Hunger Games AU - Souharu

Even if it was night, Haru was wide awake.

He had met another tribute right after that day's fallens's display and they had agreed that a fight would have only drawn unwanted attentions – and Haru wasn't really sure that he could have won against a tall, muscular young man with a hatchet- so they decided to make a truce just for the night.

Of course that didn't mean that they automatically trusted each other; the atmosphere was really tense and they were both struggling to stay awake and vigilant, fearing the betrayal. At first, the freezing cold was helping them, but at that point it was becoming dangerous: Haru was starting to feel dizzy and moving his legs was getting difficult. He gave a look to the other tribute and, even if he had a sleeping bag, he was visibly trembling.

None of them dared to light a fire, fearing that if would have revealed their position.

Maybe that would have been how they would have died, Haru thought and he was feeling strangely comforted – he would have been finally free from that barbaric game- even if he would have made Makoto, and the other friends who were cheering for him, sad.

His thoughts were interrupted by the other's deep voice.

- This cold is killing me, come here-, he said.

- Why should I?-, Haru answered, sceptical.

- We can share body heat, I don't think there are ways to survive this night-, the other replied.

It made sense but it could have been a trap; none could assure him that he hadn't hidden his weapon in his sleeping bag, ready to kill him.

The tall tribute sighed like he had understood what the other was thinking; he pointed at the hatchet, which was near him, then he opened the sleeping bag and kicked his weapon away, leaving it out of reach.

- I don't have intentions to harm you, see? - he said.

The temptation of a warm spot was so strong that eventually Haru gave up, even if he wasn't very comfortable about it. He slowly pulled closer and he slipped in the sleeping bag.

He felt crushed by the other's massive build and it took some time to adjust, but it wasn't that bad; at least it was warm.

- Who are you?- he asked to distract himself from the exhaustion; he wasn't so fool to think that sleeping in a situation like that was a good thing.

- Sousuke Yamazaki, District 7-, the other answered.

- Haruka Nanase. District 4-, Haru said, not sure if the one would have wanted to know it.

- Is someone watching you?- , the tribute asked.

- It's none of your business-, the raven haired boy immediately answered, knowing that surely the cameras were focused on them. He didn't want Capitol to know about his dear friends who were watching him at home.

- Fair enough... – the other said without anger; he understood plenty how the boy felt because he was feeling in the same way.

Their proximity felt almost comfortable, like they could have forgotten where they were, what they had to do, like they could have acted like two friends on a trip, even though friendship was very dangerous in a situation like theirs.

They didn't talk anymore, but they slowly got closer and closer to the point that Sousuke's arms were wrapped around Haru's waist and the latter was curled up on his chest. Maybe they were searching more warmth, maybe some comfort; they weren't sure themselves.

Some time had passed and Haru was convinced that Sousuke was asleep; his breath was regular and he wasn't moving a muscle. The tribute didn't want to ruin the peaceful moment so he didn't say anything.

"You could kill him", an interior voice told him, but he shook that thought out of his mind; he wasn't that kind of person who was capable of such horrible acts, he wouldn't have betrayed the other's trust. Maybe he would have regretted it, but he wasn't going to kill him.

Listening to Sousuke's regular breath was strangely calming, and Haru too slowly slipped in the slumber's embrace.

When Sousuke woke up, Haru wasn't there. He cursed himself to have let the exhaustion overcome him, but he was also relieved that nothing had happened while he was sleeping.

Actually, he was surprised to be still alive: if he had fallen asleep with someone else nearby he would have never woken up. However, he couldn't lose more time thinking about it, so he quickly gathered his few belongings and he noticed something. There was a pack under a tree, near him and it didn't take long to him to realise that it was from a sponsor.

He frantically opened the box; inside there was a thermos full of water and some fresh bread, which was good since he was starving.

He hadn't expected that sleeping with another tribute to survive the cold would have helped them – he guessed that Haruka got something too- not that he was complaining, but it made him wonder what Capitol's residents had in mind.

He drank some water and ate something, leaving the rest form later and, as he left that place, he wished the best to the strange tribute he had met.

If he was going to die, he hoped that at least Haruka would have been able to win.

Author's note: hey! Thanks for reading this, I hope you've liked it!

I don't want where the idea to write this comes from. I actually wanted to write something with Souharu and I just thought that this au was fitting for them.

I know that there isn't very much romance, but I tried to write more but it just didn't feel right to me.

For omichan: hey, thanks again for the support! Don't worry, I understand the reasons for your request. Well, I'm sorry if I made you sad, but I actually have a question: since you weren't expecting that the au would have been so "mature", as you said, what were you expecting, exactly? I'm curious because if someone tells me to make a zombie apocalypse au I will probably do something dramatic, so I want to know what you had in mind. Anyway, I will make the soumako thing for you, don't worry, but I think it will take some time to write it so, I'm sorry, but you'll have to be patient!

Well, it's all for now, see you next time! - Feeldespair