Haruka~ happy birthday! Um, this isn't really a birthday fic, to be honest. I just wrote it. But I guess it can count as a present, right? Besides, I did take a pause from playing Birth by Sleep just to write this for you.

This story is based on Pierrot by Hatsune Miku.

You don't have to hide your sadness behind a clown mask.

Sitting on the tree as he watched Rima read a rather thin book, the Pierrot tied his long indigo hair into a low ponytail, enough to stop it from covering his colourful-patterned clown mask. He quietly giggled as he jumped off of the tree and right in front of Rima, who gave a little shriek.

"Hey, Rima," the Pierrot said cutely as he ran behind the tree and back with a large ball. Hopping on top without falling, he began to spin around and laugh.

The blonde stared at the boy balancing on the ball. "You clown! Don't jump from a tree and scare me like that again!"

The Pierrot said nothing and purposely made himself fall down, just as a self-punishment, which made Rima giggle. "Come on, why don't you come to my show today and tomorrow?"

She liked to watch clowns do silly tricks, but Rima didn't like it when it was her friend. She knows his tricks were just an excuse to lie. Rima took the ball and threw it in the air, only to end up being caught and spun around on the boy's index finger, and nodded. Both walked together at the small circus just ahead, to prepare for the young clown's show.

To the Pierrot, he finds it really difficult to make Rima laugh during his shows. He tries to make different jokes and tricks to make her laugh, not even getting a laugh or at least a smile in return.

He didn't feel any pain whenever he fell down. He didn't get offended when people insulted him. It seems so unreal to Rima.

The next day, Rima met the Pierrot before the show. She sat properly while the Pierrot balanced on the chair with his toes.

"I don't like it when you lie." Rima frowned, which made the Pierrot cock his head in confusion. "It's... sad." She stood up from the chair and was about to leave, but the Pierrot interrupted.

"I never told any lie," he said, scratching the back of his head. "Okay, maybe I did tell a lie about the cross-dressing thing, but everyone didn't seem to mind." He knew that's not what she meant, so he let her leave. Fixing his costume, hair and mask, he went out on the stage and performed his tricks. He gave a good show, but he seemed distracted and was constantly looking at Rima, who didn't seem to find the show funny.

After the show, the Pierrot and Rima left behind. As Rima walked up to the young boy, she couldn't hold back tears.

"Rima?" he asked, quite confused. He didn't know how to comfort the young girl, so he hugged her, letting her soak his colourful costume with tears.

"Why do you lie? Why can't you just admit that it hurts when you fall, or when someone insults you?" She asked at him as she pushed him away. The Pierrot was plain speechless as Rima took his clown mask off and threw it far across the stage. "You don't have to hide your sadness behind a clown mask. You don't have to smile when it hurts, just cry, because I'll cry with you... Nagihiko..."

That was the first time in months that the Pierrot, Nagihiko, heard his real name. He couldn't lie to himself any more. He can't hide his tears any more. Covering his eyes, he let his tears out and cried.

Rima hugged Nagihiko to comfort him, but she let him cry. She'll let him forget the face he puts on every show. She'll let him forget the clown mask used to hide his pain.

Now only letting silent sobs out, Nagihiko took the clown mask and smiled. From now on, he's not going to lie.

Uh, yeah. That's pretty short, right? But, uh, happy birthday, Haruka.