A few short years later, Masaki finds himself endlessly thankful for his decision to let Hiroto in.
When their parents, his dad and Hiroto's mother, die, Hiroto comes online.
As a Guide.
When it happens, Masaki is too busy, too preoccupied with the feeling of the rain hitting his skin to notice the change in Hiroto.
His world flips upside down for the second time leaving Masaki weak and dizzy as he loses his grip on reality.
The rain pours down on him, burning holes into his skin as it turns icy cold. He can still see it, still taste it, still smell it - the metallic, ozone of blood.
Of his dad's blood next to where he laid still and cold on the ground.
The flashing of red and blue lights fades away, the rumbling of cars and yelling of the crowd vanishes, Masaki crashes to the ground as blood takes over everything for a second time.
Before he can stop it, Masaki finds himself in that place again.
The river of blood begins to pool around him, swallowing him up piece by piece as the level rises.
He's lost in it; in the shiny reflection of the blood, in the slow changing of the color from a light red to darker, darker, darker as the volume increases.
It swirls around him, caressing his skin as it pulls at him, tugging him in different directions.
A shape forms off to the right, a darkness that takes a human shape.
A scream almost distracts him from the blood but it's not until a second voice joins it that Masaki looks up.
A second phantom has joined the original in it's haunting.
As he watches, unable to look away from the inviting darkness of the void, a third shape emerges, a third voice joins them briefly before Masaki can't hear anything anymore.
He looks back to the blood that, in his absence of attention, has rushed upwards and now covers him almost entirely.
It's hot against him now, where it swallows up his legs, his arms, half way up his torso. It clings to him, squeezing as it suffocates him from the outside.
He moves trying to push his way out to the bank he knows lies in the darkness ahead to the left. It tears into him, ripping apart his flesh to hold him in place.
Masaki loses himself in the bright, white hot flashes of pain, going still to make it stop. But it doesn't.
The river relishes in the pride of having captured its prey, at the delightful red that seeps out of it to join it's own.
Masaki can't think beyond making the pain end, can't breath, can't hear. Somehow that has become the most important thing, his hearing.
Instinct alone tells Masaki that's what he should be focused on but he can't. He can't hear anything beyond the echo of the phantoms' screaming laughter.
Without it, whatever it is, Masaki can't escape.
The blood rain pours down on him, beating against him.
The river rises, up, up, up, until it's over his head and shoving him down, down, down.
Masaki's world becomes nothing but brilliant red, comforting darkness and the ever present phantoms' mocking laughter and horrible screams.
It's not until later when Masaki finally wakes up, that he learns he has been zoned for days.
Hiroto had been too overwhelmed with his own awakening to be of any help and Takeru hadn't know how to help either of them; had been forced to watch as his brother lost himself, staring off into space and his baby brother broke down into sobbing hysterics, grabbing at his head in agony.
He'd been forced to make a decision, focusing on Hiroto as he left Masaki in a world of red.
Masaki didn't, couldn't hold it against him, Hiroto had been the pressing issue, the one reacting loudly with potential intent to harm himself and others.
Masaki had been quiet, easier to manage even as he looked lifeless, unresponsive to anything Takeru tried.
Eventually, Takeru had helped Hiroto manage his own new abilities enough to pull Masaki out.
Hiroto has a rough time adjusting to the change and for Masaki, everything hurts.
At first, Hiroto projects everything, his emotions, his thoughts which cut at him like knives.
His younger brother has never really been attuned to his emotions, too hurt and angry at the world. What little he has healed with the new family he found has now been torn anew, ripped apart before their eyes.
Painstakingly slowly, Hiroto learns about being a guide.
And Masaki sticks with him through it all.
It hurts, Hiroto's projecting and tearing at him but Masaki decided years ago that Hiroto's stuck with him just as Masaki's stuck with Hiroto.
He never could have turned away from his brother, especially when it's just them now.
Thank Kami for Aniki.
Takeru has always been better with Hitoto, even after Hiroto put aside his hatred for Masaki.
Aniki doesn't feel the sharp glass of Hiroto's broadcasted thoughts and feelings and has a seemingly endless supply of patience when it comes to his younger brothers.
Takeru helps direct Hiroto, helps him learn to control himself.
Masaki joins them readily, releasing his own pent up grief and relentless sentinel energy in learning how to fight.
It's just them now and Masaki will give his all to protect his Aniki and his guide.
They take to fighting like fish to water. Hiroto finds ways to release his anger and control his emotions and Masaki finds a little piece of home in it, instincts singing as he learns all the advantages of his enhanced sentinel senses.
After a few years, Aniki comes online too.
As a Guide.
He and Hiroto don't know what caused it, just step up readily to help him.
Takeru and Hiroto spend a lot more time together after that learning things that Masaki can't follow. He understands some of it, knows that Hiroto is some kind of telepathic empath but he can't understand in the way another guide would.
He joins sometimes, when his brothers need to practice with another person, with a sentinel. It hurts a lot in the beginning, more with Aniki than it had with Hiroto but Aniki learns faster, more intune than Hiroto was, already knowing what was happening and soon they fall in line with each other easily, more in sync than ever before.
Masaki adjusts to having two guides.
They're heartbeats are a memorized thump faded into the background of his daily life.
They're as different as black and white with gray mixtures of similarities arising every now and then. Aniki is more soothing, gentle where Hiroto is abrasive but Hiroto clicks more easily with him. He's more attuned with Masaki and they find Hiroto can pull Masaki out of a zone easier and faster then Takeru.
They relearn how to fight together, Masaki now watching out for his two guides on the battlefield. He stretches himself a little thin in the beginning, adjusting to cover two guides.
His instincts war with each other telling him that his guides should be at home, safe, not fist fighting thugs on the streets.
But his brothers are strong, fighting fearlessly against their enemies in a way that leaves Masaki in awe of his guides' poweress.
