Firecracker: The 99th Games Book One

Arena, Day 7 Part 1

When Fuyuko finally awoke the next morning, Piero was already holding another metal package. Fuyuko yawned, crawling over to join him. The closer she got, the more she processed how clouded Piero's deep blue eyes were.

"Hey, big guy," she murmured. "That for you?"

Piero smiled wryly, handing the package over without looking at her. "Who do you really think it's for?"

"Again...?" Fuyuko muttered, crossing her legs and placing the package in her lap. She pried off the lid. "What'd the sneaky son of a b*tch give me this time...? Oh, new bandages and foam pads!"

Piero hushed her. "Marco's still asleep. He's been exhausted lately, I wanna let him rest as long as possible today."

"O-oh, sorry," Fuyuko said sincerely. "A-anyway, Asahi sent us some sh*t for wound dressin'. We gotta replace your bandages now, right?"

"I guess it has been a while," Piero said, tone oddly monotonous.

"I'll get the ointment and put these on," Fuyuko assured, pulling their backpack of sponsor gifts closer and removing the ointment. Placing it aside for now, she pulled out a letter, this time complete with a second letter folded inside the first.

The second letter was a fairly detailed sketch of the arena's layout with a large "X" marked just over the edge of the forcefield they had encountered on a previous night. Fuyuko grinned, hiding their map carefully with her other notes. Excited, she read the first letter.

Fuyu,

I'm losing sway here. Unless you do something drastic to bring sponsors back, I'm not gonna be able to get you anything else you need. To that end, I suggest a d*mn kiss already.

There's a map for you. Clancy and I narrowed down your possible escapes to a series of maintenance tunnels underneath the arena. The tunnel I marked lets out near a train station run by Clancy's friend Frost if you take the right turns. We're gonna follow that path to freedom when the time comes.

Directions for once you get in the tunnel come next, hopefully. I know I'm asking a lot of you, but for your Mama's sake if nothing else, please kiss your fake boyfriend.

Keep up the good work.

Asahi

Fuyuko went red, shoving this note into her backpack as well. She grumbled to herself, moving behind Piero to begin unwinding the bandages around his chest. Piero let her, blinking.

"Why do you always get so embarrassed by those letters?" he asked. "What, is he writing you love letters or something?"

If only that's all it was! Fuyuko grumbled some more before responding. "N-no, just...j-just...stuff...!"

"Is it stuff I should be concerned about?" Piero asked, surprisingly gently.

"W-what?" Fuyuko blinked, tossing the dirty bandages aside and carefully peeling the gauze pads off of his back. Already, the ointment had nearly closed the wound entirely. "N-no, it's...it's nothin' weird, just obnoxious..."

Is he actually worried about me? Somehow, it made Fuyuko's heart flutter. She tried desperately not to think about how Piero had now been sans a shirt around her for a good three days. He doesn't have to worry about me. But...it is nice to know he can tell I'm uncomfortable.

She unscrewed the top of their ointment and gently applied another layer to Piero's injury. He twitched every so often, clearly still in pain, but seemed too distracted for much else.