Not long after the fire in the Munich library, all of Dr. Reichwein's friends gathered for a meal in a small diner on one of the main streets, concerned about the latest news from both the press and television.
During the fire at the ceremony, several people were killed and many others injured. It was also confirmed that a black-haired Asian man was seen on the spot, who helped the imprisoned people get out and thanks to him an even greater tragedy didn't happen. However, no one knew what happened to the Japanese doctor afterwards.
"It was a mistake to rely on Lunge, the BKA agent." Dr. Gillen said, sitting with the others at the wooden table on which the dishes had already been laid out by the staff.
"Yes." Dr. Reichwein agreed, chewing on a piece of his white sausage. "I think we also need to change our behavior." His ex-student nodded slightly.
"The next time we deliver the evidence to the police, we should speak directly to the people 'upstairs'. Not only this. We shouldn't give them the materials until we have finished our investigation."
"Our investigation?" Nina Fortner turned to Dr. Gillen. "How long will it take?"
"At the moment our information on Johan is too inaccurate and unclear. Schuwald, Johan's employer... I think he knows something, but they still don't let visitors in. How is his son, Karl?" The man turned to Lotte sitting next to him.
"He left about two days ago... I have no contact with him since then." She replied a bit saddened.
"According to the testimony of most witnesses, it appears that there was an Asian who was helping people." Dr. Reichwein interrupted.
"If Tenma's fingerprints are found on a sniper rifle, no testimony will be of any use to us." Dr. Gillen's eyes narrowed in concern.
"How long do we have to wait?" Nina spoke to him and he turned his head to her. "There isn't much time left! If the police find out the truth and go to action... When that happens... Tenma will then..." She said the last sentence a little softer than the previous one, leaving everyone at the table feeling depressed.
"Nina..."
"Nina, I understand how you feel. I also have recently lost an important friend, Richard. He had a beautiful future ahead of him, but Johan took it from him! I won't stop! No matter what happens!" The girl looked at him again with worry written in her eyes, and the older man stuck another portion of the sausage on his fork. "Now let's eat." After that they continued their meal again.
After a long moment, Dieter spoke up unexpectedly.
"I wonder if there was also a big sis..." The blonde with a question in her eyes looked at the boy.
"Big sis...?"
"Dr. Tenma's sister." Dr. Reichwein explained to her as he sliced another piece of his sausage. "Dr. Gillen, I heard you know Emiko Tenma?" Nina listened to this unknown situation with surprise. Dr. Tenma... has a sister...?
"Yes, I met her over a year ago when she came to me about an analysis of Johan's messages. I couldn't believe then that she was really Tenma's younger sister..."
"Tenma's sister is in Germany?" Nina decided to speak up. "It means that she had to come..."
"From Japan." The criminal psychologist explained to her. "I saw her passport with my own eyes. She came here on purpose to help her brother. She also believes in his innocence..."
"Big sis said she wouldn't let Tenma do this terrible thing." Dieter replied as he scooped up another spoonful of soup.
"What does she look like?"
"It's a young woman, Nina." Dr. Reichwein adjusted his glasses. "I suspect she's your age, but her face looks nothing like Asian. She has long dark brown hair and is quite short. I don't remember her eye color, though I know she had the same look as Tenma. Besides, she almost forced me to promise not to tell her brother she is here.
"She asked me to do that too..." Dr. Gillen said, gulping down his last bite. "It was as if she wanted to solve this investigation on her own..."
"Wait..." Lotte joined the conversation unexpectedly. "You said that the girl's name is Emiko?"
"That's right..." The older man thought for a moment. "Have you met her too?" Slowly, Lotte put her fork down on the edge of her plate and thought for a moment.
"Somehow in the spring, I met a pretty cool female student at the university and the description of her appearance would fit, but..." The girl started staring at the plate for a moment. "She introduced herself to me as Emilie Himmel..." She turned her head back up. "Would such a coincidence be possible?" Dr. Gillen frowned at this previously known information.
"That's her! Tenma's sister! At the beginning, she also introduced herself as Emilie Himmel to me, but later she admitted who she really was. Did you meet her at the university?"
"Yes... On one day. I liked her..."
"Please wait..." Nina spoke again. "You say Tenma's sister is quite short and has long brown hair...?" Dr. Reichwein looked at her piercingly.
"Nina, have you seen her somewhere too?" The young woman nodded slightly.
"I'm not sure, but... when I was standing on the stage next to Schuwald during the fire... I think that in the clouds of smoke I noticed the silhouette of a short woman..." At these words the older man began to open his eyes wide with undisguised terror. "But I'm not entirely sure about it..."
"Nina! Please, focus. Was there anyone else there? This is very important!" The girl, along with the rest of the people sitting at the table, looked at him searchingly.
"Dr. Reichwein, why would you suppose Tenma's sister might have been in the library at the time?" Dr. Gillen frowned. "It was a closed ceremony." The older man placed one of his hands on the table, which began to shake a little.
"Tenma's sister... Emiko... I wouldn't like to believe it, but... It is possible that she wants to finish what Dr. Tenma started." Everyone looked at him in disbelief.
"You don't mean..." Dr. Gillen looked seriously at his former teacher, who frowned with nervousness even more. Nina, Dieter, and Lotte froze, along with the criminal psychologist, in disbelief mixed with horror.
If for real Emiko was in the library, but Johan managed to leave... what happened to her? They all tried to fight back the feeling of serious anxiety that slowly began to spread through their minds.
They didn't even want to start thinking about what could have happened to her if she hadn't been able to get out of the flames then...
****
A winding road led up a hill where sunflowers grew reflecting the sunlight, and it seemed as if they were growing out of gold. There was a soft breeze, carrying the scent of flowers... violets? Incredible peace and harmony were felt, and natural unity with the universe...
A brown-haired young woman was wearing a white dress and a straw hat, and was walking slowly towards the top of the hill, enjoying the beauty of the place around her. She felt incredible peace and happiness. With a slow step she walked over to the sunflowers and gently stroked their yellow petals with her fingers. There was a soft voice in the air, as if someone was singing her lullaby for peaceful sleep... Someone with a voice like honey and silk...
She lay down among the sea of flowers, staring at the blue sky where white clouds were flowing.
Suddenly her peace was disturbed and the ground began to collapse under her weight. The girl tried to get up and get out of there, as quickly as possible, but it was too late. Her body wouldn't listen to her, it became incredibly heavy. Salt appeared in her mouth and it began to cover her face, her eyes... and though she fought over and over, she sank into the abyss - straight to the inside of her own grave.
****
'...Ugh... My head hurts so much...'
It was dark everywhere when suddenly a soft moan was heard, followed by a soft rustling. And then another. It was a dragging sound... as if someone was trying to move but couldn't. As if something was preventing that human from doing so...
'Right, the fire... something... hit me... and then... ngh...' Emiko still had darkness before her eyes and she felt incredibly sore. So she decided to try again and move her arms, but she failed again. She slowly began to regain awareness and feel more and more uncomfortable as she realized that her hands were tied to something. She tried to move her legs too, but to her increasing panic, the effect remained the same. She liked the present situation less and less, so she strained all her senses and opened her eyes.
The first thing she saw was a white ceiling with a pale beige wall decorated with a small picture of a sunset over the sea, surrounded by a white frame. When she tilted her head slightly, she saw that her arms and legs were tied to the railing of the bed she was lying on.
'What the hell...' She tried to tear her bonds again, as she was too stunned by the present situation to be able to form any single, logical thought.
"I see you woke up."
The softly spoken voice affected on her like an icy blast of wind, swiftly breaking through her still darkened mind. In an instant she shuddered violently and with multiplied force began to try again to free herself from the chains that bound her, at all costs.
It was more like a reaction to that quietly spoken voice than an actual urge to get out. Seriously panicked, she turned her head to the right, where she saw an all-too-familiar figure standing in the open door of the room.
Johan's face was hidden in the shadows, but the girl felt a little relieved because of it; not seeing what expression on his face was now, Emiko deprived herself of the possible, least pleasant sight.
A heavy silence was filling the room; one could only hear the murmur of the drops hitting the glass outside the window. As a result, too many, not fully formulated questions appeared in Emiko's mind, even one of it she couldn't reasonably put into a one piece. Her head, however, still ached her mercilessly, so she chose the first question that came to her mind to prevent her further tortures.
"Where..." She began, but as she started to speak, she felt that even the tongue refused to cooperate with her. For another long moment there was an overwhelming silence and Emiko began to wonder if she would get any response from the man who was still standing in the doorway without moving.
"In the hotel." Although she heard an answer, it didn't included any important information, because the appearance of the room in which she was currently staying, spoke a lot for itself before. In her soul, Emiko cursed herself for wasting the question because of her stupidity. She tried again, this time thinking a little longer about its content. She licked her lips, but not sure if the next one will be better than the previous one.
"Why?" The answer came faster this time, and it was spoken in a voice devoid of any emotion.
"You passed out in the library after Dr. Tenma was unable to shoot me." At these words, Emiko's heart began to dangerously accelerate its pace. "You would probably have died there because I suppose, Dr. Tenma didn't even know you were there. That's why I took you here... Emiko."
Her heart, which was beating incredibly fast, stopped completely in an instant.
Emi... KO...?!
She felt the last syllable so strong and directly, as if she had received an incredibly strong punch, right in the stomach. The girl froze in total motionlessness, eyes wide open. She knew before... She knew that he can do a lot of things... but THIS exceeded her wildest expectations. How had he found out about her true identity?! Since she came to Germany, only two people have learned the truth about her roots! In addition, they were people who, like her, tried to get her brother acquitted. So how was this demon able to find out... her real name?! To all the people she introduced herself, she referred herself as Emilie Himmel! In addition, not only her name was European. Due to the fact that her father was from Russia, she had a completely non-Asian beauty; even though her mother was Japanese. Besides, she could speak German perfectly, so some people took her here for a native German.
But Johan...
"You have a terrible headache, I suppose." A voice like honey and silk broke her out of her total daze. This sound made shiver go down her spine, but as if nothing had happened, the young man turned and disappeared into the darkness behind the open door, leaving her staring at the empty space. At that moment, in the young woman's head were mixing together and alternately: confusion, pain and despair.
How terribly her head hurted! Unfortunately for her, a brief discussion from a moment ago made it even worse. Emiko sighed heavily and fell back on the pillow, closing her eyes tightly. In an instant, the darkness began to swirl in front of her eyes, drawing patterns unknown to anyone.
'How is that even possible...?! ' With the last of her strength, she began to try to push as far as possible in her mind, the so far unasked question, which now, with the passing of time, became more and more terrifying for her.
Why was her life saved... by HIM?
Luckily for the girl, she could hear footsteps approaching, returning to the room, which took her out of the labyrinth of her own thoughts. The steps became closer and closer, and finally stopped right next to her bed. However, Emiko decided, for her own peace of mind, not to open her eyes.
'If you are going to kill me, do it as soon as possible...' But instead of the long-awaited arms of death, she felt that someone was sitting next to her on the mattress. With the growing emotions in her, she clenched her hands into fists, and cold drops of sweat appeared on her forehead. '...End it now. Please...' Her whole body was shaking like in a fever.
"Here." Unexpectedly, she heard a man's voice, much closer than she would have liked to, so she turned her head the other way, as far away from him as possible... As far away from that voice as possible. Unfortunately, due to her current position and the fact that her legs and arms were still tied to the bed, it wasn't too far away. "Take it." His calm voice suggested again, completely ignoring her undeniable desire to run from there, as far as possible.
"What is this?" She muttered dissatisfiedly, more trying to regain her lost of peace than finding the answer to her question. How was it even possible that, even though she had had the opportunity to talk to him before, only now was his closeness causing her so much stress? After all, the worst thing Johan could do was to kill her, however she was prepared for it as soon as she had known his existence while talking to Dr. Gillen... Lying so deprived of the possibility of a physical counterattack, she felt extremely pitiful.
"It's just a painkiller." Emiko instinctively pressed her face even deeper into the pillow, tightly clenching her lips, which allowed her to hear a soft noise next to her - a sigh... or maybe a chuckle? It's hard to say. "It wouldn't make much sense for me to go through all the trouble of bringing you here, just to poison you immediately, would it?" That voice, like silk, was like a silk sheet, hiding a box of torture tools beneath it. The words "quick and painless" didn't fit here at all.
"Most of what you're doing... don't make sense to me... Johan." The girl deep in her soul congratulated herself on being able to finally breathe out a whole sentence. She also quietly hoped that by saying his name aloud, her lost confidence would return. But nothing of the sort happened. Even worse, she noticed that her voice was trembling greatly.
"You're breaking my heart by saying such things." Emiko's head turned limp to the other side, looking at him with surprise. His face was less than half a meter from hers, on which she noticed one corner of his mouth lifted, as if with a hint of an ironic smile. But just as Johan felt confident that the girl was watching him closely, his face lit up with the warmest and most charming smile it could ever create. The young woman immediately understood why she had always tried to keep a slight distance from him since they met, and why she wanted to keep her eyes closed even now, subconsciously.
His perfect appearance was so breathtaking it almost suffocated her. The man's face was delicately outlined in the shape of a heart, framed at the same time by a masculine jaw, and above it hung hair the color of coastal sand, lit by the summer sun. Elegantly curved lip line; eyes - clear and deep at the same time, like a sea in an icy land, reflecting in its surface the high mountains at dawn... and that smile. A smile that seemed to radiate so much the perfectly calculated height of heat that it could let these mountains dissolve into nothingness. Basically to let everything around him dissolve into nothingness.
Emiko looked at her opponent helplessly, fighting the conflict between his external appearance and the history of his crimes, which she discovered while following her brother. This conflict joined her headache, which gave her the impression that her head was about to burst in two.
She stared at him for a long time, her mouth slightly open, so Johan put a pill in them without a hurry. This unexpected touch of his warm fingertips against her lips caused a shiver go down in the area of her spine that inexplicably spread over her entire body.
"Now drink, here I have a water for you." The girl obeyed this simple command without murmuring, feeling a momentary emptiness in her mind - but as soon as she swallowed the pill, she realized how much she wanted to drink. When she went out to hide in the library before the ceremony, she didn't take any water with her, so as not to trigger a natural reaction in the body and be forced to go to the toilet; from which her presence would have seemed at once. So she packed all the necessary food and set off to spend the night at the top of the bookshelf in the university library.
Currently, however, she was dying of thirst, so she continued to swallow the water slowly until she drained the glass to the bottom. Her current body position was largely unsuitable for drinking, even though Johan patiently held the glass in the most accessible manner possible. As soon as Emiko lowered her head, suppressing a groan after too sudden meeting with the pillow, the man leaned back a bit, clearly pleased. His warm smile was replaced by a calm but unreadable expression on his face.
"Good girl. It is better to stop the pain, right?" With huge effort, she managed to turn her head the other way, ignoring his caring tone, which, take into consideration their knowledge about each other, was completely out of place. Young Tenma had the overwhelming feeling that Johan was fully aware of it.
"If you're so concerned about my suffering, you could free me from these bonds." The girl made this remark with a slight bitterness in her voice, trying not to think about what substance she had just swallowed. It definitely had to be something obtained from the black market, because the first healing effects of it literally started to show already. Just as she expected, Johan completely ignored her suggestion, got up from the bed and walked away a little. Emiko sighed with relief, as quietly as she could, lest he noticed it.
As her mind cleared from second to second, memories began to come back, which, due to her earlier state, she had completely forgotten.
'Incredibly hot... How many people were there...? Screams everywhere... Johan was approaching my brother...' Emiko's eyes opened wide in shock. '...who was unable to pull the trigger... Sudden shots... And before I passed out...'
"ONII-CHAN!!" She screamed with all her might, turning her face straight to the perpetrator of all this commotion, having in her mind the scene when he passed her brother. "What did you do to my brother?! Where is he? Tell me! Jesus..." Johan bend his head slightly, then chuckled softly.
"Oh...? Are you more interested in Dr. Tenma's well-being than everyone else at the ceremony? Human lives aren't equal for you, Emiko?" She wasn't quite sure what his allusion was referring to, but she had an overwhelming feeling as if it was being directed more towards her brother than towards her. It was directed to her brother. Human lives...
'... It's rather obvious that they're all worth the same!' She thought, gritting her teeth at the same time. 'What happened to him after he didn't shoot Johan? And what about Schuwald and a girl named Nina? How many victims were there?' She remembered that her brother had blown the hinges off one of the library doors, helping the trapped people to get out.
"Emiko." Johan spoke it in the tone of a teacher scolding a careless student. "You should understand by now that I am interested in the scenarios, not the results. Moreover, you should also know that I will properly take care for Dr. Tenma and my sister." He said the last words with a smile, but it was so cold that it chilled the blood in her veins.
'A sister...?' The jigsaw puzzles seemed to fit together better and better... 'So the murder of the couple in Heidelberg was related to your sister... Now I understand why they were targeted.'
"Oh, and by the way..." Johan slowly continued, his smile growing successively, showing a row of perfectly straight teeth, so Emiko was sure that what he was about to say wouldn't be accidental. "Outside of the library, I saw someone called Dr. Reichwein, with a little boy."
Her heart stopped for one long second.
"What... No... You... If you... I definitely..." The girl started to try to free herself with a crazy passion, feeling a growing wave of heat inside of her.
"...you will kill me?" He finished with one eyebrow slightly raised. "I see you want to do this in exchange for Dr. Tenma. Fine. You've come this far yourself, so I let you. You two are so much alike..." Johan closed his eyes as if he remembered a very nice scene. Although the term "nice scene" definitely didn't fit here, especially since the monster smiled at the same time. "When I passed out in the library, you helped me as selflessly as Dr. Tenma did that night ten years ago." The girl's heart began to accelerate again. "Aah, Emiko..." Johan slightly shook his head in disappointment that seemed surprisingly sincere. "You're just like your brother. After all the trouble you went through looking for him, after all the times you talked to me or watched me from a distance... You still couldn't help him in the decision he had made so long ago. Tell me... " The tools of torture, inch by inch, punctured her skin, aiming right at her heart. "...It must be extremely frustrating to know that although you brought all the people you met in Germany close to the danger and didn't free your older brother from despair, you still failed to achieve your goal despite being so close." This time Emiko was unable to stop the sob that escaped through her mouth. She closed her eyes and felt her body become motionless and covered with cold sweat, giving her the impression that death was inexorably approaching her.
'How stupid I was to think killing me is the worst thing he can do to me...'
"I am going out for a while. Wait for me here." After these words, Johan left, leaving the distraught girl to her own thoughts.