Chapter 117 A Bird In A Cage

Japan, Twenty-Seven Years Ago
Haruka Tanaka had always wanted to know what it felt like to do as she pleased. She wanted to know what it felt like to contravene rules and orders, to simply relax and not be on guard, to shield herself from the hurt of criticisms and expectations. She wanted to know what it felt like to not have to tolerate and accept those suffocations as something normal, as something a part of her life, as she worked hard to meet those goals that had already been set for her even before she had been born. She wanted to know what it was like to live on the other side of the line, where one could simply be oneself, where one could simply enjoy one’s life. Most of all, she wanted to be free.
At least for a little while before she was put into a cage again—a beautiful birdcage filled with luxury and fine things. A birdcage with high decorum and expectations that were suffocating her and tearing at her heart.