Izuru Kira

**Izuru Kira** is the lieutenant of the 3rd Division in the Gotei 13, under Captain Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi. His former Captain was Gin Ichimaru.

## Physical Appearance

Izuru is a fairy tall, lean-built young man with pale skin, blue eyes and shoulder-length blond hair that is combed into three points, with two in the back of his head and a third combed to cover his left eye. He also wears the standard Shinigami robes and the 3rd Division's lieutenant armband on his left arm.

## Personality

Izuru is a gloomy, withdrawn and introspective person, not easily able to socialize with others. He generally appears weak and indifferent, leading many to believe he lacks the ability to be a leader. As an officer, he does not tend to inspire confidence or boost morale the way other lieutenants do. However, Izuru is loyal to both his friends and his duties. Despite the close friendship he shares with Momo Hinamori, Izuru shows that his loyalty to his former captain knows no boundaries when he defends his captain while she is in a grief-induced rage from her own captain's apparent death. Despite this, he calls himself a "monster" afterwards for raising his sword against her. Izuru considers the essence of war to be despair, as exemplified by the symbol of his Division, the *marigold*. He also hates to fight unless prompted to or given orders. However, in combat he shows ruthless determination. Izuru has shown himself remorseless and pitiless with this, beheading an opponent that was pleading for mercy.

His personality flaws are also assets: his introspection coupled with his tendency to worry makes him indecisive, but it also makes him sensitive to unusual behavior. His loyalty to his division inspires him to great efforts in their defense, as seen when Momo Hinamori attacks Gin Ichimaru and again when Makoto Kibune's attacks endanger other members of the 3rd Division. Izuru's current personality greatly differs from his days in the Shinigami Academy where he was shown to be much happier and slightly cocky after noting that Shuhei Hisagi had failed his entrance exam twice, whereas Izuru passed at the top of his class, giving him the idea that his talent was greater.

Izuru likes to write haiku and he was also awarded for one of his pieces by Seireitei Communication, which is as follows: "The persimmon tree bears fruit. Aaah, the persimmon tree bears fruit again this year." His dislike for dried persimmon (a huge difference between him and his former captain) sheds some light on the background of the poem. He likes agar-agar instead. He also writes a serial novel titled "I Want to Apologize to You." It runs in Seireitei Communication and every new chapter begins with a haiku piece. He is also the author of "*Kira Izuru's Haiku Time*". He is on good terms with fellow author Shūhei Hisagi and in their free time, they participate in gatherings of haiku lovers. Izuru also gives a special lecture of poetry on the Soul Reaper Academy. It is also known that he is skilled in playing cat's cradle.

## Abilities

**Kidō Expert**: He has great talent for Kidō, even back at the Shinigami Academy, and he is often seen applying Kidō spells during fights. He is skilled enough to use **Bakudō #63. Sajō Sabaku**, **Hadō #58. Tenran**, and **Bakudō #73. Tozanshō** without the incantation and with relative ease, as well as being proficient in healing Kidō due to his time spent as a member of the 4th Division.

**Expert Swordsman Specialist**: Izuru is shown to be highly proficient in the wielding of his Zanpakutō. Mixing his mastery of his sword's unique shape with the special ability it has, he is coldly proficient during its use and application.

**Shunpo Practitioner**: Izuru is proficient enough in Shunpo and is able to keep up with lieutenant-level Shinigami. His skill in Shunpo was shown great enough to appear behind Abirama, surprising the Arrancar.

**Expert Tactician**: He is highly conscious of his weaknesses and strengths, commonly devising methods which take advantage of his Zanpakutō's special ability, even in situations when the odds are against him.

**Skilled Healer**: It was noted by Hisagi that Izuru was once part of the 4th Division, and therefore, knows healing-type Kidō and techniques. Though he is considerably out of practice, he is still shown able to quickly determine a person's ailments from a single glance, as shown from his quick analysis of Rangiku's and Momo's condition after they fell against Ayon and heal the otherwise fatal injuries. He has a number of medical supplies that he carries with him (like the paralyzing agent he used on Yumichika), supposedly from his time in the 4th Division.

**High Spiritual Power**: Being a lieutenant of the Gotei 13, Izuru boasts a high level of spiritual energy. His Reiatsu is blue.

### Zanpakutō

**Wabisuke** (*The Wretched One*): Wabisuke is very simple and plain in design. Its normal form is indistinguishable from a plain katana. The cross guard is a normal rectangular one, with only an omega design on the top and bottom half. It also has a red-colored hilt and sheath. Wabisuke is a Kido-Type Zanpakutō.

* **Shikai**: Its' Shikai command is "**Raise your Head**".  When activated, the blade loses its curve and straightens, and where a normal katana would end, Wabisuke's blade makes two 90 degree angles, forming three sides of a square reminiscent of a hook. Even more interestingly, the cutting edge of the blade is on the inside of the angles, not the outside.

**Shikai Special Ability**: In this form, Wabisuke doubles the weight of any object it strikes. The ability can affect both inanimate objects and living beings, and is cumulative. For example, the first strike on an opponent wielding a 10 lb. sword doubles the opposing sword's weight to 20 lbs. If Izuru strikes the sword a second time, the weight of the sword doubles to 40 lbs. Izuru can continue doubling the weight of his opponent's sword indefinitely. After about eight or nine strikes, most opponents would be unable to lift their swords and are brought down to their knees by the weight of their own weapon. Though the potential of this ability is limitless, a small number of strikes to an opponent's blade is usually all that is needed to render them immobile. Its ability makes it look like he is forcing his opponents to bow their heads in apology for a past decision since it brings his opponents to their knees before him. With them immobile, the hook end of his blade can now show its gruesome function: Izuru can decapitate a fallen opponent by holding the square hook beneath his opponent's neck and lifting, like a reverse guillotine.
## Relationships

### Friends/Allies

* Shūhei Hisagi (Childhood best friend and partner-in-combat)
* Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi (Captain)
* Renji Abarai (Childhood best friend, classmate and teammate)
* Momo Hinamori (Childhood best friend, classmate and teammate)
* Rangiku Matsumoto (Close friend)
* Tōshirō Hitsugaya
* Ikkaku Madarame
* Yumichika Ayasegawa
* Ichigo Kurosaki
* Karin Kurosaki (Close friend)
* Rukia Kuchiki
* Orihime Inoue

### Enemies/Rivals

* Ryuha Armament Alliance
* Sōsuke Aizen
* Gin Ichimaru (Former Captain)
* Hollows
* The Arrancars
* The Espada
* The Bounts