Chapter 36: Chapter 35
After the police had taken Tarrlok and Amon, Chen and Korra went back to Republic City with the police chief. Beifong was silent all of the time. She only crossed her arms and glared at Chen occasionally.
Whenever her stare took a long time, he would just smile slightly at her. She didn't glare angrily as she would; she would just turn her head and exhale deeply.
Chen concluded that the police chief was acting nicer to him now. She didn't seem to hate him to the bones as she had been. Well, it's not like she did. She was just treating everyone else that way. Maybe, it's because she is angry at someone.
Now that they landed in Republic City, Chen and Korra gave their reports of how things went.
"So, you have achieved your revenge," Beifong said. "You know that it's illegal what you have done."
Chen leaned backwards on the chair. "I'm a hero in fact. If I didn't stop him, everyone including you will lose their bending. Amon would be the most powerful."
"Yeah, a hero who broke Amon's wrist, burned one hand, and broke his face that it's hard to recognise him anymore," Lin said with sarcasm. She placed her hands on her elbow and let her face closer to his.
"Pretty much what happened." Korra crossed her arms. She then whispered to Chen's ear. "You look like you are in trouble."
"Well, I can say it's not satisfying. Too bad I haven't been there when you kicked him." Lin smirked. She seemed to like what Chen had done to Amon. From how her hands twitched, he could tell that she wanted to do that same.
"So, am I in trouble?" Chen asked.
"Are you?" She asked back.
"Why are you asking me." Chen raised his eyebrow.
"Forget it." She held the report in her hand and ripped it into parts.
'I feel that I missed something, I don't know what it is.' Chen thought, and he kept his idea to himself.
"You are free to go," Beifong said. "But before you leave, remember this. I keep my eyes on you. Behave like a bad boy, and I'll punish you."
Rolling his eyes, Chen sighed and said. "Fine mommy, I'll behave well."
He was mocking her. He knew that saying that would piss her off. She usually would reply with something like she isn't his mommy, and he would say that he isn't her boy.
"That's a good boy," Lin said.
'Huh?' Chen turned his head. His eyes were wide open, and he felt something was missing. The nearest person to see his face was Korra. She was holding her laugh. She was on the verge of crying when she looked at Chen's expression.
Taking a deep breath, Korra held Chen by the arm and made him stand up. She turned to the police chief and said. "Thanks for everything."
Lin glared at Korra and clenched her teeth. The avatar was scared for a second. She quickly left with Chen.
-x-X-x-
Chen and Korra stood outside of the police station. Chen held a coffee cup and a cigarette. It was a long day, and this was a good way to finish it.
"I thought you didn't smoke."
"I have this, no harm is done."
Chen put his hand on his stomach, green fire moving inside his body and healing it.
"So, does your girlfriend know about this?" Korra asked, putting her hands behind her back.
Now that Korra mentioned it, he started thinking of stopping it. He would definitely quit smoking. Smoking doesn't fill your pocket, nor make you rich. His fiancee does.
"You seem to be interested in her." Chen turned to Korra. He decided to ask her a question. "Do you like her?"
Korra's body shivered, and her eyes opened widely. She stared at Chen in disbelief. Avoiding his eyes, she joined her fingers together.
"Chen. I didn't mean it like that… I, I only liked boys so far…" she then looked at him dead in the eye. She regained her confidence and asked. "Why are you asking that? Why do you think that?"
"Relax. I'm just joking. You should have seen the look on your face." Chen decided to tease her. "Seeing how you reacted to my joke, I thought you like both genders."
Well, given how she was portrayed in the TV show, she did.
Or it could be that Mako was so bad at dating, that any girl that would date him would turn gay.
At any rate, Chen wouldn't let Korra steal Asami from him.
But if she wanted to join, she's welcome.
Blushing slightly, Korra turned her face. "And you are still joking?"
"Of course, ms obvious." Chen patted her shoulder and held it firmly. He decided not to embarrass her. Secrets such as sexuality and preferences are very private.
One shouldn't try to know them — unless they were planning to use them to blackmail.
She put her hand on his, which held her shoulder. She hugged it closer. She shook her head. "Forget this topic. At any rate, we make a very good team."
"Yeah, we crushed those equalists." Chen nodded. Korra played huge merit. She had used her waterbending with his lightning bending, allowing them to knock out a large group easily. It gained Chen a lot of experience.
"That was fun." Korra smiled in a way Chen found cute. "Yeah, listen. Wanna hang out sometimes. I mean, I'm new to this city, and I don't have many friends, besides you and my teammates. Tenzin is all about meditation and boring training. I can hang out and say that I'm training.
"Sure." Chen nodded.
He wasn't a very social person. But he didn't mind hanging out with people. It would be a routine breaker.
Asami was his favourite person to hang out with. Korra, on the other hand, was the best training partner he ever had.
-x-X-x-
Chen sat on the couch, facing Hiroshi Sato in his office.
Chen had moved to his new home officially, which belonged to Asami. Using the engagement as an excuse to meet Hiroshi may be the best decision Chen even had made. Now that he and Asami are engaged with her father's blessing, Chen could start living his dream. Hiroshi may have thought that allowing Chen to live with them was a good idea to keep eye on him. But he'd never realise that he gave Chen his dream.
"So, you beat Amon, by yourself."
Hiroshi was exhaling the smoke from a cigar. He stared at Chen's face happily.
"Yeah." Chen joined his hands together and leaned forward. He stared at his future father-in-law with a serious look.
"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" Hiroshi titled his eyebrow. "You can't possibly think of getting rid of me, since now you took care of Amon?"
"No." He replied. "Now that the equalists are done for, the police would investigate their technologies. That would lead to you."
Chen was worried about what may happen to Hiroshi in case the police found out about him. Asami's heart would break, and that pissed him off a bit. He didn't know why he felt that way. But he did anyway, and he didn't seek a reason. Moreover, Sato's company would be harmed, and Sato's family's financial state would decline. And thus, it would harm Chen's financial state.
"You scared me for a second." Hiroshi smiled and said, "Don't worry about that, I removed the evidence that lead to me. I've blown up my secret factories. Thanks to your warning, they didn't get my other technologies." Sato stood up and gave his back to Chen. "Do you know what's that?" He sounded excited to brag.
Chen put a leg above another and leaned on the sofa. He found it very comfortable.
"Let me guess. You developed plans that can fly faster than airships."
Hiroshi turned his head to Chen, eyes wide open.
Chen smirked. "Given your expression, I guess you are right."
In the show, Asami was shown to be smart. But her father was more genius than she is. In the animation, he created many technologies that made the non-benders way stronger than the benders. If Hiroshi wasn't imprisoned, he may have created giant robots or whatever.
"How can you be so confident?" Hiroshi exhaled a long sigh. "Don't answer me. As long as my daughter is safe, I'm good. Just make sure to protect her."
"Don't worry. I would sacrifice your life to protect her." Chen nodded.
Hiroshi smiled. He then realised that something was missing. He stared at Chen and raised. "Hey! Why mine? What about yours!?"
Chen clicked his tongue.
He wondered what Asami would feel if her father and fiancee are both criminals. Her father used to be with criminal organisations. And Chen had annihilated a gang and took their money.
No wonder the two of them were getting along. Both were criminals.
"At any rate, you have no place to go tonight." Hiroshi pointed his finger at him. "Let's drink in celebration."
"Yeah, let's celebrate." Chen nodded.
But then, an idea stroke him. An evil one that would be a crime against Hiroshi's good intentions.
If he pushed Hiroshi to drink so much, the man would sleep too early.
He and Asami then won't have someone to watch over them in this big mansion.
Pointing at Hiroshi, he said, "Yeah, but I have to warn you, I only drink with real men and chicks. And real men can drink non-stop."
It would be good to provoke Hiroshi to sleep early.
"Oh, you have to be a real man yourself first." Hiroshi looked back at Chen with a challenging glare. "I bet you can't go more than four glasses."
"I bet that you can't go more than four bottles."
"Talk about yourself. People like you are used to cheap wine." Hiroshi crossed his arms.
The door opened. The two turned their heads. Asami entered, eyebrows raised.
"What you two are yelling about?" Asami smiled as she walked in. Standing next to Chen, she bent down and kissed his cheek, before sitting next to him.
"Ah… nothing." Chen smiled wryly. Asami looked at him suspiciously. Chen resisted his urge to exhale a sigh and kept smiling.
"I feel there is something happening between you two." She looked between her dad and Chen. "What are you two hiding."
For real. If her intuition was this strong, then Chen would have to be more careful around his wife. Did he just call her wife? Well, time flies so fast.
"It's nothing, my dear," Hiroshi said. "I was just inviting him for drinking. I have to know if I can trust him with you. That's why I'm going to test him."
"Oh, that's so." She turned to Chen, leaned to his ear, and she whispered. "Make sure that he gets knocked out before you. My father can't handle more than 2 bottles."
"For real?" Chen titled his eyebrows. When it comes to drinking, both Chen and Joseph had good endurance. Before coming to this world, Chen used to drink at least 7 bottles on bad days. 10 on good ones. He had been an indebted gambler, and cheap drinks were his best friends.
"Don't miss the point." Asami winked.
Realising that she was invited him to sex, he nodded.
"Let's turn on the radio, for now." Hiroshi swept his forehead, and he turned the radio on the table.
"And now, with the news. Avatar Korra has taken care of the equalists. It was revealed that Amon is a bloodbender. After finding out about it, the equalists were leaving their organisation. It appears that they were a part of a major plot between the councilman and Amon's plans to take over the city.
"Avatar Korra thanks the pro bender Chen who helped her save the city from an evil plot."
'I helped her… it's more likely she helped me.' Chen shrugged. The credit wasn't important to him. This way, he wouldn't be too famous, and no one would annoy him. What's important is what he has.
"So, you helped the Avatar." Asami crossed her arms. "Didn't I warn you? I told you that you need to take me to fight with you if you were going?"
"You said what?" Hiroshi opened his eyes widely. He was worried, his forehead sweating.
"Oh come on father. I have been practising martial arts since I was this short." She pointed to her knee. She then turned and looked at Chen.
Chen wrapped his arm around Asami's waist, his hand making its way down. When he touched the softest spot, Asami opened her eyes widely. Her face flushed red.
"Sorry, I forgot." Chen smiled, his fingers sinking in her flesh. "So, you used to practise martial arts. It means you are very flexible."
"Ahem, ahem." She faked a few coughs as her flush got redder. She pointed with her eyes to her father, who was focusing on the radio.
Chen smiled at her.
Later that day, Chen took a nap in Asami's mansion, in his new room. The mansion was so large. It had many unoccupied rooms. Seeing how far he was treated here, he was very satisfied. The bed was very big and comfortable. After that, a servant came to him with tea and cookies and asked him if needed anything else. Chen excused him and enjoyed his small snack. While tasting the expensive tea and the melting cookies, he felt emotions surging.
'This is the life that I wished for, in my two lives. But I was born an orphan and was adopted by my drunk aunt. who used me to buy groceries and run away without paying, leaving me as a guarantee to the seller that she would come back. I was left alone, and I had to do whatever I've done. Being born in crimes city didn't make things better.' Chen laid down. 'Not having to fight, kill, steal and stab in the back to survive… somehow, feels pretty relieving.'
"This cookie is so good that it made me rethink my life." He shook his head at his childish ideas. Although he liked this situation, he knew that nothing would last forever.
'It means that I have to fight to keep this lifestyle. This world is dangerous. Although almost everything would fall on Korra's shoulder, there's no guarantee that I won't be affected indirectly.'
Chen clenched his free hand into a fist.
He'd fought so hard to achieve his dream, which is living a slacker life — secretly it could be his desire for some safety.
Now that he got a mansion, a pretty girl, and money, he realised that he has to fight to keep these things.
Fighting for his dreams means that he won't live them.
What a ridiculous life.
"Okay, the avatar solves things with balance. So here is how it would go. I train for 1 to 2 hours a day, except at the end of the week, and I'll laze around the whole time."
He yawned. This is the life he wanted. If anyone threatened it, he would kill them with cold blood.
*Knock* *Knock*
Chen turned to the door when he heard the knocks. With his thermal vision, he could tell it was the butler.
"Come in."
The butler entered. He slightly bowed. "Lady Asami is inviting you to the pool."
"Tell her I'll be there in one minute," Chen said. Standing up, he smiled. "Or don't, I'll tell her myself."
----
AN: I am taking a break for a few days. It can last up a week.
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