Coriolanus Snow X Reader (The Hunger Games)

Part 7

"I'll be right back, I'm going to go use the restroom." Y/N tells Aaron, pulling back from the hug. This was a lie, she didn't even know where the bathrooms were. She just wanted to find her mentor and talk to him, even for just a little. Y/N rushes through the halls; so many eyes were focused on her. She was still wearing that bright red dress, so she supposed that was why. Ignoring the stares, she finally makes it to where all the mentors were at. Looking through the door's window, she sees Coriolanus. He was talking with his cousin and Aaron's mentor, Sejanus. Y/N reaches for the door handle, but just as she's about to grab it, a Peacekeeper sneaks up behind her and grabs her by the arm. "You can't go in there, Miss." He tells her. She shakes her head and tries again. "He's my mentor." The Peacekeeper grabs her again, this time throwing her to the floor. "Exactly why you can't go in there. You're not even supposed to be out here, go back to that zoo where you belong." He huffs at her. Y/N shakily stands up, "please, I just want to see him." She pleads to the Peacekeeper, who is quick to deny her any access by whacking her across the cheek with the butt of his gun. Y/N falls to the ground with a hard thud due to the force of the blow. She quickly covers the cheek that had been hit, a searing pain was exploding throughout her cheek and head. Grunting, she looks down at the hand that had covered her cheek; it was covered in blood. The gun must've gashed open her cheek, because she could taste blood in her mouth and feel it running down her chin and onto the dress, which luckily was already red. The Peacekeeper grabs her by the neck, pulling her up and beginning to drag her away.

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Coriolanus stay seated in his designated chair, sighing. Sejanus had been telling him about how his plan is so flawless and how he thinks Aaron will win this year. Coryo has noticed that Sejanus has been acting differently ever since he was chosen to be Aaron's mentor. He had a sudden sense of confidence he hadn't had before. While he was still being friendly with Coryo, he seemed to mainly focus on his tribute and his "flawless" plan. Meaning they haven't been hanging out as much as they normally would. But, Coryo expected that to happen during the two weeks before The Hunger Games, so he didn't think much more of it.

As Tigris helps Coryo out of his chair to prepare him to leave to go back home, he swears he heard someone say his name. "Did you say something, Tigris?" He asks, confused. "No? Oh no, are you hearing things now? Let's get you home so you can rest." Tigris gently pets her cousin's hair. "Wait." Coryo stops. He heard something again. It was faint, but he knew that it was something. It had to be someone calling out for him. Everyone goes silent so he can hear better. And sure enough, there it was again. "Coriola- Coryo- please." The voice says weakly. And that's when it hit him. The voice he heard was none other than Y/N's. But that didn't make sense. Why would she be here? Either he really was crazy, or Y/N needed him. It didn't matter which one it was, he was still going to go check. Coryo slips out of Tigris's grip and, completely forgetting about his head, bolts to the door.

    The door bursts open, and what Coriolanus saw when he ran out from behind that door made his heart pound and his adrenaline immediately begin to rush. He wasn't crazy, it was Y/N. She was on the floor, being dragged by the back of her dress by a Peacekeeper. Coryo notices that she was bleeding heavily from her cheek, and that she was barely even conscious. He starts to panic; he was not about to let something happen to her even before the games. He may not be able to physically be there to help her in the games, but he could now. And he would. Clinching his fists, he wastes no more time and jumps into action. Coryo lunges at the Peacekeeper, grabbing his throat with his left hand to get him to release Y/N, who falls completely to the floor unresponsive. Coryo gets angry at the sight of his tribute being treated so poorly; he had never liked Peacekeepers anyway, but now he really hated them.

    Clutching onto the Peacekeeper's throat, Coriolanus raises his right fist and delivers a powerful blow to the guy's cheek. The Peacekeeper falls backwards and drops his gun from the force of the blow, groaning. Coryo quickly shakes the buzz of pain from his fist, and as soon as the Peacekeeper tries to regain his balance, Coryo lunges again. He lands on top of the man who had hurt Y/N, distributing punch after punch to his face. The Peacekeeper gets a taste of his own medicine as his own blood floods into his mouth and he struggles to stay awake. Just as Coryo was about to finish him off by knocking him out cold, Sejanus suddenly comes up behind his friend and grabs his arm, stopping the strike as it was midway in the air. "Coryo! STOP!" Sejanus yells, pushing his fellow mentor off of the Peacekeeper and holding him back. "LET GO SEJANUS! YOU SAW WHAT HE DID TO HER!" Coryo yells back in a deep, almost unrecognizable voice. He pushes against Sejanus's hold, but he had used all his energy to take out the Peacekeeper. Glancing over to where Y/N lay still, his eyes go wide and the rage inside of him goes back to becoming replaced with panic. Was she? No, she couldn't be. He had to get to her.

    Coryo fights hard against Sejanus's grasp, but at this point he was too weak to escape from it, and Sejanus wasn't planning on letting go anytime soon. Tigris peeks out from behind the door, looking afraid. She could not believe what she had just witnessed. However, she knew he needed her so she rushes over to the two mentors, kneeling down in front of her cousin who was panting heavily as well as sweating profusely from his forehead. "Hey, Coryo.." she gently removes a piece of sweaty hair from his sticky forehead. "Coryo, it's okay. You're okay. Calm down for me." Tigris says gently, trying her best to calm him. But, she knew he wouldn't calm down until he knew Y/N was alright. "Tigris," Coryo huffs, "you have to let me go to her." Tigris shakes her head and frowns. "Of course I would let you if I could, but it's too risky Coryo. If they find out who beat up that Peacekeeper, you could already be in a lot of trouble. You know you're not supposed to be near your tribute without a barrier, did you not tell Y/N that? It doesn't matter. We need to get you out of here before anyone else gets hurt. Okay?" Tigris continues frowning and her and Sejanus help Coriolanus back to his feet. Coryo doesn't give up and keeps fighting against the two holding him back, "No, no you don't understand." He weeps from both pain and fear. He himself didn't understand why he suddenly cared about the girl so much. He knew he had already cared about her more than he thought he would, but something inside him must've sparked when he saw her get hurt. He wasn't sure what it was exactly, but it added on to his fear. The sudden urge to protect her by putting his own life in danger; the only other person he's ever done that for was Tigris.

    At this point, Coryo didn't care much about getting in trouble, he just wanted to make sure his tribute was alive. Sure, part of it was because any chance of winning the prize would be gone, but there was a deeper feeling towards it. The one that scared him. It was a powerful emotion that he had no idea how to handle, which was what led to this sudden outburst of rage and other mixed emotions. "Please, just let me check.. Tigris, she needs help." He pleads to his cousin who nods at Sejanus and they both let him go. Coriolanus hastily takes the few steps towards Y/N, but just as he kneels down next to her, footsteps from down the hall echo in the air. "Coryo, listen to me." Sejanus says, coming up from his behind. "If they see you with her, especially like this, you'll never see her again." He puts a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Come on." Sejanus pulls a reluctant Coryo away from his tribute and the three of them return to the mentor's room where Tigris and Sejanus act as if nothing had happened. Coryo, on the other hand, was sat silently in his chair. He looked like a mess; everyone was staring at him, but he didn't care. He was in too much pain. His head was pounding and his fists were sore, but that's not what he was worried about. All he could do now was desperately hope Y/N was okay and he'd see her again. The thought of losing her so soon made him shiver. He wanted to slap himself, why was he thinking like this? He knew very well there was a very well chance she would die during the games, and he was becoming attached. Maybe he wasn't fit to be a mentor after all. Then again, Sejanus was the same way, he cared for his tribute and would've done the same thing Coryo did if it were Aaron. If Sejanus could keep it a secret, so could he.

    About five minutes later, a group of Peacekeepers sweep the hallways to collect both Y/N and the downed Peacekeeper. Coriolanus watches with dark eyes as they carry away the girl to where he hoped was the medical ward. Once they were gone, Tigris comes back over to her cousin. "Let's get you home, Coryo." She says before pulling him into a gentle hug. She knew he cared for that girl, and she couldn't help but feel bad for both of them. They seemed like a good pair, and Tigris was deeply afraid of what might happen if the girl from 12 dies in the games, especially after what happened today. Once the cousins arrive at their house, Coryo instantly locks himself in his room to begin processing everything that had happened and calm himself down before finally falling asleep around midnight.