MURAYAMA KYŌKO

steel queen of the izu peninsula || female || homosexual || legal
representing squad one || thirties || thirties

APPEARANCE

PERSONALITY

HISTORY

Kyouko Murayama is a woman with a pedigree, the descendant of the legendary Marshal-Admiral of the Imperial Japanese Navy Mineichi Murayama. Through her military career, she has held to the beliefs of death before dishonor, courage in the face of insurmountable odds, and an extreme sense of nationalism that's kept her one of the most well respected and sought out Admirals of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. (JMSDF) Kyouko was not the woman she is today that she was many years ago, however, and it took a great deal of life experiences for the young girl to blossom into a strong, independent woman.

From the minute she came out of her mother, her father was barking orders at her. Life in Japan, as many might know, is a very strict and firm lifestyle. One honorific out of place, one incorrect facial expression and she met the cold, hard back of her father's hand. Her mother was against this form of corporal punishment, but rather than make the young girl resent or fear her father it caused her to grow stronger. He explained to her time and time again that he was only trying to toughen her up for the life that was to come in the future. Though she did not understand it fully, the respect she saw surrounding her father - a military man - made her believe his words to be true. Her mother was a homemaker and taught Kyouko a great many things about how to take care of the homestead, for the day that she would be a wife herself. When she expressed her desire to follow in her father's footsteps, while he praised the idea her mother was staunchly against it. Regardless, Kyouko focused her sights on joining the National Defense Academy of Japan and when she hit her high school years (the rest of her life up to this point was uneventful apart from being a huge tomboy who focused more on buffing her body and expanding her mind than romance or going out to see movies) she entered amid a sea of laughing, mocking boys.

These taunts did not continue for long. Being harassed and hit on by one of her fellow students, Kyouko would unleash self-defense techniques taught to her by her father and surprised those around her in the skill she had within her body. The boy apologized and introduced himself as Kyousuke Nagato, the prestigious son of the Marshal-Admiral to come before Kyouko's ancestor. The two gained a friendship off this fact and off their combined skills, and would constantly compete with one another as friendly rivals. Hearing of the pair's prodigious skills caused the instructors to focus on them rather heavily, and before either of the two knew it they were performing such basic training activities as patrol, gunnery, mine sweeping, convoy operations and maritime transportation. For six months and four years this continued, and before either of the two knew it they were sent onto an Atago-class cruiser. Years of service was performed with little conflict, though it wasn't long before Kyouko was once again mocked by another troop of sea faring Maritime officers. Words exchanged, fists flew, and punishments were heavily handed out. Despite this, Kyouko's father praised her actions and Kyouko tearfully embraced him after he claimed that he was proud of her.

This happiness would not last for very long. Kyouko's father passed away when she was in her twenties, which caused her to put in a temporary LOA to take care of the preparations for both his funeral and taking care of her mother. It was around this time that Kyouko began to see apparitions floating around. This was nothing too shocking due to the Japanese culture of youkai, but what did shock her was when she noticed her own father's spirit chained to their home. Not wanting to spook her mother whom she knew could not see such beings, Kyouko inquired to why he was still around. The two spent a long time conversing, and Kyouko was able to gain closure for the things she did not know about him. Unexpectedly, when Kyouko went to meet with him the next day she discovered a woman in black robes tapping her father on the forehead. When his spirit disappeared, Kyouko flew into a rage and attacked the man with the ancestral saber passed down to her from her father. This proved fruitless as the man merely avoided the blade and tried to calm the situation. Kyouko got her bearings rather quickly and the man promised that he would be back to explain everything.

When he returned a year later, Kyouko had grown considerably. She was far more patient, far less irritable, and far, far more confident. Kyouko was explained about the life of Shinigami, the cycle of the world, and various other aspects of Shinigami culture. She was intrigued, but their conversation was cut short as a black beast appeared before them wearing an odd Mayan looking mask. The Shinigami, whom had introduced himself as Ran prior, described that this was a Hollow and went through the tl;dr version of what they were. Ran was unable to face off against the Hollow due to a poison attack from it's frog-like tongue, and while Kyouko should have been paralyzed in fear she instead stood against the Hollow. Brutally unmatched, Kyouko drew her father's saber and pointed the tip of the blade toward the Hollow.

"Foolish human, do you think you can touch me with such a pitiful weapon?"

"Silence, cur. This is the sword of my father, and carries the will of the Murayama within it."

"Miss Murayama, don't--!"

"Listen to your Shinigami friend, girl. I'll force you to your knees and devour you whole!"

"Try it, monster! I am Admiral Kyouko Murayama of the JMSDF..."

As she proclaims her name, the beats attacks. Kyouko is ready, and fakes to the left before moving right. Her hands glow with reiryoku that she doesn't rightly understand, but there would be time later for explanations. Instead, instinct causes her to wrap the blade with her reiryoku. It snaps from the weight of blocking the Hollow's attack and Kyouko is blasted against a building. Every bone in her body aches and she can swear at least one or two ribs are broken. It doesn't matter to her. The reiryoku transmogrifies itself and takes the shape of where the sword once was. When Kyouko leaps into action, she cuts the Hollow's poisonous tongue from it's mouth. A shriek fills the night air, and Kyouko does the only thing she can think to do: She tosses the Shinigami's Zanpakutou to him. Ran leaps into action, and the two perform a cross slash that simultaneously cuts off either of the Hollow's arms.

"No... this isn't possible! How could I lose to the loathsome combination of a human and a Shinigami?!"

With loud cries that fill the morning air, Ran and Kyouko finish off the Hollow in a bright display of blood and spiritual essence. The sun peeks over the clouds and Kyouko, unable to continue walking, passes out. Ran passes out next to her, and a unit of Shinigami come to discover him whilst Kyouko's mother comes out to bring her inside. When Ran meets Kyouko next, he explains to her what she had done. The spiritual essence that was within her body, no doubt stirred from speaking to her father for so long and being around Ran, had finally come forward. Years were spent training this craft, and in this time Kyouko returned to active duty. Her resumed time in the JMSDF caused her to meet a large number of female and male recruits who were also afflicted with what they considered to be a "curse." Catching wind of a "monster" within the seas around the Izu peninsula, Kyouko requested and was given her own Kongō-class destroyer to deal with the problem. The higher-ups didn't want to even acknowledge it, so it was an easy force to create. Dubbing themselves the "Spirit" Division of the JMSDF, Kyouko and her ragtag band would spend a majority of their time training their spiritual powers upon their ship whilst also attacking large, sea faring Hollow.

On the ship was also Kyouko's old rival, who became the Vice Admiral of the ship, Kyousuke. When Kyouko gained some shore leave, she spent her mother's last years alongside her and bid her a tearful goodbye. When Kyouko returned to her ship, each member of her division gave a moment of silence for Kyouko's mother which was followed by a strong speech from the woman. Spying Ran years after her mother's demise, Kyouko gleefully allowed him access onto the ship. He claimed that his boss wished to speak with her, whom she did not know by name but understood must have been the Captain of whatever division Ran belonged to. Kyouko was brought into the Soul Society and was given the same kind of look that she might have given a foreigner. No surprise there... She was brought to meet with the enigmatic, well known figure called Mayuri Kurotsuchi. He extended the offer to her that she could become something greater than she ever hoped to be. Inquiring further only caused Kurotsuchi to explain he knew all about Kyouko's activities in the Izu peninsula and explained to her how what she and her troop was doing upset the balance. Naturally, Kyouko was upset over this but did not allow it to show on her face.

Kurotsuchi claimed that Kyouko did not have a choice in the matter and that he was giving her the opportunity to save her underlings. Insulted, Kyouko strongly claimed that she would not heed demands, and that she was the one who extended demands. Regardless, she understood as much as necessary about the balance and agreed to undergo the dangerous transformation. The pain she underwent was absolutely brutal but she kept a stiff upper lip and a tough, unwavering brow. When she was introduced to the others, her commanding aura practically radiated from her. During each combat exercise she barked out orders, something she found herself rather good at given her background in the JMSDF. Coming out of things being one of the few survivors, Kyouko was immediately assigned to Squad One and continues to serve them to this day as their representative Substitute-Shinigami. It was a combination of these drills and the time she spent explaining her powers and status to her troops that she mastered the powers given unto her, most notably gaining help from Ran and discovering what shikai even was in the first place. It was remarkable for her to attain it in the time she had, but she was a prodigy after all. This sort of thing wasn't difficult for her.