Arakaki, Kei

Kei was born into the wealthy Arakaki family that was known primarily for their successful eastern trading hub business, Ara-Sky, and other various entrepreneurial ventures. Needless to say Kei grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth and he lived the life most people dreamed about. Although contrary to popular belief Kei was not a stuck up rich kid. Though he was rich, it was not his wealth he found pride in but his families belief in value. 'To value is to love, but to set value is to challenge'. Not only was this the Arakaki family belief but it was also the philosophy that drove their companies to the top. In school Kei was seen as the orthodox spiritual as oppose to the snobby rich kid which in turn seemed to be a good thing.

He would always rave about the positive and negative sides of value and how they formed a balance as a sort of yin and yang. Although most people ignored him and found him redundant it was better than being bullied and ridiculed like most others. Kei's life went on under that routine like fashion up until a few days after his final birthday. There was a sudden uproar concerning a gang of professional thieves that were notorious for attacks at major corporations. Being that the Arakaki family was one of the largest major trading companies they would be at the top of the list for the gangs next attack.

Life for Kei had turned upside down, he was taken out of school and kept away from the outside world due to the threats against his families enterprise. Kei was hidden in the families underground cellar and watched over closely by the companies security force for months on end. During his detainment Kei developed a temporary yet reticent personality due to his solitude and a stubborn demeanor from constantly demanding living essentials from the guards.

After being hidden away for safety for months in the cellar the news had confirmed the capture of the crime syndicate. With confirmation of the threats to the Arakaki enterprise officially void Kei and his family were reunited back in their enterprise estate. However, later that night an update on the syndicates capture had proven to be incomplete as a small group of the gang still remained at large. Unfortunately by the time the news reached Kei and his family the assailants had set fire to their living quarters killing Kei and his parents within minuets after the attack.






The sound of the explosions and the embers inside of the building were still evident to Kei as he screamed for his mother and father. He soon noted a chain that protruded from his chest that led deep into the fire. Assuming he was chained up by the attackers Kei pulled as hard as he could to yank the chain off but his efforts were futile. Then suddenly a figure appeared from out of the flames and began walking towards him. It was hard to discern much in the midst of the flames but Kei could make out the silhouette of a kimono and the outline of a katana on the hip of the figure as he approached.

"I'll tell you anything you want just let me go, I don't want to die like this!" Kei said to the figure as he unsheathed his sword. "Hate to break it to you kid but its the end of the road. Don't worry though, I'll get you started on a new one." Those were the last words he heard before waking up in an alleyway surrounded by people dressed in rags and covered in dirt. After being helped up by the mysterious people, he was quickly briefed on his situation. He was dead. The people explained to him that he was in Rukonagi, the district just outside of the Seretei. After loosing his mind for a few days over the fact that he was dead, Kei finally accepted his situation and felt it best to move on as best he could. Though for some reason he could not deter his attention away from the sight of fire, as it for some reason triggered distant memories of a life he had somehow forgotten.

He remembered one of the people speaking about the 13 court guards and how everyone in the district envied the shinigami due to their lush accommodations in comparison to the slums of Rukonagi. A side from being dead another thing was odd. He was hungry? How could he be hungry if he was dead? Later, he was told by a district elder that he was most likely reiatsu capable and that it was a blessing to be so lucky. After realizing that he could further himself in the after life Kei began to spar around town and train himself so that he could enter the soul society and perhaps become a shinigami of the court guards. After many years of training Kei had entered as an applicant for soul society, representing the many aspiring youths of Rukonagi who were not as fortunate as he to poses spiritual energy






It had become apparent almost immediately that the easiest part of this process was applying since it had no official prerequisites other than being reiryoku capable. Among him in the application stages were a majority of noble blooded kids, visually no older than himself. They carried an air about them that was not only haughty but suggested distinguished talent for the area of shinigami expertise. These assumptions made him feel no less comfortable, but it was their accuracy that took a chunk out of his confidence. The entrance exam for the most part was straight forward, you had to demonstrate that you possessed spiritual energy. This was to be done by performing a rudimentary kidou in the area of destruction, in Kei's case the spell of demonstration would be the lowest rank of its kind, Hado#1 Sho.

The demonstration would be performed against a straw target dummy attached tightly to a rope from above, this way it would be easy to judge the caliber of each applicants technique. Being one of the last to approach and proceed with a demonstration, Kei got the horrid privilege of watching all of the noble blooded kids go first, effectively showing off their level of prowess and skill as they each passed with flying colors. A couple other kids from Rukonagi passed as well but that comfort was nowhere near enough to jump start his confidence back to life. Before long Kei was called to center stage to perform his demonstration. He was informed he had a total of three attempts to perform Shoon the suspended straw target. Before he began he was briefed on the process in performing the spell by an anonymous evaluator somewhere behind him and from that point there was no turning back.

Kei's initial attempt at the Hado yielded more insight than results, he could feel his reiryoku being manipulated by the magical incantation. His only trouble was being able to follow through with the mysterious force guiding his spiritual energy which resulted in a weak and untamed ripple in the air that had the strength of a passing breeze behind it. The snickering and barely audible remarks emanating from his fellow applicants caused a fit of embarrassment but failed to derail his determination. Upon his second attempt he was able to let go of his natural restraint against the Hado's manipulation on his reiryoku resulting in a forceful shot that knocked the straw dummy back, causing it to swing violently in all directions before coming back to a complete stop many moments after. Needless to say, Kei found himself adorning his white and blue academy uniform only hours after his impressive display.

His progression through the curriculum would last the full term, though most of his noble academy mates finished under the allotted term due to their acclaimed talent and were appointed to squads rather hastily. Although not nearly as talented as his noble counterparts, Kei dedicated himself and worked diligently, practicing the four major combat forms (Hakuda, Hoho, Kidoand Zanjutsu ) until he was blue in the face. By his last year he had gotten the hang of all the combat forms except for Hakuda, hand to hand combat was something he just wasn't cut out for, his glass jaw a testament to this fact. In spite of that short coming he was exceptionally noted for his serene displays of the soul burial technique which proved to overshadow his lack of toe to toe skills.

After successfully graduating on the full time line from the academy, Kei found himself as merely another applicant once again, the only difference this time was that it was for the title of a full fledged shinigami. After applying to all of the division in numerical order, as he felt it was the most logical way to go about it, he was finally excepted into the arms of a squad after being denied a couple times prior. The only difference with the court squad was that he was actually given a chance to prove his abilities as a guest on a convenient mission run to the human world where he impressively did away with a few medium hollows that surprise attacked the small squadron he was being graciously accompanied by.






After the heads of the squad received word of Kei's impressive display on the mission run he was humbly and officially accepted into the court guards, being presented with his own black kimono and Zanpakuto. Excited to have finally achieved full fledged shinigamiship, the disappointment of his starting duties surrounding around menial tasks such as cleaning and filing papers hit him hard. However, over time he gradually became accepting of his tasks and began to perform them with pride. Often times he would reflect on his life in Rukonagi and compare it to how well he had it as an unassigned shinigami of the one pf the court guards. In a sense his rags to riches triumph was what helped him form the overly optimistic attitude he is attributed with today.

With his new found attitude it was no surprise that his daily assigned tasks began to find themselves completed in much more timelier fashions than his unseated division counterparts, allowing for him to work in a training regiment into his routine. It was during this span of time in which Kei began to become more adept in meditation. He found himself less concerned with extrapolating on the combat basics he had spent years learning as opposed to the utter importance of resonating with ones own zanpaktou. Kei spent a span of years routinely attempting to speak with his zanpaktou spirit in an informal manner, trying to slowly build a relationship with it.

It wasn't until a near fatal encounter with a strong hollow on a rare patrol mission in the human realm that Kei was finally presented with his zanpaktou's name in the heat of confrontation. The battle left him with a diagonal scar across the center of his chest from shielding a fellow comrade from death with the front of his own body. Upon his return his actions during the battle were promptly evaluated and he was quickly deemed most suited for the 4th division due to his ability to save and protect lives. He was excepted in as the squads 3rd seat due to the special circumstances of his transfer and high recommendations on the count of his brave and heroic performance.