Hiroto doesn't realize it, not at first, not really. He knows Masaki isn't okay, of course he isn't. But he's too caught up in his own grief. Takeru's death weighs heavily on him, it has hit Hiroto hard. Harder than the death of their parent had. Of course it did. Takeru is — was — his older brother, his family, the one who made Hiroto feel truly welcome all those years ago. The one who helped him deal with his grief of losing his father, with all the drastic changes in his life, with his never ending, uncontrollable anger. Takeru is the one who kept them together, who took care of them. Takeru is the only reason Hiroto is still alive. Takeru is the reason they survived, the reason they had food and shelter, the person that taught Hiroto almost everything he knows.

Of course Masaki was there every step of the way.

But the two have always been different to Hiroto.

They're incomparable.

The places they hold in Hiroto's life are incomparable.

For a brief moment, Hiroto forgets. Forgets maybe the most important thing, Takeru was Masaki's brother first, Masaki's only living blood family. It seems like an impossible thing to forget but the three of them have always been brothers, family.

And Masaki has always been especially good at hiding what he's really feeling. His brother has always worn a mask, with high, high walls of steel built around him. So high even Takeru hadn't ever truly seen them fall.

Hiroto was too caught up in finally seeing Takeru again. In losing him. In guilt. Because it is his fault. Hiroto's the reason Takeru died. He died protecting Hiroto. Because he was too slow, useless and in the way. If he hadn't…if he had just…

Hiroto lost himself in grief and guilt, in what ifs, the words "I just wanted to protect what I loved most…No matter what anybody says the three of us…we're real brothers. The strongest…and the greatest" echoing through his mind on repeat.

While Hiroto yelled out in his pain, begging Takeru to come back, Masaki held it in, watching over Hiroto as always, letting him take his time to process their loss all the while trying to shove his own aside.

They both covered their grief with rage, with revenge. Finding the Kamizono-kai house of operations is all too easy.

They walk in silence, thoughts forced away from their pain towards the fight ahead of them. Grief momentarily absorbed by anger and utilized for their revenge. They're not afraid, not even slightly hesitant. It doesn't matter how many men, how many guns, how skilled their enemy is.

None of that matters anymore.

Hiroto doesn't care if he lives or dies anymore.

He just lost one of the two most important people in his life.

His survival means very little in the wake of his loss.

Masaki, he's sure, feels the same, it was his idea to jump through the windows afterall. A truly crazy, dangerous, effective idea.

The Kamizono-kai henchmen have no idea what hits them, who they actually are and they fall easily under their fists. Hiroto spares a moment to fear the look in Masaki's eyes when they meet his across the room.

It's a look he's never seen before, more deadly than Masaki has ever been.

Masaki has always been the gentlest of the three, the nicest, the most loving, the funnest. It was almost as if Masaki had stepped into a parental role, trying to fill their parents' shoes. He took care of almost everything for them. All of their finances and budgeting were left to him, the money they brought in going directly into his management. Likewise all of their meals were provided by Masaki, the only one of them who had known anything about cooking at the time of their parents' death. He also tended to all of their injuries and listened to all of their concerns, a trusted confidant for both Takeru and Hiroto. And he called them both out on their shit, just like his mom used to.

Takeru may have been the one bringing in the money, until they were "old enough" to help but it was Masaki who got them off the streets and kept them sane.

Masaki is also who Hiroto considers to be the most dangerous of the three of them. Everyone knows not to cross Masaki. He may be the literal light of their lives, their only hope in the darkest moments, the reason they can laugh and joke with each other but it's those same qualities that make him the most dangerous.

Takeru is older, more experienced and Hiroto is always ready for a fight, always angry but Masaki has always been the smartest of them, the more meticulous one. Not that it's obvious with the way he is constantly joking and playing. He's the one who prefers not to use violence but that doesn't mean he is afraid to.

Which is why the dark look in his eyes scares Hiroto so much. His boyfriend is entirely too serious, too calm, too indifferent. There's bullets flying everywhere, glass covering the floor and more enemies than he can count but Masaki doesn't even look phased. He wouldn't look out of place taking a stroll through the park.

Every move his brother makes is calculated, controlled, effortless even as he takes on machine guns firing more bullets per second than he can see.

All Hiroto can do now is try to keep up, back Masaki up at every step and something in his mentality shifts. Hiroto just might have to be the one who pulls them out of this alive, something that is normally up to Masaki but for once Masaki seems entirely unconcerned about surviving this fight beyond getting their revenge. It puts Hiroto in a weird spot, being the more…sane of the two. It's never been up to him to care about this, Masaki has always been the one looking out for him, letting Hiroto flow in his anger and watching out for him when he gets too reckless. Now their positions have been reversed and Hiroto can't help but worry even more for Masaki.

His brother moves upstairs fearlessly, Hiroto following immediately after, only to have to head right back out into a car chase because their enemy is a coward who can't even face them head on. Even the fire of the exploded truck isn't enough to stop Masaki, to stop them.

When Hiroto finally catches up to Masaki, he doesn't know if the Kamizono-kai leader is dead and doesn't bother to check, moving to Masaki's side to pull him up and get them out of there before the police arrive.

Masaki doesn't say anything, driving back to retrieve Takeru's body.


Days later with the news of the Kamizono-kai leader's apparent suicide spread across the newspapers, Masaki and Hiroto bury Takeru next to their parents.


In the days following, Masaki pretends he's okay but that's all it is: pretending, a role he plays with finesse. He's good too, so good that Hiroto almost doesn't realize it at all. It's the dark circles, the sleeplessness, the nightmares, the loss of weight and how out of breath Masaki is when the spare that catches his eyes, makes Hiroto see that Masaki isn't okay. His boyfriend looks so frail, fragile, so unlike himself in a way that hurts to see. It terrifies him.

So Hiroto starts interfering. He starts tugging Masaki into bed with him earlier than usual, claiming he's tired or that he wants to watch their show and tricking Masaki into falling asleep in his arms. Slowly they work through the nightmares together, slowly the dark circles fade.

Getting Masaki to eat more is tricky, more difficult than he had been hoping. Hiroto takes it slow, celebrating each bite more he can get Masaki to eat. It takes him weeks but finally Hiroto comes up with a plan that works. And if he learns to cook some of Masaki's favorite dishes from it and gets to see Masaki return to a healthy weight, Hiroto forgives himself for deceiving his boyfriend.

With Masaki sleeping and eating more, it's all too easy to suggest learning a new fighting style. Masaki takes to it like a fish to water of course, overly enthusiastic to be spending so much time training with Hiroto again.

Hiroto is just relieved Masaki is doing better. His brother knows what he's doing, Hiroto can see it in his eyes and the fact that Masaki allows it to happen means that he saw how far he was slipping, that he wants to get better again, get back to enjoying life.

A month or so later when Masaki is practically glowing but Hiroto can see he's still struggling, he decides to take his boyfriend out for the night, as if to reward him for all the progress he's made.

Masaki accepts the offer easily, excitement practically radiating off of him. It's been a long time since they've gone out to eat with Hiroto enthusiastically taking to cooking and Masaki just wants to have a little bit of fun, to relax for the night.

The brothers head to a small mom-and-pop Yakitori restaurant that's usually not too busy but has the best food for miles. It's close enough to their apartment to walk so the brothers leave their motorcycles behind in case they decide to have a few drinks. It's still hot out in the middle of July, even with the sun starting to go down but Hiroto can't help it.

Masaki still looks a little thin, still fragile and everything in him is screaming out to protect his boyfriend. Not that Masaki needs Hiroto to protect him.

Hiroto doesn't fight against it though, quickly wrapping an arm around his boyfriend's waist to keep him close as they walk down the streets. A smile breaks across Masaki's face and he curls into Hiroto's side as he launches into a story about a motorcycle he saw pass through a few days ago.

Masaki is adorable like this, talking passionately about the lights he saw on the motorcycle, about it's colored rims and how surprisingly quiet it was. Hiroto finds himself content to just listen to the sound of his voice, to his excitement, throwing in a few comments here and there.

His brother looks so much happier, healthier than he has in a long time, it makes a wave of relief wash over him.

Hiroto finds he can't stop smiling, can't stop laughter from bubbling up as Masaki shifts stories to something funny he saw on a tv show they started watching. He's so relaxed, so calm, so happy that Hiroto almost lets himself forget about everything for a moment. He lets go, just breathing and enjoying their night out. It's perfect.

They make their way in, claiming the booth in the corner they always sit at. The owner's son meets them there with their usual drinks already in hand and a fondly teasing tone to his voice as he asks if they want their usual. Masaki answers immediately with a witty retort, joking with him quietly as Hiroto relaxes into the booth after a bowed thank you.

They're laughing and talking without a care as the brothers eat. Hiroto can't believe how good Masaki looks, how good he feels. It was obvious how much Masaki needed this, how much he had needed this. It truly is a perfect night.


Of course something has to happen. Of course they can't enjoy just one night out. Just one night. One meal.

But this is who they are.

Apparently somebody recognized them, knew who they were as they sat in the restaurant. Some punk ass kid who had a couple of friends who thought they were thugs. They didn't even have the decency to wait until they had finished eating, until they had left the restaurant. No, they just charged right up to their booth, interrupting their meal to yell out a challenge.

Hiroto found himself instantly on edge, irritated beyond belief by the interruption. The glow in Masaki's eyes dims, his sentence fading away as he moves to take a drink, glass raising towards his lips. He's purposely ignoring the annoyance, Hiroto following his lead.

The group of men don't like that very much, yelling louder at Masaki as if that would change anything. One of them smacks the glass out of his brother's hands and Hiroto is up in an instant.

He grabs the man, hauling him out of the restaurant by the throat. The rest of the group follows in a hurry to save their friend. Hiroto only cares that they are away from his boyfriend. Masaki didn't move very far, giving no indication of following them as he started cleaning up the broken glass.

Hiroto deals with the thugs quickly, furious with them for the interruption. Then he heads back in to meet his brother. Masaki has already finished cleaning up, now talking quietly to the owner, probably apologizing to the poor woman.

His heart aches at how Masaki looks, once radiating happiness and warmth he's shrunken in the minutes Hiroto's been away. His brother looks weary, worn down and exhausted by the incident. Hiroto picks up the pace reaching his boyfriend just as the owner moves away, a gentle look on her face showing that she isn't angry with them.

Good, her being upset would only upset Masaki more. He swoops in, scooping Masaki into his arms. His brother melts into him, sighing deeply in a way that hurts Hiroto's soul.

Hiroto keeps Masaki close to him, tucked into his side as they pay and head out. All he wants to do now is get Masaki home and try to bring back that glow from before.

They had been having a great night, Hiroto would not allow some nobodies to ruin it for them.

Hiroto steers them towards a convenience store, heading inside without answering Masaki's questioning look. He grabs two popsicles, delighted to see Masaki's features light up again.

"So what were you saying about Cherry Magic again?"

Masaki launches back into what he was discussing before they got interrupted, stopping every now and then to take a bite of his or Hiroto's ice cream.

They stay out late walking further out away from the rush of the city before doubling back to get home before it gets too late. By the time they make it back, the good mood from before has returned as if it never left.


Masaki's chatter happily melts into singing along with "Run This Town" by Generations as he jumps into the shower tugging Hiroto in with him.

Hiroto easily laughs and joins him, singing along as Masaki lights up impossibly bright.

That night curled in bed together, Hiroto presses gentle kisses into Masaki's hair as his boyfriend whispers his gratitude for a perfect night out, for helping him get back to being himself, for protecting him, for loving him. Hiroto's reply comes in the form of his lips crashing onto Masaki's to show him just how much he's loved.