Firecracker: The 99th Games Book One

Arena, Night 4 Part 2

The other tributes were fast asleep. Kikue sat beside Touma at the edge of their ledge, watching his legs kick as they dangled off the side. Slowly, his kicks grew less and less enthusiastic, and Kikue looked up at his face to see how he was feeling.

She was surprised to find Touma with a morose expression. He was quiet, fingers tapping on the dirt beside him.

"...Are you alright?" she asked quietly.

"Huh?" Touma flashed Kikue a forced smile, nodding. "O-oh, yeah, I'm good! Sorry, was I doing something weird?"

"You don't look good," Kikue murmured, gently laying her hand over Touma's. Touma blushed. "What are you thinking about?"

Touma didn't respond, the smile fading from his face. He was silent for a while, checking over his shoulder to make sure Hinata and their new, temporary friends were all asleep.

"...It's just...that someone else died today," he finally said, voice meek. "...I-I'm just lucky, Keek. I-I'm lucky it wasn't me. What if...what if I'm not lucky anymore? It's gotta run out, r-right...?"

Kikue frowned, glancing down at the pitch black shadows below. Admittedly, she didn't have a good counter to this worry.

"...Sorry," Touma repeated. "I-I don't mean to make you sad! I'm sure it'll be fine. I mean, I've been prepared for this since I was a kid, so it's not so bad!"

Kikue looked back at his face, eyes stuck on his grin. For the first time, it clicked how strained it was. She suddenly realized how much of Touma's sunny disposition was a coping mechanism, a desperate mask he forced himself into so he didn't have time to dwell on his impending death. If the mask was slipping now, it was only because that threat was more present than ever.

How could she soothe his fears, though? He was right, wasn't he? Luck had saved him thus far, but luck--even Touma's luck--had limits.

Still, Kikue didn't want to give up on Touma's smile just yet. She shifted, lightly squeezing his hand in comfort.

"...Your bucket list," she said suddenly, her mind flashing back to Touma's interview. "What was on it again?"

"My what?" Touma blinked, cocking his head.

"Your bucket list. The list of things you want to do before you die," Kikue elaborated.

"...What does that have to do with a bucket...?" Touma whispered.

Kikue hated to admit it, but Touma's ditziness was actually pretty endearing. Maybe she felt this way because she was so used to arrogant men who flaunted their intelligence to her without giving her mind any credit. Touma's reliance on her was strangely comforting, in a way.

"It comes from the saying 'kick the bucket,'" she explained. "But never mind that. What was on it?"

"Oh!" Touma thought it over for a moment. "Uh...own a pet, learn a new language, make up a new constellation, make a new song, visit another district, and...have a first kiss."

Kikue nodded slowly, thinking through this list in her head. Some of these options were definitely not doable--she doubted a pet would be possible in the Hunger Games--but others?

"...I'm afraid I cannot help much with learning a new language," she admitted. "But...I do know my name. How to write it properly, and what it means. My parents...they held tightly to that piece of our old heritage, even though countless generations of Noguchis have now lived and died in Panem."