A/N. Hey! I decided to update the next chapter earlier than I had planned to, because dude. I didn't update for a REALLY long time, and you guys deserve updates.
Special thanks to~
MelodiousMusic – I am glad that you found my story! And I am glad that you love it so far. Thanks!
For My Personal Pleasure – Well I am happy that you made it through your spazz attack enough to read the new chapter. Here's another! So enjoy my dear Thanks a lot! I worked hard on trying to keep the training interesting but not too in depth, because then it'd just get boring. Like, "I built a fire. I climbed a tree. Obstacle course! Knot tying." I didn't want to get boring haha. Good things do come to those who wait.
QueenOfDarkHearts - You know, I was so tempted to make Mori Thresh and to make Hunny Rue. It would have made so much sense. But yet, it didn't, since they're both so old and such. And also I could never kill those two off, heh. The compliments mean a lot to me! Thanks a lot!
So here is chapter 10!
Chapter 10
Kaoru's POV
How the hell could I just DO that?!
Reaching the hallway where the elevator is located, Avoxes back up, obviously frightened by my angry appearance. I just walk past them and go inside the elevator, practically punching the number 12. I hiss in pain and flex my fingers, which were in pain due to my stupidity.
I probably just doomed District 12. Will the Peacekeepers kill my mother now? Would they go after Tamaki and his family? God, I hope not.
Leaning against the wall of the elevator as I go up, seething with anger at myself, I grit my teeth and stare up at the ceiling. I shot an arrow at the Gamemakers. Now they'll make it their own personal mission to kill me in the arena.
The elevator pings, indicating that I had reached my floor. Breathing in deeply I walk out of the elevator, seeing Hikaru, about to enter his room. When he sees me he grins and stops, waving at me.
"Hey Kao! How'd you do?"
I shoot him a look and his eyes widen slightly. "I did fine, just fine." I say, going straight to my room and just walking in, slamming the door shut behind me.
Once inside, I just lean back against the door then slide into a sitting position. Great. All because I'm angry I just snapped at Hikaru. I should probably learn to control my actions, damn it.
They'll give me a pitifully low score. Scores are a big deal in the Games. The higher the score, the greater your chance of being murdered by another tribute. Which is understandable, since people want to get the most skilled out of the way.
That may seem good for the lower scores, but it's a bad thing that they get low scores.
Who in their right mind would sponsor someone with a score of a 3? 4? Maybe even a 5? Nobody. They aren't really skilled in much of anything. Not necessarily, actually. A girl a few years ago, who won the Games. She acted weak, got a score of 5, I believe. She acted weak, but was actually a killing machine with an axe.
Shaking my head, I wipe the thoughts from my mind and run a hand through my hair. I'll be just fine.
I had been sitting in my room for what I assume to be about 10 minutes when Renge comes to tell me that it is time to go eat dinner. Standing up, I brush the dust from my pants and exit my room. Not like I could keep this from coming forever, right?
When I get down to the room, Nekozawa, Haruhi, Renge, and Hikaru's stylist whose name I can't remember were already eating, talking to each other, munching on appetizers. They didn't even seem to acknowledge my presence.
The table was a rectangle, in which the length area could seat two people, while the edges could only seat one. Renge was sitting on one end, while Nekozawa sat at the other. Hikaru sat next to his stylist and when I sat down, I sat across from Hikaru, next to Haruhi.
Hikaru looks up at me and gives me a concerned look, and I mouth "I'm fine," to him.
When the actual food had come out Nekozawa looks at Hikaru and I, nodding a little. "Did you two fail? Huh, Sugar Lips?" He looks to me and I scowl at him.
Hikaru jumps in almost immediately, a small pout playing on his lips, but he still seemed to be in a good mood. "Well, they weren't really paying attention. I guess since they'd been there for so long, and that most tributes from 12 have sucked, they figured that I would too so they just didn't pay much attention. I just kind of threw things around and had fun, to be honest."
I can't help but smile at him a little. Of course Hika would have fun with it.
"What about you, Kaoru?" Renge asks me.
"I don't want to talk about it." I mutter, chewing my food thoughtfully.
"What? Come on! We want to know!" She persists, putting her fork down.
"Yeah, come on Sweetheart. Tell us all about what you did." Nekozawa winks at me and I grit my teeth. Their persisting and Nekozawa's constant petname changing makes me angry, and I practically throw my fork down.
"Well I made like 4 bull's-eyes, shot a dummy between the eyes, blew a lightbulb, shot a dummy through the heart, you know, the usual."
Renge applauds. "Well that sounds fantastic! Why wouldn't you want to tell us about that-"
"I also shot an arrow at the Gamemakers." I cut her off, looking at everyone's shocked faces before returning to my food like nothing had happened
"You… you what?" Haruhi asks me in an astonished tone.
"I shot an arrow at the Gamemakers. Not at them directly at least. Just like Hikaru said. They weren't paying attention. I am going into a death match and they're not even paying attention to me! My life is on the line!" I put my fork down again. "Some Avoxes brought a damned roast pig into the room, and the Gamemakers were paying attention to it. So I cocked an arrow and shot the apple right out of their precious pig's mouth!"
"What'd they say?" Hikaru's stylist asks me, almost hesitantly.
"Nothing. I didn't give them time to. Some looked surprised while others looked like they nearly wet their pants. After I shot the pig, I thanked them for how considerate they were and left."
Renge looks horrified. "Were you dismissed?!"
I shook my head. "No! They weren't paying attention until I shot the apple out of the pig's mouth. They don't get the right to tell me what to do or to order me to go when they didn't even care enough to pay attention to what I was doing."
"What did they say? What did YOU say?" Renge continues to ask, staring at me.
"I said, 'Thank you, for your consideration.' And left. I dismissed myself. They don't deserve my respect, even if my life is in their hands. They can suck it for all I care."
Renge makes a horrified face and Nekozawa cracks up, taking deep breaths to calm himself. "That was beautiful, Sweetheart. You should tell them that sometime."
I roll my eyes. "Sure, I definitely will."
The rest of dinner seems to fly by as they all ask me questions, such as the Gamemakers reactions, and what was going through my mind at the time. I give them short, quick answers, not really believing this to be as grand of a story as they are all making it out to be. Renge still seemed to be distressed but she had calmed down at least a little bit.
After a while everyone had finished up and gone into the living room area. Hikaru and I sit on the small couch while the others pile onto the big one, and I sit with my elbows on my knees as the scores start being revealed.
Marvel, the more masculine guy from District 1 gets a 9. Glisten, the feminine tribute, gets an 8. They both got good scores.
Then it goes to District 2, in which Cato, the one I am most afraid of gets a 10, and the other tribute, named Clover, gets a 9.
To be honest, I kind of zone out through the rest of the scoring, not really caring about the other tributes. They don't really catch my attention.
But when it gets to District 11, I perk up, looking up at the screen. Thresh, who is the bigger tribute gets a 9. He was huge, and probably dangerous. Rae, the other tribute, the little boy who strangely reminds me of Hikaru when he and I were younger. Small, kind of cut off from the world. He gets a 7. In my opinion, that's great.
Then it gets to District 12.
Hikaru's face flashes up on the screen and his hand sneaks over and grasps mine. Looking over at him, seeing him biting his lip in anticipation, I blush lightly and force my gaze away, along with the butterflies in my stomach.
"Hikaru Hitachiin!" Ryoji, "Ranka" Fujioka says, grinning. He was an eccentric man. Every year he dyed his long, flowing hair a different color. For each new Games. And he was a transvestite, as in he wore women's clothing. Same as the head Gamemaker, Misuzu Sonoda. He dresses in drag also.
"District 12, Hikaru Hitachiin." Ryoji repeats, looking down at his paper. "With a score of… 8." Hikaru squeezes my hand and grins brightly, looking around the room. Everyone applauds and I nod at him.
"Great job, Hika." I say, and he smiles at me.
"District 12, Kaoru Hitachiin!" Ryoji, ah I should just call him Ranka, says. He looks down at the paper, and the room was so quiet one could hear a pin drop. "With a score of…" Ranka's eyes widen a little, then he squints a bit, pulling the paper closer to his face. "With a score of… 11."
My eyes flit to the screen just in time to see the number 11 flash in front of my picture. Applause from everyone in the room fills my ears and my heart rate picks up. I got an 11, they didn't hate me!
"Great job, Sweetheart." Nekozawa says, gesturing towards me. Everyone else congratulates me, but I barely hear them. I look to Hikaru, who had his eyebrows raised and a smile on his face.
"Wow, you did better than I thought you would do Kao! That's fantastic!" He pulls me into a hug and I feel my cheeks ignite, the butterflies coming back and my gut doing flips. What is wrong with me? I can't keep feeling this way around my brother. My BROTHER.
When everyone had calmed down and Hikaru had let me go, I lean back and smile a little. Turning my gaze away from him, I look at Nekozawa, who was looking between Hikaru and I with a thoughtful expression. "Nekozawa? Drunkard? You in there?" I ask, waving a hand a little.
He jumps a bit and responds immediately, nodding. "Yep, I sure am, Plush Rump Express."
I glare at him for that one.
"Why the hell were you staring at me?" I ask, crossing my arms over my chest.
"No reason. We can talk about this later. Anyway, you two should get up to your beds and rest. Tomorrow starts early, training for the interviews." Nekozawa just dismisses my question and gets up, while everyone except me follows suit.
"All right! Come on Kao. We should get up to bed. The interviews are going to be stressful." Hikaru holds a hand out for me to take and I hesitantly do so, taking a hold of his hand and standing up. He intertwines our fingers and we both walk out of the room, heading towards our own rooms, hand in hand.
"You know, I'm really proud of you right now." He says to me, breaking the silence.
"I'm proud of you too. You said you couldn't do anything, but look. You got an eight. Great job, Hika." I smile at him, and he smiles back at me.
"An eleven is better than an eight, but thanks Kao. I'll see you in the morning?" He asks, a hopeful glint in his eye.
I nod, laughing softly. "Yeah. Of course."
He grins and kisses my cheek gently before taking his hand from mine, heading to his room. "Goodnight, Kaoru. Sweet dreams." With that, he goes into his bedroom and I go to my own.
Not feeling like showering at the moment, I slip on some pajamas and lay down in bed, turning the lights off and closing my eyes.
The number 11 flashes behind my eyelids and I can't help but grin a bit, the exhausting day obviously having taken a toll on my body, since I'm already falling asleep.
But I can't help but think one thing before the darkness overtakes me.
Maybe I do have a shot at winning after all.
A/N. Hey! Thanks for reading chapter 10! It means a lot. Also, almost 2,000 views already! Fantastic! Yay!
I just wanted to remind you all to review/follow/favorite. That is what encourages me to keep writing! And hey, if I get more of those then I may just update once every week, you may never now. I would absolutely love to read more reviews and see more views, follows, and favorites!
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