A rift like this didn't form overnight. The pain Mai had endured in that family was far worse than what she'd ever put into words.
If she hadn't been disappointed beyond all hope, if she hadn't reached the point where she genuinely had no idea how to deal with Kukui Tetsu anymore, she never would've been so decisive about cutting ties with him.
The sensible thing for Luther to do now was refuse the invitation and leave without looking back.
And yet, he agreed.
He had never actually spoken with Kukui Tetsu before. Maybe it was curiosity, or maybe it was because he'd already proposed to Mai. Either way, Luther figured it would be better to give Kukui Tetsu some warning before the news reached him another way and he suddenly did something drastic.
In short, Luther intended to lay his cards on the table over dinner.
Once everyone had cleared out of the venue, a hotel employee led Luther and Kukui Tetsu to a private dining room on the top floor.
Sure enough, dinner had been prepared well in advance.
The table was packed with exquisitely prepared dishes, yet the servers were still bringing more in as though they were afraid Luther might somehow go hungry. It wasn't until there was literally nowhere left to put another plate that Kukui Tetsu waved them off and told them to keep the remaining dishes warm for later.
"We're never going to finish all this..." Luther muttered after sitting down, staring at the feast in disbelief.
Kukui Tetsu smiled. "Would your Azumarill agree with that?"
Apparently, Kukui Tetsu had done his homework. He knew quite a lot about Luther, and his Pokémon.
Since Luther had brought his Pokémon along to an occasion like this, there was no chance he would just give them some standard Pokémon food and call it a meal.
Knowing that the two of them needed to talk privately, Kukui Tetsu opened a door leading to another room specifically prepared for the Pokémon. Its layout was almost identical to theirs, and the dining table inside was already half-covered with food.
"Pick whatever you want to eat. I'll have the rest sent in there. Your Azumarill looks like she can't wait much longer."
Luther casually picked out a few dishes that looked appetizing. Everything else was carried into the adjoining room.
Almost immediately, the sounds of Azumarill tearing through the feast could be heard from inside.
Once the servers closed the door, the private room fell silent.
Luther and Kukui Tetsu ate quietly, occasionally reaching for another dish. Neither seemed particularly eager to speak first.
Eventually, Kukui Tetsu uncorked a bottle and began pouring wine into Luther's glass.
Luther immediately stood up, took the bottle from him, and poured Kukui Tetsu a glass instead.
Whatever their relationship might be, Kukui Tetsu was still his elder. It wasn't right to let him pour Luther's wine.
Luther took another bite, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and finally said, "You invited me here because you have something to say, right? You might as well say it directly. Pouring my wine, treating me to dinner... To be fair, Mai might not like you, but you're still my elder. There's no need to be this polite with me."
Kukui Tetsu took a sip of wine and stared absently at the glass in his hand for a moment. His lips moved slightly before he finally asked, "Is Mai doing well?"
"She's doing great. Eating well, sleeping well, and happy every day."
"Has she gotten used to traveling like this?"
"More or less."
"That's good..."
And then they went right back to eating, drinking, and sitting in silence.
Kukui Tetsu's questions were painfully stiff, while Luther's answers weren't much better.
Unable to stand the awkward atmosphere any longer, Luther put down his chopsticks.
In a calm voice, he said, "I proposed to Mai."
Kukui Tetsu's arm trembled as he raised his glass to drink, sending the wine inside sloshing against the sides.
"She said yes."
Slowly, Kukui Tetsu raised his eyes to meet Luther's.
After staring at him for a long moment, he realized Luther wasn't joking. He hadn't said it to provoke him either.
He was simply stating a fact.
It was hard to imagine one person's face showing so many emotions at once.
Bitterness. Sadness. Displeasure. And beneath all of it, anger that Kukui Tetsu was desperately trying to suppress.
One after another, they flickered across his face.
"Mai is still young... She's still just a kid."
Kukui Tetsu struggled to maintain his composure and took another sip of wine.
But the ripples trembling across the surface of the wine betrayed exactly how unsettled he really was.
Luther looked at Kukui Tetsu and continued, "Once the house on the island is finished, along with the villas and estates for the first group of residents, Mai and I will get married. Based on our current manpower and how long the detailed construction work should take... I'd say everything will be ready within one or two years."
Kukui Tetsu covered his face with one hand. "You've only been together for a little over a year. You still don't know each other well enough."
"So far, Mai and I haven't had a single real fight. She knows what I need, so she always quietly prepares things for me. During the Lily of the Valley Conference, for example, she knew when to give me space, let me be alone, and give me time to process everything that was happening."
"And I know what she needs too. She goes out of her way to avoid things she knows I hate, so I make an effort to cheer her up and help her release all the stress she keeps bottled up."
"Maybe there'll come a day when we do have a serious argument. But when that happens, we're both prepared to face it together."
Luther's voice softened. "If that still doesn't count as understanding each other... then I guess I'd need an Ability that lets me read people's hearts before I'm allowed to love her."
After a long silence, Kukui Tetsu asked, "What made you fall for Mai in the first place?"
"She's beautiful. And cute."
Luther answered so quickly that Kukui Tetsu was caught off guard.
He waited.
And waited.
No explanation followed.
"That's it?" Kukui Tetsu demanded.
Luther's mouth felt a little dry, so he casually drained the wine in front of him.
"What else?" Luther shot back. "When you first become interested in someone, isn't it usually because you find them attractive, or because they did something that touched you?"
"That's what makes two people start spending time together. Then a bond forms. You get closer, learn more about each other, figure out how the other person feels... and eventually become an irreplaceable part of each other's lives."
Luther had no problem admitting it. He'd first approached Mai because he was attracted to her. They'd teamed up, gradually gotten to know each other, and he'd discovered just how wonderful she really was.
Step by step, that had brought them to where they were today.
"I've heard Mai mention that your current wife is a very beautiful woman. When you first chose to pursue her... what was the first thing about her that attracted you?"
Luther paused before adding, "Of course, if you have some kind of Ability that lets you see a person's inner beauty at a glance, forget I said anything."
Kukui Tetsu fell silent again.
Completely shut down by Luther's response, all he could do was drink in silence.
After a while, he asked, "Then why do you think Mai started liking you?"
It was obvious that Kukui Tetsu had been trying desperately to find an answer himself. Unable to figure it out, he'd finally thrown the question back at Luther.
Luther sighed. "Are you sure you want me to answer that?"
Kukui Tetsu nodded firmly.
"First of all, I should thank you."
Kukui Tetsu froze.
"You controlled way too much of Mai's life. You interfered with everything and made her miserable every single day. She'd dreamed of leaving home and living on her own since she was young, so once she finally got away, she threw herself into that feeling of complete freedom."
"I was lucky enough to meet her at exactly that time. In some ways, our personalities complement each other, but in other ways we're surprisingly similar... Maybe we both found something in the other person that we desperately needed."
Pokémon could find their companions by scent. Maybe Luther and Mai had done something similar back then, sensing something familiar in each other without even realizing it.
Luther had been searching for a place where he belonged in this world, lost and uncertain about what lay ahead.
Mai, meanwhile, had left the home that had raised her and begun traveling alone, searching for companions she could truly trust.
And somehow, the two of them had started by abusing the League's battle-matching app to farm points.
Birds of a feather, apparently.
They'd hit it off immediately.
Thinking about it now, Luther really did have to thank the Pokémon League for developing that matchmaking app. Without all the ridiculous everyday situations it had created for them, he and Mai might genuinely have passed each other by.
Unfortunately, once it had fulfilled its sacred duty of bringing them together, the battle-matching app was permanently shut down because of the point-farming scandal.
(End Of This Chapter)
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