Finally, she was once again face to face with her lifelong friend…
Even from back then when both of them were still mere young children who had struggled so desperately together to survive the harsh conditions of Rukongai, he had never once confided in her anything about himself, anything at all… Eventually however, she got used to his inscrutable nature and simply accepted it. This was despite the several questions which were constantly burning inside of her whenever he was around. In actual fact however, she failed to realize that Gin was just like any other person, someone who dislikes having his weaknesses exploited and to display any slight hints of his vulnerability. He had never wished to be understood by anyone and the constant grin he wears on his face has proven this point clearly; it had served effectively as a façade to mask his inner thoughts and feelings long since he could ever remember.
"Sorry about my old friend here," Gin had said with his usual grin on his face, "I'll take her over there." and without warning, he had sped forward and took her away from where Aizen was, far away from harm and to a place out of Aizen's ear shot.
"Let…me…go…" said Rangiku in a stiff voice despite her weak state. She knew full well that what she had just said had contradicted her true feelings; she didn't want him to let go. "You'll disappear to somewhere else again the moment you release me won't you Gin?" she thought silently and sadly to herself while convincingly trying to break free of his firm grip on her.
Pretending to not have heard what she just said, Gin continued to hold on to her and searched earnestly for any area he could identify as safe enough for a long conversation between the both of them. It had been long since the two of them were in such close proximity; the last time being the final moments she had held onto him before his departure from Soul Society to Hueco Mundo. It had been a bitterly sweet experience for him to have the only person he has ever cared about to hold a sword against his throat; sweet being the fact that the sword had all obvious signs of the user's hesitation in it. That was enough to show him that she had cared about him just as badly as he had about her.
It was gradual yet sudden when he had first discovered that the girl he had once saved from the brink of starvation out of empathy and sympathy had brought out his long lost ability to care for someone. Somewhere in his heart, he had perhaps yearned for this day to come and present itself as an opportunity for her to shoot all questions she had accumulated in her heart at him. He would gladly accept them all of course, for presently he was genuinely tired, tired of sustaining the emotionless grin on his face and tired of keeping up his pseudo friendship with Aizen. Rangiku's existence had been the only thing which had felt real to him and he wasn't going to hold back any longer in answering any of her questions. This was it; the moment of truth.
Finally settling down onto a dilapidated and tall building, the two stared at each other for a few seconds or so. It was Gin who spoke first.
"You can barely stand," said Gin as he tried to suppress his concern, "Why are you here?"
She didn't want to make it seem too obvious about how much she is actually yearning for him in the bottom of her heart. She knew better than anyone else that Gin wasn't a person to express his emotions freely. As children, the more questions she tried to get him to answer the more disappointed she had felt each time when Gin had repeatedly gave vague and ambiguous replies. And without thinking she herself had unknowingly avoided his question and instead gave a completely off-the-mark response about how she got here and the route she had taken, ending up surprising both Gin and herself.
"I didn't ask how you got here," said Gin, "I asked why you came when you could barely stand." It was getting difficult to keep up his fake grin at her but he persisted on, hoping that she would get the hint and answer him honestly.
"Isn't it obvious? It's because of you." The sentence had slipped out of her before she had even realize it herself. She had wanted to ask him why he betrayed her, why he had chosen to serve Aizen and left her despite knowing full well that they'll become enemies as a result, and last but not least, what does she exactly mean to him… However before she could spill out these questions directly at him, there was a split moment's hesitation when she recalled the times when he had stubbornly evaded her questions. And so she changed her mind instead, all in order to minimize any disappointment she may receive from his replies to come.
"I came here so that I can finally ask you; why are you following Aizen? Why did you betray Kira when he had so much faith in you?" and she took a deep breath and patiently awaited his response. When it came however, her heart went slightly cold.
"Are you seriously asking that?" was what Gin had answered. "Is it really Izuru whose faith in me was betrayed?" "I guess it's come to this then hasn't it Rangiku?" he thought to himself. All his preparation work to answer her questions had been for nothing and it hurts his insides in contrast to how he appeared with his superficial smile.
"What… are you… saying?" said Rangiku quietly; she looked thoroughly shocked. Was he actually expecting her to ask him something else knowing full well that he would once again give her unsatisfactory answers?
"Ah I honestly don't know why you came," said Gin and before Rangiku could continue though, he had taken a step forward and while placing his hand gently on her chest, he thought quietly, "Why're you being dishonest at this point in time, Rangiku…"
After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, Gin continued to speak, "Listen Rangiku, you're in the way…" and without warning, with one clean swipe he slashed open her chest just when she had barely drawn her sword a second too late, causing her blood to spill out and splash onto the ground. The resulting wound was just enough to keep her from moving and more importantly, from dying.
Collapsing slowly onto the ground, Rangiku's mind went blank as she fixed her eyes at Gin, who proceeded to turn and walk away from her, but not before making a familiar sad and regretful expression on his face…