The Blaze Games

The Capitol: Vocaloid

Panem: Blaze

Districts: Yamaha, Crypton, Internet, Voctro, Henian, Artech, Kioon, Effex, Ashore, Ispro

Tributes (Alive, Dead): Yamaha - ? and ? Crypton - Rinto and Miku. Internet - ? and ? Voctro - ? and ? Henian - ? and ? Artech - ? and ? Kioon - ? and ? Effex - ? and ? Ashore - ? and ? Ispro - ? and ?

Mentors: Yamaha - ? and ? Crypton - Kaito and Luka. Internet - ? and ? Voctro - ? and ? Henian - ? and ? Artech - ? and ? Kioon - ? and ? Effex - ? and ? Ashore - ? and ? Ispro - ? and ?

Disclaimer: I do not own Vocaloid or the Hunger Games.

Summary: The Blaze Games. Just one more year, and Miku would have been safe, except her father messed something up, and as punishment, she has to fight to the death. With a fellow tribute who happens to be suicidal, a mentor she may or may not be in love with, some dark secrets being trusted to her and her life on the line, Miku has to survive. Problem is, there are nineteen other people who wants to win as well.

A/N: Because it's a fad here in fanfiction, no? Besides... I was lacking in ideas for other fics. KaitoxMiku and others. NOT RintoxMiku. Inspired by the Vocaloid song 'Blaze' and the Hunger Games.

In the well-off side of a large district at the Western side of Blaze, there was a fine mansion, where almost all the inhabitants were asleep in the deep night. Only one room was partly lit, and even then, it was only a candle that flickered within the finely furnished study. Inside the dimly lit study, a man sat curled up on his chair behind his desk. He held his phone to his ear and mouth, and he was currently sweating and shedding tears in desperation and fear.

"Please," the man begged into his phone. "Please, I need more time."

Someone on the other side replied coldly. It was a merciless voice, one that gave no pardons. "You have had an abundance of time. Perhaps some other person would be more competent at the project."

"No, please! I can do this! I really can!"

An even colder refusal followed.

"It's nearly complete! Really! I swear on the lives of my children, the project is almost good to go! I-I can really do this! I can!"

The same cold voice was impatient now. "On your children? Save yourself. You couldn't even bring satisfactory results."

"No, please! Please, sir, it's not going to- sir, please, this is possible! Please, if I had more time-!"

"NO MORE TIME!" The voice on the other side roared, making the man flinch. "We have been far too patient with you, mayor!" he spat. "Perhaps you should be punished for your incompetence."

"Mercy…" the man sobbed. "Please…"

"How a spineless coward became the mayor of one of our proudest districts, I will never know," was all the voice said before hanging up, the click like a death sentence to the man.

The mayor reluctantly put the phone back into the cradle before resuming his sobbing.

~B-L-A-Z-E~

The sun was shining through the partly open drapes on her window, and hurting her closed eyes. Hatsune Miku wanted them closed, but she didn't have the will to get up and close them completely, so she just turned around, and put her face out of the path of light. Better.

The satisfaction she felt at the small victory she had won over her battle with the sun evaporated when the door to her bedroom burst open. Did she care? No. It was probably her brother, and Miku didn't – couldn't – care enough to get up at the moment.

"Miku, wake up."

Her brother, and his voice left no room for her to argue feebly while lying down. Reluctantly, Miku opened her eyes, and saw the towering figure of her older brother standing over her. "Morning, 'Kuo," she said sleepily.

"Wake up," he repeated, not even cracking a smile at his nickname for her like he usually did. "It's Reaping Day."

Just the last two dreaded words he spoke sent a jolt of fright through her. Miku sat up immediately, her fear banishing all the sleep away from her body. How could she have forgotten?

"You probably won't get chosen," he told her, softening when she looked close to crying. "You've only been entered what? Eight times? The poorer folks have their names in the bowl, like a million times."

Reaping Day. The day when every single living person between the ages of twelve and nineteen held their breath as the spidery fingers of the escort from Vocaloid standing up on the stage chose a name for each gender to send them for a fight to the death in an enclosed space.

Ever since the districts had rebelled against Vocaloid ninety-nine years ago, their leaders, the 'Masters' had decided that a punishment was due. So, the Blaze Games was created, where two children, one from each gender, would be sent from each of the ten districts to fight to their deaths, as a reminder that this was what happened when a rebellion occurred against the Masters. To make it extra painful, everyone was forced to watch, every single year. The final survivor would be greatly honoured, and rewarded richly for the rest of their lives, but it didn't seem fair to the rest of the players, the ones left dead.

Every year, a child had to enter their names once, and the names would stay in the reaping pool until they were too old to be reaped. If they decided to get their names entered again, they were given extra food, and would have some spare provisions sent for that year, but their names would still stay there the next year, and the next, until they were past the age when they could be reaped. On Reaping Day, one girl and one boy would be chosen and sent to Vocaloid where they'd be evaluated. Then, they'd be sent to fight in an enclosed arena.

Miku and Mikuo, both being children of the mayor, never had to worry about such things as much as some of the few poor people in Crypton did. Still, being chosen was an all-too real threat. No one knew whose name might be chosen.

"Dress nicely," he told her, a poor attempt at a joke. "You know cameras will be everywhere."

She grimaced at him as he left her room, but heeded his advice and began to dig in her closet for an acceptably fancy piece of clothing.

~B-L-A-Z-E~

"What took you so long, Miku?" her mother raised her eyebrows when Miku finally came down the stairs.

"Choosing an outfit," she mumbled, taking a seat. Miku had ended up choosing the same thing she'd worn for the past three years; her white dress with the pink ribbon. Mikuo called her stupid for calling it her lucky dress, but she'd never been chosen when she had worn it, and she decided to not push her luck. She tried to force herself to eat the meal that their chef had made, but the butterflies in her stomach were morphing into something much more vicious. Wasps, maybe, or vipers.

"Well, you certainly look nice," her mother tried to smile warmly, and only succeeded partly. Mikuo was safe from the Blaze Games forever, having celebrated his twentieth birthday a month ago, but her mother still had to worry about her, the last member of the family still in danger. "Have you gotten a token?"

"You make it sound like she's been chosen," Mikuo commented drily, taking her seat next to her. His larger hand gripped hers, squeezing it reassuringly. "Let's ask her that question when we get there."

Her mother laughed nervously. "Ah, yes, you're right."

"Besides, she'll be fine even if she's chosen," Mikuo continued. "She's been training for so long, it's the other district tributes you'll have to worry about."

Miku flinched. The ones who actually underwent training so that they would have a higher chance of winning and earning all the glory and honours, those kinds of tributes were called 'Careers'. She wasn't exactly a Career, per say, because she didn't train for the chance to enter and win the Games. Her parents had just put them through it because they'd been so scared for their children.

And even in training it had always been Mikuo who had been the one skilled at the general surviving trick. He'd always managed to pass the tests their instructors put them through with flying colours while she'd bumbled along.

Mentally, Miku slapped herself. Here she was, moping along, when there was barely a chance she'd be chosen! Crypton was one of the biggest districts, and one with the most Careers and past Victors. Even if she was chosen, there was a good probability that an ambitious Career would volunteer to take her place.

The thought improving her mind, she dug in more enthusiastically into her favorite omelet.

She caught Mikuo smiling slightly. Ah, so he'd been trying to make her feel better. Well, it had certainly worked.

As soon as she was done, a maid appeared out of nowhere – or so it seemed to her eyes – and took her plate away.

"Well," her mother stood. "Let's get going now, shall we?"

Miku didn't bother asking the question of where her father was; as mayor, he was to stand at the stage with the escort sent by the Masters at Vocaloid and look imposing as he made the same speech to everyone about the Blaze Games.

"Yeah," she stood as well, and straightened her dress with slightly sweaty palms. "Let's."

~B-L-A-Z-E~

At the ceremony, Miku began to make her way to the section where all the girls of the reaping age waited. Mikuo was about to join the boys' side, but stopped when he remembered that he was too old to be waiting with everyone else. His face held a mixture of relief and odd sorrow as he walked away, back to the section where those too young or too old watched, roped off and guarded by Peacekeepers. Miku's heart swelled with pride, just a bit, at seeing the fierce Peacekeepers that did their duty with loyalty and honour. Crypton was the largest supplier of the Peacekeepers. If Mikuo hadn't been training to be the next mayor, he would have been going to the Peacekeeper Academy already.

"Greetings, Citizens of Crypton!" her father's familiar voice boomed out over everyone's heads. No one was stupid enough to keep talking, and everyone fell silent. "Today is a day of honour and glory, as two children from our loved district will be given a chance to go to Vocaloid and represent our district! It is a great honour, and should be treated as such! Welcome to the beginning of the Ninety-Ninth Blaze Games!"

She zoned out. While others may or may not have been interested, Miku had not only heard it every year, but she'd also hear it back home, where her father would practise it as often as he could as to memorize it.

Behind her talking father, Miku saw some of the past Victors of Crypton. Huh, so they were to be the Mentors this year.

Every tribute could be taught the tips and tricks of the Blaze Games by a previous Victor, who also chose what gifts they received with their sponsor money. Sponsors were important in the game because the gifts that could be purchased with the money the watching fans sent could make or break a tribute's survival. From previous games that she'd seen, she definitely knew that to be true.

There were two of them this year. One was Megurine Luka, the Victor from twenty four years ago. She had been in the Quarter Blaze, something that occurred every twenty five years. That had been the year when two Victors had been allowed, and two district tributes had emerged alive. Luka from Crypton, and someone from another place called Internet. The pink haired woman was still beautiful and elegant, just like she'd been for as long as Miku could remember seeing her, but she had never gotten married. Rumours had it that she had fallen in love with her fellow Victor, and forsaken love with anyone else just for him.

The other Mentor, sitting there in the silk suit and polished shoes, was Shion Kaito. She remembered him rather well, as his Games had been but three years ago. He'd been eighteen when he was reaped, and his extremely good looks had led him earning sponsors, both male and female, by the dozens, and later, hundreds as his competition died off. All the supplies he needed or wanted, plus his training at Peacekeeper Academy, had given him a huge advantage over any other tribute at the time, and he'd won in a record time of three days.

The sounds of clapping drove her out of her mind, and Miku hastily clapped as well, watching her father give a nod in response before retreating to the back of the stage. The escort, a young woman with dark purple hair, cheerily stepped forwards to the mike. "Happy Blaze Games!" she chirped into the mike. "And may the fates be in your favour this year!"

Tone Rion. The woman had begun to come to Crypton four years ago, when she'd been transferred from one of the poorer districts. Effex? Voctro? Someplace like them. Miku thought she was rather cute, in her outlandish outfits and high, child-like voice, but some had complained that she was an annoying brat.

"And now… the gentlemen…" her pink-gloved hand reached out and stirred the papers with the names. "Who... shall... it… be…?"

From the side where the boys were, there was an intake of nervous breath as at least three thousand boys inhaled.

One unfortunate piece of paper was caught by Rion's hand, and pulled out. "Kagamine Rinto!"

The crowd parted to let a blond boy around the age of fifteen through. Miku thought she remembered seeing him from somewhere, but she wasn't sure. A lot of people had blond hair and blue eyes in Crypton. Another boy, slightly younger than him but with a similar appearance, grabbed him and gave him a fierce hug, but the Peacekeepers pulled him off, and pushed Rinto to the stage.

"Hello, Rinto!" Rion chirped as the blond made his way up. Rinto ignored Rion, and just stood, eyes set firmly as he held his head high.

"Are there any volunteers?" Miku was surprised to see none. No Careers? Or was Rinto a Career? Rinto was just glaring down at the boy that had hugged him, clearly conveying to him that he wasn't to volunteer. Under the older one's gaze, the younger boy kept his silence. "No? Well, then, now, let's move onto the ladies, shall we?"

This time, Rion's hand was a bit quicker in fishing around for a slip of paper. Withdrawing one, she read aloud the name of the unfortunate girl.

"Hatsune Miku!"