~Chapter 3: Seperation~

~Two years later...~

~Kaku's POV~

Kaku found himself trying harder and harder when it came to training. It wasn't necessarily for the World Government, but more for Lucci. He wanted not only to become as good as the older boy, but he wanted to impress him as well.

As the years passed, he also noticed that Lucci would defend him from Jabra's teasings. Jabra would often poke fun at Kaku's rectangular nose, but Lucci was always there to return some snide remark of his own about Jabra.

Then the horrible day came.

Spandam had called Lucci to his office, while Kaku waited patiently outside to hear about what had happened. When Lucci finally came out of his office, there was a triumphant grin on his face.

"What is it?" Kaku asked.

"I'm in CP9 now." Lucci said, struggling to control the rising joy in his voice.

"That's great!" Kaku cried, jumping to his feet.

Lucci nodded, then another emotion flashed across his face so quickly, Kaku thought he had imagined it. He had been taught to observe things well though and he knew that something was wrong.

"What's wrong?" Kaku asked.

Lucci looked into his eyes for a moment before turning and walking to the room that they shared. Kaku frowned and hurried after him.

"Don't you trust me enough to tell me?" Kaku begged.

Lucci sighed loudly and turned to look at Kaku again. This time his eyes showed pain in them.

"You do know what this means, right?" he asked.

Kaku shivered slightly, not used to seeing such emotion in Lucci's eyes. "N-No, what does it mean?"

"I'll be going on missions, I probably won't be around here as much as I used to be. And if you don't end up in CP9 too... we probably won't see each other very much." Lucci said, sitting down on the bed.

Kaku stared at him in shock. "You're going away!"

Lucci sighed. "Yes, I will probably be brought to Enies Lobby."

Kaku could feel his eyes widen. "You can't go! Jabra and Kumadori already left! I can't handle it if you leave!"

"Kaku calm down." Lucci said.

"How can I?" Kaku could feel hysteria rising inside of him. "Don't you remember? You promised me! You promised you would help me through my training!"

"You don't need my help anymore. You can handle this on your own." Lucci sighed, getting to his feet.

Kaku glared at him, feeling tears in his eyes. He turned and ran away wthout another word. He couldn't handle watching Lucci pack up what little possessions he had. Instead he went for a swim in the ocean, hoping to get his mind off of the shocking news he had just heard.

Within a week, Lucci was gone.

He had left to perform some kind of mission in a kingdom. Kaku was left alone in his room, wishing desperately that Lucci would come to see him. That was... if he didn't get hurt.

Soon enough, Kaku got his wish. He heard a few of the senior agents talking about Lucci's success on his first mission. What surprised Kaku was the fact that when they spoke Lucci's name, they hardly dared to raise their voices above a whisper. What Kaku did hear was people talking about how Lucci had done something incredible, already making him known for his deadly power.

Kaku was swimming once again when he looked up to see that he was being watched. He stared at his observer with wide eyes for a moment before he flung himself out of the water and at the other boy who watched him.

"Lucci! You're back!" Kaku cried.

"Only temporarily." Lucci said, giving Kaku a small smile.

"How did your mission go?" Kaku asked.

"Come inside and we'll discuss it." Lucci said walking back inside.

Kaku followed him eagerly into their room... well Kaku's room now.

Kaku sat on the bed next to Lucci looking at him expectantly.

"When I arrived, the situation was this," Lucci started. "The soldiers of the kingdom had been taken hostage, causing the king to consider giving up his throne to pirates. I couldn't let that happen so I assured the king that I would handle the situation. I came to the pirates and allowed myself to be captured. Once I was put with the hostage soldiers, I proceeded to kill them all."

Kaku couldn't hold back his gasp of surprise. Lucci turned to face him, his eyes questioning.

"What?" he asked.

"Y-You killed them all?" Kaku gasped.

"Yes, by surrendering to the pirates they displayed weakness. Their weakness put their kingdom in danger, so they were killed."

Kaku nodded, not entirely sure about Lucci's explanation, but accepting it anyway.

"Anyway, when the pirates learned that I killed the hostages, they fired cannonballs at me. Then I killed the captain of the pirates and my mission was completed." Lucci finished.

"You got shot! Are you okay? Are you scarred?" Kaku cried out.

Lucci rose wordlessly and pulled his shirt off. He turned his back to Kaku to show him a huge scar on his back. Five circles, exactly like the World Governments symbol.

Now Kaku understood why the agents had been so fearful when talikng about Lucci. Here he was, a thirteen year old, with the ability to take down an entire army single handedly. Kaku stared at the scars, mesmerized by the pattern they formed and he knew that from this moment on, whether Kaku made it to CP9 or not, himself and Lucci would always be seperated, by the simple fact that he was such a powerful killer, with the mental ability to shrug off his killings. Perhaps one day Kaku would feel the same, but he could never imagine himself like that.

Kaku sighed and wrapped his arms around Lucci, finding comfort in his strong muscles, trying to ignore the fact that soon enough he would be alone again when Lucci had to go away.

~Here's the end of chapter 3! I hope you like it! Please R&R! ~FoxEmpress~