Mercy Althea Muguruma

### Relatives

Kensei Muguruma (Husband) Yasuhiro Muguruma (Son) Roderick Ang (Father) Mercedes Ang (Mother) Derrick Ang (Brother)

## Primary Skill

### Fullbring

Jade Divergence

*"It's not very polite to look down on someone just because she likes to fight in heels, you know."*

The reincarnation of a shinigami by name of Atsuko Kajiyashiki (鍛冶屋敷 惇子 *Kajiyashiki Atsuko*), **Mercy Althea Ang** is a Fullbringer currently residing between the Seireitei and Reverse London. She formerly lived in Karakura Town and was a full time college student at the time of the Thousand Year Blood War, but moved to live permanently in the Seireitei after her graduation. She is married to 9th Division Captain Kensei Muguruma, and is close friends with Yasutora Sado.

## Appearance

A pretty young woman with olive-tanned skin, Mercy has an athletic, muscular build thanks to her long history of being in both school and competitive sports. While she does have some muscle in her arms, most of her weight and strength carries in her legs, particularly her thighs, to give her curves more along her hips and legs in comparison to the upper half of her body. Her hair is naturally black and she wore straight-cut bangs when her hair was long. On most, if not all, occasions, she would wear it tied up, preferring to keep it out of the way with exception for her bangs and the few locks of hair that framed her face.

In her high school years, she had a single piercing on each ear and dressed rather simply; often found wearing her school uniform or athletic gear, and always with her signature jade bangle due to the strict schedule of school and sports taking up a majority of her days.

During the time of the 17 month time-skip, Mercy graduates high school and enters college. With significantly more freedom for both her dress code and her schedule, Mercy's fashion goes from daily uniforms to a series of blouses and fashionable tops paired with short skirts and a pair of heels. She also gets a large number of body modifications starting at this time.

She receives two more piercings on each lobe, two helixes on each ear, a tragus on each side, two piercings on her left brow, a piercing on each side of her nostril, and a septum. In total between her face and her ears, she now has 17 piercings. At some point between all her piercing appointments, Mercy begins bleaching her bangs.

One summer while visiting Kensei in the Seireitei, Mercy gets her one and only tattoo reading **六車九番隊** (*Mugurama Kyūbantai - Mugurama 9th Division*). Upon asking her why she would get such a tattoo when she isn't even a Shinigami, Mercy simply recalls the stories he had told her from his days as the 9th Division Captain over a century ago.

*"If I were alive in those days, I certainly would've wanted to be in your squad, so why not unofficially join now?"*

Throughout this period, Mercy does keep her hair long and continues wearing it up in her signature ponytail. It isn't until the Thousand Year Blood War when a Soldat had grabbed her hair to pull her towards their attack is when she decided perhaps it was time to change that, as well. With her Jade Divergence in its Twin Blade form, Mercy takes the shorter blade and uses it to cut off her hair. Since then, she's continued wearing it at chin length.

Despite all of the modifications to her appearance and her style, many still continue to describe Mercy as pretty: her hair and piercings serving as the subject of many passing compliments from both friends and strangers alike.

As of her engagement and marriage to Kensei following the Thousand Year Blood War, she wears a simple golden band on her left ring finger to match with his.

## Personality

Many who first see Mercy would think that she was an airhead to some relative degree: looking off into space, lost in her own thoughts presumably, with nothing seeming to bother her.

And for the most part, they would be right. A lack of directional sense, a happy-go-lucky attitude, and a bubbly demeanor at that, Mercy is about as easygoing as the air is light. However, as one would get to know her, they come to learn that what she's like on the surface is not all there is to her person.

Confident, honest, steadfast in her morals, and always the sort to try and see the best in any person or any situation, Mercy is the one who entices strangers to become friends when they see just about anyone having a conversation with her. Acquaintances describe her as rather chatty and easy-going, rarely speaking without a smile on her face and always eager to please and have a conversation with just about anyone so long as she meets them outside of the battlefield. Small talk is rarely an issue when it comes her, and it's something that Kensei has often found charming, if not relieving since he's taken it as an opportunity to sit back and avoid participating in conversations.

However, despite her friendly demeanor, Mercy is far from a pushover.

In the midst of battle she has a tenacity that cannot be wavered, fighting beyond her limits if needed and making sure that her victory is absolute. True to her name, Mercy does her best not to kill if she can avoid it, but while she's kind, she's not stupid: fights do not offer the luxury of being able to always spare your opponent, and she's fully aware of that.

## History

Born in Japan to a Filipino mother and Chinese father, Mercy grew up in a relatively normal family. A father, a mother, and a brother by the time she was 3 years of age, there wasn't much out of the norm that she could remember. That is, until she realized that her family couldn't quite see the same things that she did: people who her parents claimed were just imaginary friends, scary creatures they insisted were just a figment of her overactive imagination, spine-chilling roars that they convinced her were simply the sounds of motors and engines that she was just a tad too sensitive around... It wasn't long before she realized that there was something more in her perception than she could explain: it was like an increasingly heightening sense of danger, and it was getting harder and harder to avoid.

As she entered grade-school, it was clear to her that the scary, masked creatures were following her: and they were getting more and more obvious about their interest as the days passed.

Soon enough little Mercy found herself running as fast as her legs would let her when a masked monster had decided that today was the day to begin the game of chase. Crying for help, unable to keep running as the distance between her and the monster closed, it wasn't long before she ended up victim to its clutches. At least, that's what she knew should have happened when her last memory of the chase concluded in a construction scaffolding collapsing onto her.

But it seemed that her cries for help had indeed caught someone's attention: a man with short, silver hair fighting off the terrifying creature and slaying it right before her eyes. It was like a miracle: someone had heard her and responded... And he could see the monster, too.

"Kensei Muguruma" was the name that he had taught her was his as he healed her using some sort of magic, ignoring every other question she posed about the broken chain link on her chest and how he was able to heal her so quickly. "You're too young," he would tell her as he brought her to a store that she recognized as a familiar building she would pass often to and from her way to school. A strange man with a eyes covered by shadow greeted them merrily, and it was quite a while of Kensei speaking with this stranger before they returned their attention to Mercy. Urahara, as she learned his name, was a kind man who commended her for calling for help at just the right moment, praising her with the promise of some free snacks from his shop when he finished helping Kensei fix her right back up.

From there, the memory faded to black. All Mercy could remember from the rest of that day was waking up on the floor of the shop and seeing that the broken chain in her chest had disappeared.

Treats in one hand, Mercy stayed by Kensei's side all the way until they had made it back to her home, but by then the man had taken it upon himself to keep a close eye on her. "It'd be too much trouble if that happened to you again, and trust me when I say that it will", was what he told her. From there, it was rare to see Mercy away from his side unless she was at school or at home, the latter of which sometimes her mother would insist Kensei stay a little bit under the impression that he was a local university student aiding her daughter to and from home on his own path to and from his classes (a peek for Kensei of how lax her mother was regarding appearances, to say the least).

In what felt like the blink of an eye, over a decade had passed and Mercy was 18 and entering her final year in Karakura High School: it's in this year that she meets Yasutora Sado before the school year starts, having been approached by him for directions on where to find the classroom assignments. During that short time, the two become quick friends: quickly bonding over their mixed blood and finding conversation easy to have with one another.

Mercy continues visiting Kensei at the warehouse after her club activities finish, passing time with him by continuing to learn hand-to-hand combat from him and learning more about this "other world" he had come from and his former life as something called a "Shinigami". It had already been a few years since he had begun telling her such stories when she was in middle school, and just a couple of years since her freshman year that he had finally begun answering all of her questions from when she was a child, but even after all this time, there's not a moment that Mercy doesn't seem eager to learn more and more about him. "Love", as she had come to learn from one of Kensei's friends by name of Rose, and it's with that in mind the high school senior thought it apt to "confess" to Kensei after all these years of being at his side.

"I like you," met with "You're too young." An unsurprising answer, considering the number of times he'd told her the very same thing for other questions and reuqests she'd made of him. But, that didn't diminish her disappointment. "Wait for me, then." was her request. "When I graduate, I'll confess again and see if you changed your mind." Where Kensei wasted no time in shutting down her confession, he didn't seem to waste any time either when he agreed that he would wait for her.

"It's a promise, then."

And so was quite the tumultuous beginning to her exciting life.

## Plot

### Soul Society Arc

A third year at Karakura High School, Mercy primarily focuses on her studies and doesn't pay much attention to the ongoings of the new first years for the term. She does hear some updates here and there from her friend Chad, however other than the standard gossip that trickles through the halls, she doesn't pay much mind to whatever happened on the first years' floor.

At some point, she crosses paths with Rukia Kuchiki and shares some friendly conversation with her: primarily regarding the plush keychains that Mercy keeps on her school bag and on her phone and how cute they were. However, other than standard "hello"s and "goodbye"s whenever they pass each other in the halls, Mercy keeps to herself and mostly focused on her club activities, studies, and future plans for university and a career path.

When summer vacation begins, she runs into Chad at the fireworks festival while waiting for Kensei and his friends from the warehouse to show up. The two have a short conversation regarding their plans for the summer, to which Mercy offers if Chad would like to come over some time to try out her mom's Filipino cuisine and give himself a break from living on his own every now and then. The invitation is met with a "Maybe" from Chad, the younger of the two commenting he'd like to take up that offer if he comes back from his trip.

Before she has a chance to ask what he means by "if", the conversation is interrupted by some of Chad's other friends calling for him. It isn't long before Mercy can hear Kensei calling for her somewhere in the festival's crowd on the opposite side of the area, and with that the two part ways before the conversation can really reach a conclusion.

### Arrancar Arc

At the end of her summer break, Kensei tells Mercy to stop frequenting the warehouse and that he'd instead be coming by to walk her home from school when her club activities finished. His instruction would be met with confusion as Mercy had been coming to the warehouse nearly every day that she'd known him for over the course of a decade. Without much he was able to explain, the best he was able to put it for her was that something big was happening, and surely she was able to feel the way things seemed to be shifting while she was at school. He didn't need to reference Ichigo Kurosaki for her to understand it had something to do with him considering Shinji had gone as far as posing as a freshman transferring into Karakura High School.

It's not until she asks Chad for clarification, hoping that her friend and junior would be more transparent than Kensei who continues to insist that she didn't need to worry about the details since she wouldn't have anything to do with it. Learning about Ichigo being a Substitute Shinigami, about the Gotei 13 and what had transpired in the Seireitei, and much, much more regarding the Arrancar and the incoming war that would jeopardize everything they knew was the world itself.

Needless to say, there is no stopping Mercy as she arrives at the warehouse and calls for Kensei, demanding that he state whether or not what she heard from her friend was all true. With the cat out of the bag, it's a painfully simple matter of the Visored indeed confirming that what she had learned all so suddenly was in fact true. Frustration turns to disappointment, then upset, and lastly acceptance as she asks him if there is anything she can do.

All Kensei can ask her is to keep avoiding the warehouse and to stay home: standing by his initial statement that she has no part to play in this, and for her own safety and his comfort, it's best she that she remain as such.

From there Mercy no longer visits the warehouse. However, she does notice that Kensei seems to make it a point to walk her home, reasoning that he needs to keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn't try to take a detour and go against his instructions.

### Hueco Mundo Arc

She meets with Chad the night before his departure and picks up his cockatiel, having promised to look over the bird for however long it would be that he would be gone in exchange for his promise to get back home safely.

### Fake Karakura Town Arc

Mercy wakes up in an alleyway, confused and in a haze as she tries to recollect her thoughts. The last thing she remembers is making her way to Chad's apartment to get something for his cockatiel, and that was it.

After wandering around for a little bit, she's able to confirm that this is still Karakura, but something feels off: the streets are completely empty, and she notes that the air feels heavy, like they were in the eye of a storm despite the clear skies. Unsettled and finding herself lost in parts of town that she doesn't quite frequent, Mercy tries to navigate her way back home. Instead, she finds herself standing in front of the warehouse rather than home.

Even in the midst of all her confusion, Mercy stands by Kensei's instruction and turns away to head home where she should have brought herself in the first place. However, her determination to get back home is put to an abrupt stop when she feels a flux of energy that she can only describe as the same presence she feels whenever she's by him.

Without thinking, she begins to move herself towards wherever that burst of power came from, finding herself running deeper and deeper into Karakura's cityscape before finding Kensei, who had taken advantage of the Senkaimon opened to follow after Aizen, in the distance. Needless to say when she gets his attention and they reunite, panic finally sets in when Mercy starts to ask Kensei what's going on, what's happening to Karakura, and every other question that sprints through her mind. Instead of answers she gets a small chastise from Kensei as he asks Mercy what she's doing there in the first place instead of being safe at home, but it'd evident he doesn't seem to mind that things turned out how they did despite the current circumstances. Confused and afraid, Mercy takes the opportunity to hold on to him just as she used to in her younger days and stubbornly refused to leave his side, saying she wouldn't leave until he tells her what's going on. He does nothing to push her away, instead keeping an arm around her as she begins to cry and calls him heartless for trying to make her stay away when he should know better than anyone else that she always goes to him when she's scared. Kensei pulls Mercy closely against him, promising her that he won't let her out of his sight this time and everything will be alright, that he'll keep her safe.

## Equipment

**Jade Bangle:** Given to her by her grandmother when she was a baby, Mercy's mother kept it safely tucked away until she had grown a little bit older and could wear the bangle without it falling off. Ever since then, the bangle has remained on her arm, to the point that while it still fits comfortably around her wrist, it can no longer fit over her hand. As with tradition for this type of jewelry, it was chosen by Mercy's grandmother so as to never come off after being put on. That is, not until it breaks. Though, despite such a commitment, Mercy has found no reason to complain about it when she, herself, cares about it dearly.

Due to the immense amount of reiatsu that would continue to flood from her person, Mercy's jade bangle has been imbued with immense amounts of "soul" from which her Fullbring Jade Divergence manifests.

## Powers & Abilities

**Master Swordswoman**: Mercy is a skillful dual-blade swordswoman due to her father, a master at Arnis, also known as Kali, or Escrima, having trained her vigorously in the art from when she was still a child to continue the practice within the family. As she is now, her mastery of Arnis serves tremendously for Mercy's utilization of Jade Divergence's Dual Blade form which is reminiscent of her past life's dual-bladed zanpakutō. Additionally, since her training stems from a Filipino martial art, opponents who are unfamiliar with it are unable to predict Mercy's movements without risking getting caught in her attack. While her training in the art of Arnis ended up with a weakness in regards to self defense, Mercy's father had instead ended up conditioning her to immediately strike a killing blow on her opponents before they can land a single hit on her - a purely offensive, counter-offensive, and recounter-offensive style that has left many who underestimate Mercy to be the same people standing suddenly at death's door.

**Master Hand-to-Hand Combatant**: Having been trained in Hakuda by Kensei ever since she was a child, combined with the skills she gained from mastering Arnis, Mercy is able to fight barehanded with near perfect mastery - using swift movements to land blows on her opponents before they can get a hit on her. Even before the awakening of her Fullbring, Mercy was a considerably terrifying opponent to go against. Now, though, with the development of her Fullbring and understanding of Reiryoku manipulation, Mercy is that much more formidable in a fight of hand-to-hand combat. She is even able to concentrate a significant amount of Reiatsu to her nails and use them like an animal would its claws: capable of piercing stone with ease and utilizing her nails in combat and turning her into that much more of an offensive threat .

**Enhanced Speed**: Mercy can increase her speed and the height of her jumps by pulling on the soul of the concrete or air. While not the fastest, especially in comparison to Kūgo, Mercy's speed is still rather impressive for someone who had only known about her Fullbring for a few short years. Even when her main attire consists of a pair of heels, her speed can easily keep up with most Shinigami and other Fullbringers.

**Enhanced Endurance**: Having been in competitive sports since childhood has conditioned Mercy to have a higher-than-average stamina. Even if she may not have speed on her side, her endurance is nothing short of impressive.

**Enhanced Strength**: Due to vigorous training from both her history of sports and learning hand-to-hand combat from both Kensei and her father, Mercy has a high degree of physical strength that allows her to hold her own in a fight with ease.

**Enhanced Durability**: Mercy is very durable, able to take an attack to the back from a relatively formidable Hollow and immediately shrug it off.

**Enhanced Reflexes**: Mercy has rather sharp reflexes, able to sense an oncoming attack and respond accordingly to dodge or counter without hesitation.

**Great Spiritual Power**: Even when she's been reincarnated as a human, Mercy boasts a high level of spiritual power. This has, of course, played to her detriment by turning her into a target, especially since it was the main contributor in the Hollow killing her as a child due to the Hollow wanting to eat her. She possesses enough spiritual power for both opponents and allies to see her form "bathed in Reiatsu" if she leaves it unchecked, with a Reiryoku high enough to greatly injure powerful Hollows in a fight and come out unscathed. It was only recently after developing her Fullbring that she was able to begin understanding the concept f controlling the output of her reiatsu, and after training between Kisuke and Xcution's members, Mercy learned to control her reiatsu so that it isn't simply flooding out like it used to.

**Spiritual Awareness**: Mercy is able to see and sense spiritual beings, such as Shinigami and Hollows, at a significant distance or determine what direction they are in. Even prior to her death as a child, she was able to see them, which is how Kensei had found her running away from the Hollow pursuing her to consume.

### Fullbring

**Jade Divergence**: Mercy’s Fullbring manifests itself through the jade bangle on her left wrist. By manipulating the soul of her bangle, it “snaps” from its original form and becomes one of three weapons utilized by Mercy for combat with each one specializing in either speed, power, or distance.

While she can switch between forms, doing so takes a considerable toll on her energy. As such, Mercy often avoids doing this unless absolutely needed, and often with an ally accompanying her in the case the form switch leaves her stunned for a moment that could mean the difference between life or death.

* **Form - Polearm**: Mercy’s bangle turns into a polearm of 1.8m in length, decorated with a “ribbon” of Reiryoku that she wraps around her hand so that she can pull the polearm back if it ever so leaves her hands. In this form, while not the strongest of the three forms, the speed of her attacks are nearly impossible for even a trained fighter to even dodge if they can’t keep an eye on her moveset. This is a form she utilizes often, able to keep opponents at bay with the polearm’s great length while at the same time still allowing her to make offensive plays whenever there’s an opening left to take advantage of.
* **Form - Twin Blades**: In this form, Mercy’s attack speed diminishes severely, but she’s able to best utilize her strength this way as her bangle takes the form of a katana and a wakizashi connected at the hilt by that same ribbon she would have on Form: Staff. Her attack range is much more concentrated towards her person, and while this may not be a commonly used form due to Mercy exerting more energy to ensure that her attacks do as much damage as possible, it’s the strongest form that she’s been able to master over years of training. At this point, the hurdle of conserving her energy for sake of endurance is only an issue only when she’s facing particularly strong opponents that can withstand her attacks.
* **Form - Archer**: As her bangle turns into a bow, Mercy manifests her Reiryoku into arrows that she can use to target and shoot at her opponents. This form allows Mercy a terrifying attack range upwards of up to 1km depending on the size of her opponent. Instead of sight, Mercy finds her target via their Reiryoku, and using that she’s able to make her attack. She rarely uses this form, however, as despite her incredible accuracy, the strength of her attacks are significantly weaker in comparison to even her Polearm. Due to this, Mercy prefers to save this form only if absolutely needed. Since the arrows used are made of her own Reiryoku, Mercy has been able to further develop control over this form by turning them into a sort of missile and detonating them at will. However, this takes a considerable amount of and energy and is only used as a last resort.

**Benevolent Divergence**: Mercy’s final form of her Fullbring.

During the Blood War, when Mercy loses track of Kensei's reiatsu and realizes that its disappearance means he has died, she has a breakdown and loses herself to the immense weight pushing down against her chest. It's during this overwhelming sorrow that something in her subconscious snaps, and she goes berserk. Whether this is Atsuko's spirit living on through her new life, or simply the product of when one makes another their entire heart, it cannot be determined. However, Benevolent Divergence is every bit as terrifying as a broken heart can be when left with a woman gone mad from grief.

Three pairs of arms hands appear behind Mercy like a Bodhisattva, the bottom pair wielding either her swords, a pair of polearms wielded by the middle, and a bow and arrow held by the topmost pair of hands. In a fashion similar to the special ability of Sajin Komamura's Bankai, the arms mimic Mercy's actions, though with a slight delay due to the sheer size of the arms. Each pair of arms can also act on their own based on subconscious intent.

At its first use, Mercy exhausted herself completely of her reiatsu after going on a rampage killing Soldat left and right. Having made her way to an unknown area of the Seireitei (then overtaken by the Wandenreich), and without the energy nor the reiatsu to keep going, she collapses and is left to be found by Kisuke, who brings her to safer territories with other shinigami who survived and were left to recover for the remainder of the war.

Following the Blood War, Mercy trains with her Benevolent Divergence to get accustomed with maintaining it even during combat to avoid overexerting herself, and by the time of her graduation and entering Wing Bind to work under them, is able to wield it masterfully.

## Weaknesses

**Larger Opponents**: While she's able to fend off and defeat a majority of opponents regardless of the size advantage they have on her, Mercy's capacity to overpower larger opponents diminishes severely when said person is also an expert at hand to hand combat. If they're able to see through her attacks and find an opening, Mercy has to either figure out how to quickly defeat her opponent, or find an opportunity to run away so that she isn't overwhelmed by their strength.

**Weak Defenses**: Due to being trained in primarily offensive and counter-offensive martial arts, Mercy lacks strength in terms of defending. While she's able to counter attacks and recounter if needed, she does so primarily due to being unable to hold her own when needing to defend herself completely.

## Relationships

### Family

**Kensei Muguruma**:

**Mercedes Ang**:

**Roderick Ang**:

**Derrick Ang**:

### Friends & Acquaintances

**Yasutora Sado**:

**Kisuke Urahara:**

**Kūgo Ginjō**:

**Jackie Tristan**:

**Riruka Dokugamine**:

**Akon**:

**Yomichi Okikiba**:

**Miyari Fumetsugawa**:

## Trivia

* Mercy switches between living in Reverse London and with Kensei in the Seireitei, though primarily resides in the latter: she returns to Reverse London at the final week of every month to settle paperwork and keep records up to date before returning to the Seireitei.
	+ When she's not physically at Wing Bind, Mercy does accounting and materials tracking for the division to make sure its members remain armed and at the ready.
* Mercy can speak three languages fluently: Japanese, Filipino, and English
	+ She's weakest in English
* Ever since she began bleaching her bangs, Merch often changes the color. There's no particular pattern, however she gravitates often between shades of purple and blue. Sometimes Mercy will simply let the dye fade and wear her bangs as a light shade of blonde with the remaining color ombre'd at the tips, though other times she'll simply lift all the color and wear her bangs as solely blonde.
* She's ambidextrous in fighting and in sports, but writes and eats with her right hand
* The heaviest weight she's tracked herself carrying with her arms/upper body is about 200kg (~441lbs), while with her legs/lower body she's been able to push upwards of 455kg (~1003lbs)
* Has a high alcohol tolerance, but only drinks on special occasions and prefers not to get drunk if she isn't at home
	+ A happy drunk who likes to hug warm things
* While she doesn't have a specific favorite, Mercy is preferential to spicy/savory foods, and tart/sour flavors if she has sweets or pastries