Playing Airbender (Legend of Korra SI)

Chapter 131 131

In the police HQ of Republic City.

"No. There is no way I'm going with you to Zaofu." Lin rejected outright, yelling.

Akashi scratched the back of his head.

He thought that she wouldn't reject his proposal of accompanying him to see his in-laws and invite them to their wedding—though they didn't plan one and weren't sure that they were going to have one.

Akashi, on one hand, wanted Lin to accompany him so that she could act as a decoy, allowing him to get his sister's in-law's husband and make him a double agent.

"Come on, Lin. Don't make me go alone." He replied.

"I understand. Your maternal side of the family is from there. You may want to invite them and all. But that has nothing to do with me." She shook her head. Then, she pointed to the scars on her face. "Do you know how I got these scars?"

Akashi nodded.

Lin paused, looking at him, confused.

"What… forget about it. How do you know? My mother destroyed the files." Lin asked. She was about to tell some sad story about her past. How she tried to stop her sister from getting involved with the triads. Yet, her little sister kept getting away with the crimes, and their mother let her do as she pleased without pushing her. Worst of all, when Lin tried to stop her little sister, the little sister attacked her back, causing Lin to have a scar. That scar reminded her every day about what happened.

And the fact that Akashi said he knew, despite her mother destroying the files before Akashi was even born, confused her.

Akashi rolled his eyes.

"Literally. You're trying to avoid your sister, and you're bringing up the story of the scar. I guess you had a fight, a serious one. And since you were a cop at the time, I guess she was just a young girl hanging around with bad boys from the gangs. She wasn't a gang member, because if she were, your mother's reputation would have been ruined by now," said Akashi.

Lin put her hands on her hips. "It's regrettable that you left the police. Otherwise, you may have made it to chief."

Even though she should be angry that he was inviting her despite knowing the truth, she was impressed. He could conclude as much from her asking a question.

"It's a loss for the city." Akashi nodded, crossing his arms.

"So, you still want me to pretend that I'm on friendly terms with my sister?" asked Lin. "If I saw her, I will fight her."

Akashi walked to Lin, placed his hands on her arms, and nodded. "That's the spirit."

"What? You want me to fight with my sister?" Lin thought that she had some hearing problems for a second.

Akashi nodded. "Yeah… and I will fight with someone there as well."

If he learned something about Lin, it's that honesty is the best policy.

Despite knowing that he had been hiding a few things and concluding that he had some schemes, she had always stood by his side. Even if she had shown disapproval sometimes, she had his best interests at heart. As for her sister, Lin was a good-hearted person. In canon, only after one fight, she had let the past go. She was that kind of person.

Lin tightened her gaze. "Spill the beans."

"I'm not eating anything." Teased Akashi.

"What is happening in Zaofu?" She asked.

"There is a guy in your sister's palace," Akashi replied. "And he's working with the Order of the Red Lotus. The city your sister founded has someone supporting Zaheer. If you know or not, your sister may be in trouble."

Lin clicked her tongue. "You should have said that earlier instead of putting me on an emotional roller coaster. If you had said it's just to catch an international terrorist, I'd go. There is no need to be involved with Suyin."

"But if you saw her, beat her up." Akashi raised his fist.

"What are you? An evil spirit?" Lin gave him a smack on the back of his head.

Akashi just chuckled.

Lin raised her eyebrow. "And why aren't my hits affecting you?"

She bumped her fist to his chest, before shaking her hand. "You got tough."

"That reminds me, my mother-in-law is Toph." Akashi said.

Lin rolled her eyes.

-x-X-x-

"What are you looking at?" Lin asked, her breath calm as Akashi dragged her along with his flying ability.

"The name of the traitor," Akashi said, looking through the files again. "Your brother-in-law, who founded Zaofu city with your sister. The city bank accounts were used to make transfers that aided the Red Lotus Order in the past. The ones with access are him, your sister, and the counselors."

"And you are planning to go there to unravel who. Are we going to interrogate them?" Lin smiled. "In that case, I can use my lie detection technique."

"I was planning to use a different interrogation method." Akashi said.

"What method?" asked Lin.

"The ones the triads used." Akashi replied. As he had been with the triads, he knew some of their methods. Beating the guy into pulp to make them know you mean business, before threatening to cut a piece of their body. The fact that they were beaten would scare the shit out of them to say anything. And since they wouldn't have time to think of lies, they would say the first thing that came to their mind. Most of the times, the first thing that comes up would be the truth.

Lin rolled her eyes. "I expected better, since you were a part of the police force before."

"Yeah, I would have used my previous methods. But they take time." Akashi shrugged. Then, he stopped, sensing the city in front of him.

Slowly, he closed his eyes, and focused on a sound wave that passed by. From it, he could sense the whole city's shape.

It had high buildings. Metal trains. And technologies that work by using metalbending.

This city was mostly made by metals, and it didn't have to use the earth methods to achieve it.

"That city is amazing." Akashi commented as the city appeared in line of sight.

Lin rolled her eyes. "Can we just get down and beat everybody."

Both Akashi and Lin descended from the sky and entered, bypassing the gates and landing in the middle.

They appeared to be in the entrance of the city in what seemed to be a market for tourists.

"Don't land without warning me," Lin groaned.

"I did it slowly, though," Akashi replied.

But it seemed that doing it slowly had attracted attention.

People dressed in metal armors appeared. They dressed differently from the police force in Republic Cities, as they had green clothes under their armors.

"So, you're the police of this city," Akashi said.

"Who are you, and what's your purpose for entering the city?" The police replied, raising their guard. Their reaction was natural. After all, people entering flying to their city was a strange phenomenon. And humans would react aggressively toward the things they don't understand. It's in their biological program, which protected them from many poisonous insects and predators.

"Wait!" Another one rushed, his clothes different from everyone. "They entered from the air." He then turned to Akashi. "Are you from the Air Temple, Mr. Akashi?"

"Yeah, how did you know?" Akashi asked.

"We were expecting your visit for the airbenders." Said the guard. "Ms. Suyin is waiting for you already. But who is the woman next to you? She's dressed like the police force of Republic City."