"Are you still reading, Taichou?"

"Yes."

"Do you plan on stopping any time today?"

"No."

"Are we going to go patrolling today?"

"No."

"Shouldn't we?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"What are you reading?"

"Book."

"Does it have a title?"

"No."

"There has to be a title, Taichou!"

"Oh."

"So what is it?"

"Nothing."

"Taichou!"

"What?"

"Look! It's called Battle Royale (1). It says so right there!"

"Oh."

"Are you even going to look at me?"

"No."

"Is that thing so interesting?"

"Yes."

"C'mon! Yamamoto-soutaichou gave us orders to patrol every day!"

"He's not here."

"...Huh. I like the way you think, Taichou."

"Yes."

"Well, then, I'm going to go brush my hair."

"Fine."

"Okay, then."

"Yes."


1. "Battle Royale" is a 15-volume manga series drawn by Masayuki Taguchi based on the novel of the same name by Koushun Takami.

A follow-up to #8 because I like this style. All-dialogue scenes are fun to me because it forces me to portray the characters solely through their voices. Obviously, since this entire series is centered around Hitsugaya and Matsumoto, however, I suppose it isn't too hard to guess who's speaking.

Yes, yes, I know Hitsugaya-taichou is very work-oriented and he probably wouldn't shirk his duties like this, but...well, if you've read Battle Royale, you understand that it sucks you in and doesn't let go. So blame the manga.