There was a lot of speculation about Kano being evil because of the parallels between "love and ego" in both Yobanashi Deceive and Outer Science. Kuroha and Kano are my two favorite KagePro characters, and this idea of evil Kano has been playing in the back of my mind for a while. I hope I did these two boys justice, because their personalities are so intense and fascinating I wanted to get them perfect.
Disclaimer: I do not own Kagerou Project. I wish I was as smart as Jin to come up with as great of a story as his.
"You know, you were always my favorite, Deceiver," Kuroha murmured. Kano laid at his feet, motionless, as snakes slowly twisted around his body. They hissed and flicked their tongues between their teeth as if they were enjoying watching the boy suffer.
"No response?" Kuroha let out a cold, amused laugh. "You might as well drop the act. Your idiotic little friends might fall for your tricks, but I can see right through you."
Again, silence.
He let out an exasperated sigh as if he was thoroughly disappointed. "I thought you were interesting. Come on, I just want to have a little fun! You make so many witty comments with your little gang, but you can't think of anything for me?"
Kuroha's piercing yellow eyes drilled into Kano, taunting him, mocking him. Kano knew he was at the snake's total mercy; Kuroha wanted him to feel anguished, humiliated, and most of all, fearful.
Straining to keep his voice from breaking, the blonde choked out, "What do you want from me?"
"Why do all you captives ask the same boring questions? It's always what do you want? Why did you take me here? Where am I?" Kuroha turned around to face Kano, a maniacal grin spread across his face. "Humans really are hysterical sometimes!"
"If you think I want to hold a conversation with the likes of you, then you're the hysterical one."
The black-haired boy acted as if he didn't even hear Kano in the first place. He paced back and forth, cheerily humming as he twirled his gun around in his hand. His footsteps eerily echoed in the otherwise silent room. "...Tell me about that monster inside of you."
Kano fell quiet once more and adverted his gaze to the ground. Fear built up inside of him. Where was he going with this? Kuroha was completely unpredictable and sly: a personality Kano was all-too-familiar with, yet still hadn't figured out himself.
"I want to know where your snake is, you dirty rotten liar? You've done a pretty good job at holding him in all these years, but don't you think he deserves a chance to live?"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Kano spat. He could feel his heart rate picking up, as his fingernails dug into the palms of his clenched fists. He knew exactly what Kuroha meant.
All those years, he'd heard an insistent voice in the back of his mind, begging him to keep on lying, keep on deceiving, keep on hurting more and more of those he loved. It told him he wasn't good enough, and that he'd always be garbage in everyone's eyes.
It said his mother should have lived instead of him.
And all those ten hellish years he tried to ignore that voice. To force it away, though each time it spoke, it spoke with more force and more control. The voice - that snake's voice - wanted to claim Kano for himself. It wanted to live the life that Kano didn't truly deserve.
But it wanted more than that. Kano knew the snake's deepest desire was all-to-similar to Kuroha's.
Death. Destruction. Misery.
A tragedy.
"You're more transparent than I thought!" A psychotic grin spread across Kuroha's face as he grabbed a fistful of Kano's hair and yanked the boy up, forcing him to meet his gaze. "It's right you know. The snake, I mean. Why do you think you haven't been rescued yet? It's because the Dan doesn't care about you."
"Saying that the Mekakushi Dan would leave me behind," Kano hissed, "Makes you a bigger liar than me."
"Oh, but they already have." Kuroha's sadistic smile still played on his lips as he said, "You do realize their powers enable them to save you. Frog-boy could just peek into my head to figure out what I plan on doing next, and then the green-haired girl who you so deeply care about would be able to sneak in and attack me undetected. But they don't."
"You don't know anything about my friends." Kano knew this was all part of Kuroha's plan. He was trying to get under his skin and provoke him for who-knows-what reason. ...But a small part of him realized how true Kuroha's statement was. If all eight of the Dan worked together, they wouldn't have much trouble saving him, right?
Maybe they really didn't care. Maybe he was always an unwanted burden - more trouble than he was worth. Kano wouldn't blame them. All he did was upset other people and pile on lie after lie after lie. The Kano they knew was barely the person he truly was anyway; why would they want him after all?
"I know they hate you," Kuroha murmured in Kano's ear. "In fact, they're glad you're gone, and they don't care where you are. Maybe I would be paying them a favor if I just killed you right here and now!"
His hand made his way to the gun in his belt, almost twitching in anticipation to pull the trigger, but he abruptly froze and dropped his wrist to his side. "No, it's too dull to end it here. It's so much more pleasing to watch you suffer."
Kano knew he shouldn't let Kuroha's words get to him, but the way Kuroha spoke made it all seem so undeniably true. The blonde's lip quivered as tears stung his eyes, but his irises quickly flashed a bright red, making the deceiver look completely composed and emotionless.
In an instant, Kuroha raised his hand and slapped Kano hard across the face. He let out a chuckle as his victim hit the ground and whimpered.
"I know your powers can't resist pain. I'm sure you don't want me to inflict further damage, hm?"
Tears began to splash on the cold floor, dripping down Kano's face as his body shook. He wanted to curl up into a ball and hide his pained expression, but the snakes restrained all movement and left him exposed for Kuroha to toy with.
"I wish you could see how pathetic you are right now. You're sniffling and crying like a baby, incapable of doing anything."
Almost in perfect unison, Kano could hear his snake;s voice echoing throughout his head, voice growing louder and louder with each second. "...like a baby incapable of doing anything. I'll make you better than you could ever dream to be, Shuuya. Let me come out and show this snake how strong you are. I can make everything better. I can make your friends love you again. Don't repress me; accept me and let me live."
"I want to talk to the real you," Kuroha coaxed. His face was eager with anticipation as he cupped Kano's face in his hands and leaned close. "Now it's your turn to come out."
Kano looked absolutely hopeless for a moment. Then he began screaming.
There are no words to describe what he sounded like in that moment. It was as if he was a helpless child about to be killed making a vain attempt to be saved from his agony.
Kano's body stiffened as he threw his head back, golden irises staining a bright crimson. Sheer hatred billowed inside of him. All directed towards him, he felt hatred from strangers, friends, family, and most of all himself.
It all crashed down on him at once.
Kuroha ran his hands down Kano's arms, talking over the screams as if he heard nothing. "You're so broken, but what can I do? It's a hefty price I'm willing to pay for a monster like you.
"Listen to me. They don't understand you, and they never bother to understand you. I know exactly why you always have a front; why bother when they can't comprehend?"
With those words, Kano's pained cry abruptly cut off. His body slumped down into Kuroha's arms, completely limp
"Passing out on me when the fun is just beginning?"
Another eerie silence befell the room as Kuroha knelt there with the boy. He began to lay Kano on the floor again, but somehow the blonde jerked awake. He immediately spoke as if he hadn't been unconscious at all.
"I'm going to make them understand me. "I'm going to make them see who Kano Shuuya has truly been all these years."
Another eerie silence befell the room as Kuroha knelt there with the boy. He began to lay Kano on the floor again, but somehow the blonde jerked awake, immediately speaking as if he hadn't been unconscious at all.
"I'm going to make them understand me. "I'm going to make them see who Kano Shuuya has truly been all these years."