Chapter — The Love Consultancy
The morning in Tokyo was gray, matching the heavy silence in Marin's bedroom. Marin lay still, the soft light of dawn revealing the dried, crystalline salt of tears on her cheeks. As her eyes fluttered shut again, the world didn't vanish—it transformed.
The screen of her consciousness turned pitch black.
Suddenly, a voice echoed through the void. It was slurry, blurred, as if heard through deep water, calling out a name she couldn't quite catch.
"Did you call me?" Marin asked the darkness. "Where am I?"
The voice didn't answer her directly; it simply continued its rhythmic, haunting chant. Then, with a sudden flash of light, Marin found herself standing in a garden. It was a sea of flowers—lilies, roses, and blossoms she didn't recognize—all swaying in a wind that smelled of cedar and old memories.
She looked around, her heart leaping as she spotted a familiar silhouette. "Luke!"
She ran toward him, her feet barely touching the grass. When she reached him, she called his name again. Luke turned back, but his face was set in a cold.
"Where did you go, Luke?" Marin cried, her breath hitching. "I've been looking for you for so long. Let's go back. Let's go back to our town, to the guild."
She reached out to grab his hand, but Luke stepped back, pulling his arm away as if her touch burned.
"What do you expect, Marin?" Luke's voice was devoid of the warmth she knew. "That I would just go with you? You are someone who only ever thinks about yourself. Have you ever once thought about me? About my side?"
Marin froze, the words piercing her deeper than any blade. "I... I'm sorry. About that day, about the kiss... I'm really sorry."
Luke turned away from her, staring into the mist. "Do you think I ever truly became your Luke? I think you should stop looking for me."
"But I like you!" Marin shouted, the tears falling freely now. "I want us to be together! You said you liked me before... I really like you! You never asked me how I felt!"
Luke began to walk away, his figure dissolving into the light. "If you want me," his voice echoed, "then find me."
"STOP! LUKE, STOP! I WANT TO SAY—"
Marin bolted upright in her bed, gasping for air. Her room was quiet, the morning sun now streaming through the curtains. Mie, her small familiar, hovered anxiously by her pillow.
"Was it a bad dream, Marin?" Mie asked, her voice small.
Marin didn't answer. Her eyes were hard, filled with a new, frantic resolve. She grabbed a piece of paper and a pen from her nightstand and began to write furiously.
"Marin... what are you writing?" Mie asked, peering at the paper. Her eyes widened. "No... Marin, don't do what I think you're doing. You can't just leave!"
"I have to," Marin said, her voice steady. "He told me to find him. And I will. Mie, you're coming with me."
Days bled into a week. Far from the neon pulse of Tokyo, beneath the roaring weight of the ancestral waterfall, Auron stood motionless. The water hammered against his silver shield, but today, his focus was absolute. He had been training for ten hours straight, pushing the diameter of his barrier against the crushing force of the falls.
Finally, he stepped out of the spray and De-Unified. Luke sat on a mossy rock, wringing the water from his shirt.
"Tough day," Auru noted, manifesting beside him.
"It's not enough," Luke muttered. "Six months left. Half a year. And I still can't even cover 25% of the Earth's surface. I'm getting stronger, but the world is just... too big."
He leaned back, looking up at the canopy. "I've had no news from Tokyo. Just the reports that two more nodes were found in Mexico and Poland. That leaves three. But the trauma... it hasn't left me, Auru. I thought coming here would resolve the emotions, but the dreams are only getting more vivid."
"You're thinking about Marin," Auru said bluntly. "It feels like you have feelings for her that you're too scared to name."
"No," Luke snapped, though his face flushed. "I told you. I admire her. She's my competitor. That's it.And therefore it worry me more."
"If you say so," Auru hummed.
"Let's go to the market," Luke said, standing up abruptly. "We need supplies. And I haven't seen Mrs. Koto since the first day. This village is starting to get on my nerves."
The village market was as cold as ever. The locals turned their faces away as Luke passed, their silence a heavy shroud over the Hanazawa name. He quickly gathered some essentials—rice, pulses and tea—and began to head back toward the mansion.
"Stop a moment, boy."
An old man, sitting on a weathered wooden crate, blocked Luke's path. He was leaning on a cane, his eyes sparkling with a mischievous, ancient light.
"You look like a man with a heavy heart," the old man said. "Tell me... are you having a problem with love?"
Luke startled. "How could you possibly know that by looking at my face?"
"I've lived many years, boy. I've seen that specific look of confusion many times," the old man chuckled. "Tell me your story."
Against his better judgment, Luke found himself explaining the situation—the childhood rivalry, the sudden confession, and the terrifying kiss that had sent him running.
The old man nodded gracefully. "I see. You say you only 'admire' her. Well, if you truly believe that, close your eyes."
Luke obeyed.
"I will say a word," the old man continued. "Tell me the first face you see."
"Inspiration."
Luke saw his parents.
"Idol."
Luke saw a famous warrior from the history books.
"Helper in need."
He saw Liod, Uno, and Chika.
"Responsibility."
The image of the entire Earth appeared in his mind.
"Admiration."
The face of Kaizen appeared.
"All."
Luke's eyes snapped open. The moment the old man said "All," Marin's face had filled his vision with such clarity it felt like she was standing right there.
The old man smiled. "I knew it. When I said 'All,' it was the girl, wasn't it?"
"Yes," Luke whispered, his hand going to his chest. "But... I saw her as admiration before. Why did she appear for 'All'?"
"Because admiration is a seed, boy," the old man said, his voice turning soft. "As we grow, our idols and inspirations change. But there is often one person who fits every category—someone who becomes your inspiration, your idol, and your greatest responsibility all at once. That is when admiration turns into something else. Don't panic. Explore your heart. See if you truly see her as just a 'competitor' anymore."
Luke stood frozen. *Do I really like her? When did this happen to me?*
"Thank you,It can help me a lot" Luke said, leaving for his mansion.
"Wgere are you going boy,I don't work for free, boy," the old man grinned. "I run a Love Consultancy. That'll be 500 yen."
Luke realized he'd been trapped by a village hustler, but he paid the fee regardless. As he walked away, his heart felt like it was being pulled by a thread.
In Tokyo, fifteen days had passed since anyone had seen Marin. Shuri and Chika stood outside Marin's house, carrying a basket of fruit and a cake.
"I hope she's okay," Chika said, looking worried. "Her last message just said we should 'handle the guild.' She sounded so broken."
They rang the doorbell. Marin's mother opened it, looking puzzled.
"Shuri! Chika! It's good to see you," she said. "But where is Marin? I thought she was with you on that 'important guild mission' she mentioned."
The two girls froze.
"With us?" Shuri stammered.
Chika stepped in quickly, realizing the situation. "Oh! Right! Yes, Auntie! She was with us, but she had to go ahead to the supply depot. We thought she might have come home for a quick rest. We'll go find her!"
Marin mom soad, "Well take care, and if you met her, say her to return hime for sometime. "
They hurried away from the house. "She's gone!" Chika hissed. "She ran away to find Luke! Alone!"
"We have to tell the others," Shuri said.
"What we will say to them."Chika asked.
"We have say the truth" Shuri said.
They called an emergency meeting. Liod, Uno, and Kael gathered at the base, their faces falling as they heard the truth.
"Marin is missing?" Liod shouted. "And she went alone to find the Hanazawa Estate? Does she even know where it is?"
"She must have tracked him," Kael said, pacing. "But why did she go in such a hurry? Why the despair?"
Chika hesitated, then told them everything—the kiss, the confession, and Marin's mental state.
"That much happened?!" Liod exclaimed. "And we didn't hear a word?"
"Thats why Luke had gone there, Now we have to find both of them," Uno said. "Did she take her phone?"
"She did," Chika said. "But she isn't picking up."
"That's actually good," Kael noted. "If she has her phone, we can track the signal. Luke took nothing, but Marin... she's traceable."
We shood quicky try to track her phone.
Back in the village, Luke was walking through the misty forest, the old man's words ringing in his ears.
"The bond always tries to shorten the distance," the old man had said. "A person will find a place in the world where their loved one lives.Does i someohow really wtart to like Marin and make our my all from admiration. "
"I think the reality check is coming, Auru," Luke said. "My thoughts of Marin are increasing every hour. I'm even starting to imagine she's—here"
"Luke?"
"Now I start to imagine her in day too, with her voice."
Luke stopped dead.
"I see her too,now Auru whispered, her light turning a bright, shocked blue. "That's not an imagination."
Luke turned toward the voice. Standing at the edge of the forest, her clothes torn from travel and her face pale with exhaustion, was Marin.
She looked at him, her eyes welling with tears. "Finally... I found you."
She staggered forward, her legs giving out from the sheer weight of her journey. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry for everything I did... for the kiss... for scaring you away..."
"Marin!" Luke ran to her, catching her before she hit the ground. She had collapsed into unconsciousness, her body spent.
He lifted her up, her head resting against his chest, and began to carry her back toward the mansion.
"How did she get here, Auru?" Luke asked, his voice trembling. "How did she find this place?"
"I have no idea," Auru said. "But the old man was right. The bond shortened the distance."
As they vanished into the mist toward the mansion, the "Love Consultant" stood on the road, watching them. A thick mist began to swirl around his feet, and with a soft laugh.
" This bond is never ending , and more you try to escape fro. It ,nore stronger it gonna be,Luke you thought going away from Marin is solution, but this decision is the only reason which will make ykur bind more stronger."
he vanished into thin air, leaving no trace that he—or his "consultancy"—had ever existed.
The two hearts were finally in the same place, but the secrets of the mansion were only just beginning to wake up.
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End of Chapter.