((A.N.: Ehh… Slight AoKi anyone? -hides-))

While on the way home, Takao's footsteps were light, almost springy, and time to time he made a stage of the streets, whistling or outright belting his band songs. It was long since dark out, but that didn't quite matter.

Turned out that his idea, later accepted by the band, had been one of many that Riko thought up in her efforts to promote the band further. She hadn't said anything yet, in fear or provoking the exact same reaction that Takao himself had triggered upon its' first mention. Scapegoat and fallguy jokes were quickly dismissed.

They'd spent a fair amount of time in a quaint street-corner cafe talking out the details, resulting in a very optimistic and jaunty Takao practically dancing his way home.

As if scripted and on cue, he even magically ran into Midorima on the doctor's 'nightly rounds'.

Upon hearing someone calling his name, Midorima waited, mopping sweat from his brow as Takao made a brisk walk to catch up. "Were you alright that morning?" He inquired, in a tone that sounded distinctly like a routine checkup question.

"Thanks to you sensei." He cheeked, giving the taller man a pat on the back. Though, Takao was relieved. Midorima didn't seem to be acting in any way strange; chances were good that nothing inappropriate was said or done that night in his inebriation. "You're really good at taking care of people though."

"Really?" Midorima seemed confused, or at least so Takao thought. He couldn't quite put a label on the expression worn by Midorima at that moment, it seemed as if… He wasn't surprised to hear it, but was puzzled nonetheless. The two remained silent for a suspended moment, Midorima breaking their mutual stare and turning away, pushing his glasses up. Takao decided the blush dusting his cheeks wasn't because of the neon sign nearby."I uh… Tend to hear that."

A shrug and a chuckle later, Takao simply decided that his day couldn't get any better.

The chat with Midorima continued (albeit with a one-sided slant to it) till they were outside Takao's apartment, the doctor bidding his friend a pleasant evening before they went their respective ways.

That night, Takao was comfortably seated at home, in the nest of blankets that had stayed there since the previous day. Despite everything beginning to pick up, he somehow couldn't shake the anchoring feeling that something was amiss.

He was helpless on Miyaji's side, so that wasn't it. It chafed, but he'd come to terms with the fact that any further involvement on his part would have done more harm than otherwise. So, no, that definitely wasn't it.

There was this tugging feeling, almost as if he'd forgotten to pay a bill. He felt as if he'd left something behind, forgotten about something, or someone. Owed somebody something even.

When he looked at the coffee table and saw an unfolded paper crane, the answer came swiftly. It did feel absurd, especially to Takao himself, but after his own life had started whirring into gear again, he felt what was almost a sense of obligation to check on Ryou, whose life had been similarly in shambles last they 'met'.

The moment he caught that thread of thought, it reeled him up, away from the comfortable sofa, threading back the crane he'd read already and folded neatly back into shape. The new one was unraveled with one hand, while with the other, he hauled his pile of blankets back into the bedroom.

[I… Met up with Aominecchi today, hehe.]

It felt a little lonely, Takao couldn't help thinking, now that the center of Ryou's attention was no longer Shin, but this… Aominecch- erm, Aomine.

[Had… Quite a day. Ran around, did odd jobs, sent in applications to all sorts of auditions and modeling jobs. I can't really remember the last time I was this busy and tired. Though, when I looked for people to hear me out, unwind a little … Only Aominecchi seemed like someone I could really talk to.]

Takao let out a whistle; so was that the end of Shin's reign? Already? It didn't seem like frivolous enough of a thing to just be washed over like that. Deciding to believe in his 'friend's' feelings, he tugged his shirt off over his head, preparing for the night while reading on. [I can't remember Aominecchi being this observant, in fact… He was kind of, well, ok a huge idiot back in middle school, hehehe~ But… The moment I walked in to meet him at the izakaya, he told me I looked like hell. Totally mean of him right? But, he was spot on, I guess. It was nice… Not like he bought me dinner or anything but I got to just complain to him, and he just listened for once. He didn't criticize me or butt in telling me I was being an idiot like he usually might have… It felt good, honestly.]

Whoever Aomine was, Takao slumped on his bed in thought, he seemed to be serious about Ryou. After all, there was already the confession, right? When he thought about it that way though, he couldn't help feeling a little sorry for him. Ryou was clearly still hung up over Shin, his paper cranes be witness, and he hadn't sorted out his own feelings yet. On the other hand, he was meeting up with Aomine, just as if they were already dating; probably something Aomine had begun assuming at that point. "Oh man, buddy… Make up your mind." He whispered, barely out loud, as if afraid anyone, or worse, he himself, would hear.

[I mean… He still chewed me out for being an idiot after I was done talking, said I wasn't being myself and all, and he was right I guess. Though, I probably got carried away in relying on Aominecchi too… I realized that I hadn't given him an answer yet. It's getting harder and harder to resist him, cause… Well, I did admire him in middle school, and while he was really mean about it, I kinda… Do like how he was so straight forward and single-minded… Ehehe… And, when I asked him what I'd do if things never worked out, he even went as far as saying that, no matter what I chose to do, he'd support me.]

Well then, Takao sighed, that was it. Shin was no more, Ryou had found another love interest, which possibly would have been for the better. It didn't take much more than these little snippets of Ryou's life for even a complete outsider like Takao to know that, whoever Shin was, he didn't care about Ryou's life half as much as the fresh blood did.

Well, that was that then, Takao sighed, expecting the notes to start taking on an entirely new direction from then on. At the very least, to Takao it was nice knowing that his 'friend' had managed to get his own life back together again. It wasn't half as pleasant, though, to think that all the fuss and attention Ryou had put into Shin was just going to be for naught.

He sat on his bed, starting up the paper's transformation back into a crane by folding it diagonally in half... Which was where he saw a fine line of writing, on the other side, that he hadn't noticed earlier.

[I feel horrible for saying this but… The one I hoped most to hear those words from, was him... Shin.]

… Or not.