They grow up.
It's a natural process.
.
"Gopal?"
"Yeah?"
There's a pause, and Gopal turns to stare at his best friend. Boboiboy is frowning at him from the counter, chin tucked into his arms as he says, "You haven't finished your cocoa." Gopal blinks, looking down at his cup, and sure enough, it's still filled halfway.
Huh.
"You okay?" Boboiboy asks. Gopal waves him off.
" 'course I am, why wouldn't I be?"
.
Gopal stops starting the day with cocoa. He'll only drink it after school.
.
Gopal pales at the sight in Yaya's arms.
"Why do you have so many biscuits?!" he yelps, scrambling to put the counter between them. Yaya cracks a sheepish smile, saying, "I might have... forgotten the time?" Boboiboy and Ying stare in fascinated horror at the twenty-or-something packs of biscuits. They slowly try to inch away.
Understatement of the year, both of them think.
.
The birds surprisingly like her biscuits.
Consequentially, Yaya ends up baking twice as much.
.
The third time Fang doesn't respond to his name, Yaya gets worried.
She shares a glance with Gopal, before stepping closer to peer at him. His breathing is fine, but his eyes are glassy, and Yaya wonders if something is wrong. Gopal had tried waving a hand in front of him, but she'd stopped the other before he outright went to shake their friend.
Yaya tries calling his name again.
.
He spaces out often.
And every time, Fang finds it harder to make his way back.
.
Boboiboy wakes up to incessant shaking.
"Hng - wha..?" he mumbles, trying to rub at his eyes as someone keeps nudging his shoulder. He feels heavy, for some reason. Kind of like the aftermath of using his powers too much, but Boboiboy can't remember fighting anyone today. He finally manages to blink himself awake after someone calls his name.
He peers up at a worried Fang and frowns.
"What happened?"
The other visibly relaxes at that. Obviously, asking questions meant he was okay. Now, if Fang would only tell Boboiboy what happened...
"You fell asleep," Fang explains. "While we were walking."
.
It happens a lot after that.
He starts sleeping everywhere. Aside from some minor bruises, Boboiboy thought it was funny. At least, until he'd almost gone missing.
.
Her pens are empty again.
Ying purses her lips as she rifles through her pencil case, trying to find something she can write with. She opens a notebook and starts scribbling, but after a few moments, comes to a conclusion. All her pens are dead, and even the pencils need sharpening.
She'd left her sharpener at home.
Well, she sighs, No harm in borrowing from a friend, right?
.
They all start keeping pens for Ying.
.
"They're kids," Tok Aba frowns - no, glares, at the politician offering him the briefcase. Behind him, the gang exchanges glances.
"Ah, but sir, their help would be invaluable - "
"As is their life," he cuts them off, the fire in his eyes making the loitering journalists flinch. Good. Tok Aba levels them with a look of a protective parent, voice firm like tempered steel as he tells them, "They're kids, and they deserve a proper childhood. No amount of money is going to change that."
Even if it's Gopal who has to whine about it, he thinks.
Eventually, the men leave them alone.
.
The kids insist they run the shop that weekend. He looks at them fondly and says okay.
Tok Aba watches them as he takes the day off.
