Haruko

is a citizen of Karakura Town. She is a Human who possesses spiritual power.

Appearance
Haruko is a bespectacled young woman with red-violet colored hair and dark purple eyes. She wears a golden yellow hair clip on the back of her head, and her hair extends past her shoulders and down the upper part of her back. She also wears a dark blue dress with a white shirt underneath, an off-white jacket-like blouse over her dress, dark blue leggings, and brown high-heeled shoes.

Personality
Haruko is kind and polite, and she usually addresses others in a polite tone. She is also very honest, talking openly with others about the spirits she is able see. However, even though she talks openly about her ability to see spirits, she is bothered by it. Haruko is also good at cooking.

Although she claims to be suicidal after Ken breaks up with her, she still desires to live, as she did not want to be consumed by the Tapeworm Hollow when it confronted her and attacked her.

Plot
While looking for Karakura Mart, Haruko gets lost and arrives at the Kurosaki Clinic instead. Realizing that she was lost, she asks Ichigo Kurosaki for directions. After Ichigo gives her the correct directions to Karakura Mart, she leaves the Kurosaki Clinic.

After Haruko finishes shopping, she notices Ichigo in his Shinigami form traveling across the sky. She becomes annoyed that she saw another spirit, but decides to head home anyway. Upon arriving home, she cooks lunch for Ken. However, she tells him that she saw Ichigo in his Shinigami form. Ken then decides to break up with Haruko, as he is disturbed by her ability to see and communicate with spirits.

Haruko becomes depressed and then attempts to jump off of a bridge. However, before she can do so, Kon (in Ichigo's body) notices her and interrupts her, causing her to fall back onto the sidewalk, while Kon falls off the bridge and into the water.

Haruko apologizes to Kon, but he assures her not to worry about it. Kon asks why she tried to jump off the bridge, and Haruko explains that she and her boyfriend, Ken, broke up, as well as the reason why. She then begins to leave and states that she no longer desires to live, now that she broke up with Ken, and thanks Kon for saving her.

Later, she stands on a hill overlooking Karakura Town and says that Ken will be sorry once she's dead. A man then approaches her, intrigued by her statements of wanting to die. He tells her that he'll grant her her wish. Haruko is confused by what he's talking about, but as he approaches her, she notices that he has the Reiatsu of a Hollow. The man is impressed with her ability to sense Hollow Reiatsu. Haruko wonders what the man is, as she knows that he's not a Human. The man states that he is temporarily borrowing the man's body. He then asks Haruko why she is afraid, as he is only trying to grant her wish to die. Haruko argues that she hasn't prepared herself for death as of yet, and she needs to be ready for it. The man dismisses her concerns and tells her to relax. He then requests her to open her mouth, which confuses Haruko. A large worm-like Hollow then emerges from the man's body and pins Haruko against the fence.

The Hollow demands her to open her mouth wider, so he can leech on her and suck out her nutrients. Before he can do so, Kon attacks him and kicks him through the fence and over the ledge. Kon then leads Haruko away from the area, so they can escape from the Hollow.

Once they have reached a safe area, Haruko asks Kon what the creature was that attacked her. Kon explains that the creature was a Hollow, a creature that attacks Humans and eats Souls. Kon admits that the kind of Hollow that attacked her was an abnormal one, as most Hollows cannot possess living Humans. Haruko then asks him why he saved her, as she wanted to die. Kon becomes disturbed by her desire for suicide and tells her to stop talking about wanting to die, as the man the Hollow possessed likely did not want to die. Kon then explains to her that he is a Mod Soul, and he was supposed to be disposed of and killed off, but he ended up surviving. He tells Haruko not to kill herself. Haruko asks Kon what she should do. Kon declares that he will protect her. He promises her that he will do so, and tell her to promise him that she will not kill herself.

They are then interrupted by Ken, who apologizes to Haruko and announces that he wants to start over with her. Haruko forgives Ken and embraces him. Kon then leaves them alone and starts to head home. However, as soon as Haruko gets close to Ken, the Tapeworm Hollow, hiding inside Ken's body, restrains Haruko and possesses her.

Kon senses the change in Haruko's Reiatsu and returns to her. Upon his return, the Hollow attacks Kon and begins to strangle him. The Hollow then explains that after Kon kicked it over the ledge, it ran into Ken and possessed him. Then, using his body, it got close to Haruko, so it could possess her. Kon then breaks free from the Hollow's grip and punches it in the stomach, causing Haruko to regurgitate it out of her body.

With the Hollow no longer controlling her body, Haruko returns to normal. Kon checks on her condition and reminds her that he promised to protect her. However, the Hollow recovers and hits Kon with enough force to force his pill out of Ichigo's body. The Hollow tries to eat Kon, but he is saved by Ichigo, who kills it with a Getsuga Tenshō.

Ichigo recovers Kon's pill and then checks on Haruko. Haruko, not realizing that Ichigo is the one inside his body, embraces him. Rukia Kuchiki arrives with several other Shinigami and demands to know what is going on. Ichigo is confused by the situation as well. Ken asks Haruko to forgive him, but she does not, telling him that she wants to start a new relationship with Ichigo. Rukia then erases both of their memories, and she, Ichigo, and the Shinigami all leave.

Having no memory of what transpired, Haruko and Ken return to Haruko's apartment.

Powers & Abilities
Spiritual Power: Haruko possesses some spiritual power, as she is able to see spirits like Pluses, Shinigami, and Hollows. She can even sense a Hollow's Reiatsu, able to distinguish the difference between a Hollow and a Human's Reiatsu. The Tapeworm Hollow also notes that she has a considerable amount of spiritual power for a Human.