waaaah, i'm so confused.
At first I thought Aizen was GIVING the ball to his cronies (to show it off or whatever) and Gin pulled a backstab because he was jealous that he never got to play with it. But then it looks like he's TAKING it from them, which means that the cronies somehow had the power to steal/fetch the Hogyoku. But it STILL looks like Aizen's giving them something what with the cupped hands and all.
And what was up with Rangiku? Was she Urahara's original "carrier" for the Hogyoku? Or maybe they were stealing "spirit energy" from her to try to power the Hogyoku up or something.
And is that supposed to be the first time Gin and Rangiku met? It shouldn't be, because then he wouldn't care so much about her to develop a 100 year grudge. Unless.... what they did to her somehow messed with her memory so to HER, it was their first meeting, which might also explain why she says can't remember her birthday...
ARGH.