Hiyori Sarugaki

Overview

Hiyori Sarugaki is a former Lieutenant of the 12th Division under Captains Kirio Hikifune and Kisuke Urahara, and currently a Visored.  

Appearance  

Hiyori is a very short, brown eyed, blonde-haired girl who wears her short hair in stubby pigtails. She wears a red jogging suit decorated with the first kanji of her name and flip flops. She also has an overly long fang protruding from the upper left side of her mouth. This physical characteristic has caused both Ichigo and Shinji to call her "snaggletooth". During her time in Soul Society, she wore a standard Shinigami uniform with her lieutenants armband on her left arm. During this time, her pigtails were fairly long and hung down. She also appears more haggard and not as sharp as she did during her days in Soul Society, with tired lines under her eyes.   

Personality

Despite her small size, Hiyori is an aggressive and short-tempered girl with rather violent tendencies. Her most common victim being Shinji Hirako, whom she frequently abuses, usually by smacking him with one of her sandals or kicking and punching him in the face. She has even made it a reflex to use him as a human shield when necessary, and show him an obvious lack of respect, a gesture that he seems to return. This behavior dates back to her time as a Lieutenant, despite the fact that Shinji outranked her back then. She shows very little respect to the majority of people around her, easily losing her temper and getting into fights. Having viewed her former Captain Kirio Hikifune as a motherly figure, Hiyori was quite hurt by her departure and initially refused to accept Urahara as her replacement, even treating him with her trademark violence and disrespect, despite his attempts to be her friend. When Kirio Hikifune was in charge of her, Hiyori was very respectful to her old captain as a sign of respect and trust but still smacked everyone else around. Hiyori also seems to harbor a hatred of both Shinigami and Humans. As a result of her thorny disposition and possible insecurities, Hiyori never seems to display much emotion besides anger, and always appears to be frowning.  

History

Approximately 110 years ago, Hiyori was the lieutenant of the12th Division under captain Kirio Hikifune until her promotion. When Captain Shinji Hirako of the 5th Division arrived at the 1st Division headquarters for the promotion ceremony of Kisuke Urahara, Hiyori opened the door and attacked him. For her troubles she got knocked on the head by Captain Love Aikawa, who stated that she should apologize, which only prompted Hiyori to question his authority in disciplining her. Love stated that since her captain wasn't present someone had to keep her in line. Regardless of Love's attempts to get her under control Hiyori still insisted that she wouldn't apologize. 
 
Hiyori was later seen waiting with the other captain's as the newly appointed 12th Division captain, Kisuke Urahara, arrived to the meeting. Hiyori looked on, unimpressed upon his arrival. Later that day Urahara formally introduced himself to the 12th Division and Hiyori, though she flat out told him that she would not accept him as her captain, slapping away Urahara's hand which shocked him. Hiyori stated that she already couldn't stand the fact that captain Hikifune left without a moment's notice and now they had to deal with a 2nd Division member as their captain, making note of the fact that he was from the Onmitsukidō so he was most likely a sneaky murderer.  
 
When the other 12th Division members tried to warn her that she was going too far, Hiyori fired back that she was only saying what they were all thinking of the other 12th Division members refuse to side with her opinion. When she confronts Urahara trying to get a rise out of him he simply laughs it off and tells her that he has already been made the captain of the 12th Division. He then explained that he had already made up his mind that the role he would play would be as their captain and no longer a member of the 2nd Division. Urahara told Hiyori if she had a problem then it was hers to change. Hiyori then proceeds to kick him in his crotch and runs off only succeeding in injuring her foot. 
 
While walking around the 12th Division barracks Hiyori became irate when she found the division moving all of Urahara's vast amount of personal items. She then got into another confrontation with him when he tried to be of aid to her. The following day at a division meeting Urahara detailed that he had decided to change the policy of the 12th Division but had yet to determine what course of action he thought would be a good role for them. Hiyori became increasing angry upon hearing that he was still thinking about it and attacked him. She later walked around the 12th Division barracks when she was confronted by Shinji. They got into a small argument and Hiyori attacked him for saying something that Urahara commonly said that she could not stand. She then went and confronted Urahara and challenged him to a fight which he accepted but asked that they fight hand-to hand. They prepared to fight and Urahara told her to attack him from any angle. Upon hearing this, Hiyori went running at him and kicked him square in the face. 
 
Hiyori then ran off and while at the entrance to the division headquarters she realized that Urahara saw through her attack and moved out the way and then back in place so that she would hit him. She becomes confused at what drove that action. The following morning she arrived at the captain's chamber. Hiyori became enraged at how Urahara had changed the room from its former state. He tried to calm her down and told her that in getting to know him he would get to know her. Not deterred, Hiyori attacked him, but he brushed it aside and asked her to to accompany him to Maggots' Nest. 
 
Hiyori accompanied Urahara onto the 2nd Division grounds, where he proceeded to explain to her the purpose of the detention unit and what truly happened to those found under their jurisdiction. He further explained what the Maggot's Nest was and what function is entailed. Upon entrance into the facility Urahara told her that they were not permitted to leave but they were still free within the facility. He then warned her to be careful as the inmates could become violent. Hiyori asked what they did and Urahara plainly told her "nothing", causing Hiyori to question the methods but Urahara quickly explained to her the dangers these inmates could bring and why they were imprisoned. He made note of the true dealings of what happened to those who withdrew from service in the Gotei 13. Urahara then explained that though the people in the facility were possibly dangerous, he had always felt that, given a suitable outlet, they could channel their power into something more productive. 
 
When one of the inmates tried to attack Hiyori, she soon realized she couldn't fight as she had left her Zanpakutō behind. The inmate was easily stopped by Urahara who apologized as he had noticed that she had left her Zanpakutō behind and had chosen to say nothing. He then made note that in the facility they were not allowed to carry weapons so hand-to-hand combat mastery was the key. This prompted the other inmates to attack to which Urahara easily defended himself and took out all his attackers much to Hiyori's surprise. Eventually one of the inmates tried to take Hiyori hostage but was quickly overwhelmed by her as she showed her own capabilities in hand-to-hand combat.  
 
Urahara then told Hiyori they were going to meet the only inmate that was so dangerous that he required his own cell, Mayuri Kurotsuchi. Urahara then asked him if he wanted to leave the Maggot's Nest. Mayuri and Hiyori got into a small argument where Urahara explained that she was his lieutenant and then asked Mayuri for an answer to his proposition. He then explained that in his capacity as the captain of the 12th Division he had decided to to make an organization: the Shinigami Research and Development Institute. Hiyori was surprised and further amazed that he would put such a dangerous criminal in the line to a position of power. 
 

9 years later Hiyori was seen with Urahara and now 12th Division, 3rd Seat & Vice-President of the Shinigami Research and Development Institute, Mayuri Kurotsuchi. The trio were greeted by Captain Shinji Hirako and Lieutenant Sōsuke Aizen. Shinji proceeded to tell Urahara about current events but was attacked by Hiyori who claimed that he didn't say "Hi" to her. The two got into a fight which left Aizen to explain to Urahara that the 9th Division had been sent on a special investigation to find out what was happening with the disappearances in Rukongai.
  
During her time as a member of the Institute, Hiyori served as a lab manager, while clashing with then 3rd Seat & Vice-President of the Shinigami Research and Development Institute Mayuri Kurotsuchi, over who had more authority under the Captain. The two got into a ongoing argument about who was in charge prompting Hiyori to call in Urahara. He explained to her that with the disappearances occurring, he had created a new type of Gigai. Before Hiyori could respond they were interrupted by the arrival of Todō, the 6th Seat of the 9th Division. Urahara agreed to send a researcher over to the investigation site as per the request of Captain Kensei Muguruma of the 9th Division. Urahara elected Hiyori to go to the site, to which she became irate and asked why couldn't he send someone less important, referring to lab assistant Akon. He questioned if she should continue being a lieutenant prompting Hiyori to attack him though he simply dodged her. Though reluctant, Hiyori gave in once Urahara explained that she was the only one that he could trust with the task. 
 
Sometime later Hiyori was seen running for her life from a shadowed creature, which was revealed to be a Hollowfied Kensei. Just when he was about to deal her a devastating blow, his attack was deflected by the arrival of Shinji Hirako. Moments later, a team of various captains and lieutenants that were sent to investigate the disappearance of Kensei's Division arrived. They began to attack Kensei and then, a Hollowfied Mashiro Kuna, lieutenant of the 9th Division. In the midst of this, Shinji picked up Hiyori and pulled her out of harm's way. The investigation team gathered after the fight and talked about the situation. Within that moment, Hiyori started coughing and became Hollowfied herself. It was then that a darkness fell around the rescue squad and they were attacked by an unseen assailant. 
 
The assailant was then found to be Kaname Tōsen, Kensei's 5th seat, who was acting under the orders of Sōsuke Aizen who was the one behind the disappearances and Hollowfication experiments. Just as Aizen gave the order to kill the Hollowfied Shinigami, Captain Kisuke Urahara and Kidō captain Tessai Tsukabishi showed up and saved them from destruction. Aizen, Ichimaru, and Tōsen made their escape and Tessai used Forbidden Kidō to preserve and transport them to the 12th Division barracks. In his lab, Urahara tried to reverse the process using his created item, the"Hōgyoku". Unfortunately, it ended up as a failed process, not having the desired effect Urahara expected.
 

Zankaputo

Kubikiri Orochi (aka Beheading Serpent): Hiyori's Zanpakutō is standard in appearance, even though its tsuba is decorated in small hearts, a contrast to her not-so-girlish personality. During her days as a Lieutenant, she would wear it by her belt, but as a Visored, she normally carries her sword from her right shoulder on her back; being one of three known Shinigami to do this, the other two being Ichigo Kurosaki and Tōshirō Hitsugaya. 
 

• Shikai: Its Shikai command is Chop Cleanly. With this release, Hiyori's katana becomes a large cleaver with a serrated saw-like blade.

• Bankai: Not Yet Achieved

Hollowification

Hollow Mask: Her Hollow mask is skeletal in appearance and sports a prominent horn centered on the forehead with a row of diamond shaped markings over the eyebrows. Upon donning her Hollow mask, the sclera of her eyes turn black, though her irises remain brown. She took the longest to defeat her inner Hollow out of all the current Visored (excluding Ichigo, who took about the same amount of time), at 69 minutes and 2 seconds. When angered or provoked in some way, the mask's power increased due to her emotions ruling her.