The Cage Cracks, the Chains Bite

The toys were gone.

One by one, the shelves had been emptied, the bright colors replaced with silence and bare wood. The servants had vanished too, their footsteps and soft voices erased from the hallways. Even the windows had been locked tight, the curtains drawn, as if the world beyond no longer existed.

Renji had built him a velvet prison.

Aoi sat curled on the bed, his knees tucked under his chin, his white hair spilling like snow down his small shoulders. He hugged his stuffed rabbit close to his chest, the only thing left that still belonged to him. His pale eyes stared at the ceiling as he whispered to Bunny in a trembling, secret voice.

“Renji’s scary now… but maybe… maybe we can find the sky again. Just a little sky. Just a little freedom.”

His childlike mind could not weave complicated plans, but even a mind of five years understood one thing: cages had doors. And doors needed keys.

---

It was at dusk when the chance came.

Renji had been quieter than usual, his crimson eyes darker, sharper, as if something inside him gnawed relentlessly. He dressed in black, his suit tailored perfectly to his broad frame, the contrast against his pale skin almost unnatural.

He leaned down to press a kiss on Aoi’s temple, his lips hot and heavy with unspoken threats. His hand lingered on the boy’s cheek, thumb pressing too firmly, as if reminding him of the invisible chains wrapped around his throat.

“Be good while I’m gone,” Renji murmured, his voice deceptively soft. His red gaze burned into Aoi’s face, searching for defiance. “Wait for me. Don’t test me again.”

Aoi swallowed hard and nodded quickly, his pale lashes wet with fear.

The locks clicked one by one as Renji left. His footsteps faded into silence, heavy, deliberate, until the entire mansion seemed to fall still with his absence.

Aoi waited. He counted numbers under his breath, his lips moving soundlessly. He made it to thirty before he lost track, then started again, whispering, “...thirty-one, thirty-two…” until his heart drummed courage into his fragile chest.

Now.

---

The floor was cold beneath his bare feet as he slipped into the hallway. The silence pressed against him, thick and suffocating, but the boy pressed forward. He remembered the study. Once, a servant had led him past, and he had peeked inside. He had seen the desk, the smell of leather and smoke, and the keys glinting like treasure.

Keys that opened doors.

The study door was heavy but not locked. It creaked faintly as he pushed it open, and Aoi winced, clutching Bunny tighter as if the toy could protect him from shadows.

The room was exactly as he remembered. The tall desk loomed, the faint scent of cigarettes and polished wood hung in the air. And on the desk, almost waiting for him, lay the silver ring of keys.

His heart thudded.

He padded forward, stretching on his tiptoes, reaching with trembling fingers. For a moment, he thought he was too small, too weak. Then the ring slid forward with a faint metallic clink, dropping neatly into his hand.

He froze.

The sound echoed like thunder in his ears, but nothing stirred. No footsteps came.

He let out a shaky laugh. “Bunny… we did it.”

The keys shone in his grasp, heavy and cool. For once, he had done something all by himself. His chest swelled with fragile pride.

The cage had a crack.

---

The front door was massive, framed by shadows that stretched across the marble floor. Aoi’s small hands fumbled desperately with the keys, each slip making the metal rattle. Sweat dampened his palms.

One key. Wrong. Another. Wrong again.

“Please, please…” His voice shook, a soft whimper rising. “Just one… just the right one…”

Then—click.

The lock shifted beneath his touch. The door gave way a fraction, and the faint scent of night air wafted through the crack. Cool, fresh, almost dizzying.

His pale eyes widened. The sky was there. The world was waiting just a step away.

He reached—

“Aoi.”

The name cut through the silence like a blade.

The boy froze. His breath caught painfully in his chest. Slowly, fearfully, he turned.

Renji stood at the end of the hallway. His figure filled the space, tall, broad, his tailored coat draping his muscled frame like the wings of a predator. His crimson eyes burned in the dim light, and his expression was carved into something terrifyingly cold.

Aoi’s knees nearly buckled. The keys slipped from his hands, clattering to the floor.

Renji did not shout. He did not rush. He moved forward with slow, deliberate steps, each one echoing against the marble, each one heavy with restrained violence.

When he reached the boy, his hand closed around Aoi’s fragile wrist and yanked him back so roughly that he stumbled into his chest.

The door swung shut behind them with a hollow boom.

“You,” Renji growled, his voice low, vibrating with fury he struggled to contain. “You were going to leave me.”

“N-No, I—” Aoi whimpered, clinging desperately to Bunny, but Renji’s grip was unrelenting.

“Don’t lie to me.” His breath was hot and ragged against the boy’s ear. “Do you have any idea what I give you? I feed you. Clothe you. Worship you.” His voice cracked, wild and bitter. “And you still…” His chest heaved, as if the words themselves cut him. “…you still dare run from me?”

“I… I wanted the sky…” The boy’s voice cracked, thin as glass, childlike and pleading.

Renji’s palm slammed against the wall beside his head, shaking the frame with a thunderous crack. Aoi cried out, pressing Bunny to his face, tears streaming down his white cheeks.

“The sky doesn’t love you!” Renji’s roar filled the hall, his red eyes wild with anguish. “I do! Only me! Do you hear me, Aoi?”

The boy sobbed, trembling under the weight of that fury.

Renji’s hand slid to his throat, not squeezing, but holding—strong enough to frighten, strong enough to remind him how fragile he was. His thumb pressed against the delicate curve of Aoi’s pulse.

“If you ever try this again,” Renji whispered hoarsely, his breath shaking with barely checked madness, “I’ll break your wings so you never even dream of flying.”

The words sank deep, more terrifying than any lock.

Aoi cried soundlessly, his pale body trembling against Renji’s chest, clutching Bunny as if the toy could shield him from the chains tightening invisibly around his heart.

He didn’t understand the madness in those crimson eyes. He only knew one thing—

The cage hadn’t cracked.

It had only grown smaller.

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