The nurse peeled the band-aid off his cheek. "There you go."
He hopped off the chair and strode out the door. She waited until the door shut behind him before heaving a sigh of relief. She had been caring for young Cipher Pol cadets for over twenty years but even so, seven-year-old Rob Lucci scared her.
Lucci wandered down the halls, rubbing at a bruise on his shoulder. His Tekkai was not strong enough yet though he could at least control his Shigan. He took a moment to consider the expression on the snotty brat's face when the attack tore through his ankle. The idiot had been fool enough to challenge him; Lucci wrinkled his nose. It hadn't been worth his time.
The Master of the idiot he just beat up marched up and nodded briefly. Lucci stopped and saluted. In Cipher Pol, losers were spared no sympathy and only the winners deserved recognition and attention. How else could they become the Government's strongest tools?
"Neat and precise." The Master looked down at him. "Good." A slight pause. "You've overcome the reputation you brought with you. What with your father being a pirate." The term twisted in his voice like something he had stepped in on the sidewalk. He leaned over; his tone was steely and calm. "Remember, Rob Lucci. Live up to your own name."
Lucci returned to his room and dragged out a dusty case from under his bed. A faint click and he pried the lid open. He stared down at a violin, tarnish faded and dull. This was what the Marines had found him in when they spotted something floating downstream. They took him in – and he ended up among the many orphans recruited into the Marines. With time, he proved himself better, stronger, faster, more intelligent and worth more than being just another Marine. He had joined Cipher Pol for a greater purpose and a better challenge.
He had left the case under his bed ever since, forgotten and out of sight. He tugged a photograph from between the strings and lifted it to the light. It was a picture of a man who looked him, holding the violin and a toddler, grinning foolishly. He turned it over in his hands and tore it in half.
He ran a finger lightly over the strings and they trembled, humming. He straightened and let the scraps of the photograph flutter back into the box as he brought his foot smashing down on the violin. A crack, another stomp, and the wood gave way. He dug a box of matches from a drawer and lit one. He let the tiny flame fall and consume the past.
"You're pretty good." Kaku leaned against the doorframe, the brim of his baseball cap shadowing his eyes.
Lucci set the violin down.
Kaku pulled a folded piece of a paper from his pocket and waved it at him. "I just got the mission order." He smoothed out the creases on the page and made a show of scanning over it. "Musicians, huh?" He heaved an over-dramatic sigh and shoved the paper back into his pocket.
In the darkness of the hallway, Lucci could see the edge of Kaku's grin under the outline of his cap.
"Teach me?"
Lucci smiled, a feral glow lighting his eyes. He tossed the violin aside and Kaku took a step into the room, closing the door behind him.