⌕ 𝟮𝟰. 𝗧𝗢𝗢 𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗘
❝I'll stop time for you
The second you say you'd like me too❞
✧══════•❁❀❁•══════✧
THE AUDIBLE SOUND of the television played, reaching Y/'s ears even with the fact that the young photographer wasn't paying attention nor even listening to it at all. Her (e/c) eyes were hinted with curiosity, staring right at the window of her living room silently. She only watched a few vehicles pass by since the place where they were living was in an area quite distanced from the highway or the main road. It would sometimes get boring around her place.
She was deep in thought, thinking about random things since she got carried away for some reason. "Woah! Y/n, look! Look!" The familiar voice of a young 8-year-old child was heard. The (h/c) haired female snapped from her thoughts, turning her head slowly to the young boy after she had heard him call her. She was asked to babysit Leo, her neighbour's son since his mother was going to attend an important meeting at her work.
It wasn't unusual for Leo to hang around in her house since almost every time he arrives from school he most likely begs his mother to visit their house. Y/n was used to babysitting Leo since she's been doing that for quite a long time now; she enjoys his presence and company so much that she would never decline his mother's request. He was quite a unique and bizarre child after all. He has the most intriguing fantasies although Y/n founds it adorable. One thing that bothered her which was the fact that Leo likes playing around and that she can't argue with him at all.
He was hard-headed but Y/n knew how to handle certain situations because of a fact about Leo that she thought was quite puzzling. "Hey, isn't it supposed to be Kak Y/n to you? Didn't you forget that I'm older?" Y/n narrows her eyes at the younger child who seems to grin cheekily at her comment. She wasn't even surprised that he wouldn't take her seriously at all. "Eh? But didn't I already tell you that I don't want to? I don't want you as my sister at all!" The red-haired child pouted, crossing his arms.
Ah, Y/n almost forgot how he sees her as.
"Didn't you remember that I'm going to marry you when I grow up? A man like me sticks to my own words!" Leo leaned towards the older female as he waved his arms around, fire ignited from his eyes out of determination. The older female sweatdropped as a reaction to this bizarre statement, although this wasn't the first time that he told her that. Y/n didn't even know how he got that idea, he was way too young to be thinking of marriage but his personality was quite interesting and she couldn't disagree with him.
She didn't say anything that would answer his exclamation. She just didn't want to after what had happened previously. She doesn't want to repeat that incident ever again in her life, children can be scary at times. "A man, huh?" Y/n repeated in sarcasm, completely unamused with him. Leo's red hair bobbed while he puffed his chest and a proud smile began forming on his visage. "Yeah, I'm a man! I'll protect you and─ oh! I almost forgot," the young child blocked his eyes repeatedly in realisation.
"Look here, it's Boboiboy on the news! Yay, he saved day again!" The red-haired boy began cheering, raising fists above the air while he suddenly stood up on the couch. With her newfound curiosity getting the best of her, she glanced in the direction of the television that she wasn't paying attention to earlier at all. It seemed like a news flash which was a short interview with the familiar elemental hero.
She managed to process the context of the news, discovering how Boboiboy had caught a few thieves that the police were having trouble catching a few days ago. It was easy for him to get into the television due to his popularity and his known status on Rintis Island as the elemental superhero who would travel the universe to save everyone along with his friends. They were quite the talk of the town and they were highly respected.
Leo was one of the younger kids who idolise Boboiboy so much, at this point, most kids in Rintis Island did. "Well, I guess it's good that he captured those thieves, the bank won't have to worry about more stolen money," Y/n commented, watching the elemental hero smile sheepishly on the camera before getting dragged off by the familiar boy in a red bandana, Gopal. A grin danced on her lips as she watched the two argue before the reporter redirected the attention back to himself.
"Hey, Y/n? When I grow older, I want to be like Boboiboy. I'll protect everyone and protect you!" Leo's brown eyes darted to his babysitter as they sparked in courage. Y/n couldn't help but soften her stare at the young child, he was being adorable again which she couldn't prevent. Her heart warmed at his cute announcement which made her smile genuinely at him. "Aww, that's adorable, Leo. Okay then, I'll let you be my knight in shining armour," She played along with Leo, she couldn't help it.
"Yay! I love you, Y/n!" Leo suddenly lunged towards his babysitter and gave her a warm yet loving hug. "I love you too, Leo," Y/n responded softly to the young boy. The (h/c) haired girl chuckled at this and hugged Leo back, caressing his back in an up and down motion before letting go of him. "Can we get ice cream now?" The 8-year-old cheekily grinned at the aspiring photographer. She squinted her eyes at the smaller figure of the boy.
"Did you say that just so I'll finally agree to get you ice cream?" Y/n leaned down to him in suspicion, the boy was asking her nonstop to get him ice cream all day. Leo let out a dramatic gasp before shaking his head vigorously. "No! I love you Y/n! I will even get you ice cream when I have money, I promise that" he suddenly announced with a huff before pointing a finger at himself. Shaking her head to herself in a playful manner, Leo's silly antics will forever entertain her.
"Alright, we can get ice cream at the nearby ice cream parlour but you need to behave while we go there, okay?" Y/n narrowed down her gaze at the red-haired child, hoping that he'd cooperate with her. "I will forever listen to Y/n! I'm also a big boy now, I'm not a baby anymore!" He declared bluntly with a serious expression adorning his visage. An uncertain sigh left the photographer's lips once she managed to hear his weird announcement, she was serious when she said Leo was an odd kid.
✧══════•❁❀❁•══════✧
"Thank you, Ma'am," the female staff on the counter beamed to the younger one. With a single nod of acknowledgement, Y/n held hands with the young boy beside her while his other hand was gripping the cone of his ice cream tightly. "How is it?" The aspiring photographer glanced down at Leo as the bell of the parlour rang when she pulled the glass door. Leo could only look up to the only female that he loved other than his mother with a bright grin.
"The best as always! Thank you, Y/n," Leo giggled as he tightened his grip on the girl's hand. No matter how odd and stubborn Leo was at times, the aspiring photographer couldn't help but melt at his cuteness. It was the reason she ends up agreeing to whatever he wanted; that included the fact that she ended up going along with his claim to marry her when he grows up. Y/n couldn't just find a reason to refuse, she was under his dangerous spell of what we call 'cuteness.'
As the two journeyed back to their neighbourhood, they shared a nice conversation with mostly Leo providing the topic about his performances in school. The (h/c) haired girl let him talk about his day in school, feeling intrigued at the fact that he was trying his best to impress her which was another fact she found adorable. "And then Ms. Dhia said that I have the potential to be a famous football player! What do you think?" His eyes looked up to the taller female.
With a smile she couldn't seem to stop showing, the said young photographer gently patted the young boy's head affectionately. "I think she's right, you're amazing, Leo. And when you finally reach there, I'm going to watch you win," Y/n added nonchalantly which was the reason for sparkles to appear at the huge doe eyes the boy had on display for her. "Really!? Do you mean that? Then, I'll work hard for you Y/n!" He proudly announced while punching the air in determination with his other hand.
A chuckle escaped the photographer's lips while she watched Leo with his silly antics. Although she couldn't disagree with the fact that this moment warmed her heart; Leo was someone who was there in her daily life to make her feel better. Y/n could just adopt Leo if she can but that's an exaggeration and the child wouldn't want that because of their different views of each other. But then again, that's just puppy love.
"Y/n?" A familiar voice caught her and Leo's attention. This was the reason for them to turn towards the other side of the street that they were walking from. The only time manipulator was there, approaching her classmate with a polite grin on her face. Leo blinked once he realised who it was, it wasn't every day a superhero was walking up to them. "Oh? Ying? What are you doing around here?" The young photographer slowed down her pace to match with the other female.
"I was just searching for Boboiboy and Gopal, a robbery happened in the bank earlier and Tok is needing some assistance in the cocoa shop. I was just running around when I found you," Ying explained to the young woman with (h/c) locks. "Oh, is that so? Both Leo and I just came from the ice cream parlour and we're heading home," Y/n gestured to the young child who was holding her hand. Ying turned to the red-haired boy and smiled at him before giving him a light wave.
A grin made its way on his face as he waved back to the time manipulator. "Hello, Kak Ying!" He cheerfully greeted the other young woman that was with him. "Hello there! Nice to meet you, Leo!" Ying giggled lightly at the cuteness that she observed from the young football player when he greeted her. "Where are you going now?" Y/n wondered after the child and the female superhero interacted with each other in a friendly way. Ying drew back her figure before looking back to where she was going.
"At the end of this street. It's a shortcut back home, hopefully, I'll find them there," Ying answered with an enthusiastic grin sent to her classmate. "Well then we can walk together there, Leo and I are heading the same direction anyway," the photographer offered politely to the Chinese girl. "The more the merrier, I'll accept that!" The dark-haired girl nodded her head vigorously in agreement with the offer. The three began walking together as they conversed animatedly with each other.
It was mostly Y/n and Ying talking since Leo just listened to them with a hint of interest that sparked from within his doe eyes. "I forgot to ask you guys, how did the semifinals go? I didn't ask Amy that much about it, you guys are moving to the finals huh? Congratulations!" The aspiring photographer beamed at her female classmate who seemed to acknowledge her. "Everyone did well, although we got second, it is good enough since we get to be in the finals anyway, thanks," Ying smiled softly.
"Finals? Are you talking about the competition in your school?" Leo blinked his eyes while darting his gaze from Y/n to Ying in curiosity. "Yes, you see Ying is part of the team and she's competing for the finals tomorrow," Y/n answered with a confirming nod which caused sparkles to appear in Leo's eyes out of amazement. "Fuiyoh! Really? I wanna watch, I wanna watch!" The child began bouncing up and down in excitement, a wide grin displayed on his face.
"I would bring you if I could, but Leo you have classes, remember?" Y/n frowned while looking down at the boy, with a hint of guilt present within her (e/c) eyes. Her heart ached just by seeing the look of happiness falter from his visage, she hoped she could do something about it but she didn't want Leo to miss his class just because of her. "Aww... bummer," Leo pouted, looking down at his shoes as his usual happy aura dispersed into nothing but air.
Ying was amused to see the panic evident on her classmate's face during the ordeal that she was experiencing at the moment. "Hey, it's okay! I can take you out after to make up to you, is that fine with you Leo?" Y/n tried to make the red-haired child feel better by an offer that she has decided during the last minute of trying to think of a way out of trouble. The child tightened his grip on her hand and looked up at the female with a hopeful gaze. His other hand found its way to her wrist when he turned to her.
"Okay... if it means that you'll take me to the playground next time, play and eat more ice cream with me?" He started mumbling out although it was enough for them to hear him. Ying blinked at what she had heard, she almost couldn't believe what she was seeing. It's like the child knew what he was doing. "Alright, I will do that this weekend, is that a deal?" She managed to let out a deep sigh once she managed to hear his condition. The gloomy look on his face was quick to fade away, imaginary flowers surrounded him.
"Yay! More time with Y/n!" He gave the two a cheeky grin, almost as if he did that on purpose.
'This kid knows how to gaslight!' Ying stared at the child with a horrified look on her face, unable to believe his abilities. Leo saw the look on the time manipulator's face and gave her a curious gaze. "Are you okay, Kak Ying?" He asked the female with a hint of concern in the tone of his voice. Ying snapped out from her thoughts and gritted her teeth nervously, realizing how she was acting weird to the two.
"Yeah, I'm fine Leo, don't worry," she looked away, a bead of sweat forming from the corner of her forehead. A clueless look was on Y/n's visage as she studied Ying's stiff figure with dotted eyes, unable to notice the proud look Leo had while sparkles surrounded him in victory. "Ying?" She started again but before she could start to question her, someone had interrupted them from the weird atmosphere that was suddenly emitted out of nowhere.
"YING! WAIT UP!"
The three stopped in their tracks and suddenly turned their heads to see who called the time manipulator. Two familiar superheroes were running up to them, arms waving up to them to gesture for them to wait. "Huh? It's Boboiboy and Gopal," Y/n side glanced to Ying since she was searching for the two for quite a while already. The two slowed down their pace when they got closer to where they were standing. "O-oh, Y/n," Boboiboy was surprised to see that Ying was with the photographer herself.
"Haiyah, where were you guys?" Ying placed her hands on her hips while raising an eyebrow. "We ran into some... troubles... but that's not important trust me," Boboiboy waved off, sneaking a glance at his current crush before looking back to Ying; there's no way he's going to tell her what happened in front of Y/n out of all people. "If that's the case, let's get back, Tok Aba is searching for you," Ying waved off a hand before gesturing for the two to follow her home.
"Hey, Y/n!" Gopal popped his head from beside Boboiboy, giving the girl a friendly wave. "Hello Gopal," she acknowledged the molecule manipulator, giving him a small wave with her free hand. "Woah, it's Boboiboy!" Leo gasped while admiring the elemental hero that was walking from the other opposite side. Boboiboy let out a small smile at the sight of the child before acknowledging his presence. "Hello there, who might you be? Y/n's little brother?" The elemental hero wondered, he didn't recall that the female had a sibling.
"Hmph! I can anyone but be her brother, I am Leo Allen and I'm going to marry Y/n!" The young Scottish-Malaysian blurted loudly; he was dead serious about his claim. Ying, Gopal and Boboiboy stared down at the child in disbelief, thoughts filled with uncertainty if they heard his words right. A dark purple aura surrounded them while the kid just closed his eyes and smiled to himself, yellow sparkles appearing once again around him. "Right, Y/n?" Leo began, wanting the girl from beside him to confirm it.
The superhero trio glanced toward the female photographer in unison, curious to know her opinion about this bizarre situation. "Right..." Y/n managed to say while releasing a deep sigh of defeat, she felt tired of his already. She wasn't even surprised that even he told them about this, it was too usual for her now. With this, the adorable child huffed proudly before hugging the stomach of the female photographer as a result.
Boboiboy, Gopal and Ying watched the scene in silence for a while before the oldest of the three couldn't bring himself to keep in his laugh. Ying and Boboiboy turned abruptly to the molecular hero with puzzled expressions; Y/n didn't hear this since she was busy tending to the child beside her who suddenly began showering her with his love. "What's got into you?" Ying raised a brow at the taller young man beside her place. "Yeah, are you going mad or something?" The elemental hero agreed with the time manipulator this time.
"What are you laughing about?" Boboiboy was lost as he began scratching his cheek completely unamused. "Oh... you know, the fact that a child got way ahead of you and you're so far way behind. Too late even," Gopal wiped a tear that came out from his eye while Boboiboy stared at him blankly. Ying shook her head before rolling her eyes as she thought how Gopal was being silly, it's not like it's serious. "And how should I feel about that? It isn't something that should be worried about," Boboiboy narrowed his brown eyes at his best friend, lightly whispering at him.
"And when I marry Y/n, you guys will have to be there!"
Unfortunately, Leo had added salt to the wound. Ying sweatdropped while Boboiboy was left dumbfounded, wondering how could a child like him was able to think like that, Gopal on the other hand felt even more humorous at this additional information. "How is he so knowledgeable about this?" The elemental hero nudged Ying who also couldn't answer that question. Y/n was embarrassed at the nonsense Leo kept sputtering right at that moment.
"Leo, let's keep that to ourselves, shall we?" Y/n tried to cooperate with the young child who just looked at her with so much innocence. "You mean you don't want them to know how expensive the ring I will get you?" Leo repeatedly blinked at the female who seemed to be more embarrassed now. No matter how adorable he was being at the moment, it was getting embarrassing for her. "Yeah, I think it's better if it's a surprise," the young photographer nodded her head in confirmation, hoping that will get the young boy to stop blabbering.
"Okay then! Anything for Y/n!" He grinned widely at the female before skipping happily and childishly with his feet. Gopal couldn't help but comment at this once Leo brought Y/n forward because of his skipping, he was now free to talk to Boboiboy without whispering considering the gap they have now with Y/n and Leo. "Heh, looks like you're not the only simp here," Gopal pointed out with an evil grin on his face. "What?" Boboiboy wasn't listening completely to his best friend at all.
Gopal didn't answer the question that he was given and only hummed before shrugging his shoulders The elemental hero narrowed his eyes at the back of Leo, watching him while he thought to himself. "That child is somehow getting on my nerves," Boboiboy suddenly blurted out shamelessly now that Y/n wasn't anywhere close to them. "Aww come on, he's just a child, he's just being brutally honest," Gopal grinned before placing an arm around Boboiboy's shoulder.
"That's not what I was worried about. It's just that I feel like he's... taunting me," Boboiboy glanced at his best friend with a disturbed look on his visage. Ying soon joined the conversation, walking closer to Gopal with a single nod of her head. "Haiyah, tell me about it," She couldn't agree more with the elemental hero who was walking from the other side of the molecular hero. What she saw earlier was the reason for her to agree immediately.
"You guys are being delusional, there's no way kids can be like that," Gopal dropped his arm from Boboiboy to shrug his shoulders. Ying and Boboiboy shared a blank glance before proceeding to let the older boy think what he thinks. 'Not when it's this kid, he's much more knowledgeable than any other normal kid, Boboiboy probably noticed that something is odd about him,' the time manipulator retorted inside her mind, keeping herself from sighing out loud.
"It seems like we're heading to our separate ways now, see you guys tomorrow," Y/n slightly grinned at the three superheroes before waving a hand to them. They were finally at the end of the street where the directions break into two ways. "Say bye to them, Leo," the young photographer reminded the child beside her who soon beamed in agreement to the harmlesswithequest.
"Bye, Abang Boboiboy! Bye Kak Ying!"
"And goodbye to you too, Abang Hungry Man!"
"Ehhhh!? HOW CAN YOU FORGET MY NAME LIKE THAT WHEN YOU REMEMBERED BOBOIBOY AND YING'S!?" Gopal was enraged and utterly offended at this, do kids have some kind of beef with him or something? "Oh, sorry! I mean, goodbye Abang Angry Man!" He cheekily corrected himself before he got dragged off by a helpless-looking photographer for them to continue walking home. "WHY YOU─" Gopal was cut off from his fuming words when he felt himself getting dragged by his arm for them to start walking again.
"Dey, what's the big deal Boboiboy? That kid needs to know who I am," Gopal frowned at the shorter boy beside him, not looking amused at him whatsoever. "He probably does. Besides, he's just a child, he's just being brutally honest," Boboiboy smirked slyly, using Gopal's words against himself to defeat him which was certainly on point. He earned a scoff from his best friend before huffing and looking away from him, feeling offended once again.
Ying was quiet the whole time, a certain thought was bothering her head; realising a failed possibility during that moment. An unreadable look was plastered upon her face while she thought deeply. Gopal and Boboiboy finally got their bickering to stop once they've noticed the silent treatment the talkative time manipulator gave them. Not without glancing at each other, they turned to Ying in chorus before questioning her.
"Ying are you okay?" Boboiboy asked her female friend in concern which was the reason for her to snap back to reality. "Oh, I'm fine. Just thinking..." Ying had a small smile displayed to them while she avoided eye contact with her superhero friends. Of course, Gopal remained curious and didn't want to end the conversation right then and there. "Hey, tell us what you're thinking about! You can't just keep that to yourself, that sly smile is unnerving," Gopal raised a brow at the youngest superhero that was with them.
"Alright fine, I guess I'll tell you," Ying rolled her eyes due to the molecular hero's pushy attitude to which she wasn't even surprised to. The two young men leaned closer to Ying in curiosity, casually blinking their eyes as they waited for her to spill the beans to them. "I just realised how Boboiboy can be so forgetful to the fact that he forgot the other features his power watch has," Ying smiled cheekily at the two bewildered superheroes who needed more context.
"What? Did I do something wrong?" Boboiboy felt a nervous feeling rush into him without knowing the exact reason why this was happening. "Unintentionally maybe, when you were stuck with Y/n in the storage room you forgot that you could've used your power watch to call us," Ying told him about his mistake, it was quite a Boboiboy thing to do after all. "Hah?" The elemental hero was in disbelief, his mind began malfunctioning.
"Haha! Would you look at that! It's like his mental capabilities are becoming lower when he's around Y/n, that was such a basic thing! How can you forget that?" Gopal couldn't stop himself from keeping in his laugh, clutching his stomach in the process. "Or did you? Don't tell me you did that on purpose so that you'll be stuck with her there!" Gopal continued, wiping another tear that escaped from his eye.
"Don't worry, Boboiboy, we won't tell her," Gopal managed to recover, his face morphing into a sly one. Boboiboy managed to realise the situation and soon his face exploded into embarrassment, cheeks slightly pink while he turned to Ying and Gopal. "No way I'd do that! I'm not that kind of person," Boboiboy frowned but his cheeks were still slightly blooming just by thinking about that mistake.
"Then how did you forget about that? You call us almost every day," Gopal caressed his chin in suspicion while Ying sweatdropped at this accusation. "I─I don't know, I panicked mentally okay! That's why I forgot," Boboiboy tried to defend himself again but he only got gazes of disbelief from both the time manipulator and the molecule manipulator.
"If you're telling the truth, then that means even if you remembered about your power watch then you still wouldn't use it!"
"Where did you even get that idea!?"
And the day ended with Gopal still being sceptical about Boboiboy's 'excuses.'
✧══════•❁❀❁•══════✧
✎ CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: TOO LATE END
A/n: Hello! I've missed writing chapters so much, I'm glad I was able to update at least once after some personal issues and priorities. Hopefully, this will continue.
I tried to draw Leo but it seems like art block got me, so enjoy my speedrun chibi headshot of Leo Allen <3
I got lazy so no need for lineart and proper shading lmao.