Chapter Text
Once upon a time, somewhere under the earth surface, dark and dirty and suffocating, lived two siblings. A brother and a sister, bound by blood yet polar opposites. While the girl was soft-spoken, the boy was rude. Where she carried care for everyone, he lacked empathy. While she forgave, he held grudges.
So, extremely different, or that’s what people, who thought they knew them, said about them. Was that the truth, though? Let’s watch them closely, and I’ll leave the final judgement up to you.
___________________________
“Kuchel, do you know where your brother is?” He asked, sounding a bit irritated. Kuchel shook her head as she took off her shoes at the entrance, avoiding to look her grandfather in the eyes. She took off her bag, placing it on the nearest chair.
“No, sorry. He just went off right after the lesson and—“
“Quit the crap, Kuchel.” Her grandpa sighed, looking up from his book and taking off his glasses. “I know that he didn’t go to class, once again. You don’t need to lie to me.” The girl kept her gaze on the ground, hiding her embarrassed expression. She wasn’t the best at lying, and she didn’t like it either. But she still did it for her brother. As if that changed anything… she always ended up getting caught.
The man put the glasses on the tiny table next to his armchair. “I hope you know that Thomas always updates me about the lessons whenever we meet. Whatever Kenny thinks he is hiding, he’s not. I just wish Thomas could give me positive updates about him like he does with you..”
Kuchel felt bad. Her grandpa looked tired from Kenny’s behavior. She knew he genuinely tried to provide the best possible living for them in such a place as the underground, but Kenny never seemed to appreciate the effort. Even when their grandfather managed to get them to become his friend’s, students, so they could at least receive some basic education, Kenny resisted.
“It’s whatever,” Karlos spoke again, waving his hand off. “Prepare the table, please. It’s time for dinner. Your brother will come sooner or later.”
The girl obeyed, going to the kitchen corner. She took the three plates out of the cabinet, setting them on the small wooden dining table. Meanwhile, her grandfather had gotten up and gotten a bag with bread and a bread knife. Seems like they were going to start dinner without her brother.
Fortunately, just when Kuchel was carrying Kenny’s plate with his slice of bread to the cabinet to store it, she heard the door of their hut open. There was her older sibling, entering the room with a low word of greeting. Relieved, the girl brought his plate back to the table, setting it down in front of the remaining empty chair. The boy took a seat, starting his dinner right ahead like he didn’t feel the tension in the room.
Kuchel’s eyes flicked between her grandfather and her brother. She was sure Kenny was aware of the older man watching him intensely while he ate. After a few minutes, Karlos leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms in front of his chest while still keeping his eyes on his grandson.
“Kenny, where were you?” Karlos asked, to which Kenny delivered no reply. He kept chewing on the slice of dark cornbread in his hands, staring at it like there was nothing else in the room. The older man sighed.
“Fine. Let me ask again. Kenny, why didn’t you go to today’s lesson with your sister? I can’t prove that you didn’t go, but I’ll sure get my assumption confirmed next time I meet Thomas. So you don’t need to try and lie.”
Kenny paused his chewing for a moment. “Didn’t want to.”
“Didn’t want to?” Their grandfather asked, his tone sharp to the point Kuchel felt nervous without even being involved. “It’s not the first time we have this talk. How many times do I have to tell you that you need it? I’m doing this for you and your sister, not to torture you. I’m lucky enough that Thomas is my friend, so why throw that chance away?”
“Don’t need it.” Kenny replied shortly again.
“Kenny, knowledge is never not useful in any way. Maybe down here, you can survive without it. Everyone here is stupid. But having knowledge gives you a chance for a better future. Don’t you want to get out of this place?” Karlos exclaimed in frustration. He realized his loud voice and dropped his head in his hands.
“I feel guilty enough that both of you have to grow up here. If I could, I would’ve provided a safe living on the surface. But I can’t. That’s why I’m helping you to be prepared, to be able to leave this shithole when you grow up.”
“I don’t care about having a comfortable life, the surface doesn’t interest me.” Kenny scoffed under his breath. But before Karlos could reply, the boy stood up, leaving the table and heading to the tiny room he shared with his sister.
Kuchel gulped as she watched the scene, but the lump in her throat remained. She understood her grandfather’s frustration far too well. They were his responsibility, and only because he was their only living relative is why the two siblings lived in this underground town. She was grateful for him, but she also understood Kenny. Kuchel cared for both, as they were her only family, and it pained her to see them argue about the same topic again and again. They were both just too stubborn, and the arguments never led to any sort of understanding or compromise.
___________________________
”Hey, Kuchel. Wake up, it’s morning already.” Kuchel hummed at the low whisper, her brows furrowing as she squeezed her eyes. As the voice stopped, she thought to be able to return to her peaceful slumber, but then strong hands shook her shoulder. With a displeased groan, she opened one eye, finding a figure standing next to the nightstand, working on getting the oil lamp to shine.
When her brother noticed that she was looking at him, he returned his attention back to her again. “C’mon, get up. Mül— Mr. Müller’s class will start soon.” It was obvious how he forced himself to remain polite when talking about people around her. She smiled.
Stretching her body that definitely didn’t get too much rest in the hard bed with the thin mattress, she sat up, her eyes adjusting to the light of the oil lamp Kenny had finally succeeded to light on. She bent over the edge of the bed, opening the wooden crate positioned on the floor at the edge of the bed, where her clothes were stored.
Meanwhile, Kenny had left the room to her, and she heard him doing something in the living room—well, it wasn’t hard to guess where he was, there were only two rooms in this hut, no hallway, and one bathroom—as she changed, still half asleep.
It wasn’t something new for Kenny to wake up first and wake his sister up after, even if he quite frequently skipped the lessons she woke up early for. Kuchel didn’t see any sense in why he would wake up if he had nowhere to go, but she never got to ask. Still, she appreciated his action.
Kenny seemed to be waiting for Kuchel, leaning his back against the wall next to the door. Once she left the room, he looked up, pushed his weight off the wall and nodded towards the door. “Let’s go. I already got your bag.” He swung the said bag by its strap, opening the door with the other hand.
Kuchel hopped the few meters distance between them to catch him up just as he left the door. They walked down the always dark street, watching the tiny stores start to open up.
“How did you know what time to wake me up?” The girl asked surprised, turning to her brother who had her messenger bag already draped over his shoulder. He looked at her with a cocky smirk, bringing his arm in front of her to look at. Kuchel was confused for a second before she noticed the expensive looking watch wrapped around his wrist.
“Kenny!” She gasped, bringing her face closer to it. It wasn’t luxurious, but its quality was decent, made from long-lasting materials. Something normal, but still a thing they wouldn’t be able to afford. “Where did you get this from??”
“Stole it.” Kenny shrugged his shoulders, bringing his wrist back to his face to admire its look on his wrist. Something in his sister’s brain clicked.
“Ohh, is that why I heard some noises from the kitchen?” She asked as she stared at the side of the armwatch, the only damaged part. The metal was scratched there. “Did you do this? I’m assuming you were removing the original owner’s carved in initials?”
Kenny nodded, bringing his hand down to his side again as they kept walking. “Duh, I’m not leaving any evidence to trace back to. The kitchen knife didn’t disappoint. Well, sucks for that arrogant man, shouldn’t have swayed his arms in my face, once I caught glimpse of that beauty, I couldn’t help but give it a new owner.”
The boy looked rather proud with himself again. “Besides, it’s very useful.” And Kuchel couldn’t help but agree. In the city underground, with no sun and no moving shadows, there was nothing to orient on. If you didn’t own a watch, your sense of time will get messed up pretty quickly.
“Here you go, whole 5 minutes early to class.” Kenny snickered as they arrived in front of the school. Well, school was wasn’t the best word for it. It was a store turned into a classroom for a docent kids and a singular teacher, the famous Mr. Müller, their grandfather’s friend. The connection was the only reason Kuchel—and actually Kenny—were allowed to be part of that class.
“Are you going? Kenny, you already came all the way here, why would you leave?” Kuchel asked as he handed her the bag. Kenny stuffed his hands in his pockets, shaking his head. “Nah, it’s fine. I just had nothing to do and wanted to walk you here.”
“But why are you always skipping? It’s not like it’s, I don’t know, harming you..” The girl gave it another attempt. It was actually very kind of Mr. Müller to even offer lessons. In this poor place, education was a huge privilege. There was nothing systemic in the underground cities, so obviously there wouldn’t be any schools. But the man had volunteered to teach a few kids every day, his reason being the hope to help them leave the underground. He did it for the children he reached. Because he couldn’t watch none of them grow up with knowledge.
“Knowledge is the only weapon you can sharpen wherever and whenever. Nothing should be in the way of knowledge.” He would always say. And Kuchel was endlesssly grateful, for she only knew how to decently read and somehow write because of him.
It was sad, really, watching Kenny fight so hard against it. But she also knew why he did it, she knew when something in Kenny had shifted…
Her brother’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “Well, I got to go now. I have things to do too, so. I’m learning too, just learning.. different stuff.” He kicked a rock, shrugging his shoulders. “More useful stuff.”
Kuchel nodded in acceptance, having nothing to say against his statement. However, it was weird to see Kenny “hate” education and avoid it, yet always make sure his sister never missed it.
“Alright, see you later, Kenny.” She waved her hand, to which he reacted with an acknowledging nod before turning and walking away.
___________________________
Kuchel wasn’t able to focus that day. Staring at her tiny board, her hand was just holding the chalk in her hand without writing anything most of the lesson. Her thoughts kept going back to her conversation with Kenny. To his complicated relationship with learning and where it started. She still remembers that day, and her heart breaks a little for her brother for being affected by something so small.
Truth is, Kenny didn’t always skip these lessons from the beginning. He actually went there with Kuchel, always sitting in the last row without ever speaking up, but still there. She remembers how he was one of the fastest to grasp the idea of calculus and geometry. He liked math, that was a fact, even if he always called it bothersome.
However, reading wasn’t as easy for him. He mixed letters up, needed a while to decode words and was just a slow reader. Which wasn’t bad, Kuchel believed. It was okay to lack in an area. But then Mr.Müller often sharp comments got to Kenny, even if he didn’t show it. It wasn’t like the man had any bad intentions, he was just stricter with Kenny. But there was nothing Kenny hated more than feeling stupid. It was a big insecurity of his, and his sister saw it even when he hid it. And so, Kenny stopped engaging as much, stopped showing interest as much—even calculus— stopped coming to lessons as much, until he eventually stopped coming at all.
From the outside, it seemed like Kenny was just careless. But the sheer humiliation had scarred something in him and made him refuse to put himself into that position again.
Kuchel knew a second secret, though. No matter how often Kenny pretended it to be that way, Kuchel knew he was still curious, still liked learning, in some way. Her brother always thought he was secretive when he went through her notebook at night, in belief she was deep asleep, to see what she wrote down that day in class. The girl never pointed it out though, knowing better than to ruin it once again for her brother.
Sometimes, she would even write the explanation, adding little remarks with arrows to her notes. She pretended it was for her to understand it better, but it was for Kenny. To make things easier for him. He didn’t know about what she did, and he believed she didn’t know about what he did. Kuchel knew both, yet she never mentioned it. And never will, probably. Her brother’s comfort mattered more than confrontation that could lead to insecurity once again. She was aware he hated feeling stupid, so she let him do his thing in secret.
Kuchel’s thoughts kept circling back to her brother as she half-listened to the lesson. Was she reacting to his attitude the right way? Should she have been honest with their grandfather? But that would make Kenny vulnerable in front of him, and she knew better than attempt such betrayal. Kenny was a scaredy cat you didn’t want to scare off in any way, in his case him shutting down.
___________________________
The girl stayed in her mind till the end of the day. Even when she packed her things and left the place, it was all on autopilot. She wondered if Kenny will make an excuse this day as well, or if he and their grandpa stopped the game and just admitted to themselves that Kenny doesn’t go to Mr.Müller. For a long time already. She thought and thought and thought, and when she realized that her path was blocked by a group of guys, it was already too late.
Around four of them were standing, two in front of her, one a few meters away at her side, and she sensed the last one approaching from behind. Kuchel tried to remain calm, hoping it will be easy to just walk past them. But that was hopeless, they were purposely surrounding her, leaving her no free way to leave.
Kuchel found herself walking a few steps to the side, pressing her back against the wall of one of the huts. She gulped, her heart fluttering at the smug smiles flashing across the guys’ faces. They looked a year or two older than her, but their looks made it clear they lost any innocence long ago.
”Kenny’s sister, huh?” The closest boy spoke, seemingly the leader of the squad, his hands in his pockets. So they knew Kenny? And most probably interacted with him in a negative way, or else their approach would be much different.
“I expected a younger girl, not gonna lie. We wanted to scare you a bit, showing that annoying prick who he is dealing with..” He rambled one, raising her head a little as he blinked at Kuchel, his gaze flicking up and down. “But I didn’t expect you to be so pretty. Didn’t imagine you can make his ugly features look so nice, but oh well.. What are you, 14? 15?”
Kuchel had remained silent the entire time, her gaze wandering from every guy to the next. Appearance wise, they didn’t seem that strong. At least not in an intimidating way. But that glint in their eyes they all shared… this wasn’t going to end well.
“14…” she pressed out, feeling more and more uncomfortable by the second. Especially because they kept moving closer, trapping her against the wall.
“Not bad.” The leader turned to his friends. “Now that I think about it, claiming his sister will be a better revenge on Kenny.” The group burst out in laughter while Kuchel tensed up. “Thank you, but.. I have no interest.”
The boy’s head snapped back to her again, the laughter dying in his throat. “I don’t remember I asked, bitch.”
Kuchel’s breath hitched, she was fucked. They weren’t going to stop, boundaries were nothing to them. Not that this was a new experience, nobody underground had well manners. Only poor people and criminals were here, and most gave in to the necessity of being selfish, it was a way to survive. Everyone wanted to survive. Such situations however… they weren’t surprising, this place was never safe to begin with, but still, Kuchel seemed to never get used to them.
The girl shut her eyes tightly as the loudest guy entered her personal space, his hand raised. It was humiliating to just accept what was coming, but Kuchel was the type freeze. Fight or flight wasn’t an option for her.
The slap echoed in the small street, but the girl didn’t feel her face stinging. The slap wasn’t done to her. She looked carefully up, her eyes widening as she realized no one else than her brother had joined the scene.
She was facing his back as he stood between her and the other guy, his rosy cheek indicating that he was the one who received Kenny’s slap.
“What a lame move.” She heard her brother speak, restraint clear in his voice. His arm moved quickly, a punch landing right where the guy’s face was marked by the slap. “So scared of me that you would target my family.” Another punch, this time on the other side of the face. ”Fucking coward.”
The rest of the squad processed the situation quickly and headed to defend their leader, but Kenny was enraged. He tossed the guy on the floor, attention turning back to the rest of the guys. “All of you. Can’t win against me so you go after my sister and harass her?” He grabbed a taller guy by the collar, lifting his knee, letting it meet the other’s stomach.
Kuchel just watched in fear, her mouth dry. She knew Kenny got involved pretty often in fights, and she witnessed them a few times. He didn’t exactly have the best reputation, especially because this place was so small, everything spread like fire. She was aware he must’ve made rivals from people their age.
But this was completely different. The girl wasn’t experienced, but this didn’t look like the usual Kenny. He wasn’t just fighting, he was driven by something. Something that gave him an excessive amount of energy and power.
It didn’t take Kenny more than a few minutes to finish this fight. They had dropped to the ground one after one, bruised and unconscious before they could even process Kenny’s attacks. Even when one of them tried to flee, he didn’t reach far, not even two meters, before Kenny had dragged him back, putting his hands on him again and beating him up.
Once none of them could even barely lift their head, Kenny snapped from his trance, looking around the street. A street fight wasn’t something new here, it was a daily thing, but witnesses were still not preferred. He turned to his sister, a hint of a mysterious emotion flickering across his face before he grabbed her by her wrist. “Let’s go.” He breathed out.
Kenny looked spent, like something had possessed him during that fight, then vanished again once it ended, draining all of his energy with it. Yet, he still hurried with her away from the scene, dragging her with him to their home.
In the safety of their four walls, Kenny finally let go of Kuchel’s wrist. Their grandfather wasn’t home yet. Better that way, they didn’t need any questions. “Are you okay?” Her brother finally asked.
“Are you, Kenny? You were the one fighting them, not me.” Kuchel whispered, her heart still thumping loudly and her hands shaking. “If you hadn’t intervened.. I don’t know what would’ve happened. They looked really scary.”
Kenny’s jaw clenched. “Stupid bastards. They can’t live with the fact that they lost against me, and now they’re using such cheap tricks.”
He took a seat on the worn couch, relaxing for the first time that day. After a few moments, he spoke up again. “From today on, I’ll walk you home after class every day. I won’t give them another chance to try and get me.”
Kuchel took seat next to him, draping the bag off her shoulders and setting it down on the floor. “What? But—“
“Kuchel, I know you can defend yourself. It’s not like I believe you need protection all the time.” Her brother interrupted her, wiping remaining sweat off his forehead. Was it exhaustion or nervousness? It wasn’t clear. Obviously the first one made more sense when talking about Kenny, he was never nervous, but at that moment, even the second one was a possibility.
“But I don’t want you to ever need to defend yourself.” Her brother finished, his body tense. It seemed like the previous fight had unusually got under his skin. Was it because she had been somehow involved?
The girl couldn’t finish her thoughts before her brother got up again. “Anyway, grandfather will return home in a bit.” And like that, their conversation ended.
___________________________
The night air was cool and crisp, a touch of wind tickling their skin every few minutes. Kenny and Kuchel sat under the big gaping hole in the ground above them that connected the world on the surface to them. There were multiple of this kind of holes surrounding the underground town, responsible for constant air, or else they would all suffocate to death without oxygen.
The holes were large, but also far away and unreachable so nobody could climb and escape to the surface. The only way to go up to the surface was through the stairs, but you had to pay an unfathomable amount of money as fee to pass through the gate. Paying for freedom, basically.
If Kenny had gotten his hands on the ODM gear he always saw in the black market, he would’ve instantly escaped this hell. But even then, military police could catch him and drag him down back here. It was unrealistic to ever escape this place if you grew up in it, but their grandfather believed in them, and Kenny secretly did, too.
At least, he wanted his sister to have a nice future. She deserved it, unlike him. He stole, he fought, and he knew he would kill, some day, if needed. He was a criminal, he belonged here. But Kuchel didn’t. The unfairness of life filled with him with rage, constant rage that drove every action he did. Rage that never let him rest. Rage that stripped any morals and values he was supposed to own.
He was determined to change something, anything about this miserable life. He wanted power, and he was going to get it. But until then, he would sit under the gaping cleft with his sister, and admire the stars far far away. And imagine freedom. Freedom that was visible to them, finally owning it. Freedom that wouldn’t be so close yet so far. Freedom that would finally be in his grasp.
Kuchel loved such nights with her brother. They would walk to the hole biggest and furthest away from where they lived, and sit under it, watching the dark night and the tiny sparkling dots. She loved the view, but she mainly loved just being in the presence of her brother. Basking in comfortable silence, seeing Kenny’s constant frown finally soften, his sharp edges smoothed into something else. Something that showed that violence was for once, off his mind.
She pressed her knees to her chest, resting her chin on them as she wrapped her arms around her legs. Next to her, she saw from the corner of her eye Kenny taking out a cigarette and matches. Both the matches and the pack of cigarettes were definitely stolen too, something he did frequently before he later on upgraded to owning his own pipe.
After he smoked for a few minutes, she turned her head towards him, and saw his eyes flicking from the sky back to her, and as if sensing what she was going to say, he shook his head.
“But why?” She sulked, hands dropping in disappointment. Kenny shrugged his shoulders in return, keeping the cigarette in the corner of his mouth as he spoke. “It’s unhealthy. You’re still so young.”
“But you’re smoking too?! And you’re also young, Kenny you’re two years older than me.” She returned. Kuchel wasn’t really eager to become a smoker, she was just curious. And it always seemed to calm Kenny, so she wanted to try it too.
”Two years is a lot.” Kenny half-heartedly argued, pausing to blow out smoke. “It doesn’t even taste good.” He reached for something next to his left, and tossed it to her. When she opened the small paper bag, she found pastry from the bakery. “This tastes better.”
The girl looked up at him. It was ridiculous how he thought he could distract her with pastries, but it also worked somehow, so she dropped the topic. “Oh, thank you Kenny.”
“Don’t mention it.” He glanced at her with a smile, watching her bite into the sweet pastry, before looking away again. They sat in silence for a few minutes before Kuchel broke the silence once again.
“Remember the.. fight last week? I didn’t get the chance to ask you, but your energy was different in a way.” She carefully spoke, looking with curious eyes at the older boy.
Kenny pressed the finished the cigarette into the coarse ground under his hands, watching the tiny light dim out. His thoughts wandered back to that day too. Truth is, he didn’t know much more than her. He had felt it too, something different than usual.
“I honestly have no idea. I was wandering nearby, and recognized their annoying voices. But then when I arrived and saw that they were talking to you, it was like.. I don’t know, a switch turned on in me that moment. It was like an instinct, and sudden energy spread through my whole body. It was like a voice in my head telling me to fight..” He laughed at his own words. “Saying it out loud makes it sound so stupid, but yeah.”
His sister still had that curious look on her face, and it was clear she believed every word he said. It filled her with worry, but also warmth. No matter what people said about Kenny, it was far from the truth. He was caring, he cared about her, and about their grandfather. Just nobody saw it, nobody but her. But it didn’t matter, because she was always going to believe in him.
The girl scooted closer until she was right next to him, and rested her head on his shoulder before shutting her eyes. He scoffed, but didn’t move or call her off. Instead, he turned his arm a little, glancing at his watch. It was past midnight, and they were supposed to return home, but he let her rest against him.
Kuchel only realized she had fallen asleep when later, she felt Kenny’s body pressed to her front. He had carried her on his back, walking back home with her without waking her up. The rhythmic swaying let Kuchel drift back into sleep, knowing she was always surrounded in safety with Kenny around.