After flying for a few more days, Akashi and the task force arrived back at Republic City. The team's mood was quietly ruined, considering that the bloodbenders had gotten away with it.
However, it wasn't their fault, since the bloodbenders had escaped under the custody of Ba Sing Se. The Dai Lees and the royal palace would be the ones to take the blame and be laughed at.
Of course, only one person was in a good mood: Akashi. Even with bad news, he would still leave that plane in a good mood.
Not only had he succeeded in his purpose, but whenever he felt like it, he could jump between Korra and the Chief.
And that wasn't even the best part.
The best part was seeing them argue and fight over him occasionally, making him feel desired and loved.
Of course, he knew how to make them stop fighting—say something stupid that would make them both angry at him. But not so stupid that they would end up breaking or too upset for more than five minutes. Just enough time for them to forget about each other.
Akashi stepped out of the plane and smiled.
"Anyways," Lin patted his shoulder.
He turned his head to her.
"Come later to take your paycheck," she said. "In my office."
Understanding the hidden meaning, Akashi nodded.
"I will come."
He gave his stats a look.
[Stamina: 990/1000]
'I truly love rapid recovery. I mean, look at Lin. She's healing from her anger issues.'
"Sure, you will." She replied, giving his butt a slap before walking away.
Now, that was flirting in public.
Behind him, the task force members started whooping. They had seen the scene, and they played enough with cards to be familiar with him.
"Dude… she's totally into you."
"What's your secret?"
"How did you get her?"
"You're never going to be forgotten."
Akashi ignored them and started walking. Korra arrived running after him, holding the bags with her new clothes. She stood next to him, gave him the bags, and then held his arm to walk, putting her head against his shoulder.
"Finally. Some time alone," she said, in relief. "I believe that last time we had something, those assholes ruined everything."
"They did, indeed." Akashi nodded, paused when he saw the rhythm, and nodded.
"Now, we should be able to do it without interruption," Korra nodded.
"Yeah…" Akashi nodded, "And we need to get some condoms."
Korra blushed, "that's not appropriate to say publicly."
"What? You wanna get pregnant?" Akashi chuckled.
"Won't be bad if it happened." She shrugged. "It's not like you have much to do anyways, you have plenty of free time, and you can be a father."
Akashi shook his head. "Not quietly. I'm going to be very, very busy the next few weeks, or so."
Because, for the next few weeks, he had to finish his initial plan. He would buy farming lands for mass-producing potatoes, and buy some large building for his restaurant. Not to mention, an alcohol brewing warehouse. And the employees. That would be a lot to do. And the worst and toughest part to deal with would be the problems he would have to solve to finish these steps.
"Don't worry, I'll help you," she said.
"That's really sweet, I appreciate it." Akashi nodded.
She chuckled, "Besides, we don't need condoms. Just pills."
"Pills? You know about them?" he asked.
Korra surely didn't sound like the innocent soldier girl who knew only how to do her job.
"Mom told me about them. And Asami advised I do." Korra replied. As a lone child to her parents, it's obvious they had birth control methods.
"Anyways, let's head home and have a break," Akashi said.
For sure, Tenzin would soon realize that Korra had almost moved out of the temple.
And so, the time started flowing. Akashi did his business, investing his money, more than 60 million he had made. Sure, the bonds he got from Sato were still there. But he had other sources of income, and he managed to get a lot of land, outside, in the Fire Nation and nearby Earth Kingdom. Since potatoes could grow in harsh environments, he could buy the cheapest type of lands that nobody wanted. He hired people, and all he had left to do was wait.
But that wasn't all.
During his wait, Akashi had planned for some hunting trips.
He would fly to islands, oceans, and places where beasts would be, and he would hunt.
He didn't do it excessively, so that he wouldn't attract the attention of the spirits.
And when he got into the ocean, he would try one or two mass attacks. Sometimes, he would get lucky and hit sea monsters. Other times, he would be unlucky and get only poor fishes.
-x-X-x-
Time was flowing for everyone else. Not only was Akashi starting with building business and expanding it.
Another man, Hiroshi Sato, was beginning his adventure, sharing his inventions with the whole world.
After 'supposedly' discovering the secrets behind the mecha suits and planes the equalists had, the Sato Mobile company started thriving. Hiroshi Sato stared at the papers on his desk, the applications, and all.
He was truly grateful for the chance Akashi had given him after being tricked by the equalists.
Now, he could happily live every day, and he could change the world.
Thanks to his time being with the equalists, he had made a lot of useful inventions. The Mecha suits, not only gave a regular man the power to fight a bunch of benders, but it also gave them more practicality.
His invention could be used in building. Sure, there are earthbenders and all. But they can't deal with the wood. And almost every metalbender in this town was a police task force member.
Not to mention, since he hated benders so much in the past, Hiroshi had invented a way to turn chemical energy into electricity, trying to get the new world to abandon lightningbenders without giving up electricity.
In the new world, Hiroshi no longer hoped to erase bending. But he could surely make the world give up on benders. And he would do so, using only brains.
But the main invention was the planes. People loved them. The president paid hundreds of millions just to get one made for him. It was the fastest and best way to move around.
As his eyes swept through his table, he saw a business deal suggestion application, signed from Ba Sing Se. Knowing that these were the previous backing of Amon, he simply took the papers and cut them into pieces.
This was the third time this month he had rejected them.
He wanted nothing to do with his past. He'd live a rightful life from now on.
'The Earth Queen may sound scary. But with Akashi on my back sniffing around, I would rather still clean.' He thought to himself. But Akashi nowadays seemed to be busy with farming lands, that's for sure. Hiroshi heard a joke, and it said that Akashi was planning to mass-produce the potatoes, which made Hiroshi laugh, since the dominant crop was rice, and Akashi wouldn't be that stupid.
After finishing his business for the day, Hiroshi went back to his house. It was night, and all he looked for was seeing his little girl welcoming him. She was the only family he had left, and almost losing it for a losing cause had made him appreciate it even more.
And just as he walked in, he didn't find her.
"Asami…" he called as he entered the house, which felt empty.
"Maid… servant?" he demanded.
When he turned his head, he saw figures laying on the wall.
"You can't keep ignoring us, Hiroshi Sato, can you now?" said a calm voice, sending a chill through Hiroshi's back.
When he turned, he saw a bunch of 10 people, staring at him with dagger eyes.
"Dai Lee!" he called.