'Hyorinmaru, will you STOP MAKING FUN of the soutaicho ever?'

'No.' He rolled his eyes. 'Give me a reason to.'

'He's the SOUTAICHO!'

'No captain or vice-captain in the Gotei 13 actually respects Yamamoto-soutaicho, personally, anymore. They just don't. One of those things, kid.

'Look at the first. No vice-captain these days respects their captain at all, so Chojiro certainly doesn't respect him. No one really knows much more about Sasakibe and Yamamoto's relationship, but no one cares much either. One of those unresolved Soul Society mysteries that no one gives a damn about but that I bring up again every decade or two for a laugh.

'And second. Soi Fon respects no one but Yourichi. She has never respected anyone like Yourichi, and never will. Everyone knows it, and unless you're looking to get your ass kicked, you don't bring it up. Kenpachi's brought it up a couple of times so he could fight the girl. Marechiyo, her vice-captain, doesn't give a damn about anything but his family, his division, and his food. The shinigami's so busy eating he doesn't have time for "respect" or "honor" or any of those other silly things Tosen preached about. Which, in retrospect, is probably a good thing, seeing as Tosen probably isn't a very good role model anymore.

'3rd. Since when had Gin respected anything? Besides, it's pretty much safe to assume that Gin doesn't hold Seireitei itself in very high regard. Kira, the pushover, respects EVERYONE. And by that, it means he respects Yachiru, whom no one takes seriously. He respects the lowliest 4th division unranked member. So one can't really count that Kira respects Yamamoto, because to get Kira's respect all one has to do is exist. Or not exist, actually. He didn't mean to offend you!' Hyorinmaru snorted. 'Wimp.'

'4th. Unohana knows far too much about everyone, so she just laughs inside. The same goes for Isane. There really are benefits to being in 4th, but no one but they will ever know, because if you're in 4th, you're there for life. One of those things, a catch-22 of Soul Society's cycle.

'5th. Aizen Sosuke respects very little. Power, yes, which Yamamoto has, but also genius. Yamamoto's wise, but he's not smart, not in the way Urahara is, the way Unohana is. (Also see Gin, because his logic applies to Aizen as well.) Hinamori basically respects only her friends, people she trusts and holds dear. People she believes in. So Hinamori might be subservient to her soutaicho, but the number of people she trusts in at all has diminished exponentially. Thanks, Aizen.

'6th. Sort of like Unohana, Byakuya laughs. In his head, of course, to prevent giving Renji a heart attack. Byakuya believes Yamamoto wouldn't stand a chance against Ichigo, and thusly is on par with Byakuya himself.( By the by, Byakuya is correct.) Therefore, he's an equal, not someone to be respected. Renji holds nothing but contempt for anyone who allows the status quo in Rukongai. He knows that the only true judge of character is how one treats those weaker than them, and Yamamoto ignores them.

'7th. Komamura's really just learning to respect anyone but Kaname, and he hasn't quite gotten around to Yama-ji. He's pretty fond of the man, he DID save his life, but really. He wears leather around his beard. Iba, like the rest of eleventh, doesn't respect anyone outside of the division. As Ikkaku once famously put it, "Ya're not worth shit if ya ain't in eleventh." When asked about Ichigon, Ikkaku said, "He's an honorary. Like Hisagi." When asked why Shuuhei is an honorary member of the 11th division, Ikkaku said, "Ask Yumichika".)

'8th. Shunsui is still quietly furious that Yamamoto suffocated HIS Nanao-chan like that. Seeing her so helpless against the pounding flames, the way Yama-ji singled her out and so purposely hurt her... he'll never hold much fondness for his sensei ever again.

'Nanao is still furious the Yamamoto attacked Shunsui, HER taicho. He was hypocritical, entirely wrong, and he seriously, genuinely, would have hurt Shunsui, given the chance. She's bitter about it to this day.

'9th. Yamamoto's path is not that of the least bloodshed, nor is it Tousen's chosen path. Therefore, it is clearly inferior and unjust and the soutaicho should die immediately. Also see article "Tousen Kaname: The Good, the Bad, and the If-you-don't agree-with-me-and-follow-my-path-you-will-suffer-and-die, foo." Hisagi Shuuhei is not very fond of Yamamoto. He thinks the geezer's ancient, stuck up, and a hypocrite. And he's right. With such a stunning opinion as Shuuhei has of him, is one surprised that he isn't much inclined to respect him?

'10th. Ah, Toshiro. What do you have to say for yourself, cute, sweet Hitsugaya Shiro-kun of the 10th division?'

'Hitsugaya Toushiro-taichou is so fucking pissed off at Yamamoto for not noticing Aizen's betrayal. Supreme commander my ass.'

'Language, sweetie.. And Rangiku? Seriously? She probably couldn't respect a man if her life counted on it. Besides, there was something about Gin's betrayal that, while not inspiring treachery in her, made her think long and hard about her leaders and who she trusts. You make the list kid, he doesn't.'

'11th. Kenpachi has never been asked. But if we did ask him, there's serious money on the table that says that he would pound his head against the table while asphyxiating from laughter. Astonishingly enough he would also probably agree with Byakuya. (for once). Yachiru herself isn't much of a fan. As she mentioned to Nemu,

"Well, we could do a lot better, couldn't we? Think how awesome we'd be in Ken-chan was king!!!" Wow, that's a scary thought.

'You do that scarily well.'

'12th. Mayuri snorts and rolls his eyes at everyone except Kenpachi, Urahara, and possible subjects. These he attacks on sight. Nemu does similarly, except instead of the snorting and eye rolling, she looks blankly at them until they send her away. It's disconcerting, and it's definitely not respect.

'13th. Ukitake's a sweetheart, no lie, but he's not so fond of people that kill his subordinates for no good reason and use their power, gifted to them in the name of justice, for tyranny. But he keeps this opinion to himself for his division's sake. ( And because while he's fond of the real world, he's not THAT fond of the real world.)

'So around it goes, Soul Society leaving in place this laughed-at mockery of an authority figure because they don't care enough, hut when he's dead an d then the man who killed him is dead, they'll waste no time in putting in place another soutaicho. Who they probably won't respect either, for different reasons. Well, you know. It's just... well... one of those things, y'know? The earth spins, Gin smiles, Ichigo's an idiot, and the soutaicho of the day is gonna be ignored. Got it?'

'You've put a lot of thought into this.'

'Well, I've seen enough soutaichous to notice a pattern. It's one of those things about having existed since the beginning of Soul Society's existence.'

'You also seem to have strong opinions on the matter.'

'I do my best to keep you informed.'

Hitsugaya let out a small smirk. 'You also had an interesting running commentary. The peanut gallery took notes.'

'At least THEY recognize and respect a genius when they see him.'

'If that was directed at me, I don't care,' Hitsugaya finished, shutting down the most brilliant spontaneous oratory ever given.

O-MA-KE!!!

"Heeeyy, Nanao-chan! Shouldn't Sould Society be an anarcosynaclist commune?"

"No, no it should NOT, taicho."

"Shunsui, I'm going to have to agree with Ise-fukutaichou here."

A/N: Very long and political, that one. This was originally intended to stand alone, but I tweaked it because I thought it was SO Hyorinmaru. Well, let me know if you liked/didn't like the new style! Oh, and thank you so much to everyone for 100 reviews. It's a monumental landmark for me as a writer. Well, ja!