"So, how we gonna pay for this? Are one of you guys gonna pick it up? Cuz' I ain't got any cash!" Isamu's buddy, Leon, said. A few of the guys mummbled about how they were broke too and after a bit they all turned to Isamu. "Come on dude, we know you got some money, your dad is the friggin' Fire Lord." Isamu rolled his eyes.
"I guess I could pick up the tab." He grinned and chuckled. All his friends were pushing him around playfully and one of them gave him a noogie.
"Thank you oh mighty Prince Isamu!" A boy named Pyro said sarcasticly. Everyone laughed and pushed around Isamu some more.
The boys headed down to the burger place and ate. They returned home after a while and tried not to think about school the next day.
The next day at school was pretty normal for the guys: Girls swarming all over Isamu because he was the Fire Lord's son, not looking at any of his friends. None of them studied for any of the tests, but no one was mad at them because they were baisicly sport heros to this school. At least one of them almost got detention. They hated the substitutes. The principal got mad at them. Lunch food sucked. Excetra, Excetra. The best part of school was the part where it ended. (Everyone who's ever gone to school in their life knows that.)
Leon and Isamu walked home together, just like every day. The other kids all took the bus, but Leon and Isamu lived close enough that it would be a waste of money to take the bus. Not to mention, they were best friends and sometimes wanted to talk about some stuff when the other guys weren't there...
You see, Isamu and Leon had known eachother nearly all their lives. Even though Leon was a poor kid and Isamu was the richest kid in the country, they were the best of friends. Leon was abandoned at birth, and sent to an orphanage. The orphanage was built very close to the Fire Lord's home. The Fire Lord had actually funded the orphanage for years. In fact, he was the one who wanted it to be built. So, when Isamu was a child, he went to the park next to the orphanage all the time to play. One day, when he was very young, Isamu saw Leon playing in the sandbox at the park. Isamu had brought along with him, his favorite toy. An action figure of his favorite TV character. When he saw Leon playing by himself, he felt bad and wanted to play with him. He sat next to him and tried to start a conversation.
"Hi." Isamu said. Leon didn't even look up at him. He just ignored him. Isamu wasn't used to being ignored, he was the Fire Lord's son! Everyone payed attention to him, everyone wanted to talk to him, he was the next in line to rule the kingdom! Isamu was very angry about this, but didn't want to show it. He would be nice to Leon. After a long silence, Isamu asked. "Do you wanna play with me?" Leon finally looked up at him. He eyed his clothing and grooming. Isamu was dressed in fairly nice clothes, his hair was cut and brushed in a nice way, and he was cleaner than a fresh peice of paper. Leon, on the other hand, had his face covered with dirt and his hair was shaggy and long, his clothes were less than that which a normal boy would consider "cool", and he had a look on his face that said "back off" written all over it.
"What would a pretty boy like you want to play with a kid like me for?" Leon asked with a glare.
"Because I want to be friends!" Isamu smiled real big and looked at Leon like he was the coolest boy in the world.
"... why the heck are you so happy?" Leon was a little annoyed with Isamu's nearly singsong, happy-go-lucky voice. Isamu looked confused.
"Huh? I'm just happy. Why? Should I not be?"
"I guess a rich kid like you would be. You have a lot to be happy about."
"Why does it matter if I've got a lot of money?"
"Because I don't!" Leon nearly yelled this at Isamu. "Why should I be friends with you? You'll probley just push me around and be rude! You probley think you're better than me too! With your fancy toys and rich kid stuff!"
"Oh! If it's the toy you're jealous of..." Isamu picked up his action figure and handed it to Leon. "Here, have it!" He smiled nicely at Leon.
"... why are you giving this to me?" Leon seemed grateful, but angry and confused at the same time.
"Because I don't want you to feel like I think I'm better than you! I know I'm not." Isamu continued to smile at Leon. "I just want to be friends. I don't want you to be jealous either! I'm the one who's jealous of you!" Isamu said, leaving Leon confused once more.
"Why on earth would you be jealous of me?!"
"Because..." Isamu sat down across from Leon in the sand box. "You know I'm the Fire Lord's son right?"
"Yeah, who doesn't. You and your entire family are like... the most famous people in the nation. Doesn't mean I'm going to treat you differently than anyother rich person though!"
"Well, that's the thing... being the child of the Fire Lord is nice. I do get a lot of nice things, but I'm very resricted from having a normal life. I don't get to climb trees, or do anything that isn't considered model behavior. It would refelct badly on my father." Isamu sighed. "I don't get to do anything fun. You probley do whatever you want huh?"
"Heh, no one cares what I do. I do pretty much do whatever I want, but when I'm doing stuff that would get me in trouble, it's just to make the adults pay attention to me. The can love me, or hate me. I don't care, I just want them to pay attention."
"Well, I wish we could switch lives. You just want people to pay attention to you, and I just want people to leave me alone!" Isamu laughed.
"You know, I'll take you up on that offer to play if you still want!" Leon smiled. Isamu looked surprised, but his surprise quickly pulled back to the biggest smile Leon had ever seen. As they started to walk down the playground, Leon held tight to the action figure that Isamu had given him. Isamu turned to Leon.
"What made you change your mind?" Isamu asked. Leon smiled and replied.
"You don't seem like the other snobby, rich boys. You are nice enough to share your favorite toy with me, you can't be all bad!"
"How'd you know it was my favortie?" Isamu asked as he pulled himself up onto a swing.
"Because you brought it with you to the park. You don't just drag around stuff you don't care about!" Leon laughed as he sat on the slide and put the toy in his lap.
Every day during that week, they met at the park. After a while, Leon and Isamu started going to eachother's houses, and once they were old enough, Isamu convinced his father to pay for Leon to go to the same school as him. They just continued to be friends. And after they started spending more time together, they balanced eachother's personalities out. Leon's rough edges were smoothed out quite a bit, and Isamu became more edgey. (Not like the squishey blob he was before.) Leon became more trusting, and Isamu became more protective. Leon was still more of a trouble maker, and Isamu was a little more of a nice kid, but no longer were they so different.