I knock on the door to Gaia's house, which, like Diana's house, is just a short walk from where I live. Gaia's guardian, an older woman named Titania, opens the door and smiles at me.
"Hello, Mizuki, my dear," she says. "Come in, come in! Gaia, Carlos, and Taiga are all upstairs. Should I get them for you?"
"That would be great," I say with a grin as I step into the house. As Titania closes the door, Taiga bounds down the stairs and waves at me.
"Hi Mizuki!" they say, skidding to a stop in front of me. "We were just about to call you and ask you to come over."
"What are you guys up to?" I ask.
"Nothing much," Taiga answers as Gaia starts walking down the stairs. "Hey Gaia, Mizuki's here."
"Hello," Gaia says with a wave. "Did you want to hang out here or swing by the Academy to see what Diana's up to?"
"You read my mind," I say with a grin. "Where's Carlos? If it's okay with him I was thinking we could all go to the Academy for a bit."
"Right here," Carlos says as he joins Gaia on the stairs. "What was this about the Academy?"
"Mizuki was just suggesting that we all drop by the Academy," Taiga says, shrugging. "I don't mind going, because we've been sitting here for a while anyways."
"I guess it can't hurt to go there for an hour or so," Gaia says. "What do you think, Carlos?"
"If Titania can drive us, then sure," Carlos says with a smile. "We'd probably only stay there for a few hours, though, because we need to get ready for the Reaping."
"It's settled, then," I say, grinning as I clasp my hands together. I turn to Titania as my friends all gather downstairs. "Titania, can you drive us to the Academy please? We promise we won't stay there long."
"Sure, just one of you let me know when you're ready to leave," Titania says. "Let me get my keys while everyone gets ready, and then we'll be off."
District 2's main Academy is too far away to reach comfortably on foot, but driving there only takes twenty minutes. My friends and I chat on the way there.
"I wish they didn't stop giving us homework just because it's Games season," I say as I sit with Gaia, Carlos, and Taiga in Titania's car.
"Wow, nerd," Taiga says jokingly. "Even I don't look forward to homework."
"It's just that some people like me don't watch the Games much, and I end up having less things to do when I have no homework," I say.
"I watch the Games a lot so I appreciate not having homework, but I get what you mean," Carlos says.
"Can't you use the extra time to read ahead or look into your career plans, or something?" Gaia asks.
"I suppose," I say with a shrug. "I appreciate the routine homework brings, though. In any case, I can't wait until the Games season is over. I've never been that interested in them anyways."
"Then why do you spend so much time at the Academy?" Carlos asks.
"Because Diana's there, duh," Taiga quips. I punch them lightly on the arm, and they shut up.
The Academy is buzzing with activity when we arrive, which is understandable considering that today is Reaping Day. Still, we find Diana relatively easily. She's at the popular throwing knives station of Center D, the facility designated for twelve-to-fourteen-year-olds. I smile, feeling warm and fuzzy inside. Diana could've chosen Center A, which is restricted to the top ten Academy trainees, because she's in fifth place. But the fact that she's training in Center D shows that she was expecting us.
"Diana, hey!" I yell, waving at her. Diana throws one last knife, landing a bullseye, before turning to us and waving at us. She talks to the knife-throwing trainer, who allows her out of the knife-throwing range.
"Hi guys," Diana says, approaching us. "I wasn't sure whether you were going to come train with me or do your usual nerdy things."
"Well, we've already done nerdy things today, so we thought we could come see what you were up to," I say with a smile. "Do you want to grab desserts with us? I haven't been to the Snowflake Dessert Lounge in ages."
"Sorry, I'm still trying to avoid super unhealthy food," Diana says. "And I'd rather stay here and keep training. I may not have been chosen to volunteer this year, but if I win the Games next year I'll still become Panem's youngest Victor!"
"Yeah, about that," I say harshly, crossing my arms. "I was hoping you'd have changed your mind by now."
"Of course not!" Diana exclaims. "Mizuki, we've been over this before and I'm not going to give up on my dream of winning the Hunger Games. Come on, I know it's a bit crowded here so maybe I can race you guys up the climbing wall."
"Diana, I was really hoping we could do something other than train for once," I say with a sigh. "There are other things in life besides the Hunger Games, you know!"
"Did you come all the way here just to stop me from training?" Diana asks, hurt evident in her eyes. "If you did, I'm sorry. I thought we could train together, which would be fun, but I guess that's not happening today."
"No, I just-" I start yelling as Diana rolls her eyes. "You idiot! If you volunteer for the Hunger Games you're just gonna die!"
I realize my mistake as soon as the words are out of my mouth, but it's too late to take them back. Diana turns back to me coldly.
"I didn't know that my first friend had such little faith in me," she mutters angrily before stomping away towards the jogging track.
I watch her leave, my heart sinking into my stomach. I was really hoping I could at least convince Diana to do something other than train for today. Instead, I may have lost her as a friend.
Why couldn't you have just watched your mouth? I think angrily to myself as I hurry to the bathroom, ignoring the concerned looks from my friends.
A/N: Almost all tribute slots are still open, so please consider submitting! This story will be entirely from Mizuki's POV, but I am taking tributes first-come-first-served and there is no limit to how many tributes one person may submit. Please visit my profile for available tribute slots as well as the tribute form, which can also be found at forms . gle/3yNethWUu5aqHxyP8 (remember to remove the spaces). The submission deadline is Friday, February 7th, 2020.
Chapter Question: What do you think about Mizuki's relationship with Diana?
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