Firecracker: The 99th Games Book One

Arena, Night 9 Part 2

"HiHi...?"

Hinata snorted, rubbing his eyes as he was lightly shaken awake. He sat up with a loud sniff, stretching, and blinked groggily at Touma.

"Our turn to watch?" he muttered. Touma nodded. "Got it. Thanks, kid."

"You're welcome," Touma replied, hugging his knees. "...Sorry I've been so quiet all day."

"You're fine," Hinata assured. "Are you wearing the goggles?"

Touma nodded. Hinata left the silence alone for the time being, yawning.

Touma needed more time to recover from the loss of Kikue. Hinata had needed to drag him from her corpse after passing along her pin, doing his best to keep the boy safe until the earthquakes finally stopped. Since Kikue's death, Touma had been nearly silent and visibly dejected, a notable contrast from his usual cheer.

It wasn't like Hinata could blame him. Even he was still reeling from Kikue's death, and he hadn't been nearly as close with her.

"...HiHi?" Touma said quietly after a long period of silence.

"Yeah?" Hinata pressed.

"...Have you ever been mad at God?" Touma asked, voice weak.

Hinata frowned, scooting a bit closer to him. "...Oh, yeah. Plenty of times. When we first learned about Nao's demon, I was furious. Why would God curse such a good kid, someone who adored Him so much...? Why was my pious brother going to suffer with a demon he wanted to have, caught between two worlds that both seemed foreign to him now? Why not teach this lesson to someone who needed to learn it?"

"...What did you do...?" Touma asked.

Hinata shrugged, smiling dryly. "...I told Him. I stayed up all night for a while arguing with Him over why He'd chosen Nao to make an example of. Definitely said some very non-Christian things. I'm kinda surprised I wasn't smote right then and there. ...Smited? Smote? Whatever, you know what I mean."

Touma chuckled mirthlessly. He was quiet for a moment.

"...You can tell Him," Hinata urged gently. "Honestly, I never would have gotten answers if I didn't ask questions. Nao's faith somehow got stronger than ever because of all this, and because I had to take up being his caretaker, mine got way stronger too. I learned a lot from studying the Bible just to help my brother."

Touma shifted, unsure.

"Listen, Touma," Hinata began, wrapping his arm around Touma's shoulders, "whatever you have to say, He can take it. I guarantee He's heard worse."

Touma nodded slowly, taking a deep breath. Expression contorting, he looked up at the sky. "...Why did You take her?"

Hinata watched him, eyes full of empathy. He knew this line of questioning very well.

"I--I-I thought we had a deal," Touma continued, his voice trembling. "I've known I'm gonna die. I've known since I was a baby. You were supposed to take me. I-I was ready for it, I was okay with it, but...but You took her instead and now I have to find a way to be brave without her...!"

Breath hitching, Touma pulled the goggles off and wiped his eyes with his hands, sniffling. "She made me feel so strong...! Like--l-like everything would be okay, because Kikue was there and she would protect me...! She died for me when the only thing I'm any good at is dying, c-clearly...! So why her...? Why her? It was supposed to be me!"