* 15 hours before... *

"Revenge!" screamed a girl across the schoolyard who had been pushed into a mud puddle by a boy from her class. "I swear, you'll get it back!"
How much had Kyu missed listening to the children arguing? Six whole weeks in which he had nothing to do with anyone except his siblings Steven and Jessy and his two best friends Amika and Mack.
Six boring weeks in which he did nothing special except help his mother in the restaurant.
The most exciting thing he had experienced was the theme park he visited with Amika's family.

Now it was that time again: school had started and the stress reached the next level.
He and his twin sister had finally reached the tenth grade. They had finally made it. The last year of school, the end of this phase of his life.
It was hard to believe how quickly the ten years had passed. Ten years that he had spent with his friends.
For him, every school year was a new chapter in his life. There was a beginning and an end, and something different happened each time, which was always a nice memory for him to think back on. When he made new friends, or lost some. It was the same with the teachers. Old teachers left, new teachers came, just like this school year.

Completely absorbed, Kyu sat cross-legged on a stone bench, a leather-bound book on his lap and a pen in his hand.
By now he was adept at ignoring his surroundings. And when that didn't work, he simply used them to inspire himself. The children's screaming was annoying, and the sun shining down on the earth in late summer wasn't exactly pleasant on the skin. But the noise was just a sign to him that there was life around him, and the warm sun was a sign that the clock was moving. Just like the earth. Just like him.
So far he was pretty happy with his new picture, which depicted a young girl his age, a fifteen year old teenager. He had been working on it for a week, and only the smaller details were missing. Everything else, every single line, was pure perfection in his eyes!
He tentatively put the pen to the girl's shoulder and started to draw a few details on her top.
No wrong moves now-

"Hey Kyu!", a girl his age punched him in the shoulder, completely breaking him from his concentration. That wasn't the worst thing. Of course, the pen slipped and drew a thick line across the page. Right through the face of the drawn girl. "Oh, um..."
"Amika!", he angrily rubbed the spot she had punched and gave her a reproachful look, right into her sky-blue eyes. That was all he needed. Unfortunately, the line went too deep into the picture to remove. A week of time completely wasted!
Angrily, he ripped the page out of his book, which was already overflowing with drawings and self-written texts, and tore it up. He stuffed the drawing materials into his backpack filled with school supplies, while Amika guiltily sat down on the bench next to him.
"Did you have to punch me in the shoulder?!" he snapped at her like never before. "A simple 'Hey, Kyu' would have been enough...!"
"Sorry, bro," she answered briefly. Then she suddenly had to giggle and pointed her finger at a boy who seemed to be arguing with a girl his age. "I just saw Steven picking a fight with a girl."
"What?!", he looked alarmed in the direction she was pointing. That little...

His brother Steven was at this school for the first week, having started in the eighth grade. The 14-year-old boy with brown hair, the one he had to share a household with, had to be the black sheep in the family...
It was Steven's third day at Owlwood High. Before that, he had been at another school because their parents regretted the decision to enroll the twins in this school. The other one was nearby, but Steven was expelled because he liked to cause trouble.
"I could cut off his head!" Kyu muttered to himself, laid the book down next to Amika and swung himself off the bench. "Please keep an eye on it, I'll be right back..."

Steven was standing in the middle of the schoolyard, surrounded by four girls in a semicircle. With a malicious grin, she stopped just a few centimeters in front of him, while the others stayed in the background.
"Hey, aren't you Kyu's brother?", laughing, she put a hand on his shoulder. That sly look of a fake snake, how Steven hated it. "I'm sorry, honestly!"
Already angry, Steven slapped her hand off his shoulder and crossed his arms in annoyance in front of his chest.
"Did I give you permission to grab me?" Steven asked her and pushed her aside to walk past her. Her friends immediately positioned themselves so that he couldn't get past. A bullying circle? How pathetic...
He rolled his eyes in frustration. Well, it was far from over... What was her problem with Kyu anyway?
"Don't feel cool!" she provoked him as she stood in front of him again and pushed him two steps backwards. Steven almost lost his balance, but managed to catch himself before he fell to the floor. Her friends suddenly started giggling. Anger was building up inside him and he wanted to let it run free. Stay calm...
He couldn't afford to get into trouble now. Not on the third day at the new school.

"Listen, Janine..." Steven took a deep breath, even though it didn't do him any good. Inside, he was still beside himself. "I don't want any stress. How about we just leave each other alone, then for once nobody will die today..."
"Over my dead body, Stevchen!" Janine continued. Steven's veins were bulging with anger. Stevchen? Okay, whatever you want...
Janine continued to amuse herself, but Steven was already clenching his hands into fists. What would be so bad about a little punch? The supervisor didn't seem to care anyway... Driven by his hatred, he took a step forward and swung his fist at the girl.
Suddenly someone behind him grabbed his arm, preventing the anger he would have incurred. He tried to resist, but the punch was ruined without the momentum anyway.
"Steven!" Kyu shouted directly into his ear, angrier than ever before. "Do you want to get kicked out of the next school?!"

Kyu... Of course.
Annoyed, Steven pulled his arm free and walked away. Without a word. He didn't even look at his brother!
Janine's gang had to laugh again. Kyu glanced briefly at the supervisor. There were at least two supervisors nearby. Did they just not notice or were they just pretending?!
Maybe it was better this time. Phew...
This school year brought a new teacher: Benjamin Collister.
And even though it was his third day at school, word had already got around that he was stricter than everyone else. The guy seemed to get his way with a ruthless effort. Anyone who tried to argue with him was immediately punished. And he of all people had to supervise recess this week...

Before Kyu followed his brother, he glanced at Collister again. Luckily, he was busy with something else. And Amika didn't seem to be following him at all. She was still sitting on the bench, leafing through Kyu's book. Their mutual friend Mack had come over and seemed to be seeking her company again.
Kyu liked Mack a lot, ever since they met. However, he couldn't bear to see how hopelessly in love he was with Amika. Steven and Jessy had been teasing him for years, because they thought he had a crush himself. But of course that wasn't true. Amika was nothing more than a good friend. That would never change!
Relieved, he ran after Steven, who was going to a drinks machine.

"What was that about, Steven?!" He leaned against the wall with a sigh and watched as he put the coins into the machine, which disappeared with a click.
"You saw it yourself," he replied, running his finger over the drinks selection. He settled on an energy drink, his favorite drink. "That stupid Janine wanted to provoke me! Do you think I won't defend myself?! You know me well enough by now, I won't let that happen to me!"
Yes, that's how his brother was. Unfortunately, their parents had to go to the school principal often enough just because he couldn't control his anger.

Steven typed in the number for his drink, waited a moment and then took it out of the machine.
"Have you already understood the seriousness of the situation?" Kyu asked him. By now it was no longer funny... "You really have to be careful, Steven. That Collister is said to be a miserable bum. If he catches you, you might be able to find another school right away! And in Metraville, things are getting tight..."
"What do I care about school?" Steven asked him and immediately noticed the desperation on Kyu's face. He angrily walked away with his drink, this time without Kyu.
Now he couldn't help Steven, as much as he wanted to. He had probably messed it up himself...
That kind of attitude is never healthy for a fourteen-year-old...

Depressed, he dragged himself back to Amika and Mack, who were still at the bank. From a distance he noticed that Amika was apparently talking to Collister. What does he want?
"We didn't do anything wrong!" she replied to Collister, whose expression only hardened. She clutched the drawing book tightly against her chest, almost as if she was protecting it from him.
"What's going on here?" asked Kyu when he joined them. The teacher immediately pointed to the book.
"Is the book yours?" he asked him. Suddenly a shiver ran through him. Whatever Collister's problem was, he already knew inside: This conversation couldn't end well...
"Yes, it is," Kyu swallowed and looked him in the eyes. It was as if he was looking into the eyes of a rabid animal that wanted to tear him to pieces at any moment. Collister's gaze was ice cold. "Why?"
"Drawing and writing are activities that you can do in art class!" he scolded and grabbed the book in Amika's hands. She tried with all her might to defend herself, but it wasn't enough. He already had the book in his hands...
What kind of statement was that? After all, it was recess. A time when they could recover from class.
Seized by curiosity, the teacher opened the book and leafed through the numerous pages. The corners of his mouth lifted in a creepy way...

"Since when is drawing forbidden?!" Amika crossed her arms, furious. "This is our break! We can do our free time here!"
Collister shook his head.
"Break is there so that you can recover from class! Not for leisure activities!" Amika wanted to say something else, but Kyu put a hand on her shoulder and signaled with a shake of the head that she should stop. Even the most quick-witted arguments didn't help...
She waited a little for Mack to say something too. But he stayed in the background. Silent. Like he always did with strangers...
"Saturday, detention at 8 o'clock. Be on time..." the teacher snorted and then looked at Mack, who hadn't managed to say anything yet. "Do you want to say something too, young man?"
"N-no, sir. I'm quiet..." he mumbled intimidatedly, looking up from the bench and raising his hands as if to show that he was unarmed.
"That's better," said the teacher and then ran towards the building. "And as for the book... It's confiscated for now!"

"What was that guy smoking?!" Mack complained when he was out of reach. And how unfair was it that the teacher confiscated the book?! It was Kyu's property, not the teacher's!
"I- I... I'm sorry. I should have taken better care of it... I'll replace it for you, okay?" Amika tried to cheer him up, even though she knew it wasn't her fault. But Kyu refused with a quick hand gesture.
"Screw it, you can't replace it. Not your fault," he replied curtly, swung his backpack onto his shoulder and walked into the building in a huff, even though they still had more than enough break time. Pretty much everything went wrong today... If this school year continued like this, he could really brace himself. It felt like he had found his own enemy in Collister.
The book had been irreplaceable for him. And of course Amika hadn't been able to hold onto it... She didn't even understand the problem! Friday couldn't have been worse...
An awkward silence developed between the friends for a few minutes...
"Sooooo...", Mack tried to lighten the mood and forced a smile on his face. "Want to go to the cinema on Sunday...?"

* 12 hours before the explosion... *

"Amika got into a fight with the new strict teacher?" Steven asked his brother on the way home and had to smile. "I knew from the start that the girl was crazy..."
Kyu usually always went home with his sister, but for the last two days there had been three of them. Today, however, the two had decided to stop at the kiosk. Jessy had another date with her boyfriend, so she was already going home alone.
"She is definitely special, yes," Kyu admitted and sighed quietly. She is a girl in her own right. "But I don't understand the problem if we want to draw during recess! I mean... What's wrong with that?"
"Maybe he can't draw and is just jealous?" Steven suggested and shrugged his shoulders. He knew he was talking nonsense, but he wasn't really interested. In general, he rarely cared about other people's thoughts. As long as he could just enjoy his life and have peace and quiet, everything was fine.
"Nonsense!" Kyu contradicted, tilting his head back. At this time of day, the sun was completely different. The warm rays on his skin somehow felt good. "The guy is just weird... Maybe he'll loosen up once he gets used to school..."
"Stay in your world..." Steven sighed. Why did Kyu still see so much hope in some people who it was obvious would never improve? He urgently needed to stop! "Just stay in your world..."

A few minutes later, the two reached their home: a simple, small and boring house with white walls, black roof tiles and a front garden. An identical copy of the other houses in the residential area.
Her father had built a small pavilion at the edge of the front garden a few years ago. There was also a bed filled with plants and flowers that had their roots in the earth.
Flowers like tulips, chrysanthemums or plants like tomatoes, mint and much more.
Kyu dug the front door key out of his pocket and opened the front door. The two entered the house, with Kyu almost running into his sister. It looked like she was about to go out at the same moment.
She was wearing a brown crop top, blue jeans that went down to her knees and brown sneakers. Her pink-dyed hair was freshly washed and still damp.
"What's that thing doing in our house?" Steven asked his brother in a whisper over his shoulder and looked at her somewhat confused. Annoyed looks fell on him, from both Kyu and Jessy.

"Our sister, Steven...", Kyu shook his head in annoyance. He kept doing it. "Stupid or something?"
"Wait," Steven abruptly looked at his sister, but couldn't hold back his laughter. "Oh yeah, Jessica! Man, I almost confused you with a candy floss stand..."
Every time he got the chance, Steven made fun of Jessy's short, pink hair. Most of the time, Kyu had to grin, but every now and then he couldn't hold back his laughter, even when he tried to defend his twin sister. This time he did neither. He was in too bad a mood for that. And besides, the candy floss jokes were already worn out.
"Where are you going?", Kyu asked, looking at Jessy's clothes. Well, the fact that she was wearing a crop top wasn't exactly unusual for her. But she seemed somehow... Well, dressed up was the closest thing to it.

"Mom and Dad aren't coming home until tomorrow evening, so I'm staying at Rodrick's," she explained to her brothers and scratched her head. Rodrick had been a very good friend of her group for three years, and she had been madly in love with him for about two years. And half a year ago they finally got together. "Um... Can you two back me up in an emergency?"
"If someone sprays you with a garden hose, do you dissolve like cotton candy?" Steven asked in return. "Unfortunately you don't... So no!"
"Go away, I'll do it! But don't we become uncles!" Kyu joked and patted her on the shoulder as she entered the house.
"I knew you would do that..." Steven groaned, threw his backpack in the corner and marched into the kitchen to raid the fridge.
"Very funny..." she called after her brother as she went out. "See you later, guys!"

When Jessica had left the house, Kyu closed the door and then leaned his back against it. His eyes slowly closed and he enjoyed the sound of silence for a brief moment - and Steven, who was making himself a sandwich and (once again) spreading the contents of the fridge on the kitchen table.
This day was a total disaster! First the picture, then the argument between Janine and Steven, and then his book was taken away from him - and all of that in ten minutes...
He felt a little guilty that Amika had to stay in detention. She was only supposed to look after his things. Who would have thought that it would get so out of hand?
At least we are not alone in detention...

*In the middle of the night...*

Boom!
A loud rumble suddenly tore Kyu from his sleep. The walls and windows began to shake, so much so that he could even feel the vibration in his bones.
With a powerful, stabbing pain in his head, he jumped up in his bed.
Damn, what is that?!
He had never had such a bad migraine in his life!
He forced his eyes open and tried to look at the window. His surroundings looked like two overlapping images to his eyes. And his ears rang louder than tinnitus.
What's going on here?!

With all his strength, he crawled his limp body out of bed and tried to stand up.
To his surprise, he managed that at least. If only his balance would work...
"Steven..?" he wanted to scream, but it only hurt his own ears, so he let out more screams. When he reached the door handle, he paused briefly. His vision slowly became clearer and the migraine weaker. But it was still unbearable.
What on earth had caused such a bang?! He turned around as slowly as he could, afraid that his head would explode if he did it too quickly.
And when he looked out of the window, he noticed that a yellowish glow was shining through his blinds...
"What...?"