Requested Stories, Book Two [ONLY REQUEST IF WILLING TO WAIT]

Two Sides of the Same Coin, Part One

Boboiboy would never tell any of his friends in Rintis, but he had hated his life in KL. Part of the reason he had jumped at the chance to move in with his Atok as soon as the opportunity presented himself. No parents around after visiting Rintis Island when he was a child, doing everything himself. No birthdays celebrated. Just a normal day.

He never wanted popularity; he never had real friends growing up. All his classmates saw was the son of Amato Ahmad, nothing more, nothing less. Shame on the people who thought teaching kids to care only for power and prestige, Akame thought bitterly. And shame on him for being naïve enough to think it was okay for him to keep paying for his friends' stuff, desperate as he had been to have one friend even if it killed him inside. (A fatal mistake.)

So when he heard Fang for the n-th time mention that he didn't know what it was like to be popular after yet another fight about his red carrot donut, he... He just lost it. He didn't know why he had. Boboiboy Akame Ahmad was usually good at masking the disdain he had on the subject, but this time, something just... Snapped in him.

"I never asked for the popularity," He couldn't help the bitterness that seeped into his tone as his eyes met Fang's amethyst orbs. "Feel free to have it. I don't want it. I never wanted it. I never wanted to lose so much."

"W-What?" Fang seemed surprised at this. "What are you talking about?"

"Stop acting as if you don't know!" He hissed. "It's so painfully obvious!"

"Boboiboy-"

"I lost my innocence ages ago. I just treat people right because I don't want them to end up the way I had!" He coldly said. "I don't need popularity! Can't I go one freaking day without being popular?! All I wanted is a small group of friends I could trust! But Earthlings are cruel, and I... got the short end of the stick."

Years of hiding it behind a smile had killed him. Years of pretending his life before meeting Ochobot was okay was over. Everyone was just staring at him wide-eyed, Fang included as his hand reached out to his shoulder, "i-I...."

He swatted it away, "Save it. In the end, Rintis is just the same isn't it? Everyone wants something from me. I was such a fool to think that anyone would want me without eying the power."

"Boboiboy..." Yaya whispered.

Ying's eyes held sorrow as she said, "We didn't know. If we had-"

"You didn't know cause I never told you," Akame growled. "I preferred to keep it under wraps really, but I don't care anymore. Nothing changed. Things never do."

Ripping off the Power Watch, he threw it to a stunned Gopal while saying, "I'm done. I quit. Why did I even bother for years? I should have realised ages ago that humans never change. That no one ever changes for the better."

As he stormed off, everyone in the Kopitiam was frozen as Tok Aba could only sob, the realisation hitting him fully first. His grandson... He had been hurting  all this time? And he never realised. How could he have not seen the signs?

That day, it turned out that their hero had his own demons to grapple with.

Okay, first part done! Hope you like it. Sorry if I put in too much of my own past experiences, though. Still hope it's to your taste. simplii_official