Art of Intimidation (Kisuke Urahara)

[Gin Ichimaru]

Gin Ichimaru sat in a rather lazy manner on a nearby building, over looking the shop called the Urahara Shoten. He knew that the only one in the shop at the moment was the man known as Kisuke Urahara. The same man he had been sent by Aizen to recieve some more intel on. After all, this man had been the one to foil some of his last plans once this whole thing had been put into action.

Of course Gin himself had not seen the other since that night. And wondered if the blonde had seen himself, covered with the blood of the former Captains and Lieutenants.

His usual mocking smile was gone from his face, as this was serious business. That and it wasn't much fun just sitting on the rooftop. His too-skinny legs dangled over the side and he kept his "concealed" icy blue hues on the door of the shop.

For a moment he wondered what would happen if he mustered up the audacity to creep inside of the store.

There wouldn't be anything really wrong with that. And the way he saw it, he really didn't think that the other was that much stronger than himself. For Gin was, without mercy.

His eyes cracked open only for a moment, the sharp color of his eyes gleaming in an almost dangerous fashion as he let himself drop off of the top of the building, using shun-po before his feet even hit the ground. Although now that he thought on it, he didn't really know if he was stronger than the former 12th Division Captain or not. And the other would only remember himself as the old Lieutenant of the fifth squad. With one more quick movement he was standing on the doorstep, pale hand hovering over the door before he dared to push it open.

Last he remembered, the former 12th Division Captain had been clumsy and unsure of himself. Before everything began to happen. Lord Aizen had told him that Urahara had taken on a whole different personality. A whole different outlook on life.

Something more dangerous.

So he had been sent to watch and wait. Only he hadn't wanted to wait. So here he was, standing in the dark door opening to the store with a vaguely curious look upon his face.

"Hm. How borin'." Was all he said as he peered inside.

[Kisuke Urahara]

For Kisuke, survival in life meant knowing what his enemies were doing, or at least being able to take a fairly accurate guess about their nefarious activities. One of the best ways of finding out what his foe's were up to was to know when they decided to drop into the World of the Living, which meant always staying vigilant for any trace of either the three traitors or their Arrancar flunkies.
The spirit pressures of the three men were forever ingrained in his memory from the one night when he had seen the three together, right after they Hollowfied the unfortunate Captains and Lieutenants; a man like Kisuke did not easily forget the details of any event so personally destructive. Thus, though the former Captain of Squad Three tried his very best to conceal himself, Kisuke was aware of his presence within seconds of his appearance. Sensing that the man had come alone, and that he was moving towards the shoten, Kisuke narrowed down his guesses to two: either Gin was here to spy on him, or he was here to try to assassinate him.
No, the blond thought, even if Gin doesn't realize it, Aizen would know better then to try to kill me with one of his servants. So if he wasn't here to make an ill-conceived attempt at murder, that only left surveilance, like a hunter stalking his prey.

Except that, in this case, the hunter became the hunted. Feeling the ex-Captain's spiritual pressure grow stronger as it drew closer, Kisuke smiled and retreated inside the shop. There was work to be done before his prey arrived.
As he went around gathering materials, Kisuke's mind drifted back to the last time he had seen Gin, as a blood-spattered, slit-eyed, sword-weilding murdurer. Something about him, the way that he was perfectly at ease with death, almost reveling in it, had intrigued Kisuke even then; Gin's ease seemed almost...childish, yet was coupled with an unmistakeable maturity well beyond his years.

As he pondered which color of reitsu-suppressing handcuff would best match Gin's silver hair, the blond wondered how much the murdurer-child had changed over the years; And how much have I changed?

[Gin Ichimaru]

The inside, that was behind the very front door wasn't very interesting. He had forgotten to fully supress his spiritual pressure while outside, but for reason. Aizen had sent a few Arrancar on the other side of town. Far out of reach and a few lowly ones also. So they wouldn't attract a ton of attention. They were for survielence only, and if they saw Gin they would have attacked if they hadn't known his spiritual pressure.

They weren't very smart.

Sometimes Gin wondered why Aizen bothered to make cronies like them; th stupid ones. They weren't of much use. Unless you were to make an army of them, and they would still be weak.

The former Lieutenant breathed in and out slowly, the dark walls seeming to only flicker in his eyesight and he let out a shaky breath that then smoothed out. Something about this bothered him, but he made himself calm down. Eyes opening for a moment he took another look around before his eyes settled on the jar of pretty colored lollypops before him and without even thinking, he reached out and grabbed the jar, moving to sit on the floor beneath the wooden shelf behing him.

Popping the jar open, he set it to the side, before peering in the jar.

Wow.

Who knew candy could be so... pretty?

But they were, and the rainbow colored sweet seemed to shine in the moonlight that filtered in through the open door. Silently he reached in and took out a handful, shoving them in his pocket. Ah, who cared? It wasn't killing someone at least. Setting the jar back up on the shelf (without putting the lid back on) he fished through the ones in his pocket before he found an orange one. As a stray thought, the color reminded him of Rangiku's hair color. But the thought was lost as he took the pretty pocket off and popped it into his mouth.

One moment he was there, and the next he wasn't.

He was then up in the rafters with his back pressed to the wall, in the corner, Shinso in his hand. Gin had heard a noise from the back, and like this it was impossible for someone to sneak up on him. He almost laughed when he saw that his legs were still dangling down. But ah, he wasn't trying to prevent being seen. Who cared if he was caught?

No, he was just up there as to not be surprised.

[Kisuke Urahara]

After rummaging in his closet for what felt like an age (all the while muttering darkly to himself at the unholy disarray within it), Kisuke found the last item on his list: a set of faux fur-covered handcuffs, the artificial mink liner glinting cooly in the moonlight streaming through the windows. The pale light also reflected off of a few other items of interest, all of which were most unsuitable for children.

Good thing I sent Ichigo out after those hollows. Not sure how I'd explain all this...

Slipping the cuffs into his pocket, the shopkeeper sniffed the air and realized that Gin had arrived. In fact, as he stepped out of the closet (his geta making their signature clack-clack as he did so), his keen sense of the other man's spiritual pressure told him that Gin was actually inside the shop. Kisuke shook his head and chuckled softly, marveling at Gin's audacity.

"Hmmm...confidant little eavil-doer, aren't you?"

Oh, Kisuke could already tell that he was going to have fun this night. Assuming that he doesn't force me to kill him.

Whistling, Kisuke twirled his staff like a parade baton as he walked away from the closet and into the living room. Immediatly, he saw Gin's legs dangling from the rafters and smelled the artificial orange of his pilfered candy, the scent unmistakeably identifying it as Kisuke's all-time favorite Super-Cali-Fragil-Istic-Expi-Orange-Docious candies.

Damn. I was saving those for after the war.

However, instead of whipping out Benehime and demanding answers, the blond walked right underneath Gin without so much as a pause in his step. He kept up the farce until he reached the shelf with his candy jar on it; reaching it, he gave a theatrical double-take and whirrled around, holding the half-empty jar as if it were his own wounded child.

"Oh, help! Anyone, please! An almighty crime has befallen me! My candy jar has been robbed! Burgled! Purloined!"

And with a final crazed twirl, he dropped to his knees and held the candy jar before his face; his eyes, however, went right past the jar to look directly at Gin, the near-comical sparkle in their grey depths telling Gin beyond a shadow of a doubt that, #1: Kisuke knew exactly who had stolen his candy, and #2: Kisuke had no intention of letting him off the hook for it.

"Oh!" he said, getting off his knees and leaving the candy jar behind. "What a coincidence that you would be here at the same time that my candy jar was pilfered! You wouldn't happen to know anything about this, would you?"

[Gin Ichimaru]

He had sat there for a moment, obviously not bothering to conceal himself. Unless Kisuke Urahara was a complete idiot he would know that Gin was here. The silver haired former Captain, while fooling around, was being serious about this situation. If provoked he would be cruel. Only since he had no reason for remorse toward Urahara, what would be dished out would be worse than what had happened to Ukitake.

His grin came back to his face on that one. That had been... wonderful.

Not soon after that thought, followed the sound of geta, the click of the wood against wood as the other headed into the main room. He heard the first comment.

"Hmmm...confidant little evil-doer, aren't you?"

Gin's smirk died. Not because he felt intimidated, no, it was because he felt like he was being mocked. He hated it when he felt like he was being mocked. Not many people had ever dared, but it reminded him of when he was back in the soul reaper academy and the other kids would pick on him. Because of his upbringing. Because of his accent. Because of how hard he had to work to get those good grades that he had earned. AND because he had been best friends with a girl. What had been so wrong about those things? Being angry at mockery was part of the reason he had gotten tied up with Lord Aizen in the first place.

An eyebrow lifted slightly at the others display. It would have been more amusing if he hadn't been trying to calm himself back down, but he had alot of practice in that area so in no time he was back to his normal self.

The Urahara stared right at him with that look in his eyes, and Gin let something slip out of mouth as he figured the other was done.

"Ye'll be funner ta break than Ukitake."

It would probably come as a surprise. Certainly to the other. Ukitake being such an older Captain, with Gin never expressing any interst that anyone else knew about.

His eyes opened a bit, the bright blue shocking. Icy in the dim light and they seemed to glow. Although the last comment had been said in a low voice, he said the next louder.

"Yer underestimatin' me. If that's what yer thinkin'."

Ichimaru liked to watch people. And his eyes flickered to the others pockets, noticing something was in one of them. From the spiritual pressure output coming off in small waves, the cane must be his zanpakto. He tensed, as to not be taken lightly.

((With what happened with Ukitake was what happened in an RP with a friend. Gin barged into the Captain's house, and began to kind of take over, like touching his stuff and stuff like that. Just kind of being nosy. And when Ukitake finall said something, Gin started asking him questions about his sex life, being really crude and cruel. And then once Ukitake was pretty much crying with his bloody hands in his hair and all, Gin took advantage of him, not even stopping when Kyoraku came to the door and saw them.))

[Kisuke Urahara]

Kisuke heard the muttured words, and didn't want to believe them. Ukitake? The white-haired, ungodlly-powerful, always-benevolant Captain of Squad 12? Had he fallen under Gin's blade, or had the silver-haired bastard visited a more horrible fate upon the old man?

In either case, the words meant two things: the child-murderer who Kisuke had seen all those years ago had maintained, if not reinforced his sadistic killer's instincts, and he had grown considerably more powerful over the years. Both thoughts were more than enough to make Kisuke drop all pretense of being friendly, but Gin's next scentance confirmed it.

"Yer underestimatin' me. If that's what yer thinkin'."

Underestimate him? If there was one thing Kisuke prided himself on, it was trying to treat every opponent as a threat until they were either dead or defeated; whether he showed this or not to his enemies depended on who he was facing, and in this case he decided that there was no need to play around.

"Very well, Gin. Since you've obviously come here with a purpose, what do you say we just get to it?" Faster than a humminbird's wing, Kisuke had Benehime in hand, the small blade reflecting the moonlight across the shopkeeper's deadpan expression.

Whether Aizen sent you here to assassinate me or not, you are quickly walking closer to having me kill you.

"What is your purpose here? And what did you do to Ukitake-san?"

[Gin Ichimaru]

He watched as the other's good attitude seemed to go right down the drain as he heard the words that had came from his own mouth. As the other revealed his sword, Gin shifted and crossed his legs, and a hand moved to lay upon the handle of Shinso. He had already calculated. Ichimaru had seen the speed that the other had drawn his sword with, the same speed he would use to attack. If attacked, Ichimaru would use Shinso, being able to fend the attack off and launch the other back.

"Ah, Ukitake?" He said at first, taking his time, the name rolling off his tongue in a lazy manner and the Rukon district accent thick on the syllables.

"I jus' played with him a bit. All history now. 'Course I'm a bit surprised ya didn't know. Though not sure he would go blabbin' 'n all." He mused, his face looking as if he was talking about what he had for breakfast, and his voice was a 'musing' type tone.

"He ain't dead or nothin'. I couldn't play wit' him if he was dead." Gin continued, and then streched his legs out and dropped in front of the door, not planning to run or leave anytime soon.

"Nah Kisuke. I was ordered ta' visit ya ta' see if ya were doin' somethin' or anythin' suspicous. Don' seem like it." He said, and smiled at the other, his back against the wall.

For one of the first times, he opened his eyes while the other could see him clearly, the icy blue showing in stark contrast to the rest of the room. While in the rafters it was darker and he couldn't be seen as much.

"I didn' come ta' kill ya is what I mean. 'N you ain't gunna kill me." It was on the tip of his tongue to say that he could outsmart Aizen if need be, but he didn't think that would be a good idea. No, not a good idea.

He pressed Shinso's holt, the zanpakto tilting with the weight of his hand, and his mocking smile grew wider.

"What scares ya about me the most? Or ain't ya scared, Kisuke. I can't tell... "

[Kisuke Urahara]

Kisuke's suspicions were proven more solidly with each passing second and with every word that fell from Gin's mouth. The smiling, prepubescent murderer he had encountered so many years ago had matured without either mercy or decency; somehow, the striking, frosty blue of Gin's eyes seemed to mirror the man's heart: Cold.

Kisuke noted how Gin's hands were prepared to draw his zanpakuto, and wondered if the brat actually thought that he had the skill to defeat him.

Oh yeah...He defeated Jushiro-san

If Gin hadn't killed the aged Captain, than whatever game he had played with him must have been devastating and infectious, an AIDS virus of a conversation. By the way that Gin so casually--callously--talked about his encounter with the 13th Captain made Kisuke fight not to grit his teeth and grimace, a fight harder fought when the endless possibilities of what might have happened to Jushiro assailed him. Gin didn't seem like the type to only fuck with his victim's mind, and the thought of this unscrupulous bastard doing anything sexual to the semi-fragile Captain was...

Sometimes, it really sucked to have a creative imagination.

Kisuke tightened his grip on Benehime's unreleased form but lowered it until it hung at his side, the shopkeeper never breaking eye contact with Gin. If he isn't here to kill me, then he's here to fight with words, not swords. Fine.

Fighting through his revulsion and his desire to spit the traitor on his blade, Kisuke managed to smile quietly; it helped that Gin's question was rather amusing.

"There are far worse things in this world to fear than you, Gin. Why do you ask?" As he talked, Kisuke slowly paced to the side until he too could lean nonchalantly against a wall, falling back into his role as the never-fazed Mysterioso that kept his foes dancing from one foot to the next.

"I suppose that you asked Jushiro the same thing, yes? What did he say?"

A thought occured to Kisuke, and he tilted his hat and grinned more widely.

"Did you ever ask Rangiku?"

[Gin Ichimaru]

The first step that Gin always seemed to take was watching everything about the person that he was going up against. For him it was never really considered a battle of wits. Every person had a wall that they put up around things that they would rather not talk about. Things that made them uncomfy. The perfect way of divulging these mental weaknesses was to first watch the slightest twitch of the other, what bothered them to talk of.

Right off he noticed that the other seemed to dislike the topic of how he had taken advantage of Ukitake.

This information was stored for a little while later. After all, it was only polite to answer the questions that the other asked to his first, ne? One last thing he noticed before speaking was how the others confidence seemed to waver back and forth. It seemed again that the information of himself making Captain Ukitake fall before him was more troubling to the other man that it had first seemed.

His eyes snapped back open once again and he watched closely as the other lowered his sword.

The question back caught him off gaurd. "Don't make me laugh, Kisuke. I never asked Juushiro such a thing. I asked him about much more... pressing topics." Gin answered, his smile seeming to widen a bit and he actually chuckled, the noise like a low, smooth purr that rumbled and tumbled forth from this throat.

Then Rangiku was brought up.

Contrary to popular belief, Gin just let out a sigh, the smile dying. "Naw. Why does everyone think that I got somethin' on 'er for tha' woman. She means nothin' ta me. this ain' the firs' time she's been brought up by an enemy. Although if I asked her, it would be tha' she's afraid a how she can' read me. Never could." He said, and lifted a hand up to itch at the back of his head, thin fingers sliding through his own hair. As the sleeve of the outfit fell away, it could be seen that he had incredibly thin arms. His eyes had been closed again at this point.

He had been thin ever since he had been in Rukon, because he had eaten little back then and hadn't ever eaten alot. Aizen disliked the fact that he didn't eat as much as he would have liked but thought that Gin being thin was useful in some ways.

"Was worst ta' be scared of than me?"

Gin himself thought about it for a moment, the same type of musing look coming back to his face, and one would notice that slowly he was becoming a bit more fluent with his motions and actions as time passed. "Then again yer afraid a' that I could beat Ukitake." He brought back up, bringing his own words full circle and back where he wanted them to be.

"It was real nice ta' have the Cap'n crumble beneath me." Ichimaru said after a bit of silence, and his eyes opened once again, focusing on the other who was standing in front of himself. "It was right before I defected from Soul Society. Th' day before actually. Since Lord Aizen wouldn' a liked me ta' give away any of our plans before then. Seemed to me like even then he wouldn' a done nothin' cuz of what exactly had taken place. Actually surprised Kyoraku hadn' a said nothin' himself. M' surprised Kyoraku is still friends with 'im. I thought they were in a relationship at the time, and I had been glad ta' think I had ruined it for 'em." He said, not really seeming bothered as he talked about these less-than-pleasant things that he had done.

He opened his mouth to give more detail but then shut it, thinking he should let those words sink in before continuing.

[Kisuke Urahara]

Goddamnit. Whatever he's done to Ukitake...why? Why the fuck would he do it?!?

Kisuke analyzed that thought, trying desperately to come up with an answer, if only to sate his own curiosity rather than to justify Gin's no-doubt depraved actions

He faced thing as a child which forced him to mature at a highly accelerated rate, forced him to justify killing, death, and his own pain and the pain of others. As a child he would have rationalized all these evils as perfectly natural things, things to be experienced and repeated without care. And since Aizen got a hold of him as a child, Kisuke thought grimly, he's never been given any incentive to change.

In fact, Aizen's probably supported this mindset from day one.

He will never see himself as guilty because nothing he's done constitutes as a crime in his mind. There's nothing I or anyone else can do to correct his morals.

Whatever he did to Jushiro, he saw it as a game; he broke down and most likely ravaged one of the most respected and powerful Captains in the Soul Society, and he enjoyed it in the same way that any child would enjoy ripping the wings off of a fly just to see what it does.

And now he's playing again...with me.

Kisuke didn't let his thoughts show at all, controlling his face and his body adamantly, determined to not give this amoral crackpot anything else to dissect him with as he mulled over his comments.

Rangiku's nothing to him...I wonder if he realizes that he's nothing to Aizen? I don't suppose that it matters; it's nothing I can exploit. If he doesn't realize it, he'll just deny it, and if he does realize it, he'll just accept it because no-one's ever believed or accepted him before, so why would Aizen be different?

And he purposefully played his game with Jushiro to break him and Kyoraku apart...like a child spreading whispered rumors through a school...malicious, but not wrong to his eyes.

"Tell you what, Gin." Kisuke pulled his hat back to reveal more of his face and twirled his zanpukuto easily, absentmindedly, never breaking his gaze from Gin's slits.

"You tell me something that you're afraid of, and I'll return the favor. Or, perhaps you might give me a few suggestions, and I'll tell you how correct you are. What do you say?"

[Gin Ichimaru]

They always did this.

Not about the answer of the question, but the fact that he was mulling it over. Even though the others position and body language, even his facial expression gave nothing away, Gin knew he was musing on Ichimaru himself in general. Something about himself that his enemies always liked to think over, although he never knew whether is was from trying to think of a solution to the problem or straying off topic.

He got his answer when the other countered with;

"You tell me something that you're afraid of, and I'll return the favor. Or, perhaps you might give me a few suggestions, and I'll tell you how correct you are. What do you say?"

As the other pulled back his hat, Gin opened his eyes, again and they gleamed, with curiosity.

The second part took no thought, while the first part made his mind begin to wander but he stayed on the task and his head tilted to the side and the smile was wide as ever as some of his silver hair fell over his face.

"You?" Ichimaru started and then paused.

"Well Kisuke. I believe that yer afraid a' yer judgement. At the hand a Soul Society. Since ya' didn't do nothin' wrong n' all. Bein' killed fer nothing would suck." Saying that was being a little bit hypocritical, since he had killed people for no reason before but he wasn't about to head into his own flaws.

"Course it's from a general view."

The was a pause as he thought about the first part of the question. What was he himself afraid of?

A minute went by, and Gin's face looked slightly troubled. In all honesty he couldn't think of anything.

"I can't think a anything. Any suggestions?" He countered, using the same phrase that the other had said. But he really couldn't think of anything. Aizen had flashed across his mind for a moment, but even there he knew his cunning could probably get him out of any problems with Aizen. He did after all...

Let's see Kisuke try ta' justify m' mind.

A fresh smile was on his face within seconds.

[Kisuke Urahara]

Kisuke scoffed.

"Why Gin, that was a little thoughtless of you! Need I remind you that, since Aizen pulled his rabbit out of the hat, my guilt has essentially been negated? Why would the Soul Society ask me to shelter the odd Captain or Lieutenant who passes by on special assignment if they hadn't redeemed me, or at least trusted me?"

"Besides," he said craftily, "I evaded the Society's grasp for quite some time, remember? If they turn on me, I can disappear like the morning mist. Failing that, my powers are not so small that I would be forced to flee from anything less than a very determined force of Captains working more or less in harmony." The blond winked, though he kept his grip tight on Benehime.

"Something which, I'm sure you'll agree with me, isn't going to happen any time soon."

Kisuke was quite sure that Gin's smile grew, if only by a fraction of a degree.

"As for what YOU fear, Gin, I doubt that there is anything you truly fear, unless it is a fear of returning to the helplessness you experienced before you attained your power and moral flexability." How you like me now, bastard-sama?

"Now," Kisuke proclaimed solemnly, tipping his hat over his eyes, "I suppose that I fear one thing more than anything else, one phobia with absolute certainty."

Was it just Kisuke's imagination, or was that a frosty light shining in Gin's eyes?

"The one thing I fear...more than anything else...iiiissssss..."

If you're going to fuck with me, Gin....

"The rape of my candy jar."

...You should expect the same in return.

[Gin Ichimaru]

Gin raised a brow as the other scoffed at him. "I never said wha' time tha' fear would a' been true durin', might I add. Though things tha' happen with th' likes a ya don't really concern me." It was true though. Although he had been careless when saying it, he didn't really care what the other was up to. He didn't have a reason. Nor did he have a reason starting now. After all, he had only ever really had something to do with the exiled Captain, that year long ago now, and this very night.

"Th' mornin' mist? Is unreliable to place a metaphor on." He began, his smile faltering, is if remembering a bad memory, before his facial expression turned sour. "If ya' were like th' morning mist... ya' would have evaded everythin'. After all, it evaporates without any obstacles. But ya' have one. Tha' Kurosaki." Ichimaru licked his lips. "And even if ya' had come back to Soul Society before tha'. Even if ya' went now. Lord Aizen would probly want ya' dead." It gave nothing away, and was vague as to why, but it must have been a slight warning none the less. It wasn't even something Gin had thought of, it was something repeated.

Aizen had said it himself not that long ago, as Gin was about to make his way here, to watch this very shop.

'If he decides to open his mouth to Soul Society, he will die.'

When the other said... "As for what YOU fear, Gin, I doubt that there is anything you truly fear, unless it is a fear of returning to the helplessness you experienced before you attained your power and moral flexability." Gin's smile grew wide, and he actually resisted throwing back his head and laughing, although a low chuckle did come and his thin shoulders shook.

"Helplessness?" He word was a half hiss and came out in kind of a bubbled tone as he was still laughing.

Ichimaru managed to shut up his laughing when the other started again, "Now, I suppose that I fear one thing more than anything else, one phobia with absolute certainty."

"The one thing I fear...more than anything else...iiiissssss..."

There was a pause, and Gin turned his head for a second, frowning. It looked as if he wasn't paying attention, but... did he sense a hollow? But Aizen had said that there wouldn't... shouldn't be any in the area... it confused Gin and there was a quick moment where he zoned out thinking about it before turning his attention back to the other with a frown still on his face. Truly puzzling. And the silence from the other only seemed to make the moment more tense even though he wasn't paying too much attention.

Not like him much really.

But now Kisuke Urahara had his attention. Gin himself didn't care too much about the information of the whole greatest fear thing. If it was something that Lord Aizen could use, then that was all fine and dandy. But he doubted that it would be. Unless it was something about that Kurosaki kid. Which kind of gave him an idea.

"The rape of my candy jar." Urahara finally said.

Gin burst out laughing this time.

'Wow. Two times 'n at least five minutes. Impressive, Kisuke.'

He twitched suddenly though as there was a movement, right behind Urahara. It wasn't that the other hadn't noticed, since he knew that Urahara really would have noticed. It was just the fact that Gin beat him to it, and within seconds his chest was pressed to Kisuke's, a thin arm straight across Kisuke's right shoulder, firing a nicely placed incantation. It wasn't completely clear what he was firing at, but whatever it was, it dropped, charred and began to writhe upon the shop floor.

There was a moment in which he just stood pressed to Kisuke, watching the hollow.

Then he took a step back with the same old mocking grin on his face.

'Nothin' phases me, Urahara.' Were words he would have liked to say, but he thought the smile said it all.

((This is.... long. Very long. Long enough for you Kisuke? xD))

[Kisuke Urahara]

Kisuke stood still with a puzzled look on his face; he had sensed the Hollow behind him, and recognized that Gin wasn't aiming for him when he fired the kido. He could have wasted it himself, but this conversation was much more interesting, and there was no point in running towards a Hollow to kill it when it would have just come within melee range on its' own.

Is he trying to faze me? Impress me? Why?

TO tell the truth, he was affected more by having the spindly man pressed against him than by any Hollow. His body was cold, not in a dead way, but more like a mockery of living bodyheat rather than a total absence of it.

It felt weird. Did it feel good? Mmmmm...yeah, a little.

However, when combined with the cocky, asinine grin which stood barely a foot away from his own face, its' mocking message clear, it was almost infuriating.

Damnit, Gin! It is late and I am tired, so either fight me, fuck me, or get the fuck out!

Gin was fast, faster than almost anyone in either the Soul Society or in Hueco Mundo, but Kisuke was fast too. He could pick out minute details of reitsu particles in spiritual attacks which moved at almost immpossible speeds, yet even that wasn't all that much when commpared to Gin's movement speed.

It took every ounce of his will to move as fast as he did, but he managed it nonetheless. Faster than Gin could blink, Kisuke shunpo'd behind him, swatted his legs out from under him, and knocked him to the ground, Benehime resting on his throat.

Of course, Gin could probobly shunpo away, or perhaps draw Shinso and try to bust a move with it, but at the very least it showed that Kisuke ahd both the ability, and the balls, to bust a move first.

"Gin," Kisuke said calmly, "for once I'd like to say exactly what I'm thinking, plainly, without having to wrap my words in a prudent web of deciet."

He narrowed his grey eyes, looking right where he remembered Gin's ice-blue irises were under his slitted eyelids, Benehime shifting as his grip tightened.

"As unusual and, quite frankly, disturbing it is to get a midnight visit from you, I'd very much like to know the real reason why you're here. So, please," he said through a grit-toothed smile, "either fight me, fuck me, or get the fuck out." Then he pulled back his blade and sheathed it, took a few steps backward, crossed his arms and started tapping his foot expectantly.

[Gin Ichimaru]

He had stood for a moment, and he could honestly say he hadn't seen the strike coming. It must have been alot of effort for the other to move that fast. One single millisecond longer and Gin would have caught onto what was going on. As it was, his light blue hues widened slightly, open, as he feel backward. Time almost moved in slow motion. His hand darted out to grab at something, probably the front of Kisuke's clothing since it was the closest, but thought better of it, his thin fingers closing empty.

Since they had clasped nothing, he fell to the floor with nothing. Not even a grint of pain came from him although there was another small noice, something maybe akin to either approval or amusement, but no one could really be sure what it was.

The second thing he became aware of was Benehime's very sharp tip placed at his throat. Of course, Kisuke was an artist at sword fighting and the sword was placed perfectly and allowed no movement forward. Slowly, his eyelids lowered slightly and he let his head fall back to the floor with a thump, his silver hair a bit mussed from the fall. It made him look more like a silver fox caught up in some brambles, still clever that it could escape. And probably could.

The grin was back of course.

His eyes were back to closed. Or at least they had been.

The other had said, quite plainly, ""As unusual and, quite frankly, disturbing it is to get a midnight visit from you, I'd very much like to know the real reason why you're here. So, please," there had been a pause in which the blonde man had smiled a smile that Gin could tell was a bit forced on his part, and then, "either fight me, fuck me, or get the fuck out."

Maybe what confused him the most was that the other actually planned to let him go. Pulling the sword back away, and sheathing it, even taking a couple of steps back from the man lying on the floor before taking on a tired look and just watching.

Yes, Gin was actually confused. It showed, as he sat up a bit, propping himself up on his elbows. His eyes were closed once again, they had only been open for a moment there when the statement was made. And his brow was furrowed as he seemed to contemplate the statement. It was more confusing than any of the things that had been twisted before.

"But why?" Ichimaru had only spoken two words, and now his eyelids rose a bit and the liquid blue stared at the other, almost supiciously. The question would have been clear to anyone with simple deduction skills. Since the fight me and the get the fuck out parts and reasons as to why were very clear, that only left the fuck me part. Apparently Gin didn't get WHY. Which why was not clarified. In the short silence that ensued, Gin tipped his head onto his left shoulder slightly and all of hair fell neatly back into place.

Former Captain Ichimaru was still quite confident that he would be able to be up within moments if the other changed his mind and decided to attack.