Chapter 2
Rin and I both know that very soon, both of us-or maybe one of us- is going to die in the Games. Hell, we might even kill each other. But right now, we pretend not to know this. We can talk and laugh all we want together before we die, right?
The hunger games. How much my mother and I hate it.
After all, these games had taken my brother's life.
~~FLASHBACK~~
Nine years ago (Len is five at the time)
It was a day in May, like any other day. I woke up at four in the morning as usual, for every day, my brother and I would take our tiny, old fishing boat out into the sea to catch fish and dive for oysters. We would then venture out into the crowded town by noon to sell our seafood and jewelry for money. Our father was dead, after all. My brother and I had to support our family by ourselves. But, as long as I had my brother, as long as these nice days out in the sea continued, I was content. The sea was my home, my future.
That day, however, when I woke up and went to my brother's room, the dresser that my brother had bought using the money he had saved up for two years was broken, all the contents spilled across the floor in a rather small pile of rags. The torn and dirtied blankets that my brother had used since he was a baby were strewn around the room. The windows were wide open, its curtains blowing inward with the quiet ocean breeze. Sitting among the pieces of the broken bed, the pearl that my brother and I had cherished and taken care of since the day we first found it was shattered. I stared at the room, with wide eyes, not believing a thing I saw. Then, as if cued by my entering, a stunning, purple butterfly flew in from the open window. The Capitol's symbol. The Capitol had my brother, MY brother. I strode up to the purple butterfly,
And I crushed it with my fist.
Then, I ran over and caringly pick up the many fragments of the once beautiful pearl and brought them, one by one, onto the kitchen table downstairs. Only then did I realize tears were streaming down my eyes. This was the first time I had cried since my dad had died. I quickly ran upstairs to my mother's room, and, tugging on the hem of her worn nightdress, brought her out.
"The Capitol, Mommy, it was the Capitol!" I cried.
Mother immediately knew what had happened and ran, in a panic, into my brother's room, trying to find any small glimmer of hope that my brother could still be saved, that those nice days of smiling and admiring the pearls we had caught could be saved. She took an expression of deep pain, a pain so pure I adverted my eyes so I wouldn't have to look. She quickly ran out of the house, still barefooted and in her nightclothes, shouting, screaming, and crying my brother's name.
"REI…REI…REI!"
Of course, I knew it was helpless.
Three hours later, I found my mother with her head buried in her arms, her voice hoarse from shouting.
In a daze, I walked to the town, alone for the first time, with a meager sum of money that as supposed to buy my food for the week. Instead of stopping at District 4's seafood market, I passed it and headed for the small shop in the far corner of the town. The arts and craft's shop. It was run down and old, for no one ever has the money or interest in arts. I pushed at the door, making it creak open and cause a ring of a bell in the depths of the room. There were very few contents in the shop: several paintbrushes and different colors of paint, two sets of colored pencils, a measly stack of paper, and some sticks of glue. I went straight to the glue section and picked out the smallest tube of glue. I gritted my teeth when I looked at the price tag. I couldn't afford it. Not giving up, I took it to the old man at the counter. My eyes barely reached over the top of the counter when I was standing on my toes. Stretching my arms outward, I set the money I had and the glue stick on the counter. All the while, the old man watched with very amused eyes.
"That is not enough money," he said quietly. I looked up at him with pleading eyes, trying my best innocent look that would have often melt my mother's heart and get her to stop scolding me every time I snuck out at night to play in the beach alone. The old man's eyes remained cold and hard. I tried again.
"Please? I need it. For my brothe- no- my pearl. I will do anything. I will pay you back."
The old man's eyes softened just a tad. He chuckled and reached over to ruffle my hair.
"Pay me back when you can."
I gave him a small smile and then ran out of the shop with the glue, the old man hollering, "You be a good boy, now", after me.
When I got home, I painstakingly arranged all the pieces of the pearl and glued them together. I stood back and admired my work. The glue filled the cracks nicely, and the pearl was polished until it shined again. Not perfect. But good. I gently put the pearl back into it's container and placed it on my bedside table. Then, I lied face down on my bed, sobbing with grief. It would only get worse after this.
~~Flashback End~~
Rin stares up at me with confused eyes.
"Len, is there something wrong?" she asks.
"No." I try for one of those smirks that always manage to get the girls at my school to blush. Rin doesn't blush. She looks at me with disbelieving eyes, as if saying "you are lying, aren't you?" Although we have only been talking for two hours, she seems to know me well. Strange, I feel as if I have met her before. I stare into her almost familiar blue eyes, trying to remember where I have seen her. Her eyes, her hair, and especially that white bow. I have seen them somewhere and I know it. I have known this since I saw her. But it can't be true. She is from district 12, on the other side of the country, living in the mountains the ancient people used to call the 'Rocky Mountains'. I sigh.
"Truthfully, I was thinking about when my brother was kidnaped and then killed in these Games." Tears don't come to my eyes. The event has already come and gone. There is no need to cry over it so many years later. I stare at Rin, and feel that I can trust her. I opened up and told her everything.
~~Flashback~~
My brother was one of the last 7 survivors in the Games that year. He had not killed anyone, nor had anyone tried to kill him. There was an ocean, and he had easily made a makeshift net to catch the plentiful fish. My mother and I watched the Games every day, with the increasing fear of my brother's death. But everything was going well for him.
Of course, until that day.
My mother and I had turned on the television as usual. As always in each of these games, the stronger and more skilled tributes from the richer districts often teamed up to defeat the other districts' teenagers. After there was no one else to kill, these teenagers would frequently turn against each other with gory battles. These people were called the Careers because these teenagers would train for the majority of their life, waiting for a chance to get kidnapped and win the Game for money. Anyway, my brother was found by a group of these people while he was fishing in the sea. They had snuck up on him, but luckily, there were only three of them at that point in the game. My brother ran into the cover woods, losing two of them. But, one of them, a girl by the name of Rui, had caught up with him and cornered him against one of the giant trees in the forest. By this time, my mother and I were off the floor with our eyes staring anxiously at the screen, not wanting to miss a move my brother makes. Brother shoves Rui away, causing the girl to fall. He brought out a knife and pinned her to the ground, eyes shut tight and teeth gritted. From our old television, we could barely make out the tear that slipped from the corner of his eye. Rui had her eyes shut too, awaiting death. The knife in his hand was shaking. I closed my eyes, not wanting see my brother murder that girl. Suddenly, the knife slipped out of his open hand and fell harmlessly on the forest floor.
"I…I can't…" my brother said quietly.
"NO!" That was my mother, who had her eyes now pinned to the T.V. screen, one hand stretched out in front of her as if trying to reach through to my brother and rescue him from his pain. Brother got up and turned to run. Rui was too fast. In a flash, she had him in a headlock with his discarded knife placed above Brother's forehead. She grinned widely at him.
"Coward," she whispered. The knife hit its mark.
~~Flashback End~~
My voice cracked. I could never get his scream out of my mind. Never. From that day onwards, my mother's eyes had become hardened with grief and weariness. She was always filled with anger and sadness, no matter how much I tried to cheer her up. She got another job to pay for the sword she bought me and trained me herself every day. By the age of 12, I had mastered the sword and the arts of surviving in any situation. My mother vowed that if I was ever kidnapped to join the Games, I would win. Rin looked up at me; to my surprise, there was no pity in her eyes. Only friendship. The type of look that says we-can-overcome-this-together. But we can't, of course we can't. After all, my mother could not bear to lose the last member of her family. And if I was going to win, Rin would die.
I have to win. For my mother.

Wow...Len is a mature little five year old
Len: psh...YEAH I AM
Rin: WAIT WHAT ABOUT MEEEEE
Me: *ignores*

Meh...

Disclaimer: I dont own vocaloids ... or the hunger games...or the picture...if only i was rich...