A Tribute to Kaien Shiba

"Kaien values friendship above everything else. His spirit of kindness lingers on today." - Tite Kubo

~~About Kaien Shiba: He was the Lieutenant of the 13th Division, under Jūshirō Ukitake, up until his death at the hands of a Hollow that also killed his wife, Miyako Shiba. Zanpakutō: Nejibana. "twisted flower" An average katana with a rectangular cross guard with smooth rounded edges and a dark blue hilt. Its Shikai command is "Rankle the Seas and the Skies"
~~Kaien had a youthful appearance and was a fairly tall person, with white skin and aqua green eyes. Kaien had spiky raven black hair. He wore the normal uniform with his lieutenants badge on his left arm as standard. He had a tattoo of the Shiba family crest on his arm. It is stated that Ichigo Kurosaki closely resembles Kaien in appearance. After first seeing him, Ukitake is stunned by Ichigo's appearance. Byakuya Kuchiki also notes the resemblance and even states that Ichigo's attitude annoyed him as Kaien's had. While Rukia was training Ichigo, she often became exasperated by his lack of understanding of things Kaien would have known.He was a popular man who was very ethical and was adored by many of the 13th Division members. Kaien was outspoken with a rough disposition, but his down-to-earth attitude is one of the reasons why everyone looked up to him. Kaien treated his fellow company members indiscriminately, regardless of their social standing or rank. Cause of this, his fair attitude was popular among both aristocrats and commoners in his division. He believed that one's heart relied on prospects of fighting and protecting. He firmly believes in his Captain Ukitake and his policy on fighting, which lists the types of battle: the fight to protect life and the fight to protect honor. Kaien took it a step further and believed they both end up being the same thing: heart. He believed that every time someone connected with one another, a little bit of heart is born between them. He thought of heart as not of something inside you, but what is born whenever you think of or remember someone. He believes that "heart" exists in them and remains with one's comrades after their death. As such Kaien believes that people must never die alone. It is known that his favorite food was ohagi and he liked to take afternoon naps if he could.

"There are two types of fights. Whenever we are in battle, we must be one of the two. The fight for life or … the fight for pride! Right now … He is fighting for his pride! His wife’s pride … his men’s pride … Most importantly … his own personal pride. Dismiss this as his stubbornness … and let him fight alone like this…" - Jūshirō Ukitake.

(((Definitely sad times. I love his character, his shikai, his attitude, his role in Rukia's life. To bad he had to die. It would have been nice to see more of him and his personality.)))