Aoko Dokumuchi

Aoko Dokumuchi (毒鞭青子, Dokumuchi Aoko)
Race	Soul
Birthplace	Soul Society
Birthday	December 29th
Age	1800+ Years Old
Gender	Female
Height	127cm
Weight	56.2kg
Professional Status
Affiliation	13 Court Guard Squad, Seireitei
Previous Affiliation	Shin'o Academy
Division	Fourth Division
Previous Division	Thirteenth Division Eleventh Division
Profession	Fourth Division Captain Medical Soul Reaper
Previous Profession	Shin'o Academy Student
Base of Operations	Soul Society, Seireitei
Personal Status
Relatives	Unnamed Clan Members, brother, and father
Education	Shin'o Academy
Zanpakutō
Shikai	Hiren
Bankai	Houchishu Hiren
First Appearance
Voices
English	Willow Johnson
Japanese	Noriko Hidaka

"What point is there in fighting for one's honor if it only leads to the death and destruction of that person and the world around them? What if people who love you get involved unintentionally and they die because of your fight for your so called "honor"?! What is left for anyone then?!" — {{{3}}}

Aoko Dokumuchi(毒鞭青子, Dokumuchi Aoko) is currently the 12th head, and the only member, of the Dokumuchi clan and is the Captain of the 4th Division who took the place of the resigned captain before her. She is known for favoring the use of her Zanpakuto's released form, or Shikai, over it's sealed form and has made a respectful name for herself as a very strong, kind, and loving woman. She very much enjoys educating students of the Academy above all else aside from somewhat babying her Squad if they let her. 

Appearance

Aoko is currently 1800+ years old but retains the appearance of a woman in her late 30s to early to mid-40s. She has noticeably milky and very pale skin that is often described as smooth or soft to the touch by people who've come in physical contact with her. This includes Hollows who have complimented her soft features and appearance sadistically in a desire to devour her solely for her appearance alone. Her face is quite unique and including her chest size which gives her some back trouble, she is said to be very beautiful. She has noticeably piercing golden eyes with long, straight blue hair that is silky to the touch which is cut at the end in to make a straight edge with slight spikes. Her hair parts at the center of her forehead with a single bang where it covers her left eye partially. Her eyelashes are connected all the way around and are narrow and feminine in shape and appearance with no separation to her top and bottom lashes to either side.  

Her pupils are normal circles as well as her eyes and facial expression tends to be, by default, gentle when on looking others she cares about. Her chin is slightly pointed with a bit of a rounded face and her nose is average size and only slightly pointed, being more rounded than most. Her cheeks and forehead are adorned with violet, round facial markings that take the shape of various sized dots underneath her eyes and at the center of her forehead to be exact. The markings under her eyes pair in threes; the furthest dot/mark from her nose is the largest and is just noticeably oval-like in shape as the second dot is slightly smaller and lowered a few centimeters perfectly center of the two outer ones. The last dot is raised to parallel the largest dot and is slightly smaller, as well as the smallest dot which is smaller than the two previous. Her eyebrows are average and not very thin like most females' eyebrows tend to be and are often arched upward to give a calm, kind, and empathetic expression. Her nose crinkles slightly when she is angered. She is known to have peach colored cheeks when flushed or flattered and has a slight shine to her nose and lips. 

She has slender legs that come up to somewhat thick thighs, as she has a slender, curvy figure. Her waist is large to compensate  her breast size along with semi-pointed shoulders built to hold her chest up. Her arms are slender with her breasts being a large D cup that seems smaller due to the constriction of the bandages she wears. These bandages cover her stomach that has noticeable muscle build. From there, the bandages start four inches below her shoulders and go down and across her chest leaving a decent bit of cleavage while following down her body to her mid-thigh. The wrappings end there, just below their visibility beneath her uniform's slits at the waist on either side. Furthermore, for a woman, her feet are decently large in size and come to about an 11 in women's footwear with the light brown sandals she wears over her knee socks. The socks start a couple inches below her knees and cover her entire foot.  

What is hidden under her bandages are things she doesn't want to see the light of day again in front of anyone but the one she loves. She has two large hollow bites that marked rows of the teeth of the two Hollows she killed a few years prior to her promotion. he markings have darkened the scars and tinted them a dark blackish red. On either side, the number of teeth marks appear to be each in rows of 6 to 7 teeth on that mark her front and back. However, the markings aren't perfectly symmetrical to each other since the Hollows weren't focusing on perfection as she was double teamed by the paired. They bit her, arms and all before she forced them away with her spiritual pressure. Using her attribute for a prolonged amount of time, as well as the toxic Hollows' bites, rotted most of her skin away to defeat them as she herself got her own toxins on her. Her rotten skin repaired itself for the most part with healing from the 4th Division, but not completely as it has left reddish-purple blotches along her arms, stomach, and especially her back with little to none on her thighs and down her legs.    

She wears only one piece of jewelry and it is made of decorative exorcist beads adorning the center crystal pendant which is tinted purple. It lays center of her collarbone before her cleavage. 

Aoko's uniforms and weapon forms. (Sealed, Left, Release, Right)

For Aoko's attire, she wears one main outfit with subtle changes with her captain's coat. The only difference between the two is very obvious and that is the fact her Zanpakuto is worn outside her coat while wearing it. The coat is long and white with long sleeves that cover her hands. It subtly resembles a kimono in style due to the trim along the part at in the center. It begins at her shoulders, two inches from her neck, on either side and is made breathable fabric and easy to move in. The bottom falls lower than her ankles with markings that are simple in design and are a variety of lines and dots where they adorn the trim. Other lines and dots that are spaced and parallel to each other in a symmetrical pattern from front to back adorn her coat's bottom trimming. Dots and lines come to make up multiple accents of her outfit which makes her stand out. Beneath her captain's coat is a generic Soul Reaper kimono with cut, curved sleeves similar to the common cut at the hip design the outfit usually has. Beneath the cut of the arms are wrappings that stretch along her breasts to bring support to her chest to relieve  while also having wrappings at the cut parts at her hips which are closer to each other towards the center than most which mark her attire as more unique regardless of it being a common garment. The lower part of the outfit consists of the usual split battle legs that are slightly ruffled.

Other parts of Aoko's attire consists of a semi-constricting garment around her waist which appears sectioned into three parts with bordered lines similar to kimono trimming from each corner toward the center, and back out as well as trimming the top and bottom. This corset type clothing also is accented with large black dots in order from top to bottom; top right, mid left, and bottom right. She wears the Soul Reaper's common footwear which includes long socks that cover her feet with sandals made for easy gripping of the group, and light stepping. 

Her weapon is held to her body by a strong thread without the captain's coat but with it, the thread is worn outside the coat for ease of access. Due to being right handed, her Zanpakuto is worn on her left to easily unsheathe her sword which rests in a deep blackish-blue sheath that exposes s blue hilt with amethyst crystals in the shape of a rhombus going down the middle of the front and back arranged in sets of three. The hilt also has lined patterns that go diagonally in opposite directions all the way to the blade in which it has a thin piece of metal separating the handle from the blade itself. 

Personality

Childhood and Early Teens

As a child, Aoko was very friendly, fun loving, outgoing, and content with her life in the  Clan for many years before discovering the duty of a Soul reaper in her teens. She desired to become one and showed very strong perseverance, dedication, and even over exhausting herself during training before coming to realize she needed to be easier on her body when she trained. She became very knowledgeable and developed a keen intellect and ability to remember many aspects of the Soul Society and even the Seireitei and its responsibilities. Being a Soul Reaper after graduating brought her much joy, excitement, and brought out her truly happy nature while she did have downsides such as being quite stubborn, revenge oriented and very protective in a somewhat aggressive way which she had to learn to control. In her early teens, about 15 years old, She lost her clan to three Hollow, believed to only be two, and she changed on the inside due to being orphaned. A young Ukitake offered her a place in his family, but she refused due to her pride.

Even with this misfortune, she has almost always been very approachable to others and doesn't keep her happiness to herself when she feels it. Though she won't admit it, the pain of her past is something she refuses to share anyone other than maybe her Lieutenant and her Squad, sparingly. She is not a very open person with her past trauma or present troubles for that matter. She often gives calm avoiding answers when it mentions her past with a stern glare while giving straight and clear answers to important questions that give the younger generation with a smile on her face. She enjoys sharing the advice and knowledge to her classmates that needed it to live another day, fight another day, and allow their skills to improve to mastery if they try hard enough. She was one of the highest ranked in her class, much like Rukia was closer towards the present. She can be rather mysterious when she has something secretive she plans to do that she will always keep to herself and avoid giving straight answers if asked why she's in a certain place, gathering certain equipment, or taking certain measure or routes and what her plans might be. This brings a serious demeanor about her that people get a troubled feeling from knowing she's probably hurting inside if they know her well enough to see the signs and hear the hints as well.

Older Life & Developing Fears

During her hardships of losing her family, she began to know true terror and fear. The fear of losing loved ones to Hollows terrified her as her revenge complex and goal oriented demeanor began to bring out a desperate side of her seeking to honor her clan's memory by selfishly taking on the two Hollows alone showing how naive she can be and reckless as well. On the outside when people were around, Aoko was, and always acted as a normal and very kind, gentle girl who enjoyed waiting and listening to her surroundings and nature instead of rushing into any confrontational issues without warning while she was truly the opposite of loved ones in danger. She was always stated to have a very beautiful personality and it was true. She didn't, and still doesn't, consider looks to be the foundation of beauty alone as even the prettiest of people can have the ugliest of personalities. She preferred to give advice to students and was a caregiver and very protective of her squad members and is to her underlings and Lieutenant today. She can, and still does tend to become aggressive against enemies who threaten her "family" and so even with wisdom and knowledge, she can be quite reckless as to fight alone or shield others with her own body for the sake of saving someone's life. As a last resort due to her love of her allies, she is known to take away a threat in difficult and stubborn ways and tends to bend the rules as well and is punished for this as well while other things are overlooked at times depending on circumstance. Overall, she's a very loving person to get to know, but don't hurt her or those she considers her family which will bring her to hunt you down until you are dealt with when she has the chance.

Growing Stronger

Even though she has duties and the role of captain now, because she is so loving and kindhearted, she has always had a difficult time of letting her squad members go when they die and often finds herself alone by the koi pond with tears streaming down her reddened cheeks. In these times, she tries to focus on her more positive aspects which include her sense of dignity in her position bringing knowledge to younger Soul Reapers and humbly tries to fulfill her duties. She enjoys being supportive and caring to her allies and especially the students still in the academy. As far as her opinion on the Soul Society and Seireitei goes, she has a very deep respect for many even if she buts heads with a few captains and some of the council members personally. She doesn't allow her personal affairs to get involved with other members if she can help it. Especially after the massacre, Aoko is and always has been a very hard worker and has been ever since she applied for and joined  Academy as well and even beyond that in order to make a mark of herself, improve herself, follow her goals and dreams, and much more to become the person she so strongly strived to be with all her kind and motivated heart. In particular activities, the nature of her behavior can be light, to very intense and serious which means it is something she intends on mastering as fast as she can to protect herself and mostly others around her. Everything she learns and practiced in the previous squads and even now as captain of Squad 4 is for the good of her squad members so no one ever has to die without her doing everything she possibly can to save them. 

As Captain of Squad 4

Even though she has duties and the role of captain now, because she is so loving and kindhearted, she has always had a difficult time of letting her squad members go when they die and often finds herself alone by the koi pond with tears streaming down her reddened cheeks. In these times, she tries to focus on her more positive aspects which include her sense of dignity in her position bringing knowledge to younger Soul Reapers and humbly tries to fulfill her duties. She enjoys being supportive and caring to her allies and especially the students still in the academy. As far as her opinion on the Soul Society and Seireitei goes, she has a very deep respect for many even if she butts heads with a few captains and some of the council members personally because of her occasional rule breaking. She doesn't allow her personal affairs to get involved with other members if she can help it.

Social Skills & Habits

For how Aoko treats others, she is very kind, forgiving, calm, and gentle and enjoys teaching the younger generation which gives her great pleasure and joy in helping make exceptional Soul Reaper for the future to come. She adores her Squad as well as children and will often get caught by others while she's playing a game of kickball with the kiddies. To be more social, she will drink sake with her peers, usually other captains, out of respect. Aoko also has a few bad social and person habits which include a speech pattern during refutations, rebuttals, and so on which include her starting her explanations with "Well" and quite often repeats the same word before every other sentence making her seem like a broken record so she tries to be brief with explanations. Another personal bad habit is that she tends to bite her thumbnail when she's truly nervous and thinking things through in her head during a pause while in battle or just before if she doesn't know what to do. She'll nibble her nail to the nub as she goes through every possible option she can think of with her wide array of accessible knowledge stored in her mind and is able to retrieve it at all. Her most notable bad habit is keeping her personal feelings a secret if they aren't happy or enthusiastic which often leads her to seem calm and at times very quiet.

Overall, Aoko generally is the type of person to love anyone with all her heart if given the chance and finds it very difficult to hate anyone except Espada and Hollows. Especially those who take people precious to her to the grave. She also has the capability of switching her attitude on a dime which brings out her stern, battle embracive focus and concentration in which she expresses and focuses on her attrition style demeanor in which she desires the shortest fight possible for most to prevent anyone else from getting involved or hurt unless it is completely out of her say so. She is very self-conscious of her chest size and how it hurts her back and covers herself up quite well to protect her image while being insecure about her piercing golden eye color and oddly blue hair of which she was named after. When things become too stressful she'll regretfully switch her possession to the next highest ranking member and offers backup if possible so she can preserve her dignity, unknowingly fighting for her own honor of protecting her squad and the Soul Society so everyone can live in peace. Aoko is quite clumsy around the person she loves which is currently no one at this moment and if she becomes too excited she can become more talkative than normal in which she sometimes speaks out of turn and is given small punishments for her little outbursts while normally being reluctant to out stage anyone in the Seireitei. She values the opinion of many in the Soul Society and trust no one as much as her Lieutenant.

Misc.

Other personal things about her include; when she sees domestic animals such as cats and dogs, it puts a smile  her face and she enjoys watching children and even adults show their kind and playful side to these animals they cherish like family. This is especially true when she's in the human world doing her duty if a Hollow is very strong and she is specialized to deal with that type of Hollow. However, Aoko fears a wide variety of wild animals especially if hey tend to be naturally aggressive and territorial regardless of any action to prove she isn't a threat. Even though humans and animals can't see her, more instinctual animals and some domestic dogs make a fuss over her presence or the presence of a Hollow. She also tends to keep a cat in her office and around her home to help her relax. Even without the cat, her most favorite thing to do to allow her to unwind, heal, and relax is take herself to the hot springs or taking a nice hot bath with bubbles and candles in the room with a glass of sake.

Deepest Troubles & Regrets

After defeating the two Hollows, insecurity and regret set in as she realized because her squad mates from Squad 11 had gotten involved for her sake, she noted they only gotten hurt because of her selfishness. They just wanted to help and all because she had to uphold her family's honor, she could've lost so many of her new family members because of that "honor". She, even now, finds it hard to accept the concept of battling for one's honor that Ukitake teaches is a battle that  be fought when it won't matter if the person ends up dead and unable to express that honor and  the possibility of tainting the memory of the dead further if they should fail. 

As for Aoko's deepest darkest insecurities and fears; she fears the Hollow wounds she acquired while getting vengeance for her fallen family, as well as, the small remaining rotten spots from that day that didn't repair themselves, she is terrified and certain no man who sees them will ever love her and those who did have died. This also brings her to be afraid that if anyone sees these markings, they will die by the powerful Hollow who has stalked her since she got revenge at age 190. Some of her past partners and previous lovers had died within just a few days  seeing her wounds for the first time. She feels cursed, but tries terribly hard to be happy and find joy as well as no one ever sees those wounds ever again except Ukitake; this makes her become afraid to love anyone, especially him and shy away from anyone who tries to love her, leaving her lonely in her happiness. Ukitake is currently her self-proclaimed lover just between the two of them as he strongly desires to make a difference in her life because of the past they shared and the suffering of losing people close to them when he lost Shiba. Over many  they both were guilty of having fallen in love with each other over a span of many centuries.

Likes & Dislikes

Aoko tends to dislike bickering (such as Kenpachi's squabbles he starts with others), excessive screaming, thunder and lightning, loud noises, and constantly being asked for favors when she has enough to do already. She cannot stand Hollows and evil-hearted humans. She fears and detests severe thunderstorms and lightning which is a crippling weakness that brings her to a complete halt and makes her severely regret that she cannot get over this problem as it immediately stills her in battle. She is usually comforted by her Lieutenant and can't do anything but shut down and shudder or shake out of pure fear when lightning is excessively crackling and shooting across the sky. It doesn't help that she tends to like rain and it becomes ruined by this natural phenomenon. She is afraid of Aizen and the Espada though she'll never admit her fear of Aizen and manages to force her shaking to subside if she must fight an opponent stronger than her which makes her stubborn but strong willed. She is kind, but also a strong and honorable person who hates to give up.

She often enjoys rain and food while in or out of the company of her squad and is very cheerful and kind to her members and lieutenant. She couldn't imagine any better occupation than the captain who gets to be around such wonderful people and helping souls find peace. She has an extremely fond and  liking for Ukitake as she goes to his house when they both have free time and since their relationship's beginning, she lives with him not while giving the plausible excuse that Ukitake offered. It could easily be assumed she had finally gotten tired of being in a house all alone for so many centuries. She enjoys the rush it gives her when she fights strong opponents and Hollows as she is able to get over her fears to fight and to release out pent-up agitation and anger with careful consideration, movement, and control. She can't stand excessive close combat, however, but enjoys toying with an enemy at times if they  her. She especially dislikes people who harm her comrades and takes harsh measure to ensure they're dealt with properly and shows her hateful and agenda based side of herself which many fear. Seeing her in pain like this, without her being willing to admit it, breaks Ukitake's heart the most as his kindness is what she's most fond of along with his silky white hair she  over his black hair. 

History

Childhood & Early Development

As a child, Aoko was given her name "Aoko" or "Blue Child" due to her blue hair color. Her home in the Soul Society is where she grew up properly taken care of, loved, happy and well respected. She was openly admired and welcomed into the  clan for many years even up until she became old enough to become a student Soul Reaper and train to be one just like many other Soul Reapers of the  Clan. She later got the nickname Doku-sama as she grew in the ranks of her clan and the Soul Society while being called Aoko-san by her best friend, Jushiro Ukitake who was two hundred years ahead of her but got to know her as a close friend. He had promised to wait for her to graduate and see if he could encourage Yamamoto to take her in as his student as well with no avail. As she matured and continued to grow older with her new found friend outside his training, she began to find the fundamentals of affection and love for many and some people she loved more than others in a more complex way. Losing comrades taught and brought her heartbreak. After many incidents chances that were repeatedly given and given over time till she soon was forced tow grow up quite quickly, even in the presence of Ukitake. 

As for the nickname Doku-sama, Aoko usually dislikes her nickname used by her friends. She often requested her squad mates to refer to her Aoko or at the least, Aoko-sama/.  As soon as she began working to become a Soul Eater, she has always spent her life training and constantly striving to become the perfect Soul Reaper which was compensated by excessive and nonstop training in swordsmanship and Kidou before practicing her speed until she had a solid grasp on Hohou. After a few more years, she had continued to keep practicing her Hohou abilities until she mastered Shunpo in her earlier years. 

School Days

For the longest time, throughout her school days and graduation to a full-fledged Soul Reaper assigned to Squad 11, her life was pretty average and happy before two powerful Hollows defeated and killed a majority of her clan, except for her. Her environment constantly changed over the time she has spent as a Soul Reaper which includes that terrible past to the current present. They murdered and devoured her clan, anyone who tried to help, and closest loved ones ruthlessly and without  as she shuddered in her hiding spot as a storm raged on that night. She was never able to move while heavy thunder and lightning struck and streaked across the sky which left her too terrified to even come out from her bedroom closet where she continued to hide for the hour long slaughter of her family. None of them, not even her brother and father were left alive as she soon allowed the trauma and despair to sink in. She felt lonely without them and became terrified of the outside world before she braved herself and sought to improve further in her squad for a selfish need for revenge which took away her gentle and kind demeanor whenever a powerful Hollow showed itself. This changed always deeply concerned Ukitake and he always tried to calm her down so she could fight properly. She adjusted the same way on a dime towards any Hollow or threat even to this day, much to Ukitake's despair.  

Squad 11 Days

In Squad 11, she became loved and respected by her peers for her excellent performance as a soul reaper and nearly flawless results which got her to captain some centuries later. Because of this admiration, they refused to let her fight the Hollows alone. They stubbornly accompanied her in her fight against the two Hollows who killed her family drove her and her allies to exhaustion until she was the was the last one left and more determined than every to finish off the half wasted Hollows that she had torn apart piece by piece. The Hollows had been playing with her emotions and body, admitting they were once rapists in their human lives as before they died on death row and bit by bit purposefully ripped into her clothing till she was completely naked aside from a few piece covering her chest and crotch before she sealed herself into a dark barrier with the Hollows. They were soon on their last legs as she tore into them with her whip until as a last resort, they bit her on both sides causing her to bleed badly before performing healing Kidou on herself to keep her going. Once they bit her, she forced them away with a compacted release of her spiritual pressure they busted them through the seal and destroyed them as she awakened her Bankai for the first time and killed them with her Zanpakuto's final form. Upon the Hollows finally falling to her power, out of desperation to save her squad, she had to try something to remove the toxins the Hollows put in their bodies. Thankfully, with the use of her toxins and healing Kidou she had been practicing for a few years now, she was able to heal them without fail or much of a mark on them. Their souls recovered and with the Hollows out of the way. They mattered more to her than ever since it was her fault and they had risked their lives for her despite her desire for honoring her family by killing the Hollows.  wasn't worth their lives.

Transfer

After her battle and cause of injuries to squadmates in Squad 11, she asked to be moved into Squad 13 because she couldn't handle the guilt she felt towards their injuries because of her that day. She couldn't look them in the eyes anymore and wasn't allowed a new partner by her request and skill level to back her up. As she kept growing, she began fixing her mistakes and problems in her abilities and morals. She increased her reputation quite well and was quickly getting her name up into the ranks even if she never went any farther up in the ranks until many years later. After her 1800th birthday, she was noted to soon be promoted to squad captain of Squad 4 after the previous captain, Retsu, had resigned leaving the spot vacant. Ukitake and Aoko both were proud and jubilant as this wonderful and honorable news excited her before her to which Jushiro threw a celebratory dinner with the captains. It gave her new hope of making up for her sins of selfishness and to give back to the community as well as make new bonds with a squad she now owned. The burden was now there, but the effort was not shirked and she began to show them her respect and loving attitude, as well as her stern and effective teaching habits to show how much she had learned over the years to prove her new stature as Captain of Squad 4.

Travel

Due to being a Soul Reaper, Aoko has had to travel quite often and excessively due to her being a low ranking for the majority of her time in the Soul Society. She's had to travel all around the Soul Society and worlds outside of it including the human world to face Hollows who ran free there and perform purification to allow spirits of all kinds, even Hollows, to pass on. Other times, she traveled there to focus on a Hollow who had committed crimes while alive and it was her order to send them to the underworld ay all costs. For her lifespan, she has currently been alive for over 1800 years, many lifetimes for the average human but quite normal for Shinigami of the Soul Society which brings about many centuries of excessive travel to complete her duties.  

Adventures

On the topic of her past adventures, she traveled to many places in the human world which included the middle east where she admired the culture of the Arabs, Israelis, and then to China and Japan where her love for the oriental had originated from. She had previously traveled to the outback to take care of a pack of low-level Hollows that preyed on innocent adventurers and tourists as well as the locals who strayed too far from home. It took her no time at all to take them down with the help of two squad members and they soon headed back to the Soul Society for her to report at the Seireitei. Another time she left the Soul Society for a mission, she came face to face with many different exotic looking Hollows who were the Hollows carnations of tribal men and women in the Amazon who had been killed by Hollows that tormented the ground by the Amazon River for centuries and had no end to them due to the restless spirits who had cursed this land for the cause of their death due to misfortune and caused much despair to the people till they became chained there, and became Hollows over many months and years. With the Hollows she did destroy, she knew there would be no end in site for that stomping ground in the future. 

Present Relations

Currently, Aoko does not seem to have a best friend as much as she has just friends but has come to find a lover, Jushiro Ukitake. She will deny all affection regardless of her true feelings in public as to keep their relationship a secret to the rest of the Soul Society. She also has an authority figure she looked up to before her promotion to Captain of Squad 4 which was also Jushiro Ukitake. While in Squad 13, she and he got to know each other on a very close scale over the centuries as he helped and taught he a majority of the morals she currently practices. She loves Ukitake very dearly ever since she had him as her captain and very much and enjoyed, and still enjoys, his presence which is soothing and comforting to her. She and he truly love on another as Ukitake has also recently offered her to stay at his estate once more to which she has agreed to.

Aoko has recently promoted a previous squad member to the position of   with  permission of the Soul King and other Captains. 

Current Threats

As for enemies, she currently has a powerful Hollow who she became sworn enemies with who has evaded her for since she discovered him 20 years after defeating the previous two Hollows. She code-named him "Dark Rampart" due to his capability of blending into the darkness of night on the new moon when he always strikes. His capabilities are evenly matched with her own and he continues to elude her and her squad members every time they catch up  him and continues to devour innocent humans and spirits as well as anyone who sees her scars to always remind her she's powerless despite her victory. To this day, Dark Rampart haunts her as a stalker who has grown quite fond of her beauty and body. He also finds her anger amusing and oddly enough encourages her not to cry as he says crying doesn't become her. After taking one victim, he would often make jokes to her about letting another person see her scars just so he could see her nude body again and then devour his next victim. He spoke of how much he enjoys her "tattoos" left by his brothers and how they accent her beauty. 

During her lifetime, many stray Soul Reapers, Espada, and Hollows have come along to end up becoming her enemies and each fell to either her or other members of the Soul Society and Seireitei yet her past trauma still left her to only have three enemies she shall never forget. The two who decimated her clan were given the codenames, "Dokuna" and "Dokuko", as they were specifically toxin based Hollows and proved especially dangerous and difficult for even her to defeat without almost dying herself.

Small to large confrontations with higher ups have happened and especially Kenpachi due to his aggressive and chaotic neutral tendencies, but did not cause for alarm to make anyone her enemy quite yet and hopefully won't for quite a while to many years ahead.

In the present she is known and revered for her hardships as well as protective and kind nature towards her comrades and her punishment for bending the rules was always given to her by her own selfishness which was kindly overlooked due to her need to fight for that honor of the family she lost as a child. After these mistakes, she becomes more gentle and docile again which allows her to further her training in which she's trained every day for many years of her life to further improve her swordsmanship, Kidou, become a Shunpo expert, and much, much more that defines her to the position as Squad 4 captain and is respected by many for her empathy for others' hardships and advice and dedication.  After all her effort of trying to not fall in love, she now is in a relationship with Ukitake who has seen her scars and has yet to die as the Hollow who seeks to kill anyone who sees proof of his brethren having been slain is currently being hunted by many under the orders of Ukitake and getting this favor due to being in good graces with the Soul King. When Blight is cornered, Ukitake and Byakuya have insisted on killing it, but who knows if Aoko will allow that and if she will fight Blight herself. 

Ukitake went off with a close ally to take care of the current threat, but everyone is currently unaware if he is dead or not. Aoko is worried her lover may be dead.

Equipment

Bandages: Aoko wears the bandages around most of her body from her lower thighs up to he chest and shoulders to hide her past wounds of Hollow bits and some rotten skin, as well as, they're made specifically strong in their contents to prevent them from being so easily rippable.

• Ōken Clothing: After reaching the level of captain and given the position, Aoko was given the materials she asked for to make the special clothing to wear which makes her capable of safely returning to the Seireitei when needed. Oken Clothing is made from the bones and hair of the members of the Seireitei's higher up, and thus gives her very powerful defensive capabilities. It can allow Aoko to withstand the friction that results from breaking through 72 barriers between the Soul Society and the Soul King Palace without a scratch or any damage at all. It is stated no greater clothing can be worn with its capabilities. The clothing takes the form of the bandages beneath her initial clothing that covers her wounds as soon as she sheds her captain's coat to activate her Bankai. By her own two hands, the Oken bandages were sewn and made to use in a way that was not normally assumed by others to protect herself and her past wounds by covering them.

Powers & Abilities

Shomodou: A style referred to as "attrition" that Aoko uses which revolves around making pinprick wounds on her enemies in order to do heavy damage without using too much excessive aggression tactics and make the battle less tedious of trying to force herself onto the opponent when she can wait and watch. With this Aoko uses this style in which the form consists of numerous techniques that gradually impale, cut and shred the body of the enemy in order to wear them down methodically with little to no effort and with little effort as possible which is the goal of attrition. Aoko, in turn, has a knowledge of what points on the body to aim for to do the best damage with the least amount of effort although even they might be surprised by such a consistently circuitous approach. The attacks are exceedingly less predictable by the opponent on purpose, and can be very troublesome and quite difficult to block or a. Furthermore, this method is highly effective and excellent in the use of larger and much stronger targets who focus on superiority in the physical aspects, mainly their strength. Overall, this method is used to render stronger enemies down to being incapable of much, too little resistance in order for them to be taken down by a single attacker or when the Soul Reaper is in large numbers in which the others expend as little effort as possible for them to be well rested for the constant battling ahead. Aoko will also sometimes implement Kidou between attrition tactics.

Kamae: With this method referred to as roundabout attrition, Aoko executes this strategy with her sealed Zanpakuto and assumes a balanced two-handed guard with her blade. She places her legs apart and spreads them before they are bent. The non-dominant one is then brought forward. She holds her sword itself in a position that is fairly high and pointed to the side just slightly. This stance is used to perfectly execute Aoko's evasive skills in which it allows her to evade the enemy's strike in order to immediately follow up with a counter strike in a wide circular slash to the opponent's revealed back or side. In consequence, the stance is perfect to evade the opponent's strike only to immediately follow up with a wide circular slash to the enemy's unprotected side or back.

• Backlash: Aoko often utilizes the move called backlash in which abruptly uses a shock wave created by her spiritual pressure being forced outward to repel her opponent before following up with an attack after flash-stepping just close enough for her whip to reach and slash the opponent dealing a wound to the body part she aims at which all tend to be the most fatal depending on the circumstances placed.
• Toge: This abrupt and unexpected maneuver was most likely inspired by the Brier flowers. While Aoko tends to use this in her Zanpakuto's released form, she's known to use this with its sealed form as well. She predicts and anticipates the opponent's actions and unexpectedly interrupts their line of attack with an attack of her own to exploit a lack of defense and potentially can disrupt the opponent's assault completely until their next move. Aoko uses this quite often which makes her enemies frustrated and become aggressive and wild in their methods which then become easily predictable and allows her to continuously perform Toge and Backlash, as well as Kamae as many times as it takes to render her opponent useless till the grow exhausted and/or fall to her poison.

Skilled Swordsman: Aoko is very skilled with her Shikai weapon, yes, but also very much capable of showing just as much skill with Hiren in sealed form. It is well known that her forte as she prefers to fight with her weapon's released form, with Hiren as a curved katana, her abilities range from sparingly utilizing resolution style while mostly focusing on multiple movie sets used in attrition style of which she majors with her weapons in either state.

• Effectively Strong Blocking: Aoko is very capable of exhibiting effective blocking skills and then using a counter strike, as well as, has mastered the sword shield technique which makes her tough to be able to get at with a blade and most other weapons. She is not impenetrable, however, as her swordsmanship is only at about 84% in the successful execution of her techniques. As it's only natural, the longer the fight, the less accurate she becomes offensively and defensively. She has been known to effectively block at least a total of 5 average Hollows at once with her barrier blocking and two strong Hollows separately.

Whip Mastery: Aoko is a very skilled mistress of the whip. Her Zanpakuto, Hiren, is a large part of her body and spirit and becomes a whip when released from its sealed state. In this form, she can easily utilize her weapon to its full capacity without much problem. Aoko is very capable of defending herself against multiple blows in a very short time as well as can perfectly utilize it to manipulate her surroundings to trip up enemies or send large objects their way to get in the way as well. While avoiding and evading, it is easily possible for her to take a flash-step back and lash at her opponent from far away due to Hiren being a blade, but a segmented whip. She more than often not aims to use attrition style abilities as well as partial resolution while her weapon is in sealed form.

• Effectively Strong Blocking: Specific usage of her whip can be explained in detail; she uses her captain's sleeve to hold onto one end of the whip while gripping the handle at the hilt with her dominant hand in order to effectively block an opponent for as long as 40 seconds, but no longer. To be able to erect a Kidou barrier as well without signs in order to increase her blocking to 1 minute is even more impressive though the barrier's strength depends on her mental state.
• Implementing Surroundings: It's quite common in the fact that with her strength and knowledge that she has thought of and implemented her surroundings to effectively halt, avoid, distract, or ensnare her enemies which has included various items such as statues, uprooting trees, rocks, boulders, and many other things including her enemies themselves to attack another enemy and prohibit their movement by forcing their own ally against them.
• Toxins/Poison: Even further detail in these examples, she's been known to implement toxins from her spiritual energy to damage, immobilize, shut down, or kill enemies with attrition style combat which is what she specializes in with her whip. With attrition she implements nicks and small cuts against her enemies with counterstrikes when avoiding or evading attacks, flash-stepping back to give herself fair distance for her whip to be properly effective at a distance and even flash-stepping forward to aggressively cut the enemy at the throat or slice down the Hollow's face.

High Spiritual Power: Her spiritual powers were once small and timid before the previous events. She could not focus her spiritual energy very well or use Kidou with it at all until some years later in the academy. Her pressure wasn't as strong as it used to be which made it easier to hide, but without more of it, it would be difficult to protect herself regardless as she couldn't control it very well either until after more training. With her feeble spirit energy, she was often behind in her classes until after the massacre of the Dokumuchi clan she now heads.

With each hardship, her determination increased her power as did her studies, training, and perseverance—not to mention pure willpower to destroy the two Hollows who destroyed her happy life before many years passed before she finally came face to face with the exact same Hollow that came for her. Her squad members intervened and she begged them to let her fight alone but many were too loyal and stubborn to leave her to the monsters by herself if only for her to die like her loved ones did. Due to ranking up to become the captain of the 4th Division, it was only natural that Aoko had very high and potent spiritual pressure/power which becomes increasingly hard to hide even for her level of control. As she gets stronger and is incapable of fully hiding her presence because of this, though, this doesn't make her all powerful or unmatchable in strength either. It is safe to say that when you feel her spiritual pressure and she steps onto the battlefield, you better be prepared for a heavy fight to the death as this spiritual power is what also allowed her to manually secrete poison from her sword/whip Hiren and defeat two of many strong Hollows she's killed before.

Enhanced Strength: While Aoko may not physically lift people with her own body or own two hands, she is more than capable of doing so with the excellent showmanship of her strength as a captain. She is quite capable of taking down very strong opponents with the strength and force she puts behind throwing her whip around and using it to in turn throw and swing heavier objects than even herself. The fact she can lift multiple types of objects ranging from light, to very heavy with the upper body strength to pull it through and swing or throw the object towards her opponent to buy herself time or damage the enemy offensively. This also includes distractions as well as being able to lift a human with her whip when it has successfully coiled around the target's arm, waist, leg and pretty much any other body part or parts she can reach with her whip. Without her weapon, she has been known to be able to, at least, punch a fellow shinigami of decent strength backward into a wall with brute force when she managed to land a punch. While close combat isn't her forte, when she does land her punches, it can be very damaging due to her strength level.

Advanced and Evasive Hakuda: Aoko is quite masterful combining her Hohou and Shunpo to make very efficient evasive maneuvers that can be classified as Hakuda due to being able to prolong battles up close for a certain amount of time with her avoid and evade capabilities. She may not be able to attack head on without Hiren's sealed form, but she is definitely capable of some fancy evasive footwork that can land her a devastating counter attack. One part of the Hakuda she excels in is excessive kicking and augmented leg strength with heavy force applied to them. With her evasive skills without her weapon, she can still use evasive tactics to maneuver and then sparingly counterattack with precision and heavy and powerful kicks which can break the ground beneath her.

• Shunpo Expert: Being heavily linked to her excellent, but not expertly masterful control of her spiritual power/energy, Aoko is very capable of many elements of fancy footwork which include increased speed that she has come to lead to mastery over Shunpo or the "Flash-step" technique that she can utilize anytime she wishes with ease which makes her a very hard to pin opponent, but not untouchable at the least. With this speed, she is capable of excessive and successful avoid and evade tactics as well as flash-stepping backward or forward, while being attacked before spinning herself and releasing Hiren's retracted segments to lash out at the opponent. With Hohou, she uses it in order to wound her target quickly and with small and repetitive wounds over time—also known as Attrition. All due what capability Aoko does have over the control and concentration of her spiritual power, her Hohou abilities continue to be a success if only 89% of the time.

Kidou Practitioner: While Aoko is not very capable or efficient in prolonged close combat without perfect concentration, she learned that she had to make up for this weakness with three types of Kidou; restraining Kidou and defensive Kidou techniques. She studied night and day and constantly practiced with multiple students on a daily basis. She was completely fine with working herself to the bone to perfect her defensive and ensnaring Kidou spells to make sure she could mostly make up for what she lacked in defending herself otherwise. Upon Aoko finally learning her Zapakuto's name, Hiren, and releasing it, she needed Kidou as back up and sparingly at that, but it's still important and always up to par. She never stops practicing her Kidou for future battles and ever seeks to learn new spells.

• Kaidou(healing ): Aoko, due to fighting the two toxic and very powerful Hollows who killed her family along with previous squad members, she was able to learn in desperation how to detoxify Hollow bites and heal the scars as well as most fatal internal damage to being taken over or deeply bitten by said Hollows. With this Kidou in her arsenal, she practiced in order to develop this Kidou to mastery which made her officially qualified to become the captain of Squad 4 after a previous debate on giving her a promotion from Squad 13. The downsides to this Kidou is; she's incapable of healing herself and must heal naturally over time due to having poison as her spiritual attribute. With the prolonged use of her poison, her body is even unrepairable by her healing antitoxins. It is crucial for the person affected to be brought to her within the time period of one hour in order to guarantee full recovery from Hollow venom and/or wounds.

• Barriers and Bakudo: Aoko is capable of using a few very effective restrictive and defensive Kidou. She can erect a barrier in front of her by holding out Hiren in Shikai form or sealed form while holding the weapon with one hand and placing her palm firmly against it parallel to her dominant hand. With this, she chants the incantation that puts up a barrier in front of the weapon to defend herself. As for Restrictive Kidou, she is able to halt an enemy's movement with the use of the basic Bakudo #1 which is a paralysis spell, as well as three other restringing and ensnaring Kidou spells that can render her enemy simply due to paralysis, poison, and a barrier type aura around he enemy to hinder its movements by measurement of her willpower and spiritual concentration.
  
• Sealing Kidou: Aoko can only use one sealing Kidou which she's only ever used once during her battle with the Hollows who destroyed her clan. After many of her squad mates had already gotten badly injured, she sealed herself in a barrier with the Hollows to finish them off. When she used her spiritual pressure to force the Hollows who had bitten her off of her body, they broke through the barrier and dissipated from the force and shock of the seal's effects when touched. This seal is strong enough to keep several strong shinigami within its space with no give based on how strong her spiritual pressure is when implemented into the barrier.

Accessible Knowledge: With all of the hardships Aoko had to endure, her experiences brought a great number of new thoughts. ideas and information to her which can be considered simple knowledge or even wisdom. This brings about numerous bits of knowledge she is accessibly able to recall as she wishes to have the mentality to help and save her squad members.

Tailoring: Aoko has the ability to sew special clothing for herself which includes her Oken Clothing that protects her when she returns back to the Seireitei with it. She disguised them as bandages to be unnoticeable as the type of garb it is, but it's obvious she's intent on hiding something else with making them into bandages.

Zanpakuto

Hiren (悲恋, Blighted Love): Hiren, in its sealed form, is a long upward curved blade that is well built for blocking and attrition tactics. The blade is specially made with silver and black metals which make up the top and blade of this Zanpakuto and is important that this blade is used properly and with precision. The handle of the blade is blue with striped ridges zigzagging in opposite directions facing diagonally while being encrusted with three violent amethyst crystals front and back as adornment. It has a ring that has a long silk string with a frayed pom at the end that matches the handle in color while the hilt is as violet as the amethyst gemstones.

Shikai: Hiren's Shikai command is spoken in an incantation of a poem called a Haiku. Five, seven, then five syllables make up this activating spell to bring out her weapon's Shikai form. The poem is soft-spoken and calmly made clear to the enemy in the heat of battle; "'Pierce through thine dark heart, hinder them with your being, your  shall destroy all. Lash, Hiren!'". In Hiren's Shikai form, it resembles a long segmented bladed whip that can retract at the wielder's will and the  can unhook temporarily per lash for maximum distance. This is also where her attribute comes into play, she can make her whip's blades secrete poison upon the user's concentration of Spiritual Energy whiled focusing on using her attribute of toxins. The blades along the segments are connected by links which can turn inward and retract the whip as well as keep it short for blocking in which she uses her captain's coat to grip two handed to effectively prevent her from cutting herself while blocking. The handle of the whip is the same color as it is in its sealed form followed by the fact is still retains the gemstone that is encrusted on both the front and the back of the handle. The hilt and end of the handle are relaxed by a silvery metal which composes a majority of the weapon while being black at the tip to ensure efficient piercing of the flesh and Hollows. The handle end is also a circular metal pattern that has a ring at the end that it does in sealed form, but without the silk pom string until Bankai is activated.

• Dokuhana no Hiren: When this ability is activated, it expressive Aoko's most basic abilities to wield the attrition style of combat in which she viciously attacks again, and again aiming to cut the opponent with small nicks in various places through the battle and is when her poison is secreted from the blades and tip in order to severely damage the enemy's flesh over time. The dosage can be as simple and just paralysis, to causing their body to shut down temporarily, to dealing a deathly, lethal dosage to finish off a strong enemy which could be human, Shinigami, or Hollow. The weapon changes shape in the fact that it elongates itself to maximum length and becomes very flexible in which her adjusts manually to compensate for the distance, no matter how far or close, between Aoko and her opponent. The only thing majorly changing with aesthetics of Hiren during this specific ability is that the tip glows an eerie and ghostly poisonous purple with the toxin chosen.
• Dokumuchi no Mahi: This ability is activated by the word "Mahi" or "Paralysis" in which the weapon focuses solely on paralysis with its wielder's guidance in order to ensnare her enemy, trap them, and with the intent to coil the blades around them, cut them, and letting the toxins paralyze them through every single nerve ending in their body. On top of that fact, if Aoko needs to take careful or desperate measures to keep the enemy still, she will activate Bakudo level Kidou in order to paralyze her enemy even harder to the point they may as well be sealed in a super tight barrier without the use of barrier Kidou.

Bankai: Houchishu Hiren (放置呪悲恋, Forsaken Curse of Blighted Love): When Bankai is activated for Hiren, it's Shikai's appearance remains relatively remains the same but the blades themselves become noticeably larger than the grip and unhinge to spread out along the threat they slide on within. They can be manipulated by reflections of barriers or five weapon reflecting mirrors that circle Aoko and can arrange in any place at any time as her weapon can ricochet while working with her Bankai. This allows a wide variety of attrition combat and no nonsense technique that doesn't even require her to move a single step as the most she needs to do is assume her stance and lash the whip accordingly and avoid as needed. The blades on the whip can easily reflect attacks as can the mirrors. The whip becomes almost overbearingly huge in which the blades that were one 2 to 2 1/2 inches wide and half an inch thick become 12 inches wide and three inches thick at the center where the metal bolts are completely erased which leaves a long sturdy string for the blades to move across. When releasing the whip it's goal is made clear by Aoko's mental state and Spiritual power's control over the outside of the blades and immediately swings the whip toward the enemy. If the enemy should dodge, a barrier can be erected with one of the five mirrors at the angle and trajectory needed to rebound the tip of the whip straight into an opponent with the capability of piercing through the flesh. In this state, she does not need her toxins at all, but preferably laces the edges with a thin neurotoxin to weaken the enemy's body to where she can pierce through them without issue due to immobility. As to the curse, the person who faces her Bankai and lives is forsaken by a curse or looming fear/dread; if they should see their reflection within the final blade of her weapon, they are certain to lead a life with some form of anxiety wondering when they will be found by her and are almost certain to die by her hands in the future in some way, somehow. It doesn't necessarily have to be by her Bankai. This remains mostly true due to the fact she hunts her prey down till they are exhausted or until orders are given to cease her hunt for said person or Hollow which leaves a sense of dread that she may find them very soon. The most noticeable thing about this Bankai is she activates it on her knees to show a state of vulnerability to falsely lure the opponent into heading right for her for her Bankai to immediately strikes them down. Usually skilled opponents are capable of noticing this without problems while others aren't so smart.

• Hollow's Grave: A barrier that Aoko makes specifically to trap herself and any Hollow(s) she is fighting till the battle is over. This barrier seal increases her Bankai's power and overall spiritual energy. The barrier depends on her will, the size, and the number of Hollows she's facing. It is black in tint and makes it nearly impossible for anyone to see what goes on inside incase her clothing is torn and her scars are revealed like they were when she fought Dokuna and Dokuko. This way she can teleport to the Seireitei after it's over and have her superiors report to her squad while she covers herself and gets medical care. No one can enter or leave and it's only breakable from the inside. This barrier is a clear manifestation of the fear of anyone ever seeing her scars because of the cursed Hollow "Dark Rampart" who kills anyone who sees them.

Weakness

Combat

Like anyone else, Aoko has some weaknesses in combat.

• Close Combat: Aoko's biggest weakness is prolonged close-combat, as well as, her Shunpo dwindles over time as her body is affected by exhaustion after a long period of battle. Ever since she was a young student training to become a Soul Reaper, she was never very skilled in close combat or hand to hand combat with fists and mostly excelled in kicking the enemy away. Close combat weakness in her case is most likely due to her feminine nature and behavior and desire to overall be gentle which she cannot be to suit the Soul Society's preferences. She had to make up for this weakness somehow and learned to block more efficiently but only giving her a 60% success rate until she became much older to which it has reached a max of 88% success rate out of 100%. She cannot avoid and evade 100% of the time leaving herself open on several occasions for a Kidou or physical attack. She tends to have an issue fighting enemies that repeatedly attack for seconds on end which can loosen her grip on Hiren in whip form. Also, if you can tie up her feet, it's impossible for her to avoid or evade efficiently or at all while she's also open during incantations for Kidou.

• Offensive Kidou: Aoko is weak against most offensive Kidou as well as anyone who outmatches her in Hohou capabilities. She cannot avoid and evade 100% of the time leaving herself open on several occasions. She tends to have an issue fighting enemies that repeatedly attack for seconds on end which can loosen her grip on Hiren in whip form.

• Severe Thunderstorms: Her most crippling weakness deals with severe weather but a specific kind. This doesn't include tornadoes, hurricanes, or anything that harsh scaring which they do, but severe thunderstorms are her biggest fear which can render her sometimes in tears as well as incapable of movement after finding a place to hide. Her squad mates will sometimes help her by two or three sitting with her until they absolutely have to leave.

Zanpakuto

Aoko's weapon also has its share of weaknesses.

• Excessive Blocking: Hiren has several weaknesses which involve excessive blocking weakening the hold the user has on the weapon in which Aoko has to be careful of it slipping which risks her cutting herself as fatigue sets in during battle.

• Poison: Hiren can poison its own wielder which requires immediate treatment and is why Aoko carries two antidotes with her in a pouch—but only two. Her skin in the past has rotted quite badly during stressful and prolonged fights against strong Hollows. Even though most of the rotten cells repair themselves, some poison seeps in too deep to be fixed within any given amount of time and remains permanently damaged.

Trivia

• Aoko means "Blue Child". This refers to Aoko's hair color of which she was named for.
• Aoko is often made fun of or disliked due to her oddly piercing golden eyes that stand out quite a lot compared to the rest of her. This has become an insecurity as well as her blue hair.
• The Dokumuchi clan excelled in attrition style combat for many years along with the aid of Kidou.
• Dokumuchi means "Poison Lash".
• Aoko's favorite foods are dumplings, miso soup, and sake. She dislikes spicy foods, ramen, and matcha-flavored treats.
• She strongly dislikes her gold eyes and scars.
• She does want to love someone but insists she cannot and hides her feelings.
• the two Hollows who destroys her clan was not just a pair of Hollows, but two of three powerful ones who were preying on strong clans in the past.

Quotes

- "I made the mistake of fighting for revenge. In the end, the Hollows were killed, but at the cost of injuring so many of my comrades because I was stubbornly fighting for this "honor" that was nothing more than the selfish pride of refusing to lose to something that killed everyone around me..."

- "There weren't just two... Even with all that effort, I discovered one more Hollow runs lose, cursing me to its last breath..."

- "Oh, these wounds... " -she covers herself- "Now that you've seen them, you are most likely going to die soon. Every single person who has seen these wounds before you, lovers and friends alike, have all died a tragic death to a powerful Hollow who is intent on stalking everyone I love to get revenge for his fallen comrades that I, too got vengeance on when I killed them some years back... It will find you too."

- "Why do I care for you all so much? It's as simple as just having a heart. I love to see happy and smiling faces on the people around me."

- "You boys should be more careful when you play kickball near my office. I know you want me to play, but you might accidentally konk someone on the head or smack them in the face with this. So please be careful..."