Hi again, here's chapter four. I hope you like it.
It was briefly quiet on floor 12 as Ichigo, Effie, and Kisuke waited for Katniss to come up after her private evaluation with the Gamemakers. Before long, the sound of beeping came from the elevator, signaling that Katniss was on the way.
"Here she comes," said Ichigo.
They waited for her to enter the sitting room, but instead they heard her rush down the hall and into her room.
"That doesn't sound good," said Kisuke
"No, it certainly doesn't." Effie huffed worriedly.
Kisuke and Effie went together to knock on Katniss's door.
"Katniss," asked Effie, "how was the evaluation?"
"Go away!" Katniss shouted unsteadily from the other side of the door. They stayed for a while, hoping that perhaps she would say something.
"We should just give her some time to herself," said Kisuke as he put his hand on Effie shoulder.
"I suppose you're right," Effie said.
They went back into the sitting room to wait just as Cinna and Portia were arriving.
"Where's Katniss?" Cinna asked.
"She's in her room," said Kisuke, waving them into the sitting room.
"She seemed terribly upset, so we decided to leave her alone for a while," added Effie.
"Well, we'll just have to cheer her up then, won't we?" Said Portia.
"Maybe at dinner," Kisuke suggested, "we can find out what happened."
The group in the sitting room quickly realized that there was a lot more time between lunch and dinner than they thought. Cinna and Portia started to discuss fashion, Ichigo was making use of the time to try out a set of weights that Kisuke had pointed out to him earlier, and Kisuke was tinkering with a coffee maker using a screwdriver that he apparently had in his sleeve. Effie seemed to be content to flutter between them and make unhelpful comments every once and a while. When she saw what Kisuke was doing, she immediately went into a tirade.
"Haytmitch!" She cried, "you can't just go pulling apart things you don't own!"
"Why not?"
"Why no-" She repeated huffily, "because it's not yours!" She pulled the thing that was once a coffee maker out of Kisuke's hands and then quickly dropped it again when it started to vibrate. "What's it doing?" Effie demanded.
"I'm not all that sure myself, I was halfway through something important when you took it away."
"How can you make something and then be unsure about its use?"
"I don't know." Kisuke replied in his usual care-free tone. Effie gave a noise that was halfway between a squeak and a growl and stalked off to her room. "Anyway," Kisuke said when he heard her door slam, "I suggest we get out of the room for the time being," said Kisuke. Ichigo, who was more familiar with Kisuke and his inventions, grabbed both Portia and Cinna's hands and quickly exited into the dining room.
"I don't really see how dangerous a coffee machine can be," said Cinna.
"If Getaboshi says to get out then it's usually a good idea to do what he says."
"Take cover!" Said Kisuke as he rushed into the room. He was just clear of the doorway when a loud explosion sounded from the sitting room, temporarily deafening the occupants of floor 12.
"That's why," said Ichigo once his ears stopped ringing, "I do what he says."
BOOM
Katniss heard the sound of an explosion from the sitting room.
They've come, come to take me away for what I did in the gymnasium, she thought, curling herself into a tighter ball in her bed. Ten minutes later, the guards that Katniss was expecting hadn't arrived. Maybe the Gamemakers were just too drunk to call the guards? Katniss guessed, feeling a little bit of hope. She lifted herself from her bed to see what had happened. When she opened her door and looked down the hall, she could see that the area surrounding the doorway to the sitting room was charred. Just what happened? Katniss wondered. She carefully peeked around the corner of the doorway to find that Kisuke, Ichigo, Effie, and the stylists sitting on various tattered chairs and couches.
"What happened?" Katniss asked, deciding that it was relatively safe.
"Haymitch happened!" Effie yelled furiously, "he turned the coffee machine into a bomb!"
"Actually, you did," said Kisuke.
"ME? You're the one who made it!"
"But you took it away and then dropped it before I could stabilize it." Kisuke said, sounding almost annoyed. "Anyway, hello Katniss. We've been waiting for you."
Katniss decided not to ask how Kisuke got a coffee-maker to explode.
"So, what happened in the training room?" Asked Ichigo. When Katniss was reminded, she felt herself begin to tear up again. "Katniss?"
"I… I'm done for."
"What happened?" Ichigo pressed.
"I shot an arrow at the Gamemakers."
"And?"
"Huh?" Katniss didn't quite understand the question.
"How'd they react?"
"I uh… don't really know. I went up in the elevator before I was their response."
"Without being dismissed?" Effie gasped.
"I dismissed myself," Katniss said. "Do you think they'll arrest me?"
"It's already too late to replace you, so I think it's unlikely," said Kisuke.
"What about my family? Will they punish them?" Katniss said worriedly.
"It would take a very large amount effort on their part to maneuver this whole thing into something that makes the Gamemakers look good, and they aren't very keen on hard work. I'd say your family is safe." Kisuke reassured her.
Besides, they were in a good mood," Ichigo added. "When I walked in, they were singing a drinking song."
Somehow, everyone's words were making Katniss feel better. She felt herself cheer up as Ichigo and Kisuke bantered back and forth between each other. Without the crushing feeling of dread, Katniss realized how hungry she was.
"I'm hungry, when's food?" She asked.
"It's just been served," Effie said, peeking into the dining room.
As they sat down to their meal, Katniss had one more question.
"How, exactly, is it possible to make a coffee-maker explode?"
After dinner, they went back into the sitting room to watch the announcements for the tributes' scores on the TV. That is, until they saw that the sitting room TV was rendered unusable by a piece of coffee-maker. Kisuke was about to open it up and try to fix it when Effie stopped him.
"Absolutely not!" She said, "That coffee-maker was the last thing you'll ever get your hands on! I'll make sure of it!"
"Oh come on, don't you trust me?" The awkward silence that followed made Effie's opinion clear.
"There's a TV in my room, we can use that." Katniss said, hoping to resolve the problem before the announcement started.
"Good idea, let's go." Ichigo said, thinking roughly along the same lines as Katniss.
They all piled onto Katniss's bed and Katniss turned on the TV. The announcements were, of course, in ascending order by district number. The scores were on a scale from one to twelve, with one being the worst, and twelve being the best. The Career tributes, the ones from districts 1 through 4, got scores ranging from eight to ten. Most of the others made about five, and Rue surprised Katniss by getting a seven. Then it was Ichigo's turn.
"And here's Peeta Mellark from District 12." The announcer said, "Coming in at…" he squinted at something out of the view of the camera, possibly a screen with prompts, and did a double-take before continuing. "A whopping twelve!" He said excitedly. Katniss's room erupted with happy shouts as everybody congratulated Ichigo on his score. "I don't believe this has happened more than once or twice in the entire history on the Hunger Games! Amazing!" It took him about ten seconds to calm down, and even longer for Effie and the stylists. Katniss was slightly depressed by Ichigo's high score. Not surprised, after seeing his battles with the instructors, just slightly depressed. Now she had no chance of being noticed. The Gamemakers were going to give her a bad score and then Ichigo would overshadow her further.
"And now for Katniss Everdeen, let's see if she can top Peeta's score." The man said, sounding a little bit bored. "OH!" He cried when he saw Katniss's rating, "Eleven!" Katniss's heart leapt, and then sort of tripped over itself with confusion. "Amazing, an eleven and a twelve in one Hunger Games! And both are from District 12!" The anthem of Panem played as the announcer wrapped up the show.
"That doesn't even make any sense. How…?" Katniss trailed off.
"I told you they were in a good mood!" Ichigo said, placing a hand on Katniss's shoulder.
"Katniss, the girl who was on fire!" Cinna said, giving Katniss a hug, "just wait until you see your interview costume!"
"More flames?" Katniss asked.
"Of a sort." Cinna replied, sounding mischievous.
As Katniss felt relief flood through her body, she also felt tired. The day had been long and stressful, and she was starting to feel it. When she was finally released from her excited team, she crashed in bed and immediately fell asleep. Her dreams were filled with the number eleven dancing around in her head wearing tap-shoes and carrying a cane. She remembered it later as bizarre, but somehow charming.
The next day was set aside for the tributes to spend time with their mentors, preparing for their interviews. The plan was to spend four hours with Effie, improving manners and learning the technique for presentation, and another four hours with Kisuke, getting the idea of the overall message. After about two hours with Effie, she dragged Katniss away to help her with walking in high-heels, leaving Ichigo behind to 'take a break for a bit'.
What now? Ichigo thought.
Perhaps we can find Kisuke for a spar? Zangetsu suggested.
That's a good idea, I wanted to ask him how far along with your gigai he is anyway. Ichigo thought. He found Kisuke in his room tinkering with the automatic dresser.
"Oh hello, Ichigo, what brings you here so early?" Kisuke said without turning around.
"Effie is teaching Katniss how to walk in high-heels, so she sent me away. Do you have time for a spar?" Ichigo said, peeking over Kisuke's shoulder at what he was working on. It was an odd device that was shaped like a skull, but made out of bits of metal coat-hangers.
"Sorry Ichigo, not right now, I'm working on something important."
"What is it?" Ichigo asked.
"It's a tool to channel a soul directly from one inhabitance to another."
"…Right. Well, see you later," said Ichigo, who really didn't understand exactly what Kisuke was saying. He stepped out of Kisuke's room and nearly ran into Effie.
"Good, you're here, Peeta," Effie said happily, "Let's get started."
Ichigo spent the next two hours learning general manners with Effie and getting yelled at roughly every five minutes for doing one thing or another wrong. It was exhausting.
Any idea how much longer we have? Ichigo asked Zangetsu on his head.
The time is just about up now, Zangetsu responded.
Thanks.
"Effie?" Ichigo said.
"Yes?"
"Our time's up."
"Nonsense, you will stay with me until you learn to end your barbaric ways!" Effie said stubbornly. Something in her seemed to have snapped in the last day, and she was now hell-bent on preparing both Ichigo and Katniss as much as possible.
I don't have much of a choice, do I?
None at all.
After Effie finally released Ichigo, he and Katniss found Kisuke. He was still in his room tinkering when they knocked on his door.
"I'll be out in a minute!" He shouted through the door. Ichigo and Katniss heard a small pop that could have been an explosion, and then Kisuke opened the door, his coat slightly dusted with ash. "What can I do for you?"
"The interview." Ichigo reminded him.
"Oh right! Come this way," he said, beckoning them into his room. It was a mess. Anything vaguely mechanical had been taken apart and most had been remade into something else. "Watch your step." Kisuke cleared a space on the bed for him, Ichigo, and Katniss to sit. "Have a seat."
He began to explain exactly how he wanted Ichigo and Katniss to act. It was mostly things that subtly, but not too subtly, pointed to a romantic relationship between Katniss and Peeta. Kisuke had thought of a surprisingly large amount of scenarios and solutions to each of them. They filled the entire four hours this way, with Kisuke presenting scenarios and having Ichigo and Katniss try to reply 'in character' to them.
Kisuke wanted Ichigo to contrast his usual demeanor when it came to Katniss and be timid and shy whenever she was brought up in conversation. It wasn't hard for Ichigo to do, because Kisuke had given him a trick; whenever Katniss was brought up in conversation, think about kissing her. At the end of their session, Ichigo was so practiced at thinking about the situation that whenever Katniss was brought up in normal conversation, it automatically caused him to turn beet red and begin to stutter.
Damn it, Getaboshi.
He understands your feelings better than you do. Zangetsu said.
For the last time, I do not like Katniss Everdeen! Ichigo thought with frustration, blushing again.
Then think about kissing Rukia, Zangetsu suggested.
…Why? Ichigo asked.
Definitely not the same response, Zangetsu commented. Now think about Katniss again. Ichigo silently turned red. Definitely.
Just shut up already.
Katniss found once again that Ichigo was annoying her. Why did he have to be so… so… weird? And now Kisuke had made it worse. Whenever she caught his eye, be would turn completely red and look away as fast as he could. She let out a frustrated sigh as she watched him excuse himself from the dinner table.
Later, when Katniss went to bed, the eleven returned in her dream. Katniss realized that the eleven was a girl. This time, eleven came arm-in-arm with the number twelve, who was covered in bright orange fur. Katniss knew that number twelve was male, in just the same way that she knew that eleven was female. The two double-digit numbers waltzed back and forth in before her to music that she couldn't hear, and looked genuinely happy. Strange… Katniss thought muzzily in her dream, I feel like I've seen twelve somewhere before… Then the dream ended and Katniss fell into a much deeper sleep.
Ichigo was woken up to the sound of Effie informing him that the day was going to be 'big, big, big', and that he better get moving if he didn't want to be late. He put on his shihakusho and went out for breakfast. In the hall, he ran into Katniss who quietly stared at him until he turned red and dodged around her and sat down for breakfast. Katniss sat down as well and started to eat.
She's staring at you, Zangetsu pointed out.
I know, I'm trying to ignore it. Ichigo said, blushing slightly.
"Now, now, Katniss, you're scaring Ichigo." Said Kisuke.
"Huh?" Katniss said, acting like she'd just been daydreaming.
"You were staring," Kisuke explained.
"Oh, sorry."
When breakfast ended, Ichigo and Katniss were sent off with their prep teams to be prepared for the interview. They used a lengthy and somewhat painful process to soften his skin to the point where he felt like it would rip if someone pinched it too hard, and then got to work on his costume design. The prep work for Ichigo's outfit was minimal, and Ichigo was glad. Portia came with the outfit, but told Ichigo to close his eyes before he could see what it was.
"You're going to love it!" She gushed, "I do." Ichigo felt like the entire prep team was pitching in, struggling to figure out how to dress Ichigo. They put it on and then took it right back off again when they realized they put it on wrong. Portia maneuvered him in front of a mirror. "You can open your eyes now!" She said, her excitement completely undampened by their difficulty in getting the outfit on. Ichigo opened his eyes to find that he was in something that looked almost exactly like his Bankai coat, and felt a small smile cross his features. "It was Haymitch's design! I think I may try to get him to stay at the Capitol and work on fashion with me. Wouldn't that just be marvelous?" Portia gushed, "And that's not all!" She reached into the side of the coat and pulled something. The edge of the coat began to burn a dark black, fluttering in an intangible wind. "See? His own design! I don't know how he does it." Ichigo noticed that there was small amounts of reiatsu coming from the flames.
Inventive as always, Ichigo thought.
"I'll have to thank him." He said.
"Are you ready for your interview?" Portia asked.
"As ready as I'll ever be," replied Ichigo.
They went to the elevator to wait to go down. Ichigo realized that he was slightly nervous as he waited for Katniss to arrive.
You will do fine, Zangetsu said, Just remember what Kisuke said and it will be fine.
Ok, Ichigo thought, Thanks, Zangetsu.
"There's Katniss!" Said Portia. Ichigo turned around to look and was completely stunned. She was wearing a dress that looked like it was made of jewels. It sparkled as she moved and she looked like she was on fire.
"Wow," said Ichigo.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Katniss asked irritably.
"Ah… uh…" Ichigo stammered, "I… just meant that you look good."
"Oh," Katniss said, realizing that she had misunderstood.
"Now then," Prompted Kisuke before things got any more awkward, "Shall we go?"
"Sure…" both Ichigo and Katniss said in unison.
The doors of the elevator opened to a dark area behind the temporary stage that had been erected for the interviews.
They were pushed up on stage and into an arc formed by them and all the other tributes. They stood for a while as Caesar Flickerman introduced himself and explained the process. The introduction and explanation was hardly necessary, the Hunger Games had been going on for seventy five years and the man himself had been interviewing tributes for forty of those. Everyone knew who he was.
"And now the tributes may take their seats." Flickerman called loudly. "Except for you, Glimmer of District 1, I'm ready to interview you."
The girl Flickerman had called, much to Ichigo's embarrassment, was wearing a golden and quite see-through dress that fell around her well-proportioned form in a way that was very… suggestive. Ichigo looked away and hoped that her interview would end quickly. It did. A buzzer sounded and the sultry girl took a seat while the District 1 boy, Marvel, strode confidently up to the stage. Flickerman, Ichigo noticed, had a calming effect on most of the tributes, he always seemed to know what to say to help the tribute shine.
Does he have nightmares, spending forty years interviewing children before watching them fight each other to the death? Ichigo wondered. Probably not.
Each tribute was called in order and time passed.
Rue, the girl from District 11 that Ichigo met in the training room, was dressed in a gossamer gown with butterfly wings. Flickerman was gentle, complementing her seven in training and helping to guide her towards the right direction. Near the end of the interview he asked,
"And what's your greatest strength?"
""I'm very hard to catch," she replied without hesitation, "and if they can't catch me they can't kill me." She briefly glanced in Ichigo's direction before continuing, "So don't count me out."
"I wouldn't in a million years," said Flickerman. The buzzer went off, and Rue went down back to her seat.
The next tribute to go up was a large boy named Thresh. He was quiet and answered each question with only a yes or a no throughout the entire interview. His interview finished, and Katniss was called next. She strode up to the stage, shimmering, and shook Flickerman's hand.
"So, Katniss, the Capitol must be quite a change from District 12. What's impressed you the most since you arrived here?" Flickerman asked, starting out simply. Katniss stood quietly for a second, looking for the words.
"The lamb stew," Katniss said, drawing a few laughs from the audience.
I guess she decided to go for honesty. Ichigo thought.
It seems her time with Kisuke was not entirely necessary, Zangetsu added.
"The one with the plums?" Flickerman asked, trying to save the conversation. Katniss nodded. "I eat it by the bucketful." Flickerman joked, turning to the crowd, "it doesn't show, does it?" The crowd shouted 'NO!' and applauded, as if he were the lovable uncle at a party.
"Now, Katniss," Flickerman said, returning to the subject at hand, "when you came out in the opening ceremonies, my heart actually stopped. What did you think about the costume?" He asked. Katniss was silent again for a moment before responding.
"You mean after I got over my fear of being burned alive?" She asked. The audience laughed loudly and genuinely at Katniss's comment, cheering her on.
"Yes. Start then," Flickerman prompted.
"I thought Cinna was brilliant and it was the most gorgeous costume I'd ever seen and I couldn't believe I was wearing it," Katniss said in one breath. "And I can't believe I'm wearing this, either," Katniss lifted her skirt, causing it to sparkle. The crowd exclaimed dramatically as they watched the dress come alive with light. Then she twirled around once, and the dress went from bright to vibrant. The already excited crowd broke out into cheers.
"Oh, do that again!" Flickerman said.
Katniss obliged, spreading her arms out wide and spinning until she tripped forward dizzily and had to grab Flickerman's arm for support.
"Don't stop!" Flickerman urged.
"I have to," Katniss giggled, "I'm dizzy!"
Did she just… giggle? Ichigo asked himself. Flickerman wrapped a gentle arm around Katniss, steading her.
"Don't worry, I've got you. Can't have you following in your mentor's footsteps." The crowd laughed again as the cameras swung around to Kisuke, who waved cheerfully with his hat. "It's all right," Flickerman reassured the crowd, "she's safe with me. So, how about that training score. Eleven. Give us a hint what happened in there." He asked eagerly. Katniss glanced up in the direction of the Gamemakers, biting her lip.
"Um… all I can say, is I think it was a first." The cameras where now trained on the Gamemakers, who chuckled and nodded.
"You're killing us," Flickerman said, looking pained. "Details, details." He pressed.
"I'm not supposed to talk about it, right?" Katniss asked the Gamemakers.
"She's not!" One Gamemaker shouted.
"Thank you," said Katniss, "Sorry, my lips are sealed."
"Let's go back then, to the moment when they called your sister's name in the reaping." Flickerman said. Katniss looked somewhat pained by the memory. "And you volunteered. Can you tell us about her?" Katniss looked reluctant.
"Her name's Prim. She's just twelve. And I love her more than anything in the world." She said quietly.
"And what did she say to you? After the reaping?" Katniss swallowed hard.
"She asked me to try really hard to win." She said. The audience was now silent, hanging no Katniss's every word.
"And what did you say?" Flickerman prompted.
"I swore I would," said Katniss, her voice turning steely.
"I bet you did." Flickerman said just as the buzzer sounded. Katniss made her way back to her seat, her journey punctuated by the audience's applause.
It's your turn, Zangetsu said in Ichigo's head.
"Peeta Mellark, come on up!" Flickerman called.
Wish me luck, thought Ichigo. He walked up to the stage, his flaming coat trailing behind him.
"So, Peeta, a twelve." Said Flickerman, eager to get straight to the best part, "How did you do it?" Ichigo was about to respond, but Flickerman cut him off. "Oh, right. You can't tell us anything about what happened, can you?"
"No, not really." Ichigo replied.
"Then, perhaps you can tell us your skills?" Flickerman asked. Ichigo nodded. "Go on then."
"Uh… Swordsmanship and hand-to-hand combat." Ichigo decided to leave out baking.
"And you're a baker's son?"
"Yes."
"Then, tell me about how you came to be so impressive."
Zangetsu, what do I say? Ichigo asked in his head, panicking slightly. Kisuke's protocol went out the window as soon as Katniss started talking, and now Ichigo was unsure of what to say.
Why are you asking me? It's your interview, Zangetsu said, equally flustered.
"Go on, there's got to be something," Flickerman prompted.
"I uh… used to wrestle, back in school." Not strictly a lie, but certainly not the whole truth.
"And the swords?"
"After school with my brothers, fighting with sticks." Another half-truth.
"And you got a twelve in training?" Flickerman asked.
"Everyone always said I was a natural," Ichigo replied, feeling a little bit lame.
"Yes…" Flickerman said, giving up. "Stand up and show us that coat of yours. I've never seen anything like it." Ichigo stood up, letting the coat fall behind him. "Are those the same kind of flame as the stuff at the opening ceremonies?" He asked indicating the black fire that was raging at the bottom of Ichigo's coat. Ichigo nodded. "Oh! That reminds me!" Flickerman said, his face lighting up, "What did you think about your costume at the opening ceremonies?" He paused, for a moment, before adding, "After you got over your fear of being burned alive, that is." This got a laugh out of the crowd.
"It was good." Ichigo replied simply.
"Wasn't it?" Flickerman said, "Anyway, do you have someone special to go back home to?"
"Well… uh… n-no…" Ichigo trailed off and his face went red.
"Handsome lad like you. There must be some special girl. Come on. What's her name?"
"um… uh…"
Zantgetsu sighed in Ichigo's head.
Go on,
"There's this one girl," Ichigo stuttered out, starting to remember Kisuke's words, "I've had a crush on her ever since I can remember. But I'm pretty sure she didn't know I was alive until the reaping," The crowd sighed in sympathy. Now that they had something to relate to, they were eager to cheer Ichigo on.
"She have another fellow?"
"I don't know, but a lot of boys like her," Ichigo said.
"So," Flickerman said decisively, "Here's what you do. You win the Games, you go home. She can't turn you down then, eh?"
"I don't think that's going to work out. Winning… won't help in my case," Ichigo said, his blush deepening.
"Why ever not?" Flickerman asked, mystified.
"Because…" Ichigo said, "Because…"
Just say it already.
"She came here with me."
This is the last chapter before we finally get to the games, so get ready. Please review because reviews help me keep writing.