Kyōko Haida

is a new student who transfers into Karakura High School during the events of the Beast Swords arc.

Appearance
Kyōko has dark brown eyes and short black hair with bangs that curve inward. She initially wears her school uniform from the high school she transferred from, which consists of a short-sleeved white shirt, a light blue colored vest, and a dark blue skirt.

Personality
When Kyōko is first introduced, she is quiet and somewhat solitary. She is also athletic, able to play well in various sports. Kyōko is smart as well, as she is able to do well academically, even anticipating what content teachers may put on tests. Furthermore, she is very perceptive, as she knew that Orihime Inoue had unique powers before she displayed them in front of her.

Kyōko has also been shown to be very lonely, as she was hurt from being antagonized by Mai Suzuki, the only person she had ever considered her true friend. Afterwards, she felt that she would not be accepted by anyone.

History
Kyōko previously attended a different high school, where she was friends with Mai Suzuki. She eventually found out that Mai was dating a boy who was known to be cheap and date numerous girls, and tried to warn her in order to prevent him from hurting her. However, Mai antagonizes her and calls her a freak before running off in tears.

Hurt from Mai's outburst, Kyōko throws away a present she was planning to give her, which was a small pink bear. After doing so, she hears a voice. The voice claims to know how she feels and tells her to vent all of her frustration. It further states that her heart will break if she hesitates. A Zanpakutō of a Tōjū then appears out of nowhere. As Kyōko reached to pick it up, she was engulfed by purple reiatsu.

Beast Swords arc
Note: Events occurring in this arc are only in the anime and do not constitute canon material.

Kyōko transfers into Karakura High School and is introduced to her classmates by her new teacher Misato Ochi. After class ends, she introduces herself to Orihime Inoue and leaves while Orihime is distracted before she can invite her to lunch.

The next day, she is injured by a fellow classmate during gym class. Orihime decides to take her to the nurse for treatment. On their way, a student accidentally knocks a flower off of a balcony on an upper level. Orihime protects them with her Santen Kesshun spell. She then states that she knew Orihime had powers and proposes that they be friends because they both have special powers. When Orihime argues that she is not special, Kyōko becomes defensive and threatens to tell Orihime's friends about her powers, which she believes will make her an outcast. Orihime asks why she would do that, but she briefly blacks out and recalls her past. When she comes to, Orihime asks if they can just put their abilities aside and just be normal friends. As she is stunned by Orihime's words, she cringes in pain and a purple reiatsu is uncontrollably emanated and her Zanpakutō briefly manifests itself. As Orihime tries to help her, Kyōko refuses and runs off.

As she leaves Karakura High School, the spirit of her Zanpakutō asks her if she really believes that Orihime wanted to be friends with her. It further states that Orihime, someone who has many friends, cannot understand them and how they feel. Kyōko tells her that Orihime said she wanted them to be friends. The Zanpakutō spirit states that those feelings would fade, and that they had both felt the pain of abandonment. She then tells her that what she really desires is to kill Mai Suzuki, to which Kyōko denies. The spirit then possesses her, saying that it will help her fill that "desire".

Using Kyōko's body, the spirit eventually tracks down Mai and tries to kill her. Kyōko manages to resist. Mai tries to call for help, but faints after seeing Kyōko and traces of the Zanpakutō spirit on her. Realizing that Mai would never accept her again, Kyōko feels that everyone would treat her as an outcast. As she bids farewell to Mai, Kyōko is engulfed by a purple reiatsu. The Zanpakutō takes full possession of Kyōko's body and materializes in full form.

Orihime arrives as this is happening. She demands that the spirit - which is really a Tōjū - to bring Kyōko back. The Tōjū tries to kill her, but she is saved by Ichigo Kurosaki. Rukia Kuchiki arrives as well and moves Mai to a save distance away from the battle. She states that the Tōjū has merged with a Human, which is why they were not able to track it down sooner. Rukia states that if Kyōko lost her mind and body to the Tōjū completely, then they would have no choice but to kill her. Orihime pleads for them to wait, as Kyōko has not lost her heart to the Tōjū. Orihime asks the Tōjū to return Kyōko. The Tōjū tells her that if she is willing to give herself to her, then she would release Kyōko. Orihime tells her that nobody would "give" themselves over to the Tōjū willingly, as it is an illusion that she has created for herself. The Tōjū is angered by this, as her master despised her and abandoned her somewhere, dying sometime afterwards, and that she herself began to wilt without anyone to accept her. She states that she'll absorb everything she can and prove how powerful she really is.

Orihime calls out to Kyōko, which causes her to resist the Tōjū. Rukia then advises her to use her Soten Kisshun technique to separate the Tōjū from Kyōko, which Orihime complies. As the Tōjū is separated, Ichigo kills her with a Getsuga Tenshō.

The next day, Kyōko watches Mai walking with her classmates. Kyōko recalls Rukia saying that she erased Mai's memories. As she begins to feel sad, Orihime meets up with her and asks her if she wants to walk home with her. Kyōko then challenges to race her to the candy shop, as she was able to tell that Orihime wanted to go there.

Powers & Abilities
Spiritual Power: Kyōko has some spiritual power, as she is able to see a Zanpakutō and hear the voice of a Tōjū, as well as seeing Shinigami.

Zanpakutō Materialization: While she possessed a stray Zanpakutō of a Tōjū, she was able to make the Zanpakutō materialize and dematerialize at will.