A/N: This is quite a short chapter, so I'll hopefully get another one up today. Thanks for reading it, and thanks to GeorgiexxxSuarez-JFT96, The Mocking J and clairefoley for reviewing. If you like it, please review!
When the two walked home together that afternoon, they were both silent, and they stayed that way until they reached their house. Of course, the Professor noticed, having been in before them due to having no work after teaching his classes. His adopted daughter and his apprentice were normally the best of friends, chatting and laughing after school. So it didn't take a genius to figure out that something was wrong when they came in, faces slightly pink, not talking to each other.
"Luke, my boy? Have you and Flora had an argument?"
"No, Professor! Everything's fine! Really! Heh…" Luke quickly dashed upstairs to his room after that, Flora having already disappeared to hers.
"Hmm… Curious…" Professor Layton mused, his attention returning to the letter he had received earlier that day- from a young man claiming to be the Luke Triton of 10 years in the future.
Dinner was slightly tense. Luke and Flora were trying their best to be chatty and cheerful, but every time they made eye contact with each other, they looked down at their plates. The Professor couldn't get a word in edgeways with them trying too hard to overcome the awkwardness. Also, he couldn't help but notice that both were eager to get away. However, before Luke could do just that, his mentor told him to stay seated.
"Luke, I've received a letter this afternoon from a young man who needs our help. You and I will be heading to a clock shop on Midland Road to investigate tomorrow, if you are alright with that. It appears to be a rather unusual case…"
"Unusual? Unusual how? Vampires? Spectres? Magic? I don't think it can get any more unusual than what we've seen before, Professor!"
"Ha, that's true, my boy, although if you remember all those things were fake. Though this case doesn't strictly speak of the supernatural, it could be one of the strangest cases we've ever encountered…"
The Professor then went on to explain more about the letter- the 'Future Luke', the time travel, and the request for assistance. Of course Luke agreed to go! He was the Professor's apprentice, after all.
"We'll get the bus to Midland Road tomorrow morning, then. And, Luke my boy… Are you absolutely sure everything is fine between yourself and Flora? You both seemed a little… tense, for lack of a better word, at dinner."
"No…no Professor! Everything's fine between us! Never better! Like I said earlier! Anyway, I've, erm, I've got some homework to get on with! That's it! Maths homework! I'll, erm, head up and do that now!"
The speed with which Luke ran up the stairs would have been envied by the fastest of cheetahs had there been any present.