APRICITAS [ENG] || Johan Liebert || Monster

Chapter 23 - The Decision

Autumn in Munich was exceptionally beautiful this year, as if someone was winning a symphony of sounds and there was a euphoria of all colors. The birds in the trees chirped happily, chirping and telling each other the best news of their lives, and the flowers in the parks and wherever they grew glowed with all the colors of the rainbow.

In a park in the city center, on one of the benches bordering with a rather large flowerbed, sat a young girl with a bandaged arm, and long dark brown hair falling over her face. In her small hands she was clutching a sketchbook, at the same time looking at the flowers blooming among the grasses.

They were so beautiful... so full of life... that they didn't make a good impression on Emiko. It seemed to her that the amazing beauty of the season was mocking her present feelings. She still couldn't believe that all she had experienced had happened in just four days. It was so... almost unreal. If it weren't for the wound on her shoulder that was still painful, she probably would have thought it was all just a dream. All of this...

****

After she had cried out in Johan's arms the night before, she woke up the next day gently, at the same time, knowing where it was all going. She didn't even have to open her eyes to know what she will see. She slowly sat up in a bed and found the barrel of the pistol pointed at her.

"Good morning."

The girl felt surprisingly calm looking straight into his face, perhaps for the last time. The young man no longer had to either tease or threaten her. It wasn't it. It was just going to end in this way. The charm of every day spent together, eating meals, lying down and sitting in complete silence... The girl almost desperately wanted to return to the conversation that had happened yesterday, to this one, so important moment, to be able to say that it would never be a sacrifice for her, that this would be the thing she really wanted... Probably the first thing she wanted so badly in her entire life! Saving him...

However, this moment was gone forever. One careless step could destroy everything else, so young Tenma didn't say a word.

"I changed my plans."

The man's clothes seemed even more flawless than usual - every little fold of his suit was in the right place, and the buttons on his perfectly white shirt were buttoned up to his neck, despite the heat in the room that was created by the morning sun from outside the window. It was almost as if by this perfect outfit he was trying to recompensate his inner disorder. Emiko was well aware of how it was unlike to him to stop and talk with the victim... to say goodbye before pulling the trigger. Yes... he have treated her differently.

"You know why I'm doing this, don't you... Emiko?" Suddenly she noticed how much Johan hesitated for a split of a second before saying her real name. It looked like as if he were considering returning to the name she had introduced herself to on the university rooftop that night, which would have denied everything that had happened between them. So he had to decide against it. "Right, Emiko?" All this made her slowly smile gently and she looked at his beautiful features, on which's one side was shining sun rays, illuminating his face from the side.

"You weren't expecting that you could... that you let me get so close. And now... you don't know how to-"

"I am glad you understand." The young man cut her softly, mirroring her smile, then tilted the gun towards her. It was just a faint, barely noticeable click, but it made the young woman suddenly see... strange images in front of her eyes. Though there should be memories of the past flowing through her mind at this point... she, as opposed to it, was being able to see for a moment... the future...?

"Wait... Johan."

'...Even if you kill me here...'

"Please don't beg me." She wasn't sure, but she had an impression as if his hand trembled slightly after saying these words. Or maybe she just thought it because she was so close to death? "Don't do this to yourself, Emiko."