Mikoto woke up in the cold dark room which he shared with his father and found himself in a warm embrace. He lifted his head up to see his father  ,sound asleep. What was he doing in his bed?Then he realized he might have been having nightmares again and might have climbed up with him. Of course he was. Today was the reaping day.

Mikoto propped himself on his elbow ,freeing himself from the embrace and looked up at his father. In sleep,his father looked younger still worn but not so beaten down.His father was very handsome once,or so they say.

Sitting on the edge of their bed was the ugliest cat in the world.Mashed in nose, half of one ear missing, eyes the colour of rotting squash. His father had named him Butter Cup,insisting that its murky, dirty blonde hair matched the bright flower. Mikoto had remember how he had tried to drown it when Father had brought him in. Scrawny kitten, belly swollen with worms ,crawling with fleas. But his father had saved the kitten, he got rid of the insects inhibit the cat and the cat turned out to be a born mouse catcher. Sometimes when Mikoto had hunted an animal, he would feed the entrails to it. It had stop hissing at Mikoto.

No hissing. Entrails. This was this close to love the could get.

Mikoto swung of the bed and put on his boots.  He wore his white jacket and headed to the kitchen.  On a table,protected from cats and rats alike ,was a piece of goat cheese  ,from his goat ,a gift from his father on his first reaping. Mikoto put the cheese in his pocket and went outside.

The part of the district 12 in which Mikoto lived was called the Seam which usually crawling with people headed towards the coal mines. But today everyone had gotten a holiday. It was the reaping day,everyone got a holiday.

Mikoto headed towards the little place which was called the meadows, he slowly reached the wall which separated the district from the forest. The huge wall was barbed with sharp wires to prevent creatures comming in or maybe it was the other way around. Mikoto came to a place, only known to him and a few others, where the wall was weak and led to the forest. Mikoto looked around and slipped through.

With a satisfied smile,he went to a fallen log and took out his bow and queer of arrows. He swung them across his shoulder and headed to the forest.
He roamed in the forest ,prowling with creatures but thanks to his Mother he knew every twig and leaf of the forest. His Mother had died in a mine explosion, five years had passed since the incident, but Mikoto still woke up screaming for her to run,tears streaming down his face.

The bow and arrow be longed to his mother. She was a hunter.  She could have made a fair business of selling weapons but it was considered illegal. Most peace keeper turn a blind eye, to hunting but they crave for meat as much as the public.But arming the seam ,would never be allowed.

Most people stayed in the safety of district 12.

Mikoto:- District 12 ,where you can starve to death safely.

When Mikoto was little, his dad would always scold him .For blurting things about the capital. Go to school,be polite and respectful, don't say anything bad about the capital ,his father advised.

In the middle of woods,Mikoto saw someone who he cared for,with whom he could be himself and share his feelings.  Izuku Midoriya.

Izuku:- Hey , Mi-Chan.

It was his cute nickname for Mikoto.  In front of people, Mikoto got embarrassed but truly he  loved it when Izuku called him by that nickname .

Izuku and Mikoto began to hunt. They hunted rabbits and squirrels,caught fishes and collected berries. After that they rested for a while eating  bread and cheese . Their simple breakfast was as good as full course meal.  Mikoto looked at the bandaged hand of Izuku.

Mikoto:- Is it better.

Izuku:-Yep,all thanks to your dad.

Mikoto's dad was a healer. He was actually one of the peace keepers,but he fell in love with Mikoto's mother and moved to the seam . His father got to know his mother because she used to sell him the wild berries and herbs need for making medicines. He must have loved his mother a lot to leave his home and come to the seam.His dad must have been very handsome, now he was just a broken man,just a shadow of his past self.

Mikoto:- We could run away you know,away from here,we could survive.

Izuku:- You can't leave your dad,and i can't leave mom,you know that.

Mikoto nodded and sighed.

After hunting, they go to the hob and sell a few of their hunting for salt,floor, sugar and paraffin. Then they headed to the mayor's home to sell a few berries which he loved dearly. The door was opened by Kirishima,the mayor's son,who was wearing a new seat of clothes.  He and Mikoto were in the same class,he was actually a really good guy and extremely friendly and his smiling was contagious.
But the clothes infuriated Mikoto somehow.

Mikoto:- Nice dress.

Kirishima:- Well,i have to look as presentable as i can when i go to the Capital.

Mikoto:- (harshly)You aren't going to the Capital .

Mikoto eyes Kirishima's gold pin. It could have bought a whole year of food to a family at the seam.

Izuku and Mikoto walked away.

Izuku:- Its not his fault.

Mikoto:- I know....i just .....

Izuku grabbed his hand and smiled at him.

Izuku:- Good luck.

Mikoto:- You too.

They divided the things between themselves and headed to their homes.

He  know it wasn't right to snarl at Kirishima like that .
If a person was as poor as Mikoto and the other people in the seam,you could opt to add your name more times for the hunger games for grain and oil. Mikoto had done it.It is called Tesserae Even though he hunted it wasn't enough for him and his father.At the age of twelve ,a persons name is added twice , so now Mikoto who was sixteen had his name added twelve more times, add the
Tesserae,his name was in  twenty four times . As for people like Kirishima whose family could afford food,they needed no tessearae. The chance of his name being picked compared to any child in the seam was very slim.

Mikoto reached home to see his father wearing a fine dress,it was old yet beautiful.  A dress was set for him too.
Mikoto bathed,pit on his graceful clothes and headed to the town square with his father where the reaping would begin. Why the dresses you ask?Well the capital wanted the people to celebrate it like a happy occasion ,like the 1st of July, Christmas ,Holly or Eid.
The shops in the town hall were decorated as well. In other districts were the hunger games was considered a honor ,they would be very happy, but for district 12 it meant nothing but bloodshed and destruction.

The people line up at the town square,all faces grim and worried.
The hunger games is good way for the Capital to put tabs on the population. Children in  between 12 to 18 ,are headed into a roped area ,marked off for adults. The young ones line in front while the older at the back.Family members line the perimeter ,also people who have no family, who are here to place beats .

There is stage with chairs.The Mayor and Elfie Trinket ,a representative from the capital sit on their respective chairs while one is empty.

Just as the cloak struck two,the mayor rises to the podium and tells the history of Panem. His listed the disasters that attacked Panem and how the people rose above the ashes. Then come the dark days,the thirteen districts rebelled against the capital. But the Capital had superior technology, the twelve districts  gave up and the thirteenth was destroyed.

The hunger games are simple, for the punishment of the rebellion, a girl and boy are picked from each district and are made to fight to death till one survives.

Taking their children and make them watch kill each other, this is the way the capital keeps a hold on the district.

Hunger games are the Capital's way of saying LOOK HOW WE TAKE YOUR CHILDREN AND MAKE THEM KILL EACH OTHER AND THEIRS NOTHInG YOU CAN DO. IF YOU LIFT A FINGER  WE WILL CRUSH IT AND DESTROY YOU LIKE DISTRICT THIRTEEN.

The mayor reads the name of the past victors of the hunger games. From district twelve their have been only two and one is still alive ,his name is Geysis.
He walks up the stage and sits on his seat,a look of disgust across his face.
Effie Trinket, rises to the podium cheerful as ever saying "May the odds be in your favour " and "Happy hunger games " .
Effie :- Oooooo lets do gents first this time.

She walks to a huge bowl with every child's name and grabs a slip of paper with her slender fingers.

Mikoto closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.

Effie reads  the name. Mikoto felt as the air knocked out of his lungs. It wasn't him.

It was Izuku Midoriya