Hetalia Hunger Games

Chapter Six

"Is there anybody else you wanted to invite?" Ivan asks Vash. He shakes his head. 

"It's best not to attract too much attention." Ivan and I nod at his refusal. I nibble at the squirrel Ivan gave me. I want it to last as long as possible. I doubt I'll be much good at hunting, so who knows how long it will be until I get another quality meal? The cave is silent besides chewing for a few minutes.

"What do you guys think of the other tributes?" I ask suddenly. I want to at least make small talk while we still can. Vash shrugs a shoulder and talks with his mouth full. 

"I dunno. I think they're annoying and foolish." 

"Don't be so negative! They're plenty strong," Ivan protests. 

"I didn't say they weren't strong, they're just idiots." After a pause Vash adds, "Lilli is pretty cool though." 

"Oh yeah, she's a sweetie," I agree and smile. 

"I doubt she'll live long," Ivan says under his breath. Vash and I glare at him harshly. "Just being honest."

"I wouldn't be so quick to doubt people," I whisper. Vash hears me. 

"Like you." He nudges me. 

"What do you mean?"

"You clearly have more potential than you're letting on. I'm surprised you didn't get a higher ranking."

Feeling embarrassed, I look down. "Yeah right." 

"I think so too," Ivan surprises me by agreeing. "You're doing well so far. Keep doing what you're doing and your death will likely be later, not sooner. You might even win. But let's not look too far into the future." 

"The Games are usually only a week or so. It's not that far away. Who knows how fast people will die?" Vash says. As if on cue, I hear a loud scream. "I bet you there'll be a cannon in a few minutes."

"Who was that?" I ask nervously.

"I'm not sure. They may just be having a nightmare or something," Ivan says, not sounding too concerned.

"Or, you know, they could be dying!" I exclaim. The scream sounds again, this time with the word "Help!" My eyes widen. I recognize that voice. 

It's Heracles. 

"You're not going out there if that's what you're thinking. It's too dark. Plus he's a killer now. He deserves whatever comes to him," Vash says sternly. 

A few minutes later, a cannon booms. I rub my forehead and look down. "I wonder what happened." 

"We'll see soon enough," Ivan says. When we all finish our food, he seems to have forgotten about the cannon. "Wanna sing?"

"Sing?" Vash and I repeat in disbelief. That's a weird suggestion.

"Yeah. I wanted to sing."

"Uh, sure. Whatever. Just don't get too loud," Vash says and rolls over. "Night."

"No sleeping yet."

"What song?" I ask curiously. I'm not a big fan of singing either but I wouldn't mind hearing Ivan. He only smiles.

"It's one most people know, or at least in my District. My mom sang it to me all the time before she died." His smile fades for a split second but it quickly returns. "Join in if you want." He clears his throat and begins. I instantly recognize the tune and hum along.

" You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are grey
You never know, dear, how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away
The other night, dear, as I lay sleeping
I dreamt I held you in my arms
When I awoke, dear, I was mistaken
So I hung my head, and I cried."

He pauses and nods at me. Vash still has his back turned to us but he appears to be listening. I gather my confidence and continue where Ivan left off. He takes my position of humming.

" You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are grey
You never know, dear, how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away
I'll always love you and make you happy
If you will only say the same
But if you leave me to love another,
You'll regret it all one day."

We both look expectantly at Vash. He seems to feel our shooting gazes like darts, because he forces himself to sing. Ivan and I join him so we're all doing it together.

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are grey
You never know, dear, how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away
Please don't take my sunshine away."

Vash doesn't move but Ivan claps for both of us. "That was great. My mom used to say that everyone sees a different meaning in the song. To her, it was about me." His usual smile is weak.

"It reminds me of home," Vash says a little sadly.

"That song is very sad when you look at the lyrics," I comment. "It's about somebody losing their love."

"I would tell you what it reminds me of but it's kind of embarrassing," Ivan says.

"I won't judge," I say and smile.

"Well I have this sunflower I keep in my room. It's very dear to me. It's the only living thing that's ever loved me besides my mom, but she died when I was young," Ivan says in a low voice. "It's gotten pretty big and I take good care of it, so I figure it loves me, right? Oh, but it's probably going to die while I'm unable to watch over it."

I hear a sniffle. "I'm going to need to hunt extra tomorrow to regain my lost manliness," Vash says. Ivan chuckles.

"It's not a big deal. It's just a plant."

"If it matters to you then it's important," I say. "I think that was a very sweet story."

"Who's the song about to you, Matthew?" Vash asks, still sniffling.

"Nobody really. I've never been very social. My only family member doesn't even know who I am. But..." I trail off.

"But what?"

"Nothing."

Truth is, somebody briefly came to mind. I sort of think of Lilli like the sister I never had now. We really bonded during training. I miss her. I hope she's alright. 

A few hours later it begins to get a little brighter, so it's time to see the deaths from the first night. There's only one. I figured this whole time it was Heracles, but it was actually Lukas.

Video of Yao stealthily lurking near a tree appears. He leaps into a bush, unspotted, when Lukas hops down from the tree. He dumps his bag on the ground and walks off, appearing unfazed. He doesn't suspect a thing.

Yao heads straight into action and roots through the bag. I figured he would steal the supplies, but he does something unexpected instead. He takes out a bottle from Lukas' bag and then one from his own. Lukas' has some regular water remaining in it, most of it having been drunken already. Yao's has a reddish liquid inside.

I already fear what will happen as he pours some of the red liquid into the clear liquid. Just a drop or two so it's not very noticeable. But it's there. Then he places Lukas' things back exactly how they were and bounds away.

Lukas returns a moment later, looking disappointed. He must have been looking for something. He flings his bag over his shoulder and crawls back up the tree.

Once at a higher branch, he takes out the bottle. He holds it in front of him, an eyebrow raised, but sighs, shrugs, and takes a few sips.

It doesn't take long for the poison to kick in. I figure that the red liquid was juice from some poisonous berries. Lukas ends up falling out of the tree as he struggles to breathe, his face turning an odd color. And then he stops moving and Yao jumps out of the bush, steals his things, and dashes off.

I'm honestly scared of Yao now. He seemed nice, but I had never even seen him speak to Lukas before. What could have caused him to seek him out and kill him in such a sneaky way?