Love how akutagawa and atsushi were fundamentally the same traumatised kids begging for a chance at life only to be granted hope at the expense of autonomy and safety respectively, only to take drastically different paths as a result of this mentor which, for one of them was everything and for the other a mere cog in the machine, that being the ada. I loveeee how theyre both inherently selfish but one has learned to forgo all of his needs in order to be a soldier and the other uses this drive to save people in need, whilst self indulging in the (deprecating natured) memories of his childhood brings. I loveeee how akutagawa has learned what it meant to be selfish and deemed it too much of a hassle, losing his will to go on in the process, while atsushi doesnt know why he fights, but as long as his heart beats and his breath accelerates in intakes he might as well, right?
Akutagawas arc is about him accepting that he can be selfish and take from others what he needs. Atsushis arc is about not letting his past dictate who he is and what he does, in the process finding a reason to go on just as akutagawa has.