some show of loyalty. The two of them decided that in order to gain that trust, Tova would make a sacrifice of Jasper Aizawa, the leader of the Shinigami Resistance. Making Kyousuke promise not to kill him, Tova divulged the noble’s whereabouts and departed, leaving Kyousuke alone in the Annex once more.
With a week until the moment Kyousuke had chosen to strike, he endeavored to rebuild the Second Division into the Division it had once been. Years of neglect under poor captains had ruined it, and Kyousuke aimed to make it the foremost division in the Gotei. To this end, he promoted Kiriko Chinda, an extremely promising young Shinigami, to the lieutenancy. She proved an excellent choice, and her work ethic combined with her admiration of her new captain served as the basis for the restoration of the Second Division. Kyousuke’s captaincy marked the beginning of a period in the Second Division’s history that would later be called one of its greatest.
When Kyousuke finally made his move, Aizawa was captured without incident and brought back to Seireitei for questioning. In the very same chamber Kyousuke had once been questioned in, he broke down Aizawa in order to find out what he could, and then had him transferred to the Sixth Division’s prison. Clearly impressed with Kyousuke’s work, Gilgamesh gave him free reign to act outside the constraints of Seireitei law in order to ensure the destruction of all threats to Gilgamesh’s golden reign—all threats, both within Seireitei, and without.
Free to pursue his own ends for the time being, Kyousuke learned that there were more Vaizards among the Shinigami population. He met Lessa Kachekiwa, who introduced the concept of family to Kyousuke in a way he hadn’t quite thought of before. She, too, had become a Vaizard by Tova’s hand, and she felt their connection was a familial one. Kyousuke could not disagree, and sought out an old acquaintance: Mitsutaka Karahashi. Since Kyousuke’s departure, Mitsutaka had worked his way up the ladder to captain of the Fourth Division, and served as Gilgamesh’s right hand man as Captain-Commander of the Gotei 6. Kyousuke shares Lessa’s sentiments with Mitsutaka, and the three of them come to realize that they are all bound by more than just duty and common cause.
In the meantime, Gilgamesh had set his eyes on Hueco Mundo, intent on subjugating the Hollows to his will. An invasion was launched, and battle was joined on the white sands in front of Las Noches. The ensuing war was brutal and swift, and the Shinigami emerged victorious, though not without losses. For his deeds, Kyousuke was assigned to Hueco Mundo as Occupation Commander and was given full control of the Shinigami forces holding the gargantuan castle and surrounding desert. It was at this time he met and married Seiryūko Akamine.
The price paid for the victory, however, didn’t become fully apparent to Kyousuke until later. Mitsutaka had lost not only his eyesight but also his nerve, and though Kyousuke had been able to save his life from the three Espada the Captain-Commander had battled, Mitsutaka was in very low spirits indeed. As for Kyousuke, who thought he had gotten away unscathed thanks to Arianna de Luca’s timely intervention, his problems ran deeper. The use of his Hollow powers during the invasion had left something within him broken, and his grip on both his sanity and the powers of his Zanpakutō grew tenuous. The breaking point was finally reached when news of Tova’s alleged execution reached him. Unwilling to accept what he had been told, Kyousuke inadvertently used his powers to summon an alternate Tova Diabló to Hueco Mundo.
Not realizing the man was an impostor, Kyousuke was initially relieved to find his friend alive and well, but as the Impostor’s motives eventually became clear, the alternate Tova made an attempt on Kyousuke’s life in preparation for a campaign against Seireitei. In a subconscious attempt to protect his own life, Kyousuke was catapulted away to a parallel world, where he was nursed back to health over the course of several weeks. With nothing as it seemed and his memory in tatters, Kyousuke was in a hurry to return, but his failure to properly control his powers caused yet more problems, and he soon found himself face to face with an alternate version of himself.
The two men spoke at some length, and it slowly dawned on Kyousuke that the other man had gone through all this before, and if he had his way, Kyousuke had no future among the living. He attempted escape, killing the alternate Kyousuke in the process, something he would later come to deeply regret. Plagued by the dead man’s memories, Kyousuke eventually made his way to the source of his problems: the desolate world from which the Impostor had been plucked. As the pieces started to fall into place, Kyousuke realized that to avoid catastrophe in his home dimension, the alternate Tova Diabló needed to be stopped.
Armed with the knowledge he had lost, he was able to return home in time to speak briefly with Tova—the real Tova—and Mitsutaka in order to share what he knew, and then he made haste to ensure the safety of his lieutenant. He found her a changed woman, and in an effort to save her, implanted her with an inner Hollow of her own, making it the first time Kyousuke ever attempted Hollowification on another Shinigami.
As Kiriko recuperated from her ordeal, Kyousuke met with the remaining captains, interrupting a captaincy challenge by questioning its validity. Kyousuke initiated a vote between himself, Kenshou Ine and Junko Aizawa in order to determine the next Captain-Commander of the Gotei 6, and his two colleagues did the unexpected and voted him into office. He immediately appointed Kenshou his successor, promoted Kiriko to full captain, granted the captaincy of the Sixth Division to Umi Jomyaku—the former Espada known as Garra Desalmados—and saw to it that the Fourth Division was given an Acting Captain. His work finished, Kyousuke dropped the haori he had taken from his counterpart’s corpse and resigned, walking away from Seireitei forever.
He spent the next year out in Rukongai, running a small restaurant. Memories belonging to the alternate Kyousuke plagued him in the form of dreams, and eventually he decided that in order to clear his conscience, he had to return and explain what really happened to the family the dead man had left behind.
Steeling his resolve, he departed Soul Society as a Vaizard for the very last time.
Transcendental
Ask no Questions, Hear no Lies
Height & Weight: 180 cm, 75 kg
Hair & Eye Colour: Coal-black hair, cut fairly short in a practical, nondescript sort of way. Eyes like a clear night sky, faint twinkling of stars included.
What do you mean I skipped the important bits? My name? Not important. As long as I know yours—and I can assure you, I do—we’ll get along just fine. Age? Older than I look. Probably a lot older. And let’s be honest, at this point, does my gender even matter? Suffice to say, I’m Knowledge. Pleased to meet you.
Appearance
Irregular eyes notwithstanding, Knowledge’s physical traits are in and of themselves unremarkable—his 180 centimeters isn’t far from the average, and weighing in at around 75 kilograms, he’s neither fat nor skinny. In broad terms, he’s nothing out of the ordinary: a fairly young man, late twenties or early thirties with dark hair, dark eyes, and forgettable northeast Asian features typically bearing some form of knowing half-smile.
As with all things, however, the specifics are far more interesting. His build is not entirely unlike that of a predatory feline: lithe, graceful, deceptively strong and slightly intimidating. With a straight back and confident stride, Knowledge gives the distinct impression of having a background in the military, as he carries himself like a senior officer—relaxed yet proper, with an economy of movement most readily associated with those in the martial profession. If there’s one thing that’s abundantly clear, however, it’s that Knowledge not only possesses the body of a fighter, he possesses the skills of one, too. There’s a certain fluidity and intent in the way he moves, a balance and harmony that suggests that Knowledge knows exactly what his body is capable of.
The myriad scars that cover his body seem to reinforce that conclusion: it’s very clear from the gashes across his shoulders, back, chest, arms, and legs that at some point in his past, Knowledge lived a life fraught with violence. One scar in particular stands out among the rest, an angry burn on his left shoulder the sheer size of which dwarfs the others. Though quite severe in appearance, Knowledge shows no signs of his marred skin troubling him in any way.
His sense of dress is tasteful and refined, though always worn with a carefree attitude: dark suit pants—dark, yes, but never black—and a white dress shirt form the basis of his wardrobe, and he complements it with well-polished black leather oxfords, a discreet belt, and a penchant for rolling up his sleeves to just under the elbow. Very rarely does he wear a suit jacket, and he outright refuses to wear a tie. With the exception of a plain sterling silver band on his left ring finger, Knowledge wears no jewelry whatsoever. He endeavors to remain clean-shaven, but every once in a while he just can’t seem to find the time.
Though he speaks every language ever conceived by man, Knowledge finds himself conversing in either Japanese or English a great deal more often than not. His Japanese, of course, contains a faint touch of melodic Osaka-ben, and his English is marked by an impeccable Oxford accent.
Personality
Given the nature of evolution, reaching its pinnacle implies some form of perfection. Perfection, in the classical sense, means without fault, but Knowledge is far from faultless. Rather, he has come to terms with his faults, embraced them, and ultimately accepted them as integral components of his persona.
He’s a humble man at his core, and possibly the most naturally inquisitive being in existence, but as much as he loves to mingle with lesser beings, he takes great care to not become overly involved with their lives. Too much meddling has its risks and there are none as intimately familiar with them as Knowledge. A bookish man himself, he likened the common man to a single letter in a vast, unending library—carrying very little meaning on its own, but when combined with others, meaning and purpose begin to emerge. When letters are changed, new meaning is formed. With enough changes, you’ll have rewritten the entire library.
But even on their own, people change. That’s what sentient creatures do best. Their ideas change, their beliefs change, but above all, they constantly learn. They constantly forget. Sometimes it is Knowledge that influences them, sometimes not. The thing to take away from it all is that because of the risks, Knowledge doesn’t invoke his Concept without a very good reason, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t a little capricious, a little fickle, and very mischievous. Slow to anger, quick to laugh is the best way to describe him, really, given that he has very little baggage weighing him down, despite shouldering the collective burden of mankind. Maybe it’s the fact that he sees it for what it really is that leaves him so carefree: from where he’s standing, it’s all progress.
There is no central morality that guides Knowledge’s actions, only a goal—amorphous and in flux as it may be. He’s always working towards something, guiding humanity forward by subtly poking and prodding from behind. Given his physique, it’s no big surprise that he prefers a somewhat hands-on approach to his work, but he’s not always the most honest—
Oh, don’t look at me like that. I do what’s necessary, alright? Truth is far too rigid, and nobody can ever get a straight answer out of Wish. With me, you get something concrete. Sometimes, yes, I use underhanded means, but I’m the first to admit it to anyone who asks, and let’s face it: the ends always justify the means. The world would be an awfully boring place if Truth and Knowledge were the same thing. Since they’re not, I’m well within my rights to lie and cheat every once in a while. It’s all for the greater good, right? In any case, I’m always very polite, and I know that counts for something, right?
His good manners and pleasant demeanor make Knowledge very easy to engage in conversation, and anyone who does typically stands to take something away from the interaction. Though his attitude constantly borders on smug, the edge is somewhat dulled by his sense of humor and easy smile, making it far less grating.
Subjective Reality
Concept: Knowledge
Form
In Transcendent Form, Knowledge appears to turn into a hole in the fabric of reality, all his features replaced with a vast starscape contained in his silhouette. Though he remains three-dimensional, he cannot be perceived as such. His voice takes on an oddly penetrating quality, as if it were bypassing the listener’s ears and instead being interpreted directly by their minds.
Power
Ah, here’s where it starts to get tricky. Knowledge is a fairly abstract term, so I’m going to have to try to explain it to you. Think of it like this: Truth is objective reality, right? And Wish, that’s potential reality. Knowledge, in the same sense, is subjective reality. I simply control what people know and don’t know. You see, like Wish, Knowledge is intensely personal—it differs greatly from person to person, and it’s a deciding factor in how they approach life. At the same time, Knowledge is tangible, like Truth. People are certain of what they know, regardless of how accurate that knowledge is. And I do mean know, not think or suspect. Knowledge is far, far deeper than both of those. Knowledge is the bedrock upon which a man lays his life’s foundations. Put at its simplest, Knowledge is the past, Truth is the present, and Wish is the future. That’s what I meant before: I come from behind to push people in the right direction. It’s all very poetic, isn’t it?
Knowledge controls just that: Knowledge. His power doesn’t allow him to change the world around him directly, instead it offers the ability to perceive and influence the minds of those who inhabit it. The sway he holds over others’ Knowledge is so absolute that he can effortlessly add to, remove, or rewrite even their most intense experiences, their most treasured memories—and in so doing, steer them in a certain direction. Despite this, Knowledge prefers to use his ability indirectly, often choosing to speak candidly with someone or provide some form of evidence. He doesn’t take the decision to directly alter someone’s mind lightly, though this is mostly because he sees it as an easy way of ending a game he enjoys playing. Because the Concept of Knowledge is so at odds with the idea of death, Knowledge cannot use his Concept to kill.
The Past
For someone so interested in the past, Knowledge is surprisingly ignorant of his own—he remembers nothing about himself from before he achieved Transcendence, having paid for his evolution with his memories.
However, this doesn’t alter history, it merely obscures it. Knowledge may not be the same man he once was, but the world still remembers him as Kyousuke Tsukimiya.
Kyousuke Tsukimiya was born in 1917 to Kensuke and Aya Tsukimiya, an Osakan couple of average means. From his father, a former soldier and veteran of the Russo-Japanese war of 1905, Kyousuke inherited good health and a talent for martial arts, and from his mother, a brilliant but humble woman, Kyousuke inherited a quick mind and modest disposition. His early life, like that of so many others during the 1920s and early 1930s in Japan, was characterized by an increasing pressure from the government to make their generation one that would build upon the successes of the Empire. The fervor of nationalistic pride seeped into every aspect of life, and Kyousuke, young and impressionable, was compelled to submit to it.
Though his parents were were initially at odds with what they wanted their son to do with his life—Kensuke felt he would do well in the military, just as Aya felt he would be an excellent academic—they eventually agreed to send Kyousuke to university. He enjoyed his university life, in no small part due to the fact that he had found his great love when he was 16 years old. Yozora Hanazawa was her name, and just as Kyousuke’s parents had done at that age, the two of them adored one another. They planned to marry once Kyousuke graduated, but the outbreak of the second Sino-Japanese war in 1937 put a damper on those plans. Old habits died hard, and Kyousuke’s desire to give his life for the glory of the Empire had not diminished. When even his parents seemed to think him joining the military was a good idea, Kyousuke promised Yozora he would return as soon as he could, and enlisted in the Imperial Japanese Navy, who deemed him a suitable candidate for the Naval Academy. He was sent to Etajima for training.
By 1941, Kyousuke had graduated and been promoted to ensign. His superiors very quickly noticed his potential for higher command, and in early 1942, following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Kyousuke was assigned to the IJN aircraft carrier Soryū in recognition of his flawless service record thus far.
In August of the same year, however, Kyousuke came to realize that his reassignment had been a curse in disguise. He took part in the Soryū’s final battle at Midway, and was thrown overboard as the carrier was targeted by American dive bombers. In the azure waters of the Pacific Ocean, Kyousuke Tsukimiya drowned.
Death, however, was not the end. It simply marked the transition from appetizer to entrée.
Kyousuke soon found himself in Soul Society, no memory of his life among the living surviving the transition. He took up residence in the eighth district of Rukongai and spent his days filling the time in whatever way he could—some days he was a bartender, others a bodyguard. This lasted some years, until the first time Kyousuke laid eyes on Seireitei. He had encountered Shinigami before, of course, but the grandeur of Seireitei struck him with awe and filled him with curiosity. As if a flame had been ignited in his soul, Kyousuke began asking around after that. What were the Shinigami? Why did they exist? Who became Shinigami, and how?
The opinion on Shinigami among the residents of Rukongai was varied; some viewed them with derision, others with adoration, others still with fear. For Kyousuke, the choice was easy. Rather than remain in Rukongai simply waiting out his days, he took a step into the unknown. Just as he had done in 1937, Kyousuke entered the Academy.
Though his spiritual strength was far from remarkable, Kyousuke was an ideal candidate, and showed significant promise. Academically, he performed well: Kyousuke found the theoretical subjects engaging and displayed a clear aptitude, but the range of his results in the practical subjects was slightly more varied. Almost instantly, he found himself at the top of the class in unarmed combat, though his swordplay was lacking—he found the Asauchi he had been issued long and cumbersome, and while it was a graceful weapon, he found he could not wield it effectively. His proficiency in the Demon Arts was abysmal, but he managed to scrape by, barely managing a passing grade throughout the course. Deep down, Kyousuke suspected that his difficulty was rooted in his adherence to rationality—Kidō did not conform to his world view, and so he made no efforts to improve.
Initially, it seemed as though his interest in zanjutsu would soon follow suit. When his Zanpakutō finally manifested itself in its true form, however, Kyousuke’s swordplay improved drastically. Finding the short blade much more comfortable, Kyousuke was able to develop a rough foundation of what would he would eventually turn into a lethal mix of brutal unarmed combat, deception, and swordplay. He progressed through the curriculum at breakneck speed, and when graduation loomed and the different divisions of the Gotei 6 began looking for recruits, Kyousuke found himself drawn to the Fourth Division, its dedication to higher learning resonating with Kyousuke. The Academy instructors felt his expertise was better used elsewhere, and when Kyousuke finally earned his black uniform, he was assigned to the Second Division.
The Second Division was a learning experience for Kyousuke, and ultimately one that was far more valuable than his time in the Academy. His assignments aided him in the perfection of his personal combat style, and it saw a shift from an attitude of hyperaggression to one that balanced offense and defense in order to mitigate the dangers posed by the close proximity to his enemies he had to maintain. The style evolved into one that focused on adaptivity and on exploiting the unfamiliarity and unpredictability of Kyousuke’s actions.
The Second itself fit Kyousuke like a glove—his reticence was well-suited to the work they did, given that they were expected to do as they were told and not ask too many questions. He fit in, yes, but never really felt like he belonged there. He ended up meeting Kasumi Suzumei for the first time during his time in the Second, though they didn’t grow close until much, much later. The division culture being what it was kept everything shrouded in secrecy and suspicion, and it made making friends difficult—not that Kyousuke cared much.
Kyousuke’s Zanpakutō, Kannaduki, first made contact during a barely-completed assignment in South America. With all his team members dead, Kyousuke was left to fend for himself. In the critical moment, she revealed herself to him, and upon his successful return to Seireitei, he was promoted to Fifth Seat in recognition of his actions, given that his attainment of Shikai qualified him for the position.
As a seated officer, Kyousuke came into contact with the upper echelons of the division a great deal more often, and though he rarely met the captain, Zozo Hurley, he very quickly became infatuated with the lieutenant at the time, Satine Purpureo. Knowing not only that it was highly inappropriate for a lieutenant to engage in a relationship with a junior officer, but also that Satine was already in a relationship with another man, Kyousuke loved her from afar, never letting his feelings for her show. When Satine was then promoted to captain, Kyousuke realized he had nothing left to gain from remaining in the Second Division, and put in for a transfer to the Fourth Division.
He had been a Shinigami for just over thirty years when he entered the Fourth, and he soon realized that this was his true home, of that there was no doubt. Not only did he feel perfectly at ease in his new surroundings, he felt that he had a great deal more in common with the members of the Fourth Division than he had with those of the Second. Despite this, he had some trouble letting go of the past, and for some time acted as a go-between for the intelligence war that Satine and the Fourth Division captain, Aros Ryokai, waged. Kyousuke had been permitted to keep his former rank, and he was very soon making not only a name for himself within the division, but also friends: Mitsutaka Karahashi was one such friend, a young researcher who Kyousuke felt displayed a great deal of promise. In time, Kyousuke was promoted—first to Third Seat, and eventually to lieutenant. News of his promotion reached him amidst a crisis. Three captains had simply disappeared from Seireitei: Satine Purpureo of the Second, Aros Ryokai of the Fourth, and Artix von Creg of the Fifth. Kyousuke was just as shocked as everyone else, but he had little time to worry, as there had already been a new captain assigned to the Fourth.
Xyliver Iruna had, up until that point, been a member of the Third Division, and it became painfully obvious that he was not suited for command already on his first day as captain. Kyousuke’s new captain was a man filled with suspicion, and needless to say, the two of them didn’t get along. As lieutenant, however, Kyousuke was able to peek at the files his former captain had left behind, and he was shocked to find that Ryokai had subjected both Satine and von Creg—both volunteers—to some sort of biological weapon. There was very little documentation as far as results went, and what little information Kyousuke could scrape together was vague and ambiguous. Despite his best efforts, he was unable to piece together what had happened to the three missing captains.
Luckily, Iruna’s tenure as captain was a short one, and Kyousuke, the highest ranking member of the Fourth Division, was instructed by the Central 46 to take the reigns as acting captain until a new captain could be appointed. His new duties exposed him to many of the inner workings of the Gotei 6 and Seireitei at large, and he found himself disillusioned by what he saw. The bureaucracy the Gotei found itself mired in was a result of incompetence and power struggles within the Central 46, and creeping disease that was the Shinigami superiority complex was slowly strangling all development among the people of Seireitei. The Shinigami had hit a self-imposed ceiling.
Alongside all this, a darker side of Kyousuke’s psyche had awakened and begun to splinter off from the rest, and when he finally decided to abandon Seireitei to its own devices and defect, he was simply pouring fuel on the fire.
Kyousuke feigned his death, destroying an entire city block in the process, and something within him drew him to Hueco Mundo. It was there he met Riko Suzumei and Tova Diabló—the former a being who seemed to have advanced beyond rudimentary labels such as Arrancar, and the latter a man whose mind so closely mirrored Kyousuke’s own that it was unsettling. Though he didn’t have many friends in Hueco Mundo, the ones he did have were more than enough. In Tova, Kyousuke found not only a powerful ally, but an intellectual equal, and together they worked to unravel the mystery of transcendence.
Their conclusion was thus: if Arrancar were Menos who had torn off their masks, then surely a Shinigami equivalent existed. They stipulated that if a movement in one direction necessitated the removal of a mask, then a movement from the opposite direction necessitated the addition of one, and Kyousuke offered himself as a volunteer to broach this new ground. Tova, armed with years of Hollowification research, initiated a process in which the minuscule fragment that had broken free from Kyousuke’s mind grew into a complete being within his soul—an inner Hollow.
As Tova battled with the Hollow that controlled Kyousuke’s body, Kyousuke himself battled the Hollow in the recesses of his own mind, fighting to maintain not only his sanity, but his sense of self. Kyousuke was having considerable difficulties, just as Tova was reaching a point where the only remaining option would be to kill Kyousuke. In the nick of time, however, the realization that Kyousuke didn’t have to fight the Hollow alone would prove to be what made him victorious. With his body returning to normal after having subjugated his inner Hollow, Hazuki, Kyousuke had attained a new, forbidden power: a Hollow mask on a Shinigami. Tova dubbed the phenomenon Vaizard, and Kyousuke was the first of his kind to ever exist.
Weeks passed, and on one of his usual forays into the world of the living, Kyousuke encountered Kasumi Suzumei, who had eventually taken Satine’s place as captain of the Second Division some time after Kyousuke’s defection. Kyousuke was shocked to find that she was suffering from the same thing he himself had suffered, and that in time, she would also have to fight to retain her sanity lest it be taken from her by a deeper, darker, part of her mind. He warned her of what was to come, urging her to break ties with Seireitei, knowing that she would be hunted if she chose to stay. Together, they feigned Kasumi’s death as Kyousuke had done months before, and Kyousuke could do little but admit that he felt a certain kinship with this girl.
Not long after that, Kyousuke found himself experimenting more and more with the abilities of his Zanpakutō, and by chance, he stumbled across a place where time flowed differently than he was used to. In what felt like a week for Kyousuke, nine months had passed for everyone else. By then, Kasumi had become a Vaizard, and Tova had become something else entirely. Kyousuke felt very much like a stranger in a strange land, and when news Kasumi’s sudden and unexpected death reached him, Kyousuke was shaken to his core. He was apprehended by a small Second Division task force and taken back to Seireitei for questioning, after which he was sent to the infamous Special Detention Facility—the Maggot’s Nest.
Days of solitary confinement within the deepest circles of that hell stretched into weeks, months, and finally years. With his sword confiscated, there was no company but his inner Hollow, and Kyousuke began to explore the darker side of his psyche. His relationship with Hazuki strengthened despite every day being a struggle to remain in control. It was all that kept him from losing his mind in that place, and a newfound realization that Hazuki, together with Kannaduki, were just as much part of Kyousuke as his own self-image was, led Kyousuke to a deeper understanding of the inner workings of his fractured soul. United he may have stood, but remaining divided as they were now—with each facet possessing a persona of their own—was far from falling.
Shortly his two-year anniversary of incarceration, Kyousuke was visited for the first time, but not by anyone he knew. Outside the Nest, a series of events had transpired which had led to Gilgamesh, an alternate persona of a member of the Shinigami nobility, taking control of Seireitei. His visitor was the very same: Gilgamesh, the self-styled Golden King of Soul Society. Gilgamesh offered Kyousuke a place in his inner circle as captain of the Second Division, willing to pardon him of his past crimes if he sword loyalty to his Golden Court.
Kyousuke accepted the offer, fully intending to abscond as soon as he was able, but a surprise visitor in the Second Division’s Command Annex nipped those ideas in the bud. Tova, who Kyousuke hadn’t seen in years, appeared in his kitchen and told Kyousuke of what had occurred in his absence. He asked Kyousuke to act as a double agent under the guise of a captain, and while the Vaizard was more than happy to oblige, he knew that there was no way Gilgamesh would trust him without some show of loyalty. The two of them decided that in order to gain that trust, Tova would make a sacrifice of Jasper Aizawa, the leader of the Shinigami Resistance. Making Kyousuke promise not to kill him, Tova divulged the noble’s whereabouts and departed, leaving Kyousuke alone in the Annex once more.
With a week until the moment Kyousuke had chosen to strike, he endeavored to rebuild the Second Division into the Division it had once been. Years of neglect under poor captains had ruined it, and Kyousuke aimed to make it the foremost division in the Gotei. To this end, he promoted Kiriko Chinda, an extremely promising young Shinigami, to the lieutenancy. She proved an excellent choice, and her work ethic combined with her admiration of her new captain served as the basis for the restoration of the Second Division. Kyousuke’s captaincy marked the beginning of a period in the Second Division’s history that would later be called one of its greatest.
When Kyousuke finally made his move, Aizawa was captured without incident and brought back to Seireitei for questioning. In the very same chamber Kyousuke had once been questioned in, he broke down Aizawa in order to find out what he could, and then had him transferred to the Sixth Division’s prison. Clearly impressed with Kyousuke’s work, Gilgamesh gave him free reign to act outside the constraints of Seireitei law in order to ensure the destruction of all threats to Gilgamesh’s golden reign—all threats, both within Seireitei, and without.
Free to pursue his own ends for the time being, Kyousuke learned that there were more Vaizards among the Shinigami population. He met Lessa Kachekiwa, who introduced the concept of family to Kyousuke in a way he hadn’t quite thought of before. She, too, had become a Vaizard by Tova’s hand, and she felt their connection was a familial one. Kyousuke could not disagree, and sought out an old acquaintance: Mitsutaka Karahashi. Since Kyousuke’s departure, Mitsutaka had worked his way up the ladder to captain of the Fourth Division, and served as Gilgamesh’s right hand man as Captain-Commander of the Gotei 6. Kyousuke shares Lessa’s sentiments with Mitsutaka, and the three of them come to realize that they are all bound by more than just duty and common cause.
In the meantime, Gilgamesh had set his eyes on Hueco Mundo, intent on subjugating the Hollows to his will. An invasion was launched, and battle was joined on the white sands in front of Las Noches. The ensuing war was brutal and swift, and the Shinigami emerged victorious, though not without losses. For his deeds, Kyousuke was assigned to Hueco Mundo as Occupation Commander and was given full control of the Shinigami forces holding the gargantuan castle and surrounding desert. It was at this time he met and married Seiryūko Akamine.
The price paid for the victory, however, didn’t become fully apparent to Kyousuke until later. Mitsutaka had lost not only his eyesight but also his nerve, and though Kyousuke had been able to save his life from the three Espada the Captain-Commander had battled, Mitsutaka was in very low spirits indeed. As for Kyousuke, who thought he had gotten away unscathed thanks to Arianna de Luca’s timely intervention, his problems ran deeper. The use of his Hollow powers during the invasion had left something within him broken, and his grip on both his sanity and the powers of his Zanpakutō grew tenuous. The breaking point was finally reached when news of Tova’s alleged execution reached him. Unwilling to accept what he had been told, Kyousuke inadvertently used his powers to summon an alternate Tova Diabló to Hueco Mundo.
Not realizing the man was an impostor, Kyousuke was initially relieved to find his friend alive and well, but as the Impostor’s motives eventually became clear, the alternate Tova made an attempt on Kyousuke’s life in preparation for a campaign against Seireitei. In a subconscious attempt to protect his own life, Kyousuke was catapulted away to a parallel world, where he was nursed back to health over the course of several weeks. With nothing as it seemed and his memory in tatters, Kyousuke was in a hurry to return, but his failure to properly control his powers caused yet more problems, and he soon found himself face to face with an alternate version of himself.
The two men spoke at some length, and it slowly dawned on Kyousuke that the other man had gone through all this before, and if he had his way, Kyousuke had no future among the living. He attempted escape, killing the alternate Kyousuke in the process, something he would later come to deeply regret. Plagued by the dead man’s memories, Kyousuke eventually made his way to the source of his problems: the desolate world from which the Impostor had been plucked. As the pieces started to fall into place, Kyousuke realized that to avoid catastrophe in his home dimension, the alternate Tova Diabló needed to be stopped.
Armed with the knowledge he had lost, he was able to return home in time to speak briefly with Tova—the real Tova—and Mitsutaka in order to share what he knew, and then he made haste to ensure the safety of his lieutenant. He found her a changed woman, and in an effort to save her, implanted her with an inner Hollow of her own, making it the first time Kyousuke ever attempted Hollowification on another Shinigami.
As Kiriko recuperated from her ordeal, Kyousuke met with the remaining captains, interrupting a captaincy challenge by questioning its validity. Kyousuke initiated a vote between himself, Kenshou Ine and Junko Aizawa in order to determine the next Captain-Commander of the Gotei 6, and his two colleagues did the unexpected and voted him into office. He immediately appointed Kenshou his successor, promoted Kiriko to full captain, granted the captaincy of the Sixth Division to Umi Jomyaku—the former Espada known as Garra Desalmados—and saw to it that the Fourth Division was given an Acting Captain. His work finished, Kyousuke dropped the haori he had taken from his counterpart’s corpse and resigned, walking away from Seireitei forever.
He spent the next year out in Rukongai, running a small restaurant. Memories belonging to the alternate Kyousuke plagued him in the form of dreams, and eventually he decided that in order to clear his conscience, he had to return and explain what really happened to the family the dead man had left behind.
Steeling his resolve, he departed Soul Society as a Vaizard for the very last time.
