❀ History 」 ≡

There was a boy who was born to two farmers under strange circumstances. For starters, the pair were not even planning on having another child, and additionally, the child was very bright for his age. He could walk and talk well before his siblings ever could. Because of this, rumors circulated that the child was blessed by a deity. The boy was not given much time with his family, however, as any and all farms supplying Sigata castle were to be scorched to the ground. Gentaro Matsunaga was given this task, and he knew once Sigata castle was crippled, Toyotomi forces would be able to siege Miki castle.

Now, Gentaro had seen many strange things in his life. No stranger to battles, a hardened samurai, he had come to expect the unexpected. But sometimes in life, even the most steadfast warrior is forced to take pause and reconsider the familiar. As farms were being raided, destruction and death in the air, Gentaro watches as a little boy chases after a chicken. In the boy's haste, it appears he did not see the bloodied samurai standing there and collided face-first into his greaved legs. The chicken runs on ahead and stops suddenly, watching the two warily at a distance.

Gentaro feels like he should say something. Chastise the boy, or scare him away to wherever his parents were, but that begged the question why a child this young would be left unattended. Glancing at the bodies around him, he wonders if the boy's parents are even alive. What startles him is when the boy speaks, no hint of fear. "Can you help me catch my chicken, mister samurai?"

He knows the obvious choice is to reject this request. A man on a mission such as he could not entertain such folly, and yet... It is as though something in the boy's smile melts his resolve. He not only helps the boy, barely two years old, catch the runaway chicken, but he also takes the boy back home with him to the Matsunaga manor, where he raises the boy, Akimaru, with his barren wife, Okiku. They so loved the boy that they treated him as though he were truly their own flesh and blood.

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❀ Personality 」 ≡

Hideyori is a character of duality: good & bad, love & hate, nurture & neglect, logos & ethos. He is fully aware of his shortcomings and abhors them, fearing that they must be the reason why people choose to betray his trust and hurt him time after time. In a bid to prevent the bitter sting of betrayal, an isolating existence, he projects only the side of himself he deems acceptable: the face that has people willingly follow and pledge loyalty to him. The face that is worthy of love and adoration. Do not be mistaken, Hideyori does not fake his "good" traits, but rather conceals the darker part of his nature in order to appear solely virtuous.

As a respected seated member of the First Division and the son of the famed Captain Commander, Hideyori attracts a lot of attention. He is popular across divisions thanks to his many feats. These include feats of strength (easily a captain-class Shinigami, has gone toe-to-toe with Vasto Lorde hollow before), intelligence (his strategies have gotten Soul Society out of tough situations, and he tends to be consulted before major decisions are made), grace (always willing to lend a helping hand in spite of his star status, and is often found tutoring young Shinigami without accepting payment), and beauty (humble as he is concerning his appearance, it is undeniable among men and women alike that he is one of the more attractive souls in Soul Society, as evidenced by how often he is asked to be featured in Seireitei Bulletin photo shoots). The rapport and reputation he has within Soul Society is a consequence of Hideyori's constant strive for perfection, as well as the chase for his father's scant, elusive approval. This approval still evades him in spite of his darling reputation, so there is even more pressure to perform beyond what he is already capable of. It results in a brand of perfectionism that not only attempts to avoid mistakes but also reaffirms the need to hide any mistake he does make, thus further trapping him in a vicious cycle of keeping appearances and, as mentioned prior, concealing imperfections.

Seeing as he feels the need to over-perform in order to keep his ties with others, it's no wonder he values loyalty, that pesky little thing that trumps his shortcomings. A person who is unconditionally loyal wouldn't care if he slipped up or had his facade exposed. Hideyori is no stranger to acts of betrayal: past lovers drawing their blades against him, people keeping him beneath their heels, others sabotaging his ambitions. He figures that a truly loyal servant would never do that, and since he relies so heavily on having people willing to serve and take care of him, he realizes that he cannot just hope for people to follow him all on their own. They need his guidance to grow and to bloom beautifully in the way he wants, much like the flowers in his garden. So he'll learn what they fear and what they desire, using it to his advantage. Like his most prized hyacinths, he'll pluck misplaced leaves, uproot them to change their direction, and groom the petals in order to balance the flower. In a manner, this reflects Sankeihana's powers perfectly: all of his connections bend to his will, sacrificing their self-control in order to empower him as he saps at their strength. There is no form of loyalty as pure as this, one in which the other party simply cannot turn traitor.

But Hideyori is no parasite; the other party benefits greatly in kind. Hideyori himself shudders at the thought of coming off as a traitor, never wishing to be seen as someone capable of mirroring the damage he has suffered at the hands of the unfaithful. His love for loyalty is not one-sided, and he is willing to put his own life at risk to defend those he cares for. He is greatly protective of his friends and allies, and it is not uncommon to see him return from a mission with unscathed partners, whereas he will be injured. This distinction sets him apart from someone like Sosuke Aizen or Yhwach, who are willing to take advantage of other's loyalty for their own gain alone. It creates an environment where both parties rely on each other, making it mutually dependent and therefore less likely for the bond to be severed. However, if this bond is severed in spite of all the precautions taken to prevent it, Hideyori grows cold towards the flowers he's nurtured, taking back all of the life he has invested. He can never forgive a betrayal, holding onto grievances even beyond the grave, from one life to the next. Nor will he ever forget.

Not that he has much of a choice in the matter. Hideyori is unknowingly affected by a piece of the Soul King that's lodged into his brain: the amygdala. Normally, the amygdala is responsible for fear and anxiety responses, having a direct link to the thalamus and therefore triggering different fight-or-flight responses. It also has been linked to the consolidation of memories that trigger these intense emotional responses, and research has led to the conclusion that there is more that has yet to be discovered, as the amygdala responds to all strong emotional reactions and is not limited to just fear. The Soul King's amygdala, however, is hyperactive in this role, having been linked with Hideyori's soul from the start of its conception. This means that even stimuli and memories associated from his past lives are carried over, hence his strong responses to learned sensitivities such as betrayal or neglect. It also carries the memories of the Soul King's emotional impulses, and since it connects to various other parts of Hideyori's brain, it has affected multiple areas and processes. This becomes the answer to the question of "why does he do that," 'that' being any action that could be perceived as an overreaction or taking something far too personally.

But when he is not paranoid about repeating mistakes of the past, he makes for a worthy companion and fun friend to all. Hideyori lends a helping hand whenever he can, and is adored especially in the Rukongai for being a Shinigami that has the common people's trust. Since he was not born within the Seireitei, he does not look down on the "ruffians" and lower class souls serving out their time in the outer districts. Additionally, in contrast with his dainty and graceful demeanor, Hideyori gets along surprisingly well with the gruffest of folk, and his past as a street rat in the Rukongai explains exactly how he is able to interact with the Eleventh Division naturally. He knows what it is like to be treated as lesser than another by circumstances out of someone's control, therefore, he operates entirely on a "treat everyone well until they give a reason otherwise" basis. Added to this is how he used to perceive a samurai's duty in his mortal life: a protector of the people.

❀ Appearance 」 ≡

A composed demeanor accompanied with elegance, Hideyori is a slender male with pretty features who looks the part of the noble but bears the blood of the commoner. His hair a periwinkle, his eyes a pair of cherry blossom petals, he is easy to spot at a distance. Perhaps the one stain upon his image of graceful perfection is the crescent-shaped scar under his left eye, a source of shame for him that he often tries to hide or mask. Upon his back is an amaranth tattoo with the kanji for eternal, 永, which is also in his last name, Matsunaga (松永).

Before Sousuke Aizen's defection from Soul Society, Hideyori wore his Shihakusho properly with a long-sleeved black turtleneck underneath, but afterwards, he wears his Shihakusho with the sleeves relaxed, baring part of his back and shoulders. Although he varies how he styles his long hair, his favorite way to wear his hair involves a messy bun. Glued to his hip is his ever-present Zanpakuto, sheathed in the deep purple hues of the First Division, which is wrapped snugly around his waist by a purple sash that was a special gift from a friend whom he graduated Shin'ō Academy with.

❀ Abilities 」 ≡

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Proin dolor lectus, suscipit nec mauris ut, vestibulum faucibus enim. Integer massa ante, ultrices tempus condimentum ac, ultricies in sem. Aliquam erat volutpat. Duis rhoncus, metus in rutrum ultrices, ipsum magna laoreet est, ut hendrerit dolor nisi sit amet nulla. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Donec ac eros commodo mi vestibulum egestas. Mauris viverra luctus neque, sed ultrices ante tempor ac. Sed non faucibus erat, a vulputate urna. Mauris laoreet congue purus, at fringilla turpis sollicitudin non.

❀ Statistics 」≡

Physical Strength:
■■■■■□□□□□ 5 / 10

Intelligence:
■■■■■■■■■□ 9 / 10

Kidō:
■■■■■■■■■□ 9 / 10

Hohō:
■■■■■■■■□□ 8 / 10

Kendō:
■■■■■■■■□□ 8 / 10

Reiatsu:
■■■■■■■■■□ 9 / 10

❀ Zanpakuto 」 ≡

Hideyori's blade is an ōdachi, sheathed within the deep purple color associated with the First Division. The blade is scarcely decorated: there is a yellow tassel at the end of the blade's hilt, and a ridged blue texture on the handle itself.

When using his Zanpakuto to fight, Hideyori utilizes a devastating iaijutsu-style that delivers swift, quick blows in succession. Hideyori re-sheathes his blade after every combination of strikes, which makes it difficult to track or predict his next movements with the blade. Confounding his foes with speedy unpredictable movements is how he is able to make up for his average level physical strength.

When Hideyori's release command "Obey, Sankeihana" is said, his blade becomes a parasol constructed out of plant matter. The staff is made out of hollow segmented bamboo, and a thin concealed blade lies in wait for enemies that get too close. The umbrella itself is flush full of life: green foliage is decorated with blue and pink flowers that emit a sweet scent. Underneath all this deceptive beauty however are fungal spores that are released in a radius around Hideyori, with its aim to infect other beings: enemy or ally. Just as with regular spores, wind and movement can help spread them farther.

Once the fungal spores make contact, they target the nervous system and will begin to seize control of the foe's muscles, appearing to paralyze the foe. Thus, many wrongly assume the nature of Hideyori's Shikai ability is merely a paralyzing gimmick, something more along the lines of a toxin than an assault and complete takeover of the nervous system.

The embedded spores can also lie dormant in a target and activate upon command. If this is the case, one will find a single fungal flower growing somewhere within their inner world. This is the only indication that one has been infected with a dormant spore.

Active spores will feed on the host's Spiritual Energy until it is able to reach maturation. Upon doing so, a stem will sprout from where the spore(s) entered the host's body and begin to bud. A flower will bloom and then release more spores, which will continuously infect others in the vicinity.

When Hideyori is ready to use his Bankai, he will hold out his open parasol vertically before him. Upon the release command, Sankeikajoki (散形花序気, "Umbel Mind"), the stem of the parasol will extend downwards into the ground, then the umbrella will shoot high up into the sky and expand outwards, enveloping the entire area (about 50 meters outwards from the stalk) under its shade. This drastically increases the rate of spore infection, as the spores will rain down in the entire area.

The spores will not only affect "living" souls, but also the surrounding area, turning the entire section of land underneath the parasol into a "spirit garden"—one that resembles the garden of Hideyori's inner world. The land will become flush with greenery, as well as the blue and pink flowers present on the Shikai release. This means that the Reishi of the entire area is being absorbed for the fungus' upkeep.

The spores will not only affect "living" souls, but also the surrounding area, turning the entire section of land underneath the parasol into a "spirit garden"—one that resembles the garden of Hideyori's inner world. The land will become flush with greenery, as well as the blue and pink flowers present on the Shikai release. This means that the Reishi of the entire area is being absorbed for the fungus' upkeep.

As for those who are infected with the spores, Hideyori will now be able to control their bodies through their nervous system. This is a complete control over any sensory functions: Hideyori can make the infected do almost any physical task required of them. This control is very difficult to fight against, so it is a race against time for the host(s) to prevent multiple spores from seeding and taking root.

❀ The higher the Reishi level of the area, the longer the Bankai can be used. Meaning, areas like Hueco Mundo and Soul Society increase Sankaikajoki's power, but the Living World weakens it.

❀ Since the stalk of the parasol becomes embedded into the ground, Hideyori loses access to his concealed blade and essentially becomes weaponless. He will have to rely on Kido or the infected for self-defense.

❀ The more spores, the stronger the hold he has an another. The less spores, the easier it is to fight against the control. That being said, this is also dependent on Reiatsu level. Those with less Reiatsu will require less spores to control.

❀ Some abilities provide a natural immunity against Sankeihana's spore infection.