Hikari Nakamura, age 17

District Six Female

On some level, Hikari understood why the girls around her stood sniveling and whimpering and bleach-pale as the entirety of District Six filed into the square for the reaping. A small, small part of her understood it. After all, it had been her a few years ago. But not today.

Not this time.

She would volunteer for the 95th Hunger Games.

District Six had not had a victor in Hikari's lifetime. After years of watching tributes enter the arena and not come back, Hikari didn't turn sullen and sad, like so many others. Instead, she began to train. She began to prepare herself to enter the arena and bring a victory back to District Six.

Training before the Games might have been illegal, but the Careers did it. What made her any different? At least, that was what she thought. So Hikari began to train. She started out with small things, knives and needles—which were a dime a dozen in Six—and progressed to larger weapons as she got older. Of course, she didn't have access to swords or spears or bows so she used discarded metal pipes instead.

And now she was ready. Now she would take her spot as a tribute and future victor.

The square fell silent once the door to the Justice Building opened and three people stepped out. Three. Some districts had nine or ten people, depending on the number of victors, but District Six had exactly one. Logan Tracks, a middle aged man who won the 76th Games nineteen years ago purely by chance.

A pity win, Hikari thought to herself, as the mayor gave her customary speech. Sure, there were other districts with only one living victor, but at least their tributes were contenders. Six was typically written off as bloodbath material, rarely reaching the final eight.

Not this year. No, not this year.

The district escort, Pandora, frolicked up to the microphone, wearing her usual orange and pink frills. She beamed. "Welcome, welcome, District Six! Welcome to the reaping for the 95th Annual Hunger Games!" Pandora paused as if she expected wild applause. Everyone stared back at her in silence. It didn't faze her, as she launched into a speech about how much she loved coming to Six every year, about how different it was from the Capitol.

Hikari snickered. Yeah, you could say it's different. Both cities, but one gleaming and colorful, the other dark and dingy. One spotless, teeming with life, the other polluted and downtrodden. Maybe once Hikari won, she could fix up Six a bit. Make it less of an eyesore.

"Now, what we've all been waiting for," Pandora was saying, "the drawing of this year's tributes! Ladies first!"

Hikari closed her eyes, grounding herself, settling herself. This was it. This was what she had been waiting for. Deep breath in. Hold. Exhale.

"The young lady representing District Six will be Miss Alisha Dexter!"

Hikari opened her eyes. "I volunteer!"

Alistair Link, age 16

District Six Male

Alistair balled his fists, watching the volunteer step on stage. Volunteers were unheard of in Six, where the Games were a death sentence. Why would anybody become a tribute if their name wasn't called? Why would somebody willingly serve the Capitol like that?

But Pandora was eating it up on stage. She looked like her head would explode, her smile was so wide. "Exciting, exciting!" she squealed, shoving the microphone in the girl's face. "What is your name dear?"

Why the fuck would you do such a thing?

"Hikari Nakamura," the girl announced proudly. "I'm here to win."

Alistair's lip curled. Not only a rogue volunteer, but a Career wannabe. Just what the district needed. The actual Careers lived as Capitol lap dogs, profiting off the Games and the deaths of other children, but they didn't care. They didn't care about the injustice of it all.

The Capitol took and took without care.

They took his mother.

A few months after giving birth to Alistair, Claire Link was reaped into the 79th Hunger Games and murdered. Her death left Alistair in the care of her sister, Marsha, seeing as his father had left once he found out Claire was pregnant. Alistair was grateful for his aunt and uncle, but it was far outweighed by his disdain for the Capitol and the Games. Outweighed by his crushing anger.

"More excitement to come!" Pandora said. "Let's choose the young man to join Miss Nakamura!"

Pandora walked over to the boys' glass and carefully selected a slip. So nonchalant with the life she was about to condemn. She opened the paper. "Will Alistair Link please step forward?"

Of fucking course. They weren't content with taking just his mother's life, were they? They wanted him, too. Taking and taking without abandon.

Alistair shoved people out of his way to get to the aisle, seething. Of course they picked him. Who else would it have been? The Peacekeepers approached him, but Alistair ripped his arm away from the one that grabbed him.

"Don't touch me!" he yelled. "I'll go my-fucking-self."

And he did, taking his place next to the delusional volunteer as a tribute in the Hunger Games.

Hikari Nakamura, age 17

District Six Female

"Mom and Dad aren't coming."

Hikari stood across from her sister, taking in the news Cora had just thrown at her. Her parents didn't want to visit her. They wouldn't come say goodbye before she went to the Capitol. Fine. Make them regret it when you come back.

"That's their choice," Hikari said. "And I made mine."

"But why did you volunteer?" Cora asked, exasperated. "You were safe! We were both safe!"

"I would've still had to go next year. Not you."

"That's not my point." Cora crossed her arms. "What were you thinking? Why would you do something like that?"

"I've been training," Hikari began, and Cora's eyes widened.

"Training?" she practically screeched. "Hikari, are you out of your mind? That's illegal!"

"The Careers do it," Hikari countered. "Why can't I?" Cora didn't say anything. She just buried her face in her hands.

Hikari knew her sister would have been surprised when she volunteered. She hadn't told anyone about her plans, hadn't mentioned anything about the Games besides the occasional backhand comment that everybody made about them. She had even managed to keep her training a secret until now. Wouldn't have wanted anyone to stop her, now would she?

"This is a horrible idea."

"No, it isn't. I can win, Cora."

"Nobody wins the Games," Cora pointed out. "Look at Logan. He just came back. He didn't win anything."

"So I'll be a little different." Hikari glared at her sister. "It beats living the way we do now." Living in a shack, working long hours in the factories for small wages, dealing with the drug addicts that wander near the house at night. Anything would have been better than that. A house in the Victor's Village would have been a good start.

Cora stepped closer to Hikari, her face twisted in anger. She poked Hikari in the chest as she spoke. "You're delusional. The Hunger Games aren't all fun and games. It's a fight to the death. You lose, you die. When will you get that through your head?"

With that, Cora spun on her heel and stormed out of the room, the door slamming shut. Hikari rolled her eyes.

Prove them all wrong.

Alistair Link, age 16

District Six Male

Alistair flung the vase across the room, listening to the satisfying shatter. Reaped. A tribute. Until the Games started, he was untouchable. So why not destroy Capitol property now? They couldn't do anything to him.

The Capitol needed him. They needed someone to participate in their Games.

But just because he was participating didn't mean he had to cooperate.

He knew there was a Peacekeeper outside the door. Alistair wanted to take a swing at him. Just one. Smashing the vase felt nice, but he wanted access to something else. Someone else.

The door swung open, and in came Alistair's aunt Marsha, uncle Branson, and little cousin, Ullia. They all avoided the mess of ceramic shards on the floor. Marsha's small frame was rattled with sobs. She practically collapsed on Alistair.

"Oh, why you?" she cried. "First Claire, and now…" She dissolved into tears again. Branson had to gently pull her off of Alistair and set her down on the couch in the room. Small, five year old Ullia crawled onto her mother's lap. She wasn't quite old enough yet to understand what happened to the kids who went to the Capitol every year, but she could figure out enough to realize it was bad. Especially since Marsha was bawling her eyes out.

"Just do your best out there," Branson said. "That's all we're asking."

"I'll try," Alistair told them. He would try. But he just didn't know how long the Gamemakers would want to keep him alive, considering his attitude. Rebellious, angry tributes never won the Games. They were lucky to get a peaceful death.

The Peacekeeper outside opened the door, saying that their time was up. "I love you," Marsha exclaimed, springing off the couch and into Alistair's arms again. "Please remember that." The door shut with his family on the other side before Alistair could say anything back.

Those three were the only people Alistair was expecting to come say goodbye. So it was to his surprise when a thin middle aged man with mousy brown hair quietly slipped into the room. His gaze immediately locked on the broken vase, but he didn't comment on it.

"Are you Claire Link's son?" the man asked, and Alistair had to lean forward in order to catch every word. Then the meaning sunk in.

"Yes," he said. "Why?"

The man looked up at Alistair for a brief moment, a small smile on his face. "My name is Felix Saunders. I'm your father." Father. Alistair felt his face harden, his jaw clench in anger.

"I don't have a father," he gritted out. "Just a disappointment who got my mother pregnant and abandoned her. Did you even care when she died? When I was born?" Alistair closed his eyes and turned his back to Felix. "Get out of here. I don't want to see you ever again."

"Alistair…"

"I said get out!" Alistair screamed, spinning around and lashing out. His fist caught Felix across the cheekbone. Felix stumbled backwards, hunched over, a hand flying up to cup his cheek. Good. Let him cower. The man soon did as he was told, exiting the room and quietly as he had entered.

What were the odds Alistair would have met his long lost father before entering a death match?

We're halfway there! *confetti*

Here's District Six. Honestly, I can not wait for these two to interact. Their opposing views will make for some good conflict for sure. Be sure to let me know what you thought! See you next time in District Seven!

-D9T