Well, some reviewers have posted with the very valid concern that this fic isn't "shaking things up" enough, and that it should diverge more from Bleach canon.

Well, it's the famous "Captain Class" fight, and it's shaken, not stirred.

X-X-X

The Striking Snake

Ch20

Beware the Well-Water

X-X-X

"Why are we walking out in the open, Gin?" Ganju hissed. "Security's lax now, but they could appear at any moment - "

"Cause we're being followed."

Hanatarō cocked an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"There's someone followin' us," said Gin, his voice low but still jovial. "And they're not a cop kind of a person. They're an assassin, and from what I can tell, they're pretty near as good as me, if not better."

"So why aren't we hiding?" Ganju's voice was urgent.

"Cause we're the prey, not the hunter," he replied. "They're careful. They know we're dangerous too, and they want the advantage. And since we ain't got the time nor the iron to risk playing that game, we're gonna stay right out here in the wide open streets, where we can see clear around us and we can't be ambushed."

Hanatarō looked around. "I don't sense anyone..."

"I said they're good, didn't I? Come on."

X-X-X

Momo looked up as she heard the door open just outside her cell.

"Oh... hello, Rangiku."

The tall, blonde lieutenant of division ten smiled softly. "Hey. Er, sorry for manhandling you back there..."

"No..." Momo sighed. "I'm the one who should be apologizing... without captain... with him gone, my division needs me more than ever... I shouldn't have..."

Momo stifled a sob. "Oh Kami, how am I going to manage without him?"

"Hey..." Rangiku walked up to the bars. "The Onmitsukidō are investigating the scene now. We'll catch whoever did this."

"I already know who did this!" Momo abruptly yelled, standing up. "It was Ichigo! Ichigo! That mindless, cleaver-swinging slab of meat has always been bad company for Aizen to keep, and look where it landed him! You saw them shooting death glares at each other yesterday! Can you think of anyone else strong enough to smash the citadel wall?"

"Komamura or Kenpachi could do that," Rangiku said softly. "So could my old captain in his day. Unohana probably could too, and you never know with Kurotsuchi - I'd believe that psycho would do it, too. Momo, there may be evidence against Kurosaki-taichō, but you can't arrest a captain on dirty looks and innuendos."

Momo visibly deflated. "I... yeah," she muttered. "It was him, though. If they decide it isn't, they'd better have a damn convincing case."

"There's something else."

Momo looked back up.

"Tōshirō was just looking in Aizen's office, and he found this. It's addressed to you." Rangiku passed the small bundle through the bars. "You're lucky. If any other captain had found that, it'd have been impounded as evidence."

Momo's eyes widened as she took the folded paper. "Th- thank you, Rangiku..."

But the other lieutenant was already walking out the door.

X-X-X

Footsteps echoed in the distance.

"Quick, back to the crossroads and go right! Ganju, ya watch the rooftops; I prefer dropping ta being dropped on. Hanatarō, keep watch ahead."

"Why right?" Said Ganju as the group quickly reversed.

"Cause the main street zigzags up as it goes around, and these folks are coming towards us, so they're going down. Going right takes us into an uphill side-street, so they aren't likely to go that way." Gin paused as they reached the cross. "And in future, I know it ain't easy with a face like mine, but... just trust me. I think fast and I know how not to get caught."

Ganju gritted his teeth, but said nothing as the shinigami rushed past the open street without even glancing sideways.

"Ahh, lieutenants... always in such a hurry. Getting promoted goes right to their head and makes them think they have to do everything there is to do."

The trio turned at the lazy voice. A few meters away, a shinigami was lounging against the sunlit wall of the road, a sake bottle in one hand and a saucer in the other. He wore an old-fashioned straw hat and a huge, pink, flower-patterned kimono over his shihakusō, which had to be a violation of uniform code - not to mention his poorly shaven stubble or his very long, rogue-knotted hair.

"Much better to take it easy like me! How about a drink?" He hefted the bottle, then paused. "Wait... at least one of you isn't wearing a shihakusō, and I'm not drunk enough to be seeing things... you wouldn't be the ryoka I've heard about, by any chance?"

Gin scratched the back of his head. "Uhh... I'm afraid so," he said, his false smile seeming almost bashful. "Sorry, we ain't really got time to drink right now."

The shinigami sighed, though he didn't move to get up. "Well, you take care," he said. "I saw Soifon-taichō not too long ago, n'she said she was chasing ryoka. I ain't got a clue if you can take captain-class opponents, but she's as mean as she is ruthless. It ain't gonna go well for you if you let your guard slip - no matter how strong you are."

"Good to know," Gin replied. "Ja ne."

The trio stepped back out of the side-road and onto the crossing. The citadel seemed deserted once more, but for the lingering awareness of a well-controlled but slightly too tense reiatsu signature not far off. That was probably the captain Soifon that the slacker had mentioned. She didn't seem too close, though it was hard to tell with how well she was concealing herself...

Gin's smile abruptly widened, threatening to split his face in two.

As Hanatarō and Ganju obliviously walked on, Gin spun, whipping his arm around. The clash of steel meeting the concealed scabbard echoed across the streets.

"Ya had me fooled, I'll admit that, but ya let up on yer reiatsu control a second too early," Gin smirked. "You're the first shinigami I've met who would stab a man in the back. I got a lot of respect for a man who ain't afraid to fight as dirty as it needs to be done; too bad it didn't work, really."

The 'slacker' smiled, and his eyes narrowed. Gin pushed, stepped back, and twisted his arm around to block the second, quicker strike, his smile momentarily twisting into a frown.

"Oh? Two zanpakutō?" Gin's expression settled on quizzical as he drew Shinsō from her hidden sheath. "Never seen that before. Ain't a common thing, is it?"

The slacker adjusted his hat. "Actually, including me, only two living shinigami possess dual-form weapons," he replied. "I believe it's considered a sign of great potential."

"How about that." Gin's smirk returned. "And would you say you've reached that... 'great potential'?"

The oddly-dressed shinigami started, then sighed. He adjusted his hat again.

"Too bad... I had hoped you wouldn't be able to tell. It would have been a nice advantage." He straightened, and the hand holding the smaller of his daishō pulled the loose pink fabric aside momentarily.

Hanatarō and Ganju gasped as they saw the white of a captain's haori underneath.

"Hachibantai-taichō, Kyōraku Shunsui. Pleased to meet you, despite the circumstances." He brought his swords back up.

Gin inclined Shinsō, pulling her back into a primed hold. "Ichimaru Gin. You too."

X-X-X

Hinamori,

If you're reading this, I am probably no longer among the living. No words could express my sorrow over the grief and worry I must have caused you.

I had been hesitant to tell you the reasons behind my recent fears... please understand, I only kept them from you to keep you safe. I greatly feared to drag you into the darkness I discovered. I hope you can forgive me one more time, as I fear I must involve you now anyway...

I do not know how, but I sense my time is almost up. I am placing my faith in you, Momo-chan - I am entrusting you with the details of the conspiracy I uncovered...

Momo's hands shook as her eyes scanned the meticulously drawn kanji. "I knew it..."

X-X-X

The captain smiled as he faced the snake.

"You there, why don't you kids leg it?" He said breezily, addressing Hanatarō and Ganju. "It'd be a real shame to have the life crushed out of you by the reiatsu of captain-class warriors dueling. Don't worry, Soifon won't chase you. She knows that Silver here is the dangerous one, so she'll stick around in case I get beat."

"Man's got a good point," said Gin. "Beat it. Get to the Senzaikyū, see if ya can get Rukia-chan out. I'll meet up with ya later if I'm still alive."

Hanatarō hesitated, but Ganju's self-preservation instinct was operating better; he grabbed the timid medic and began dash in away as fast as he could.

Gin turned back to Shunsui. "Captain class warriors?" He said, sounding surprised. "Wow, I guess I should thank ya for the compliment. When I started this whole deal, I was told a captain'd just stomp me flat."

Shunsui let out a short laugh. "Yama-jii is holding that the ryoka are lieutenant-class, and that by mobilizing the captains, we'll all have this cleaned up quickly," he said. "But even the mighty Yama takes my advice on tactics and strategy. And, as an old warrior who's read many an opponent in his day, I can tell you ain't no small fry."

He grinned beneath his hat. Then he vanished.

Gin had never been more thankful that he'd strapped Shinsō's scabbard to his left forearm. It had originally been a tactic to take advantage of the long, loose, concealing cloth of the shihakusō sleeve - but the tough wood and metal of the sheath made an extremely convenient parrying tool, in a pinch.

Shunsui's katana slammed against the scabbard in a high block, while Shinsō's blade swatted away a stab from the wakizashi that would have gutted him. Gin grinned wider than ever as he kicked for Shunsui's left ankle.

Shunsui deftly stepped left, sweeping his katana across. Gin dropped the scabbard guard just before his thumb was cut off, and flicked Shinsō upwards, stabbing for the solar plexus. Shunsui caught it on the tsuba of his wakizashi and twisted away, but the angle of his arm forced him to step back, breaking the engage.

He straightened. "Wow, kid. Your zanjutsu is something else. I guess it had to be, to whack Renji, but you're quicker and sharper than any lieutenant... why, you'd beat Kurotsuchi or Komamura flat in a shikai only duel, and they're captains." He adjusted his hat again. "You probably wouldn't stand even with Hitsugaya, but don't take it personally. Prodigies will be prodigies."

"Indeed they will." Gin blurred, and vanished

Shunsui spun... and then ducked, swinging his katana above him. Gin pushed back on Shinsō, flipping forward and spinning with near-perfect poise to land in a standing block. Shunsui tried to follow up with a thrust, but Gin had made sure to be ready to dodge quick; he sidestepped the katana, parried the wakizashi cover with his scabbard and drove Shinsō home.

"Clever. Very clever, Silver." Shunsui nodded. "Almost every shinigami will go behind on the first flash strike. Not many have the insight to go overhead at all, let alone on the first attack."

It wasn't even close to a lethal blow - Shunsui's guard stance was too solid - but Gin had managed to leave a groove in Shunsui's upper arm.

"Man, that Ikkaku fellow had the right idea," Gin mused. "Every shinigami should train to use their scabbard in combat as well as their sword. Waste of a hand, otherwise - not that ya'd have that problem yourself, of course."

"Most shinigami use two hands on their sword," Shunsui said lazily, ignoring the fairly trivial scratch on his shoulder. "Striking power is important too. Two guards are useless against a blow that can knock a lone arm aside."

"True, true." Gin twisted his neck, momentarily making a strange twisted grin-grimace at the popping of bone. "But I didn't come here for the free zanjutsu lessons."

"No you did not." Shunsui flickered.

The flutter of the empty pink garment falling distracted Gin for just a second too long. He blocked too high, and cried out as the katana drew a white-hot arc of pain through his right ribcage, ruining skin and bone and probably clipping the lung. Gritting his teeth, Gin flipped Shinsō in his hand and swung a hammer-stab, digging a brutal gash in Shunsui's right thigh.

Despite both strikes hitting home, Gin knew he was by far the worse off; he sure as hell wasn't going to be performing any more scabbard-blocks with his left hand clutching his ribs. However, Shunsui stepped back, his guard shifting from attack/defend to pure defense. He looked strangely put off by the absence of the pink coat.

"I think I might beat you as it is," he grunted. "But a captain was murdered this morning, the Gotei is in total disarray, and I can't afford to go out of commission just to bring you down. Take it as an even bigger compliment, kid, that you're getting to see this."

He straightened, despite his wounded leg, and held his swords apart. He lifted his katana up and dropped his wakizashi down, the blades of both facing forward.

The captain narrowed his eyes, and a bright aura of red sprang up around him. Gin staggered. Had he thought Renji's reiatsu was brutal? Shunsui could have crushed a dozen of Renji with reiatsu alone, and not even have noticed. The suffocating pressure bore down on him like the grip of a giant's fist.

"Flower wind rage, and flower god roar! Heaven wind rage, and heaven demon sneer!"

The daishō changed, turning into two blackened, heavy-looking Chinese scimitars. In contrast to the daishō, the scimitars were identical, each the same length and width; they also bore large red tassels on their hilts.

"Katen Kyōkotsu!"

Gin stiffened in apprehension. Facing a captain, one of the pantheon of thirteen, was terrifying enough - what kind of a man would it take to have a zanpakutō named after a Kyōkotsu?

Shunsui's eyes narrowed, and he vanished. Gin felt his reiatsu shift, ending above him. An inclined overhead; harder to block than a classic overhead, but slower. He shifted Shinsō into a high block -

"Takaoni!"

Mountain Demon? What is that supposed to - Gin lunged forward, desperate to escape the blow, and flash-stepped as he fell.

Behind him, the flagstones of the street shattered, and a massive plume of dust rocketed skywards as Katen Kyōkotsu struck the earth. The subsequent shockwave of reiatsu blasted apart the dust cloud and cracked the walls of several nearby buildings.

Gin stood, panting and coughing blood from his earlier wound. "That's yer zanpakutō ability? Super overhead strikes? Blunt, but brutal," he wheezed. "That's a hell of an attack... would have pasted me if I'd tried to parry."

"Yes, it would have," Shunsui said, smiling. "You're a sharp one. Not many think a zanpakutō would have such a simple yet lethal ability."

Such a simple yet lethal ability...

Gin clenched his teeth beneath the grin.

X-X-X

"Stop! We have to go back! We have to help Gin!"

Ganju staggered forward, slowed by the fact he was dragging a struggling Hanatarō by his collar. "Are you a fool?" He replied. "What kind of help could we be against a captain?"

"Exactly!" Hanatarō yelled back. "He needs all the help he can get! He - "

They both fell silent - Ganju dropping to his knees and clutching his throat, Hanatarō falling from his grip and lying immobilized - as the roads behind them were lit up with a baleful red glow. The suffocating reiatsu weighed them down like an iron cross.

"Dammit... we..." Hanatarō struggled, trying to get up. "We... we need to..."

The reiatsu subsided - and then, with a subsonic boom, a cloud of dust shot upwards over the rooftops. Despite the distance, the pair felt the earth shake under them.

Hanatarō paled.

"See? We'd be flattened by their reiatsu alone - if we went back we'd just be in his way. He's the only one with any kind of chance here!" Ganju stood, pulling Hanatarō to his feet with a grunt. "Gin came to soul society with one mission. By staying behind, he's entrusting us with all the dedication he's sunk into this endeavor! He's risking his life to give us a chance!"

Hanatarō blinked, but nodded. "O... okay," he stuttered. "I... I guess we should hurry forward, then..."

"Right!" Ganju straightened. "I hope you can run fast, Hanatarō! Let's go!"

X-X-X

Kyōkotsu, Kyōkotsu... a zanpakutō named for a Kyōkotsu can't be as simple as that. Gin stepped back, holding his guard carefully. He called 'Takaoni' - mountain demon - empowered by the height it strikes from. Can he do that again at will?

Gin flash-stepped, whipping Shinsō low, going for Shunsui's healthy leg. The angle of his attack gave an advantage to a straight downward attack from Shunsui.

The captain jumped, swinging down as Gin had expected... but there was no call of 'Takaoni,' and Gin blocked the strike like any other, albeit at an awkward angle.

Either he can't do it at will... or he figured I'd test him and he's throwing me off...

Gin dodged another swing, then flash-stepped back, putting several meters between himself and his opponent. He got no breathing space, though.

"Bushōgoma!"

Shunsui spun Katen Kyōkotsu like a helicopter rotor, and a vortex of energy shot towards his opponent. Gin's eyes shot open, and he leapt into the air to avoid the attack.

Spinning top, spinning top. The fuck has that got to do with 'Takaoni?' Where have I heard that before...

Gin landed, bringing Shinsō around. Shunsui was dashing forward, presumably not wanting to exert extra energy on a flash-step -

"Kageoni!"

The captain halted short of his target, stabbing Katen Kyōkotsu straight down. The early morning sun was at Gin's back, and his shadow stretched far in front of him.

Gin's eyes widened as he looked down. The scimitar had disappeared into the earth - and had run through his abdomen above the hip, making a nasty-looking mess of his left lower torso.

Shadow demon... mountain demon... spinning top... Gin coughed, spitting blood onto the remaining flagstones. No way... that's where I'd heard them... I played those games with Tatsuki when I was, like, five...

Gin fell to his knees, swaying gently.

"I see you've caught on," Shunsui said evenly. "Pity it's too late for you. Yes, that is Katen Kyōkotsu; she plays childrens' games. Everyone has to follow the rules - even me - and the game changes depending on her whim. If you'd realized it sooner, you might have been able to use her games to your advantage. I am sorry, Ichimaru."

Gin coughed again, then slumped sideways.

Shunsui turned. "I hope he survives long enough for Nanao to get here," he muttered to himself. "I don't want any of the ryoka to die before we figure out this business with Aizen - "

"Shoot him down, Shinsō."

Shunsui spun, bringing up Katen Kyōkotsu into a guard, but he was too late; Shinsō slammed through his shoulder harder than the lance of a knight on a horse. The blade turned, and ripped upwards; Shunsui cried out in agony as his collarbone was roughly cut through.

The blade snapped back, becoming a knife again. Gin lazily rolled over and stood up as if he was getting out of bed - although his posture was noticeably hanging after two torso wounds.

"How..."

"Flesh wound," Gin smirked. "Oh, it hurts, but it ain't taking me down yet. Might bleed out in a few hours if it ain't seen to, of course."

"You were spitting blood!"

Gin stuck his tongue out. A large crimson droplet ran down from the studded semicircular marks on it, dropping from the tip of his tongue to the ground. "That fuckin' hurt, too," he said. "Fuck, I hope I don't have to do that again soon. I swear, I won't be able to taste anything for a good week."

Shunsui breathed out, and his shocked expression became calm again. He adjusted his hat.

"Oh, how exhilarating!" He proclaimed, even as he sheathed one of Katen Kyōkotsu so that he had a free hand to hold his ruined shoulder together. "How long has it been since I, the thousand-year strategist without match, met someone who could lead me astray at my own game? I've got to hand it to you, silver. You're sharp enough to be two of most captains I've seen. You couldn't have picked a better time to deploy that zanpakutō, Shinsō - I was wondering why people are calling you the Hyapponzashi."

"Hyap-pon-za-shi, huh?" Gin laughed. "I like it. Very mysterious and cool-sounding. Fits, too."

"Don't let your guard down now, Silver. Kageoni!"

Gin leapt forward, moving the shadow he cast. Shunsui's shadow strike cut across his calf, and he grimaced - but better that than his heart.

He landed, rolled - and flash-stepped past Shunsui, ending up father west.

Shunsui ducked as Shinsō struck the flagstones. He was just in time.

"Wow, you really do pick things up quickly, boy," he said breezily, as his hat fell into two pieces. "But remember, the game can change at any time."

Gin stopped smiling. "But ya can't control it, can ya?"

Shunsui paused. "No..."

"That's it, isn't it? Every zanpakutō is perfectly suited to their wielder's personality. I wondered why yours didn't increase yer power or give ya new attacks, but ya don't need all that, do ya?" Gin laughed. "No, Katen Kyōkotsu gives ya the best tool a strategist can ask for... a game where no-one knows the rules better than they themselves do."

Shunsui smiled. "It makes me sad that we are enemies," he said. "In another life, one as strong and cunning as you would have made a fine captain."

Shunsui flash-stepped. Gin crouched.

"Takaoni!"

Gin pushed, straining his will to move faster as his jump fused with a flash-step. Katen Kyōkotsu clipped his foot; the amplified power of the blow sent a shock of pain up his leg, so intense it felt like a hundred chainsaws were ripping the limb apart.

He allowed himself to shriek in agony even as he spun above the captain. "Gyyyyaah! Shoot to kill, Shinsō!"

The resultant explosion was blinding. Shinsō was already powerful; the height-based amplification of the Takaoni game turned it into a strike to put cruise missiles to shame. Gin was knocked out of the air by the blast and was roughly slammed against a nearby building before dropping like a rock.

Gin got to his feet, shaky from the heavy fall on top of the ongoing blood loss.

As the dust cleared, he saw Shunsui getting to his feet, breathing hard. The spear had not directly hit him - even with his strength, that would likely have killed him in an instant - but the explosion had knocked him flat, and he bore numerous shrapnel wounds on his arms, his sleeves having been ripped away by the force of the blast. His forearms were a grisly mess of blood, gravel and burnt skin.

"I ain't ashamed to say that you're amazing, kid," he sighed, releasing his ruined shoulder and drawing the other half of Katen Kyōkotsu. "But I'm afraid the winner of this fight was never in question. Irooni!"

Shunsui vanished in a flash-step. A second later, he appeared directly in front of his opponent.

"Gin!"

What's he saying my name for - ?

Gin's blood-red eyes shot open. Irooni. Color demon. Silver.

Katen Kyōkotsu cut through the gleaming steel of Shinsō, slicing it off at the handle as if the blade wasn't even there. Gin could only stare as Shunsui brought the other black scimitar around, swinging towards him as if in slow motion.

"Kuroi!"

Then the blade bit into his torso, and Gin's world exploded with agony.

The amplified force of the blow slammed the skinny teenager backwards, cannoning him a second time into the building behind him. As his back hit the wall, a gasp of air was ejected from his lungs, and the sound was laced with the gurgling hack of liquid.

Then he collapsed, falling face-first onto the flagstones. The sword had carved right through his ribcage and sternum, and must have nicked an aorta in passing, as he could feel the warm puddle growing under him. He couldn't breathe. His gashed, punctured lungs were already collapsing from the pressure on his chest, and in any case, they were rapidly filling with liquid; breath reflex was worthless. He was going to bleed to death or drown in his own blood, whichever came first.

"I wish I had been able to subdue you without killing you," muttered Shunsui. "Killing in battle is survival; it can have no justice to it. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth..."

The captain sighed, and turned away, conjuring a hell butterfly. The last sight that met Gin's dying eyes was the grey glow of Shunsui's reiatsu around his hand...

Wait... grey? Shunsui's reiatsu is red, not grey...

Painfully, Gin raised his head. Shunsui had, literally, frozen where he stood. Dust from the battle was suspended unmoving in the air. Time had stopped, and the color had leeched out of the world, leaving a surreal monochrome - the only color was the bright ruby of the pool beneath him. Even the discarded floral kimono had lost its cheery pink hue, turning as grey as the rest of the world around him.

And then, there was movement. And color. A bright, almost metallic green of flowing silken locks. The black of a rough, threadbare sackcloth shihakusō. Golden skin and golden eyes with no trace of whites, marred only by the straight slits of two pupils.

The snake lady strode forward, her gait as graceful as it was malevolent.

"Why do you fight, Gin?" She said, her voice sibilant and echoing.

Gin blinked.

"Do you fight to win? Or do you fight to live?" The woman's snake eyes narrowed. "Choose carefully."

Gin blinked again, then he smirked. "Those are the only choices?" He laughed. "What's a victory? What's survival? What's a fight, if but another tool to reach one's goal? I cheat and lie, cripple and kill, fight – and win or lose, whichever serves - for one reason alone: to achieve my own ends! Like I said to hat-and-clogs - I do whatever it takes, no matter what that might be!"

Shinsō's expression was unreadable.

"Come," she said at last.

Gin blinked again. "Come where? Do I look like I can walk - "

And then he felt a sinuous reptilian body wrapping around his neck, and the world went dark.

X-X-X

Hope ya'll can forgive me! (Don't worry, I haven't forgotten Kenpachi. We'll see him shine soon enough...)

Also, bonus points if you understand the chapter title.

Ciao!