In the largest laboratory at Hell headquarters, Emma was stirring a clear mixture in a vial while slowly adding some kind of orange powder.
Even with this precise work, she seemed distracted, she'd felt like she'd had a fishbone stuck in her throat these past few days.
After her conversation with Ringo, she'd expected many things, whether forgiveness or hatred, she was ready to accept it all, but Ringo seemed to be struggling internally every time he saw her.
She wasn't stupid, she understood perfectly what that meant.
It meant he loved her enough not to want to kill her, but hated her enough not to forgive her, so she was stuck there, in the middle ground.
She hoped he would decide soon, but no, this game continued, making her uncomfortable.
She didn't quite know what to expect, but she knew what she felt, guilt.
As she'd said before, this was truly her biggest regret.
Emma never considered herself a bad person, not really. Her goal from the beginning was in the biological field, to understand and change all beings in this world.
She doesn't know if it's due to her esper gene related to plant life, but she is very talented in this area. She enjoyed it, enjoyed being good at it and enjoyed advancing even more.
She was a proud woman. How could she not be? She had always been the best at what she did since childhood. Emma saw herself for who she truly was, whether others saw her that way or not mattered little.
She'd been called self-centered, lonely, crazy... all true titles in a way, so she never took offense to them.
The guilt toward Ringo was like background noise in her life, she felt a tightness in her chest when she thought about it, but she usually ignored it.
Well, until Ringo appeared and played a movie in her dream, a movie that showed exactly what her decision back then had caused in his life.
She didn't seem to change much on the outside at that moment, but she was shaken. This was reality, not something distant from her, but something that happened because of her. Ringo didn't alleviate the torture she suffered, so Emma saw it all.
The hand holding the vial trembled slightly, her eyes going out of focus for a moment. Normally, this would be unacceptable to her. She not shaking, no, she should be perfect at what she did.
But there she was, thinking about all the pain he'd suffered. She wondered how he hadn't gone mad, probably related to his Esper gene. But what would normally make her incredibly curious now only increased the butterflies in her stomach.
She wanted to vomit.
Feeling she couldn't concentrate on her work, she put the vial aside.
Looking at the white ceiling of her new room with state-of-the-art equipment, full of Mobs to command, she didn't feel happy.
Normally, she would already be thinking about how to escape. She's a free woman, even with all this luxury. She refuses to work for anyone, all her research is hers and hers alone.
But there she was, not even considering running away.
She laughed lightly at the thought of paying for the crimes she'd committed, but Ringo's look made it clear, her crimes couldn't be paid for with work.
She could see his pain, as well as his longing.
For a moment, she considered simply fulfilling her promise and staying with him. Emma had never given much thought to matters between men and women, it was irrelevant to her research and her life was primarily focused on her research.
Where was there time for love and passion?
Laughable.
But now she considered the idea, but at the same time, she didn't know how to approach it.
Should she go to him and take off her clothes? Would that help or offend him?
She didn't know, this inner turmoil was driving her crazy.
She was guilty, yes, but when wasn't she? She was a repeat offender, even if she only wanted to advance her research, she was still a criminal.
When had she ever cared about the consequences of what she did? Or even in the mud they threw at her? Never!
But there she was... Guilt, that was the truth, she was filled with guilt.
Emma was an orphan, but that never really bothered her. She'd long ago abandoned social attachments. She knew it made her an outcast, but she was okay with it.
But Ringo's dependence at the time made her feel strange.
At first, she didn't understand the feeling, the feeling of someone smiling at you and asking if you were okay, not the generic kind, but genuine concern.
Sharing a meal with you in comfortable silence, watching a stupid movie without really caring about the content...
There was nothing romantic about it, Ringo was just a child after all, but this was human contact, something she had never truly experienced.
Ringo was an unknown variable that made her understand why humans are creatures that live in society.
This feeling began to scare her, so she left at the first opportunity.
Ringo's marriage proposal at the end seemed like a joke to her, but she wanted to leave a beautiful memory for him.
She was wrong to do it, she gave him hope, it led Ringo down a path of extreme pain.
Maybe Ringo wanted this, for her to see his pain, that's why he showed her everything. He wanted her to feel guilty? Well, he succeeded.
Emma isn't a completely cold woman, this cold exterior is merely a form of protection, her years in prison have made her even more resilient.
But inside, she still has feelings, but this was the first time she'd felt such a tightness in her chest.
It was as if something was trapped in her lungs.
A purely psychological reaction, she knew, but this was worse. She could heal a physical wound, but a spiritual one? Her hands were tied.
She wanted to scream in frustration and cry in pain, but instead, she kept her gaze steady and continued her work.
Ringo told her what he needed, potent serums, something that would have extreme effects, even if it would kill anyone 99.999% of the time.
Emma could do it, it was actually quite easy.
So she did, using the last few days to continue producing serums with whatever materials were available to her. Everything she asked for would be quickly delivered, so she isolated herself there and continued working.
But she waited for night, because he would come at night..
Not while she was awake, but in her dreams, there they stared at each other with a thousand words in their chests, just staring at each other. Neither of them could say anything, neither of them could reveal their feelings, but they both knew what each of them felt.
Emma hated this as much as she longed for it.
She hated not being able to say anything, but she longed to finally be able to speak. She had already apologized, but it sounded hollow. She knew she had, but she didn't know how to sound sincere, how to sound remorseful.
The pair opened their mouths several times, but in the end neither of them could say anything.
Frustration grew more and more in her chest.
Finally, she let out a long sigh, picked up the vial again. With a serious look, she went back to work.