Raku

In its ordinary shape Raku is a cat coated in short blond fur with a white belly, long ears, and equally long whiskers, its eyes shining a vivid green close to emerald. When roused to fight, it swells into something else entirely, a great guardian lion in the Chinese style, crowned with a fiery mane and a headband.

Everything Raku does springs from its bond with Yuzu Kurosaki. A single act of kindness left the cat devoted to her, enough to trail after her in life and to return in death when she stood in danger. That loyalty is the whole of its character, a quiet attachment strong enough to keep its spirit anchored to the living world.

Yuzu first crossed paths with Raku while it was still a stray shivering through a rainy day, and she offered the yellow cat a biscuit out of pity. Grown fond of her, it tried to follow her home and was struck down by a passing car, its lingering attachment tying its spirit to the Human World rather than letting it move on. Raku later reappears as a ghost carrying unusually strong Reiatsu, which pulls Hollows toward it. To shield Yuzu from them, it becomes the fiery lion that Don Kanonji, leader of the Karakura Superheroes, promptly dubs the Karakura Lion Jet and brands the squad's own hero mecha, even though nothing about it is mechanical. In that form it moves with startling speed and power, sheathes itself in flame, and single-handedly overwhelms a Huge Hollow, rivaling a ranked Shinigami. Once the threat is gone and its purpose met, Raku passes on, its secret known only to Yuzu, who along with Karin likens the cat to their brother Ichigo.