Akashi crossed his arms, standing in front of the large council, with the city's president leading it.
In this large room, he noticed that each council member had a large table in front of them, and the distance between them was considerable.
The tables were arranged in a way that surrounded Akashi and Lin.
He wondered about the practicality of having such a large room if only five people were occupying it. Perhaps they were planning to have more council members in the future as the population of Republic City grew.
Anyway, ignoring the fact that they were there for questioning, it seemed that someone was more shocked than the others.
Tenzin, as the air councilman, looked at Lin with a dumbfounded expression. It said that in millions of years, he would never expect such a thing to happen.
"Lin. How could you? He's only twenty years old," he said, his tone betraying a hint of shock.
"And?" Lin raised her eyebrow and scolded back. "Your wife is 16 years younger than you! Don't talk about going after young people."
She was one year younger than Tenzin, her ex, who had left her for a very young woman. And that had been ten years ago.
And now, he was trying to talk to her as if she had done something that should never have been done, while he had been the one to do it first.
In fact, she didn't feel that she needed to explain anything.
It had happened, and so it did. She had no regret.
"And, Akashi. You, how could you. She's as old as your mother," said Tenzin, pointing to Akashi.
Tenzin must have felt betrayed after almost giving his two daughters to Akashi… just as soon as they grew up. Well, they had less of an age gap than him and his wife.
Akashi gave him a side glance.
Tenzin must just be feeling jealous.
He then looked forward, and a blank expression took over his face.
"It naturally happened," he explained. "We're humans, working under stress for the safety of Republic City."
Tenzin sighed and continued, "Still. I can't help you in this, as you have broken the law."
The Fire Councilman said, "Even if it naturally happened, Sergeant Akashi. You're still bound by the law you are representing. And it prohibits you to have a relationship with your colleagues, or supervisors, out of marriage. You and the chief aren't married. And she's your direct supervisor. No matter what department you go to, many of your colleagues would link any achievement you had to the fact that you had a relationship with the police chief."
The Earth councilman added, "I can excuse the sergeant, for he is young and vigorous. But Lin, you are already old enough to understand the dynamics."
A few nods echoed from everyone.
A mocking sneer appeared on Akashi's face. It was obvious that this was just a political matter where Lin was their target. Nobody had pressured him further, and they turned the blame to Lin.
"For now, let's give Lin a chance to redeem herself and retire early," said the president of the city. "You're not allowed to date your employee. And you definitely don't want a word to come out."
Lin lowered her head, and she clenched her fist in frustration.
"Yeah… about that," Akashi raised his hand. "Lin did nothing wrong."
"You're only to speak when you are spoken to," said the president. "Or else, you can rethink about your promotion."
And here it was. Applying pressure on him indirectly by using the promotion to shut up and let Lin take the blow. They even made it obvious here. They must think that he would be too excited to accept the promotion that he would leave Lin under the bus alone. Or he would be too afraid and would lower his head and shut up his mouth.
But truth to be told, Akashi had lived a life already. And he had his youth in front of him.
Akashi continued speaking anyway. "I'm not her employee because I have already signed my assignment. It's already within the HR."
In this world, Akashi would be the main reason why employees should hand in two weeks' notice before resigning.
Lin looked at him with wide-open eyes. "No. You didn't!"
"I and Lin can be in a relationship since I'm no longer a part of the police force, screw each other or not, nobody else's concern. I don't have a criminal record, so, that's fine," he declared. "I cannot use my relation to her as a leverage to take promotions or anything that other police would think of as an unfair advantage."
"But that doesn't change the fact that you got into a relationship," said the Fire councilman.
"It was after Korra's confession that the chief confessed her feelings to me," Akashi said. "I had resigned on the same day, and nothing happened before or after."
"But there are rumors—" he tried to argue.
"Are rumors conclusive evidence?" Akashi asked. "In that case, we can arrest 90% of the population based on the rumors."
"No. They are not—"
"I don't see a reason then," Akashi shook his head.
The president frowned and said, "Akashi. You realize if you are caught lying, that would be considered a breach of the laws by giving a false testimony."
"I do," Akashi replied.
Lin, who was expected to act angry, lowered her head slightly, eyes wide open.
"Lin Beifong. Is what he is saying true?" asked the president.
Lin clenched her fists. She didn't want to lie. Yet, she didn't want Akashi to
Yet, her voice echoed.
"Yes. It's true. I confessed my feelings out of jealousy. And nothing happened before other than me and him talking… I didn't expect him to resign, and I was planning to break up with him. But he resigned. I don't see if it's anyone's concern what's between him and me. It's not a breach of the law. And each one of you can mind their own business."
She didn't say that. Yet, it was her voice that echoed. Akashi, who could bend the sound now, could silence her, and manipulate his own voice, even without opening his mouth, to make it sound like she was saying something.
She opened her eyes widely. The same for everyone.
"I didn't say that…" she said.
But somehow, her voice reached no one.
Instead, what echoed was.
"I did say that," Akashi said with her voice, without opening his mouth.
And since she was the one who stood nearest to him, she could tell that he was the one who spoke. Not to mention, she was standing with bare feet, so that she could understand the intents of the council better.
Yet, what she understood was that Akashi was taking the whole thing on his shoulders, throwing his career under the bus. By now, she knew that Akashi was manipulating the words that got out of her mouth. More importantly than knowing when he could manipulate the sound, there was the fact that he was throwing everything he had, for her sake.
She wanted to say that what he said was a lie.
But she couldn't.
Akashi had given a false testimony. And he could face 5 to 10 years in jail because of that alone.
Akashi gave her a few pats on the shoulder.
"I can understand that. Though, you didn't have to be so rude about—" the president spoke, but his words paused when Lin had tears accumulating on her eyes.
She said the one word that no one expected her to ever say.
"Sorry…" She then walked out of the room.
Akashi was left alone in the room.
There was some silence.
He broke it.
"So, you guys are going to fire me or not?" he asked. "Just you know, it's impossible to open an opened door."
"You're dismissed," said the president, his tone flat. He clicked his tongue, but couldn't say anything more than what had been said.
Akashi walked out of the room of the highest building in the city, calmly.
Why did he do that—taking the whole fall.
It had many reasons.
One, he didn't want to feel controlled by them.
Second, he had business and money that he accumulated that he needed to manage by himself.
And most importantly, if the chief stopped working, she'd stop wearing her heavy metal armor. Now, that armor was very heavy. And if she gave it up, she'd lose her muscles. Her skin's collagen would break, and she'd look like a weak old woman that he can't bend. So, to retain her beauty and sexiness, he had done that.
Akashi lit up a cigarette and walked out of the building. Then, he stopped as he saw someone in front of him.
"Why?" Lin, who stood before him, asked. "Why did you do that?"