Firecracker: The 99th Games Book One

Arena, Night 5 Part 1

Fuyuko had a hard time getting to sleep the previous night. She had spent all day worrying about who died during the mutts' attack and fretting over Piero's wound as he slowly grew more tired over time. His bandages were already starting to look red; the gash in his back was clearly very deep, but if nothing else, he had so much blood to lose that it didn't seem like he was in much risk of completely bleeding out.

Still, if all he had was bandages, he probably wouldn't recover for a while. And with his back muscles shredded, his range of motion in his arms was inhibited. Their strongest alliance member being limited in his abilities was not ideal for these three.

But then again... Fuyuko watched as Marco listened through their stone door for a moment, then began pushing on it by himself to shove it back open. ...He's pretty strong too, isn't he?

She had been focused on Piero because Asahi pointed him out specifically, but when Fuyuko took a step back and thought about the two brothers, it did not take her long to realize just how much Marco had done for her. He had advocated for her from day one and stuck by her side to protect her both times her life was in danger. It was Marco who took her by the hand and led her into the jungle to escape the mutts, Marco who helped her get out from under the corpse of the one that almost killed her, Marco who consistently looked out for her and helped her communicate more effectively with his brother when he noticed her social skills failing. Admittedly, there was a piece of Fuyuko that wondered if faking a love story with him would be easier; she was already rather fond of the boy, if she were honest with herself.

And...

Watching him strain to move the stone slab as it scraped along the ground made his muscles look more prominent. Fuyuko blushed, hiding her face behind a backpack.

A-and he's pretty cute, too...

"Marco," Piero called, a bit groggily, "you're gonna hurt yourself. Let me help."

"I've got it," Marco insisted. "I don't want you to strain yourself and tear the wound more. Stay there."

"Can I move at all?" Piero muttered.

"Not until we have some way to help fix your back," Marco replied stubbornly. He paused, then began pushing near the top of the rock instead. "If I can just knock it over...we'll be fine!"

"I-is it safe out there?" Fuyuko asked warily. "I-I mean...n-no more mutts and no other tributes roaming around?"

"I can't hear anything," Marco said. After another minute of grunting and shoving, he finally managed to topple the slab of rock on his own, beaming proudly. As he suspected, the tunnels were clear aside from the bones of mutts who had fallen in. Apparently, the surviving mutts had opted to cannibalize each other rather than starve in the tunnels. "There we are! Now to find a way to the surface..."

"You're not planning on exploring by yourself, are you?" Piero asked.

"I'm just going to try to climb the walls," Marco assured. "I want to see if any sponsors sent us something for you."

"You already know Dad didn't send us anything for me," Piero said crossly. "Just...please be careful. I won't hesitate to throw myself into danger again if you need me to protect you."

"I'll be fine, Piero," Marco soothed, picking up his sword before inching out into the tunnels again. He looked around a bit, then retreated back inside their room and went to one of the backpacks. "Where is our flashlight...?"

"O-oh, I got it!" Fuyuko reached into the backpack she had been hiding behind and retrieved their flashlight, clicking it on and moving to Marco's side. She stood, pointing the flashlight out of the room. "Is it hard to see out there?"