Firecracker: The 99th Games Book One

Training, District 3

Find strong allies. Find strong allies. Find strong allies.

As she and Hinata took the elevator down to the training room, Fuyuko tried to remember who all the other tributes were. Who were the strongest? She remembered the boys from District 4 (how could she forget after getting caught staring at them?), maybe the girl from 2...the boy from 1 seemed muscular, but he somehow exuded a gentle aura. He probably wouldn't be much help to her. And with Hinata...

"Hey," Hinata spoke up suddenly. "Fuyuko. Can we talk?"

Fuyuko shook her head, blinking. "Yeah? What?"

Hinata shifted, smiling nervously at her. "...You don't wanna kill me, do you?"

Fuyuko hesitated.

"I don't want to kill you either," Hinata assured. "If we stick together, the time is gonna come where we'll have to choose which one of us gets to live."

Fuyuko winced. He wasn't wrong. But had Hideyoshi not shared the plan with him like Asahi had with her?

If not...she wouldn't say anything yet. There was no guarantee she could pull it off, anyway.

"Neither of us want to do that," Hinata continued. "...So to spare us from having to make that choice, I'm gonna go find some other folks to ally up with and let you find other people too. We'll just have to hope someone else makes the choice on which one of us gets to go home."

Fuyuko bit her lip, fidgeting. She believed Asahi when he promised to get her home, mostly...so did that really mean Hinata had to die?

But she understood he was leaving her for her own good. Hinata was out of the running for an alliance, then.

"If I see you, I'll keep you safe," Hinata offered. "And hopefully you'll do the same for me. ...But we can let someone else decide."

"...Y-yeah," Fuyuko finally said. "...Th-thanks."

Hinata nodded, about to respond when the elevator stopped. The doors opened to the training room, a loud, cacophonous place where a group of the best was already forming, Fuyuko was sure.

"...Good luck," Hinata said sincerely, stepping out of the elevator and heading into the fray. Fuyuko stepped just outside the doors and hugged her arms, suddenly incredibly nervous.

And now Fuyuko Kawaguchi, famed introvert and girl with the charisma of a piece of bread, had to try and form an alliance. Great.

How the h*ll'm I gonna get people to want to team up with me?!

I got nothin' to offer!

Another piece of Asahi's advice came to mind. Fuyuko looked down at the bandaid on the back of her left hand.

...Well, might as well start with somethin'.

Fuyuko inched her way inside and went to play around with the knives.

It took about ten seconds for her to realize she had no idea what she was doing. She would have asked the expert nearby for help, but the way he was hiding a smirk made her want to figure this out on her own just to spite him.

Which put her back at square one. Groaning, Fuyuko crouched down and covered her head with her arms, fingers digging through her messy ponytail. She let out a muffled scream of frustration into the crook of her arm, slowly emerging and scanning the room for any signs of someone who might, just might, be a good ally.

She happened to lock eyes with the younger boy from District 4 across the room. He was with his brother, who was skillfully throwing axes at targets with a single-minded focus. The younger boy waved politely to Fuyuko, probably recognizing her from the Parade.