E- since this one isn't Games footage, Aurelia transcribed it for me. Pulled it from a home camera in Katsuo's house. Trust me, you're going to want to see this. GG

akiyama_home_camera_2b_070299

I'm going to do my best here. Hopefully, it'll help that I was there. But if anything doesn't make sense/you have any questions, let me know.

The important part of the video starts after dinner. Katsuo, his mother, his stepmother, and I had dinner at his house on the 2nd. We arrived back from the Capitol the day before, and I was planning to visit every day anyway, so I thought dinner would be nice, and the Akiyamas agreed. Asaki cooked. I offered to do the dishes. The footage takes place in the dining room. I was in the kitchen during most of this.

"I'm glad you enjoyed the Capitol," Yuna (Katsuo's mother) says. She has the same sharp angles and eyes as Katsuo. The only thing that consistently gives her away as a Capitolite is her clothing. She's always a little more fashionable than everyone else. "I remember my time there fondly. I always knew I'd be able to have a greater impact here, though."

Katsuo nods. He looks as though he's listening, because he's looking at her, but I know what he looks like when he's listening, and this isn't it. He's clearly thinking about something else.

"Impact," she repeats. Next to her, Katsuo's stepmother, Asaki, is drinking wine. Her food was pretty good. I remember she spent most of the night commenting on the decor. For now, though, she's content to just drink her wine. Yuna keeps talking. "What do you believe your impact is, Katsuo?"

He starts a little bit. But he answers smoothly. "The Hunger Games, Mother."

She inclines her head. "The Hunger Games… were you pleased with how they went?"

Katsuo glances at Asaki, who raises an eyebrow in response. He turns back to his mother. "I worked hard. I did not fail. I maintained my reputation and yours. Yes."

"I was concerned for a moment," Yuna says. "When you were speaking to that girl."

"Amar."

"Yes, her."

He purses his lips. "As I later said, that story was false."

"Yes. Your interview managed to repair much of the damage from your time in the arena. The news outlets have been much more favorable since."

"Good."

"I assume the memory loss was also fabricated."

He exhales. "No, it wasn't. I don't remember what happened, and clearly I was not in control of myself. Which has been convenient."

"I thought I taught you well in terms of self-control."

"You did." Katsuo doesn't look happy with where this conversation has ended up. "Some things can't be accounted for. A head injury is one of those."

"Mmm."

"And the media has been helping downplay that part, anyway."

"Well, a mad Victor doesn't suit the Capitol, does it?" she asks. "It doesn't suit me, either."

"I'm not mad, Mother."

"Very well." She takes a sip of her wine.

He frowns. "I won. I thought that was what you wanted."

"It is, it is," she replies. "You have the beginnings of a strong legacy, Katsuo."

"Beginnings?"

"You'll need to maintain the proper reputation, of course, after how your Games went," Yuna says. "Self-control has never been your strong suit, Katsuo. Especially not when you're distracted. You know that."

He glares at her. "I am not distracted, Mother."

"Not anymore," she corrects him.

"Amar was not a distraction. She was a useful ally, and when she outgrew her usefulness, I got rid of her," he answers. His tone is a lot harsher now.

"You think I don't know you better than that? I know you liked her," Yuna replies. "You revealed it again, in your interview. 'Too good to be true, but she wasn't.' That's not subtle."

"Fine," Katsuo says, his teeth gritted. "One distraction. One, temporary, distraction. It won't happen again."

"I knew about that boy, too."

"What?"

"The one from a few years ago… what was his name?" she asks. She glances at her nails while Katsuo struggles to come up with the answer.

"Hideo," he eventually admits.

"Right. Hideo was a distraction, clearly," Yuna says. "Which is why it was for the best for you that I had him sent away."

Katsuo stares at her, a little pale. "...What?"

"Oh, come on, Katsuo. I thought you knew that," she says, finally looking up from her nails.

"No. You've never told me that," he answers.

She scoffs. "You kissed him on the sidewalk outside of our house. It was obvious things had gone too far."

"You… you made him leave?"

She raises an eyebrow. "I just told you that, yes."

"Where?" he asks. His hands are balled into fists.

"Katsuo-"

"Where?"

Yuna waves a hand. "Back to the Capitol. I still have plenty of connections, and of course Quintus can always use more Avoxes-"

"What?"

"I'm not going to repeat myself. I know you heard me," she says.

"Did you have him fucking Avoxed?" Katsuo shouts.

"We were just talking about self-control not even a minute ago, Katsuo-"

"No! Are you fucking serious? You had Hideo Avoxed?" he keeps shouting. "He- he was my only friend, Mother! He was the only fucking person I had!"

Yuna rolls her eyes. "I-"

"I thought he left me!"

"Do you see why it was better that you did?" Yuna tells him. "You can't handle a distraction. You get attached, and that exposes weakness-"

"He was all I had!" Katsuo screams. "I- All I've ever tried to do was please you, and you went and fucking Avoxed him-"

"I cut off the attachment, which allowed you to do the same to that girl in the arena," Yuna replies. "I prepared you. Don't be ungrateful."

"You ruined me!"

"Don't be dramatic, Katsuo-"

He reaches over and snatches Yuna's wine glass off the table, then throws it across the room. It shatters against the wall. Asaki, who's been watching this, laughs quietly to herself. "This is a normal fucking reaction!" he shouts at Yuna. "You took my only friend away, and you- you ruined- you made him into- oh my fucking-"

This is when I walked back in. I heard some of this from the kitchen, especially when Katsuo started raising his voice, but in the moment, it was hard to grasp the extent of what was going on.

"Compose yourself," Yuna snaps at him.

"I would have stopped seeing him," Katsuo yells. "If you had told me to stop I would've, but you- I can't believe you would do that- he didn't even do anything-"

"Because teenagers are notoriously obedient," Yuna replies.

"I was!" Katsuo screams. "I did everything you wanted me to! I- I did ballet for you- I trained for you- I Volunteered for you, I fucking killed seven people because you wanted me to-"

"And nearly ruined me in the process-"

"This isn't fucking about you!" Katsuo screams. "I'm like this because of you! I made myself like this because of you! Like a fucking puppet! And you- you never even fucking cared, and I knew you didn't, but I thought if I did what you wanted you might give a shit about me, but nothing I ever do is fucking good enough for you! But that doesn't mean you get to do that, n-not to him-"

"See? You wouldn't have stopped seeing him. You're still attached, even now," Yuna says.

"I think that's enough," I say. I look at Asaki, hoping for help intervening, but Asaki is content to sit and watch.

Katsuo turns to look at me, and I still remember the look on his face. It's the most emotional I've ever seen him. He looked like he wanted to cry, or maybe hit something, and for a second I thought he would. "Help me find him."

Yuna scoffs again. "Katsuo-"

"Shut the fuck up, Mother," he interrupts. He looks back at me. "He's still in the Capitol somewhere, right? We can find him?"

He looks so hopeful, which is almost a strange sight on him. And given my concerns about him- that he's going down a similar path I did after my Games- there's only one answer I can give him. If this is what it'll take to keep him from completely shutting down and closing himself off, this is what it takes. "I'll help you," I tell him.

He looks back at Yuna. "Where did you send him?" he demands. "Where in the Capitol?"

She rolls her eyes. "Really, Katsuo, even if I knew-"

"You ruined his life, and you don't even care about the details?" Katsuo shouts. He was calmer for a second there, but I could tell he was about to get worked up again. Given how that had gone in the past, I knew something had to change before people got hurt. For the record, I don't blame him for that. If I'd been told the same thing, I would've been throwing more than a glass of wine.

I raise my hands. "I think this conversation is done," I tell them. "Yuna, you need to leave."

"My son-"

Katsuo starts reaching for the vase in the center of the table. "We can continue this another time," I say, "but right now- Katsuo, don't-"

I pull Katsuo back, which only makes him more upset. "She fucking deserves it!"

Yuna eyes Katsuo. "You're right," she says to me. "When my son has relearned self-control, and dignity, we can resume. However-"

Katsuo lunges for the vase again. "Leave," I tell them.

"I'm about done with my wine," Asaki says. "Let's go, darling. It's not worth making a fuss over."

Yuna purses her lips. "I agree."

They get up and leave. As soon as the door shuts behind them, I let Katsuo throw the vase. It shatters against the inside of the door.

"What just- did she really…?" I ask.

Katsuo's chest is heaving, and tears have started to flow. "She Avoxed him," he says, his voice thick. "Because I kissed him. One time. One fucking time…"

"I'm sorry, Katsuo," I tell him. But he has that not-listening look on his face again, and he's starting at the door.

"I dreamed about him," he mutters. "When I was in the Capitol, I dreamed about him."

"Katsuo?"

"I… I kept thinking that he… he was… a nurse… But then he stopped coming…"

I start understanding what he's saying. "What did he look like?"

Katsuo turns a bit to look at me and starts rattling off features. "He had straight, really dark brown hair, dark eyes, um… a bit taller than me, had sort of a square chin. Used to smile a lot. He never tripped or stumbled over anything, ever. His bottom lip was slightly bigger than his top lip. He used to be pretty tan, too. He could never stay still for more than a few seconds. He would always tilt his head to the side when he was thinking. Is that enough?"

I don't have to say anything. You can see the shock on my face. But I nod really slowly. "Yeah. I remember him. He was there."

"He… he was real?"

"He was on rotation for a few days, but once you left critical care, you had different nurses. A lot of them were Avoxes. I… yeah. I think that could have been him."

Katsuo's knees buckle, and I run to catch him, which I barely manage. He collapses in on himself, and it's all I can do to keep his head off the floor as he starts weeping. He keeps asking me if Hideo was really there, and I keep telling him yes.

That's all the necessary footage.


Esper, since I know you're the one reading this, listen to me. I know we have a lot to deal with right now, and I know you're not a big fan of Katsuo. But think about it- getting Hideo out is something we could do. And knowing more people in the Capitol, especially medical personnel, would make everything so much easier. Katsuo is giving us a huge opportunity here. Maybe Hideo will even be able to help us find what else we're looking for. We don't have to tell him everything if we don't need to.

Consider it. Please.

Aurelia