CHAPTER THREE
Immediate blinding betrayal.
The whispers and hissing erupt and spread like wildfire. Everybody knows those faces, those names, those families. Their strongest military leaders had defected. No wonder they hadn't stood a chance.
For the first time in his life, Hikaru thinks, he is experiencing what it is truly like to hate. They attended school together. Their parents knew each other. They knew each other. Hikaru had trusted in their wisdom and character. He willingly spent time with them, let them train him in the gym, let them teach him martial arts, let them help him with his schoolwork. He once sought their approval, and once respected them from the depths of his heart.
Kaoru grips his arm so tightly it hurts, a strangled sound torn from his throat.
Mori-senpai looks straight at Hikaru, and Hikaru maintains eye contact long enough for him to know that Hikaru will never forgive him. Never ever. Mori-senpai may have been trying to say something, probably some weak excuse, whatever. He looks sad and exhausted and Hikaru doesn't give a shit. Nothing that Mori-senpai has to say matters. Hikaru will never believe him again.
The now-familiar face of Prefecture 13's President Kousaka steps up to the microphone. "You've watched the Games enough times, now it's time for you to have fun playing it yourself. I'm sure you must be bored by the same thing year after year, so we've modified the rules a little to keep your interest."
The kids, teenagers and their parents all tense visibly.
Her assistant hands her a flatscreen the size of an A4 paper. She adjusts her glasses and reads, "Firstly, there will be no sponsors. Clearly, all available funds must go towards the rebuilding of our society and infrastructure. Once the Games begin, you will receive no more outside aid."
Several of the people around Hikaru sink into panic. What did they expect? They should at least have been able to figure out this change, if nothing else.
"Secondly, there will be no mentors and no training period. We cannot spare the facilities and at any rate it seems unnecessary, given how all of you are already seasoned killers from so many years of murdering our children."
Some of the rebels present let out a harsh laugh or a scoff at her words. Yes, this is all about revenge.
"You will also not have any special outfit to wear into the arena. You go as you are."
Hikaru spares a moment to be thankful that he chose what he did today. He has so many secret weapons around his body right this instant, articles of clothing that he had layered on just because he was paranoid enough to imagine that there might be a chance that they might be transferred, might not be allowed back to the place they were being held at before. Never underestimate what a Hitachiin can do with clothes and cloth.
"Thirdly, the number of participants will be equal to the number of years that we have had the Games, including this year. That means – " she has to raise her voice as shouts and cries threaten to drown her out " – we will have 76 participants!"
God. He forces himself to stay calm. Seventy-six from the pool of Capitol children. At least they had 2 per pool of Prefecture children, and each prefecture has always been way bigger than the Capitol!
With these odds, there is an unacceptable chance that he might be in the arena at the same time as Kaoru. He wouldn't know what to do if that was the case. The very thought makes him sick.
"38 girls and 38 boys will be chosen according to family," continues the new president, and Hikaru's stomach clenches unbearably. What does that mean?!
Beside him, Kaoru is shaking too hard. His face has no colour in it, and his breaths are too quick and laboured. He's been unstable since he lost Ageha, and every day brings about a new deterioration in his state of mind. Hikaru tugs on their linked hands and squashes his brother to himself, willing him not to crumble. Not now, not here.
The president beckons to her underlings, and they begin to carry out far too many reaping bowls out onto the stage. None of the glass bowls even look to be filled... wait, at the bottom, only a few slips in each bowl? That doesn't make sense.
She unfurls a long roll of paper and shows it to her audience. "This is a list of families in the Capitol, arranged by descending order of wealth. Per bowl, one name will be drawn. One-by-one, we will move down the list until all the places have been filled."
It's so clever that Hikaru has to give them credit. This ensures that the most privileged will not escape their clutches. But that is not why he barks out a laugh. No. He laughs because now he knows for sure that he will not have to meet Kaoru in the arena, and that's all he'd needed.
Kaoru's figured it out too. Their family is somewhere in the top ten, so they are guaranteed a spot. One of them will have to play. Who will it be?
His twin lowers his gaze, as if he thinks that will hide his thoughts from Hikaru. The same thing is running through both their minds. Now Kaoru is the greatest obstacle standing between Hikaru and his goal to keep alive the person who is his everything, and he will make sure that Kaoru fails.
.
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Notes
Kousaka is the Suou family's lawyer. She appears in the later parts of the manga. She is also of common status but worked her way up to the high position she enjoys in Suou Corp.