Akashi's days proceeded like any normal day in the Homicides department, now that he was a sergeant. As a sergeant, he had the power to organize officers, issue orders, and assemble teams, allowing him to accomplish more with less.
Yet, he preferred to work alone.
You know, kicking someone's ass solo earned him more experience points than having a squad of metalbenders backing him up.
Right now, he was pinning someone down, holding the back of his head and pushing his face to the ground.
"You are under arrest," Akashi muttered in a bored tone. "Seriously. Visiting the grave of a woman you killed—despite having no relationship to her—for a whole week. And not only that, but jerking off to her grave. That makes you suspect number one." Akashi's words weren't meant for the man beneath him. "And you didn't find him for a month. A whole fucking month."
'I guess incel crimes aren't really a thing in this world yet,' he thought.
"You know, sergeant, no one really thought to track the grave."
"Yeah. As if that's an easy thing to think of."
"Well, not everyone's lucky."
Some thought he was creative. Some thought he was insightful. And some just thought he was lucky.
"At least it's my third solved case this week," Akashi joked. "You guys seriously need to keep up with me. Or else you'll end up looking bad."
[+2000 exp]
After the case was closed, Akashi returned to his department office.
[Stamina 10/250]
Looking at the stamina bar, he thought of the police chief. She had been draining him a lot lately. He could upgrade his stamina, but he'd slowed down—leveling up didn't get easier, and every attribute point saved was a win. He believed he could increase it through sheer effort… unless circumstances demanded otherwise.
Those cougars were something else. He'd slept with other women before, but seriously, their stamina paled in comparison to the chief's. No wonder Tenzin got so thin when he was with her.
And as a prideful man, Akashi pushed himself to the limit just to get a satisfied reaction from her.
"Looks like I need to increase my workout rate," he muttered as he finished handing in the cases.
"Akashi, the chief wants to see you," someone said, approaching his office.
'Seriously. She drained my stamina this morning, and the rest had gone because I did a high intensity running. What else does she want?'
Akashi thought as he stepped out, only to find the Police Chief waiting in his lieutenant's office—the lieutenant was out for some unknown reason.
"I heard you wanted to see me. Is there a reason?" he asked.
"Is there a reason for me to want to check up on a new sergeant's performance?" she replied.
"I thought you were here for another round," Akashi said, feeling somewhat relieved.
Don't mind him. It's not like he wanted to back out. She was tall, fit, and wild. But with only 10 stamina points left on the bar, he wasn't about to risk ending up dead or in a coma just because he was greedy.
"Well, I prefer to leave that for the night," she replied. "And you still have to go as a witness."
"Right. Tarrlok's case." Akashi stepped closer and leaned forward, giving her a kiss on the lips. She kissed back, already heated.
"Now, seducing me can count as sexual harassment," she teased. "You might end up punished."
"Sexual harassment? Aren't we dating?" he asked.
In the past few days, there hadn't been much romance between them—just good times and joking around.
"You know that's against the rules," she said. "Though I'm flattered you want to show me off as your girlfriend."
"As if I care what other people think," he shrugged.
"No. That's not it."
"Don't tell me the sex isn't good."
"Not that either. It's amazing." She sat on the table. "The thing is, I'm not getting any younger. And I don't want to be the reason you waste your youth. Sure, we can fuck and all. But we can't pretend like we'll marry, have kids, and all that."
As cranky as she could be, she was still an upright person.
Akashi understood her point, and he didn't want to get clingy. Sure, they could adopt or something… but saying that would only put pressure on her.
"So, we're fuck buddies?" Akashi asked.
She put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyebrows. "Mind your tongue. I'm your boss."
"So, we're fuck colleagues?" he asked again.
She chuckled. "That's prostitution—and illegal."
"That's why we need to keep it a secret," Akashi said, giving her hip a playful slap.
She glared at him. "Anyone could see us! It's a shared office!"
Akashi harrumphed a chuckle.
"Anyway, if that's all, I'm going back to my office to finish a report," Akashi said. "If you get lonely, you can drop by my shop. I work late."
"Sure," she replied, blushing slightly.
Akashi left.
After that, he finished the report about the solved homicide. Then he went to his shop, talked with his employees, and sent them home.
He spent the night counting. Since he'd forced them to use receipts, finding employee theft was easier.
"To steal 200 yuan in a single day… I guess I need to fire the cashier," Akashi sighed deeply.
Today's profit was around 750 yuan, but on paper, it looked like ten thousand.
Soon, he could deposit 500k into his savings account.
Five hundred thousand yuan he could use without raising suspicion.
"The profit's good. Guess I'll open a bar next," he muttered, gaslighting himself into thinking he was earning honest money.
The next day, Akashi arrived at the court.
Many people were present.
His eyes drifted to those wearing gold and green garments, marking them as native Earth Kingdom aristocracy.
'Seems like they were sent by the Earth Queen to report back if they found anything,' Akashi thought.
There was something he had left behind—and didn't find—in Tarrlok's house.
The troll book.
He had searched for it.
If Tarrlok wanted to keep such a book secret, he would've burned it or hidden it among his accounting books.
But it never seemed to surface.
Tarrlok arrived in the courtroom in a wheelchair.
The wheelchair wasn't because he couldn't walk, but to restrain his bending powers. His eyes were covered, and there was a device nearby that could release electricity at the flick of a switch. It bore the mark of Sato, one of the biggest invention companies in the world.
'If he uses bloodbending, he'll get electrocuted,' Akashi thought. 'Extreme, but effective.'
The blindfold was removed, revealing his blue eyes.
His gaze swept the courtroom before locking eyes with Akashi.
Akashi saw the grudge burning in his eyes. Tarrlok clearly hated him.
Akashi shrugged, as if to say, What's your problem?
'Isn't he being petty? I only arrested him,' Akashi thought.
The judge asked Tarrlok to look at him.
Then, the court proceeded. Akashi testified about arresting Tarrlok and finding the three bodies, alongside others.
Tarrlok was found guilty of kidnapping, bloodbending, bribing officials, and killing three people—as the bodies were discovered.
Tarrlok only admitted to bloodbending and bribery, denying the murders. He swore he killed no one, arguing it would've been easier to stage the deaths as suicides.
"And hereby, I sentence you to the death penalty in one year. Meanwhile, if new evidence comes to light, we will reconsider the judgment," the judge said.
Tarrlok lowered his head as his eyes were blindfolded again.
The death penalty was harsh.
But it was unfair, since Tarrlok wasn't the one who killed those three—it was Akashi himself.
'One year. A lot can happen in that time. His brother, Amon, might surface. More enemies could come after me,' he thought. 'Very nice, very nice. If I can beat the Earthbenders guarding the Queen, how many experience points will I get?'
'Jokes aside, I was lucky to poison a bloodbender. Otherwise, I'd be six feet under. I need to go to the Air Temple and test my airbending. Since Tenzin's always too busy to train Korra, I wouldn't mind training her.'
'I get why Tenzin's happy to see me. Training new "Pokemon" feels exciting.'
He nodded to himself.
At that moment, a tall bald figure with an arrow tattoo on his head approached.
"Do you have a minute to talk privately, Akashi?" asked Tenzin.
Akashi nodded and stood up.