"Damn it!" Korra burst into the rented house, screaming loudly.
Akashi, who was sitting at the table, sipping coffee, stared at her. He acted as if he had no idea what was going on.
Lin wasn't around since she had gone to the airship to meet with the other metalbenders and prepare them for leaving. After all, they were supposed to leave tomorrow since they had completed their job. It left him with Korra for the whole day.
Korra stomped as she walked to him and sat down. Akashi poured her a mug of coffee.
"Drink. You seem like you haven't slept all night." Akashi advised.
"Thanks," she said, her tone a little aggressive as she held the mug frustratingly and drank it in one go.
Akashi's face muscles tightened at the scene. For reference, it wasn't black coffee. It was more like an espresso.
Korra extended her tongue and groaned, "Argh…"
"What happened? You seem a bit angry." He inquired.
Korra held his shoulders and looked at him with a serious expression he had never seen before.
"You must be careful." She warned, "One of the bloodbenders managed to escape, and he may target you because you were the reason they fell. I took care of the other one and stripped him of his bending."
Akashi's eyes widened, "No way! When did this happen? Tell me more details."
He leaned toward her face, urging her for more details.
Feeling overwhelmed by his curiosity, Korra jerked back and crossed her arms. She closed her eyes, "I wish I could tell you. But I'm pissed off already, and I need some sleep. All you have to do is be careful, that's it."
"Don't worry, Korra." Akashi shook his head and pointed his thumb at himself, "I'm stronger than I may appear. I'm very fast, no one can catch me."
"That's because I have never chased after you before," she grabbed his cheek. Then, she yawned.
"Did the Earth Queen make it hard for you, knowing that you may have failed?" he asked.
"No." She shook her head, "Though, two innocent guards died at the entrance. Can you believe it, they even killed these people in their way out."
For reference, Akashi was the one who had killed the two guards because he had heard them mocking the pregnancy of a prisoner they were interrogating.
To cheer her up, Akashi pointed his finger up.
"At least look at the bright side." He said.
Korra followed his finger and looked at the roof, forcing him to resist the urge to smack his own face. Korra pretended to look up to think, as if she didn't follow his hand gesture.
That's what may happen when someone lacks sleep.
"It's morning. The lamps aren't lit." He said.
"I know. Continue." She said, her cheeks turning red.
"Anyways. Only one bloodbender has escaped, no one else has. The prisoners are still there." He said, "And by the end of the days, both the queen and the bloodbender are internal conflicts. If it's the Avatar's job to mend in every little business, they would have died of exhaustion. You have two things to care about. World peace, and your own business."
"Hmm… It's a first that someone tells me that," she moved her blue eyes to him. "World's peace, sure. But not before someone said anything about my own business."
"Well, it was their job to tell you that," Akashi chuckled, "in case you are wondering, they got paid."
"Drop it," she rolled her eyes, her mood seeming to get lighter, "I'm going to sleep anyways. If that queen sent any envoy, tell them I'm not here."
"Yeah," Akashi said. He slapped her butt as she stood up and walked to the bedroom. She flinched a bit from the slap. But said nothing, nevertheless. She was too tired. She went to her bedroom and landed her body on the bed.
Akashi observed everything with his hearing. He then continued drinking from his mug.
'The trial is a trap to take Amon now, and the queen would use Korra. Meanwhile, Tarrlok may be lucky if he didn't get pegged to tell her who wrote the forbidden book. Anyways, during the trial, there would be some fabulous assassins on me. The finest of the Dai Lee agents. If I'm lucky, they would contribute 30% to my experience points…'
'But nothing is like having the grand levels… well, I lit up the fire and put everything in the stove. Now, I should let this rebellion cook. Once there would be a war between the queen and Amon, I would interfere. And I can only imagine the bonus experience points on display.
'If my calculations are correct, I would have at least ten levels If I'm lucky. Ten levels, babe. I would achieve level 53 by then.'
Akashi was willing to thrive that he almost forgot Korra's evil uncle. But to be fair, he didn't remember much of the canon as it had been years, and he only had more memories of the first part and the last part.
But, he didn't lose his memories. And so, that's what really matters.
-x-X-x-
The day went well. Korra woke up in a better mood, and she spent time with Akashi, who sat on the couch while watching her change into new attires. The amount of dopamine he got from this was tremendous, considering that it was an internetless world.
And during that fun time, the Earth Queen had sent an envoy, calling Korra for the trial to redeem her mistake by protecting the courtroom.
Of course, the tone got ruder. And they made it obvious that they were trying to guilt trip Korra into protecting them. It's like they were telling her that it's her fault, and that she should handle responsibility.
Their tone was so rude, and Korra had exerted self-control not to kick them.
She got back inside, fuming, rage seething through her eyes.
Lin hadn't come back yet, as she was managing Republic City's police through the radio — one of the downsides of working from a distance.
"Ah! They are trying to get on my nerves." She complained to Akashi.
"It's not your fault. They should thank you for stopping the whole prison." He replied.
"But they got so many expectations from me, throwing the whole prison escape attempt on me," Korra said, "and I haven't slept lately, so I wouldn't be able to sleep well tonight."
"Well, their whole Dai Lee agency failed, so they should take responsibility as well. But, that's no excuse to ruin your mood. Luckily, I have a solution." Akashi smiled, holding Korra by the hand and guiding her to the fridge.
What was revealed was different kinds of expensive drinks, hundred-year-old things.
Brought all today, specially for Korra.
"Wow!" Korra looked at them, eyes wide open. "Hundred-year-old something. I used to hear that it was very expensive in my hometown."
"All for you, today. Let's light up the mood." Akashi grabbed the radio, and turned it up. "Oh. They are even streaming the pro-bending matches."
He grabbed some bottles and went to the couch.
"Are you coming or what."
Korra looked between Akashi and her responsibilities. She needed to force herself to sleep. But a few minutes of fun wouldn't hurt anyone. And in fact, Akashi was quite correct. She had done her job, and it's not her business to meddle in every little thing. As long as it's not world's peace, so be it.
"If you don't, Lin will drink them all;" Akashi threatened.
She grabbed a few bottles and followed Akashi, sitting on the couch.
That night was quite fun. Korra didn't feel the flow of the time. She drank, enjoyed the different tastes, and got dizzy.
When Akashi turned the lights off, it was still light.
The sun rose.
And Korra just fell asleep, on what seemed to be 8:00.
And it wasn't just a sleep. She wasn't even sober. She was in no condition to arrive at the trial.
The door of his house got knocked.
What was revealed was the same envoy from yesterday.
"Bring the Avatar here. I'm going to escort her." He demanded, his tone authoritative.
Akashi stared blankly at the shorter man. "The Avatar is not coming."
"Where is she then?" he asked.
Akashi shrugged, "She got too sad from your tone, and she got too drunk and fell asleep."
"What? That's unacceptable. She must attend." The envoy shook his head, talking as if Korra was a subject to his queen.
"Forget it. She's asleep. If I wake her up, she'd go on Avatar's rage. Don't wanna go through it again." Akashi rubbed his nose, and he pointed with his finger to his house, "And after three hours or so, I would lift her, meet the task force and take her back to Republic City. She'd wake up at the airship."
That was just one hour before the trial. Lin would leave during that time, and Akashi would have gone.
"Move ahead, I will wake her up personally!" he said, sighing angrily.
"If you lay a finger on her, or touch her, I'm going to beat you up." Akashi said, eyes full of murderous intent.
Though he said that, to build a narrative that the envoy tried to harass his girl in their private domicile.
This way, Korra would have every excuse not to attend the trial.
And she had been drunk… so. It's not her fault.
Still, he was quite pissed.
"What!" The envoy jumped backward and pointed at Akashi. "Are you threatening me, an envoy from the royal palace?"
"She's my girl now, and no one touches her, but me." He replied.
"Tsk. To cause troubles because of your selfish desires. I knew you would be a trouble. Dai Lees, help me." He said. And from the shadow, 5 figures appeared.
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