Takano felt a sudden rush of cool air flow over his shirtless form. Awaking slowly from his pill induced sleep. Yokozawa didn't know it but Takano had started taking sleeping pills by the handful so that he could sleep better. It worked and for the first time in a while he got some sleep, it didn't matter how. He stumbled with slightly discombobulated steps to the kitchen, he smelled of beer. Yokozawa wasn't here today but An was and no matter how insistent he was still never alone. The only place where he could have some time to himself at least physically was a work. An and Yokozawa didn't know it but he knew that at this point there shouldn't be any hope for Ritsu's memory. Oddly he couldn't feel it, lately all of his emotion went blank and numb. At the back of his mind he could feel like something was off about his reaction to things but every time he got near the answer he'd snap back into a new thought. Little did Takano know that the thing helping him to chase away the scary dreams would cause a very scary reality.

Looking in the mirror he saw another man. This wasn't him. Masamune Takano did not look like this, he had brown eyes that shone, silky black hair and a perfect body type. This person's eyes were too dull, their hair was matted to their face and the looked eerily thin. No, this scarecrow couldn't be him. A knock at his bathroom door called his attention to An who stood in the doorway with a plate in her hands. Takano looked at the food with a fastidious expression. Nothing ever really interested him these days, things that were once his favorite became just another object. There was only thing that he held close to him now, the book that he and Ritsu had read together. It was their favorite. Not that he would remember that.

"I made some breakfast, you should really eat something." An examined the way his clothes hung of his body now, they used to fit perfectly. Takano humored An and slowly made his way to the table in the kitchen. A nice omelet was cut into pieces and arranged to make a smiley face, An blushed at the childishness it radiated but deeply hoping it would brighten his day if only a little bit. An and Yokozawa were running out of options and they were becoming very desperate. "God just remember everything Rittie!" An stabbed her fork into the food a little to harshly at the thought. Takano was eating so she didn't know why he seemed so frail, sure she hadn't given him a lot because she knew he wouldn't have touched it but it had been a generous amount. When not paying any attention she added more food to his plate in which he hadn't noticed. He stopped midway through the food and pushed it away proceeding to walk into what An thought the living room. An's eyes followed him but instead of staying in the living room he headed straight for his room.

Inhaling deeply she creaked his bedroom door open inside she saw Takano sitting at the edge of the bed. He seemed to be in pain and in his left hand he was clutching something.

"I really need to stop this sort of thing." she told herself as she almost closed the door. Then she saw what was in his hands, three small white circles appeared in his grasp. An watched as he swallowed it without any water and he held his head in pain. An wondered if those were pain killers or something because after a few moments of laying down his shoulders seemed to relax and his tension disappeared.

Deciding it was nothing like her personality states (naïve) she just closed the door and walked into the living room waiting for Yokozawa. Yokozawa and Takano had the day off today but that just seemed to make Takano's mood colder. The front door open and Yokozawa came in with a little girl.

"Hiyori, when's your friend coming to pick you up?" he said with a forced smile that was actually really believable. The little girl looked about ten and she was nothing but adorable. Yokozawa looked very natural with her and that came as a surprise to her. The girl looked nothing like him however so she could only assume that he was babysitting or that he adopted a kid.

Picking option A she smiled, she never expected him to be so gentle with kids and it almost made her want to laugh.

"She'll be here in a few minutes!" Hiyori replied in a very dotting way which put a genuine smile on Yokozawa's face. They walked into the living room and An tried her best to look cheery. She smoothed her hair down and smiled brightly.

"Hiyori this a good friend of mine, her name is An." Yokozawa knelt down placing two hands on either knee as he pointed to An. Hiyori eyes brightened and she walked up to An and extended her small hand. An smiled and shook the hand as firmly as Hiyori held hers.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Hiyori Kirishima." her hand retracted and she ran back to Yokozawa's side still smiling brightly.

Yokozawa whispered something in Hiyori's ear and she nodded and placed herself politely on the couch.

"Watch her for a second, I'm going to check up on... you know" he said a little more seriously. An kept Hiyori company and they talked about mediocre things for a few minutes and when Yokozawa reappeared his face was ashen. His worry lines became deeper and it made him look ten years older than his twenty-eight turning twenty-nine year old self. The doorbell rang and he opened the door to Hiyori's friend and her mother. Yokozawa faked a smile for Hiyori's sake and he sent her off.

He was left staring at the door and An stood from the couch to see what was in his hand.

"Yokozawa?" she tried to peer around him but being unsuccessful she turned him around.

He lifted the bottle to the sleeping pills that were in Takano's possession. The bottle was completely empty.

"This was bought on March 7th, it's March 10th." he opened the cap and flipped it upside and began to shake it as if his mind was playing tricks on him. These pills should last for at least 2 weeks. Not 3 days. Yokozawa began to analyze his friend's face as he slept and everything seemed to fit together. The way Takano slept like the dead, the way his eyes kind of drooped and of course his scarecrow figure. An's face screamed comprehension and tears were welling up in her eyes. She covered her mouth with her hand to muffle the sound of her sobs. She had thought they were just pain killers for a headache or something. Yokozawa rubbed her back in comfort as they found themselves doing a lot. But with no avail, she still sobbed.

"Masamune you dumbass." he whispered as he sat down in the chair they placed by Takano's bed. He had bought Takano the pills in hope his friend could finally find rest but instead he handed him a knife and had basically asked him not to use it.

Hey everyone! I decided to take this story in a slightly different direction then it was heading, nothing to big. Well review, favorite and follow! Keep smiling-Lonescript