A/N: I just really wanted to write Gin being super creepy. Other than that there is no point. -_-
Secretly, Toushiro dreads passing Captain Ichimaru in the hallways.
Being the newer Captain, Toushiro always steps respectfully aside for him as protocol dictates. Ichimaru rarely says anything to him, but he never fails to tilt his head and look straight at Toushiro for a second (though it's hard to tell, with him squinting like that). And Toushiro is pretty sure Ichimaru has an especially creepy smile reserved just for him.
One day Ichimaru stops in front of him outright, bends forward just enough to make sure Toushiro knows he is, for the moment, trapped.
"I usedta be like you," he purrs. Toushiro tries not to back up. "Got inta the Academy young, got out in a year. Some kinda prodigy they called me, same as you."
Amazing, how he can talk and grin at the same time.
"Why are you telling me this?" Toushiro concentrates on being irritated and does his best to ignore the knot of fear forming in his chest. (Because this is what all those especially creepy smiles have been promising him. Deep down Toushiro is sure of that.)
Amazing, too, how that carved grin manages to be more frightening than any number of Hollows.
"I know how you feel," the older man continues obliviously. "Yer a kid in a world full of adults and they don't bother explainin' how their world works. Like 'cause yer smart you'll understand." His voice has a kind of lazy rhythm that captivates Toushiro against his will. "But'cha don't. Do ya? You watch 'em and you just have no idea what's goin' on. Kills ya, doesn't it, not knowin'. And you think, One day I'll be grown up like them, and then I'll understand."
"Stop it," Toushiro rasps.
"You'll never understand, li'l captain. 'S what bein' a prodigy does to ya. Ya can't stay a kid … but you'll never grow up, either."
He leaves Toushiro in the center of the hallway, shaking like Ichimaru's threatened his life rather than – whatever he just did. Simply having listened makes Toushiro feel somehow unclean.
You'll never grow up. You'll never understand.
He finds he can't form the words to deny it, even to himself.