Layton's Algebraic Equations

Luke had been sitting at his uncomfortable desk for two hours now. He was staring down at his papers and notes from school. The papers were covered in numbers and letters from various ways to solve the equation, but no matter how many times he tried, he still couldn't get the right answer. He heaved himself out of his wheeled chair and gave an exasperated sigh. Picking up the books and heading out the door, he found his way towards his teacher's room. He quietly knocked on the door and opened it.

"Professor, could I bother you for a moment?" Luke quietly asked.

"Why, of course, Luke. What is it that you need?" Layton looked up from the odd array of bones sitting in front of him at his desk. Like Luke, he was prone to burning the midnight oil and studying his hardest, no matter what the subject may be.

"I seem to be having a bit of trouble with my math homework this evening… could you help me?" Luke mumbled quietly as he sat next to Layton in a nearby chair.

"Well, let me have a look." Layton held his hand out and received Luke's notebook, moved a few bones away and sat it in front of him. His smile never faded as he saw the difficult math problem and sat staring at it. Luke suddenly became excited. He must be solving it in his head! Oh, professor, I knew I could count on you!

"Luke, my dear boy," Layton began, still staring intently at the paper.

"Yes, professor!" Luke smiled at him even wider, beaming with optimism.

"Why, Luke…" Layton said with an unwavering voice, still smiling.

"Y-… Yes, professor?" Luke slowly changed his demeanor from anxious to confused.

"Luke, my dear boy, this reminds me of a puzzle! It went something along the lines of 'How many steps are required to break an m x n bar of chocolate into 1 x 1 pieces?' Now, you could break it vertically or horizontally, but never two or more pieces at once- Luke? Luke, my boy, what are you doing?" Layton cut off his rant to watch the boy silently sit up, take his notebook from the desk, and head out the door.

"You go ahead and solve the puzzle and continue your archaeology, professor. I'm going to find Flora and see if she knows how to solve it…"

A/N: wow… In my mind, this was a lot longer… This was my excuse to quit with my very own math homework for a 'break'… Perhaps Layton wasn't a math wiz? I know I'm not XD