DISCLAIMER: Kagerou Project characters and plot elements are properties of 1st PLACE co.

Author's Note: My first foray into KagePro fanfiction and it would be a one-shot of one of my favorite Mekakushi Dan member's and recent crush, Shuuya Kano. And just in time for his birthday, too! I only got hooked on the fandom last year while anticipating the release of Jin's second album "MEKAKUCITY RECORDS" (May 25th, in case you were wondering). Prior to that, the first song I heard from KagePro was "Kisaragi Attention". (I don't care what you haters say about Momo-chan, I like her and her perkiness!) Anyway, it was the song "Yobanashi Deceive" that got me intrigued with Kano-kun and his trauma-filled past. I wanted to celebrate his birthday, so, here's my contribution. It starts out depressing, but gets upbeat near the end. Even though it's a one-shot, I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

It was usually at night he would often walk down these alley ways. He never thought he would find himself sitting in an alley in broad daylight. Not that it mattered. To him, at least. And yet, here he was, Shuuya Kano, sitting in an alley alone, feeling sorry for himself, on this day, of all days. May 10th. His birthday. To him, this day was no different, it seemed just like every other day: average, ordinary, normal. It wasn't like he cared about his own birthday anyway. And why should he?

"Ah. This day again," he thought. "Don't know why I bother to acknowledge it. Especially if nobody cares about me anyway. And why should they? Why should anybody care about a monster like me? And on today of all days."

He had been well-known for being a liar. He had been telling lies for almost ten years now. Even when he does tell the truth, it has been getting harder by the day to tell if he's lying or being honest. And it hasn't been any easier with the addition of his eye power, the power to change his appearance to what he wants people to see, "deceiving eyes", if you will. The other members of the the Mekakushi Dan (Blindfold Gang) had eye powers of their own, but Kano felt his were always causing him the most grief. His eye powers combined with his lying, he truly felt like a monster. No wonder he was upset this day, his own birthday.

"I don't blame them really," he continued his thoughts, "the things I've done to them, the ones I call my 'friends'... Why should anybody even bother to put up with me? If only I had never been born at all. I don't deserve this. I don't deserve any of it."

By this time, tears had started to form and were streaming down his face. He made no attempt to hide his emotions with his "deceiving eyes" prior to this and continued not to do so. So, why should now be any different?

He thought, "I'm so useless, so very useless!"

He plopped his face into his lap and cried out loud. It no longer mattered who heard him at this point. He didn't care about anything anymore. Suddenly, he stopped crying and looked up in bewilderment. Something had caught his attention. He stood up and looked ahead of him in curiosity. It appeared that someone was coming toward him. A whole bunch of someones. Little someones. His eyes suddenly became wide in surprise as he noticed that these "someones" were little kids, running toward him, cheering happily for him.

"Wah!" Kano screamed in total and utter shock.

The cheering had quickly died down as the kids stood in front of Kano, four of them holding a birthday cake for him.

The kids all shouted in unison, "Tanjobi omedetou!" ("Tanjobi omedetou" is Japanese for "happy birthday".)

"Wow!" was all Kano could say, excitedly.

He was taken aback by this pleasent surprise. Completely unexpected. At least, for someone like him. And yet, he wasn't complaining. He actually liked it. In an instant, he kneeled down and hugged a girl and a boy closest to him who weren't holding the cake.

"Arigatou!" Kano exclaimed, gratefully. ("Arigatou" is Japanese for "thank you".)

Tears came down his cheeks again, but this time, they were tears of joy. At least, on this day, his birthday, Shuuya Kano felt truly loved.

Happy birthday, Kano! And remember, you are never alone.

A/N: And thus, ends my first KagePro fanfiction. At this point in time, I'm not sure how many more fanfics I'll contribute to the fandom, but I do have quite a few ideas in my mind. Only time will tell if I'll get any of them written down. And no complaints about the translation of Japanese words in parentheses: That's for anyone who doesn't know Japanese at all and because KagePro is a Japanese creation, it's only natural I write the characters in this fic as bilingual in both Japanese and English (despite knowing very little Japanese myself). Well, that's it for now. Let me know what you think by reviewing this fic. And again, happy birthday, Kano!