Sorry it's short guys. I have a migraine, so I can't really concentrate and I don't want to embarrass myself by typing up senseless gibberish. Think of this chapter as the calm before the storm.

Ten

(Dark)

'You really are insane,' I sigh.

Hollow grins. 'So I've been told.'

The two of us are sitting on the roof of the apartment where we're staying before the Games begin, and we're eating lunch up here. Just the two of us. After all, I don't want to see any of the people from the Sereitei right now. Load of assholes at the end of the day.

Anyway, we're going into the arena tomorrow.

'Why would you do something like that?' I whisper. 'You said you want your family to be safe, and you've probably doomed them.'

'If they've already hurt my family, then I'd know,' Hollow replies quietly. 'They would have rubbed it in my face.'

'And how do you know they're not just waiting until we get into the arena before they let you know?' I demand. 'They'll want to break you when you're actually in the Games.'

'Shinji and I talked about it afterwards,' Hollow murmurs. 'He knows the way the Sereitei works. He told me that there's a possibility the Sereitei may want to use me somehow. In either two ways: they can make me one of their warriors if I survive the arena or they can destroy me to show that- I quote from Shinji- even the strongest can can be broken. Either way, I'm not particularly worried about my family. I did this all on purpose, visibly rebelling, in the hope that they may believe my family don't matter to me.'

'So...' I take a deep breath. '… You're acting evil, and as if you really don't care what happens to your family-'

'- so they won't bother trying to use them against me.'

'What are the chances of this actually working?' I have to ask.

Hollow winces. 'Yeah, I'm actually trying not to think about that.'

'Well, from now on you need to play the Game the way they want,' I say.

Hollow grins. 'Will do.'

'It's so strange to think that... today could be the last day of our lives,' I say after a long pause. 'And it is a really nice day.'

It's true. The sun is high in the blue sky and there are absolutely clouds obscuring the light. In fact, it's so bright that Hollow doesn't actually seem to pale to be out of place. He almost blends in, and I wonder what he looks like in the winter surrounded by snow.

'We're going to have to break the alliance when there are barely any tributes left, so long as we're still alive,' I say. 'I don't want to fight you or Nel.'

Hollow nods thoughtfully. 'Yeah. You're right.'

XOXOXOX

{3rd Person}

'Any last minute advice?' Dark asks as she and Hollow get ready to step into the capsules that will bring them into the arena.

'Stay alive,' Shinji says simply.

'Thanks a lot,' Hollow says irritably. 'We'll bear that in mind.'

'Do you know what sort of arena it is?' Dark asks quickly as she notices the glass doors opening, waiting for the tributes to step inside.

'No idea,' Shinji says with a dry smile. 'You'll only find out when you get inside.'

Dark and Hollow glance at each other, then nod.

'Ready?'

'Ready.'

'Good luck,' Shinji calls after them as he watches the two of them make their way into the capsules. They're easily the most promising tributes from District Twelve he's ever mentored.

XOXOXOX

It's five minutes until the Seventy-fourth Annual Hollow Games begins, and there is a knock on the Kurosaki door. Ichigo opens the door to find Rukia standing there, her face set and grim.

'Can I come in?' she asks quietly.

'Sh... shouldn't you be watching the Games with your brother?'

'He said it's fine. You know exactly how I feel, because you're going through it as well. My twin and your twin might die today. And even if one of them lives through all of this, the other one certainly won't.'

Ichigo shuts the door and shows Rukia into the main room, where Karin, Yuzu and Isshin are sitting on the sofa. They give Rukia a very brief smile and then they all look back at the screen. The capsules are just rising out of the ground, straight into a dessert of white sand and a black sky. The land is bare and slightly hilly, aside from the odd dead tree in every direction. The tributes all blink in confusion and then it is clear to see that they are immediately focusing on the Cornucopia in the centre.

'Ladies and Gentlemen... let the Seventy-fourth Annual Hollow Games begin!'