"Alright. See you then."
The door opened and closed. The sound made Luke stir from his sleep, and he stretched his arms over his head.
"Good morning."
"Ugh...Professor?" Luke sat up in his chair, the new book he'd been reading tumbling to the ground.
"Oh, careful." Layton picked up the book to set it gently on the coffee table, "Did you sleep well?"
Luke looked up to see that the professor had set a cup of tea beside the book before retreating to his desk.
"Is this for me?"
"Yes." Layton began to mess with the work on his desk, "I think you'll like it."
Luke lifted the teacup to his lips, "Oasis berry! Wait, you made tea by yourself?"
"Is that so surprising?" Layton said, a hint if amusement in his voice, "I used to make tea every day, you know."
"Well, yes, but back then you weren't..."
He didn't finish.
Layton rested one fist on the desktop, "I can't just sit around feeling sorry for myself. A gentleman doesn't wait for others to act for them; We act for ourselves. I'm grateful that you have been mindful of my struggle, but just because I can't see anymore doesn't mean I'm completely helpless."
Luke smiled as he took another sip, "I thought you might say that. Okay, I'll stop being so paranoid if that makes you feel better."
He noticed the bandage on the professor's head had been removed, showing off a bright white scar beneath the messy brown hair. It would likely be there for the rest of his life, even if it continued to fade overtime.
"Thank you, Luke." Layton turned in his chair, "Is that the same book you were reading before?"
Luke noted the topic change, "No, I finished the other one. Turns out there was no puppet master or magic puppets. The kids were just distracted by fireflies and got lost in the forest. I mean, they had me fooled."
"Fascinating."
"I know." Luke yawned after he'd finished the last of his tea, "It was quite a twist."
Layton drummed his fingertips on the desk. It was a hollow sound, partially reverberated off of other surfaces. It was incredible how much he'd learned to pay attention to sounds now that he could no longer rely on his eyes.
"Hey, Professor!" Emmy stepped in from outside, "You ready to go?"
"Go?" Luke bookmarked his page, "Go where?"
"Well, to Gressenheller of course." Layton popped the collar of his jacket, "I've been away for too long. I teach a class in one hour."
"Wow." Luke rolled his eyes, knowing full well the professor couldn't see him.
"What? You aren't going to stop me, are you?"
"No, I'm not going to stop you." Luke packed his book away to sling his bag over his shoulder, "I promised to stop being so paranoid, didn't I? I'm just impressed you're back on your feet so soon after losing something so big."
"Ah, well, it's not so bad." Layton followed Emmy out the door, "Shall we drive you home?"
"Okay. My house isn't far." Luke closed the door behind them.
He watched in awe as Layton flew down the stairs and out to his car just like he did before the entire incident. Emmy was right there in case someone happened to jump out of nowhere obviously, but it was all the evidence Luke needed to determine that Layton knew what he was doing, just like he always had.
"Here it is." Emmy hit the roof of the car, "Pretty fitting for it to be my car from now on, eh?"
"The Laytonmobile is not your car." Layton yanked the car door harder than necessary, though it was clear he wasn't raising his voice out of anger, "Just because I can't drive it anymore doesn't make it your car."
Emmy shrugged as she started the engine, "Whatever you say, Professor."
Once Luke was off on his street, ("Good luck, Professor!") Emmy drove back through London to park in front of the building near the middle of university campus.
"East or west?"
Emmy met Layton around the side of the car, "What?"
Layton laughed at how genuinely confused she sounded, "Which parking lot are we in?"
"Oh, um...west I think. Which side is the statue on?"
"West." Layton rose one finger, "Um...which way?"
Emmy rolled her eyes as she tugged him towards the building by his collar.
"Alright, I'm going. Thank you." Layton stumbled enough that he gripped his hat to stop it falling, "If I trip on the curb, I could possibly consider it your fault, you know."
"Aw, don't you trust me?"
"You crashed my car."
"One time! And I even paid for it!"
"That is true. I'll keep that in mind." they entered the building and Layton took the lead, "I trust my office is in the same place?"
"Well, it wouldn't have moved."
"Hershel!"
Layton stopped upon hearing the voice, quickly connecting it to a name, "Dean Delmona?"
"It's so good to see you again!" Delmona wiped off his glasses with his shirt, "Ah, forgive me. I knew you were coming of course, I just can't believe you're here when...well, let's not talk about that now. You have a class soon, don't you?"
"It's good to see you too, Dean." Layton almost smiled at the irony of his words, "Emmy? Could you, uh..."
"I got it." Emmy took his sleeve to lead him around the dean, "Sorry we don't have time to chat right now."
"Of course! Good to have you back, Hershel!"
Layton climbed the familiar steps to the second floor, "It's good to be back."
Emmy opened the door for him, as his office was near the staircase, "Don't worry, I haven't touched it since the incident."
"Good." It was actually in decent condition back then, so he crossed the floor with only some amount of caution, "Then my notes should be in the first drawer."
"Which one?"
"What do you mean 'which one'?" Layton paused at his desk to open the highest drawer on the leftmost side, "There is only one first drawer."
Emmy huffed, flipping her bangs out of her face, "No offense, Professor, but I don't know what arbitrary names you've given to your drawers."
"No offense taken." Layton retrieved the thick notebook that was stuffed with bits of scrap paper and sticky notes, "These are my notes."
"That's actually what I've been confused about." Emmy took the notebook, knowing full well the scribbled notes would be about as decipherable as the ancient clay tablets he was studying, "How am I supposed to help you read these notes?"
"I thought that would be obvious." Layton winked, "You're going to read them aloud to me."
"I am?"
"Yes. You said you were my assistant, did you not?" Layton took a random pen from his assortment of writing implements, "And if I ask you to make note of something, then you can add that to the page."
Emmy took the pen once she'd flipped to the first page, "What does this even say?"
"I know, it's not exactly calligraphy, but I know it's legible because I put considerable time into my writing." Layton crossed his arms, "And it goes without saying, but I don't care how your notes look as long as you understand them and can repeat them back to me."
"You've really thought of everything, haven't you?" Emmy snapped the book shut, "Does this mean I'm going to be reading and taking notes in your classroom in the middle of your lecture?"
"Something like that, yes." Layton held the door open for her, "Do you have any objections to this?"
Emmy adjusted the camera strap around her neck, "Not particularly, no. Where's the classroom you teach in?"
"I'll show you."
Gressenheller was growing thicker with students the further they went into the building, which meant the risk of bumping into people was growing astronomically higher.
"Hey, Professor! Good to see you here again!"
"Nice to see you, Professor!"
"Professor! Hi!"
It was becoming a bit overwhelming, but he tried to smile and keep walking with Emmy at the lead. The carpeted floor made it difficult to distinguish footsteps and other sounds, so he was walking partially on faith and partially on the hope that Emmy knew what she was doing. Finally, he slipped out of Emmy's grip to walk the rest of the way.
"Hey, Professor, wait!"
He froze.
Something was in front of him. His nerves were shot, but he tried to take deep breaths to calm himself. How did he know something was in front of him? Did he underestimate how fast they'd been walking? He was afraid to ask. How could he have been so careless!?
"Um, Professor?" Emmy's voice.
Layton exhaled, "Yes?"
"The door is right in front if you." she guided his hand to the doorknob. It was right where he expected it to be. No, that couldn't be right. He still couldn't see a thing.
He pushed the door open. He must be imagining it.
The classroom was buzzing with noise before he entered, but during the familiar walk from the door to the desk at the chalkboard, the noise died down. He turned towards the students, lifting the brim of his hat to look where he knew they would be.
He wasn't sure how to break the silence, until they did it for him.
"PROFESSOR!"
They excitedly broke into cheers. Some shouted their congratulations and relief at seeing him unharmed. Others said things like "I told you so!" and dissenting opinions about the man who dared hurt him.
Layton gripped the edge of the desk, finding his voice enough to say, "ENOUGH!"
They quieted immediately.
He was getting emotional. He didn't think his students would miss him this much.
"I apologize for raising my voice." he pulled his hat over his eyes, "Thank you. Teaching is my greatest passion, and I'm very grateful to be back where I belong. Now..." he looked up to smile at them, "I hope none of you are unprepared because you didn't really expect me to show up?"
A few clicked pens, a few tousled papers, he expected a few of them were unprepared, but the show must go on.
"Are you ready, Emmy?"
Emmy tugged the cap off her pen, "Ready when you are, Professor."
"Excellent." Layton slid his hand along the base of the chalkboard to find the chalk, "Now, where were we?"
