#but lmaoooooooo

                    “Once this is all over, you’ll finally step out of your brother’s shadow and be recognized as a true hero.”

          It was a harmless comment, probably meant to lift my spirits, but all I did was tear them down even more. It felt pitiful to feel like this, yet alone be speaking those woes. I thought I was past that, but with this? There’s no way I am. I can’t go back to being afraid of looking superiors in the eyes.

          ...But the professor didn’t look at me with the pity I’d expected from him. Instead, he lowered his chair down to my level in silence. “Sonny...” He seemed more confused than anything else, his voice down to a hush. He actually sounded like a parental figure. “Of course you can be. You already are one. You’re the bravest ghostbuster I know! No one can do what you do!” You literally just said I was the only ghostbuster you knew. “You’re the best there is!”

          He gently laid a hand on my shoulder. It was...clammy. Clammy and very cold. I didn’t shake it off, though. “I wouldn’t have called you if I didn’t trust you to help me with this. That says something, doesn’t it?” He gave me the goofiest smile. There was something about the timing of it that actually made it feel genuine. “You have a good head on your shoulders, Luigi. Even after all these years, you still have a knack for this line of work.” And, with a couple shoulder pats, he let out a big, loud chuckle as he spun his chair around and back to its previous height. “It suits you! It really does! I couldn’t have asked for anyone better!”

          I wanted to tell him otherwise. I had to. The Luigi he knew wasn’t the Luigi that he brought here. The Luigi that he knew hasn’t been around for six years now. And, as much as I hate to admit it, the whole thing was a mystery in itself. Will Luigi ever return? Will the hero ever be able to shine on his own?

          “-- Thanks, Professor.”