A/N: Trigger warning for both of these tributes.

Chapter 10:

District Nine

Lobo Mirazul, 15

One Week Before

Lobo clenches and unclenches his fists as he walks home, trying to get rid of some of the pain there, but nothing he does is stopping the bruising along his knuckles, the physical proof to his father of the work his has put in towards training. He can only hope it will be enough to keep him happy for another night. Just one more week of this. Then he's going to prove to his father that he is strong.

God, how he wishes to see something other than contempt for him in his father's eyes.

As he gets closer to home, the fried smells of the tortillas they make reaches his nose and he feels a pang of longing for better days, days when he was allowed to work in the kitchens with Mariposa and just have fun with his sister. But those days are long gone. Nothing Lobo does will ever bring back those days and he's not going to foolishly wish for them. He's set down a different path, one he can't deviate from now.

His footsteps start to slow as his house comes into sight, just dreading stepping foot inside. Once inside there, he can't dare let the walls down or show an ounce of pain. He has to relish in it and want the pain. That will make him more of a man.

"Hey, Lobo, wait up!"

Lobo comes to a sudden stop at the voice calling after him, tensing up as he stares ahead at his house for a few seconds, making sure no one was there watching. Only once he knows he's alone does he turn to face Tobias as he jogs up to him. "What do you want?" Lobo asks, a bit harsher than he'd like to be towards the boy, and he winces a little. But a glance over his shoulder reminds him that he can't act kind to him. His hand finds the scar about his eye, reminding him of what happened last time he was too kind to Tobias.

"I just wanna talk," Tobias says softly, giving him a kind smile that Lobo doesn't deserve at all. No matter how Lobo treats him, Tobias doesn't change, which only makes him push him even more.

"We're talking now," Lobo shortly replies, crossing his arms as he tries not to meet his gaze for too long. "I don't have all night, you know."

"I wish you did," Tobias whispers and Lobo meets his gaze, his thoughts going back to the last time they shared a night together. That kiss under the stars…and the fists that pummeled his face after they were discovered. "Are you really doing this?"

"I have to," Lobo answers right away and breaks their eye contact, instead focusing on picking his sharpened nails. "I have no other choice. So I'm going to go into those Games and destroy everyone."

Tobias takes a step towards him and Lobo looks up, eyes full of alarm at him getting closer. "This isn't you, Lobo, and don't you dare try to deny it."

"I… I don't-" he stumbles over his words, trying to deny it – wanting to deny it – but he can't. Not with Tobias. "Damn it, don't get into my head like this!"

"That's all you, handsome," Tobias says and damn it, Lobo can feel his cheeks heating up at the compliment. No! He shouldn't want this. He can't want this… Tobias takes another slow step towards him and hesitantly reaches out for Lobo's hand, giving him every opportunity to move away. And he wants to, he knows he should…

But he lets Tobias take his hand, desperately needing it.

"You don't have to volunteer," Tobias continues quietly as he gently running his thumb over his bruised knuckles. "Come with me and I'll get you away from him, keep you safe."

Lobo so desperately wants to believe him, but he knows it's not true. No one can protect him except himself, and certainly not sweet Tobias. Still…he can't help but entertain the thought of it. The thought of not volunteering, getting to have a relationship with him without fear of the repercussions. "Kiss me."

"What?" Tobias asks in surprise and Lobo is almost as surprised as he is.

"Kiss me, just one more time," Lobo tells him, knowing that's all he can allow himself to have. Nothing more. In a week, he'll be off to the Capitol to prove to his father that he's hardened and tough and will fight the others. But tonight…

"Well you could have asked nicely," Tobias jokes with him, but still gives in to his request with no hesitation. The kiss is just as good as Lobo remembers the first one being, making him ache for more.

But it also ends just like the first one.

"Lobo!"

The sharp yell of his father breaks through to him and feels him with a deep panic about getting caught. He shoves Tobias away from him harshly and tries to ignore the hurt look in his eyes. "Get away from me!" he shouts at him, looking at the ground to avoid the pain he's causing the one boy who actually cares about him.

The one boy he actually cares about.

"You don't mean that," Tobias tries to tell him and Lobo looks back at his father, seeing his sister holding onto him to keep him from coming over there. But his father stands still, fixing him with the coldest stare, one that makes him have no doubt his father will hurt him. He's seen looks like this before, but never like this… "Please, come with me and-"

"I said, get away from me!" Lobo screams at him and gives him another shove, knocking him to the ground. Both of them look surprised at Lobo pushing him to the ground and Tobias rubs his elbow. Lobo feels a brief pang of guilt before shoving it deep down. He can't let his father think he wanted to kiss him. Even then, he doesn't know if anything he does can be enough to stop the beating that will be coming his way. He has to stop that from happening.

"Stay the fuck away from me, you're disgusting!" Lobo yells before he kicks Tobias in the stomach, making him curl in on himself in pain before stepping back, horrified at what he has done. He gives Tobias a pleading look, hating the pain in his eyes that he inflicted. "I'm sorry, I have to," he whispers, letting Tobias see he means it for a moment before schooling his face into hardened anger. He balls his fist, nails digging into his palms and he can feel blood starting to pour out, as he turns to face his father and turns his back on the one person who was able to see his true self.

"Papi, he kissed me! I had nothing to do with him!" Lobo says as he steps closer to his house, glancing back to see Tobias getting to his feet. "Get away from me!" he yells at Tobias, needing the boy to run away before his father hurts him as well. Lobo would take any beating over that. Thankfully, Tobias listens, but he's pretty certain that this will be the last time he sees him.

Tobias deserves better than him.

Lobo turns back to his father, stopping at the pure hatred in his eyes for him. "You disgust me," Avilo spits at the ground towards Lobo, letting him know just what he thinks about him. He makes a bit of a movement towards Lobo and he flinches, anticipating the burning pain from him, and Mariposa whispers in his ear, pleading their father to not hurt him. He seems to listen to her, "Don't you dare step foot in my house again or I will kill you. Not until you have proven yourself to me. And even then, I still might kill you."

Lobo knows he completely means his threat and stays rooted to his spot as Avilo turns back and heads inside, slamming the door behind him. Mariposa looks at Lobo for a long moment, hesitating to speak to him, until Avilo shouts her name. With one final sad look at him, Mariposa turns and heads inside, keeping her head down to not cause any trouble.

Lobo stares at the closed door for a minute, frozen to his spot in shock and anger towards himself. He feels the prickling betrayal in his eyes and quickly rubs at them with his fists, refusing to cry and show any weakness from it. He did this. It's his own damn fault that he's been kicked to the street and he knew this could happen. He should have kept his damn mouth shut and did what his father wants him to do, kept his head down until the Reaping next week. But he couldn't even do that. If he can't even do that, how the hell is he supposed to survive the Games?

No. He will. He is strong enough for that. He is going to show his father that he is not weak.

Lobo turns around, fists balled as he starts storming his way back to the training center, not knowing where else he can go. He's going to show them all. Weak. He scoffs at the thought. He is far from it.

They'll see. They'll all see.

Inutil Vaquero, 16

One Day Before

"Inutil, go put Jesus to bed and then come back here."

Inutil looks up from her partially finished dinner at her father's cold words. She glances back down at her plate for a moment, before nodding her head and standing up. She knows her food will be gone by the time she's back, most likely the younger twins will take it. Another night hungry…

"Come here, little Jesus," Inutil says to her baby brother, reaching down to pick up the four year old. She balances him on her hip, grinning at the only sibling that is nice to her.

"Book time?" Jesus asks her, his eyes lighting up in excitement at the possibility.

"No, Jesus, not tonight," her mother tells him, her voice loving until she turns her focus to Inutil. "Your sister is needed in here right away."

"Yes, mother," Inutil answers obediently as she carries her brother out of the kitchen. She uses her shoulder to push open his bedroom door, the only child that has his own room. The rest of them have all had to share and Inutil has even been put on the couch since he was born. But she can't be mad at him for that. Not when he is the only good thing in this house.

"Tomorrow I will read you a book," Inutil tells him as she sets him down before pulling out his pajamas. He doesn't make a fuss as she helps him get dressed, but his lower lip sticks out a little in a pout. "What's wrong?"

"I wanted a book tonight," Jesus says quietly, on the verge of tears, and Inutil quickly scoops him up into her arm to stop him.

"No need to cry," Inutil tells him, needing him to not cry. She will get in so much trouble if he starts crying now. "I will read two books tomorrow to make it up to you. How does that sound?"

"Okay," Jesus answers, happy with that answer and no longer looking like he might cry.

Inutil lets out a small sigh of relief as she sits down on the edge of his bed, letting go of him so he can crawl in. She tucks the blankets around him and gives him a kiss on the forehead, smiling as she stands up. "Goodnight, little Jesus."

"Nighty night!" Jesus says cheerfully and Inutil shushes him to quiet down, which he does as she gets up to leave.

Once out of the room, Inutil tries to prepare herself for going back into the kitchen, but she has no idea what to expect. And she can't keep them waiting… When she steps back in, she knows something is going on immediately when only her parents and older sister Appa are left at the table. "What's going on?"

"We need to talk about tomorrow," Appa says as she stands up, holding a large, very sharp looking knife in her hand. Inutil's eyes widen in fear at the knife, which she tries to stop. Her sister wouldn't hurt her. She's her sister! She wouldn't. Right?

"T-tomorrow?" Inutil asks, keeping her gaze on the knife in her sister's hand. She glances over at her parents, wondering why they haven't said anything to stop Appa, but they stay silent, just watching them.

"There's been talk of only one volunteer," Appa says as she steps closer to Inutil, waving that large knife in her hand in Inutil's direction. The younger girl takes a nervous step back from her sister, afraid of getting hurt. But her sister wouldn't hurt her…right?

Inutil's back hits the wall and she presses herself into it, staring at the knife as her sister gets closer and closer. She struggles to understand what is going on and why her sister is acting this way, all while her parents sit back and watch. What did she do wrong this time? She must have done something wrong without realizing it. "One volunteer…for what?"

"Jesus, you're dumber than a sack of bricks sometimes!" her mother says at the kitchen table and takes another sip of her drink.

"What about Jesus?" Inutil asks, her confusion filling her face as she looks at her parents. "I put him in bed…"

"I can't deal with this," Appa says, pinching her nose for a moment before turning back to Inutil with anger in her eyes. She steps up to her, holding the knife at Inutil's throat and she lets out a cry of fear.

"Don't you dare wake up my precious son," her father scolds her and anger flashes over Appa's face at his comment. Inutil obediently nods her head at her father, knowing she doesn't want to wake up Jesus.

"Go ahead and cry," Appa says, pressing the knife closer until Inutil can just barely feel the sharp tip of it. She barely breaths as terror holds her in place and she watches her sister with wide eyes as the older girl leans closer to her face. "I'm talking about the damn Hunger Games. They're saying there's only one boy who is interested and no one to take the other spot. The spot us Vaquero girls would be in. And what the hell do you think they're gonna do if only one person volunteers?"

Inutil tries to think about what has been said about the Hunger Games this year and struggles to come up with something. Her memory has always been awful and now isn't an exception. What did they say about the Games? But no matter how hard she thinks, she just can't remember. She goes to shake her head, but stops when she feels the knife. "I…I don't…"

"You don't know?" Appa says slowly in a mocking tone, leaning her face in closer to sneer at her. "Of course you don't know, because you never leave the house because you can't. You're useless. Pathetic."

Inutil's eyes water at her comment, knowing it's all true… It's all she's ever been told her whole life by her family. All she ever does is just clean the house while everyone else is out working the farm or bringing home money. "I-I could be useful if I could go work or something."

"Work?" Her mother asks and lets out a harsh laugh that has Inutil cringing away. "And just what the hell kind of work do you think a useless, dumb one-armed girl like yourself is going to find? Nothing. You'll never find work. You will never have a purpose," she pauses, giving Inutil a harsh look as she starts to cry at her words, not wanting to believe them. But what else is she supposed to believe when this is what she's always been told? "Until now."

"N-now?" Inutil asks, sniffling as she tries to keep back her tears, especially when Appa sneers at her for it.

"Appa, tell her," her father commands and Appa grins menacingly at Inutil, clearly happy to do so and Inutil knows it won't be good for her.

"You're going to volunteer tomorrow for the Hunger Games," Appa says, her voice low and full of hatred towards Inutil that she doesn't know how she earned. "When that prissy stuck up new escort asks for any volunteers, you're gonna step forward and keep the rest of us safe. If you don't, you won't make it home tomorrow night. To be clear, I will kill you if you don't volunteer tomorrow," she pointedly says and presses the knife closer to Inutil's neck, letting her feel the sharpness of it to know she means. "Do you understand me?"

"V-volunteer?" Inutil lets out in a squeak of fear and Appa presses one of her arms against her chest, pinning her against the wall. She doesn't want to volunteer for the Games! Why would she want to do that? But her family…

"You're going to do it, Inutil," her father says, standing up to walk over to where Inutil is pressed against the wall by her older sister. She gives him a pleading look to not make her do it, but he fixes her with a cold, unrelenting gaze. "Since the day you were born and your brother wasn't, we have wanted to abandon you," he starts slowly and tears pour down her cheeks at the things he says. "But we couldn't, not in this part of the District. Too many people would have looked down on us for it. So we raised you, despite being useless. Too weak to work the farm without slowing it down. Unable to go to school and get a proper education. Just sucking up our resources like a parasite."

Inutil chokes out a sob at his words, shaking her head and not wanting to believe it. "I-I can do things!" she pleads with him, wanting to prove she can help them. "If you let me, I can-"

Her father cuts her off, continuing as if she never said anything. "But the Games? That is what you deserve. It is the one way you can actually be useful for this family. We've been down on money trying to feed all of you and have been having trouble with the farm. We need the compensation money from the Games and all of your sisters are too useful here to let them go. So you will volunteer, right Inutil?"

All three of them stare at her, daring her to say otherwise. But she can't. She doesn't want them to hurt her if she says no and as much as she doesn't want to believe it, she knows they will. The look in her sister's eyes as she stares at her, still pushing the knife into her neck has her terrified. And her father…she wants to be useful for him. She knows she's capable of…of something, she just hasn't figured out what yet. Maybe this is it…

She isn't too certain about that, but she doesn't really have a choice…

"Yes, father," she whispers obediently. She needs to do this. She can be useful for once… "I'll do it."

There we have District 9! Big thanks to DracarysWolf and goldie031 for Lobo and Inutil respectively! Two very different tributes, yet with big similarities with their family situations. And with that, we only have two intros left! The end is in sight and I'm ready to move on from intros lol.

I hope everyone's been safe and doing alright with everything going on this week.

RQ #10: Idk, we need some good right now. What's something good you've seen lately?

Well, I will see you next Friday with the second to last intro. 50/50 chance of guessing who it is lol.