(A/N: This is kinda a depressing fic. But I've always had this idea that it would be incredibly damning for the guys to know that the armors have driven their bearers insane ever since their conception. And we know that the reason that these Ronins have been so strong and sane because they have each other and they're the first Ronins to really come together as a team. They depended on each other. But what if they lost someone?)
He had thought that he'd be able to deal with it. At least some what.
He isn't.
Instead he's withdrawing just like everyone, hiding because it was all that he could do, all that he could ever think about and he's just hidden beneath what he wishes were tons and tons of rock because he's never felt quite as safe as when he was nestled in the arms of the mountain.
He's helpless right now and there's something to alien and wrong about that. Hell, he's Hardrock for god's sake. He can't be hurt, can't be defeated. He is the epitome of strength and conviction and…
He's laying in his bed under piles of covers except for when he has to eat and use the bathroom.
He's terrified.
And it all started when Ryo died.
Funny how something as small as a car accident could destroy a group of people who were destined to be strong protectors. But it was more than enough.
Ronins had a longstanding history of going insane, and the only reason they'd kept their sanity for so long was because they had each other. They had balance in their elements. But once one link of the chain was ripped out, they fell to destruction.
Rowan had been the first to leave. He was gone one morning and hadn't come back, most likely following the patterns of the wind in an attempt to find that missing part.
Cye left next in almost the same way, except before he'd left, he'd given Kento one final kiss. He almost definitely had gone to the ocean, the safe place he'd always ran to in times of turmoil. If he wasn't dead by now, Kento knew that he was riding the tide mindlessly.
Sage was the only one left but he had changed. Once stoic and strong to a fault, he now cried at any opportunity. They stayed in bed together, limbs pressed against each other in a frantic attempt to remember that they weren't entirely alone and it worked usually but – it wasn't the same. He could never be Rowan, and Sage would never, ever be Cye. But they had each other, and that was all that mattered.
But as he rolled over to find a cold spot in the sheets, Kento knew with destructive certainty that he was now alone. Sage had disappeared during the night.
He got up from bed, finally, and called upon his armor. The weight comforted him as he walked down the stairs and out the back door. He hiked up the nearby mountain mindlessly, only aware of the intense pain in his heart and mind. And as he stood at the peak of the mountain, he cried. He cried for the position he'd been thrown into, for the passing of friends who were just as desperate as he, and as he threw himself down the mountain face, he cried till he felt them again.
Fire.
Air.
Water.
Light.
And now Earth.
He fell into their embrace with a tired finality. He was finally home again.