Izuru Kira



Izuru Kira, sometimes romanized as Iduru Kira, is the Lieutenant of the 3rd Division in the Gotei 13, under Captain Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi.

Appearance
Izuru has blue eyes and shoulder-length blond hair that is combed into three points, with two in the back of his head and a third combed to cover his left eye. He also wears the standard Shinigami robes and the 3rd Division's lieutenant armband on his left arm. When he was a student at the Shinigami Academy, his hair was shorter and shaggier, with his bangs hanging just above his left eye and he wore the standard blue uniform for the males.

Personality
Izuru is a gloomy and introspective person, not easily given to socializing with others. He generally appears weak and indifferent, leading many to believe he lacks ability as a leader. As an officer, he does not tend to inspire confidence or boost morale the way other lieutenants do. It should be noted that Izuru's current personality greatly differs from his days in the academy where he was shown to be much happier and slightly mischievous after noting that Shūhei Hisagi had failed his entrance exam twice, whereas Izuru passed at the top of his class, giving him the idea that, in a sense, his talent was greater.

His personality flaws are also assets: his introspection coupled with his tendency to worry makes him indecisive, but it also makes him sensitive to unusual behavior. His loyalty to his comrades inspires him to great efforts in their defense, as seen when Momo Hinamori attacks Gin Ichimaru and again when Makoto Kibune's attacks endanger other members of the 3rd Division.

Izuru is loyal to both his friends and his duties, perhaps to a fault. Despite the close friendship he shares with Momo Hinamori, Izuru shows that his loyalty knows no boundaries when he defends his captain while she is in a grief-induced rage from her own captain's apparent death. Despite this, he calls himself a "monster" afterwards for raising his sword against her.

During his fight with Abirama Redder, it is revealed that Izuru considers the essence of war to be despair, as exemplified by the symbol of his division, the marigold. He also hates to fight unless prompted or given orders. However, in combat he shows ruthless determination. Izuru has shown himself remorseless with this, beheading an opponent that was pleading for mercy.

It is known that he likes to write haiku, and he was also awarded for one of his pieces by Seireitei Communication, which is as follows: "The persimmon tree bears fruit. Aaah, the persimmon tree bears fruit again this year." His dislike for dried persimmon (a huge difference between him and his former captain) sheds some light on the background of the poem. He likes agar-agar instead. He also writes a serial novel titled "I Want to Apologize to You." It runs in Seireitei Communication and every new chapter begins with a haiku piece. He is also the author of Kira Izuru's Haiku Time. He is on good terms with fellow author Shūhei Hisagi, and in their free time, they participate on gatherings of haiku lovers. Izuru also gives a special lecture of poetry on the Shinigami Academy. It is also known that he is skilled in playing cat's cradle.

Lately, after meeting his current girlfriend Kuma Shiraga, Izuru has stared to show a more playful, sarcastic, and cheeky side to him. He has seems to be happier, and socialising with other Soul Reapers more often.

History
Izuru Kira was born into a family of lesser nobility, his parents having been dead since he was young. On the day he first entered into the Shinigami Academy he visited his parent's grave. It is there that he met fellow student Renji Abarai when he fell out a tree onto his parent's burial marker. Renji was scolded by his friend Rukia Kuchiki for falling asleep in the tree. Upon entrance into the academy Izuru was placed in the special accelerated class alongside Renji and Momo Hinamori. Later that day the students engaged in using Hadō in their Kidō class, with Izuru excelling over the rest of his class. However, he was only able to defend against the aggressive nature and fighting style of Renji in their swordsmanship class. While the two were resting underneath a tree Renji and Izuru introduced themselves and struck up a friendship with each other; it was also on this day that 5th Division captain Sōsuke Aizen and his lieutenant Gin Ichimaru came to the academy to inspect the freshman class. Two months later the class was given leave to go to the world of the living for a training session in Konsō. The training session was to be lead by 6th year student Shūhei Hisagi and two of his classmates, Kanisawa and Aoga. The fact that Hisagi was leading the mission caused a ruckus which prompted Izuru to explain to Renji why Hisagi was so famous. Izuru then noted that he himself, as that year's top student, probably had more talent than Hisagi. The various students were then placed into three-person teams, Izuru and Renji were placed with Momo. The class then set out for the world of the living to begin their training mission. As the training session was coming to a close, the class was surprised when a Hollow attacked them and killed Kanisawa. When Aoga saw this he went to fight the Hollow, but was also killed. Hisagi then called for all the students to fall back and run for their lives, while he held the Hollow off. When Momo stopped running Izuru asked her why, to which she responded that she didn't understand why they were fleeing, despite Izuru and Renji trying to reason with her she went back to attack the Hollow and save Hisagi. Realizing there was no getting through to her, Izuru and Renji decided that they had to try and help her. Much to the surprise of Hisagi the three of them appeared just in time to block the attacks of the Hollow. Izuru asked for forgiveness in not following Hisagi's orders and then congratulated Momo when she used Hadō #31 Shakkahō. But to their surprise the small victory was cut short by the arrival of many more Hollows. They were then saved by the timely arrival of captain Sōsuke Aizen and lieutenant Gin Ichimaru, who effortlessly took out all the hollows, while the three students stood amazed. After graduation, Izuru, along with Renji and Momo, was sent to the 5th Division, where he stayed until Gin Ichimaru became captain of the 3rd Division. It is known that Izuru spent some time in the 4th Division, as noted by Shūhei, and the fact that he carries medical implements like shinten, a trait virtually exclusive to members of the 4th Division.

Kuma Shiraga
About 2 years ago, Izuru and Kuma 'properly' met, when Rangiku Matsumoto asked Izuru, Kuma, Shuuhei, and Renji out for a drinking party. Izuru and Kuma instantly got along well together and soon became close friends.