Just as the semi finals match started, the door to the Sato box slid open. A pale, gaunt-faced man with a thin, black fu manchu mustache slipped in. Asami didn't recognize him and faced her father to ask who he was when she saw he'd gone a shade paler and his mouth was set in a grim line. "What are you doing here?"
"I was in the area and thought I'd stop by and say hello, Mr. Sato." The man's voice was low and gravelly and made Asami shiver.
"Dad," she said, leaning a little closer to her father.
She could take this guy out, she was sure, but she didn't want to fight if it was avoidable. Hiroshi stared at him for a long moment and Asami could see the internal debate play out across his face before he let out a sigh that sounded more like a hiss and motioned for the man to take a seat. Unfortunately, the only one left in the box was on the other side of Asami. She removed her arm from the armrest as he settled back into the chair. "Asami," her father said, resignation in his voice, "this is a business associate of mine."
She shook the man's hand politely, all the while forgetting about the match around them. From what she could hear, it sounded like her friends were getting tossed around royally.
The man studied her with interest, though it wasn't the same look she was accustomed to. He was sizing her up, not leering at her, and that made Asami even more nervous. Shutting down creeps was easy; impressing business partners, well, she was still learning how to do that from her father. She sat a little straighter.
"I heard you designed and built your own moped. Handles better than Cabbage Corps. newest model they put out last week," said the man.
Asami glanced at her father, who merely nodded, before addressing the man. "That's because I didn't use paperclips to hold the steering column together."
The man laughed. "She's got fire as well as brains, Hiroshi. I can see why you speak of her so often."
"I'm very proud of her." All the warmth was back in his voice and it comforted Asami.
If he knew about her, this was a man obviously had frequent dealings with father. She planned to ask but an internal pressure swept through her back and Asami shivered a little. It was followed by a dull throb in her upper left arm. Her hand shot to the spot reflexively, and the man frowned. "Are you okay, Miss Sato?"
"Soul mate," she said curtly. "Whoever they are, I've felt the consequences of their actions for a long time now."
"Yes, despite my wishes, Asami's match is probably some brute prone to scuffling," Hiroshi laughed beside her, though it was humorless.
When she turned back to her father, his eyes were tight, but they didn't stray from the action in the ring. Was he actually watching the match? No, she could see the gears turning in his head even though his eyes followed the movement of the players. Asami opened her mouth to speak when her chest flared for a second. She gasped and suddenly her father was looking at her, a mix of concern and pain in his eyes. He was frowning deeply.
"I'm okay," she assured him, patting his knee.
Hiroshi looked back to the ring, then to her. "Did you catch that play?"
Asami shook her head. She was too busy watching him, worrying about him, and if she told him that, he'd say she was being silly and had nothing to fret about. "No, I missed it."
Her father sighed and Asami noticed how his fingers flexed out of a death grip on the armrests of his seat. His lips were pressed in a hard line again, but he sank back into his seat as if exhausted. "Ah, well, it was a bad move on the Avatar's part."
His comment made Asami peer down at the ring only to see Mako and Bolin splashing into the surrounding water. Asami frowned. The Fire Ferrets weren't doing as well as she hoped. What happened over the last few days to make them play like this? The announcer even voiced how unlikely a win was. But then, Korra moved. Or rather flowed.
The man tried to strike up conversation with her again, but Asami tuned him out, instead watching as Korra flipped across zone one in an incredibly display of agility, dodging all three elemental attacks hurled at her. No matter what they did, the opposing side couldn't touch her. They started showing their fatigue while Korra looked like she hadn't broken a sweat.
Asami stood and, like she'd done so many times in the past, found herself gripping the railing of the box. Ten seconds left in the match and Korra finally slid into an attack stance, pulling a large volume of water from the bending tank to her left. She wasn't going to make it. The Fire Ferrets were going to lose if Korra didn't do something. Five seconds left now. "Hurry, Korra!" Asami shouted.
Her heart beat fast as she watched the other team got pushed into a line. Then, Korra crouched low, twisting her arms and waist, and blasted the water straight at the player closest to her. It hit him in the chest but the water carried forward under the Avatar's urging, forcing all three challengers back off the edge of the ring.
Asami swore her heart stopped. The whole arena was silent for half a second and Asami could hear herself let out a hard breath. Then, chaos. Everyone in the stadium seats was standing, screaming, throwing banners and pennants and food into the air as the ring announcer said, "Knockout!"
A shout of excitement left her lips and Asami sprung up. She'd never seen a play like that in all her years watching matches here. Vaguely, she was aware of her father saying something to her, but Asami didn't care. She had to find Korra and congratulate her because that play…just wow. Asami walked quickly down the hallway to the flight of stairs that would lead down to the locker rooms, trying to look less like a crazed fan girl and her more prim and proper self.
When she reached the room, all three teammates were celebrating in a huddle. Though a little breathless, Asami still managed a, "Congrats!"
Even Korra beamed at her and something stirred inside Asami as blue eyes locked on her. Without realizing what she was doing, she found herself in front of the Avatar, reaching out and touching her lightly on the shoulder. They weren't really friends; they still hadn't talked outside of these little meetings after matches. But Asami wanted to change that, so she smiled as brightly as she could when Korra raised an eyebrow at the contact. "That was amazing, Korra! I've never seen a hat trick like that." She gave the shorter girl's shoulder a squeeze and was surprised at how hard the muscle was beneath her fingertips.
Wow, Korra's kind of ripped.
Said girl blushed a little and Asami found it endearing. "Thanks, Asami. But hey, if it weren't for you, we wouldn't even be here, so…thanks." The crooked grin she flashed was adorable and Asami had to look away, lest she stare.
"Hey, hate to break this up, ladies, but could one of you get a healer? Wounded warrior here." Bolin gestured to the already deep purple bruise on his shoulder.
"I got this." Korra's eyes were on Asami again, lingering for a second before she shrugged out from Asami's grip.
She was glad Korra stepped behind her so she couldn't see her pale face burn. How long had she been touching Korra's shoulder? Probably too long, considering they could hardly call each other friends. Ugh, so embarrassing.
Something sloshed behind her and when Asami searched for the source, she saw Korra wielding a sphere of glowing water. She watched in interest as the Avatar swirled it around Bolin's bruise, which was already beginning to lighten.
Then her brain kicked into gear and she suddenly wasn't seeing the room she was standing in anymore. Instead, it was like her schoolyard daydream all over again, only this time, instead of some rugged, nameless, dreamy man, it was Korra's hands on her, working the healing water. When her mouth caught up to her brain, she was thankful she only blurted out, "You're a healer?!"
Ok, so maybe Asami wasn't that bad, Korra thought as she settled onto the bench with Bolin, healing water at her command. The way the girl gushed over Korra's hat trick had heat rushing to Korra's face. It was pretty cool, but she hadn't expected Asami to care so genuinely. Then again, if she hadn't been so stubborn about hanging out with the taller girl, maybe she'd have found that out sooner.
And then Asami maybe sort of felt up Korra's shoulder, which was confusing on multiple fronts. When she first saw Asami, she'd been envious, she remembered. Of course, most of it was because she had Mako on her arm, but a part of her recalled being impressed by the girl's makeup. Korra couldn't deny Asami was gorgeous, so it was totally flattering to think she might be checking her out. But on the other hand…what?!
Granted, Asami seemed to be very okay with PDA. She was always hugging Mako and mussing Bolin's hair. This was probably Asami's normal mode and Korra was having a hard time adjusting because she'd spent so much time ignoring Asami.
Then, Asami's urgent voice shattered her thoughts. "You're a healer?!" Korra jumped and cursed internally as some of the healing water splashed on her pants.
Asami's green eyes were wide and her mouth hung open, like she'd seen a spirit. "Er, yeah." Korra cocked an eyebrow. "I learned from the best: Master Katara."
"Th-that's cool." Asami coughed and smoothed her skirt, which was odd because it wasn't even wrinkled so far as Korra could tell.
The girl went glassy eyed, staring off into space, and Korra frowned. "Are you okay?" If Asami wasn't acting weird before, she definitely was now.
Asami jumped this time, shaking her head back and forth, which sent her wavy, black locks flowing around her face. "I'm fine. I just remembered something and," she bit down on her lower lip, painted a brilliant, bright red. "I have to go. Congrats again!"
Korra thought she was just going to leave but was surprised when Asami patted her shoulder lightly before walking past her and out the door. "What just happened?" Korra asked when she was sure Asami was gone.
Mako was busy putting his stuff into his bag and showed no signs of hearing her. Bolin just shrugged. "Beats me. You almost done with my shoulder? It already feels a lot better."
"Almost," Korra said, her thoughts already returning to Asami.
That was weird, right? Or was she reading too far into this? Aside from her mother, Katara, and Naga, Korra had no experience to draw upon when it came to talking to girls, let alone ones her own age. Maybe this was typical teen girl behavior: friendly with a side of flirty. Was Asami even flirting? Korra groaned. As if dissecting Mako's actions weren't enough to keep her up tonight already.
A dash of Korrasami to make up for the Makorra last chapter!
I had to wrap some things up in this chapter and the previous one, so thanks for tolerating it, guys. Things are going to pick up now, as I'm anxious to wrap up Book 1. And though my original plan was to remain mostly canon compliant, I'm going to break it. It's too difficult to maintain the basis of this au while following canon.
Also, it might be a few days before I update.