No. I think. Not him.
The blue-haired 18-year-old boy makes his way to the stage.
Kaiko bites her lip. She never cries, but she looks dangerously close to now. Her brother, the only one who doesn't abuse her at home, is being sent away.
Kaiko isn't a great kid. She gets in trouble at school and doesn't do her work.
Meiko adores her, and lets her spend the night when her mother gets abusive.
One time, Miss Shion glued Kaiko's hands to a wall and whipped her until she was spitting blood. Then she ripped Kaiko's hands off of the wall, tearing the skin from her palms like peeling an apple. We heard screams, but Kaiko didn't cry, and that's when she spent the night for three weeks.
Now Kaiko has no one to help her out at home.
Kaito was also my twin brother's best friend, despite the four year age difference.
"I volunteer!" I hear the high-pitched voice in which could only belong to my brother.
Someone screams, "No!" at the top of their lungs, only to realize that it's me.
Len looked back and gave me a weak smile.
"Don't! Please, don't do it!" I screamed. I felt hands grab my arms as I frantically tried to run up to him, "stop!" I shout partly to Len and partly to the people restraining me.
The hands let go and I run as fast as I can up to him.
There are gasps as I tackle him to the floor, smack him across the face and shout, "WHAT ARE YOU THINKING? YOU'RE SO SMALL! YOU'VE NEVER HELD A WEAPON!"
He looked at me for a second, wiped his nose, and said, "I know." He then pushed me off of him.
"I volunteer." I said without thinking. "I volunteer to be the boy tribute."
Hachune looked pleased.
"Very well." She winked at me. "Come on up, darling!"
What was I thinking? I start to make my way up to the plaque, shaking. I'm glad Hachune grabs my hand as I mount my way up the stairs, or I would've fallen.
"I bet that was your brother!" She smiles as if this was the happiest moment of my life.
In a barely audible and cracking voice, I say, "Yes."
I notice Gumi and Kaiko in the audience. Gumi is crying and Kaiko has bitten her lip so hard it's bleeding.
"My dear, what is your name?" Hachune winks.
"Rin. Rin Kagamine." I stutter.
Hachune moves onto the girls' crystal bowl.
She dips her hand in and shouts, "Utatane, Uta!"
No. I think. Not Defoko.
Defoko was Uta's nickname. She's only twelve, so I could hear a murmuring in the crowd like every year when a twelve-year-old gets chosen.
Defoko looks proudly at the sky. She's really good at hiding her emotions, but I could always tell she had a crush on Len.
Hachune smiled, no teeth showing between her tan lips.
"You seem proud!" Hachune sidles.
"It is a great honor to be chosen for the Hunger Games," Defoko lies through her teeth. "I am very proud."
She isn't, and everybody but Hachune knows that.
"Our hearts will be with yours." Hachune gushes. "Any volunteers?"
Of course nobody stepped up to the plate.
"Happy Hunger Games!"
Defoko and I are being escorted to the ten-minute-a-session goodbye room.
I am first visited by Meiko and Len.
The first thing I do is smack Len across the face. "If it weren't for you," I spit, "I wouldn't even be in this predicament!"
He looks down. "Sorry."
"My blood is on your shoulders, buddy!"
"I said I'm sorry!" He stands up.
"Well 'sorry' isn't going to cut it!" I'm standing too.
We're in each other's faces now.
"I might have to kill Defoko, now!" I spit. "The one girl who had a crush on you, and loves us!"
"I'M SORRY!" He grabs me by the shirt.
"DON'T TOUCH ME YOU BASTARD!"
"ENOUGH!" Meiko is in a rage. "Your brother is sorry, Rin."
I look down. "I know…"
Meiko grabs me by the shoulders. "Come. Home." She whispers.
In a cracking voice, I say, "I will, I promise."
A man comes in the room. "Time is up, ma'am."
I hug Len and Meiko until the man pulls us apart.
"No!" I shout, "Don't let them take me, Meiko!"
Meiko tries to pull out of the man's grasp, but doesn't go anywhere.
"Rin! I love y—!" The door is slammed in my face.
And tears are streaming down it.
The next visit is from Gumi.
We sit in silence for a while, and then she bursts into tears again.
"Come back to me." She whispers and, unable to control herself, runs out of the room.
Kaiko walks in. "Hey, Kaiko." I sigh and smile sadly.
Kaiko grabs me by the shoulders and says, "Look, you're no Katniss Everdeen,"
Katniss Everdeen was a girl who wrote an autobiography about how her country does the Hunger Games, and published it only in other countries.
"But you have the skills to beat this thing. Unlike Katniss, you don't have a drunk mentor."
"I don't have a mentor."
"No difference."
"Kaiko, don't let Meiko and Len starve!" I blurt out.
"I wouldn't."
"Ankle shake on that."
"Okay."
Kaiko and I stand up. I hold out my pinkie. Kaiko wraps hers around mine.
We spin in unison and connect our other pinkies, we're now standing backwards of each other.
All in unison, we lift up our right legs, let our legs slide to each other's ankle, spin around to our left, disconnect our pinkies, and slap our palms together. By the time I'm done I'm in a fit of giggles.
Kaiko chuckles, and then gets deadly serious. "Come home."
I freeze. Those were the words that Meiko used.
"Time's up." That guy is back.
We kiss each other's cheeks and as she slips out of the room. I feel, dead.
Kaito is my next visitor.
Yeah, like I really wanna see him.
"Oh hey!" I say in an overly cheery tone, letting my eyes look up as if I'm happy and a fake smile plastering my face that obviously looks sarcastic.
That was on purpose.
"How're you feeling?"
"Oh just dandy! I mean, wouldn't you feel great if you were about to be sent to your death?" I say, with that sarcastic smile still plastered to my face.
Kaito didn't say anything.
"Oh yeah!" I say, the smile not going anywhere, "That was supposed to be you, wasn't it?"
The expression on Kaito's face told me enough.
That's me in a bundle for ya! Smart mouthed Rin Kagamine!
You still got it, Rin.
"Hey, I can't control what your brother did—"
Cue cutoff.
"Don't you go bringing my brother into this! He has been duly scolded! Plus, you could've stopped him by saying, 'No volunteers!' but you didn't. You let a child like me, four years in your junior like me, take your place. You should be ashamed of yourself!"
Kaito had nothing.
My voice was turning into a yell. "If I die, your blood will also be on my shoulders, and I am never, ever going to forgive you. Ever. Now get out. I don't ever want to see you again. Leave!"
"But—"
"I said leave."
Kaito trudged out of the room. I wanted to kill him.
The door opened to reveal my last visitor, she looked very sad and tremble-y.
It was also the person I expected the least.