Rokan was rushed into the house, supported by Sumi and Rin.
Jinrai, Anna, and Aiko stared wide-eyed at the sight. Rin and Sumi carefully laid Rokan on a long wooden table. His bloody clothes and visible injuries were extremely noticeable.
They all rushed over and surrounded him.
Anna stepped forward, her expression turning grave as she quickly scanned Rokan's body. He grunted softly in pain.
"This is serious," she said. "I'll need boiled water, some hydrogen peroxide. Alcohol if there's none. And get me a sterilized towel. We need to handle this quickly."
The others dispersed at once, moving quickly to gather the equipment she had asked for.
---
Some time passed. They watched from a respectful distance as Anna treated Rokan's injuries with practiced precision.
Jinrai stood close to Rin. Taking the opportunity, Rin asked quietly,
"Your wife was a nurse?"
Jinrai let out a sharp laugh.
"Well... You could say something like that. She was a military medic. Was always present during war conflicts..."
A proud smile crept across Jinrai's face.
"...She's seen her fair share of battles."
They fell silent for a moment, both facing forward.
After a while, Jinrai spoke again.
"What happened?"
Rin told him everything they had witnessed. A hint of worry appeared on Jinrai's face as he looked at Rokan, who was still in serious pain.
"How did you get out?"
"There was an emergency exit on the second floor. Didn't want attention to be focused on us... So we just left silently."
Jinrai nodded slightly.
---
Evening fell.
Anna and Aiko readied their things to leave. Aiko hugged Jinrai tightly.
"I'm gonna miss you, dad."
Jinrai pulled away, a small smile hiding behind the tears in his eyes.
"Y-yeah. Work hard and stay away from trouble, Okay? Don't end up like me."
Anna lightly slapped Jinrai's arm.
"Don't say that..."
She hugged him.
"You are an incredible person..."
She pulled away. Their hands remained locked as they held eye contact. Jinrai spoke softly,
"Well... If I'm so good of a person, my own daughter wouldn't despise me."
Anna stayed quiet. She didn't know what exactly to say. Instead, she gave him a reassuring smile and placed her hand gently on his cheek, staring deeply into his eyes.
"Good luck, Jin. And please, take care of the kids. They need you."
She pulled her hand away and turned to the others.
"See you some other time!"
She smiled warmly as she waved to them.
Rin and Sumi bowed in respect.
Anna and Aiko walked out of the house.
---
Late into the evening, Jung Gyu lay on his bed, staring upward, lost in thought.
*What did he mean by that?*
He kept replaying what Yuta had told him earlier that morning.
---
Earlier, while at the office, Jung Gyu had been at his desk, analyzing documents. Yuta approached with a strange, uncomfortable expression carved across his face.
Jung Gyu raised his head.
"Hey... What's wrong?"
Yuta hesitated. After a moment of internal conflict, he finally spoke.
"When I had that... Encounter with that third kid. He said something..."
Jung Gyu waited, leaning forward slightly.
"What did he say?" he asked.
Yuta paused before replying.
"He said... They know what we do to people like them."
Jung Gyu didn't know how to react. He looked down and murmured to himself,
"What we do... to people like them?"
---
Jung Gyu reminisced about those words as he stared at the ceiling of his room.
A figure moved beside him on the bed, wrapping warm arms around him. It was Kira.
She spoke softly, eyes still closed, clearly drifting off to sleep.
"Whats wrong? Work?"
Jung Gyu kept his gaze locked on the ceiling.
"No... No it's nothing."
He gently rubbed her arm, offering her some form of physical comfort, even though his mind was clearly troubled.
---
Deep within the cluster of trees, Rokan slowly opened his eyes. He stared at the wooden ceiling for a moment before trying to sit up. He grunted in pain but managed to push himself upright. He noticed Rin and Sumi asleep together on a wide chair nearby.
He looked down, his face filled with utter disappointment and guilt. He hated that he had dragged them into danger again.
Moving as quietly as he could despite the pain, he tiptoed out of the room, carefully closing the door behind him so as not to wake them. He limped all the way to the front entrance.
As he slid the wooden door open, he saw Jinrai sitting on the stairs leading outside.
A cool wind blew through their hair and across their skin.
Without turning around, Jinrai said,
"You woke up rather earlier than I expected."
Rokan let out a small laugh and settled down to sit beside him.
"But it's almost midnight."
"Don't see why that matters. Your injuries were heavy. And you must've been exhausted."
Jinrai said, still facing the destroyed training site from Rokan's earlier incident.
Rokan stayed silent. Guilt slowly crept in, followed by frustration.
"Again!-"
Rokan grit his teeth, barely holding back his rage.
Jinrai turned to look at him.
"Again! Again!"
Each word grew louder, his anger clear.
"They had to save me... Again."
Jinrai stared at Rokan with genuine worry in his eyes. He then looked forward again and sighed.
"Rokan. What are you so afraid of?"
Rokan stayed quiet for a moment before his tone softened.
"Myself, to be honest."
Jinrai was surprised by the answer.
"What about yourself do you fear so much?"
Rokan let out a sigh. He raised his hand and stared at his palm.
"Everything. The fear of making a mistake, the fear of losing myself... Or worse... Loosing you guys."
Jinrai nodded.
"Mm, I see..."
His tone was gentle and accepting.
Then-
He landed a heavy slap to the back of Rokan's head.
"Ow! What-! What was that for?"
"Not learning even after five years. You think the world is gonna wait for you to become the perfect Avatar?..."
Jinrai placed a hand on Rokan's shoulder as they faced each other.
"I've said this once and I'll say it again... You are amazing. You want to save lives. You want to do the right thing. But your holding yourself back, son. It's normal to feel fear but it's not normal to not overcome them."
Rokan tilted his head downward, absorbing the weight of Jinrai's words. He eventually looked back up, meeting Jinrai's eyes.
"Thank you. I'm lucky to have you as my mentor."
Jinrai let go of his shoulder and puffed out his chest playfully.
"Why of course. I'm an incredible teacher."
Rokan and Jinrai chuckled softly before falling into comfortable silence.
Rokan rested his head on Jinrai's shoulder.
Jinrai smiled.
"What, does this mean you're still thirteen?"
They both laughed. Moonlight cast a calm, silvery illumination over the quiet environment.
---
Jung Gyu reported to work the next day. His cast and facial bandages were still present but did nothing to diminish his striking appearance.
A room filled with reporters murmured restlessly. Soft camera shutters clicked across the space as Captain Hanns walked out from the left side of the podium, Jung Gyu following closely behind. The reporters' voices instantly rose. Captain Hanns approached the podium and spoke into the mic.
"Good day to all. We called for this press conference today, to handle the rebelling benders that appeared at the city's central bank not too long ago. Here is Detective Hwang Jung Gyu, the detective head of the case with his analysis of the incident."
Camera shutters clicked rapidly. Murmurs filled the room before silence fell as Jung Gyu took over the mic.
"Hello... Good day everyone. I'll be giving a detailed analysis of my experience of the city bank incident."
Although there were things he wanted to hide from the public, he had no choice after telling Hanns everything. After Jung Gyu finished recounting the incident from his point of view, questions flooded in.
After a while, Jung Gyu pointed at a male reporter.
"What were the motives of the rebellious benders?"
Jung Gyu answered calmly as always.
"There hasn't been any solid information on what exactly the benders were doing in the bank. But we will try to dig deeper to know for ourselves."
More reporters shouted over each other. Jung Gyu pointed to another male reporter.
"Are the benders considered as a national threat and deemed as law breaking criminals?"
Jung Gyu's emotions faltered just slightly. Unsure of how to answer he blurted out:
"No comment."
Captain Hanns looked at him, surprised by the reply. He was sure Jung Gyu would've stated they were a national of not a world wide threat.
The next question came from a female reporter.
"A worker of the bank states..." she read from her phone, "...and I quote. 'Stop it! The bender saved me. You people are forcing the media to take him to be a criminal, but he isn't. Stop the unfair treatment toward the Avatar.' What do you have to say to this civilians comments?"
Jung Gyu had no answer. He felt trapped. He stammered, almost defeated.
Until Captain Hanns intervened. He nudged Jung Gyu aside and took the mic.
"The avatar is a criminal and a threat to our nation. So the police department has decided to place a $3 million dollar bounty on the Avatar."
The room erupted in murmurs. Jung Gyu stared at Hanns in shock.
"... Huh? We never discussed on this!"
"Any form of intel would be gravely appreciated. And if captured, double would be awarded to them. He would be accepted..." his gaze unwavered. "... Dead or alive."
Jung Gyu was dumbfounded. His face showed that. He didn't expect a decision to be made without his knowledge given he was the head of the case.
"Thank you for your time, no more questions." Hanns spoke into the mic and walked away, his hand placed on Jung Gyu's back.
Jung Gyu spoke clearly, frustration evident.
"Captain. What the heck?! We never discussed on a freak'in bounty."
Hanns gestured as he spoke.
"Calm down. It was an order from... The higher ups."
"What higher ups?! You said this was my case? We just reopened it... And now—A bounty?!"
"Calm down Mr. Hwang..." Hanns placed his hand firmly on his shoulder. "... I'm the boss here. And I can speak for all of us...", his voice turned serious and unsettling, "... going against the higher ups... Is a bad idea."
Jung Gyu felt the weight of the warning and painfully stayed silent. Hanns took his hand away and walked off, murmuring,
"Just stay oblivious, kid."
---
A metal door banged open in a hidden location almost nonexistent on the city map. Inside the room, two men knelt with their arms chained above them. Blood dripped steadily from their bodies, their skin covered in sweat. Their injuries were fresh and severe.
It was Dier and Rage.
Furama walked into the room. His authority was undeniable as the two bouncers beside the chained men bowed and remained motionless until told otherwise.
Furama picked up a remote from a table and turned on the TV. Jung Gyu appeared on screen during the press conference.
Furama dropped the remote and slowly, menacingly, walked over to Dier and Rage. He squatted to their eye level and forcefully raised Dier's head.
He spat on Dier's face.
Dier was too weak and injured to even react.
"I told you... To get rid of that man."
Furama pointed at the screen showing Jung Gyu.
"... And you believed that those idiots had been successful?"
Dier remained silent.
Furama stayed quiet for a while before making his decision.
"You're new here, so I'll make sure to be gentle with your punishment."
He walked over to the two bouncers and extended his hand.
"Your gun."
One bouncer handed it over. Furama intentionally dropped it in front of him.
"What? You think I'm gonna get my hands dirty with a peasants blood? You beat him up as bad as that... You might as well finish him off."
The bouncer's expression was clearly uncomfortable. He shook his head.
Furama tilted his head, eyes sharpening.
"Really?"
The pressure mounted. Furama stayed intensely silent, then picked up the gun.
"Damn... Well then..."
He fired a bullet through the bouncer's leg. The guard fell, screaming in pain as he clutched the wound.
Furama turned to the second bouncer and stretched out his hand, gun still in grip.
Furama didn't even need to speak. The second bouncer hesitated but eventually took the weapon.
"Good boy." Furama teased with a smile.
The bouncer walked over to Dier, hands shaking as he raised the gun.
Furama scoffed.
"Oh come on. You beat him to that extent, what's so hard to pull a fu*kin' trigger."
The bouncer's hand vibrated. Furama yelled,
"C'mon! Do it!"
The bouncer screamed and closed his eyes as he pulled the trigger. Blood splattered across his face and clothes.
Furama clapped.
"Good job!"
He then turned to Rage, his tone less playful.
"Oh well. You've done well for me for over 3 years. It'd be unfair if I ended you over one mistake... But don't ever mess up this way... Ever again."
Kenra suddenly walked in, dragging someone by the hair.
"Surprise!..." Kenra teased.
"Look what I found all packed up and heading to the airport."
Kenra held Lei aggressively on the ground as he dragged his body across the room.
Furama approached.
"Kenny, my boy! Welcome, Welcome." his voice low, playful, but controlled.
Kenra sat on a chair and carelessly crossed his legs.
Furama squatted and faced Lei.
"You're a maniac! How could you do that to innocent people!", Lei yelled out.
Furama spoke slowly.
"Well... I'll ask you once. What made you think you could escape from me?"
Lei angrily swore.
"Fu*k you!"
Furama chuckled and let out a heavy sigh.
"Wrong answer."
He gestured to Kenra before leaving the room.
Kenra energetically stood up.
"You should've just answered wisely."
Suddenly, a ball of air completely covered Lei's face. The oxygen in his lungs was rapidly drained as the air ball prevented any fresh air from reaching him. Lei gasped in agony before helplessly collapsing to the floor, lifeless.
... To be continued...