Sagaku Kaijin
From Inga no Kusari wiki
| Kaijin, Sagaku ♂ | |
|---|---|
 Unseated, 9th Division | |
| Date of Birth | 4th November, 1793 (218) |
| Place of Birth | 27th District, Soul Society |
| Zanpakutō | Yonakashio |
| Player | Kaijin Sagaku |
| Shinigami | |
Contents |
Appearance
Sagaku looks to be about 23 years old and is tall, slender, and broad shouldered with a slight muscular tone to his body. He has long brown hair that he only ties up when painting or in combat; though, he does tie the front part of his in two braids that frame the side of his face. He has green eyes that work well with his piercing and analytical gaze, as he is often studying everything he sees in an attempt to understand it better. When not on duty, he likes to wear a light brown, almost bronze, kimono with cherry blossoms adorning the left side. With his favorite kimono, he wears a worn pair of sandals under the belief that as long as they still work fine, they're still good. A belief he shares for a lot of the things he owns. When on duty, he wears his shihakusho, and tries to keep it as clean and orderly as possible. He takes pride in having earned it and feels that as a uniform it should be kept in near perfect condition as much as possible. He wears his asauchi within his hakama-himo on his left as is standard practice.
Personality
Sagaku is fairly peaceful. He enjoys nature and catching the quick glimpse of absolute beauty that nature occasionally shows us; this includes women. He doesn't require much, relying on what he already has to fill his needs. Though he's not one to say no to the simple pleasures in life. His one true weakness is what souls rarely require, food. Although he doesn’t eat more than he can afford, he’s always looking for some new taste. He is also very particular to tea, especially green tea. He is often seen as withdrawn, but that is because he is always analyzing everything around him. Because of this and his intense gaze, people are often put off by him. But after getting to know him, they warm up to him and see him as a loyal and dependable friend.
History
Like most souls after a soul burial, Sagaku's memory of his past life was a bit fuzzy. What he could remember was clear at first, but eventually began to fade with time. He found himself waking up in Rukongai feeling lost in a whole new world. Luckily the people there were very helpful and explained things to him. With their help he found lodging fairly quickly. He lived in the upstairs part of the house, while an elderly lady lived downstairs. It seemed that she often opened up her house to "newborns" as many others in Soul Society did as well. They knew what he must be going through as most had gone through the same thing. Sagaku liked his lodgings, so while others came and left, he was content with where he was.
The same people who had helped him find lodging had also told him that he would never grow hungry in Soul Society; however, he found that several weeks after arriving he was starting to feel weak and hungry. He asked the old lady about this and she explained that it was sign that he had spiritual power. It was not his body that was hungry, but his spirit. It just so happened that she had some food for such occasions and allowed him to regain his strength. But she also told him that since she herself did not grow hungry, it was an expense that she did not feel necessary. He caught her drift and looked for a way to support himself.
He soon found he had a passion for sumi-e and calligraphy, and by using his skills he could make a bit of money. He would work all week, and on the weekend he would set up a booth at the market and sell his works. This is also how he first got introduced to the Shinigami. He knew what they were, they had been one of the first things explained to him after he arrived, but they were still a mystery to him. He knew that they were the "police" of Soul Society and they were the ones that brought souls to live in Soul Society, but all he knew other than that was that they were required to have spiritual power. He was interested in joining them, but he doubted he had enough spiritual power.
Nonetheless, when he opened up shop he started getting requests. To the people outside of Seireitei, the Shinigami were celebrities. He was soon flooded with requests for captains and lieutenants and others. It got to the point that he had to stop taking requests and start putting out collections. Each week he would create a set of art pieces centering around a different squad or corp. But to be able to paint pictures of the Shinigami, he had to spy on them. So whenever there was talk of a Shinigami visiting Rukongai, he was on it; he even spent time at the gates hoping to catch glimpses of other Shinigami. It took him a while, almost hundred years in fact, and although he was missing a couple, he was able to release sets with the captains and lieutenants, including those who were seen the least often in Rukongai.
Spying on the Shinigami had made Sagaku even more interested in joining them. He found himself entertaining the idea more and more as the years passed on. He had made friends with some low-ranked Shinigami on his investigations, and they all encouraged him to apply to the academy. But for some reason, he couldn't pull himself together to go apply. Maybe it was because he was nervous, or maybe he was just being lazy about it. Whatever it was, it would be some time before he finally applied at the academy; several years in fact.
He had been in Soul Society well over 200 years before he actually took the entrance exam. It consisted of several tests ranging from physical to mental to spiritual. It was more extensive then he thought it would be, but it was no where near as hard as he thought it would be. It took the whole day to finish the examinations and all the applicants were sent home to await further news. A few days went by, then days became weeks. Sagaku was nervous in anticipation and found he could barely concentrate on his artwork. Then after three weeks, a letter finally came. It had barely reached his hands before it was torn open in a mad rush to see the contents. And there it was, the phrase he had been waiting for so long to see, “Congratulations, you have been accepted into the Shinou Academy.” That night he celebrated with his friends and even some of his shinigami friends. He was going to join the ranks of those who studied so much.
The letter told him to pack all his belongings as he would be staying in the dorms of the academy within the Seireitei. He bid his landlady and friends in the Rukongai a farewell and promised he would return to visit. Entering the Seireitei for the first time was overwhelming for him. He had always caught glimpses, but being able to walk its grounds was a dream come true. The academy had sent an envoy to pick up candidates from the Black Ridge Gate and gave them a small tour of Seireitei on their way to the academy. It was the same envoy who, upon reaching the academy, gave them their uniforms, notebooks, schedules, and dorm assignments. Resting in his bed the first night, all Sagaku could think of was how his dream was coming true.
Sagaku spent the next six years at the academy. He had heard of people graduating early, but he had no intention to do so. He wanted to learn everything he could. He attended every class he could and took a lot of optional classes as well. He still made his portrait collections and sold them to his fellow classmates; though, a lot of his customers were fan girls trying to buy posters of the more “dreamy” captains. It spent a lot of his free time studying in the library and learning about the Gotei 13 and the different divisions. He found that his calligraphy actually helped his zanjutsu and made him more proficient. He also proved adept at kidō and hohō, but only picked up the basics of hakuda, only learning enough to be acceptable. As his sixth year approached, he found himself in an inner struggle over which division he wanted to request for. He was torn between several but after talking with a few friends and analyzing his own skills, he found he would probably fit well into Squad 9 and sent a letter to their captain shortly before his graduation.
Sagaku passed the graduation exams without too much difficulty and was given his black shinigami shihakusho during the ceremony. After 217 years, Sagaku had finally become a full-fledged shinigami. It was around this time that he also received a letter back from squad 9 accepting his request to join their division. Sagaku’s dreams were coming true and he couldn’t have been more happy. Maybe one day he would be a subject in one of his Gotei 13 portrait collections.
Combat
Strengths
In the academy, Sagaku found he was naturally talented in zanjutsu. He was surprised how easily it came to him until he started to notice how similar some of the movements were to calligraphy. His artistic style was noticeable in his zanjutsu and many students claimed that when he used his sword it was more like art than combat. This also resulted in very graceful and calculated movements. He also proved to be adept at kidō and hohō, but was not exceptional at it. While scouting for his shinigami collections, Sagaku gained a talent for analyzing his surroundings and knowing who was around him. Trying to catch glimpses of various shinigami was hard and he had to have a keen and trained eye.
Weaknesses
Sagaku found that while he was talented in the other areas zankensoki, he could not come to grasp the more advanced techniques of hakuda and passed it with average marks in the academy. Sagaku is also very calculated and meticulous, but often it comes as a weakness. It takes him too long to process things and has difficulty regaining his composure when caught off guard. He always has to have a plan of attack and can rarely improvise. So often during battle he does his best to fend off his opponent and keep his distance until he has had time to process his opponent’s attack style and come up with a strategy. His strength of observing his surroundings and opponents also comes as a weakness when there are multiple opponents on the battleground. If he has been battling with one opponent and more enter the area, he becomes distracted and cautious of other opponents. and loses focus of his original opponent.
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