Chapter 36

One step ahead

"Are you serious, Asami?"

She put the stack of papers and textbook in front of Korra. "Yes."

Korra slouched into the pile and dropped her head onto the table. "Asami, if I had known that your whole plan to get back at Sentai was just me studying, I never would have gone through a six hour healing session just to fix my hand." She wiggled her arm in the air, though she didn't look at it.

"Aren't you happy that you can write now, though?"

The Southerner sighed and stared at her right wrist. "I guess."

"Just imagine, Korra. You walk into class, and he's got that smug little look on his stupid little face, and he tries to embarrass you by making you draw all these molecules, but you prove him wrong. You draw every single one perfectly. All he can do is stand there and look like a fool."

Korra pouted. "I think our definitions of 'getting back at' someone are a bit different, Asami."

"Would you rather I go to his office and shove everything off his desk again?"

She sat up and smiled. "Nope. I want to do it this time."

Asami chuckled and shook her head. "And how do you see that playing out?"

"Hopefully with a beaker of acid on his lap."

The engineer opened the textbook to the thirteenth chapter and placed it before the brunette. "That will get you expelled, for sure. This won't. Besides, we need to play this clean."

"And you think he's doing the same?"

"Not really, no. But until we start getting evidence, we have no case. So we may as well humiliate him at his own game."

Korra sighed and flipped through a few pages. "You're missing one piece of this puzzle, though, Asami."

The raven raised an eyebrow. "And what part would that be?"

"The part where I suck at chemistry." She closed the text and pushed it across the table.

Asami retrieved the book and sat beside the Water Tribe girl this time. "You passed the first exam, didn't you?"

"Barely. And look where that got me."

She put a pale hand around the tan shoulders next to her. "You're smart, Korra. And by doing this, not only will you humiliate Sentai, but you'll definitely be ready for the final. It's all organic structures –"

Korra groaned and slumped onto the table again. "But I'm so bad at this, Asami." Her voice was muffled.

The heiress guided the brunette into an upright position. She slid her palm across Korra's jaw and into her hair. Their eyes locked, their noses about half a foot apart. "You can do this." Her fingers traced patterns against the younger woman's scalp. "I believe in you."

"Thanks, Asami." The Southerner retrieved her friend's hand and pulled it away. She held it in her own, never looking away from those entrancing peridots. "But if you keep doing that, I'll fall asleep. If this is what's going to embarrass Sentai, then I really need to start studying."

Asami nodded. "You're right." She tried to twist towards the table, but Korra wouldn't release her palm. Their pupils met once more.

Her blue irises were gentle, as was the smile on her face. She got lost in those damn peridots with no hope of salvation.

Asami…

"Are you alright?" The raven waved her free hand in front of the Water Tribe girl.

Have I been staring at her this whole time?

A blush rushed to her cheeks. Korra turned away, letting go of the engineer with reluctance, to compose herself.

Come on, Korra. Get it together. You're good. You're fine.

So's she.

Of course she is – wait. Fuck. Relax!

Once she felt the heat leave her face, she returned with a confident, crooked smile, one that screamed 'I'm going to pretend like I wasn't just acting like a fool a minute ago'. "Let's do this!"

Asami, being the one with an eye for detail, as she always was, saw right through Korra's act. She chuckled, shook her head, and opened the text to chapter thirteen.

(-)

Korra walked beside Asami with exhaustion in her eyes and a limp in her step. While Urkoma was able to heal her hand, Korra's pain threshold couldn't withstand much work on her ankle for the past two sessions. It had been better than before, but not quite fixed yet. The brace was clunky, but it did the job and rid her of her need for crutches or even walking assistance from the raven. She rubbed her eye and yawned, her other palm clutching her bag to her chest.

They entered their chemistry lecture and took their normal seats. Korra sighed in relief when Kuru was nowhere to be found.

I wonder where he is.

Who cares? As long as he leaves me and Asami alone, then I don't give a fuck where he is.

"You ready for this?"

The Southerner stretched in her chair, snapped from her thoughts. Her movements were still drowsy. "Kinda, I guess."

Asami nudged her with her elbow. "You'll do great. You could pretty much identify and draw every molecule in that chapter."

"Yeah, but what if he gives me something that isn't in the chapter."

"Well, you could always tell him to go fuck himself again."

Korra smiled. "Really?"

"No, Korra. We're playing this clean, remember?"

She slumped in her seat and pouted her lip. "Yeah, yeah, I remember –"

"Good morning, class." Sentai murmured as he entered the room.

The students were huddled towards the front of the board, looking to avoid another confrontation with the older man. Silence fell among them when he spoke.

He set a stack of papers down on his desk before turning to his audience. His eyes skimmed over Asami's burning peridots and locked onto Korra's tired but determined pupils. The professor grinned and spun to the board. He retrieved a piece of chalk and twirled it in his fingers.

"Today, class, we will be continuing our lecture on organic molecules. We have two classes to make up for due to the ice storm, so I'm cutting out electrochemistry from your final." Sentai drew several structures on the chalkboard, complete with names and alternate arrangements. "As you know, this is the chair conformation. It's a basic representation of compounds with a cyclohexane base –"

"Asami. Why isn't he asking me any questions?" Korra whispered as she fidgeted for a pen in her bag, eager to start copying his fast-pace drawings to avoid missing vital information for the exam.

"Because the bastard was one step ahead of us. He got his satisfaction in humiliating you last class. I should have known that he wasn't going to try it again. I should have seen this coming." The engineer murmured, her grip on her writing utensil tight.

Sentai rotated away from the board and observed his students. Most of them were nose deep in their pads, copying the structures on the board. He locked onto the only scholar whose eyes remained on him; a pair of purple-painted greens. He held her scowl for a moment before smirking, marking his victory. The professor brought his attention back to his structures, ignoring the holes Asami shot into his back with her glare, and continued on with his lesson.

"Hey." A half-wrapped palm rested over her quaking hand. She tore her eyes from the teacher and focused on the oceans beside her. "It's alright, Asami. I'll kick his ass on the final." Korra gave the heiress a wink and a soft squeeze.

Asami grinned. "Damn right, you will." She took one last look at the brunette before copying the molecules on the board with an absent mind. She was still irritated, still thinking of ways to show up her professor, though the frustration was hidden behind her mask now.

You're smarter than this, Asami. You can beat him, without shoving all of the stuff off the top of his desk or pouring acid on his lap.

But wouldn't that be great?

The engineer shook her head to the thought of her and Korra wrecking his office.

We have to play fair, have to play clean. Not that he deserves it.

It doesn't matter what he deserves, what does Korra deserve?

She stole a glance at the Water Tribe girl, who was scribbling out an incorrect chair conformation that she drew.

She deserves the best. She deserves justice for what they did to her. But I'm not about to risk our academic careers over him. We've come too far for me to fuck up again. Don't worry. He'll slip, I know he will. And when he does, I'll be there to catch it.

Good luck with that. In the meantime, I'll be thinking of that acid.

Asami grumbled to herself and recorded the notes, too focused on her anger to pay attention to the lesson.

That would definitely get me expelled. Besides, what if it's not acid in those beakers? What if it's something else?

Like what?

I don't know. Something that isn't acid.

Then you'll need something stronger.

I'm not pouring chemicals all over him.

You don't have to pour them, just spill them a little.

You're starting to sound like Ko –

She blushed and took another look at the woman beside her. Though she was copying the board, Asami could see the boredom deepen in her blue eyes. She averted her gaze back to her half-empty sheet.

She's rubbing off on you.

I'm not trashing his office.

You're changing the subject.

I'm focusing on what I'm doing, and so should you.

And what exactly would that be?

She paused for a minute, not even sure what that would be, herself. She gripped her pen so hard that it almost snapped in her palm.

Just not Korra. And not Sentai. Just nothing at all. I want you to just stop talking.

Asami sighed in frustration, her thoughts too jumbled to clear. She would catch her professor's gloating eyes on occasion, sometimes holding his glare, other times looking away to prevent her own outburst.

Calm down, Asami. You're letting him get the best of you. You're letting your emotions get the best of you.

She took a deep breath and focused on the small amount of warmth on her leg.

Wait.

It wasn't until class was dismissed and her attention was snapped into the present that she realized Korra's left hand had been on her right thigh for the entirety of the lecture. She smiled and simmered to the palm against her pants, which was innocent and peaceful in its placement.

Innocent, and welcome.