Gin did not see himself as a violent person, or even as someone who derived any pleasure in it. Now most might disagree, and Gin would also disagree with them. It was a dreary, dull, mostly necessary and practical way to reach a point, but spirits be damned if Gin wouldn't prefer any other practical solution.
That wasn't to say that he wasn't good at it, oh no. He was quite the skillful practitioner in the art of inflicting mortal wounds, even had a genius flair for it. Gin's problem with the whole thing was how much time and effort it took. Especially when the opponent was not an average Shinigami.
In Amagai's case, he wasn't an average Shinigami. But he also wasn't quite the equal.
The young man already gave his game away when he failed to quickly realize that he was being followed. His back was on the wall, not quite near it, but it was pressing so close that Amagai could feel the sturdiness.
A chuckle escaped Gin's mask. The Captain's meeting provided the perfect window for Amagai to scurry to his little hole not knowing that the window he thought was a door was actually a funnel.
"You know we don't have to do this, right?" Gin said but his target remained silent. "I mean, who wants to die over misunderstanding?"
The answer Amagai provided was a direct lunge that phased out into a Shunpo, aimed to catch Gin off-guard as the attack came from behind, but Gin leaned to the side and let the blade slice away at a bare inch from his mask.
Amagai did not react to his failed attempt as his sword simply swerved and came down in a low arc, forcing Gin to jump backwards, only to face another attack that came from his blind right due to a perfect use of Shunpo. Gin tilted his head, staring right into Amagai's eyes, saw the expression on them, before fading away.
"You really want to kill me, heh. It's not like I don't understand the feeling." He muttered to himself as he shook his head ruefully.
"Don't worry, this is not some obscure Shinigami test. And I'm also alone." The generous information had the adverse effect of making the look in Amagai's eyes grow colder. He was contemplating Gin's words but there was nothing really deep into it so he came to the only conclusion he could. His decision remained the same; emboldened.
"I'll ask you one last time: who are you, and what do you want?" the way he gripped the hilt of his Zanpakutō told Gin everything.
Gin shrugged helplessly. "You tell me. How should I know?"
"Have it your way." He shot forward faster than before, way faster, with the clear aim of exposing Gin's ground only for his eyes to widen in alarm as something heavy and dense deflected his sword. Only his swiftness to disengage saved him from whatever attack would have followed.
Gin relished the confounded look on Amagai's face when he realized that there was no follow up attack. Not only did he not see how his sword was deflected, he was now doubting whether or not there was a follow up and if he actually dodged it.
Since that was the case….
"Oh, nice reflexes there. Your senses are quite sharp, I would say."
Amagai circled around Gin, his eyes sharply darting around as if he was looking for a trap or expecting a surprise attack from a blind spot — all of which Gin saw, understood, and couldn't help but find funny.
The man was cautious, Gin would give him that, skilled too, but it was clear that he was in over his head. Truly, he would have loved to take his time with this but he knew a certain bee with a very sharp sting. One that was getting sharper with every passing day.
"As much fun as this would be, I'm afraid I'll have to end this here." Slowly he brought out his faithful unfaithful partner, Shinsō. "Don't look down on him, he's an overachiever."
Amagai charged in, this time making sure he had Gin in focus, and he released his Zanpakutō.
"Sever, Raika." The sword transformed from its normal state into a bone-white longsword with a hook tip, while the guard wrapped itself into shell horns from the hilt and bellowed out flames as the blade slowly turned red hot.
Amagai made no comment on the fact that Gin's blade remained sealed as he closed in on his masked adversary with a coat of blistering heat.
Gin regarded the coat of flame that wrapped around the blade with the same disinterest he did with 99% of the people he came across on a daily basis. It was hot, like fire – so very bland. At least he could have added a spin to it.
If Amagai was expecting him to flinch at the sight then he had another thing coming. The flames bloomed into a wave, which made Gin roll his eyes at the overhead display, and then they veered beautifully off course as his sword lightly tipped the hot red blade to the side.
Amagai expected another strong impact so the light shove made him hastily recalibrate, but not fast enough before an elbow hit him sharply in the throat, throwing his calibration into further disarray.
The idiot tried to Shunpo away while he couldn't breath – which was a bad and stupid idea – only to fall to his knees where Gin's feet was waiting for him to kick his face away.
The recovery could have been faster but Gin had no desire to tell him that. At least the boy was not as generic as every other Shinigami as flames burst out from the ground like a geyser all around Gin.
'This has the Captain written all over it. You could have at least made the suggestion a little more original.' Gin thought as he avoided the burst of flames with routine steps.
The geyser provided the coverage of smoke and fire which Amagai used to attack from obscure angles, all of which Gin easily blocked and parried, and used as a screen to set up a bigger attack.
While Gin dodged the spires of flames and donated rebuttal to every one of Amagai's attacks, Amagai used the conflagration of flames that surrounded them to draw Gin's attention while he created a bigger pillar of fire above them.
The heat of the flames above them spiked above the levels that Amagai was able to hide which made Gin aware of it.
"It's too late for you now." A river of flames bloomed above them for two hundred meters with so much heat that the air around them was visibly warped while the sprawling vegetation was viciously singed of life.
"All in all, moderate." Gin mused as the blanket of flames fell on him. Under Amagai's hopeful eyes he simply pointed his shy Zanpakutō upwards and the sea of flames was cleanly cut through in a straight line.
Amagai's face turned ashen from burnt hope to wallow dread. "H-how.."
"Oh? You didn't see it. That's too bad." Gin said with fake sympathy as he turned towards Amagai who looked just about to flee. "Otherwise you would have been able to dodge that."
Amagai followed Gin's finger and looked down at his shoulder where a clean hole now resided. Instead of the white hot pain that he expected, a heavy force slammed into the side of his head instead and jolted a numbing shock down every nerve in his body. He could hardly remember when his knees met the ashy ground or when his Zanpakutō ended up in Gin's hands. All he could do was watch deliriously as he succumbed to something his brain failed to understand.
Gin stood over Amagai and shook his head. The boy was misguided. He fought with a righteous anger behind his blade. There was no such thing as a righteous Shinigami. What a fool.