Getsuei Katsu
May 3, 2012 12:24:30 GMT -8
Post by Bard "Dual-Strike" Alrikson on May 3, 2012 12:24:30 GMT -8
Profile Information
Name: Getsuei Katsu
Gender: Male
Age: 785, but still young in appearance
Faction: Shinigami
Rank: Taichō no Sentou Ken Benso; (Captain of the Combat and Defense Division)
Reiatsu Color: Light, Pale blue, almost white
Reiatsu Aura: The feeling that an immense weight is pressing down on you, as if gravity itself has turned against you.
Appearance: Katsu appears to be a young man in the prime of his life. Standing at six feet, four inches in height, and weighing somewhere between one hundred and fifty and one hundred and seventy pounds, Katsu has the build and bearing of a capable combatant. He constantly trains, resulting in muscles that are compact and dense, though his compact frame belies his strength. His snow white hair is spiky and messy, and he rarely bothers trying to comb or brush it in any way. His eyes are a dark, emerald green that lightens into a jade color as it gets closer to the pupil. Because of his white hair, he is sometimes mistaken for Daidouji Malik from behind. However, his skin is tanned and healthy as opposed to pasty pale. He has numerous scars on his body, from fights with both people and hollows. He makes no effort to hide them, feeling that they are simply the marks of an experienced warrior. His skin is slightly tanned. He usually smiles upon meeting someone for the first time.
Personality: Katsu has a tendency to be rather blunt. He has never been good at sparing people's feelings and speaks his mind, regardless of the subject. He likes booze, boobs, and sleep. Being of an amicable nature, he is rather sociable and always up for a spar or a trip to the local pub. He is the kind of person that can be relied on, and everyone in his division knows it. If you stumble across him sleeping, it's probably better if you let him continue doing that...lest you find his foot up your ass.
History:
"Katsu? Yeah, I remember him...nice kid. I think he's dead now..."
For those who grow up in the Rukongai, their options are limited. For those who are abandoned on the streets of the most crime ridden districts and left to die, there are only two choice: Die in the gutter you were ditched in, or Survive. On a mucky, rainy October day, a baby was born into the world and left in an alley. Squalling, flailing its meaty little arms, umbilical cord still attached and afterbirth being washed away by the frigid rain, a babe left in this condition could hardly expect to live long. For this babe, it would have most certainly been true, if not for the timely arrival of a guardian angel…a guardian angel in the form of a drunken, downtrodden and depressed man who was thrown out of the nearby tavern for trying to avoid paying his tab. Vomiting his guts into the alley, the man heard the cries of the abandoned infant, and was promptly irritated.
“Shaddup…” he growled. When the baby didn’t, he stumbled towards the wailing infant and picked it up in his shaking hands. Shouting drunkenly at the wailing babe, he put his hand over its mouth, leaving the nose uncovered of course. “I said shut up you little whelp!” As the baby struggled to wail through the smothering hand, the man realized what he was doing and removed it. He scowled, holding the baby up to the clouds and staring at it. “You snot nosed little pup…born into this shit hole of a life…and then ditched by a woman who should have sheltered and loved you. We’re two of a kind, pup. Two bastards born into a world we can’t change.” Something about the innocent, weak baby softened the old drunk’s heart. “I was older when I was ditched…old enough to take care of myself. You…you won’t last one night…” He sighed and opened his filthy haori a bit. Wrapping the baby in it, close to his beating heart, he smiled slightly.
“Most call me Tanaka…but I imagine I’ll just let you call me Dad.” He stumbled through the rain, still drunk, to the small hovel he called a home. Careful, so careful with the little baby, he lit a fire in his pathetic hearth and set the child near it. After a quick Gender Inspection, he cut off the remaining umbilical cord and wrapped the baby BOY in a warm, dry blanket. making sure that the babe was warm and dry, he himself, relaxing and rocking the boy back and forth. “You need a name pup…” he muttered, stroking the feeding baby’s head. He noted the wisps of hair that were clinging to the baby’s scalp…white, like moonlight. He smiled slightly. “I have no surname…so I guess I’ll make one up for you. How does Getsuei sound? As for a first name…Katsu, because you were divided from your mother and united with your new father..." He smiled again as the baby yawned and squirmed, its little eyes closing as a chubby hand wrapped around the drunkard’s finger. Baby Katsu was asleep. “Oh little pup…your life will be hard, like mine was…but at least you will have a life, my new son.”
Tanaka was hardly a fit parent. The man went on infrequent drinking binges, and often Katsu was left alone to his own devices. As an infant, it was a simple matter of putting him down for a nap after a good feed from the water skin. As he got older and learned how to walk, it became more difficult. With great difficulty, Tanaka sobered up. He broke himself of his habit, got a job, and paid back his debts. He was still a filthy mouthed son of a bitch, but at least he made an effort. He had his moments, his fits of rage and frustration, but he never once laid a hand on the boy. He treated Katsu with all the love and respect that his real father had never gotten an opportunity to. Katsu grew up poor, and was used to the harsh realities of life. Tanaka did his best to raise the boy, but it could only be expected that he would pick up some of Tanaka’s personality and mannerisms. Katsu was a little trouble maker, the bane and joy of the people of his neighborhood. Almost always smiling, always ready for fun, and yet always causing trouble. He He got good at stealing, and though Tanaka always scolded him for it, the old man never once made him return what he stole. In turn, Katsu limited his thievery to small amounts of money. He also only ever stole enough for himself and his foster father, and only from the people who could afford the loss. He was a regular Robin Hood.
As he got older, he started to look for better ways to earn money. He worked several jobs, always trying to help his father pay for food and housing. He worked hard, rarely complaining. He was happy to work to help his Father, because he loved the old man. It wasn’t until Tanaka got sick that things went down hill for Katsu. They couldn’t afford a doctor, so Katsu had to take care of the aging man himself. He worked harder, taking any job that was available. It did not help that for reasons he couldn't understand he began to crave food, solid substance. He was desperate for money to pay for his new need of food, saving back money so they could finally pay for someone to examine Tanaka, but the old man only worsened. One night, while tending a bar, a fight broke out between a pair of drunken workers. They had been arguing over a rather attractive bar maid, apparently thinking the bar was also a brothel and that its women were for sale. Katsu had to step in, and the fight ended with him throwing the two out on their asses, leaving their unconscious bodies in the streets. It was a simple enough thing, but it led to a much bigger problem. A member of a local criminal group saw the whole thing, and told his boss about it. Katsu was approached a few days later, and offered a chance to win some real money. Not long after, Katsu found himself neck deep ion the world of under ground fighting.
At first, Katsu didn’t like fighting for money. He only got paid when he won, which at first wasn’t often. He fought often, almost every day. He got better at hand to hand combat, and started winning more. He became a rising star, the one to beat. He hid the bruises and other wounds as best he could from Tanaka, and never told the old man how he was making so much money. Tanaka had his suspicions, but he never questioned Katsu’s judgment in the matter. They always had enough food, Katsu paid for a doctor to cure Tanaka, and repaired the house. The old man even started to get better. Katsu and Tanaka were happy, and there didn’t seem to be anything that could ruin that.
Unfortunately, doctors couldn’t stave off old age. The long sickness had taken its toll on Tanaka, and combined with his age, he didn’t have long. During a particularly hard winter, Tanaka got sick again. This time he didn’t recover, and Katsu was forced to watch as the man he called “Father” faded before his very eyes. His final words were simple. It was a blessing from father to son given as he lay in his bed, with Katsu tending to him, clutching the old man’s hand. His voice was “Katsu…my son…you gave me a lot of trouble, you little fool…but you saved my life just as surely as I saved yours. I’ve never once regretted taking you in.” He took a shuddering breath, and squeezed Katsu’s hand as he continued. “You worked so hard to help me. And I know about the fights.” Katsu paled. Tanaka had known? “It hurt me to see you suffering for my sake, but I understood why you were doing it. Thank you son…” Katsu could feel the man’s pulse weakening in his hand. “You were never mine by blood, but I’ve loved you like you were my own from the first day. Stop fighting for money Katsu. Give up that life and leave this district. You’re special my boy, and those men will destroy you in time. Live well, live long, and live strong. Stand for what you believe in and let no one stand in your way. You will go far, and you will make me proud.” With his final words, the old man closed his eyes and smiled. He released a final breath and died, leaving Katsu to mourn him alone.
"Getsuei Katsu was...a monster. After that old geezer died, Katsu didn't seem to have much interest in anything other than fighting. He killed eight fighters in hand to hand combat in my fight club, one right after the other. I haven't seen any fights like that since then. It was brutal. Like I said, he was real monster."
A week after Tanaka’s death, after the old man’s body had been buried, Katsu went back to the head of the gang he fought for. Katsu was sick of fighting for money. He tried to quit, told the Crime Lord he was done, but it wasn’t that easy. The Crime Lord had him beaten, beaten badly. Then they locked Katsu up in a small, dirty cell. The bastards didn’t feed him, and barely gave him any water. For three days he starved. On the fourth day, they gave him food, just enough to keep him alive. On the fifth day, the crime lord came to see him and bargain with him. The bargain was totally one sided. Katsu would fight. When Katsu fought, he would get food and drink and a better living space. When Katsu won, he’d be rewarded with more food, alcohol, and maybe a woman if he fought well. If he didn’t fight, he would die a slow and painful death. Under those conditions, how could Katsu say no? For years after this, he fought to survive. With every fight, he got stronger and stronger. He never, ever backed down. On the rare occasions that he lost, it was a slim margin. Katsu was slowly getting used to life as a fighter. He was starting to love the feeling of his fists demolishing his opponents, the feeling of being at the top after having been on the bottom for so long. The feeling of killing someone with his bare hands. He started to enjoy those feelings, and part of him was afraid of them. He became fixated on surviving, on escaping, on getting the hell out of the Rukongai.
As the years dragged on, Katsu became more and more desperate to escape. He had a plan in place, but he was always revising it, new information making some parts pointless and others suicidal. Finally, after much thought and planning, he formed a successful plan. Convincing one of the women they sent to him on a weekly basis to sneak in a knife was the hard part. Once he got the knife, things got much, much easier. When the guards opened the door to bring him food, he killed them, stashing their bodies in his room and escaping into the compound. He kept to the shadows, holding the knife tight in his hands. He avoided people, killing any guards he encountered. He was so close that he could almost smell freedom. As he made his way to the kitchen, he heard people start shouting. It was safe to assume he’d been discovered. Making a mad dash for his destination, he burst into the kitchen, rocketed past the cooks and servants in there, and kicked down the back door, escaping into the night. He disappeared into the streets, hounded by the criminals who had kept him captive, chased by hunting dogs. He found no relief until he managed to sneak out of the district, moving as far away as possible, and getting closer to the white walls of the Seireitei in the process. He was a free man now. And it was so good to be free.
"Katsu? Yeah, I remember him. He was a swell guy. He was always taking care of his neighbors and looking out for people. The kids loved him. I think he's a Soul Reaper now. We haven't seen him in years..."
Now able to start over fresh, Katsu leapt at the chance to make his new life work out. He got a job immediately, earning money to rent a small, one roomed shack that was well maintained and comfortable for one person. He enjoyed his new life, so happy and quick to put his past behind him. He made regular, annual visits to Tanaka’s grave, and worked hard to make a life and a name for himself. With his kind nature and confident attitude, he gained the respect and trust of his neighbors. He plaid with the kids of the neighborhood, helped fix and build things as his neighbors needed, and was always watching over them, checking on people and making sure they had everything they needed. Something about the way Tanaka and Katsu had lived had left an impression on Katsu’s ideas about people. He went out of his way to help those that needed it, and in more than one instance chased out the thugs of a local gang trying to move into the area. He became such a fixed point in the lives of his new friends that it was almost as if he had a dozen families. Even when he didn’t have money, he never went hungry. Because he looked out for the people around him, they did the same for him. The whole neighborhood prospered from his arrival. The thought made him feel happy. He was home.
Though things were always hard in the Rukongai, Katsu’s Neighborhood struggled the least compared to its neighbors. Things would have kept on being great, if not for the very person that started it all. There came a day when the sky split open, and hollows fell upon the Rukongai. A large cluster of them targeted Katsu’s neighborhood, rampaging and destroying buildings, seeking beings with high spirit energy in an attempt to evolve. Katsu’s neighborhood was on the menu. Leading the evacuation, Katsu dashed from house to house, getting his friends away from the rampaging hollows. As the monsters struck out at the fleeing people, Katsu felt his rage building. With that rage came power. His latent spiritual energy burst forth, a thing that had been building inside him since before Tanaka's death, released itself with a powerful, uncontrolled flare of reiatsu, he drew the monsters to him. Fleeing, he led the hollows away from his home, away from the people he loved. He was bait now, his anger driving him, his now unleashed reiatsu drawing the hollows like moths to a flame. He had nothing to fight with, only his fists. He didn’t like those odds, but they were his only options. Turning on his heel, he faced the hollows, trying to build up the courage to face them. It was hard to do, considering they were rampaging, hungry monsters. As he mustered the courage, one of them lashed out with a huge paw, smacking him into the side of a building. Crying out in pain, he felt the wooden wall splinter against the force of the throw. He had no chance of winning this fight, but he also had no intention of going down easy. He growled, pushing himself to his feet. Spying a nearby two by four that had been broken off of the building by his impact, he grabbed it and charged the hollows, screaming bloody murder and aware of the fact that he was probably going to die.
The hollows thought this was hilarious. They slapped him around a bit, playing with their little meal like a cat plays with a mouse. Every time Katsu’s spiritual power surged forth, they just hit him a little harder. Filled with rage, Katsu became desperate. He felt so weak and pathetic, knowing that he couldn’t stop them no matter how hard he tried. He was going to die. Of that he was sure. He sighed and stood straight, wiping the blood from his lips and spitting out a gob of the coppery stuff.
This is so pathetic…I can’t watch this anymore…
Katsu blinked, looking around. Where had the voice come from? Had he suffered a rather serious concussion in that last little throw?
Oh my god…you really are that stupid…look, do you want to fight them? Do you? Answer me pup!
Y-yes...I want to fight.
Good boy... I have the weapon. All you have to do is call it, to want it bad enough.
Give me the weapon! Give me the means to fight. I want to fight!
Louder! Say it aloud like you mean it! Do it pup!
Almost shocked by the effect of hearing Tanaka's old pet name for him, he obeyed without thinking. "I want to fight! I want to defeat the hollows! Who ever you are, give me the weapon you promised me!" Throwing his hand out in front of him, he felt power surge through him, directing to his arm. A warm light emitted from his palm, lengthening and taking shape. Brightening into a radiant flash for a moment, a katana formed out of the light, its silver blade gleaming in the sunlight. Katsu stared for a moment. "H-how?"
Shut it pup. You get the sword, but not the name. You'll work for that. Consider this to be an investment in our mutual survival. Now focus! They're coming!
The hollows were shrieking something about a soul reaper, but Katsu didn't see any nearby. He grimace, his fingers numb around the handle of the strange sword. Grasping it in both hands, his body shaking, he swallowed the lump in his throat and wondered if it was possible that this was all some horrible nightmare. The first hollow come close, aiming to slam its massive paw down on Katsu and quash him like a bug. Not even sure what he was doing, the frightened Katsu ran forward, the hand going right over the top of him. He jabbed upward with all his strength, stabbing the sword deep into the Hollow's ribs and dealing a fatal blow. The hollow shrieked as it fell apart, dissolving into particles of negative spirit energy. Katsu faltered, feeling suddenly weak from summoning the sealed form of a zanpakutō. He had never used his spiritual power, and all in one day he had leaped to summoning the sealed form of his sword. He was lucky he hadn't been snuffed out from burning all of his reiatsu up. As it was, he collapsed from the exhaustion and entered something of a recuperative coma. It was not a convenient time for such a thing, since there were still a considerable number of hollows looming over him.
Luck, however, was on his side. A combat unit from the Eighth Division arrived in a sort of Big Damn Heroes moment, saving the white headed youth from a rather uncomfortable death. Noting his spiritual powers and the existence of his Zanpakuto, they took him and his sword with them back to the Seireitei. Leaving him in the care of the Fourth Division, he was nursed back to health, where the matter was explained to him. He had spiritual powers, enough to enter the academy and become a Soul Reaper. Initially, Katsu wanted to refuse, but then it was made very clear to him that if he returned to the Rukongai, he would be endangering everyone there that he loved. Submitting to this knowledge, Katsu allowed himself to be enrolled in the Soul Reaper academy.
"Katsu was an...odd student. He carried himself with an air of confidence that few students had. On top of that, he was handsome, sharp witted, and strong. Yet he never started a single fight..."
After entering the academy, Katsu very quickly learned that he was not special. He never again heard the voice, the voice that had given him his sword. To make matters worse, his lack of "Noble" Blood made him subject to some rather cruel and unfair bullying. Feeling that he was inferior to them in every way, the students who had been born and raised in the Soul Society treated him like dirt. He did his best to take it in stride, never letting the hurt show. He made it a point to always appear confident and strong, even if it made him come off as an ass. He accepted it. The fact that he had managed to summon the Sealed form of his zanpakutō made him feel better. He struggled, attempting to force the voice to talk to him again. After consulting a teacher, he came to understand that the voice had been his zanpakutō talking to him, trying to help him. The only way to reach it was to focus on his classwork.
Katsu willingly applied himself to the learning process, attending his classes happily and soaking up the knowledge they had to give him. While he was miserable at Kido, he excelled in actually controlling his reiatsu, wielding a weapon, and fighting in hand to hand combat. He scraped by in his first year, barely passing some of his classes. His second year was better, but not by much. By the time his third year had come around, he had managed to resume conversing with his Zanpakuto, but had yet to learn his blade's name. It was frustrating, but better than not having the sword at all. He continued to fight his way through the academy, earning if not the love, then the the grudging respect of even his harshest critics. Upon Graduation, he made his goal clear: He would join the Eighth Division and protect the people of the Rukongai.
After applying for the division and being accepted into its ranks, he began the grueling process of working his way up from a grunt. Going the extra mile in everything he did, he rose through hard work to become the lowest seat of the Eighth Division. Once there, he continued to earn the respect of the members of his division, even making friends along the way. One of these friends was the Fukutaichō of the Eighth Division, a man who respected Katsu's drive to succeed. When he finally felt that Katsu was ready, he took Katsu on a private training session in the forests outside the Rukongai District. Through strenuous exercise and some times harsh training, Katsu achieved his Shikai. From there he continued to rise through the ranks until he himself became Fukutaichō when his friend and mentor became the Captain. Following his friend into battle without question, the two made a terrible force for hollows to face.
As the years wore on, hollows became a more serious threat. More and more were bleeding through, invading the Rukongai and Seireitei, resulting in a lot of work for Katsu and his captain. As a preventative measure, the Captain once again personally took Katsu under his wing and taught him how to summon the final form of one's zanpakutō. In a process that took multiple years of preparation and study and practice, Katsu mastered his zanpakutō and achieved Bankai. Even though he was never allowed to use it unless in the most dire of circumstances, the act of learning Bankai resulted in a change in Katsu's power. He still couldn't rival a captain, and had no desire to take over a division. He was happy as a lieutenant. He enjoyed his work, feeling that the responsibility of a captain was too much for him. Unfortunately, fate had other plans. During a surprise attack, Katsu's captain was killed by a powerful Adjuchas. With no one else to take command, the Sōtaichō offered Katsu the position of Captain of the Eighth Division. Not wanting to see his division fall under the command of a complete stranger, or worse, be dissolved completely, he took the job and became the Hachibantai-Taicho. He lives to defend the Rukongai and Seireitei from any and all threats that they might encounter.
Name: Getsuei Katsu
Gender: Male
Age: 785, but still young in appearance
Faction: Shinigami
Rank: Taichō no Sentou Ken Benso; (Captain of the Combat and Defense Division)
Reiatsu Color: Light, Pale blue, almost white
Reiatsu Aura: The feeling that an immense weight is pressing down on you, as if gravity itself has turned against you.
Appearance: Katsu appears to be a young man in the prime of his life. Standing at six feet, four inches in height, and weighing somewhere between one hundred and fifty and one hundred and seventy pounds, Katsu has the build and bearing of a capable combatant. He constantly trains, resulting in muscles that are compact and dense, though his compact frame belies his strength. His snow white hair is spiky and messy, and he rarely bothers trying to comb or brush it in any way. His eyes are a dark, emerald green that lightens into a jade color as it gets closer to the pupil. Because of his white hair, he is sometimes mistaken for Daidouji Malik from behind. However, his skin is tanned and healthy as opposed to pasty pale. He has numerous scars on his body, from fights with both people and hollows. He makes no effort to hide them, feeling that they are simply the marks of an experienced warrior. His skin is slightly tanned. He usually smiles upon meeting someone for the first time.
Personality: Katsu has a tendency to be rather blunt. He has never been good at sparing people's feelings and speaks his mind, regardless of the subject. He likes booze, boobs, and sleep. Being of an amicable nature, he is rather sociable and always up for a spar or a trip to the local pub. He is the kind of person that can be relied on, and everyone in his division knows it. If you stumble across him sleeping, it's probably better if you let him continue doing that...lest you find his foot up your ass.
History:
"Katsu? Yeah, I remember him...nice kid. I think he's dead now..."
For those who grow up in the Rukongai, their options are limited. For those who are abandoned on the streets of the most crime ridden districts and left to die, there are only two choice: Die in the gutter you were ditched in, or Survive. On a mucky, rainy October day, a baby was born into the world and left in an alley. Squalling, flailing its meaty little arms, umbilical cord still attached and afterbirth being washed away by the frigid rain, a babe left in this condition could hardly expect to live long. For this babe, it would have most certainly been true, if not for the timely arrival of a guardian angel…a guardian angel in the form of a drunken, downtrodden and depressed man who was thrown out of the nearby tavern for trying to avoid paying his tab. Vomiting his guts into the alley, the man heard the cries of the abandoned infant, and was promptly irritated.
“Shaddup…” he growled. When the baby didn’t, he stumbled towards the wailing infant and picked it up in his shaking hands. Shouting drunkenly at the wailing babe, he put his hand over its mouth, leaving the nose uncovered of course. “I said shut up you little whelp!” As the baby struggled to wail through the smothering hand, the man realized what he was doing and removed it. He scowled, holding the baby up to the clouds and staring at it. “You snot nosed little pup…born into this shit hole of a life…and then ditched by a woman who should have sheltered and loved you. We’re two of a kind, pup. Two bastards born into a world we can’t change.” Something about the innocent, weak baby softened the old drunk’s heart. “I was older when I was ditched…old enough to take care of myself. You…you won’t last one night…” He sighed and opened his filthy haori a bit. Wrapping the baby in it, close to his beating heart, he smiled slightly.
“Most call me Tanaka…but I imagine I’ll just let you call me Dad.” He stumbled through the rain, still drunk, to the small hovel he called a home. Careful, so careful with the little baby, he lit a fire in his pathetic hearth and set the child near it. After a quick Gender Inspection, he cut off the remaining umbilical cord and wrapped the baby BOY in a warm, dry blanket. making sure that the babe was warm and dry, he himself, relaxing and rocking the boy back and forth. “You need a name pup…” he muttered, stroking the feeding baby’s head. He noted the wisps of hair that were clinging to the baby’s scalp…white, like moonlight. He smiled slightly. “I have no surname…so I guess I’ll make one up for you. How does Getsuei sound? As for a first name…Katsu, because you were divided from your mother and united with your new father..." He smiled again as the baby yawned and squirmed, its little eyes closing as a chubby hand wrapped around the drunkard’s finger. Baby Katsu was asleep. “Oh little pup…your life will be hard, like mine was…but at least you will have a life, my new son.”
Tanaka was hardly a fit parent. The man went on infrequent drinking binges, and often Katsu was left alone to his own devices. As an infant, it was a simple matter of putting him down for a nap after a good feed from the water skin. As he got older and learned how to walk, it became more difficult. With great difficulty, Tanaka sobered up. He broke himself of his habit, got a job, and paid back his debts. He was still a filthy mouthed son of a bitch, but at least he made an effort. He had his moments, his fits of rage and frustration, but he never once laid a hand on the boy. He treated Katsu with all the love and respect that his real father had never gotten an opportunity to. Katsu grew up poor, and was used to the harsh realities of life. Tanaka did his best to raise the boy, but it could only be expected that he would pick up some of Tanaka’s personality and mannerisms. Katsu was a little trouble maker, the bane and joy of the people of his neighborhood. Almost always smiling, always ready for fun, and yet always causing trouble. He He got good at stealing, and though Tanaka always scolded him for it, the old man never once made him return what he stole. In turn, Katsu limited his thievery to small amounts of money. He also only ever stole enough for himself and his foster father, and only from the people who could afford the loss. He was a regular Robin Hood.
As he got older, he started to look for better ways to earn money. He worked several jobs, always trying to help his father pay for food and housing. He worked hard, rarely complaining. He was happy to work to help his Father, because he loved the old man. It wasn’t until Tanaka got sick that things went down hill for Katsu. They couldn’t afford a doctor, so Katsu had to take care of the aging man himself. He worked harder, taking any job that was available. It did not help that for reasons he couldn't understand he began to crave food, solid substance. He was desperate for money to pay for his new need of food, saving back money so they could finally pay for someone to examine Tanaka, but the old man only worsened. One night, while tending a bar, a fight broke out between a pair of drunken workers. They had been arguing over a rather attractive bar maid, apparently thinking the bar was also a brothel and that its women were for sale. Katsu had to step in, and the fight ended with him throwing the two out on their asses, leaving their unconscious bodies in the streets. It was a simple enough thing, but it led to a much bigger problem. A member of a local criminal group saw the whole thing, and told his boss about it. Katsu was approached a few days later, and offered a chance to win some real money. Not long after, Katsu found himself neck deep ion the world of under ground fighting.
At first, Katsu didn’t like fighting for money. He only got paid when he won, which at first wasn’t often. He fought often, almost every day. He got better at hand to hand combat, and started winning more. He became a rising star, the one to beat. He hid the bruises and other wounds as best he could from Tanaka, and never told the old man how he was making so much money. Tanaka had his suspicions, but he never questioned Katsu’s judgment in the matter. They always had enough food, Katsu paid for a doctor to cure Tanaka, and repaired the house. The old man even started to get better. Katsu and Tanaka were happy, and there didn’t seem to be anything that could ruin that.
Unfortunately, doctors couldn’t stave off old age. The long sickness had taken its toll on Tanaka, and combined with his age, he didn’t have long. During a particularly hard winter, Tanaka got sick again. This time he didn’t recover, and Katsu was forced to watch as the man he called “Father” faded before his very eyes. His final words were simple. It was a blessing from father to son given as he lay in his bed, with Katsu tending to him, clutching the old man’s hand. His voice was “Katsu…my son…you gave me a lot of trouble, you little fool…but you saved my life just as surely as I saved yours. I’ve never once regretted taking you in.” He took a shuddering breath, and squeezed Katsu’s hand as he continued. “You worked so hard to help me. And I know about the fights.” Katsu paled. Tanaka had known? “It hurt me to see you suffering for my sake, but I understood why you were doing it. Thank you son…” Katsu could feel the man’s pulse weakening in his hand. “You were never mine by blood, but I’ve loved you like you were my own from the first day. Stop fighting for money Katsu. Give up that life and leave this district. You’re special my boy, and those men will destroy you in time. Live well, live long, and live strong. Stand for what you believe in and let no one stand in your way. You will go far, and you will make me proud.” With his final words, the old man closed his eyes and smiled. He released a final breath and died, leaving Katsu to mourn him alone.
"Getsuei Katsu was...a monster. After that old geezer died, Katsu didn't seem to have much interest in anything other than fighting. He killed eight fighters in hand to hand combat in my fight club, one right after the other. I haven't seen any fights like that since then. It was brutal. Like I said, he was real monster."
A week after Tanaka’s death, after the old man’s body had been buried, Katsu went back to the head of the gang he fought for. Katsu was sick of fighting for money. He tried to quit, told the Crime Lord he was done, but it wasn’t that easy. The Crime Lord had him beaten, beaten badly. Then they locked Katsu up in a small, dirty cell. The bastards didn’t feed him, and barely gave him any water. For three days he starved. On the fourth day, they gave him food, just enough to keep him alive. On the fifth day, the crime lord came to see him and bargain with him. The bargain was totally one sided. Katsu would fight. When Katsu fought, he would get food and drink and a better living space. When Katsu won, he’d be rewarded with more food, alcohol, and maybe a woman if he fought well. If he didn’t fight, he would die a slow and painful death. Under those conditions, how could Katsu say no? For years after this, he fought to survive. With every fight, he got stronger and stronger. He never, ever backed down. On the rare occasions that he lost, it was a slim margin. Katsu was slowly getting used to life as a fighter. He was starting to love the feeling of his fists demolishing his opponents, the feeling of being at the top after having been on the bottom for so long. The feeling of killing someone with his bare hands. He started to enjoy those feelings, and part of him was afraid of them. He became fixated on surviving, on escaping, on getting the hell out of the Rukongai.
As the years dragged on, Katsu became more and more desperate to escape. He had a plan in place, but he was always revising it, new information making some parts pointless and others suicidal. Finally, after much thought and planning, he formed a successful plan. Convincing one of the women they sent to him on a weekly basis to sneak in a knife was the hard part. Once he got the knife, things got much, much easier. When the guards opened the door to bring him food, he killed them, stashing their bodies in his room and escaping into the compound. He kept to the shadows, holding the knife tight in his hands. He avoided people, killing any guards he encountered. He was so close that he could almost smell freedom. As he made his way to the kitchen, he heard people start shouting. It was safe to assume he’d been discovered. Making a mad dash for his destination, he burst into the kitchen, rocketed past the cooks and servants in there, and kicked down the back door, escaping into the night. He disappeared into the streets, hounded by the criminals who had kept him captive, chased by hunting dogs. He found no relief until he managed to sneak out of the district, moving as far away as possible, and getting closer to the white walls of the Seireitei in the process. He was a free man now. And it was so good to be free.
"Katsu? Yeah, I remember him. He was a swell guy. He was always taking care of his neighbors and looking out for people. The kids loved him. I think he's a Soul Reaper now. We haven't seen him in years..."
Now able to start over fresh, Katsu leapt at the chance to make his new life work out. He got a job immediately, earning money to rent a small, one roomed shack that was well maintained and comfortable for one person. He enjoyed his new life, so happy and quick to put his past behind him. He made regular, annual visits to Tanaka’s grave, and worked hard to make a life and a name for himself. With his kind nature and confident attitude, he gained the respect and trust of his neighbors. He plaid with the kids of the neighborhood, helped fix and build things as his neighbors needed, and was always watching over them, checking on people and making sure they had everything they needed. Something about the way Tanaka and Katsu had lived had left an impression on Katsu’s ideas about people. He went out of his way to help those that needed it, and in more than one instance chased out the thugs of a local gang trying to move into the area. He became such a fixed point in the lives of his new friends that it was almost as if he had a dozen families. Even when he didn’t have money, he never went hungry. Because he looked out for the people around him, they did the same for him. The whole neighborhood prospered from his arrival. The thought made him feel happy. He was home.
Though things were always hard in the Rukongai, Katsu’s Neighborhood struggled the least compared to its neighbors. Things would have kept on being great, if not for the very person that started it all. There came a day when the sky split open, and hollows fell upon the Rukongai. A large cluster of them targeted Katsu’s neighborhood, rampaging and destroying buildings, seeking beings with high spirit energy in an attempt to evolve. Katsu’s neighborhood was on the menu. Leading the evacuation, Katsu dashed from house to house, getting his friends away from the rampaging hollows. As the monsters struck out at the fleeing people, Katsu felt his rage building. With that rage came power. His latent spiritual energy burst forth, a thing that had been building inside him since before Tanaka's death, released itself with a powerful, uncontrolled flare of reiatsu, he drew the monsters to him. Fleeing, he led the hollows away from his home, away from the people he loved. He was bait now, his anger driving him, his now unleashed reiatsu drawing the hollows like moths to a flame. He had nothing to fight with, only his fists. He didn’t like those odds, but they were his only options. Turning on his heel, he faced the hollows, trying to build up the courage to face them. It was hard to do, considering they were rampaging, hungry monsters. As he mustered the courage, one of them lashed out with a huge paw, smacking him into the side of a building. Crying out in pain, he felt the wooden wall splinter against the force of the throw. He had no chance of winning this fight, but he also had no intention of going down easy. He growled, pushing himself to his feet. Spying a nearby two by four that had been broken off of the building by his impact, he grabbed it and charged the hollows, screaming bloody murder and aware of the fact that he was probably going to die.
The hollows thought this was hilarious. They slapped him around a bit, playing with their little meal like a cat plays with a mouse. Every time Katsu’s spiritual power surged forth, they just hit him a little harder. Filled with rage, Katsu became desperate. He felt so weak and pathetic, knowing that he couldn’t stop them no matter how hard he tried. He was going to die. Of that he was sure. He sighed and stood straight, wiping the blood from his lips and spitting out a gob of the coppery stuff.
This is so pathetic…I can’t watch this anymore…
Katsu blinked, looking around. Where had the voice come from? Had he suffered a rather serious concussion in that last little throw?
Oh my god…you really are that stupid…look, do you want to fight them? Do you? Answer me pup!
Y-yes...I want to fight.
Good boy... I have the weapon. All you have to do is call it, to want it bad enough.
Give me the weapon! Give me the means to fight. I want to fight!
Louder! Say it aloud like you mean it! Do it pup!
Almost shocked by the effect of hearing Tanaka's old pet name for him, he obeyed without thinking. "I want to fight! I want to defeat the hollows! Who ever you are, give me the weapon you promised me!" Throwing his hand out in front of him, he felt power surge through him, directing to his arm. A warm light emitted from his palm, lengthening and taking shape. Brightening into a radiant flash for a moment, a katana formed out of the light, its silver blade gleaming in the sunlight. Katsu stared for a moment. "H-how?"
Shut it pup. You get the sword, but not the name. You'll work for that. Consider this to be an investment in our mutual survival. Now focus! They're coming!
The hollows were shrieking something about a soul reaper, but Katsu didn't see any nearby. He grimace, his fingers numb around the handle of the strange sword. Grasping it in both hands, his body shaking, he swallowed the lump in his throat and wondered if it was possible that this was all some horrible nightmare. The first hollow come close, aiming to slam its massive paw down on Katsu and quash him like a bug. Not even sure what he was doing, the frightened Katsu ran forward, the hand going right over the top of him. He jabbed upward with all his strength, stabbing the sword deep into the Hollow's ribs and dealing a fatal blow. The hollow shrieked as it fell apart, dissolving into particles of negative spirit energy. Katsu faltered, feeling suddenly weak from summoning the sealed form of a zanpakutō. He had never used his spiritual power, and all in one day he had leaped to summoning the sealed form of his sword. He was lucky he hadn't been snuffed out from burning all of his reiatsu up. As it was, he collapsed from the exhaustion and entered something of a recuperative coma. It was not a convenient time for such a thing, since there were still a considerable number of hollows looming over him.
Luck, however, was on his side. A combat unit from the Eighth Division arrived in a sort of Big Damn Heroes moment, saving the white headed youth from a rather uncomfortable death. Noting his spiritual powers and the existence of his Zanpakuto, they took him and his sword with them back to the Seireitei. Leaving him in the care of the Fourth Division, he was nursed back to health, where the matter was explained to him. He had spiritual powers, enough to enter the academy and become a Soul Reaper. Initially, Katsu wanted to refuse, but then it was made very clear to him that if he returned to the Rukongai, he would be endangering everyone there that he loved. Submitting to this knowledge, Katsu allowed himself to be enrolled in the Soul Reaper academy.
"Katsu was an...odd student. He carried himself with an air of confidence that few students had. On top of that, he was handsome, sharp witted, and strong. Yet he never started a single fight..."
After entering the academy, Katsu very quickly learned that he was not special. He never again heard the voice, the voice that had given him his sword. To make matters worse, his lack of "Noble" Blood made him subject to some rather cruel and unfair bullying. Feeling that he was inferior to them in every way, the students who had been born and raised in the Soul Society treated him like dirt. He did his best to take it in stride, never letting the hurt show. He made it a point to always appear confident and strong, even if it made him come off as an ass. He accepted it. The fact that he had managed to summon the Sealed form of his zanpakutō made him feel better. He struggled, attempting to force the voice to talk to him again. After consulting a teacher, he came to understand that the voice had been his zanpakutō talking to him, trying to help him. The only way to reach it was to focus on his classwork.
Katsu willingly applied himself to the learning process, attending his classes happily and soaking up the knowledge they had to give him. While he was miserable at Kido, he excelled in actually controlling his reiatsu, wielding a weapon, and fighting in hand to hand combat. He scraped by in his first year, barely passing some of his classes. His second year was better, but not by much. By the time his third year had come around, he had managed to resume conversing with his Zanpakuto, but had yet to learn his blade's name. It was frustrating, but better than not having the sword at all. He continued to fight his way through the academy, earning if not the love, then the the grudging respect of even his harshest critics. Upon Graduation, he made his goal clear: He would join the Eighth Division and protect the people of the Rukongai.
After applying for the division and being accepted into its ranks, he began the grueling process of working his way up from a grunt. Going the extra mile in everything he did, he rose through hard work to become the lowest seat of the Eighth Division. Once there, he continued to earn the respect of the members of his division, even making friends along the way. One of these friends was the Fukutaichō of the Eighth Division, a man who respected Katsu's drive to succeed. When he finally felt that Katsu was ready, he took Katsu on a private training session in the forests outside the Rukongai District. Through strenuous exercise and some times harsh training, Katsu achieved his Shikai. From there he continued to rise through the ranks until he himself became Fukutaichō when his friend and mentor became the Captain. Following his friend into battle without question, the two made a terrible force for hollows to face.
As the years wore on, hollows became a more serious threat. More and more were bleeding through, invading the Rukongai and Seireitei, resulting in a lot of work for Katsu and his captain. As a preventative measure, the Captain once again personally took Katsu under his wing and taught him how to summon the final form of one's zanpakutō. In a process that took multiple years of preparation and study and practice, Katsu mastered his zanpakutō and achieved Bankai. Even though he was never allowed to use it unless in the most dire of circumstances, the act of learning Bankai resulted in a change in Katsu's power. He still couldn't rival a captain, and had no desire to take over a division. He was happy as a lieutenant. He enjoyed his work, feeling that the responsibility of a captain was too much for him. Unfortunately, fate had other plans. During a surprise attack, Katsu's captain was killed by a powerful Adjuchas. With no one else to take command, the Sōtaichō offered Katsu the position of Captain of the Eighth Division. Not wanting to see his division fall under the command of a complete stranger, or worse, be dissolved completely, he took the job and became the Hachibantai-Taicho. He lives to defend the Rukongai and Seireitei from any and all threats that they might encounter.
The first few decades of his time as Hachibantaichou were fairly lax, with little trouble. Hollow incursions were few and far between, and most of their trouble came from gangs and criminals within the Rukongai. Katsu had been devising plans to install a task force within the Rukongai too police these areas more often, and to do a more thorough job of apprehending criminals and investigating complaints and troubles disturbing the peoples of the Rukongai. He hadn't been making much headway with the project, when he received a few mixed blessings. First came the monstrous reptilian with a hide resistant to reiatsu attacks. After Katsu's trip through its gullet, he found himself dealing with the death of the Soutaichou, and an influx of new members as the thirteen divisions of the Gotei merged into five, and he was suddenly flooded with an influx of new members. While this was certainly a beneficial end to an otherwise tragic event, Katsu had little to no time to implement any real changes in the way his division was operated, because before he'd even had a chance to sort things out, the Central 46 was assaulted and destroyed by another massive creature. This gargantuan ape monster declared that Katsu, Daidouji Malik, and Kurugari Kimiko were blackmailed into attending a tournament held by the orders of some unknown force. With no choice but to attend, the three set out for the human world to attend this unholy tournament. After a rocky start, Katsu found himself facing his first round opponent: The Arrancar Espada Ulquioza Obselisk.
The fight was brutal, and unfortunately dealt a heavy blow to Katsu’s pride, as he lost to the Arrancar is a rather spectacular fashion. He’s been remotely silent about the whole thing, but any casual observer would be able to tell that it is weighing heavily on his mind.
The fight was brutal, and unfortunately dealt a heavy blow to Katsu’s pride, as he lost to the Arrancar is a rather spectacular fashion. He’s been remotely silent about the whole thing, but any casual observer would be able to tell that it is weighing heavily on his mind.
