Kaida Axworthy

Kaida Axworthy blossomed into a fearsome child that continuously caused havoc. She meant well, but the results of her pranking said otherwise. As one decade turned into the next, Kaede worried about the hollows that tumbled through the district from time to time. It wasn’t like it was a rarity to have hollows within Soul Society however their frequency had increased since Kai began living in the district. And it wasn’t just her; other children were coming into the world possessing great strength.



Nonetheless, Kaede decided to put Kai on the basics at the mark of her third decade. Seeing as Kaede herself had been a full-time shinigami once, she didn’t expect Kaida to pick up techniques as quickly as she did. It took no time for the young spirit to begin understanding how to focus her reiatsu and even dwindle it. At the mark of her eighth decade, Kaida had blossomed into an experienced soul ready to do some good. Or just cause trouble- it really was hard to decipher what her true motives may have been. Kaede hated to see her little Firefly run off so soon, but with the increase of Kai’s ‘nightmares’, the middle aged woman insisted that she go apply for the Shino Academy.



She surpassed the academy in half the time required as she already had a head start. When the time arrived for Kaida to do an ability performance in order to secure a position in the Gotei 13. Working in cahoots with another experienced shinigami, she began to understand the frameworks of shunko. And only the frameworks. As she settled into a calm state of mind in order to trigger her shunko. It manifested into a dangerously electrical form, surging out of her fingertips and back into her arms. The power, force, and speed at which the shunko was being generated increased tenfold. Clearly it was too much for her handle or control which was evident by her the terrified expression on her face. Her attempt to stop her shunko resulted in an blast that not only damaged some of the shinigami present and the building itself, but also took off her arms. The teacher overseeing the performance demonstration immediately whisked her away to be attended to in the ICU over at Squad 4. On a whim, Squad 12 offered an option for the student besides the fate of becoming a handicapped soul; Phantom technology. It was a prototype of tech that they wanted to be issued out to those working without limbs and Kai happened to arrive at the right place and the right time.



When she came to, Kaida felt sore. And also scared shitless. It had seemed that her actions had brought about the curiosity of most the Seireitei- that’s how many people were sneaking peeks into her infirmary room. She also found her arms to be replaced with mechanical ones. Phantom tech, the lieutenant of the squad had called them. The lieutenant assured Kai that rehabilitation would need to be performed in order to put her back into par so she can train properly with her squad. In utter disbelief, Kaida acknowledged that perhaps she did have something worth fighting for and from that point she excelled in combat from all perspectives.

Spending time with her squad was a good past time. She created memories that she still remembers to this day in Squad 8. A memory that stood tall against the others, however, was the day she achieved her shikai. It’d been a matter of cat and mouse with her Zanpakutō. He could always show his face, could always criticize her, but would never reveal his name. Lieutenant Hirai, at the time, offered his own knowledge seeing as how it took himself five years to achieve shikai and even longer to gain the Lieutenant position.



Kai, seeing no other route, begrudgingly accepted his offer. They trained each morning that wasn’t filled with the bustle of paperwork; meditating, practicing. Hirai made sure they sparred four times a day on minimum and was assigned to assist in daily patrols of Seireitei. To say her life was hectic at the time would have been the understatement of the century. One of her mornings began as it usually did; wake up, get dressed, report to the captain for any assignments, then head out to the training grounds for her daily sparring session with Hirai. She was on her way to do just that when a masked figured attacked her.



She held her ground for as long as possible but knew that at some point she would need to gain the upper hand. Distracted by fleeting thoughts, she missed the assailant’s sudden swing of their sword and received a nasty wound going along her ribs. That was the moment she heard him clearly for the first time; his voice slashed against her like the cold blade of the sword. Her Zanpakutō! So peaceful yet ruined by the words, “Get up you worthless bum! And hold your sword steady, dammit! God, it’s like dealing with a two year old.” He was far from nice but his demeanor kept her calm. Stirred another kind of determination in to win, to fight back.



They argued as Kai continued to struggle against her attacker’s advances became relentless. His next move was blocked by her arm, but could have ended nastily. Not that she wasn’t already bleeding. Her Zanpakutō figured she had had enough. He himself began to feel enraged at her own stupidity. But he chose to turn his outrage on the attacker. After she got to her feet again, she shunpoed back a farther distance to catch her breath. He told his name, much to her own surprise, then he asked her if she knew what needed to happen. She replied that she needed to ‘end this’ and thus her shikai was obtained.



A sudden taste of bloodlust curled around her form shifting her reiatsu to a blinding light. Her assailant suddenly stopped in his tracks and revealed himself to be Hirai. Surprised and bleeding profusely, Kai muttered something about him being a sneaky bastard. He replied in kind, offering to take her to the infirmary all to no avail. Kai’s reiatsu continuously grew the longer she remained in her shikai. It was uncomfortable for Hirai to stand so close to her in this new heightened state of power. Reaching exhaustion, Kai retrieved to the sealed state, then began to stumble off towards the infirmary. Hirai helped her, telling her how much progress she made in just a few hours that day.



After her shikai obtainment, she was promoted to a lieutenant position in Squad 3. Such a bittersweet moment went out with a bang; the Reserves definitely made sure she would miss them dearly. Squad 3 seemed a little stiff, uptight but, considering their jobs, she supposed it made sense. The Captain of Squad 3, Bear-Claw (as she so kindly referred to him), found her to be highly irritating. Something he had no qualms with constantly reminding her. Of course, then she would retort by asking why he even asked for her in the first place to which he would claim that he didn’t have a choice in the matter; the other captain pressured him to do so. Aside from her obnoxiously annoying Captain, Kai grew to lean on the snot-nosed boys in her division, befriending many and becoming a confidant for many of the new recruits.



At this point in time, Kaida’s reiatsu levels were becoming an issue for those she came in contact with. Her progression in strength in turn progressed her reiatsu which began to, in some uncontrollable cases, dish out minor burns. Not willing to put her teammates or anyone else at risk, Kai chose to only release her shikai if the matters truly went from okay to shit. Often times, she would hold back in fights, giving her the opportunity to learn how utilize her phantom tech abilities. Reconnaissance is, after all, the gathering of information on enemy forces. She gained methods on hacking retrieval as well as coordinating strike attacks to catch the enemy off guard.

But knowing her luck, that set of freedom didn’t last long. A massive attack on Seireitei by an unknown powerful group left the entire Gotei blindsided. First response- the Squad 3 grunts- were there to catch fish in the barrel. It was an influx of hollows pouring in, attacking separate parts of the Rukongai districts and causing havoc entirely. Kai willingly led her team out to the thick of the forest to gather some sort of intel only to be ambushed by the new fugitives. All but herself and one of her team were slaughtered, and even she and Ryu- a kid from the 10th barracks- weren’t doing too well. Seeing that there wasn’t any other way, she advised Ryu to take a few steps back and put up a shield of some sorts. She released her shikai, thus releasing her flaring reiatsu and attacked the man who was threatening she and Ryu.


She’d be lying if she said that won once her shikai came to full circle. No fight is that easy. Instead it was a grueling clash of swords that seemed to last for hours on end. Neither one was willing to give up. The hollow decided to use Ryu to her advantage and attempted to attack him. Kai, utilizing her Sutorobo Suteppu to burn the hollow’s hand. The hollow reacted strongly as he went into what she can only describe as his final release. Ryu and Kaida looked on as their opponent’s power increased ten fold. Ryu explained to Kai that some of the team was still alive; all she needed to do was gather them close together while he distracted the newly awakened and powerful creature. She did so, albeit hastily, gathering the injured splinters of their recon group.


Ryu battled furiously with the hollow but eventually as Kai encased the casualties in a kido spell. She rejoined Ryu to aid him, figuring that if they fought on two fronts they could take down the monster in a matter of no time. It didn’t happen, they got in a rut, Ryu lost his hand and the sword that was in it, so she was faced with the hollow basically by herself. Panicking, she attempted to reach out to Zetsumetsu who remained stubbornly silent. She took out her sudden frustration with the hollow much to his amusement. Zetsumetsu insisted that she prove her own worth as he didn’t believe she had to the heart to garner such power. Again and again she slashed out against him. Again and again he would dodge. And again and again Kai would boil over in fury. She stopped taking the nice shiny road, instead deciding to force Zetsu to give her name. There were too many people babbling at her in that moment; finally she outlashed at her Zanpakutō declaring that if he wouldn't help her, she would just have to die trying on her own.



He attempted to talk her out of her irrationality when she screamed that she needed to ‘silence the voices’. Her reiatsu heightened to levels that reached that of extremely hazardous, distorting and damaging things in her path. Her bankai state did not last long at its recently awakened state. However, she dealt enough significant damage to let Ryu be able to finish him off. Once things had been put back in the upper hand of the Gotei, clean up had become more efficient. The remainders of her and her recon team reported their findings on these new opponents to the best of their abilities.


Months after the hollow assault, her reiatsu grew to hazardous amounts. Anytime she would release her sword, her spiritual pressure would become explosive and damage the things or people around her. After her captain began to notice this, he requested that she report to the 12th division and ask them for assistance. Doing as she was told, Kai ordered an item to be constructed in order to keep her reiatsu under wraps. Although it cost a majority of her savings, they were adamant in creating a cloak that she now can never been seen without. 

Her life changed for the best of everyone including herself. And things seemed to be going damn well.