Hanazichi Kusagari

Hanazichi Kusagari is the 2nd Marshal of S Division. Her Captain in Yuu Kishirii.

Appearance
Kusagari is a woman of average height with blue eyes and long, dark brown hair tied in a braid down her back. She wears the standard red S Division robes and the S Division Lieutenant badge tied over her upper left arm. She has a semicircular scar starting above her left eye and ending at her left temple.

Personality
Kusagari has a stern attitude towards all members of S division, believing that work must be finished before relaxation can occur. Because of this, she is often the one doing most of the paperwork in S Division, as Grand Marshal Yuu Kishirii pushes non-essential paperwork onto her. Despite this, she has no problem temporarily abandoning her desk duties to help a member of S Division should they come asking, as we have rarely seen her turn away a member of the Five Man Battalion when they come for consult, training, or advice. Because of her position as primary worker in her division, anything that increases her workload is a potentially infuriating situation, as seen when the actions of Arashi Hasu during The Fourth Session caused her to have to file paperwork for a psych evaluation, and brought unwanted scrutiny to S Division. She was angry enough to revoke her sponsorship of Hasu to a seated position and shout at him repeatedly, breaking her usual strict but calm behavior.

As first revealed in the New Transfers Mini Arc, Kusagari has a fondness for gambling and bets. She made a deal with both Kenzo Konpaku and Arashi Hasu that if either could strike her during their training, she would sponsor them to a seated position. When both succeeded, she made good on her word, though Hasu's sponsorship was later revoked in The Fourth Session. She also bet on the outcome of the duel between Arashi Hasu and Arisa Armante, being organized and driven enough to get the most of S Division involved in less than 24 hours.

During The Fifth Session, Kusagari stated that she believes that strength and power are more important traits for a seated member than leadership qualities, suggesting she holds to at least a slight "might makes right" philosophy. This is in contrast with Takeshi Tahada, who believes intelligence and a conservative mindset make a good leader.

History
Little is known about Kusagari's past, other than that she was a member of 13th division and 1st division before being offered the position of 2nd Marshal by Yuu Kishirii. She was accepted into Shin'o academy and graduated after 66 years of study, after which she was accepted into 13th Division. Some time after that she was transferred to 1st Division, where she met and became good friends with Yuu Kishirii. When Kishirii went onto create S Division, he requested her as his 2nd Marshal.

New Transfers Mini Arc
Kusagari first appears in the New Transfers Mini Arc when Grand Marshal Yuu Kishirii forces her to spar with Kenzo Konpaku and Arashi Hasu. This is the first time we learn of his habit for demoting Kusagari and only reinstating her position as Second Marshal after she has completed some task for him. This time, she was made to fight the two. After she did so, her ranking was revealed to the two of them, much to the embarrassment of Hasu, as he had spent most of his match with her claiming her Shunpo was inferior to his.

Afterwards, both Hasu and Konpaku came to her several times, asking her about the nature of Zanpakuto Spirits. It was during these meetings that she grew a fondness for Hasu, claiming that he was "Impulsive, rash, arrogant, and spoiled by his own talent, but with intentions good enough to be worth working on." She then offered to help him achieve Shikai, as the meditation required might mature him. One day later, Konpaku asked her to do the same, despite not knowing that she was already training Arashi. She accepted, and began training both of them atop Sokyoku Hill, separately and without either of them knowing that both were receiving training. It was later revealed that this training was an attempt to accelerate the process of turning them both into Type One S Potentials, which succeeded. During these training sessions, Kusagari released her Shikai, Eien no Suna, and challenged Arashi and Kenzo to wound her. Should they be able to do so, she promised to sponsor them both in the upcoming Tier test, opening up the possibility that they could become Marshals themselves. However, if they were unable to do so before departing on their first mission, they would have to treat their rival like a Captain on that first mission. Both were eventually able to wound her, much to the surprise of Kusagari.

The Life God Arc
Kusagari was present at the sending off of the Five Man Battalion, arriving after they fought with Grand Marshal Yuu Kishirii and chastising the Marshal for wanting to show off by fighting them. She next appears in The Second Session, arriving with Kishirii and using a Kido barrier to protect the Five Man Battalion from his battle with Hakuba Sugari. During the fight, she releases her Zanpakuto and uses it to grind away at the lower floors of the building. After Kishirii buys her enough time to prepare, she unleashes an incredible amount of sand from the floor, trapping and crushing Hakuba to death, decisively winning the fight.

Kusagari makes a brief appearance in The Third Session, showing up to return the Five Man Battalion to Soul Society, and remarking that she does not like the powers granted to Arashi Hasu in his Shikai, as they are very powerful against her own defensivly based Zanpakuto.

At the end of The Fourth Session, Kusagari asks Kenzo Konpaku to bring Arashi to her office. When Arashi arrives, she shouts at him violently for his actions on his last mission, on which he stepped out of his Gigai and attacked the lifeless body, making it look to the humans present that wounds were suddenly appearing on a dead body. After this, she revoked her sponsorship of Arashi to seated position.

Kusagari shows up briefly in The Fifth Session after Arashi challenges Arisa Armante to a duel to settle their competing styles of law enforcement. She asks that the two wait 24 hours while she establishes a betting pool among the division members.

Powers and Abilities
Expert Swordsman: Hanazichi has trained to the level of Expert in her swordsmanship, and is proficient enough to keep up Yuu Kishirii while he is only slightly holding back. As second Marshal, she is at least familiar with high level Zanjustsu techniques.

Kido Expert: Hanazichi is highly skilled in the art of Kido, particularly in Bakudo. Her Kido barriers were strong enough to protect the Five Man Battalion from Kishirii's released Zanpakuto when he fought with Haukba Sugari, and in fact it was this talent with Bakudo that first impressed Grand Marshal Kishirii when they met in Squad One. Takeshi Tahada has claimed her Kido to be "of first rate".

Hakuda Master: Having been personally trained in the art of Hakuda by Yuu Kishirii, Kusagari has surpassed the majority of other Shinigami in this regard. Her skill with the art is such that she prefers to fight unarmed rather than with her sealed Zanpakuto, and she has developed several Hakuda techniques now unique to her. High Spiritual Power: As Second Marshal, Kusagari possesses a large amount of Riatsu, enough to turn weak Shinigami into a Type One S Potential in a matter of weeks. Her Riatsu is jade green. Shunpo Expert: Hanazichi's Shunpo technique is high enough that she can keep up with expert Shunpo users such as Arashi Hasu and Hayato Uri. When her Shikai is unreleased, she uses this skill in combination with her mastery of hand-to-hand combat to be a near uncatchable fighter.
 * Pressure Point Fighting: During her sparring matches with Arashi Hasu and Kenzo Konpaku, she sought out and struck at vital points on their bodies, attempting to disable them while dealing little damage.  After striking Konpaku on the back, he was unable to breathe for a short time, suggesting this to be a potentially deadly techniques should Kusagari wish it.
 * Orugan Hakai (Organ Ravage): By combining a strike to a vital area with a large burst of Riatsu from her fingers, Hanazichi is able to shred the internal organs of a target with a light tap, causing massive wounds that are not visible to bystanders.  After Arashi challenged her for her temporary position as 17th seat, she used this technique to grievously wound him and all but end the fight.
 * Shindō Kanchi (Tremor Detection): By forcing her Riatsu into the ground through her feet, Kusagari can detect even minute tremors in the ground, enough to track hidden opponents and fight with no issue.  This technique is useless if the opponent is not touching the ground.
 * Sazanami Chizu (Ripple Mapping): By combining quick Shunpo with Shindō Kanchi, Kusagari is able to map out a whole area and pinpoint hidden or invisible foes before striking from behind.  A minimum of five Shunpo are normally required to fully map an area with her Riatsu.

Zanpakuto
Eien No Suna (Sands Eternal): In its sealed form, Eien no Suna resembles a normal katana, with brown hilt wrappings and a sheath colored with flaking gold paint. The guard is a rectangle that runs vertically when sheathed, and it is worn in standard Shinigami fashion. Shikai Special Ability: Eien no Suna is a defensive earth-type Zanpakuto. It's primary purpose is to defend Hanazichi independently of her own actions, freeing all of her focus into fighting her opponent. The sand acts as a conscious barrier, protecting Hanazichi from anything that attempts to strike her, regardless of whether she is aware of the attack or not. This barrier is formidable enough that despite being limited by Gentei Kaijo, it was still strong enough to block all damage from Kenzo Konpaku and Arashi Hasu while she was training them. Kusagari can also command the sand to attack by swinging the hilt. Doing so does not diminish the effectiveness of her defenses. The strike was strong enough to leave a small crater in the ground atop Sokyoku Hill while she was wearing a Gentei Kaijo, and Kusagari appears to be able to control the strength of this attack at will. Hanazichi also gains the ability to burrow through the ground at a rapid speed while her Shikai is released.
 * Shikai: Eien no Suna's release command is "Push Back".  Hanazichi calls the release command while unsheathing the blade upward and to the side.  When the sword leaves it's sheath, the blade is replaced by a large pillar of sand, which encircles her, wrapping around her three times from head to foot.  The bands are tight enough to not interfere with allies standing near her, and respond to her movements, ensuring she is not restricted either.
 * Sekiryoku (Repulsion): Hanazichi forces the halos of sand that surround her to rapidly expand outward, knocking into opponents on all sides.  While this attack seems incapable of wounding an adversary, is does push anyone caught by it a considerable distance from Hanazichi, and can knock them over if they lose their balance.