Working undercover in Galley-La was the best thing to happen to Kaku. For many reasons.
The job wasn’t that bad; evaluating and fixing ships from all over the Blues, trapezing from across the high buildings of Water 7, and even spending time with his CP9 compatriots.
Not counting the espionage aspect of it all, he discovered a genuine enjoyment of working such an honest and hands-on trade. It gave a sense of fulfillment he hadn’t expected. It was an easy, if not time-consuming, assignment. But Kaku always made the best of it.
Especially considering he came to know you, a lumber yard supervisor for the company Galley-La purchased their wood from.
And hey, if the assignment said to blend in and get the locals to trust him, he technically wasn’t going outside his mission parameters by talking to you as more than business contacts.
Your work in the lumber yards made it inevitable that the two of you would meet. It was only fate. You were spunky, smiley, and just his style. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that he’d pretty much liked you from day one.
On top of all that, you didn’t allow your soulmate mark to weigh you down. Some people had them in innocuous spots; the end of the elbow, the tips of their fingers, on shoulders and wrists.
With you, it was a blatant and sinister hand print around your own neck. Dark and so very obvious even if you’d tried covering it. The fact that the first touch from your soulmate you’d ever receive would be a threatening hand around your neck was intimidating to say the least, but you never let it get you down.
And even if Kaku wasn’t meant for you, perhaps the two of you could provide some level of companionship in the interim. It wasn’t like he had anywhere to be other than right where he was, playing shipwright in Galley-La.
On his breaks away from work, he’d sit beside you on a stack of logs in between the shipyard and the lumber mill, the perfect middle ground between the two establishments. That way neither of you had a particularly long walk to see one another.
You’d just sit and eat together, telling stories of that day’s antics. Kaku loved watching the way you smiled and laughed, the sound often occupying his thoughts and dreams.
He couldn’t help but wonder if the way you looked back at him was a reciprocation of the feelings he was quickly developing for you. Did you think of him when apart like he did with you? He could only hope.
You never touched. By some unspoken rule, neither of you initiated contact. Maybe it was the fear that whatever was between you wasn’t fated. The disappointment you’d both feel upon knowing you weren’t fated for each other…that reality alone kept you from touching. The illusion of possibility kept you both content.
Maybe he was in too deep. Califa brought up her concerns one day, saying that his actions were borderline sexual harrassment, and that if he shouldn’t pretend to love her the way he was doing. He hadn’t said anything to that, unwilling to admit it wasn’t a part of the act of being a shipwright.
And then the fated, long-awaited day came. The mission they’d been working so long in Galley-La for finally came to a head. Pluton was within their reach, and they had no further use for their covers.
You weren’t supposed to be there, the night of the second attempted assassination on the director. Seeing you on guard that night, Kaku didn’t know what to feel. He’d already assumed the cold, distant persona of the CP9 agent he’d been trained to be. And with barely a regard that this was someone Kaku had spent so much time with, Lucci ordered him to kill you.
He found himself moving on his own, down to the area of the office you were guarding. Just you, all alone, holding a pitiful excuse of a weapon. You’d probably made it yourself, now that he thought about it. You did always love tinkering with things.
“Y/N.” He called into the night, startling you. You rounded on him, but then relaxed in his company.
“Kaku…Thank god it’s you. I thought you were one of the intruders.” You said, shaking your head and continuing to look all around the area. “I’ve heard there was supposed to be an attempt on the director’s life. I wanted to help however I could.”
He couldn’t bring himself to speak, inexplicably torn between his orders and the person he cared so much about. He should have thought this through…should have known he was getting himself in a situation that would hurt this much…
Allowing the cold detachment to take over, he easily knocked the gun out of your hands, pinning you to the nearest box of shipwright tools with his hand to your throat. You let out a heart-wrenching gasp, his name slipping from you lips in shock and fear.
In his other hand was held his weapon, ready to end your life-
A sensation he’d never felt before swept over his body. A warmth, so comforting and overwhelming, he nearly dropped his blade. You could feel it too. From the way your eyes widened, looking at him with such awe, rather than fear, that made it evident.
His eyes glanced down to see that the black mark around your neck was gone, replaced instead by his own hand, exactly where it should have been.
“Y/N…it is you…” He muttered, feeling a mixture of elation and sorrow wash over him.
Even behind the fear in your eyes, he can see…an adoration. Why were you looking at him like that? He was supposed to kill you.
“After all this time…I guess…you are the one.” He hears you whisper, almost to yourself rather than at him. “I had a feeling but…I couldn’t be sure.”
“Y/N…”
“I always knew things would…turn out like this.” You say with a watery smile, unable to hide the tears from your eyes. “I’ve known since I first got my mark…that my soulmate may kill me. If that’s the way things have to be, then…”
Kaku couldn’t get rid of the lump in his throat, unable to look away from your incredible, grief-stricken face. You tried so hard to hold it together, but just couldn’t. He’d caused that pain.
Lucci’s cold voice repeated his orders in his head. But your pained sobbing was even louder.
“I’m sorry.” He muttered, hoping you would somehow forgive him.
He swept in for a kiss. He didn’t let it linger, knowing he wouldn’t deserve anything less than chaste despite being unable to give in to the urge entirely. But he had to know what it would feel like. What it would…taste like.
Resuming his cold detachment, he used the blunt end of the knife handle to knock you out. You let out a pained grunt, and collapsed to the ground at his feet. He couldn’t bring himself to kill you outright. He just couldn’t. But he knew that the fantasy he’d been allowed to live out day after day while undercover would end here.
“Goodbye, Y/N.” He said, giving himself only a few moments to grieve for the love you both could have shared, had he been anyone else.
Without a glance back, he returned to the main office to join in the assault.
ns 15.158.61.8da2
