the games ~ kiribaku

[8] jabberjays.

I am crying in Mina's arms. I killed two people for god's sake. Mina killed a person and she's not showing any pain, she's holding a crying me and rubbing circles in my arm to comfort me. I couldn't shake the look of fear that the boy had before he died, and the girl was only 12. My whines and sobs soon became small hiccups and I fell into a dreamless sleep.

When I woke, I instantly noticed Mina's absence. I took a sip from my flask and went looking for her. I heard a scream, and then a canon. Mina. I run towards the screaming at full speed, jumping over the dead branches and dodging the huge trees. Until I bump into someone and get knocked to the ground. I hold my head before I realize this is an enemy. I scramble backward and look at the ash-blonde boy in the eye. Katsuki Bakugo, holy shit I'm a goner. He stares back at me.

He held his sword into the air, ready to strike me. I throw my hands over my face to defend myself until I hear another scream. My eyes shoot open to see Katsuki Bakugo, looking around, then running off. If that's Mina, I need to find her right now. I run towards the screaming, the opposite direction in which Katsuki Bakugo went, and saw a bird. A screaming bird. Flying around frantically.

"A jabberjay.." I grumble.

Did I run this whole way for a jabberjay? Maybe that's why Katsuki Bakugo ran away, to avoid falling for the trick.

Wait.

Jabberjay's don't impersonate, they imitate.

I frantically look around for the second time, chasing after the flying bird. Somehow, I ended up back at camp, and Mina was sat there drinking water.

She looked at me ridiculously. "You fell for the jabberjay trick? Dude, that's the oldest trick in the book."

"What damn jabberjay trick?" I said angrily.

"My goodness, Kirishima. They're probably watching you on the TV's and pissing themselves. The jabberjay trick is when they use a jabberjay, impersonate someone's scream, and their allies will literally lose their minds trying to find their teammate."

"Where the hell were you?!" I yell.

"Keep it down! I was going to get water." She whisper-yells.

"I wonder who was killed then, didn't you hear the canon?" I ask.

"Yeah, the District 6 girl or District 12 boy probably killed someone. I won't be surprised if those two end up winning."

"What are you talking about? Of course, you won't be surprised, you'd be dead." I bluntly reply, earning a chuckle. "We should move, it's not only getting boring but less safe around here."

Mina nods.

As soon as we finish packing up, we leave. We walk cautiously through the forest and end up back at the bloodbath. The purple-haired District 6 girl, Kyoka Jiro, is standing there, looking into the forest for people. The electric District 5 boy is stood behind her, and he is looking around too. The electric boy, Denki Kaminari, looks our way. I grab Mina and push her into the bushes where I crawl in after her, praying that we weren't spotted.

I hear a battle cry. When I peep my head out of the bushes, I see the District 7 boy, Hanta Sero, charging towards the two in the middle. He had nothing but a small blade, this was suicide on his part. Mina closed her eyes and covered her ears as the boy's neck was slit by the District 6 girl who seemed unbelievably agitated.

It didn't take more than 10 seconds until the canon fired, signalling his death. The body lay limp as the electric boy threw a match on his body, lighting it aflame. I couldn't help but wonder where Tsu had gone, especially since the electric boy and the most dangerous of the hunger games have made an alliance. She was most likely dead, and it was probably for the best since I definitely didn't want to cross paths with her and end up fighting her.

Mina opened her eyes and let go of her ears. "Was he killed?"

I nod. "Come on, let's go find somewhere to stay for the night."

We walked endlessly, looking for somewhere to stay. Surprisingly enough, we didn't bump into any of the remaining 11 tributes. Just as we found somewhere to settle down, 'the fallen' screen showed up.

Tsuyu Asui, District 5. Killed by Izuku Midoriya.

Hanta Sero, District 7. Killed by Kyoka Jiro.

Hitoshi Shinso, District 10. Killed by Eijiro Kirishima.

Pony Tsunotori, District 10. Killed by Eijiro Kirishima.

I looked at the floor with guilt as I attempted to make a fire. I made a spark, that soon lit into a flame. I smiled at my work and grabbed two squirrels from Mina's bag that I had killed the night before. The sun was fully down by the time I had cooked and finished eating. I put the fire out and lay down, looking at the starry night sky.

"It's beautiful, isn't it? I know it's fake, but it's beautiful." Mina said.

I smiled. "Yeah."

"We are gonna win this, right?" Mina asked.

"We both know that isn't gonna happen, especially with the strong kids this yea-"

I was cut of by a canon, that made Mina squeal. "Can you please cuddle me? I'm scared."

I sighed and moved over to her, holding her until she fell asleep. That night, I didn't sleep at all. The canon echoed through my mind, it haunted me. This year is brutal, it's nothing like the previous years. The kids are much scarier and they're much more intimidating. There are more alliances, and even more broken ones. I honestly don't know if it's been like this every year and I haven't noticed, or somehow this year is just an unlucky year for the quieter tributes. I would most likely be a quieter tribute if I hadn't killed off District 10. I'm most likely being hunted for my assessment score and my kills.

District 1 is going to be more pissed at Katsuki Bakugo and Kyoka Jiro, those two are lethal, untrustworthy, and right now they're looking at winning. Who knows, maybe even District 1 would steal the win again.