A/N: Cain Kuga's version of the Bebop crew is slightly alien to me, as I'm very familiar with the anime and that's what feels 'normal'. I found though, that I liked Kai, even though he did seem to be a bit of a bastard. Both of him.


Kai walked around his double and refused to look at it. He was afraid, which he knew was unbecoming for a Dragon Head Lieutenant. He was afraid that his double wouldn't look enough like him and that all the pomp and fuss from the elders had been for nothing. But he was more afraid still that it would look exactly like him. How haunting, how disgusting it would be to have to work with himself every day. To be reminded of his mortality and his un-uniqueness.

"What is your name?" he asked the man as he walked past him again and kept his eyes trained on the rug at his feet. His insides were numb and he wished he would be struck instantaneously deaf so he wouldn't have to hear the answer.

"Kai Lucas, sir," was the answer, in a voice slightly different than his own.

Kai stopped pacing and looked at the double, comforted in the knowledge that he wasn't more like himself than he was. The eyes that looked back were the light blue color of the Venus sunrise. They searched him, mirrored his fear, despite the fact that they were much, much clearer and deeper than his own blue eyes. These eyes too were afraid to find disappointment mirrored back at them. Kai reached out with his finger and touched the double's cheek. The skin was smooth and the jawbone was small and curved as he ran his finger down it. It was exactly like his, but more beautiful, more cherubic.

"No, I mean, what is your real name?"

The double looked down and pulled his head away from Kai's exploratory fingers. "I have no name sir, I am Kai Lucas. I have been so since I was taken into the syndicate, since I was very young." The double gritted his teeth, spitting out the last few words. He had chosen them carefully to let Kai know his resentment, to remind him that he was a different person, a real person with a past that wasn't anything like Kai's.

Kai smiled and pulled his hand away from the double's face. "They have made you well, made you perfect. But if you are to truly be me we'll have to break you, just a bit. A few more cracks, a few rough edges." He leaned in and kissed the double on his lips, relishing in the feel of it even though he knew it was impulsive, was the opposite of what a Lieutenant of the Dragon Head should be. When he pulled back the double was shaking. The double brought his finger to his lips. The lips that Kai now knew were so soft, so very like his. "I've always wanted to do that," he murmured.

"But, sir," the double gasped. Kai knew that this was not what he'd been prepared for in his training.

"What, haven't you?" Kai raised his eyebrow, inviting disagreement. Those cherubic cheeks would be much more beautiful flushed in anger. The double looked at him, wide-eyed and so much less confident than before. "Don't call me sir, just Kai. I certainly wouldn't call myself sir."

"Yes, Kai," the double lowered his head.

Kai put his arm around the double's shoulders and guided him to the large gilded mirror on the opposite side of the room. They both looked into it, trying to find idiosyncrasies. Things that made them separate from the other. "Well then," he said. "This is how it's going to be."

The double looked intently at the reflection of Kai's face and he could feel those clear eyes on him as the double smiled, mimicked his expression. It disturbed him, to the very bottom of his soul. He knew he was looking at himself, at his future, at his destruction. He also knew that he was falling in love with it.