"When did Zuko and that little girl Azula get so close that they're pulling pranks together?!"
A day later, after attending a palace meeting, Iroh received the news and rushed home to tell Kahn, his face full of astonishment.
Kahn, who already knew the inside story, suppressed a smile and asked:
"And then? What happened to them?"
"Azula is fine, of course. But Zuko… poor kid. He got punished with one month of confinement."
Iroh clicked his tongue. Fire Lord Ozai's double standards were painfully obvious.
Kahn silently mourned for Zuko for three seconds in his heart. What an unlucky child.
It all started because Azula asked Zuko to pull a prank with her inside the palace.
Heaven help him—our kind, innocent Zuko had never pranked anyone.
On the contrary, he was usually the one Azula pranked. When he first heard her "request," Zuko resisted with his whole soul.
But in the end, for the sake of learning Uncle Iroh's whereabouts and with some encouragement (instigation) from his friend, Zuko still took that difficult step.
Their target was their new history teacher.
According to Azula, the man wasn't actually incompetent, but he did have a big mouth and loved lecturing her. Even Zuko had been kept after class a few times.
Azula had long been annoyed with him, so even without Zuko, this teacher was doomed.
To avoid overstimulating Zuko—the absolute newbie—Azula's method this time was extremely mild compared to her usual standards. Truly a blessing in disguise.
As for the teacher himself, Kahn could only feel sorry for him.
Anyone chosen to teach the Fire Nation's Prince and Princess was certainly not as unskilled as Azula claimed.
But his judgment? Terrible. He failed to understand Azula's personality and status as the palace's little tyrant and suffered for it.
Iroh stared at Kahn for a moment and suddenly noticed something:
"You don't seem very surprised. Did you two plan this beforehand?"
Kahn chuckled and mimicked Iroh's tone:
"You guess."
"You little rascal!"
Iroh laughed and tapped Kahn on the forehead. He didn't push further and simply warned:
"I know you two are clever, but don't go too far. If something really happens, this retired old man who owns nothing can't protect you."
He didn't know exactly what Kahn and Azula were doing, but he had noticed hints.
However, since Kahn and Azula were both freakishly intelligent and capable—far surpassing many adults—he wasn't too worried. A reminder here and there was enough.
Azula aside, he trusted Kahn to know his limits.
"Mm, I know," Kahn replied, rubbing his forehead.
Although Iroh said that, Kahn believed that if something did happen, Iroh would never abandon him.
Of course, he hoped nothing would happen.
Since coming to this world, the luckiest thing by far was meeting Iroh and becoming his disciple. Having such a Master behind him really made him feel at ease.
Back to the main story: Zuko got confined, but Azula got off completely free.
After waiting out the initial storm, she climbed over the wall again on the third day to tell Kahn the details of the whole incident.
According to Azula, Zuko was trembling the whole time—less like someone pulling a prank and more like someone being bullied.
And after the prank, Zuko looked utterly crushed, as if his soul had shattered.
His miserable face amused her so much that she actually went easy on him and did most of the prank herself.
Naturally, Zuko took all the blame afterward.
Demon. Absolute demon.
Kahn sighed internally.
Still, no matter what, after this "test," Zuko finally became one of them. This also meant Zuko had begun taking small steps against Ozai—a good start for Kahn.
But because Zuko was confined for a month, Azula's plan had to be postponed.
Once she realized this, Azula's smile disappeared instantly, and she became extremely irritable.
Kahn gloated mercilessly, saying she brought it on herself—and then they fought again.
But just when he thought he had earned two peaceful weeks, after only two weeks Azula couldn't endure anymore. She directly dragged Mai and Ty Lee to find him.
"Come on! Let's go play with Zuzu!"
Kahn fell silent.
"...Isn't he still in confinement?"
"What's confinement? As long as we don't get caught, it's fine," Azula said dismissively.
Kahn looked at Mai and Ty Lee. To his shock, neither resisted. He couldn't tell whether they genuinely agreed or were just used to Azula's madness.
Either way… impressive.
Since even Mai and Ty Lee didn't object, Kahn had no reason to back out. Helplessly, he followed them into the palace.
"The place where Zuko's confined should be heavily guarded, right? We should be careful. Otherwise, later—"
On the way, Kahn still tried to salvage his last two weeks of peace. But Azula ignored him completely.
She led them to an ordinary-looking corner, pressed her hand against the smooth wall, and a secret passage opened.
"This is…?" Kahn blinked.
Azula gave him a proud grin.
"Did you think I would do something without preparing?"
"The place where Zuzu is confined is great. There just happens to be a tunnel leading straight to his room. Follow me, and I'll show you what our Adventure Game really is."
She lit a small flame in her palm and entered the passage like she'd walked it a hundred times.
Kahn looked at Mai and Ty Lee. Mai looked completely unfazed, and Ty Lee spread her arms wide:
"Kahn! Welcome to the Royal Girls' Adventure Team!"
"Uh… thanks? Though… can we change the name?"
"You'll have to ask Azula. She's the leader; she decides everything."
"...Right."
Name aside, from Mai and Ty Lee's reactions, this clearly wasn't their first time doing something like this.
Kahn was speechless.
Exploring secret tunnels inside the Fire Nation palace counted as an Adventure Game? Wasn't this a bit too extreme for a bunch of kids?
Azula's worldview shattered his imagination again and again.
You're so awesome—does your dad know?
…No?
Oh. Then it's fine.
Kahn increasingly suspected he had boarded a pirate ship.
He was the transmigrator here, yet somehow a little girl was outplaying him at every turn.
Ridiculous.
...
Author's Note:
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