Yuzu Kurosaki

Yuzu Kurosaki (黒崎 遊子, Kurosaki Yuzu) is Karin's fraternal twin and Ichigo Kurosaki's little sister. Yuzu lost her mother at a young age, and to deal with this Yuzu took up all of the house-hold chores. She cares for her family deeply, and is very close to her sister even though their personalities differ immensely.

Appearance
Yuzu's appearance is in stark contrast to her twin sister's. Yuzu has short light brown hair, similar in color to her mother Masaki Kurosaki, with short bangs hanging over the right side of her forehead. She also wears a red hairclip on the left side of her head. Her eyes are a dark brown color and appear much softer than Karin's. Yuzu dresses more girlish when compared to her sister. She wears a green hooded sweatshirt, and an apron when cooking. After 17 months, Yuzu's hair is shoulder length and usually styles it in two pigtails with her hairclip on the right pigtail. She, like Karin, now wears a sailor fuku for school.

Personality
Yuzu is more soft-spoken in comparison to her authoritative sibling. She is also the more empathetic of the two girls. She takes care of the housework, such as cooking meals and tidying up the living space, on a daily basis. She also regularly cuts Ichigo's hair.

Unlike her siblings, Yuzu is only able to see faint outlines of spirits as she is able to inform Ichigo that another ghost is present while they are about to sit down to dinner Both girls help out in the family's clinic. Yuzu greatly admires her brother and looks up to him a lot, a trait that Ichigo shares being very protective of his family. It was the image of Yuzu in the arms of a Hollow that initially shocked Ichigo into action despite the fear he'd been feeling at the time having never seen a Hollow before. She tends to get very upset whenever Ichigo disappears for any period longer than a day due to her mother complex, and her sister is known to comfort her.

Yuzu has a very playful side to her as well, despite the more responsibility she takes on when regarding the housework and looking after her family after the death of their mother. She has discovered Kon, although she hasn't discovered his true identity. She likes to play with him, calling him "Bostov", and this often involves her dressing him in feminine clothes and glueing on unwanted accessories, much to his chagrin. During these times, the childlike and girlish aspect of her personality can be seen in contrast to the responsible side that is usually present. She is also quite gullible due to her empathy, as shown when she is moved by Rukia's false tears and allows her to stay at their house. She is very close to her father, probably the closest out of his children, both of them often being chastised by Karin when they are nosey about Ichigo and his new friends.

History
Little is known about Yuzu's history. She was born, along with her twin sister Karin, to Isshin and Masaki Kurosaki eleven years ago, the younger sister of Ichigo Kurosaki. She was born without the power to see ghosts that the rest of her siblings possess.

Six years previous to the current storyline, Yuzu lost her mother to the Hollow known as Grand Fisher when he attacked Masaki and Ichigo as they left the dojo where Ichigo had been training at time. Despite only being four years old at the time, it appears that the Kurosaki twins forced themselves to mature much faster than is usual for girls their age. Yuzu decided to become the mother figure in their household and began to take care of all the menial jobs around the house, becoming an exceptional cook by the time she was eleven years old in the current timeline. She also takes the time to help her father out at the Kurosaki Clinic along with Karin taking the role of nurses that are absent. Unlike Karin, Yuzu has maintained a much more emotional side than her twin, not holding back when displaying upset tears of worry or cries of joy when the time arises, while Karin would remain almost aloof to most things outside of soccer or her father's annoyances.

Agent of the Shinigami arc
Yuzu makes her debut along with the rest of her family when her brother, Ichigo Kurosaki returns from helping a ghost find peace. When he enters the house his father, Isshin Kurosaki kicks him across the room. They begin fighting with each other and Yuzu tells them to stop it since their food is getting cold. Her sister, Karin Kurosaki simply tells Yuzu not to bother them and asks for more food. Yuzu then notices a ghost behind Ichigo and tells him that he already has another person to help. Ichigo then begins complaining about having to help ghosts all the time and Karin tells him it must be tough to have the ability to see ghosts. Yuzu then states that she's envious of Ichigo for being able to see ghosts as she's only able to see a blur. Karin tells her that she isn't envious of Ichigo as she doesn't believe in ghosts but Yuzu points out that she's able to see ghosts as well. However, Karin tells her that even if you can see ghosts, if you don't believe in them then it's the same as them not existing. Karin then decides to change the subject and states that she thought of a new project about frolicking with the ghosts in the winds of early summer during May. As Yuzu tells Karin that last month the project was to go look at flowers, Ichigo yells at Karin for thinking of ways to make money by using him. Isshin then shouts that he's found an opening and kicks Ichigo yet again. Ichigo decides to go to bed and Yuzu yells at him to come back..

Karin then states that he's gone and tells Isshin that it's all his fault, which ends up surprising him. Yuzu then tells Isshin then Ichigo's been having a hard time since more and more ghosts have been coming and Isshin is shocked that he talks to Yuzu to things like that. Yuzu then states that she's going to take dinner to Ichigo's room later. Isshin decides to go up to Ichigo's room and the two get into another fight, causing Yuzu to take care of his injuries. Later, Yuzu, along with the rest of her family, are attacked by a huge Hollow. After the Kurosaki's are defeated by the Hollow, Yuzu is picked up and taken outside by it. As she's about to get killed, Ichigo yells out at the Hollow and attacks it with a bat. He is easily knocked back though and just as the Hollow is about to finish him off, a person dressed in black cuts the Hollows arm off, causing an unconscious Yuzu to fall into the arms of Ichigo. As she's unconscious she has a dream of telling Ichigo to run away from something.

The next day Yuzu is all healed and her memory has been wiped of the whole incident believing it to have been a truck accident along with the rest of her family. Later she enters her brother's room and asks him if he's seen her dress. However, he isn't in there and Ichigo appears behind her, telling her she shouldn't open the door to his room without knocking first. Yuzu notices that he took a bath and complains that she wanted to go in too, and Ichigo tells her that she should learn to go by herself already. She states that Ichigo's become colder since he entered highschool but Ichigo tells her he hasn't and then states that he hasn't seen her dress. Yuzu then tells him that she's missing a pair of pajamas as well and Ichigo tells her to stop asking him these things as he doesn't know the answers to everything.

Later when Ichigo returns home from school, Yuzu and Karin frantically run around the house trying to help patients. Ichigo asks Yuzu what's happening and she tells Ichigo that there was a car accident at the intersection. Another person then arrives and Yuzu attempts to pick him up but can't. Isshin then runs over there stating that a big guy has arrived and he tells Ichigo to come over and help pick him up. However, when he gets there he identifies the person as Chad, Ichigo's classmate. They bring him into a room and Yuzu notices that his back is badly wounded. Isshin attempts to help him but Chad tells him he's all right. However, as he attempts to leave, he collapses and Isshin tells Yuzu and Karin to get a bed for him.

The next day Yuzu tells Ichigo that it's time for breakfast and Ichigo wonders where Karin is. Yuzu tells him that she didn't want any breakfast and notes that she wasn't feeling too good. As Ichigo states that Karin not feeling well is a rare occurrence, Isshin enters the room and tells them that Chad has disappeared from his hospital room. Yuzu then goes to school and decides to go to the bathroom to check up on Karin. However, when she goes to the bathroom stall Karin is hiding in, she simply yells at her to go back to her classroom. A student named Midori Tōno then goes up to Yuzu and asks her how Karin is doing. As Yuzu begins to explain Midori tells her to forget about the question since she already knows the answer. Yuzu then notices that she has stopped yelling, and Karin leaves the bathroom stall she was hiding in. She then states that she's leaving early and tells Yuzu to get her stuff. Later, back at home, Yuzu is seen sleeping together with Karin.

During school, Yuzu sees "Ichigo" jumping on top of walls and she tells Karin this. She doesn't believe her though, claiming it would be too tough to jump over their school walls. However, she immediately sees "Ichigo" jumping on top of the walls and as Yuzu calls out to him, Karin covers her mouth. She tells Yuzu that there is no way that person is Ichigo and that he can't be human. She then warns Yuzu not to tell anyone about this as he already stands out enough as it is. However, Midori spots "Ichigo" and Karin threatens her, convincing her that she didn't see anything at all. Yuzu then overhears three kids (Ino, Hashigami, and Kaneda) claim that someone with orange hair broke their video game and Karin tells her that this should be enough evidence to convince her that this person isn't really Ichigo.

Yuzu enters her brother's room and as she begins to tell Ichigo something she notices that he's hiding something in his closet and asks what he's up to. He states that he's doing nothing and asks her what she wants with him so early in the morning anyway. Yuzu tells him it isn't that early, and explains that Mizuiro Kojima has been waiting for him. She then tells him to just apologize to him for making him wait from his window. After school is over, due to the anniversary of her mother's death tomorrow, Isshin has a family meeting about what they'll do the next day but claims that because he's their dad he'll get final say in everything. Karin claims that this isn't a meeting then and Isshin tells her to raise her hand when she wants to speak. He then explains that Yuzu will be the lunch staff and that Karin will be the luggage carrier. After the meeting is over, Yuzu and Karin go to sleep.

The next day Yuzu and the rest of her family head to the site of Masaki's death. As they head up a hill, Yuzu complains about how steep it is and Isshin begins to cheer for her and then goes up the hill on just his hands. Karin simply tells Yuzu to ignore him since he'll never stop if you encourage him. However, Isshin states that he'll never stop even if they don't look and begins to fight with them. Karin eventually kicks Isshin all the way back down to the bottom of the hill. Yuzu and Karin then notice someone and question if she's visiting a grave as well. She then waves at them and Yuzu asks Ichigo if he knows her. He worriedly says that he doesn't and Karin states that she doesn't know the person either. Ichigo then shouts that he remembers the person from middle school and states that he's going to talk to her alone. As he leaves he tells Yuzu and Karin to visit Masaki's grave first. Yuzu is confused by this and Karin tells her that they should just leave him alone. Later, Yuzu and the rest of her family make it to the grave and Isshin decides to have his annual "Ba-Dum Kurosaki's family's tombstone domino rally" and he explains the rules to his game. Yuzu tells him that if he doesn't stop then he won't have any dinner.

After a little while Yuzu begins to cry about her mother's death and Karin tells her she shouldn't cry every time they come here. Karin then hears Isshin blow his whistle for a family meeting, and the two of them head over to him. However, as they go there, Karin notices a female ghost and decides to talk with her. She doesn't return though and Yuzu yells for her to come back. As she heads towards her Karin yells for her not to come any closer. Karin is then attacked by a Hollow called the Grand Fisher and Yuzu heads straight for Karin. She then feels the invisible Hollow on top of Karin and is then strangled by the Hollow. As it yells to Yuzu that she will be eaten first, Ichigo arrives and saves her. An unconscious Yuzu is then grabbed by Ichigo. She is then put by a rock along with an unconscious Karin.

After that day Yuzu's memories are erased and she goes back to her home along with the rest of her family. One day she notices a stuffed animal and wonders if it's Karin's. She then tells the stuffed animal that she'll give him a bath. After she cleans him she puts the stuffed animal in a dress and places it next to two other stuffed animals called Melon and Cookie, whom she states are the stuffed animals parents. She tells the stuffed animal to listen to them and then puts a flower on it so she could mark who the child of the family is.

Later, Yuzu and her father watch a tv show they love about a spirit medium called Don Kanonji. As they're watching it they do a weird pose and Ichigo asks them what their doing. Yuzu explains about the show she's watching but Ichigo states that what he really meant was what the pose they did was. However, they ignore him and do the pose yet again. She then tells Ichigo about how amazing he is and tells him that he can see spirits. Ichigo tells her that he doesn't know about that, but Yuzu begins yelling at him, forcing Ichigo to change his opinion. Yuzu then states that she wants to see ghosts like Don Kanonji and begins watching him again. She then screams all of a sudden and Ichigo asks her what's wrong. Yuzu tells him that next weeks episode is going to take place in Karakura Town. Because of this, the Kurosaki's go to watch Don Kanonji live. Isshin then yells to Yuzu that the show is about to start and Yuzu tells him to be quiet. All of a sudden Ichigo gets tackled by security and Yuzu wonders what's happening. As Isshin attempts to imitate him, Yuzu yells at him not to do anything. A little while later some glass breaks and Isshin protects Yuzu and Karin from the glass. After he asks them if their all right, he collapses, stating that he is satisfied to die for their sake. Yuzu simply ignores him and yells out for Ichigo.

The next day after the show is over and the Kurosaki's return home, Yuzu hears her brother making some noise. She goes out to tell him to be quiet until she notices Kanonji with him. She runs up to him and states that she's a big fan of his show. Later, Ichigo takes some leftovers of food and Yuzu complains about this. Ichigo states that this is his midnight snack and Yuzu tells him that she's not going to care when he gets fat.

After returning from a fire works festival from a neighboring city, Yuzu, Karin, and Isshin see Ichigo and they all happily tackle him. Yuzu tries to give Ichigo a chocolate banana but he declines. She then begins shouting at him and Ichigo asks her if she's drunk. Isshin confirms this and states that Yuzu got drunk when they bought some wine that they mistook for juice. Isshin then states that it doesn't matter anymore and tells Ichigo and his friends that they saved a seat at the opposite bank at 7:00 a.m. They all then leave to their destination. A little while later Yuzu and Karin pass out, and Ichigo is forced to carry them. Later at night, while Yuzu and Karin are asleep, Ichigo tells them that he's leaving.

Soul Society arc
While Ichigo left for Soul Society, Yuzu, along with Karin, Ururu Tsumugiya and Jinta Hanakari, joins up with Don Kanonji to form the superhero group, Karakura Superheroes. Within this group, Yuzu takes the role of Karakura Yellow. While a part of that team, Yuzu befriends a cat by feeding it on her way home one day. Unbeknownst to her, the cat tries to follow her after being fed, but meets an untimely end by being run over in the process, becoming a spirit that harbours hidden powers. As a spirit, the cat, Raku still befriends Yuzu, and joins her superhero team as one of their mascots. The power of the cat spirit attracts Hollows, leading them to attack the team. However, Raku transforms into Karakura Lion Jet and saves them all before travelling onto Soul Society, his purpose in the Human World having been fulfilled.

Bount arc (anime only)
Note: Events occurring in this arc are only in the anime and do not constitute canon material.

When Ichigo and Isshin are fighting upstairs, Yuzu calls them down for breakfast and Karin asks what they're doing now. As they're eating, Yuzu asks Isshin for an explanation as to what happened to his face and Isshin simply turns around saying nothing happened. Karin then asks Ichigo if he's been working out lately since he's gotten a few muscles lately. Ichigo changes the subject though and asks Yuzu and Karin if they've been doing their homework. Yuzu states that she got it done in hardly any time at all and then Karin states that Don Kanonji has been coming over a lot, saying that Ichigo is now his pupil. Ichigo begins to get worried and tells them that Kanonji doesn't know what he's talking about. All of a sudden Isshin gets up from his chair and kicks Ichigo in the face, sending him backwards. Isshin mocks Ichigo for not being able to react fast at all and the two of them begin fighting. Yuzu then tells them to stop fighting at the table. Later, after Ichigo returns home from school, Yuzu tells him he's just in time for dinner. However, Isshin immediately begins fighting with Ichigo again, telling him he's late. Yuzu tries to stop this but Karin tells her to leave them alone and to think of it as a bonding experience for the two of them.

Arrancar arc
Rukia Kuchiki is sent to the Human World to deal with the Arrancar, and decides Ichigo's house would best suit her. She tells Yuzu and Isshin Kurosaki a sad story about how she has no money and no place to stay, leading Yuzu to give her a room. Ichigo soon leaves to the Visored training ground without a word, and not even Rukia can find him. Yuzu cries for Ichigo, believing he won't come back. Even Kon commented on how Ichigo can hurt her like this.

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

Yuzu discovers Karin talking to a spirit. While still unable to see it, she helps Karin in dealing with the spirit, who introduces himself as Zabimaru. Yuzu offers for Zabimaru to join them at their house for awhile. There, Yuzu treats Zabimaru to some dessert and games, despite always facing the wrong way when talking to him, leading to Hebi yelling at her despite her not being able to hear him. Later after falling asleep, Zabimaru leaves without the twins knowing.

Gotei 13 Invading Army Arc (anime only)
Note: Events occurring in this arc are only in the anime and do not constitute canon material.

Yuzu walks into Ichigo's room and finds Kon in Ichigo's body laying in bed. Believing him to be Ichigo, she tells him to hurry up or he will be late for school.

Ichigo introduces Yuzu, Karin and Isshin to Nozomi Kujō, saying that Rukia is the only relative she has left following the break up of her family. Yuzu pleads with Isshin to allow Nozomi to stay with them, likening her story to a movie. Isshin grants the request and Yuzu tells Nozomi that she can ask her for anything. Nozomi asks her what movies are. Isshin, Karin and Yuzu leave to do some shopping. Later, Orihime prepares a meal and presents it to the household. When Yuzu asks how it tastes, Nozomi states that it is delicious. At dinner, Yuzu and Karin watch Kon, in Ichigo's body, eating Orihime's cooking with the others. Yuzu comments that Ichigo is very energetic.

The Lost Substitute Shinigami arc
17 months later, she shows off her new school uniform to Ichigo. When he isn't excited about it, she becomes mad and yells at Ichigo. When he points out that the fastener on her dress is open, however, she becomes embarrassed and calls him a pervert. Isshin asks for her opinion on his outfit, but she tells him it does not really matter. She later leaves for her first day, telling Ichigo to have a good day.

A couple of days later, when Ichigo returns home from school, Yuzu greets him with the results of her first exam, which she excelled at. Ichigo congratulates her and tells her to show it to Isshin, who will be happy. Ichigo inquires where their father is. When Yuzu tells him that she does not know and that she thinks that he has been gone since that morning, Ichigo tells her that he will be in his room. Yuzu starts to say something to him, but stops, claiming that it is nothing when Ichigo asks.

At the Kurosaki Clinic, Karin asks Yuzu where Ichigo is as they have dinner. Yuzu tells her that he is upstairs and when she had called him, he had told her that he would eat later. Karin then calls teenage boys gross and perverts. Yuzu scolds her for saying such things during dinner, denying that Ichigo is like that. Karin relents, but says that she should let go of her delusions about Ichigo, saying that he is not an anime character. Yuzu denies she thought of him like that and storms off, telling Karin that it is her turn to clean up. Yuzu watches Don Kanonji late at night as she waits for Ichigo to come home, although she denies she is doing this when Karin tells her to go to bed. Both of them argue and then finally go to bed when their brother returns home after two days missing.

As Ichigo returns home from his training, Yuzu confronts him at the door and says they have a surprise guest. She takes him to the room that the guest is waiting in and tells Ichigo it is cousin Shū and Ichigo stares, horrified as he is confronted by Shūkurō Tsukishima. Yuzu says she bets Ichigo is totally surprised as they have not seen him since Grandpa Rin's funeral and it brings back memories. As Ichigo is appalled by this sight, Yuzu says he came in the afternoon and they had dinner. She says it has been so long since they had dinner together so it was really fun. Tsukishima asks if he is being too much trouble and Yuzu tells Ichigo he should be more like Tsukishima. When Ichigo grabs Tsukishima, she is shocked and tries to get her brother to let him go, asking what he is doing. Ichigo asks Tsukishima what he has done and Tsukishima tells Karin and Yuzu that it is okay and Ichigo is probably just angry he stayed so late. When the door bell rings, Tsukishima asks Yuzu to answer it.

Later that night, as Ichigo and Kūgo enter Tsukishima's mansion, they are greeted by Yuzu and other friends of Ichigo. Yuzu goes up to Ichigo and tells him that Tsukishima is not even mad at him and then joins everyone else as they say that he should apologize.

Powers & Abilities
Spiritual Awareness: Yuzu has enough spiritual power to be able to see spirits as a blury image, similar to the way Chad, Orihime and Tatsuki could see them before their powers increased. She is envious of Ichigo and Karin, for being able to clearly see the spirits.

Master Homemaker: Despite still being a child, Yuzu has taught herself to be very proficient in various housekeeping chores; this includes laundry, cleaning, cooking, and even cutting her family's hair. She accomplished all of this by the age of eleven.

Appearances In Other Media
Yuzu plays a largely pivotal role in Bleach: Hell Chapter than that of the other Bleach movies, in which she is kidnapped by the inhabitants of Hell, known as the Togabito. Her kidnapping ultimately serves as a means to lure her brother Ichigo into the bowels of Hell in order to break the chains imprisoning the Togabito. Yuzu inevitably succumbs to the intense pressure of being exposed to the internal environment in Hell, prompting Ichigo's transformation into his full Hollow form. When she is freed from Hell by Renji Abarai, a chain remains on her chest, which later inexplicably disintegrates upon her return.

Trivia

 * She gets hyperactive upon seeing Kon, and he seems to be the only doll she dresses up strangely.
 * In the manga, when the Kurosaki Clinic gets attacked by Fishbone D, Yuzu is grabbed by the Hollow and Karin warns Ichigo about the Hollow. However, in the anime, Yuzu is the one who warns Ichigo and Karin is the one who gets grabbed.
 * In the anime she is usually incapable of seeing spirits at all. This is temporarily changed when she encounters Raku, the Plus of a cat she once fed. During Raku's stay with her she was able to see other spirits as well.

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