Midorikawa, Kureno

NAME: Midorikawa, Kureno (緑川紅野 – Green River, Crimson Plains)

ALIAS: None as of yet.

AGE: Four hundred and forty five (445). Appears in his mid-to-late thirties.

APPEARANCE: One of the first things someone would notice upon seeing Kureno would be the scar above his left eyebrow (on his left that is), a memento of his years in Soul Society in general. The second thing one would notice is how rugged he appears. There’s little to be said about life in Rukongai, prior to his admittance into Seireitei: everyone knew that the afterlife was rough, and that being admitted into Seireitei was more or less a “rags to riches” scenario. That said, people knew that being admitted meant that your existence would be put toward the stability of both life and the afterlife. Such a tale could be gleaned just by looking at Kureno’s features, with a very windswept, outdoorsman like appearance to him, paired with the evident struggle of life after death..

His build is quite powerful, despite being a man who entered a group renown for its speed, and in fact, his ability to handle his sizable reiatsu and manage its use enabled him to achieve quite extraordinary feats, much like the capable personnel in Seireitei are known for. His blond hair typically show signs of the life and afterlife he’s endured, despite his neatly combing the shoulder-length hair back to show a more presentable appearance fitting of a person in Seireitei. A light beard covers the jaw, which is maintained as a personal preference. Hazel eyes round off his facial features.

His usual attire is the Riteitai standard: triangular-esque bamboo hat, red outer Kosode, form-fitting pants (as well as shirt to match the kosode and round off his attire), with his purple backpack never far away. Outside of his duties, he’s been seen wearing rather casual clothing. Nothing too loose in case of emergency, but nothing too tight, that he’s reminded of his work. Other occasions has him wear pants and

PERSONALITY: As one of the Onmitsukidou, Kureno tends to be rather stoic by default. Not one of those emotionless types who seemingly never flinch at anything, but rather, he has learned not to make his emotions well known and cloud his judgement. His role as Commander of the Riteitai meant that getting worked up and having turbulent emotions was not a luxury he could afford. Thick skinned, he takes verbal and psychological abuse quite well and rarely ever gets pressured.

His duty is among one of his top priorities, as are the people under him, and he holds a quiet confidence in his people’s abilities. The tasks he distributes to his personnel typically are given after a firm evaluation of their abilities to ensure no task is unfulfilled or met with failure: supply, transport and delicate operations that are inherently speed orientated are the order of the day for the Riteitai, so it’s crucial that they are all successful in their objectives. Because of this high standard and expectation for his troop, Kureno does not take failure too lightly, as the pressure to perform is what any who enter would have to know and expect before they became one of the Riteitai. That said, he knows that they were all once human, including himself, and fate is quite fickle… after all, most of the people here died rather unexpectedly, no?

When met outside of his duties, Kureno is quite a warm individual, who is more than happy to share a drink or several with his fellow Shinigami. A firm believer in cherishing your personal time, as well as time with friends and family, Kureno makes the most of any time off he gets, and encourages his subordinates to do the same.

ALLIANCE: Seireitei, Omnitsukidou, Riteitai

HISTORY:

SPOILER: Click to show

It could be argued that Kureno is probably one of the few notable figures in Seireitei that lived a rather lengthy life, given how most appear to live till their twenties or so before being shuffled off the mortal coil one way or another. For Kureno, born Leon Brustraun, he had lived a fairly decent life: grew up with a hard working family, and applied himself to education and physical work. He was taught the value of hard work, and putting your best effort into completing any task put forward, and it was this ethic that enabled him to get into being a foreman, who went with the Christian Missionary force that departed for Japan. Once there, he found himself integrating well with the Japanese people, finding himself accepted into the Toyotomi forces as a foreman, and later Chief Engineer. At this point, he adopted the name Kureno Midorikawa from the foster family that took him in after he departed from the Christian Missionary Force. He brought his family over with the Daimyo’s blessing, and they enjoyed a good life with the prosperity of the Toyotomi Clan ensuring security in the troubled times. When Hideyoshi died from illness, Kureno found himself with more work as a result from the political instability, mostly in reinforcing castles and maintaining equipment.

Predicting that war would be imminent, he told his family to keep to the farm, and try not to attract unwanted attention. The daimyo would take care of them as they are not part of the military, while Kureno would provide by doing what he does… unfortunately, this did mean he would be drawn to the political unrest that ensued. This plan worked rather well, as he certainly did make quite a living in construction and craftsmanship, and he had piece of mind that his family were living quietly and were kept afloat by what he earned, plus what they grew.

It was then that things would take a turn for the worse.

After the Tokugawa Clan marched on the Uesugi, the Mouri succeeded in claiming the renowned and impregnable Osaka Castle. Ishida Mitsunari, who was hailed as the General of the West, decided that claiming Gifu Castle would establish a strong foothold that would threaten Ieyasu’s power and restrict the freedom he enjoyed in claiming the capital. Kureno was tasked with travelling with Mitsunari’s forces as they claimed Gifu Castle, and apply reinforcements to the structure and defences. Ideally, Ieyasu’s troops should have been too preoccupied with the clash with the Uesugi to respond effectively. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

Tokugawa forces stormed the castle in a period of travel and reclaimed it, Kureno being among the unfortunate victims of the initial arrow salvo. Some shouts could be heard on the other side, lambasting the archers for being so careless and killing engineers and civilians as opposed to military personnel. Sounds of arquebus cracked through the air, and were the last thing Kureno heard before consciousness failed him, his last thoughts were of his family.

After some unknown length of time, Kureno awoke in what appeared to be a bustling village. Puzzled, he asked a man near one of the simple, wooden homes about what happened to Gifu Castle and about the political climate of Japan, whether the Toyotomi remnants or the Tokugawa became the major power of the nation. The dumbfounded look on the man’s face told him that these names seemed foreign, and the response he got only added to Kureno’s confusion.

“The hell’r ya talkin’ about? Never heard of this “Toyotomi” or “Tokugawa”. I knew of the Miyamoto though before I died.”

“The… Miyamoto?! But that clan perished hundreds of years ago!”

“Ahhh, so you’re still in shock then eh? Tell ya what, stay a while and lemme explain things for you.”

From there, Kureno was informed that he was in fact dead, and had been sent to Rukongai with the help of a Shinigami. The man surmised that given Kureno’s obliviousness in what happened, there had to have been a massive event that attracted the attention of the shinigami to have warranted such a fast purification.

“Well, last I remember, the Tokugawa army had marched on Gifu Castle, where I was working on improving the structure to ensure things were in order. Things had become tense lately, and Lord Mitsunari figured that claiming Osaka Castle, and then Gifu Castle, would give a solid edge over the Tokugawa. It wouldn’t have been too long before both armies met. Least I wouldn’t think so. Gifu was an area that leads to the Capital, so I would think Lord Mitsunari would have moved to stop him.”

“Ahh, so it’s a war then.”

“Well, the country had been at war for decades. All these clans popped up, trying to claim dominance over the other. It was a horrible time, but the Toyotomi managed to unite most of the country. It’s just a shame Lord
Toyotomi succumbed to illness. At least there was peace while he lived.”

“An era of constant war? Little wonder you were fast-tracked here man. And little wonder this place had become so populated lately.”

“This place? You mean everyone who dies is sent here?”

“Everyone them Shinigami get to. Not everyone does from what I hear, but this place is only so big. I fear that in time there’d just be far too many people for anyone to live safely.”

Pondering about the situation, Kureno thanked the man and offered to pitch in and help, having mentioned he was an engineer in life, and knew his way with tools and materials. Thus, Kureno managed to get by over the preliminary decades of his afterlife in Rukongai, by plying his trade, and helping out. He even created numerous houses to ensure the swathe of people who appeared from the Battle of Sekigahara would be accommodated without putting too much strain on Rukongai in general.

Over time, he learned to deal with the less savoury people of Rukongai, and trained himself in combat more extensively than the basic self defence he was taught. Thanks to this training, he felt himself become more powerful, even to the point of actually needing to eat, despite being dead. As word got around, he was approached by some Shinigami, who asked for him by name. Cautious, Kureno steeled himself as he gave his confirmation of his identity to the trio of Death Gods.

They motioned for the man to calm down, and that they weren’t here for anything bad, just to take him into Seireitei, where he could learn more about this strength he had gained from his self-taught training. Agreeing to the invitation, as well as the prospect of learning more about the people who took him away from the mortal world after death, as well as the reasons for such an apparent rare case where he was rapidly transferred along with, supposedly, the souls of the other engineers and soldiers at Gifu Castle.

From there, he applied himself to the training, and learned what he could about the Shinigami. His work ethic and professionalism earned him high praise among the instructors, but his warm demeanour outside of his duties, as well as his encouraging disposition during work provided some friends among the other initiates. Over time he had become accustomed to his Asauchi and learned what he could from the Academy, and was sent to the Sixth Division. From there, he demonstrated his talent at being able to control his reiatsu, as well as being able to move nimbly. His prowess with Hohou was another claim to fame for Kureno, as he found mastering high-speed movement was a much simpler task than quite a few areas, and in cases it helped make up for his shortcomings.

With the hundreds of years in serving as an unseated member of the Sixth Division, Kureno tempered his abilities steadily, before he would heard a voice he did not remember hearing, calling him by name. Over time, he learned that it was his Zanpakuto, and knowing what it entailed, Kureno spent many years conversing with the spirit, finally learning its name in the process.

With this achievement, he was approached with an offer to become part of a task force designed to be Seireitei’s last line of defence: the Onmitsukido, Riteitai more specifically thanks to his ability to use Shunpo very well, even to the point of using variations and alongside his Zanpakuto or even his own body. Not to mention his ability to move exceptionally well despite his rugged-like appearance. He served the group as well as he could, and in time he found himself rising through the ranks of the squad, both in prestige and respect. His work ethic and diligence to the tasks at hand saw him rise to become the Commander of the Riteitai after a good, solid period of service, and since then he has shaped the unit into a well oiled machine, able to complete the tasks the unit was known for with such precision and efficiency, that few could dispute that Kureno more than earned his place.

DIFFICULTY: Hard

OOC NAME: Krethean… because Krethean. =P

FACE CLAIM: [b]FINAL FANTASY XII[/b] – basch fon ronsenburg by [i]midorikawa kurenoi]