The Sexta Espada entered the large chamber via a large hole he'd just blown in the wall, a bored, disinterested look in his sky blue eyes. Gin was sitting at the table, clipboard set upright with both hands, simply looking at him.

Grimmjow thought nothing of this at first, approaching at a casual pace with his hands in his pockets. It struck him after a second, and he almost stopped dead in his tracks.

Gin was looking at him. Not squinting as he usually did, but actually staring at him, electric blue eyes open. And his signature smirk had also disappeared.

In other words, he looked absolutely normal. Grimmjow was sure that this was the first time in his existence he'd ever felt truly disturbed. But he wasn't going to let that b****** get the better of him. He continued walking and sat down opposite the soul reaper, leaning back in his chair and looking in every way completely at ease -

- until he promptly fell backwards onto the floor, noticing too late that one chair leg had been broken and carefully set to look like it was whole, so all it took was some idiot like him to come and sit on it for it to collapse. He couldn't help but growl in frustration as he got to his feet.

Gin smirked. "Problem?"

"No," Grimmjow snarled, getting to his feet and assuming a relaxed pose once more. He'd seen Noitora and Aaroniero after their sessions with the guy, and figured that Gin's only objective was to piss the hell out of the Espada. He'd come to this determined not to give Gin the satisfaction. And by the looks of it, Gin had predicted this would happen, which is why he'd had that freakishly normal look on his face before.

"Hey, Grimmjow," the soul reaper began.

"What the hell do you want?"

"Such anger, Grimmjow!" Gin said maddeningly. "I just wanted to say that the way you're standing, you leave yourself wide open for any sudden attacks from behind..."

Grimmjow's eyes widened and he spun around suddenly, only to see an empty room.

"Psyched you out, didn't I?" Gin laughed. "You're too easy to fool!" He managed, with reflexes Soi Fong would have appreciated had she and the rest of the Soul Society hadn't wanted to kill him so badly, to swiftly snatch his clipboard off the table and scrape his chair back just as Grimmjow cleaved the table in two.

"What the hell is your problem, you freak!" he shouted as he kicked aside the broken table.

Gin, still seated, returned his expression to horrifyingly normal once more as he looked up at the Sexta Espada. "I don't think I'm the one with the problem, Grimmjow," he said. "After all, you're the one torturing poor Hallibel by not returning her feelings of complete and utter infatuation."

Grimmjow's eyes widened almost comically and he choked before he said, "I'm not that stupid, soul reaper."

Gin sighed. "No, you're right, I should have known. The truth is, Hallibel isn't in love with you."

"No shi-"

"-It's actually Szayel." Gin paused to let his words sink in, noting with satisfaction that Grimmjow now looked deeply disturbed. "Don't tell me you're surprised. Isn't Szayel always complementing your physique? 'Oh Grimmjow, you've been working out, haven't you?'"

"He's never said that. To anyone. You're the worst f***ing liar I've ever met, Ichimaru." Grimmjow adjusted his stance so the tip of his still drawn Pantera rested at his throat. "Get on with this session already. You're wasting my time."

Gin ignored this and sighed again, more dramatically. At the Espada's raised blue eyebrow he began talking once more. "Yes, I'll admit it. It's not Hallibel or Szayel. It's Ulquiorra. He'd kill me for telling you about his barely repressible feelings, but-"

"Now Ulquiorra has feelings?" Grimmjow stepped back and turned to go. "I've got some Arrancars I need to pound to dust. This is getting me nowhere." Now, in retrospect, turning his back on Gin Ichimaru really, really wasn't the cleverest thing to do. Especially if said soul reaper had spent most of the last hour trying to plot the best way he could annoy/freak out the Sexta Espada. In the most reptilian voice he could manage, Gin spoke once more.

"Shoot to death, Shinso."

Pantera was in front of Grimmjow in an eyeblink. The Espada had turned to face him and was in a fighting stance, ready to move without even a moment's hesitation. It took all of two seconds for the blue haired Arrancar to realise that Gin had not actually moved an inch.

"Psych!" Gin said, grinning widely. "You're too easy fooled to be fun-" he flash stepped a safe distance away when Grimmjow growled and tried to attack. "-And speaking from a professional point of view, it seems to me that you're slightly frustrated. Why do you think that is?"

"Aaarh!" Grimmjow snarled with anger and used sonido to appear directly behind Gin. The soul reaper materialised on the other side of the room, leaning against a pillar.

"Yes, I can see how that would have been an issue," Gin continued blithely. "But what exactly is it that you hate the most about me? Most people say that I talk too much. I don't talk too much, do I? I'm sure you would have told me if you thought I did. You're always so honest, Grimmjow -"

"Shut up! Just shut the f*** up!"

Success! Gin thought, and knew it was time to play his final card. If Grimmjow decided to go into Resurrecion form it could mean that Gin could actually be in some danger, as much as he hated to admit it. So just as the Espada came flying at him, he flash stepped to the hole in the wall Grimmjow used as a door and suddenly pointed behind the aforementioned Arrancar, eyes open in alarm.

"Look!" he cried. "Ichigo Kurosaki!"

"Where? CERO!"

Gin took a second to appreciate the size of the second hole in the wall that Grimmjow had created before flash stepping away. His work there was complete.

His expression was still unnaturally normal as he walked through the corridor a few minutes later, and came across the Octava Espada. Szayel took one look at him and screamed.

Huh, thought Gin. I should really do the normal thing more often.