Slightly OOC William here! Lets see how William's gonna handle me being around!

I can handle this. I can handle this. It's just one teenage girl. I can handle this. Okay, so maybe I was just fooling myself. Then again, maybe not. Maybe I can scare the thing into behaving. Bad thing is is that I have to take her to work. Maybe she won't distract me. Oh good grief, I can't do this! But here I was, at the airport waiting for the girl I was babysitting for a year. I examined the photo I received last week and then the crowd. I was looking for a girl much shorter than I, but when I saw her she was just about as tall as I was; she was just a few inches taller than me.

The girl look around for a minute before looking directly at me. She smirked and strutted towards me, pulling a suitcase behind her.

"I presume you are Kendra Dixon, am I correct?" I asked politely, bowing out of habit.

"Mhm. And you are Mr. William T. Spears, hm?" She sat a case she was holding down beside her.

"Yes, I am. Would you like me to carry something for you?"

She shook her head. The girl looked intelligent. Much more than she needed to be. She pushed up her glasses where they met her green and gold eyes. She was pretty lean and had muscles I wouldn't expect to see on young female. She almost looked like a boy.

"I don't know you so I'm not trusting you with my crap. And just to let you know, my bite is worse than my bark."

"You mean, your bark is worse than your bite."

She sighed. "Whatevs. You don't want to get on my bad side, or you'll be having a really bad day."

I snorted. My bad day starts with Sutcliff in the morning. "Well, I have to work. Come now. I can't be late."

"Mamma told me you travel everywhere on foot."

"Yes."

"I bet I can keep up."

She took off the jacket she was wearing and stuffed it into the case she had sat down then shoved that case into the suitcase she was pulling. She looked unaffected by the cool London air. I turned around and waved her to follow. I heard her mutter a few choice words I didn't approve of but followed me to an alleyway. The walk was silent. The only sound was our footsteps and the bag she dragged on the cobblestone pathway. I glanced back at her to make sure she was alright. Her expression showed many emotions. Fright…interest…boredom…confusion. Hmph, she might be an excellent member to my team when she's older. I paused for a minute. It went quiet. It was just my breathing. I turned around and to my horror, she was gone. I did a one-eighty turn around the ally but I didn't see her. Great. She's only been her for what, ten minutes?, and she was already gone. Leaping onto the nearest roof, I did another one-eighty turn and found her sitting on top of a roof, watching the plane she just got off of disappear into the sky.

"I'm so far away from home…" I heard her murmur. I jumped to the roof she was sitting on. I was about to try to comfort her, but I hesitated. "I don't wanna be here!" she growled angrily, throwing a pebble .

I glanced at my watch. I was late now, but this kid I have to take care of is more important right now. I rested my hand on her shoulder, but she just shrugged it off.

"What branch you work for?" she asked, never looking at me.

"Dispatch Management Division."

"You manage all the souls that are to be collected here, huh?"

"Correct."

"You're one of the most important people in the Dispatch."

"I guess you could say that."

"Then lets go. I'm sure your team needs their lists."

"How do you know so much?"

She shook her head and looked at me. "I'm not stupid. I am a Shinigami. It's kinda important to know these things, don'tcha think?"

Her eyes showed me that she was dead serious and over her little emotional fit, so I helped her to her feet and we were off.

"So, do you have any books at your flat?"

I nodded. Note to self: buy books she's interested in.

"Note to self: eat soon or die," she said to herself.

"You're hungry?"

"Hells yeah! I haven't eaten anything in three months!"

"Not much of an eater?"

She shook her head. "Well, eat more often then I do. I rarely get the time to eat. Do you mind occupying my employees' flat until I'm done for the day?"

"Do they have books…and food?"

I chuckled. "Of course. Mr. Humphries is an amazing cook and a frequent visitor to the book shop. I'm sure he has something that will capture your attention."

"Then I don't mind."

We past through the *portal between the human and our realm. I paused, and I heard the squeaking of Kendra's shoes on asphault as she came to a stop.

"Luckily, it put us a few houses down from theirs," I muttered as I smoothed my hair back into place.

"These are some nice houses…" Kendra said in awe.

"Come," I said. "I hope they're staying here today."

"Today?" she said.

"Three Ninety-two, three ninety-three. Right here."

A knocked on the door. Kendra looked around nervously. I was greeted at the door by Mr. Humphries' smile. "Hiya, Boss. What brings you here?"

"I was hoping that you wouldn't mind," I stepped aside, revealing a timid looking teenage girl smiling sheepishly, "Kendra staying here until my shift is over."

He chuckled. "Of course I don't mind, sir!" He motioned for her to come in. When she didn't budge, he stepped out on the porch and gently pulled her in. "You got a nickname, Kendra?"

She nodded. "Y-yeah. My friends call me Eric. **Eric Slingby."

"Oh? Why so?"

"W-well, my girlfriend calls me Eric and I have a tendency to put bees in a jar and start slinging them around. Hence the name Slingby."

He chuckled again. "Interesting story, Eric. I'm Alan."

Alan glanced at me and nodded. I left in a hurry. She'll be fine with Mr. Humphries and Mr. Slingby. Eric Slingby as her nickname? I definitely did not see this one coming at me. She has a girlfriend too? So a…lesbian-I think that's what they'd call her in America- is what I'm taking care of. I sighed. Well at least she won't be trying to 'hook up' as Mr. Slingby puts it, with any of the young males that linger around the building. Arriving to work late, I calmly walked to my office, ignoring the surprised glances I got. Ronald Knox was waiting outside my office with an armful of paperwork. Sighing, I unlocked the door, letting the small two toned reaper enter ahead of me.

"My work is on time, Grell Sempai's three weeks late, Alan sent Eric's work in yesterday and we're just now receiving it today." He set the paperwork on the corner of my desk.

"How long have you been standing there?" I asked, dividing the papers into three stacks.

"Huh? Oh, not long. About forty minutes." He turned to leave.

"Knox."

"Yeah, Boss?"

"I'm giving you a raise."

"Why?"

"I'm a giving mood. You don't want to ruin it, do you?"

"No, sir! Thank you, sir!"

He gave me a military salute and rushed out of my office. This was going to be a long day…

"Thanks, Alan! I promise I'll take really good care of it!" Kendra called behind her as we walked down the steps of Mr. Humphries home.

"You still down from the threesome?" Mr. Slingby called loudly.

"I'm down!"

I stopped dead in my tracks, making Kendra bump into me. I heard her glasses fall to the concrete walkway. WHAT THE HELL? I whirled around to look Mr. Slingby directly in his eyes; he flinched slightly but showed no other sign of fright.

"WHAT THREESOME?" I screeched. She hadn't been here a month and they were already talking about a threesome. "I find this highly inappropriate!"

"Chilax, man!" Kendra exclaimed. "It's an inside joke! My girlfriend would be very upset with me if I had a threesome and didn't invite her!"

Slingby mocked being hurt. "She'd willingly give me head…" He added more quietly, "Unlike Alan."

Mr. Humphries looked at Slingby. "Would you like me to give you head, Eric?"

I covered my ears. This is disgusting! I half dragged Kendra away by her arm. This was already more than I bargained for.

"A A A A A A A A A, B B B, C C C C C C C C C C C, D D D D D D D D D, G G G G G G G G, E A D. E A D. E A F F F F D," she sang.

I looked down at her. "What on earth are you doing?"

"remembering some notes. I play trumpet in my middle school band."

"So you actually went to school?"

"How about this: lets play twenty questions. You ask me twenty questions and I answer them all truthfully. Okay? Start."

I picked through my brain as to what to ask her on our walk home. When I met her mother in person, she was human, her father too. "Are you adopted?"

"Mhm. "

"Do you know why you were sent here to London, preferably why I was chosen to take care of you?"

"That no good ho don't want me. She tries to ditch me whenever she can. As for the American Dispatchers, they can't stand me. Even the school teachers there didn't like me. So mamma sent me off here. She made me do some research on the London Division's strictest man-you. She said 'That's yer new Deddy. Yous best not make him mad and make him send you back.' Like I said, that no good ho don't want meh." She looked down sadly at her feet. She wrenched her arm from my grip to push her hands into her pants pocket. I looked her over. Poor child, I'd rather her live here than there. "I'm just a piece of no good dirt."

I grabbed her hand and yanked her upwards where we landed on a well lit roof. I made her look directly at me. She tried to look away, but I forced her to stay put. "I don't believe that. I see great potential in you, Kendra. Even if I get mad at you, I'm not going to send you back. Not after you told me that. I believe you'll be a great Shinigami someday… And if you like, you can call me 'Dad' if you want to.. If it makes you feel any better." And I meant every word too.

She sniffled and wiped away a few tears. She wrapped her arms around my neck. I might be good at this after all. Hesitantly, I hugged her. "Thanks, Dad."

"You're welcome."

She sighed and released me, looking down. "I hope it didn't break or dent," she muttered.

"Hope what didn't break?" I asked following her gaze.

"My trumpet."

She stood and stepped off, landing perfectly on her feet beside her bag. I landed beside her and took her bag. Second day and I'm already very attached to her. Great.

"I haven't completely finished your room yet so you can either sleep on the couch or sleep in the bed with me," I said as I pushed the front door open.

"I choose the bed," Kendra said quickly.

"I would too."

She yawned. I don't blame her. Yesterday was a tuff day. I lead her back to my room where I left her to change into her pajamas. I hope she'll like it here. Maybe her mother did the right thing in sending her here. London just might be better for her, or it just might be worse for her. Only time will tell, but for now, being here is good for her. I wonder why her mother didn't want her exactly. In what little time we were together I learned that she's a very sweet girl, with the exception of the whole threesome thing, which I still don't understand. I shrugged. I guess I wasn't supposed to know. I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the back of the couch. I opened my eyes as soon as sleep started to pull me under. Shoes being dragged across the wooden floor caught my attention. My ear twitched at the sound. Kendra walked in and hugged me.

"I'm going to bed. Good night," she yawned. "We can finish twenty questions tomorrow."

I chuckled and nodded. "Of course. Good night. Don't let Grell bite," I chuckled.

"What's a Grell?" she asked.

I shuddered. "It's a red headed man that claims to be a woman with shark-sharp teeth. Worst of all, he's my partner, and a stalker. So if he's in the bed, just beat him with the baseball bat under the bed."

She laughed tiredly. Heading back to my room, she disappeared around the corner. Just as it had just got quiet, a familiar scream broke the nice silence.

"Ow, ow, quit it kid!" the red headed thorn in my side yelled, and I ran to my bedroom just to see him get his butt kicked.

To my surprise, when I flipped on the lights, the bat was nowhere in sight, probably still under the bed. Kendra was repeatedly throwing punches left and right, throwing in a good round house kick to Grell's side.

"Ah, not the face, kid, not the face!" Grell screamed just as Kendra landed another round house kick to his face.

Grell fell to his knees, and Kendra once again came in and attack, locking him in a deadly looking scissor hold.

"Are you coming back? Huh, are you?"
"No matter what!" Grell choked.

Her legs tightened. "I'm sorry, what was that?'

"No, I'm not! Please, let me go!"

Kendra waited a minute before letting him go. She popped her neck and Grell hurriedly jumped out the window, not even taking a second glance back. She glanced at me before wiping her nose with the palm of her hand.

"Sucker's a good little punch there," she said, walking to the bathroom that was in my room. I fallowed her.

She started to wash her hands. "I hope that isn't your blood in the sink," I breathed.

"Nah, it's that Grell thing you where tell me about's."

I patted her back. "Good job, Ked," I congratulated, truly pleased that…that…that thing won't be coming around again. I am definitely keeping her around the office. I don't think Grell will want to come a mile radius of her. She dried her hands off and looked at me. "So, how do I stop my nose from bleeding?"

I chuckled and tilted her head. "Hold still and keep your head back." Taking a damp rag, I wiped the stream of from her nose down.

"I think it stopped."

"I think so too."

She looked down, shaking her head and nodded. I kissed her head and told her to go to bed now. She quickly slipped under the comforter and sheet with a light, "Tonight's gonna be fun." She winked at me and I am pretty sure I blushed.

"Good night Kendra."