[Prince of Tennis] Caged Bird (Atobe BG)

*The first story is complete. The second is on hiatus, but can be read as a side story.

She was a "perfect product," painstakingly crafted.

Before she turned ten, her mother's smile was the whole meaning of her world, until a scar in the mountains revealed the cold transaction beneath the illusion of warmth: her worth depended solely on how much she could be sold for in the future.

So she learned to empty her mind. Her memories were fog, her emotions a wasteland. Even an acceptance letter from Cambridge couldn't stir her, and each blind date became a silent pantomime. She was labeled beautiful, accomplished, yet... "disgusting."

He was the emperor who saw through everything. Atobe Keigo.

A thin stack of information for a blind date was all it took for him to see a caged bird struggling in vain. During their fifteen-minute meeting, he mocked her pathetic state. But just as he turned to leave, she caught his sleeve.

"If you’re going to change it... don’t just change my surname. Change my first name, too."

For the first time, Atobe Keigo burst out laughing at a marriage proposal. He gave her a new name, a new life:

"Canaria. It suits you perfectly."

From then on, the cage door stood wide open.

She was brought to the Atobe estate and moved into an empty room, bewildered by a kind of freedom she had never known. She didn't understand "liking" something or know what she "wanted." She even had to learn how to use a phone from scratch. Atobe merely said, "Do whatever you like," yet forcefully entered her everyday life: breakfast together every day, walks she couldn't refuse, and... unexpected hand-holding and embraces.

He saw through the fog in her soul, but never offered cheap sympathy.

He exposed the lies she told herself, forcing her to face her desires and fears.

He said, "You don't like anything? But there are countless things this king can be proud of."

He said, "Hey, Canaria." Every time he called her, it was a rope anchoring her to reality.

In a garden full of roses and secrets, in a sunlit glasshouse, and through countless small, genuine moments, he taught her to feel the warmth of the wind, the fragrance of tea, and even... the flutter of a kiss.

"Mr. Keigo... Just thinking that I got to meet you makes my heart so happy it feels like it might burst. What should I do?"

He brushed her hair with his fingers, his emperor's smile shining in the setting sun.

"At times like this, you should show off with pride."

"'This is what I’m proudest of in the whole world.'"

This isn't a canary waiting for a savior.

It's an emperor smashing the cage with his own hands, just to hear her sing her first song of freedom.

Theme: With self-confidence, anyone can live a happy life