June 1st, 99 ADD
Volunteering went well. No complications. I didn't bother with farewells- Mother, Asaki, and I had already said goodbye beforehand. There was no use in wasting each other's time. The train likely would have left sooner if Amar hadn't used her full five minutes to say her goodbyes. Why would she wait until after Volunteering to speak to her family and friends? She knew she had been chosen as a tribute.
On that note, however, I do have something useful: family seems to be a difficult subject for Amar. She was a bit emotional when Aurelia brought up the good-byes, and thoroughly avoided the topic of family. Most notably, Augustus mentioned something about Amar's younger sister at dinner, and Amar deflected very well. I would have preferred if she didn't do so by asking questions about my family, which is none of her business. Mother and Asaki and I get along fine.
Amar and I, however, do not. That makes it even more unfortunate that I believe Amar and I will be spending a lot of time together. When I initially heard that Amar Firoza had been chosen to Volunteer alongside me, I was pleased with the choice. She is a talented fighter. However, I had yet to understand just how annoying she is. The amount of personal questions she asked me at dinner was fucking ridiculous, and she keeps calling me "Cat," by which I assume she means "Kat," as short for "Katsuo." "Katsuo" is not a long name. There's no need to abbreviate it.
Amar Firoza does have one redeemable quality, though. She is either the most talented liar I have ever seen, or she is being sincere. As I have met many liars, I believe her to be the latter. (She also has a reputation at the Academy for being honest, so this helps.) For whatever reason, Amar has decided the Games are best played with a close friend- a confidant, even- and she has decided that person should be me. As irritating as she is, she is a skilled fighter and does appear to be rather sociable. This means she may be privy to information I am not. Perhaps setting a firm boundary with her would be useful, but this also may make her trust me less. I'll sleep on it.
Also, I am pleased that I did not have to make a case for Aurelia Charm to be my Mentor. She and Augustus had already assigned themselves to myself and Amar, respectively. Aurelia is younger and has a more recent Victor, and therefore a slightly more impressive track record than Augustus. She's less old-fashioned and better dressed. She is more popular with the Capitol audience, which means she will likely be able to secure more sponsorship funding than Augustus. Finally, I prefer her personality. She and I seem to have an understanding of one another, and her advice so far has been largely reasonable. Given that this is only the first day, that could easily change. So while I am yet to be impressed by her, my odds are better with her than with Augustus.
I wonder if Mother has seen the Reaping recap. I believe I pulled off an impressive first impression. Amar was also fine, which is good, because that means she didn't pull attention from me. The other tributes look to be fairly typical, including those from Two and Four. This is about what I expected; all the drama will be saved for the Quell.
Tomorrow is the Tribute Parade. I hope the costumes will not be foolish. I do not have high hopes.
K.A.