Chapter 9
Asami walks into Future Industries, with Li's lunch in hand. The first thing she notices when she walks in, is the same guard, who had been knocked out and thrown in the bathroom, sitting behind the desk.
She walks over to him. "Hey, Ban. Didn't Li tell you? You can take a few days off. Paid."
The big burly man, smiles up at her from his seat. "No can do Ms. Sato. I feel perfectly fine, so there's no reason for me to take any amount of time off. Plus I gotta redeem myself, for letting those punks sneak up on me."
Asami sighs. There's no arguing with him. If he felt fine enough to work, who was she to tell him otherwise? It's not like she owned the building or anything.
"Well alright. Just take it easy, okay?"
"No such thing as easy!"
Asami shakes her head lightly, as she enters the elevator. She waits patiently for the doors to open, and when they do, she steps out. She looks at Li's empty desk and then to her office door. Standing before the door, she knocks. She can hear Li chuckling, from the other side, before calling her in.
"You know, this is your office right? You don't have to knock." Moving from behind the desk, she meets Asami for a hug. "How are you feeling?"
They pull apart, both sitting on the small black sofa, lined up against the wall of Asami's office.
"Better. I'm already feeling the difference. I got a good amount of sleep last night. And not nightmare filled sleep either." She says, happily. "You were right, I did need a break. Thank you so much. Not just for this, but for everything. I don't know where I'd be without you." She says, gratitude and love filling her words.
Li pulls her into another hug. "I can't let you run yourself completely ragged. Yasuko would never forgive me." She pulls back and settles into her seat. "Now. Where's that lunch you were talking about?"
Asami hands her the bag from Narook's. "Anything to report? A lot can happen in a day."
Before speaking, Li takes a gracious mouthful of rice into her mouth. "Mmmm. Nothinb much. Bunch-a-lebbers." She says, around the rice in her mouth, gesturing to a large pile of letters on the desk.
Asami rises from the couch and walks over to the stack of envelopes. She reads the name on the first one, and her expression blanks. She quickly checks the rest of the envelopes, and confirms they're all from the same person.
"How could he send so many at once?" She whispers, not expecting a response.
"Maybe you should see him." Li suggests, shrugging when Asami looks at her.
"What?"
Asami isn't sure, if she heard Li correctly, or if she's just losing her mind. She can't be serious. Right?
"I'm serious." Oh. "Just think about it. You wouldn't be doing it for him."
A sound somewhere between a laugh and a scoff, escapes her throat. "And who would I be doing it for? Me?"
Li sets her rice down and looks Asami in the eye. "Look, I know you want nothing more to do with him. But even now, he's causing you pain. I think if you see him, and tell him how you feel, you'll feel a lot better down the line."
Asami looks at the envelope in her hand, as if it has all the answers. She respects Li's opinion, she really does, but she can't stand to think about her father. Much less see him face to face. And besides, she's perfectly fine. Just a little stressed.
"I don't need to see him. I'm fine." She says, a little too harshly.
Li simply points to Asami's side and looks at her skeptically. Asami lowers her eyes to see her fist clenched so tightly, that it's trembling. She opens her hand, but the slight tremble remains.
"Asami…" Li starts, softly. Asami's head still snaps up, regardless of Li's soft tone. "You owe it to yourself, to be happy again." She grabs Asami's hand, effectively steadying it. Asami meets her gaze again, and she can see all the emotions, swimming in her eyes. "You shouldn't keep this bottled up. You are one of the strongest people I know, but everyone has a breaking point. Please, think about it. That's all I ask."
Swallowing harshly, Asami nods. "I will." She walks towards the office exit, but stops before leaving. "Thanks again, Li. Love you." And with that, she disappears down into the lobby.
Li, releases a sad sigh. "I love you too, Asami."
Asami sits in her car, with her head resting on her fist, arm leaned against the door. Her eyes are glazed over, as she lets her memories consume her.
"I know it sounds crazy Asami, but we have to check it out." Mako says, while holding her by her shoulders, trying to make her understand.
He had just told her that her father was making weapons for The Triple Threats. She hadn't taken it well. Who would've? It hurt him to see her so wound up, but if what his source told him was true, she'd never forgive him for keeping it a secret.
Asami looks at Mako, and can tell he's serious. He wouldn't try to hurt her, if he didn't really believe that something was going on. But she can't give up on her father. Not with everything that's happened to them. She still has faith.
"Maybe it's a misunderstanding. There's no way." She shakes her head, refusing to believe what she'd heard.
Chief Beifong steps in, moving deeper into the house with her officers. "Then you have to nothing to worry about. We'll search the place, and if nothing comes up, we'll leave."
Folding her arms across her chest, Asami bites her tongue. She supposes it's a fair deal, but she still doesn't like it.
After following them around the whole house, they end up in the entrance again, right where they started. She looks from Mako to Chief Beifong, and Mako has an emotion of relief and nervousness on his face at the same time.
"Well? You've checked the entire house, and found nothing. Can you leave us alone now?" She huffs, clearly irritated.
Chief Beifong isn't deterred in the slightest. She looks around the room suspiciously. "Where is your father now?"
Asami rolls her eyes. "In his workshop, behind the house."
Lin motions for her men to follow her, and they head of the back of the house. They cautiously walk toward the building, entering and searching. At first glance it just looks like regular workshop, but there's something wrong. Hiroshi is missing.
Asami steps forward and looks around worriedly. "Dad? Hello?"
Lin and her men continue searching the shed, until she finds something odd. Inside of the remains of an old car, the entire interior is missing. She opens the door to the car, and beneath it is a tunnel, leading deep underground.
Looking at the opening to the tunnel, Asami is shocked, confused, and hurt. The Chief orders her men, down the tunnel, and Asami starts to follow.
"Nuh uh. You stay here. You keep an eye on them." She motions to a nearby officer.
She disappears down the tunnel with her officers. Back above ground, Asami tries to keep her mind off of her father, but is failing miserably.
Thankfully a loud noise, from the tunnel, attracts her attention. "What the?"
"We need to get down there and see what's going on." Mako says looking down the tunnel.
"Absolutely not. You're staying put until the Chief comes back." The officer, tasked with guarding them, says.
Asami looks at Mako, and gives him a small nod.
"Alright we'll stay put, but-" He's interrupted by the sound of Asami crying. He looks in her direction, and she's crouched sobbing hysterically. He rushes over immediately. "Hey, are you-"
"Don't touch me!" She says, shoving him violently.
She almost feels bad for him, when she sees the look on his face. Almost.
"This is all your fault!" She rushes toward him with her arm cocked back, and in the last second, turns onto the officer, and delivers a swift kick to his head.
He slumps over and they tie him to a barrel.
"Sorry pal. We know you were just doing your job."
Asami turns to enter the tunnel once again, but is stopped by Mako. "Asami you should stay here. I'll check it out."
"I have to find out the truth about my father." She says shaking her head.
Mako is about to protest again, but the look in her eye leaves no room for him to do so. "Alright. Just prepare yourself for whatever may be down there."
Her unexpected flashback is interrupted, by the sound of her name being called. She looks over and Rin, a young engineer she works with often, is standing by her open window.
"I'm sorry. What did you say?"
Rin frowns slightly. "I asked if you were okay. You had this… spacey kinda look on your face."
Sighing, Asami forces a smile for her friend. Rin's a sweet girl, and Asami doesn't want her worrying about her. "I'm fine, thanks. Where are you headed?"
Instantly, Rin perks back up. "Oh! I'm just going to get something to eat while I'm on my break. What about you? Are you leaving?"
"Yeah, I'm taking a brief vacation. I'll be back next Monday."
"That's great! I was really worried you'd overwork yourself. You deserve a break." She smiles sweetly at Asami.
"Thanks." She's grateful that Rin had come when she did. That memory wasn't even the worst one, but it still hurt. And thinking back to those times, made her decision that much harder.
It's late noon, and even with the sun out fully, the wind still carries a bit of a chill. As Korra walks down the street, she zips her hoodie closed to fight against the slight breeze. Finally closing in on her destination, she steps into the building. Walking deeper inside, she looks around until her eyes spot an employee.
"Hey. I came by here last night for a job, and the guy told me to come back today." She says, still inspecting her surroundings.
The person she stopped turns around to face her. He easily towers over her, maybe a few inches taller than Asami. He looks at her with a droopy expression on his face. "Mm. Did he tell you his name?" He says in a slow, lazy drawl.
Korra unconsciously takes a step back. "Um, no. He just told me to come back today and I did."
"Uhhhhhh, well… I just clean up the vomit around here." He shrugs. "You can wait for him or something."
Korra is about to respond, when he just walks off. "What the hell? Now what?" She looks around again, and sees the opening to the section with the go-karts. Maybe she can find some help put there.
Walking toward the sound of revving engines, she's suddenly stopped by a firm hand placed in the middle of her chest. "Did you pay?"
Korra shoves the hand off of her, resisting the urge to laugh at the man's surprise. "I'm not here to ride. I just need help."
"No entry without payment." The man says, crossing his arms over his big chest.
Korra contemplates her choices, and decides that angering him won't be good, since they're in public, and this guy is huge. "How much?"
"Depends on how many rides." He shrugs.
Releasing an exasperated sigh, she rolls her eyes. "One."
"Ten yuans."
She reaches into pocket, freeing her wallet. Pulling out a crisp ten she hands it to him.
He shakes his head, refusing the money. "You gotta pay at the line." He points over her shoulder.
Turning around, she looks at the line and groans. There are at least twenty people in line. "Come on!" She groans out. "Can't you just let me pay here? I'm not even riding those things!"
He glares down at her. "No. If you want to go in, you have to pay like everyone else."
"You know what, screw it. I'm sure there are other employees around here." Just as she's about to walk off, another voice joins the conversation.
"What's going on here?" The random voice asks, a bit irritated.
Turning back to the conversation, she sees the same woman from before standing there, glaring at the giant idiot. What was her name? "Kuvira?"
The girl in question, looks over and her face breaks out into a grin. "It's you again. Korra, right? What's going on?" She motions to the giant behind her.
"I was looking for somebody to help me. This guy wouldn't let me back there without paying, and when I tried to pay him he still wouldn't let me in. So I was about to look somewhere else when you showed up."
He puts a giant finger in her face. "You should follow the rules. Go wait in line lik-"
Kuvira interrupts him, swiping his hand away, much like Korra had earlier. "It's alright. She said she needed help, so I'll help her." She turns her attention back to Korra. "So what's up?"
Just as she's about to answer, she sees the man still glaring at her. She sticks her tongue out at him, satisfied by his obvious anger. "I talked to a guy yesterday about a job. He told me to come back today and here I am."
Kuvira's grin returns. "A job, hmm? When can you start?"
"As soon as possible." Korra shrugs.
"Well then, you're hired. Follow me." She walks back out, toward the track. Korra follows until she's stopped, once again, by a giant hand on her chest.
"You can't let her back there! She still has to meet with the boss and fill out her application."
Korra releases a low growl in her chest. She's had enough of this idiot. Grabbing his hand, she gives it a twist, leaving his wrist at an awkward angle, and forcing him onto his knees. He yelps in pain, struggling to free himself. Korra can feel an enormous amount of strength in his frantic jerking movements. There's no doubt in her mind, that if she didn't have his hand in her grip, she would be in for the fight of her life. Even with his wrist in this dangerous position, his jerks and pulls only get stronger, forcing her to release him, otherwise he'd have broken it himself.
Once his hand is released, Korra backs away and falls into a defensive stance, preparing for the fight she's sure is about to happen. The giant rises to his feet, and flexes his hand a few times before turning to face, Korra.
She braces herself, sure he's about to charge her, when Kuvira bursts out laughing. Korra looks at her with confusion written all over her face.
Bent over, with her hands on her knees, Kuvira struggles to catch her breath. "You idiot. You deserved that." She straightens back to her full height, wiping a tear from her eye. "You and everyone here knows that if the boss isn't here, which he hardly ever is, I'm in charge. And besides, this is more of a test run. But by the way, she just put you on your knees, I'm sure she's more than capable." She walks off, motioning for Korra to follow, still chuckling.
Korra does so, without another word, or look in the guy's direction. They end up in a smaller building outside by the track, where she saw the karts come from the last time she was here.
"Here put this on." Kuvira tosses her a dark gray jumpsuit. "You can change in there."
Turning to where she's pointing, Korra steps into the room. Oddly enough, it's a locker room. She quickly changes clothes, putting the discarded clothes on top of the furthest locker.
"Why does this place have a locker room?"
Kuvira walks toward her. "You won't believe what type of stuff kids want us to hold for them while they race. We figured it'd just be easier to get them lockers." Once she's close enough, she does a once over of Korra's uniform. "Hmm. That looks better than I thought it would." She says, seemingly satisfied.
Korra can't fight the lopsided smirk, forming on her face. "Oh yeah?" She does some poses, flexing her biceps.
Moving even closer, Kuvira leans into Korra, causing her to stiffen. Once there are only a few inches separating them, she reaches behind Korra and grabs a stack of papers from a table, just behind Korra's legs. Having obtained the papers, she backs away, giving Korra her personal space. "I don't need to see your muscles. I saw enough when you kicked Koen's ass." She says, with a small smirk on her lips.
Korra scratches the back of her head. "Sorry about that."
"I don't care. He's an idiot." She shrugs. "Anyway these are the rules, and the stuff you'll be doing around here. Read them. Memorize them. Once you're sure you know what to do, and don't need these papers anymore, come get me." Korra accepts them from Kuvira's outstretched hand, and Kuvira disappears back outside towards the track.
Taking a seat in a dusty old chair in the corner, Korra looks over the papers. The work didn't look too hard. It was mainly a bunch of safety precautions she had to ensure the customers followed. And since she wasn't very good with cars and machines, half of the rules didn't apply to her. The most she'd have to do with the karts is change a tire here and there, or refuel them.
Once she is sure she's memorized all there was to know, she sets the papers back on the table and stands from her seat. Before she can even take her first step, a faint noises catches her attention.
"Psst."
She looks around but sees nothing. Moving closer to where she think she heard the sound, she hears it again but louder this time. Ending up back in the corner with the chair, she looks around again, confused.
"Psst."
She looks at the chair and tilts her head to the side slightly. "What the?"
Looking around once more, she slides the chair over slightly, and to her surprise, there's a hole in the wall. But what's more surprising, is what's inside the hole. Or who.
"It's you!" Korra says, excitedly.
"Yeah it's me. But be quiet. What are you doing here? In a uniform?" The orphan boy asks, suspiciously.
Korra checks their surroundings once again before answering. "I'm investigating. Something isn't right about this place."
"Wow, really? I never noticed." He glares at her. "You can't be here. If you're here I can't work."
Hearing that makes Korra's face drop. That means they'd run out of money. She knew it'd happen eventually, but was hoping he didn't have to come back. At least until she started her investigation. It seems she was too late.
"When did you start robbing again?" She asks
"Almost a week ago."
"Dammit."
She lowers her head, formulating a plan. After a few seconds, her gaze returns to his and she's smiling. "Alright I've got an idea. I'm assuming every time you rob someone, the money goes to The Tripe Threats, right?"
"Yeah, then they gimme a cut."
"Exactly. I'll give you some more money right now, so you can actually have a decent amount, after they tax you. But you should continue doing the robberies, so they don't get suspicious of me. It wouldn't look good if every time I showed up, you disappeared for days on end. I'll pretend to try and catch you, like the rest of the employees do I'm assuming, and we won't ever speak in public."
The little boy thinks over her plan, then finally looks up at her, with a twinkle in his eye. "That might work."
Nodding her head, she reaches into her jumpsuit and pulls out her wallet. She hands the boy a few bills."This is all the cash I have right now. I'll have to go to an ATM to get more. Come back tomorrow and check this hole."
He shoves the money into his pocket. "Thank you."
"No problem. I've gotta go now." She leaves the room and searches for Kuvira, outside by the track. She spots her standing by the railing, watching the race.
Kuvira notices movement out of the corner of her eye, and turns her head in that direction. She spots Korra coming to her, and checks her watch, surprised.
"It's only been seven minutes. You memorized it already?" She asks, skeptically.
Korra shrugs. "Yeah. It wasn't too hard."
The racers zoom by them, and the red light shines, indicating the final lap.
"Well, then now's your time to shine. Get ready to set up the next race."
A/N: Shout out to Ban from seven deadly sins. I had to borrow your name bro. Oh and Rin from Naruto, too. Rip