Kaku x Lucci!
XO
#01 - Air
It's his first time in Water7 and just seeing the buildings and roads and cliffs and walls makes Kaku's heart pound with anticipation and his breath come just a little quicker; he's off to explore as soon as Lucci dismisses them.
#02 - Apples
"Do you ever regret it," Lucci had asked, genuinely curious 'cause he never has, never will; Kaku's face hardens out of its usual cheery smile and he said firmly, crisply, sweetly-- "No."
#03 - Beginning
It was the first time that Lucci and Jabura had laid eyes on each other that Kaku became a pro in breaking up fights; he's thankful for it now as he hauls Paulie backwards and Blueno carefully places himself between Franky and the Galley-La foremen.
#04 - Bugs
Slapping at his arm with an exasperated scowl, Kaku walks a little faster to get out of the cloud of insects currently assaulting them; he runs straight into the back of Lucci's head, who immediately grabs him by the collar and propels him forward.
#05 - Coffee
It's morning and they're gathered around the table in the kitchen for breakfast; Jabura gags as he sees Kaku and Lucci drinking coffee black ("what the hell, that stuff's way too bitter!").
#06 - Dark
Out of all of them, it's only Lucci who can see in the dark and Kaku's the only one who knows how to operate the controls to the lights of Enies Lobby, so Lucci leads the way to the basement and Kaku follows close behind.
#07 - Despair
"What's wrong?" Lucci had asked in a rare show of concern as Kaku slid down the wall to sit; "Everything."
#08 - Doors
"So do something about it," Lucci replied matter-of-factly, hauling Kaku to his feet and shoving him out the door.
#09 - Drink
The red won't disappear completely, no matter how much he washes his hands (Spandam said it was something the government shrink liked to talk about but no one paid attention to), but Lucci knows this and hands Kaku a pair of gloves.
#10 - Duty
It isn't particularly fun and he doesn't like it much, but Kaku thinks assassination is all right as long as there's company.
#11 - Earth
It's not that Kaku wouldn't like to travel even more, having already been to the majority of the islands on the Grand Line, but it's that Lucci's told him time and time again that the world was a gigantic ocean made up of tiny, meaningless, insignificant islands and it was too much trouble.
#12 - End
It's the end of the line and Kaku doesn't think he can go any further, but it's Lucci, who elbows him hard in the ribs, that doesn't let him stop; so they keep on walking.
#13 - Fall
It's looking into his dark, expressionless eyes that pulls the ground out from under Kaku's feet and reminds him why he takes orders from this man, and this man alone.
#14 - Fire
They've got almost the entire building rigged with explosives; Lucci hands Kaku a matchbook.
#15 - Flexible
It's probably got something to do with cats, but Kaku's surprised as hell when Lucci arches up against him; he scrambles for words until Lucci hisses that if he says one word to give away their location, he was gonna get his ass kicked from Enies Lobby to Mariejoie; I just don't want a fucking broomstick rammed up my ass, okay?
#16 - Flying
It's falling, for a long long time with the wind in your face and the ground rushing up to meet you; and it's when you're fighting back to back and he nods his approval, only this time it's your mind and not your body that soars.
#17 - Food
Lucci enjoys meat more than anything else, and Kaku likes vegetables; they both balk when Blueno, knowing this, snapped that he was going to make them pay double if they don't finish everything, teammates or not.
#18 - Foot
Sparring with Lucci always ends in pain, sweat and usually blood but it's fun before the fight gets that far, Kaku thinks as Lucci catches his leg mid-kick and throws him off.
#19 - Grave
Lucci has the corpse by its collar and Kaku's digging a neat, rectangular hole in the ground after having pulled up a section of grass; the excess dirt was to be packed down hard afterwards and the grass replaced and no one would ever know.
#20 - Green
Kaku's too desensitized to all the violence and murder that came with his job to even bat an eye at what Lucci's currently doing to their prisoner, from whom they were trying to extract information, but he sees Califa's face take on a curious shade of green as she quickly leaves the room.
#21 - Head
Following Lucci, Kaku can easily imagine the scars on his back-- he's seen them enough, after all; it's not exactly like following the government flag, but it's close enough.
#22 - Hollow
Lucci's foot connects with his chest with a hollow thump, and Kaku spends the next thirty seconds trying to remember how to breathe.
#23 - Honor
They don't take bullets for each other, both too in love with life and the thrill of blood on their hands to give it up for a single person, but they do make sure to shout warnings.
#24 - Hope
It's the scars on Lucci's back, not the government flag, that gives Kaku hope but he figures they both add up to the same thing anyway.
#25 - Light
Kaku's been living in Lucci's shadow for most of his life, but if stepping into the light means abandoning the man he's come to respect and admire, he'd rather stay in the dark.
#26 - Lost
Sometimes, when it gets dark and cold and Kaku can't see anything, all he has to do is look around for Lucci's freakishly glowy eyes and then he's not so lost anymore.
#27 - Metal
Whenever Kaku breaks out his swords, Lucci knows that bloodshed comes next; not as much as the kind he himself causes, but enough to be vaguely impressive.
#28 - New
They'd been young and fresh; they're not so fresh anymore, but still young and still ready to kick the world's ass.
#29 - Old
Lucci's always been the most mature; Jabura, strangely, the most rational; Kaku's always done all he could for them both, but he always backs Lucci when they fight.
#30 - Peace
Lucci doesn't tell Kaku that he cares (he doesn't really care about anything) and Kaku doesn't tell Lucci that he respects him (he's too experienced to not know that respect was a front put up only for the sake of rank), but both of them think that the other is good company.
#31 - Poison
They say his words are poison and his looks are fake; they're not, really, it's just that all those promises and words seem inconsequential when Lucci tells him to break them.
#32 - Pretty
Neither of them are pretty in any sense of the word, but Lucci is handsome and dangerous and a bomb wrapped in silk; Kaku is cute, equally dangerous and blades wrapped in cotton.
#33 - Rain
Jyabura has commented repeatedly that wet cats smell worse than wet dogs, but Kaku's inclined to disagree, because he's smelled Jabura in wolf-form after a storm plenty of times but Lucci's too smart to get caught in the rain.
#34 - Regret
Before CP9, there'd been plenty of things Kaku regretted doing; after meeting Lucci, he decided to just forget all that and live like he wanted to and other people expected him to; to him, it was all the same.
#35 - Roses
They grew up almost together; Lucci was years older, but Kaku was a fast learner.
#36 - Secret
They've killed almost thousand people between them; no one knows they keep count, but they do, and always "between the two of us" because where Kaku was, Lucci was apt to be and Lucci is a bloodthirsty, kill-stealing bastard.
#37 - Snakes
Another snake drops from the canopy of the forest and Lucci snatches it out of the air by its neck and head, easily crushing it before tossing it aside; Kaku, behind him, swears as the serpent narrowly misses his nose.
#38 - Snow
Lucci's glares are cold as ice; Kaku's smiles are soft as snow and about as cool; there's no warmth in either of them, but that doesn't show in Kaku and no one cares that they can't see it in Lucci.
#39 - Solid
Most of their sparring involves trying to break each other's Tekkai; Kaku stumbles and falters when Lucci deals his second-strongest kick, but when he finds that his ribs aren't broken and he can still breathe, Lucci nods his approval and backs up to really kick his ass.
#40 - Spring
It isn't rare to see Kaku sprinting down a hallway to launch fullspeed out of an open window and across the gap between the towers of Enies Lobby, holding off on Geppou as long as possible, and not rare, either, to see Lucci glancing after him, never smiling but always close.
#41 - Stable
Kaku, Blueno and Califa are rocks in the mess that is Lucci and Jabura in the same room; they don't get caught up like Fukurou and Kumadori, but Kaku always seems to enjoy it the most.
#42 - Strange
Lucci had thought Kaku was too happy and nice to work with CP9; Kaku had thought Lucci was a sick and twisted fucker; turns out they were both right, but neither mind.
#43 - Summer
It's his favorite season; Kaku thinks it's great when the sun shines so bright it reflects off the surface of the water and makes him squint; Lucci likes the way sweat just evaporates and leaves him feeling cool and refreshed, though he'd never say it out loud.
#44 - Taboo
No one's allowed to make fun of Lucci and his transformations (kitty cat!); no one's allowed to tease Kaku for being hypocritical (why do you act like that, why do do that, when you can be so much more), but he doesn't mind general teasing; Kaku would kick your ass if you talked trash about Lucci (unless you were Jabura, in which case he'd try to talk you out of it before Lucci hears and then breaks your face and just so everyone knows, Lucci punches harder than Kaku can kick).
#45 - Ugly
There are scars lancing over his neck, legs, arms and shoulders (scars on the back are a swordsman's shame), a long jagged one across his chest, and he's always loved the way they look; don't you see: this is power, this is weakness, and this is the me I've overcome; call it ugly, call it whatever you want but this is strength and I only need one person to acknowledge this, and he does.
#46 - War
It's war that the straw-hats declared on the government and it's CP9 that takes the brunt of the attack; Lucci hasn't had a challenge like this in five years, and Kaku made it his duty to take out the swordsman so Lucci could have an enjoyable fight.
#47 - Water
It's strange, but Lucci gets claustrophic when he's out on deck, nothing but blue stretching out for miles and miles, but it's Kaku, a flash of orange, a grin and a challenge that distracts him until the blue turns to black and he can't see anything at all.
#48 - Welcome
Spandam welcomed them into CP9 and it was Lucci, who always caught on faster, that kicked his ass all the way to the finish line.
#49 - Winter
In Water7, Kaku is as friendly and sweet as he was born to be; at a word from Lucci, he puts up his wall made of ice and couldn't be happier.
#50 - Wood
Lucci's hands moving over his chest and stomach keep Kaku's mind from wandering too far, so he focuses instead on the rough bark of the tree chafing against his bare shoulders and the soft, purring voice in his ear.