A light breeze blew through the green trees, carrying the scent of blooming flowers. It was the spring time - beautiful and enchanting, as only this time of year should be. The scent of flowers floated in the air, its captivating scent reaching the shutters of the open window and then the interior of the room.
A figure was sitting there at a desk, furiously studying the book in her hands. However, the breeze was relentless and definitely disrupted the concentration she had undoubtedly achieved. She let out a long yawn, then put a bookmark in her book and leaned back in her chair. At literally the same moment, she heard someone knocking on the door.
"Come in!"
A man in a suit entered the room with a satisfied look on his face, then sat down on the sofa against the wall.
"Congratulations! I heard you achieved one of the best results?" At these words, Emiko smiled at him with a disarming smile.
"It's all thanks to the help of Dr. Reichwein and you, Dr. Gillen. You two gave me wise knowledge, and I only remembered it nicely and drew conclusions. Nothing more." Satisfied with such wisely spoken words, she crossed her arms.
"Psychology studies... in adition criminal psychology studies aren't just 'nothing more', Emiko. You did a really great job... Oh, right, Tenma hasn't come back yet?" The girl shook her head.
"No, but he called yesterday. He's still walking around France and luckily I'm sure he won't get lost on a straight road like I did... He's my onii-chan after all." She stood up from her seat, stretching her stagnant arms slightly. "Would you like some tea or coffee? I still have some time before the bus leaves."
"I'd love to drink some tea. I think I may have overdosed on caffeine recently..." He replied, then stood up and followed her to the kitchen. "Have you heard anything from Nina? I was so overwhelmed with work that I had no way to contact her."
"Hmm... not really." The girl started measuring tea leaves on a tea spoon and pouring them into the cup. "But we're supposed to meet next week. I have a feeling she'll want to talk with me about Kenzo."
"Why do you 'have the feeling'?"
"Well..." Emiko put the kettle on and turned towards him. "This will most likely be a conversation between two adult women, Professor. Please focus better on dealing with prisoners' cases." Then she sent him a wary smile.
****
When young Tenma said goodbye to Dr. Gillen, she put on a light sweater on her shoulders and walked towards the bus stop to go to the institution located on the outskirts of the city. There was someone there who she visited every week, and at the same time someone who could only be visited.
On the way, she picked a flowering branch from an apple tree by the road, admiring the sweet scent of its flowers.
When she got off the bus after several dozen minutes, she headed towards the huge edifice of the building, at the main entrance of which there was a large plaque.
POLICE HOSPITAL IN BAVARIA
She went inside and after showing the appropriate pass at the reception, she started walking down the main corridor towards one of the rooms. Finally she stood in front of the door, pulled the handle and went inside.
There was nothing special about the room. The walls were aquamarine, and in the middle of the room there was an open fabric curtain of the same color. Next was a window, and next to it an iron bed with white sheets and someone deep in sleep...
Emiko came closer and sat on the chair next to the bed, still holding the blooming apple branch in her hands.
"I see... you still haven't woken up since those events." She whispered towards him, suddenly remembering everything that had happened half a year earlier...
****
The entire Ruhenheim was taken over by police patrols and, on a special call, a medical helicopter arrived to save those who were still possible to cure. Calls could be heard everywhere and the increasing work of emergency services.
"Eastern sector secured. Start searching for the inhabitants of this city!"
"It's terrible... Has anyone survived here?"
"Finally, our DNN team managed to enter the city from the hill. There was a massacre here! The city revealed to us the enormity of the entire tragedy. What could happen in such a quiet town in southern Germany?"
"As I said, we have managed to detain only one suspect so far..."
"We found an injured police officer at the Versteck Hotel!"
While all these calls were going on, Emiko, Kenzo and Nina were sitting in complete silence at the closed entrance to one of the tenement houses, leaning against each other. At one point, police officers's footsteps approached them.
"Excuse me..." Nina raised her head slightly, while Kenzo and Emiko remained motionless. "But aren't you...?" The policeman took a closer look at him. "There is no doubt. You are wanted on an arrest warrant!"
"Doctor Tenma!" Suddenly they heard another person screaming, approaching them. The out of breath medic stood in front of them. "Are you Dr. Tenma? Please come with me."
"Hey! What do you mean?" The policeman growled at him.
"Inspector Lunge from BKA is calling you." The two siblings lifted their faces. "He told me to tell you that there is a patient who needs you." Tenma clenched his hands into fists, but he felt someone's touch on them and turned his head towards his sister.
"Please..." She started slowly, looking at him with tearful eyes. "I would like to see his smile again..."
"And I would like to..." Nina also spoke towards him. "...forgive him. I would like to forgive. Tenma, you weren't wrong. You didn't hesitate then... and you shouldn't hesitate now either."
Nina and Emiko stood up, and Kenzo went towards the helicopter heralding the circle of the history. He went to save the Monster again. This time, however, he had two crystal-clear hearts with him, holding hands and looking at his retreating figure.
Two hearts that opened him the world to a better tomorrow.
****
Shortly after the events in Ruhenheim, Emiko called her home in Japan for the first time to say that she was safe and sound.
It took her several hours to tell the whole story and then her personal experiences, alternately laughing and crying with the people on the other end of the phone. Even her mother, after those few years when the news about her daughter went missing, calmed down and began to treat her more cordially.
The girl told her parents that she didn't intend to return to the country for now and would stay in Germany to live with her brother. They didn't oppose her. She managed to survive difficult events, so she would certainly be able to cope with another - her parents were convinced of that. They just made her promise that she would visit them at least once a year. The girl agreed, but noted that in the summer semester she would start studies at the university of Frieddrich Emmanuel in Munich.
"Criminal psychology, dad. I want to help people, opening the new development opportunities in their brains."
"Stop it."He laughed with her mother on the phone. "You talk as if you were going to become a neurosurgeon, not a psychologist." All three of them burst out laughing. Helping people's minds must have been instilled in her genes, the same as it was with her brother. There was no other way to explain it.
Emiko also told this complicated story to her friends, talking to each of them for several hours. She found out that Risa had graduated from an university and started running her own business, and Mika had found a fiancé and was planning a wedding... So much had changed over the years... She felt a little sad about it. It was as if her entire past was becoming a more and more distant memory.
However, there was one person who, despite the passage of time, had not changed at all... except maybe for the fact that he got older. Ren was incredibly relieved to hear that after all this time, nothing bad had happened to her. However, he knew that his youthful dream, kept deep in his heart, would never come true... Her heart remained with a certain young man, currently immersed in a deep sleep. But he wasn't consumed by painful grief. No... He felt rather relieved that the one closest to him had found someone who was an oasis of her happiness. Silent happiness... He felt a sharp pang in his heart.
"So he still isn't awake?" There was silence on the other end of the phone for a few seconds.
"No, but... I want to be with him. That's all I can do for him now."
"I hope it will finally come true. Your dream." Ren smiled into his telephone handset, sending a warm thought towards Germany. "Each of us will eventually find our piece of happiness."
"Thank you. I'll call you again soon. And I have a feeling... that together with my brother and his *ahem ahem* future wife we will come for Christmas. In Japan, New Year's Eve is the most fun to celebrate and by all means, I would like to show it to my friend."
Yes, that was true. Young Tenma wasn't blind. There was clearly something sparking between Kenzo and Nina, which is why she left them alone in their company whenever she could. She was like a silent Cupid, hiding behind a bush in front of which two lovers were sitting on a bench.
****
Emiko still was sitting by the bed with the apple branch in her hand, remembering the meaning of this flower. Apple blossoms...
She smiled gently, then rested one of her hands on Johan's larger hand, lying on the white sheets, and placed the blooming flowers on them, held in her other hand.
"My brother will come back from France in three days, he told me that he found your mother and would like to talk to her. I hope everything will work out... Today is such a beautiful day and everything is blooming... see. Apple blossoms make our promise, remember? 'I will create a Paradise for you.' That's what they mean. I brought it especially for you, so you can admire it up close. Ah, that's right... Professor Schrödinger gave us an incredibly long essay to write. Who normal asks young students who want to enjoy life to write essays in such weather? Don't you think it's ridiculous...?"
As usual, she told him all the news from the whole week, because although the young blonde man was in a coma, many doctors claimed (including Kenzo) that he could hear and feel everything that was happening around him. Even though there was a slim chance of it, it could also speed up his recovery... at least that's what Emiko believed.
When she finished telling him the latest events, she squeezed his hand tighter and smiled at him.
"No matter how much time passes... I will be waiting for you. I will never abandon you. Thank you for being born so I could meet you. Johan..." Here she slowly stood up and leaned her head over him, gently rubbing strands of hair against his face. "...When you recover, come back to me... to my... our home." With that, she kissed the top of his head and left the room... completely unaware of what will happen over the next few days.
****
After Tenma visited Johan in the hospital after his return from France, the next day the world spread the news that the Nameless had disappeared.
No one knew what had happened to him - the hospital staff even felt as if he had suddenly simply vanished into the thin air... As if the patient they had before had never existed. This was definitely news that hit everyone closely connected with the case lasting over the last few years.
However, the following months passed and there was no sign of the missing person, which made even the police wonder between continuing the case or discontinuing the case. After all, how can you judge someone... who doesn't exist?
Emiko was skeptical about the police's actions. They had been pursuing her brother baselessly for so many years and were unable to get to the bottom of the truth on their own that she quickly stopped relying on them. Now she also preferred to focus on her studies, waiting for what each next day could bring her. However, she secretly hoped that the one she was waiting for one day will return.
As summer came, she began going to the college patio every evening; the place where she first met him. Every evening, crickets were singing magical melodies, and fireflies were illuminating the area, creating a picture like something out of a fairy tale. Besides... roses were blooming there too now... White flowers were spreading their petals towards the silvery moon, and the girl was looking towards the river of stars scattered across the sky, admiring their beauty. She still believed that...
"...the universe hides a life that no one has ever dreamed of before?"
In an instant, she turned her head towards the source of the voice with her heart beating.
A voice... that reminded her of honey and silk at the same time... and so many memories.
Next to a bush of pristine white roses was standing a tall, young man with blond hair and blue eyes that reflected a falling star in the sky.
Bewildered, Emiko slowly stood up... to snuggle straight into his broad arms in one jump.
How sweet these roses smelled... Their scent was almost intoxicating, as if... As if it was going to drown these two young people, who were unable to let go of each other, in a beautiful, inscrutable dream...