Suga woke up from a fitful sleep of Daichi dying over and over in his arms, each time dying an even worse death than before. Before he had woken up, he had watched as a Tribute slashed at Daichi's head as he was trying to shield him from the impact, cleaving his head off his neck as his blood splattered across Suga's face.

"Hey hey. Relax, Kou-chan. You're safe," Oikawa yawned as he wiggled from his sleeping spot. Suga slowly nodded as he lifted his aching head from the ground, his brain pounding against his skull as he tried to get rid of the headache. As he slowly sat up from the ground, Oikawa moved to give him some water when Suga realised Yachi's spot was empty.

"Don't worry about her. She went to the river for a while."

"Are you mad?! She could be an easy target for any wandering Tributes!"

"Are you really that concerned about her? She's only going to weigh you down as the Games progress. If you keep watching out for her instead of your own back, you would never be able to survive," Oikawa stated as a matter of fact as Suga quickly grabbed his things to walk out of the cave before nearly hitting his head against the wall.

"See? You haven't even slept properly and can barely think straight."

"Shut it, Oikawa. Yachi may be a bit off in the head but now, I'm the only one who can protect her," Suga snarled as he stalked out of the cave, leaving Oikawa to sigh as he bit down into some fresh kill he had made that morning.

Oikawa himself hasn't had that great of a night, tossing and turning as he remembered how he had killed Tanaka without mercy. His hands still felt stained with his blood despite having washed them over and over, his own blood beginning to seep from the cracks in his knuckles. Oikawa checked his knives before going out of the cave, swinging a knife in one hand as he heard the ground rocking beneath his feet.

"Shit, this is too early for an earthquake," he growled as he started to run towards the river just as canon shot filled the air.

…

"Kageyama, are you sure it was a good idea to let those Tributes take over the Cornucopia? I mean, we wouldn't have to go hunting like this with all the supplies over there!" Hinata whined as Kageyama tried not to wrangle him against a tree. He had been hearing Hinata whine for hours, not managed to get any Tributes, and his stomach was beginning to rumble uncontrollably.

After having taken out some Tributes the day before, he and Hinata had been faced with a difficult situation with the Tributes of Districts 3, 4 and 7. Unlike the two of them, the Districts had formed an alliance with each other during Training and with their numbers, had taken over the Cornucopia and in effect, their supply line. Knowing they had no chance against them, Kageyama had no choice but to drag Hinata into the forest and survive without them.

Shit, he thought they would have had it easy if they had managed to kill them off in time.

However, as he stood in front of the glaring eyes of the Tribute from District 3, the boy's golden catlike eyes looking at him as though he would kill him on the spot, Kageyama felt himself turning into jelly at the thought of killing him. Hinata had been all about challenging them to a fight but after the bloodbath and them having an initial scuffle of grabbing weapons, he felt it was best to come back to the Cornucopia later and get whatever they needed.

Kageyama was beginning to regret his choice by the minute with how mad Hinata's whining was making him.

Shirabu and Goshiki had gone their separate, both stating it would be easier for them to hunt on their own and they didn't want to be stuck with a bickering duo to hold them down. After having his invitation turned down by Oikawa, that left Kageyama stuck with Hinata.

If he didn't die from the Hunger Games, it would be because of Hinata's constant bickering.

"Hey, boke! Shut up and keep your eyes peeled for food! I'm starving!"

…

Kuroo got along with Bokuto the moment he saw him. It was as though they were best bros since the day they were born, bonding over sparring during the training session and insulting each other over their horrible outfits during the parade.

Their two best friends from home, however, didn't seem to like each other very much.

Akaashi Keiji thought Kozume Kenma was a bit too quiet for his own liking and he didn't want to have to deal with the boy if possible. When Bokuto brought up the idea of an alliance with them, he had reluctantly agreed since he didn't want to see Bokuto upset since the guy would practically wail about it for the next few days and he needed Bokuto to be I his right frame of mind during the Games.

So one the canon started, the four of them had run to the Cornucopia and took refuge there, claiming it as their territory as the Carers reluctantly stalked off to hunt for other Tributes. It had been Kuroo's idea that they set up camp there since they wouldn't have to worry about supplies and since most of the other Tributes were aware that Carers would normally be lurking there, that meant they would be free of any attacks.

About ten minutes into the Games, they picked up a stray named Yaku, who volunteered to help guard their things if they needed to go hunting, which was rarely. Akaashi felt that they should focus on waiting until all the other Tributes were gone before deciding the next step. While Akaashi had a plan on what to do with the other members of their group, he knew Bokuto wouldn't want to come willingly with him so he didn't tell him anything going on in his mind.

When Bokuto had been picked as Tribute, the guy had been a bit more excited than he should have when going up the stage. They haven't had a Victor in years but their current Mentor, a man named Konoha was someone that Akaashi knew would be able to help them win. When they announced the next Tribute, Akaashi could almost feel like it was Fate trying to tell him he was stuck to Bokuto forever as he walked onto the stage, Bokuto bringing him into a bone-breaking hug as their parents cried from below.

Akaashi had a younger sibling who died in the games a few years prior and he had always regretted he hadn't volunteered in his place. Now that he was going with the boy who he looked up too and babysat for most of his life, he was going to make sure that one of them would make it out alive.

"What are you doing, Kenma?" Bokuto asked as the smaller boy began to dismantle the side of the pedestals they had been standing on to remove a device from inside. Kenma worked swiftly as he continued to do the same for the other pedestals, Kuroo breaking into a grin as he patted Bokuto on the back.

"Kenma is getting all the bombs. We know our pedestals were rigged and just in case someone wants to steal our supplies when we go out, we wouldn't want them to hold onto what we can't have right?"

"Oh! That's actually pretty neat!"

"How do we know he's not going to blow us up?" Yaku asked as he held the spear in his hand nervously. Akaashi pitied the poor guy for being left alone after his partner, Lev had accidentally fallen into the water and got electrocuted by electric eels when the Games began when he had been too scared to run off the pedestal. Shirabu had taken the chance to shoot at him, hitting him in the knee to send him falling into the water to his death. Akaashi could remember smelling decaying burnt flesh before his charred body was lifted out of the water an hour later, Yaku's face pale thinking that the guy had been driving him mad a few hours ago.

Despite the fact that they were in good hands, Akaashi couldn't help but feel that someone was going to spring a trap on them. He elected to go check out the surrounding area with Bokuto, the other Tribute bouncing on his feet as they walked into the forest arms with swords. Akaashi felt the pressure of the Cornucopia leaving his body as he stepped onto solid ground, his legs nearly giving way as Bokuto said, "Hey, Akaashi. Are we really going to kill Kuroo, Kenma and Lev when it comes to it?"

Akaashi could almost imagine Bokuto's hair wilting as he turned around to look at him, Bokuto's face falling from grinning widely to one of terror. His eyes spoke volumes of how he felt of seeing people dying around him and how he might have to kill Akaashi in the end.

"Bokuto-san, we will make it out alive."

"But only one of us can make it out."

"Then I will make sure it's you."

"But…"

Akaashi slipped his hand into Bokuto's as he pulled him close, pulling him into a hug as the bigger boy shook against him. Akaashi wanted to tell him he would be fine because he would kill anyone who stood in their way and would never let anyone touch him, even though he knew it would make Bokuto feel very very sad.

Why did the world have to be so cruel to throw a guy as nice as Bokuto into this mess?

"Come on, let's take a walk and clear out minds."

…

The next morning, the sun rose above the trees to signal the beginning of the second day of the Hunger Games. The night before, Akaashi had watched as the faces of fallen tributes flashed across the sky, his mind making note of those who remained as faces flashed across the sky. He was a little ticked off at the fact all the strong ones remained, meaning it was going to be a pain to deal with them later.

"Akaashi, your turn to take the next watch," Kenma yawned as he walked over, his eyes sleepy from having stayed up for the past few hours. The guys were taking two-hour shifts between the each of them the entire night and Akaashi was lucky he was the one in charge of dawn. He always liked waking up early and going for a walk around the District before having to go into the woods to cut wood with his family. Another reason was so he could avoid Bokuto's rambunctious laughter when he came in about an hour later and annoyed him for the rest of the day, although he would do anything for that scene now if he could.

Akaashi grabbed his trident and walked towards the beach, his feet touching the solid ground to give himself a breath of relief. He felt he was now free from the prying eyes of the other Tributes to have some peace on his own as he walked into the forest when he saw a small figure walking away on the cornucopia, his hair bouncing in the light as Akaashi squinted his eyes.

"What the…" he whispered when a boom went off in the Cornucopia. Akaashi gasped as he ran towards it, his feet reaching the base of the path when Bokuto shouted, "Akaashi, don't get any closer!"

Bokuto stood at the edge of the Cornucopia, his eyes wild as Kuroo screamed profanities in the air while Yaku tried to run for it, begging he had nothing to do with the explosions as the inside of the Cornocupia exploded.

"Bokuto-san!" Akaashi yelled as the three Tributes were thrown into the water, debris flying across the water. Yaku slammed onto the side of a pedestal before sinking into the water, a canon going off when he heard a scream that was cut off abruptly. Kuroo had been trying to swim to Bokuto, paddling to get to the other Tribute who was flaying in the water.

Akaashi forgot Bokuto had no idea how to swim.

Kuroo dove for Bokuto, grabbing onto his arms as he tried to pull him to the shore. Bokuto was screaming as blood pooled around them, Kuroo yelling for help as fins began to rise from the water and circle around them. Akaashi wanted to run to them but felt himself frozen in place, his trident slipping in his hands as he tried not to run.

"Akaashi, run for it!" Bokuto yelled as he and Kuroo were dragged under, his body sinking into the water as the sound of muffled screams echoed across the water. Akaashi screamed as he rocked on the ground, trying to block out the screams of his best friend dying. The canon didn't come soon enough, indicating that they had a very slow and painful death. Akaashi almost didn't hear the canon going twice as he slowly turned to see what remained of them floating in the surface, his stomach turning as he retched onto the sand, his eyes stinging as he cursed himself for his mistake.