"Please. You'd never last a day in my shoes."

"What makes you think you can handle my life?"

"Just admit it. I have the harder life and you don't."

"Willing to place a bet on that?"

"Deal. Our usual wager."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Um why are you here? And where's our captain?"

"Only for today I'm your new captain so you can forget about the purple haired menace they call Kishibe Taiga. How do you guys get up so damn early? We'll start with some sit ups." Bella yawned as she laid on the floor. "And no falling asleep on me."

"We should say that about you." Sosuke commented as he stood over the sleeping girl.

~~~~

"Seven am and I'm not cleaning myself from morning practice. Feels good. Now let me get ready for school." Kishibe got up and stretched his arms as he headed to the bathroom. After a few minutes he stood in front of the bathroom mirror deciding on how to style his hair for the day. Ponytail? No. Man bun? Nope. Loose curls? Definitely not. The team would never let him live it down. Well nothing wrong with the original.

"Taiga hurry up or I'm leaving you!"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*
"So Lidashi. How was practice?" Kishibe glanced at the girl pulling grass out of her hair.

"Nothing I couldn't handle. But I don't think I can ever play with you guys. I'd probably tear something trying to keep up. Those kicks are not normal." Bella changed her shoes and grabbed her bag from the boy in front of her.

"I'm more surprised that you're awake. I expected to have to peel you off of the field and drag you to class. Once again you've beaten my expectations of you. Good job. Keep it up and maybe one day you can be as good a human as I am." Kishibe winked.

Bella glared at him and threw some paper at him. "Oh whatever Mr. Perfect. I hope you're ready for after school today. I have a shift at the cafe."

The color drained from Kishibe's face and he slowed his pace. "You have a shift today? Since when do you work on a Wednesday?!"

"Since your last expedition left me flat broke. I have no money and need some so I took an extra shift. It'll be like you're paying me back. At least something is going right." Bella fist pumped the air and dragged the lagging boy behind her.

"It's fine. I'll show you how much better a waiter I can be. And there's a student council meeting you have to attend after practice today. I heard it was Tobidia's turn to speak so have your pillow ready." Kishibe petted Bella's head and laughed as her face fell. "Today should be tuna day in the cafeteria as well so even better."

"Ok enough! I get it! Practice then the student council meeting. Oh my gosh it's Wednesday you have History today! How did I forget?!" Bella slumped over in her spot.

"And you have Music class today. This is gonna be fun." Kishibe laughed at the pile of mush (Bella) on the floor.

"Noooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!"

"No yelling Ms. Lidashi. One more infraction and I'll be seeing you in my office." The principal walked past them with a strict look on his face.

"Yes sir."

"In trouble again Ms. Lidashi? Can't you behave for once?" Kishibe smirked.

"I swear to you if the principal wasn't so close to us I'd hit you right now. Count your blessings Mr. Perfect." Bella blended into the floor and became mush again.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

At practice

"She's not our captain but she is trying."

"Maybe we can trade her for someone in the calligraphy club. At least they'd know what they're doing."

"Not nice. Coach would bench you next game if he heard that."

"It is the truth though. She runs from the ball. And slept during practice this morning. Now she can't keep up with Yoshisko. Alright that's all I can tolerate for the day. Let me know when captain comes back." Sousuke picked up his water bottle and gave it to the manager before leaving the field.

"Sorry but I'm with him."

"Yeah me too."

Half of the team all picked up their stuff and left as well. More people left until nobody was left on the field except the stand in captain.

"Why did everybody leave? I thought I was getting better. Maybe I need a shower?" Bella pulled the jersey over her nose and sniffed. "Smells just like Taiga."

"Did the two of you think this through before you made this switch of yours? The whole team left hours before practice is done. And now we're losing a day of practice because of this. How are the two of you gonna make up for this?" Aphrodi looked down at the girl on the field. "I can always file a complaint about this to the principal or even worst to the Jr. High Soccer Federation who I'm employed by. All actions come with a consequence. Think about that next time before you guys make such reckless decisions again." Aphrodi walked away from the field and went into the club room leaving Bella to her thoughts.

"Oh well Taiga can fix this. Let me get to the student council room now." Bella dashed to the changing room and quickly changed back into her uniform before heading to the student council room.

"Sorry but this is a meeting for student council members only. So you can't be here."

"Guess you didn't get the memo but your president couldn't make it today so I'm filling in for him. Now let's get this meeting started." Bella slipped on the president arm band and sat in the middle of the table.

"Is this legal?" Tobidia turned to the other council members who didn't care much and sighed at their lack of interest. "Fine. Usually we'd start with president reading the objectives for the meeting but I will do them as Vice President since he is absent. And to you missy sitting in his seat I will be giving you a strongly worded letter for him."

"Just start the meeting already. I don't have all day to waste with you." Bella rolled her eyes and urged on the speaker.

"So rude. Here is what our student body is requesting.

1. A lunch period that is correctly timed seeing as the bell will ring at whatever time it feels.

2. A removal of fish from school lunches.

3. The drama club is requesting a bigger budget.

4. The cheerleaders are requesting a uniform change and finally.

5. The students want to pick the theme of the school festival this year rather than having us pick it.

That is all for the requests. If you ask for my honest opinion-"

"No. Yes. No. No. And it will be taken into consideration. Ok if that's all meeting adjourned." Bella got up and grabbed her bag.

"Ms. Lidashi please be civil. How can you make such decisions?" Tobidia fumed.

"Isn't it obvious? The bell rings two minutes early so we're not late to class. If the cafeteria stops cooking fish all the time then we can have a different selection everyday rather than mystery meat Friday. If we increased the budget for the drama club then another club would have to have it's budget cut which isn't fair just because they want plastic swords instead of cardboard swords. If the cheerleaders get new uniforms then all the other sports team will want new uniforms and the school budget can't cover all of that. And with the festival it's for students of other schools to come out and see our creativity so why not let the students choose what they want to do? It's only fair." Bella shrugged and left the student council room.

"She is Right you know." Anakata pointed out. "I'm sure the prez would say the same thing."

"She's a delinquent. She can't possibly be right." Tobidia stressed.

"She's not a delinquent. She's just really clumsy at the wrong times. You could learn a thing or two from someone like her."

Tobidia stared around the room in shock before picking up his things and leaving. "They're all crazy."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
At the cafe the same time as practice

"Hello Ms. Nakamura."

"Why hello there Kishibe. Does Bella not feel well again?"

"No she's alright but she couldn't work her shift today so she asked me to cover for her. I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all dear. She has a spare uniform in the back so go ahead and change and I'll help you with the basics."

"Thank you ma'am." Kishibe bowed then headed to the back of the building to the employee area. He changed into the spare uniform then tied his hair out of the way. "This shouldn't be too bad. If she can do it then I can do it better."

One hour later

"Hello ma'am. Can I get you something to eat or drink?" Kishibe smiled at one of his schoolmates as she put down her menu.

"Some tea and a sandwich please."

"Certainly. I'll be back with it soon." He bowed then moved to another table to take their order."

"Why didn't we hire him sooner? He's so good at this. Plus he's not bad looking either."

"Don't say that. He may take offense."

"He's clearly flirting with all our female customers so why not. Besides it would be wrong not to call him what he is. A hottie." The waitress took out her phone and took a quick picture of Kishibe giving a tea to a young lady at his table and sent it to their absent coworker. "At least I know one person's day I can ruin."

"Now girls back to work, I don't pay you to sit around and you're not gonna bully the new guy into doing your work for you." Ms. Nakamura walked past the three girls gathered around the pick up counter whispering to each other. "Now can someone grab the broom and sweep please? This place looks like a pigsty."

"Yes ma'am." The three girls returned back to work until the door chimes interrupted everyone.

"What's up ladies. Your favorite customers are back." Three young men walked in and sat down at a table in the center of the room.

"Who the hell are they?" Kishibe put down the tray he was holding to refill it with the desserts his table ordered.

"Some guys that go to school around here. They come here all the time and harass my workers. I've tried calling the police but the chief is one of their relatives. There's not much we can do other than serve them and hope they leave quickly." Ms. Nakamura sighed.

"Is that so? Allow me to serve their table. Koh take over my table please. I'm taking our three guests that just walked in." Kishibe chuckled darkly under his breath and walked over to the table with a bright smile on his face. "Good evening gentlemen. What can I get for you today?"

"How about someone to serve us who doesn't have balls. Not cool man." The first guy glared at Kishibe who only smiled back at him.

"I would love to sir but seeing as this is a family establishment I'm not allowed to say what I really want to say. Now may I take your order please." Kishibe smiled even brighter at the young men.

"Didn't you hear us? Go away. Or do you want me to shut this place down? I have the money to do so." The guy in the middle smirked and reached in his pocket pulling out a handful of cash and throwing at Kishibe.

Kishibe turned to Ms. Nakamura and smiled. "Ms. Nakamura I need you to close your eyes for me please."

Ms. Nakamura closed her eyes and grew concerned when she heard tables and chairs being thrown around the place. She finally opened her eyes when all the ruckus stopped and saw the three boys bowing at Kishibe's feet. "Oh dear. What did you do."

"Nothing they won't ever forget. Now I think we need uniforms for these young gentlemen. This place is a mess."

One Hour Later

"Oh Taiga! I'm here to pick you up." Bella strolled into the café holding a plastic bag with a box of donuts in it. "Huh? What is all this?"

"Hello darling. You have wonderful timing. My new friends here have something they want to tell you. Well go on men." Kishibe urged the boys with a smile on his face.

"We are so terribly sorry Ms. Lidashi. Please forgive our rude behavior to you in the past. We really meant no harm. We were just stupid and took things too far. We are not worthy to even breath the same air as you!" The boys all bowed at her feet while Bella stepped back even more confused.

"What did you do Taiga?"

"Nothing. We only talked. Isn't that right boys?" Kishibe smiled evilly at the boys who shrieked and continued cleaning up the place.

"Right then. I'm gonna pretend that didn't just happen. I brought you donuts." Bella held up the bag filled with sweets and gave it to the drooling boy in front of her.

"Yay! Thank you Bella!" Kishibe snatched the bag out of her hand and ate two donuts at the same time.

"Slow down or you'll get a stomach ache." Bella took the bag back and held it out of Kishibe's reach.

Kishibe simply stepped to the side and grabbed the bag out of her hands and walked away. "Remember you're shorter than me the next time you decide to do that." He chuckled softly at the glare Bella gave him.

"Hello Bella. I heard that you couldn't make it today but your replacement was a joy to have. You should bring him around more often." Ms Nakamura walked up to the pair standing outside of the shop fighting over a box of donuts. "Come now children stop fighting. It's time for you both to go home. And very good job today Taiga-kun. If you ever need a job know that you are welcome to work here anytime."

Kishibe smiled and took off the apron he was wearing. "That's really sweet. Thank you Ms. Nakamura but I doubt I'd be much help if I was a permanent worker." He gave the apron to Ms. Nakamura and wrapped an arm around Bella's shoulders. "Besides, somebody had to make sure she stays out of trouble. That's enough work as it is already."

"I understand but my welcome will always be here if you need it." Ms. Nakamura smiled and waved at the them before going back into the shop.

"Well let's go Lidashi. I need a shower and a nap." Kishibe stretches his arms and began walking in the direction they live in.

"Coming. But I need you to explain something for me first. What the hell is this?" Bella held up her phone in front of Kishibe's face.

The boy flinched and sighed pushing her hand away. "Don't worry about it. It was a one time thing."

"Like hell I won't worry about it. I'm sure you remember what she did to you so why would you even serve her table?"

"Just drop it Bella. I'm not in the mood to talk about this."

"No. We're talking about this right now. What if she had done something to you again?"

"Enough Bella! I was working and I couldn't do anything about it. What's done is done so just forget about it."

"Fine." Bella pouted and continued their walk in silence.

"How was today by the way?"

"It was alright. You have too many responsibilities though. How did you expect to survive with all of this stuff on your plate?"

Kishibe shrugged and looked up at the sky. "I'm the type of person that focuses more when I have a lot of responsibilities to take care of. It's not just because I'll have a good record for college or anything but I genuinely love everything that I do. If I could do everything forever then I would in a heartbeat. Even saving you from trouble every now and again."

"You don't have to save me all the time." Bella blushed a little and looked at the ground.

"I don't but it's too much fun. But more importantly why didn't you tell me those guys were bothering you whenever you're at work? I would've done something to help out." Kishibe glanced at her.

Bella sighed and shrugged. "You're always busy with things and you always worry about me so I felt that I shouldn't have to worry you about anything else. I would've eventually figured out something. You don't have to come to my rescue all the time."

"Like I said Bella I'll always come save you. Doesn't matter how far away you happen to be I'll find you. Are you ok? Your face is getting red. Did you come down with something?"

"Just shut up." Bella walked ahead of him and took a deep breath. "Thanks."

"That's not something you have to thank me for. It's what friends are for." Kishibe smiled.

Bella looked down and sighed quietly. "Yeah friends. Well enough about that. I won our little bet."

"Dream on Lidashi. You couldn't do my job as captain so you lost. And no arguments. Coach called me earlier to yell at me so it's sealed. Means I won our bet too."

Bella melted into the sidewalk and sighed. "What do I have to do?"

"Nothing hard. Just kiss me right here." Kishibe pointed at his cheek and gave her a smug look.

"You can't be serious!" Bella's face exploded into different shades of red. "Fine. But close your eyes. I couldn't do this with you watching."

Kishibe closed his eyes and presented his cheek to Bella. He felt her give him a quick peck on the cheek before feeling her wiz past him. He opened his eyes and stared at her front door a little frozen. He didn't expect her to do it then again he wasn't complaining either.