| By Agent Slash | Genre | Rating | Reviews | Updates |
| More from Agent Slash | Crime/Noir | M | Positive | N/A |
I feel like people who pay attention to organized crime often wonder about what the most exciting part of it is. Whether it's the thrill you get from busting up a shop and taking the owner's money, or the rush you get from all the pai sho gambling. And I'd like to think the answer varies. But I always assume the answer is for most people what it is for me. Carrying out a hit.
Whether you take pleasure in killing other people or not, I don't think it can be denied that taking a hit out on someone is nothing short of exhilarating. You may have some feelings of guilt or maybe a little somberness after you've finished whacking the guy. But I dare you to find a time when your heart is beating faster than in those few short moments when you're giving it to 'em.
However, that was only a fraction of what that particular job actually was. Most of it was usually spent waiting in a parked car somewhere near wherever the target was located, just waiting for the guy to show up.
And if I had been stuck with any other person in Gun's crew, that wouldn't really have bothered me. All it took was one assignment with each member of the crew for me to finally be able to talk to them. But, unfortunately, tonight I was stuck with Yin. Y'know. Pain in the ass, never speaks a spirit-forsaken word, Yin. So, there was no chance of any kind of conversation taking place.
The place we had our eyes on was a whorehouse down in Dragon Flats which, thankfully, was our turf, so that eliminated the risk of any Agni Kai or Terra soldiers getting the jump on us.
No, that night's hit had nothing to do with the war that all four of the triads were waging against each other. Tonight we were targeting some small-time pimp who we found out had been withholding the money he owed us. We were supposed to making thirty percent off of whatever his usual income was, but it turns out his usual income had nearly tripled over the last several months. So, to put it simply, when Qin found out just how much money he was owed that this guy was keeping for himself, there wasn't even really a discussion. He just instantly decided this guy's ass was grass.
All we had to do was wait for the guy to come out. Lu and I had scouted the place out the past two nights, and we knew that he came out front every night around two for a smoke.
Lu was actually supposed to be here with me tonight, but seeing as how his grandson was apparently in the hospital, I got stuck with Yin at the last minute. I couldn't be mad at Lu, I guess. I just wish they had stuck me with Chi Pa or Kyoko instead. Anyone but Yin.
Then, right as the candle we had in the back seat gave us the two flashes that signified it was two o'candle, we saw the pimp emerge from the brothel and head down the steps that led to the sidewalk.
He was pretty much what you would expect. Some pale, sleazy-looking asshole with a gross, ink-black goatee and combed-down dreadlocks, which were almost completely covered by the dazzlingly bright white fedora that rested on top of his head. His most notable feature, though, was the rainbow-colored monstrosity of an overcoat that he had draped over himself. It was fur too, so that made it look even more tacky.
It really kind of made me sick to think about what he probably did to the girls he had working for him. I could tell just by looking at him that he was one of those types that made sex only about him too. I hated guys like that. Plus, he just seemed like a real sleazebag.
Once he'd taken out his cigarette and started puffing away, Yin had decided it was time for us to make our move. "Follow my lead," she said, in her usual monotone voice.
As usual, I complied without uttering a response, and followed her out of the car. The two of us casually made our way across the street, with me looking both ways first and Yin just pressing straight forward. Then, once we got to the other side of the street, Yin approached the pimp, with me following close behind.
"Hi," Yin said, in a voice that sounded nothing like her usual self. "This is the sixty-fifth street brothel, right?" She sounded like some rich airhead who had never done anything like this before in her life. She also threw in a dash of nervousness to her voice that made the whole thing seem a lot more convincing. It was amazing to me how she was always able to seemingly change her personality in an instant.
"Yeah," said the pimp, in a voice that sounded like it belonged to a nineteen-year-old. "What's it to ya?"
"Well," Yin started. "It's me and my sister's birthday today. We're twins, and-"
"Twins?" the pimp interrupted. "Y'all don't look the same to me."
"We're fraternal twins," I piped up. "That means we're twins that don't look alike."
"Alright," the pimp replied with a shrug. "Continue."
"Well, anyway," Yin said. "It's our birthday, and, like, even though we always play it safe and do the right thing, tonight we said to each other, you know what? We're gonna take a risk and do something wild! So, we'd like to book two rooms in your brothel please. An hour each."
This caused the pimp's face to light up like a neon sign. I didn't even wanna imagine what he was picturing us doing to his girls in his head. The pervert. "Damn, alright!" he said. "You two ladies wanna play for the other team! That's hot. I dig it. Alright, lemme just show you inside."
The pimp then turned to lead us up the steps and into the brothel. The instant he had his back turned, Yin and I were ready to strike. Yin was gonna knock him to the ground with a water blast, and I was gonna earthbend the steps into spikes that would strike clean through him. Two simple moves.
We waited until we got a few steps up, then, just as Yin was about to lay it on him, the sleazy asshole stopped and turned back around to face us. "Yo, just one thing before we head inside," he said. "You guys aren't cops, are ya?"
"What?" Yin replied with a chuckle. "Uh, no, of course not. Do we look like cops to you?"
"No. I guess not," said the pimp. "But I can't just take your word for it, can I?"
"Trust us," I chimed in. "We're not cops. If there's any way we can prove it, we will."
"Well," the pimp grinned, reaching his arm out towards my hair. "There may be one way you two ladies can prove it."
I reacted the moment his disgusting, grease-ridden palm made contact with my hair. In a moment I was actually kinda proud of in hindsight, I unloaded on the pimp with the swiftest, most badass back-handed slap to the face you had ever seen, ironically called the pimp slap.
Not wasting a single moment now that the jig was up, Yin leaped into action and drowned the pimp in a torrent of water, nailing him in the torso and forcing him back against the steps.
Then I sent two earth spikes straight through his chest, causing a horrible choking sound to spew from his throat, along with a splash of crimson-red blood.
"Let's go!" Yin ordered, booking it back down the stairs and towards the car.
I followed her right after and ran as fast as I could back down those steps, then hopped into the driver's seat as Yin got in on the other side. Then I put the car in gear and slammed my foot down on the gas, screeching away like a soaring eagle hawk.
"Good job being so quick on the draw," I said.
"I could've been quicker if you hadn't slapped-" Yin started before the sound of a metallic clunk rang through the air.
"What the fuck was that?" I asked.
"It sounded like you hit something," Yin replied.
I knew that we hadn't put very much distance between us and the brothel yet, but my natural instinct was to get out and check to see what I'd hit, so that's what I did.
I regretted it when I saw the bruised and bloodied body of the man I'd hit with my car.
He was a bald guy who was a little hefty, but not fat. My theory was that he was on some kind of weight-loss regiment, and had was close to finally getting it done. Once I set my sights on that lifeless husk that, just moments ago, had a soul inside it, everything else in the world just stopped existing. It was kinda like in a play where all the lights go down and there was a spotlight just shining on me and the body. But rather than give some huge theatrical reaction, I just stood there staring down at it for a moment like I was in a trance. No real thoughts went through my head during that time. Not a lot of feelings either. I just a felt the strongest sense of disbelief.
Then the spotlight disappeared and the stage lights went back up as Yin came bolting out of the car and knelt down to pick up the body. "Come on! What the fuck is wrong with you?!" she hollered at me. "Help me get him in the trunk!"
Finally understanding the reality of the situation, I bent down and, with a bit more effort than I was expecting to have to use, picked up the deceased pedestrian and lugged him over to the trunk. Then we slammed it shut and hauled ass back into the car before speeding away into the night.
The creaking metallic sound of the trunk of our car opening startled me when it rang through the air behind the Triple Threat hideout. Obviously I wasn't paying attention when I opened it before, but damn, did that thing need to be oiled.
What startled me even more was the gruesome sight of the corpse we'd thrown back there. His mouth wide open, his eyes bulging out, and his mangled limbs that were in places they shouldn't have been able to reach. It took everything I had to look down directly at him and not let anyone see the way I felt about it.
Just a few seconds after opening the trunk, however, Qin put my immense feelings of guilt to rest. "Oh, thank the spirits," he said. "It's just Ryo."
"Who's Ryo?" I asked.
"One of B. D. Kai's associates," Qin replied.
B. D. Kai. That was the name of the pimp. I had forgotten it until Qin reminded me. B. D. stood for Big Daddy, by the way.
"You said he had a paper bag in his hands when you hit him?" Qin asked.
"Yeah," Yin said.
"Then he was probably just coming back from a food run," Qin deduced.
"So, we didn't hit a civilian?" I asked.
"No," Qin replied. "Or else we'd be doing some serious damage control right now."
Then it occurred to me for the first time to ask a certain question I'd been wanting the answer to. "So, how come we had to put him in the trunk again?"
"I have a policy about killing civilians. If a one is ever caught in the crossfire, I have whoever's responsible bury the body up in the mountains as punishment."
"But since it wasn't a civilian, we can just toss him into the river, right?" Yin asked.
"No," Qin said. "You girls' reckless behavior could've just as easily resulted in a civilian getting killed. You were lucky it was this loser instead."
"So, what does that mean?" Yin queried.
"It means you better start packing," Qin replied. "Because you two are taking a trip up to the mountains tomorrow."
"Why do I have to go?" Yin asked. "Song was the one driving. Not me."
"Hey!" I replied, shooting her an annoyed glare. The fucking nerve of that bitch.
"Because I said so!" Qin shot back. "As far as I'm concerned, you're both at fault. Now go home. Get some rest. You're leaving tomorrow."
Then, without even turning to acknowledge me, Yin stormed off too, leaving me all feeling like a complete and total screw-up.
Then Qin turned to go back inside himself, but before he left, I managed to ask him one more question. "Hey," I said, prompting him to turn back around. "What makes you think he was out on a food run?"
"I used to have to stand guard in all sorts of places just like him," Qin answered. "Usually with a crew. At some point, one of you is gonna have to go on a food run. It's what gets you through the night."
Then the Triple Threat boss finally made his way inside, leaving me totally alone out back. Only the frosty, Republic City air was there to keep me company until I finally got home.
After a twenty-minute train ride uptown, I arrived back at my apartment. The whole train ride there, I was just dreading going on this trip tomorrow. Especially considering it was with Yin. As if doing a job together wasn't strenuous enough, now we were gonna have to spend upwards of two whole days together.
But then, once I got off the train and started walking, I figured, hey... at least it was spring. During the fall and the winter, the mountains were always coated with snow, and that was half the reason I dreaded going up there so much. But it was springtime, so there was one positive at least. Sure it was always cold at night, but I could deal with that pretty easily.
Something that was less easy to deal with, however, was the horrific sight on the other side of my door once I opened it.
I snapped back instantly, throwing my hands over my face in terror once I saw Hideki laid out on the couch with a magazine in his hand doing... y'know.
He sprang into motion in an instant, attempting to stand up, but instead flopping onto the floor with his pants around his ankles.
"Fuck's sake, Hideki!" I cried out. "What is the matter with you?!"
"You said you weren't gonna be back until ten!" Hideki replied, pulling up his pants and re-fastening his belt. "You can look now," he added.
I took my hands away from my face and turned my gaze back to the teenage orphan. "Geez, Hideki, where did you even get that magazine?" I inquired.
"I got it from the news stand downstairs," Hideki replied. "With the money you gave me earlier."
"That money was for food," I said.
"We had enough food here," Hideki shot back.
"Alright, well, anyway," I said. "I'm gonna let this go, but please don't ever let me catch you doing that again."
"I can't take care of my business ever?" Hideki asked, incredulous at the idea.
"You can do it however much you want," I replied. "Just don't let me catch you doing it. And at the very least, have the decency to do it in the bathroom."
"Fine," Hideki said. "I'm sorry."
"If it brings you any comfort," I said. "You'll have the whole house to yourself for the next couple of days. You could bring a tigerdillo up here if you wanted and I'd never know it was here. Y'know, assuming you know how to cover it up."
"What do you mean?" Hideki asked. "You're leaving?"
"Yeah, I'm leaving town tomorrow for work," I replied. "I won't be back till Thursday."
"Where are you going?" he asked.
"It's in Hu Xin City," I answered, having prepared all the details for my cover story on the way home.
"Oh," Hideki said dejectedly.
It really broke my heart a little bit to see that he was upset over me leaving. But at the same time, it felt kinda nice to see that he felt so close to me now. Having him around could be a little bothersome at times, and, when you really looked at it, him living in my apartment was more than a little peculiar. But something about it just made sense, y'know? There was some kind of connection there that neither of us spoke on, but we both knew was present, and that connection was what always assured me I had done the right thing by taking him in. To me, it felt like I had a little brother in the house. I assumed to him I was a big sister.
"You gonna be okay by yourself for a few days?" I asked.
"Yeah, I'll be fine," Hideki said rather defensively. He probably thought I was coddling him. "I just feel like lately you've finally been working less than you used to. Now you're off on some two-day-long retreat?"
"I know," I said. "I promise though. Once I get back, we're gonna make up for lost time."
"I know," said Hideki. "I don't want you to think I'm clingy by the way," he added. "Like I'm some kid who can't stand to be alone. I actually prefer being by myself. I just really like having you around."
All I could do after hearing a statement that warmed my heart in such a way was to let out a short "Aww," before adding, "I like having you around too, buddy. And I know you're not clingy. You're not a little kid. You're a teenager. I just know you don't have anybody, so... I'd like to try and be there for you as much as I can."
"And I'll always be thankful for that," said Hideki.
"Alright. Enough of this mushy stuff. I've gotta go pack," I said. "Go ahead and start making plans for tomorrow if you want," I added, jokingly. "I know a guy who can get you a tigerdillo if you want. And maybe even an armadillo bear."
"He's gotta be able to get me a hippo cow or the whole thing I have planned is ruined," Hideki joked back.
"Ooh, damn," I said. "He doesn't have access to hippo cows. Oh, well. That's a shame. I guess you're gonna have to settle for not tearing up my apartment."
"Aw, darn," Hideki replied. "Maybe another time then."
After letting another chuckle escape from my lips, I sauntered off into my room and took out a duffel bag from my closet as I began to pack for the journey ahead the next day.
Y'know, when I got in the car with Yin the following afternoon, I figured there wouldn't be much talking involved on our way up to the mountains. But I thought surely there would be at least one fucking exchange of words at some point during the two-and-a-half hour car ride. That's what I got for giving her the benefit of the doubt, I guess.
By the time we finally reached our destination, I was ready to fucking kill myself due to boredom, but seeing the place we were staying in did brighten up my spirits a little bit.
It was a quaint little cabin on a mountainside that sported a breathtaking view of the landscape that surrounded us. Staring off the mountainside into the gorge that lay below was something I could've done all day, and something I planned to do a lot of given the extensive amount of time we were gonna be up there. I just thanked my lucky stars again that it was spring and I could actually enjoy all of this. Coming up to the mountains wasn't something I got to do often. I was so used to the hustle and bustle of the city, so being up here was pretty much like being on the other side of the world. In a good way, of course.
It had been two hours since we'd gotten to the cabin, and Yin had wasted no time getting straight to work. The bitch had us out there digging no more than fifteen minutes after we stepped out of the car.
What pissed me off more than anything was that, per Qin's instructions, I couldn't just open up a hole in the ground by earthbending. No, no, no. We had to be taught a lesson. Stupidest fucking bullshit I'd ever heard in my life.
And after two fucking hours, the two of us had finally finished digging the grave. I was so exhausted by the time it was over, my arms felt like they were about to fall out of their fucking sockets. I didn't even feel like lifting the guy out of the trunk and tossing him into the hole, a fact I very plainly let Yin know. "That's it," I wheezed. "I'm done for today. We can put him in tomorrow."
"Or we could just do it now," Yin said.
"We don't need to do it now," I insisted. "There's no point anyway. We don't want him lying down in the hole in plain sight in case anyone walks by."
"Who's gonna walk by?" Yin asked, a pinch of irritation cracking the barrier monotony in her voice. "There's miles and miles of mountain around us and nobody even knows this place is here."
"Then throw him in yourself if you care so damn much," I retorted without caring enough to raise my voice. "The sun is gonna go down in, like, an hour, and I wanna sit out here and watch it set."
Then, without waiting for a reply, I threw down my shovel and walked over to the edge of the mountainside. After taking a seat and fixing my eyes on the horizon, I just sat there and gazed out at the marvel that was the landscape that lay before me. The dips and curves. The majestic peaks that pierced through the clouds and defied the idea that they couldn't reach past the stratosphere. And so much green sprawling out for miles and miles, it was enough to cause a sensory overload. I was so tranquil in those moments, which I rarely ever was anymore, even if I had gotten used to my life of crime.
Then, in a moment I never could've anticipated, Yin sat down next to me and locked eyes with the setting sun herself.
She didn't say anything. She barely even moved. And the two of us just sat there looking out into the horizon until the sun finally went down.
An hour later, I weirdly enough found myself in a position where I was sitting at the dining room table, waiting for Yin to finish making our dinner. I had no idea she even knew how to cook.
But sure enough, after fifteen minutes of waiting in my room, and ten minutes of waiting in the dining room, there she came to the table with a bowl full of stewed sea prunes.
"I didn't know you could cook," I said, breaking the silence that'd had us in its grip ever since we'd finished digging the grave.
"Why would you?" Yin replied as she placed the bowl on the table. Her snarky demeanor was actually starting to test my patience now, as opposed to just being aggravating.
"That's a good point," I replied. "Why would I know that about you? Why would I know anything about you? You hardly ever say a single word."
"Yep," said Yin rather bluntly as she took a seat at the table herself. "That's me."
Then she began to devour her sea prunes, and silence once again enveloped the house. There was a brief moment where I knew I should've just let it go and leave it at that. That I should've just allowed the lack of conversation to persist. But something inside me told me to press further, and I'm not proud to say I didn't really try that hard to ignore it.
"You think maybe you could change that about yourself?" I remarked.
"Look, just shut up and eat your prunes," Yin responded instantly. "Okay?"
"I mean, seriously," I continued. "Not only would it not kill you to speak, it wouldn't kill you to show any kind of basic human emotion either."
"If you had been through what I've been through-" Yin retorted.
"Oh, you've been through some rough stuff, huh?" I replied. "I don't know if you remember, but the only reason I'm here is because I got abducted by you guys and had my life ripped away from me."
"What do you want from me?" Yin shot back, finally letting herself sound irritated with me.
"I want you to stop being such a bitch to me," I said. "What the fuck did I ever do to you to make you treat me this way? Huh? To have you constantly treat me like I'm a burden and to undercut my emotions with your snarky comments?"
"Oh, so you think I'm out to get you?" Yin said. "That's it, huh? You think I get off on putting you down?"
"I never said that," I replied. "But, yeah, it sure seems like it."
"Grow up!" Yin spat. "I talk to you like I talk to everybody else. It's not my fault if your feelings get hurt. And you're acting like I've never saved your ass either."
"Saved my ass?" I asked, incredulous that she was making bullshit up at this point. "Oh, you mean the night when we drove around killing people and you did nothing but cover your own ass whenever we got in a fight?"
"No," Yin said. "I mean just last night when I failed to mention to Qin the reason you hit that guy we've got out there in my trunk."
I took a pause before responding, unsure of exactly what she knew. "What do you mean?" I queried.
"I mean you were drunk the whole night, right down to the moment I left the headquarters," Yin said.
Fuck. I had absolutely no idea that she even knew that. But it was true. I had been drinking at Gan's nightclub from the early afternoon to the early evening, and it carried over through the rest of the night until I finally sobered up during the train ride home. It was embarrassing that my recently formed drinking habit was seeping over into my work, to the point where people noticed.
"How did you know that?" I inquired.
"Qin may not be able to tell if a person is drunk, but I can," Yin replied. "You weren't very good at hiding it."
Then there was another pause as I began to contemplate something that I put into the form of a question a second later. "Why did you cover for me?" I asked.
"Because, believe it or not, Song, I'm not out to get you," Yin answered. "I'm blunt with you because that's who I am, and I'm not going to change that. I don't speak, because I don't want to, and that's not gonna change either. And I've covered for you when I had nothing to gain from it and a lot to lose. So take that into consideration the next time you think about calling me a bitch."
With any interest of carrying on this conversation having left her, Yin rose from the table and made her way over into her bedroom, taking her bowl of sea prunes with her.
And I'll admit it. I actually felt pretty bad about myself for the rest of the night.
We began finishing the job around eleven the next day. We would've gotten started sooner, but I insisted that I be able to have some fucking peace and quiet before we got started. Something I could tell Yin was annoyed with me about.
A part of me considered apologizing to her about the things I said the night before. But I knew that if I did, she would get all snippy with me and throw some snarky bullshit back in my face, thus reminding me why I said those things in the first place.
It wasn't like there was a whole lot of tension anyway. This was just kind of the nature of our relationship at this point, if you could even call what we had a relationship. We didn't care for each other. We didn't hate each other either. We each had qualities that annoyed the other, and we simply tolerated them until we couldn't anymore. Our intolerance would range from passive-aggressive remarks to enraged outbursts, depending on the situation. And that feeling was the best way to sum up the atmosphere that enveloped us as we began our work for the day.
After I finished my breakfast, the two of us walked outside to Yin's car, which we had parked backwards, right in front of the grave. Once we popped open the trunk, the stench of the now three-day-old corpse hit us smack in the face like a wave aimed at a pro-bender. I sincerely hoped it would stay down in the hole so that I wouldn't have to stop myself from gagging the whole time we were out there.
"Alright, you got him?" Yin asked.
"Yeah," I replied. "Let's hurry though. He's really heavy."
"Alright," Yin said. "One, two, three."
Then we lifted Ryo; that's right, I remembered his name, out of the trunk and lugged him over towards the grave, his weight pressing down on me more and more by the second.
All I took were two steps back before I suddenly felt myself sink into the ground like I was in a fight with an earthbender. The time it took for me to fall and crash into the floor of the grave was no more than an instant, and in that miniscule amount of time, I'd found myself reeling six feet underground with what felt like a sprained ankle.
"Ah, fuck!" I shouted, clutching at my ankle in agony. "Fucking shit! Damn it, I'm so fucking stupid!"
Next thing I knew, Yin was already on her way down a set of ice stairs she must've bent. She immediately knelt down to inspect my ankle, which I didn't really understand. What did she need to know? That it hurt and I couldn't walk on it? No shit.
Then she got back on her feet and extended her arms towards me. "Here, I'm gonna lift you," she said.
"Can you even-" I started, unsure if she even had the strength to carry me. "Yes," she replied. "Don't argue with me. Just let me carry you inside."
Realizing that it was best not to argue, I let myself be lifted off the ground. Then I let myself be carried up the stairs and into the house like a bride into a honeymoon suite.
Embarrassed as I was, though, by my helpless condition, I was more just surprised by how strong Yin was. She managed to get me all the way into the living room without even breaking a sweat.
Once we got inside, she delicately laid me down on the couch, then instantly left me alone in the room while she went back outside.
"Hey!" I called out, assuming she had gone back outside to finish with the hole. "May possibly have a broken ankle over here! I'd appreciate it if you'd actually help-"
"Song, I swear," Yin said, rushing back in with two plastic bags in her hand. "If you don't shut your mouth, I actually am gonna leave you in here until I've finished filling in the hole."
"Okay, I-" was all I could respond with.
"I'm serious," Yin said. "Not one fucking word. You got it?"
I nodded my head in understanding, choosing to ignore the irritation I felt towards her tone.
"Here," she said. "I'm gonna prop your foot up on the arm of the couch." Then she did exactly that, causing me a great deal of pain in the process as the shooting pains in my foot intensified. She then took the plastic bags she was carrying, and put one inside of the other, before bending a bit of ice out of the air and directing it into the inside bag.
Then she put the bag full of ice up against my ankle and began making her way into the kitchen. "I'm gonna get you a towel," she informed me.
Then, after a brief moment of silence, she came back with a tan washcloth that she proceeded to place over my foot.
"Hey," I said. "Am I allowed to say thank you?"
Yin simply nodded and said, "Yes."
"I'm sorry about what I said last night," I said. "I know you're not heartless. I could tell on the night that we killed those four people that you understood why it was wrong. I could tell you felt bad about it. You just... you have a way about you, Yin. Just this cold, icy exterior that makes people think th-"
"I said you were allowed to say thank you," Yin butted in. "Not to spend ten minutes telling me what you think of me."
Before I could lash out at her with a scalding, piping-hot rant that I was ever-so-eager to get out after being cut off by her yet again, she managed to calm me down once more with her following statement.
"But I'm thankful you did anyway," she added. "Now just stay here. I'm gonna go finish filling in the hole."
Then she walked back out the door, leaving me to once again contemplate the meaning behind her words, as I so often did. Normally I would've spent an hour analyzing it, running through every interpretation that went through my head, and seeing if it made any sense. But this time, it was actually very simple. She meant exactly what she said. Of course, there was zero emotion in her voice when she said it, so you couldn't really tell, but I knew it was sincere. She never would've said a thing like that if she didn't truly mean it.
But rather than try to convince myself that she was my new bff and that just maybe we could become friends, I just decided to savor the moment. Because I knew there would come many times in the future that she would piss me off again, both a little and a lot. There would be times where I wanted to scream at her until my voice gave out, or just straight up kick the shit out of her, and vice versa. So no matter what happened from that point on, I decided to let myself enjoy the fact that, in at least one instance, she showed some compassion towards me.
By nine o'candle the next morning, the two of us were finally out of that house. By ten o'candle, we were winding our way down the mountainside in Yin's car. Me in the passenger's seat with my foot up on the dashboard, and her sitting in the driver's seat. In the hour that had gone by since we'd left, Yin didn't utter a single sound. Big shock, right?
I actually didn't mind it for once though. Partially because the landscape was so gorgeous to look at, and partially because the thought had occurred to me that conversation with Yin would be torture anyway.
So I just opted to sit in reflective silence and ride that emotional wave until we got back to Republic City.
It was funny though. Because just as I had managed to finally appreciate the quiet, Yin had to come along and bludgeon it to death with a club made of words.
"How did you kill Khan?" she asked me point blank, with absolutely no build up whatsoever.
The suddenness and severity of Yin's words made them feel like a bolt of lightning. They were spontaneous, attention-grabbing, and only took half a second to completely shock you.
Without even the faintest idea of how to proceed, I just did the best I could by replying, "Excuse me?"
"You heard what I said," Yin replied.
Still shocked and growing more offended by the second, I tried as best I could to carry on this conversation. "Qin told you what happened, right?" I queried.
"Yeah," Yin said. "He told us you killed him under the Silk Road Bridge. But how?"
"I don't think that's any of your business," I said.
"It's the whole damn triad's business," Yin said. "It's the reason we're in a war right now."
"Actually," I interjected. "We're in a war right now, because Slippery Suji couldn't keep his mouth shut at the peace summit."
"Regardless, I wanna know how you did it," said Yin. "You're a good fighter, but you're not good enough to beat Khan."
It was a challenge for me to answer her, because I didn't want to drag Gan's name into this. He had already been through enough after that whole ordeal. He didn't need his name getting spread throughout the Triple Threat Triad like a disease. So I decided to tell her a different version of the truth. "He didn't know I could bend two elements," I explained. "I caught him off guard with my firebending, while he was expecting me to earthbend at him."
That seemed to satisfy Yin. Mostly. She still had one more question for me. "And why did you do it?"
For some reason, that was the question that instantly made me flip my shit. Something clicked in my brain that filled me the fury of a typhoon and caused me to spew figurative fire at her like Sozin's Comet had come back.
"Why the fuck does it matter?!" I roared at her. "Why the fuck would you ask me something like that out of nowhere?! You know what happened! Everyone in the whole damn Republic City criminal underworld knows what happened! We were dating, and I didn't know who he was, so he made me a target! Fucking shit, Yin! What's the fucking matter with you?! Honestly, this is why you have the reputation that you do!"
"I'm aware of that all that," Yin said rather calmly. She wasn't even slightly fazed. "Tell me why you said no to him in the meeting. And don't give me anything about being too proud. I'll know it's a lie."
"You want an answer?!" I bellowed, completely unrestrained by what I was willing to disclose. "Fine! Then maybe somebody in this fucking triad will treat me with some respect! I did it because I wanted to make him hurt! I wanted to repay him for the way that he made me feel! I wanted to stand up in that room, look him straight in the face, and see his reaction when a woman of all people, a woman he thought he'd had in the palm of his hand the whole time, defied him in front of all of the leaders in the business he had so much power in! Now does that answer your fucking question?!"
Then I finally relented, allowing my breath to return and my face to lose its purple shade. And as I sat there watching Yin, awaiting her reaction, I actually saw the most mystifying thing I had ever laid eyes on. The most microscopic of grins take shape on her face.
"I'll be honest, Song," she said. "I was really unsure whether you had it in you to actually make it in this business. But now... it's clear you've got the stuff."
It was a test. That whole thing was just a test to gauge me. To see if I really had a backbone or not. She had probably been waiting the whole trip to do that. She probably planned it at the last moment so that we wouldn't have to talk anymore after that.
That clever bitch.
I just hoped I gave her the answers that she wanted. I didn't know anything about having 'the stuff' or not. I was still fairly new to this business and still had a lot to learn.
But through this trip, I had already earned the approval of the coldest bitch in the Triple Threat Triad. And that definitely counted for something.
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