Haineko (Zanpakutō spirit)

This article is about the manifested spirit of Rangiku Matsumoto's Zanpakutō. For her Zanpakutō and its abilities, see Haineko.

is the manifested spirit of Rangiku Matsumoto's Zanpakutō that is seen during the Zanpakutō Unknown Tales arc.

Character Outline
Haineko's spirit takes the form of a werecat with peach skin and brown chin-length hair. While looking mostly humanoid, she possesses a tail, cat ears and pink fur over her body. The fur on her upper body covers her functions as a rather provocative shirt, not covering her shoulders and mid-section, while the fur on her left leg appears as sort of stocking, and puffy shorts that extend mid-thigh. She sports a voluptuous figure not unlike Rangiku Matsumoto's; both have curvy bodies and well-endowed breasts.

She is highly mischievous, and tends to get bored rather easily. She also enjoys taunting Rangiku, is rather flirtatious, and seems to possess a slight sadistic streak (or a more aggressive side to her flirtatious nature), based on her comments about "playing" with Ichigo when she and Tobiume first encountered him a few minutes before their first fight with Momo and Rangiku. She also seems to care for the well-being of her fellow Zanpakutō, as shown by her claim that she was "glad" that Kazeshini was able to make it back to their hideout, despite the large wound he bore on his back.

She is rather superficial in appearances and has a passion for perfumes. She also appears to be infatuated with Hyōrinmaru, often calling him "darling". Her desire for leaving Rangiku appears to flaunt her self-perceived superior beauty in comparison to Rangiku's. In addition, she seems to have a rivalry with Tobiume, and often argues with her. Additionally, Haineko and Rangiku both have an interest in fashion, but have notably different tastes; Rangiku opts for the "cuter" and surprisingly more modest style of clothing, while Haineko prefers "sexier" and slightly more revealing outfits.

Synopsis
She first appears when the Zanpakutō spirits are in a cave waiting for Muramasa's return. She claims to be bored and wishes to go outside, but the spirit of Sode no Shirayuki tells her that they have to wait for the rest of their companions to awaken. She is later seen along with the rest of the Zanpakutō spirits when they appear before the Shinigami that have gathered at the Sōkyoku Hill. She passes by Rangiku and taunts her for a second, then forcibly pushes her before bidding her farewell.

Later while arguing with Tobiume at their hideout, Muramasa returns with new orders to capture Ichigo Kurosaki. She says it'll prevent her from being bored. While hunting for Ichigo with Tobiume, she wonders where Hyōrinmaru went, blushing while saying that "he's cute when he's shy". During their argument about who will find Hyōrinmaru first, Senbonzakura appears before them without warning, scaring the two. When he asks them about Muramasa's whereabouts, they tell him they don't know and he leaves. They soon spot Ichigo and immediately attack him. Haineko strikes at Ichigo with her ash wave and soon gets into another argument with Tobiume. Ichigo, not wanting to get into another fight, tries to run away, but the pair attack him once more. Just then, Rangiku and Momo Hinamori arrive and engage their former Zanpakutō, while Ichigo leaves to continue his search for Byakuya. Haineko argues for a while with her former wielder, calling her an "old hag" and bragging on how relieved she is on being set free.

The two then begin to fight, with Haineko constantly mocking Rangiku's appearance and claiming she is old and fat. Haineko even goes so far as to say that Rangiku has "gone past her expiration date". This causes Rangiku to go into fits of rage and the two end up clawing and pulling at each other. Eventually with a tag-team strategy with Momo, Haineko is finally subdued along with Tobiume. After which, Momo explains how she would like to get older as to lose her naiveness. While Haineko doesn't understand, Rangiku explains that a kid, meaning Haineko, wouldn't be expected to understand.

Later, Haineko and Tobiume are seen in a cell being taken away by several Shinigami. While journeying back to Seireitei, Byakuya knocks out all the escorts, though he does not bother to release Haineko and Tobiume from the cage, as they are still seen in it during a Shinigami Golden Cup segment. However, it is assumed that they escaped at some point, as they were both shown along with the remaining spirits afterwards in Muramasa's cave. She later appears during the confrontation between the spirits and Shinigami along with Tobiume to fight Tetsuzaemon Iba and Isane Kotetsu, although the two argue and almost let the two get away. Haineko then calls for Ashisogi Jizō to emerge out of the rumble he was earlier blasted into by Isane. She then fights Iba for a short time before Rangiku shows up again to fight her. However Ashisogi Jizō sprays his poison at Iba and Rangiku while Haineko safely retreats to a nearby building.

Later when the Shinigami find Zanpakuto's hideout, she and Tobiume intercept Ichigo and Yoruichi. Yoruichi, however, proves to be too fast and powerful for them and easily fends them off, allowing Ichigo to move on.

Powers and Abilities
At anytime, Haineko can manifest the sealed sword form of her former self. This is a straight-bladed katana with a cross guard in the shape of a cat's head, with two triangles on the top half curving into ear-points and the bottom half tapering down into a single point.


 * Shikai Special Ability: Haineko can produce ash which floats in the air. Though it now takes on the look of scattered ash, each particle is a tiny blade. Haineko controls the ash to attack from any direction as her hand controls the hilt, ultimately enveloping and tearing up the enemy. So evidently, Haineko's ash is very hard to fight against in this form. The main attack strength of the ash comes from how much ash makes contact, thus this is the reason why it is clumped together. If the ash was to attack the opponent in single particles, the damage would be little to nothing. The ash can cut through objects as easily as a sword would, similar in principle to Byakuya Kuchiki's Senbonzakura.

Enhanced Speed: Haineko has showned tremendous speed comparable to Shunpo, great enough to fight on even ground with her former partner.

Expert Swordsmanship Specialist: Haineko has shown great swordsmanship as well, able to easily keep up with Rangiku.

Quotes

 * (To Matsumoto) "You see, women have expiration dates on them...and you went bad a long time ago."

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Haineko (espíritu)