Touwa Kashiwaeda

Touwa Kashiwaeda (冬羽柏枝, Kashiwaeda Touwa) is the recently promoted Captain of the Thirteenth Division. Formerly a member of the First Division, he retired from being a Shinigami to take up a spot as an instructor at the Shin'ō Academy half a century before Aizen's Rebellion. Called back into active service after the events of the Vanishing, he was given the Lieutenant's spot in the thirteenth division to help curb the issues that had cropped up in the division after its commanders disappeared. After around a year in this position, his power had returned to the point he was offered the captaincy of the division, which he accepted.

## Appearance

Since the Vanishing, Touwa has become among the oldest soul reapers still in active service. this is reflected in his appearance, with him having the look of a man in his late thirties to early forties.

Despite his relatively old age, he has more than maintained his physical appearance over his lifespan. Touwa has a compact and muscular physique with little to no excess fat due to his regimented training schedule.

Standing at 180 centimeters in height and coming in at around eighty-five kilograms, Touwa doesn't cut an imposing figure. He exudes a gentle albeit reserved aura, leading many who don't know him to assume he has a bit of an icey personality.

Touwa has a strong jawline and spikey dark gray hair streaked through with white to frame his his face. Half-rimmed reading glasses fall over icey blue eyes that seem to look right through you with a somber gaze.

When in uniform, Touwa wears a closer fit version of the standard shinigami Shihakushō over a dark gray shirt instead of the more common white undershirt, albeit the sleeves are made of a notably thicker material. He carries his Zanpakuto across the back of his maroon obi sash due to the design of the blade. He also wears the standard captain's haori over his uniform.

When in a Gigai or otherwise off duty, Touwa wears a more western outfit consisting of a gray khaki overshirt over a blue t-shirt. He retains a similar pair of glasses to his normal set. This is matched by a set of blue jeans and charcoal grey shoes.

## Plot

* Roleplay: Unlucky Thirteenth

Touwa is seen sitting in his office, going over the various reports sent to him. Noting that three more of his squad have perished, and that it was not even counting the Akatani incident, he states that this can't continue.

Grabbing an armful of scrolls, he walked out of his office, heading towards the main meeting room. He mentally noted that this was everyone he could call back at this time.

Walking into the room, he looked over those present. He noted that he had taught a few, albeit not all such as Tetsuyama. Reflecting on how few were in the room compared to what should be there. Noting that many shinigami had disappeared in the wake of the vanishing, he had been doing everything he could to replace those gone. Especially considering the other divisions were competing to replace their own losses, he simply hadn't been able to fill out the division to the size it should be.

Sitting at the head of the table he address that assembled officers to start the meeting. He then proceeded to ask everyone to reiterate their reports, even if they had already submitted in in writing. It was simply better to have everyone on the same page.

He sat quietly as he listened to Yamato mention how their patrols had run into Menos class hollows with unusual frequency. Noting that once upon a time Menos-class hollow were almost considered a myth, Touwa comments that the only time they had been seen with this frequency was during the events of Sosuke Aizen's rebellion almost twenty years ago. While he couldn't say for certain if Aizen had disappeared with everyone else, he noted that as far as he was aware Aizen was still sealed within Muken.

In response to Sakata's mentions about the various incidents in Delhi, he asked her to talk to him after the meeting. He does agree with her point though that their casualty rate was severe and unsustainable, revealing to the assembled officers that thirty-nine shinigami from the thirteenth division alone had died within the last six months, though this included the recon team that disappeared in Akatani. This included at least 6 seated officers, mentioned a 9th seat Yone in particular. Nineteen recruits had joined the division in the same time period.

Internally lamenting the fact that even promising officers were dying, he pulled a handful of sand out before casting Bakudo #64. Hishōmeyorisuna, a spell that used sand to create a map of an area of the caster's choosing. Creating a map of the patrol area of the Thirteenth division, he made sure the location of every shinigami from the division was listed in the map, though several districts were empty.

Stating that the division did not have the resources to investigate why powerful hollows were so active, he laid out a plan to reduce the area that the thirteenth was patrolling with specific orders to not engage stronger hollows even if it meant that some souls wouldn't make it to soul society until that hollow was eventually slain. To make up the area that the division was no longer patrolling, Touwa planned on asking the other divisions that weren't spread quite as thin to take up more of the patrol zone until the thirteenth could replenish to the point where they could function at full capacity once more.

In response to Sakata's comments about not trusting the quincy and to have higher level officers hunt down the stronger hollows, he simply responded that he doubted that the Gotei would be willing to accept the aid of any quincy that were still around after the events of the Thousand Year Blood War. He did note however that it was still against the rules of the Central Forty-six to harm one unless they were actively interfering with the divisions work or attacking a shinigami, so they were to be ignored unless they were breaking Soul Societies laws.

As for the officers he noted that there were not enough to go around hunting hollows due to the loses sustained previously, but he'd see what he could do in obtaining assistance from the other divisions.

After confirming that there was nothing else to bring up, he dismissed the meeting and watched the other shinigami leave the room. Once the others vacated the room, he addressed Sakata bout the Delhi incident, noting that he would be willing to do the seventh seat's paperwork so they could focus on the mission. He also offered to send a support team, though he noted that he only had Shiho available, and it would be at least a week before he could get anyone else for the group. Touwa also stated that he would prefer if Sakata would time their departure with Lieutenant Tenma, as the Lieutenant would probably be a better resource. Touwa left the meeting shortly after Sakata went off to their task.

That night, Touwa worked on paperwork to three in the morning. Noting that every report, every request, every assignment would come across his desk at some time or another. Which wasn't even accounting for the backlog that had built up between the Vanishing and his appointment as the Lieutenant of the Thirteenth division. Noting that normally he'd push off some of it to his subordinates, he lamented the thought that most of his officers weren't ones he was willing to have sitting due paperwork, whether it was Yamato's monotone expressions, Ichijou's desire to avoid work entirely, or Sakata's headstrong nature.

Noticing that it was extremely cold in Seireitou tonight, Touwa smiled before calling out to the frozen wind like an old friend.

As his Zanpakuto manifested itself outside of his inner world for the first time in over eighty years, Touwa spoke to the great bear with familiarity. The two talked about the current state of teh Gotei, with Touwa noting that Old Man Yama would be furious at the current state of the Gotei Thirteen, though he added that it wasn't the Gotei's fault.

As Shimotsume noted that that was all in the past now and that it didn't matter, Touwa agreed as he mused that maybe soon thirteen would become a lucky number after all.

## Powers & Abilities

As the Captain of the Thirthteenth Division, Touwa has the authority to command any shinigami within the division.

### Innate Abilities

* **??? Spiritual Power**: Touwa's spiritual pressure is noted to be hard to read. While it appears significantly lower than his position, he has shown the ability to cast spells up into the fifties or even potentially higher without either incantation nor visible effort. In reality, most of his spiritual power is currently restricted as the only person who knew how to easily remove the seal that was cast upon him when his sword was sealed died during Aizen's takeover of the Central Forty-six. While it is currently being deconstructed layer by layer, releasing more of his power over time, until it is completely erased his true spiritual level will remain unknown.

* **Enhanced Strength**:

* **Enhanced Durability**:

* **Heightened Speed & Reflexes**:

### Shinigami Abilities

* **Hakuda Practicioner**:

* **Kido Expert**:

* **Zanjutsu Expert**: A Master of his craft, Touwa is known his his rapid mixing of spells and swordplay to make a truly commanding style of combat.

* **Shunpo Practicioner**:

### Zanpakuto

**Shimotsume** (しもつめ, Frostclaw): This sword takes the form of a normal length katana with a rectangualr guard. The blade itself is abnormally straight, leaving the blade classified as a single-edged straightsword. A snowflake marks the guard itself. The handle is wrapped in blue cloth highlighted by silver strings wrapping in a crisscross pattern.

* **Shikai**: Shimotsume's release command is "Sleep Under the Frozen Earth"(霜地下眠る, sōchi ka nemuru). When activated, this shikai takes the form of a very ornate looking Tekko-Kagi. An armored gauntlet encases Touwa's hand and wrist, and four long claws, each around twelve inches in length, extend out from above his knuckles. The gauntlet is blue in color and is emblazoned with a silver bear across the back of the hand. Frost constantly falls from the chilled steel, with most people noting that the temperature drops twenty degrees whenever Shimotsume roars to life.

**Shikai Special Ability**: Shimotsume's ability lies in the freezing power exuded by by his claws. This weapon's claws constantly freeze whatever gets near them, even the air itself which falls down to the ground in the form of frost.
* **Bankai**: Fuyugi no Kohei (冬衣の 古兵, Lit. "Old Soldier's Winter Robe)

* **Bankai Special Ability**: *Not Yet Revealed*

## Trivia

* This character's appearance is based off of Sigurd from the Fate Series.