Firecracker: The 99th Games Book One

Arena, Night 1 Part 2

Kikue, Touma, and Hinata had just settled in to their new camp in the ruined temple when they heard voices outside. Warning the others to stay quiet, Hinata crept to the entrance and peered outside, then quickly retreated.

"Careers," he hissed. "We better move. We can sneak out the back and hide behind broken-down buildings."

"I saw caves behind us," Kikue whispered. "We can hide there?"

"It's better than nothing," Hinata decided, gathering up the supplies he had acquired. Kikue took one of the backpacks and Touma took another, leaving Hinata with the last one and their bow and arrows. "We'll have to be very quiet. Touma, will you be okay?"

Touma hesitated. "...Probably not," he admitted. "I...don't wanna risk tripping and alerting them..."

"Then Kikue, you carry the other backpack, Touma, you hold the bow, and I'll carry Touma," Hinata ordered, pulling off his backpack and weapon. He passed the backpack to Kikue, who nodded and decided to wear it front-ways. Touma took off his backpack to make room for the bow and arrows, then put the backpack on again. Hinata crouched down and Touma climbed onto his back.

"Alright, let's hurry," Kikue said quietly, sneaking out of their room. Moving incredibly carefully, the alliance crept through the ruined hallways, heading for a large hole in the back of the temple that served as an exit. The voices grew more distant as they moved, and through sheer luck (Touma's ridiculous fluctuating luck coming to their rescue again?), they escaped the temple without being spotted by the Careers.

Hinata waited until the Careers had actually entered the temple before heading for the caves instead. Kikue overtook his lead, beelining for a cave she had spotted earlier when they first arrived. With careful steps and quiet movements, they successfully snuck inside, watched in secret by Uriel a few caves away.

"I have no idea how we did that, honestly," Hinata muttered, letting Touma down off his back. Touma settled on the floor deeper in the cave and placed their things back on the floor. "What exactly is your deal, anyway?"

Touma looked up, alert. "My deal?"

Hinata nodded.

"Oh." Touma chuckled, rubbing his neck. "I'm a walking Murphy's Law."

So he knew that. Somehow, it made Kikue feel better and worse.

"But I guess, because of that, I'm always prepared?" Touma shrugged. "Or maybe I just have really weird luck. Every bad thing happens to me, and I've had constant near-death experiences since I was a baby and came out with my umbilical cord wrapped around my neck, but I've always survived, somehow! So I guess God is looking out for me."

Hinata chuckled. "I guess He is," he mused. "He's looking out for me, too. I've seen some sh*t."

"With our luck combined, maybe we can actually make it through this without dying!" Touma cheered.

Kikue frowned, unconvinced. Could it really be said that God was looking out for the two boys if they were constantly in danger? What did it matter if they escaped by the skin of their teeth? That didn't feel like proof of God to her.

Which begged the question of what it did feel like, admittedly, but Kikue didn't feel like puzzling over philosophy tonight.

"We'll figure out a way to work around it," she assured. "For now, we should figure out watch. I don't mind going first."

"I don't know how to sleep for longer than four hours anymore," Hinata admitted. "I'll do whatever."

"I can do...third?" Touma tried. "Or...o-or maybe I should go sooner so there's less risk of me passing out and forgetting to wake you guys up in the morning and being found dead from asphyxiation or something..."