Waking up early, he got up. The sun wasn't even up, but today was a very special day. As usual, he put up on his mask and left his room. Careful not to wake anyone, Kano left the base of the Mekakushi Dan. Today was May 10th.
Kano's birthday.
The sun was just starting to be visibly in the horizon. He breathed in the fresh air. Would anyone remember? "Probably not." And he didn't mind it that way. It just… hurt. He started walking. As usual, he returned when the sun was up. He enjoyed those quiet times outside, where there was no one. When he could lower the mask. He slipped back through the door. Kido was making breakfast. She smiled and said hello, but didn't indicate anything special. Slowly, the members filed in. First Seto, then Marry, then all the rest. Shintaro, Momo, and Ene came early. Still nothing. Of course, Kano still laughed and joked as always. And of course, no one could see past that mask. After breakfast, Kano returned to his room. No one had remembered. "But why should they?" he thought. Looking into the bathroom mirror, slowly Kano lowered his mask. The face of confidence crumbled away, leaving a hollow shell. And slowly, Kano started to cry. Quickly covering it up, he went to his bed and lay down. If anyone walked in, they would see Kano on the bed, asleep. So he just buried his head in the pillow and sobbed. Crying himself to sleep, he was unable to hear the whispers outside of his room, and the anticipating laughs cut short. So when he awoke, it was past midday. And he replaced his mask and stepped out. He almost ran into Momo, who was standing outside his door. Unknown to him, she had been guarding the room. And Momo led him into the main room, and found what was waiting for him. Slowly, he smiled. And the mask kicked in, and he laughed about how they shouldn't have. The room was decorated with banners and on the table was a cake. Not an enormous cake, but a cake nonetheless. Surrounding it was the gang, laughing and shouting "Happy birthday, Kano!" And all the while, he mask was still active. And inside, he was crying. But he wasn't sad. He was happy, overjoyed, disbelieving. And after they had laughed, after his "party" was over, he went to his room and lowered his mask. But he wasn't crying anymore. He was smiling.
This was his home. This was his family.