-(Exiting POV mode)-
The three boys who were the last to leave school begin to walk to go to a place to "chat", this in view of two figures who were watching them from two different places. Nobita, Suneo and Gian finally reach their destination: The warehouse that the Honekawua family used to rent for some event, Nobita already knew about this place, since more than two months ago he had arrived there due to Suneo's wrong instructions. The dwarf uses a key to open the door and enter. Although it wasn't used, it was clean since they paid monthly to keep it that way in case it was needed for something.
Suneo was the only one who wasn't surprised by how neat and careful he was, which implied that Gian has not set foot in that place. Once in the middle of the site, both boys turn to see Nobita, who was a little worried, the interior appearance of the warehouse reminded him a little of that incident, even so, Nobita takes a breath and sighs deeply "Okay. We're here. So let's chat."
The first stranger to arrive was Hanz, who was sitting on top of a railing looking anxiously at what was going to happen. "How fun this is going to be, let's see how these curious artists handle it on this stage." He takes out a bag of paper with popcorn.
"Now you're acting brave for standing up to a villain? Ha, don't make me laugh," Gian says proudly. "It's a shame I can't teach you a lesson now because of the heart you have."
"But what if we lock him here for a while so he gets scared? There's a closet over there, I think a little scare will help you not believe the big deal just because they congratulated you for giving a simple warning." Suneo looks at the door of a closet that was near them, Gian smiles and takes a couple of steps agreeing with the idea.
"Are we really going to do this now? I knew we weren't just here to chat. Shizuka and Dekisugi recommended some things to me so I plan to put them into practice. It's now or never." Nobita thinks as he looks at the pair, standing firm and with a serious but sad look at the same time. "Well, stop behaving like that, you two! Why do you hate me so much? In another life, in a calmer world, we could have been good friends who despite how we get along, we support each other. But you two have become obsessed with trying to trample me just because I am what I am, slow and clumsy. And I don't deny it, I'm and that's why today I convinced myself. I thought this whole incident would help you improve, it did it to me in the worst way, but you are still the same as always."
"You? Change?" Gian laughs "Well, I admit that you don't cry that much anymore, I expected you to even make a sea of tears while you say (Doraemon, help me!) but, you are very calm, but you are still Nobita and that isn't going to change"
"Don't make promises that don't make sense. It's obvious that you're going to go back to being the idiot and crybaby that you are. I don't understand why you keep insisting on wanting to be a mechanic, those instant fixes that you make are just due to some strange luck that you have, except for that, you're the same useless person as always, accept it now and go home." Suneo says with a mocking look.
"That's the problem with me?! That I go to the same school as you? That doesn't make sense! I know I'm slow, but I've already decided to learn! Does me being the way I am bother you?!" Nobita shouts, starting to get frustrated, his friends advised him to try at least ONE time to get the pair on his side, but it was clear that they didn't want it. Especially Suneo, who in this steam world seems to have more control of the situations around school due to his way of praising whoever he needed on his side like a Gian or of putting the people against someone like his classmates did towards him with their reluctant looks. "There are more important things than getting on me! A crazy guy wants to hurt Sutirushiti! It's times like these that we should be more united, that incident almost killed us!"
"Well, that thing about the baron is kind of true... I mean, even my little sister was there, thank goodness nothing happened." Gian scratches the back of his neck a little nervously.
Suneo just sighs "Don't mix things up Nobita, I accept that that guy is a big problem, but that's no excuse to say that you're really going to change, we're working hard to have a good future, YOU on the other hand, have only made people feel sorry for you. Great Gian, because of him Shizuka only treats us as acquaintances, and even Seiya, with whom we wanted to establish a friendship, preferred to treat us only as companions. Doesn't that bother you?" Suneo points irritably at the silly boy, again embellishing the words, it was the dwarf's specialty.
Nobita seemed to at least catch Gian's attention but he objects again, at least with that he knew that he could try something at least with the robust boy "That's true! It's your fault that Shizuka hates us!" The robust one gets upset while he snaps his fingers.
"Are you blaming ME for that?! I wasn't the one who asked you to make that stupid prank on me a year ago using my cap, I wasn't the one who asked you to turn almost much of the classroom against me even with absurd rumors that I have stolen a wrench from you, Suneo! And no, I didn't interfere in what you wanted to do with Seiya! He knew that you were after favors, he told me so himself! Especially you Suneo! Gian tries to get what he wants with force, but you use your words for what you want!"
"AND THERE IT IIIIS!, you already said it, humans who go through traumatic situations are usually interesting" Hanz says quietly while eating the popcorn.
It was obvious that this had bothered the pair a lot, Gian approaches again but more annoyed than before "So you really mean what you think, huh? I wasn't going to do anything to you for being condescending to you because of your heart, but that closet cleaning shouts for you"
"Yeah, let the Mechanical Zombie know who's really in charge in the classroom!" Suneo encourages his partner but sees how Nobita returns to that serious face that made him nervous a while ago.
"Are you seriously calling me a Mechanical Zombie again?" Nobita says without even showing a reaction on his face.
"It's just... Look, don't be offended, Nobita. But if you think about it literally, you're technically living because of a device in your chest. It's amazing how industrial mechanics can keep someone alive, even if it's because of someone who wanted to attract attention by playing the hero." Suneo makes fun of him by stretching the eyelid of his eye while sticking out his tongue.
"Aren't you going a little overboard?" Gigante says that his anger left him for a moment. "There are people with mechanical prostheses everywhere."
"Maybe, but they don't use them to get attention like OTHERS, the last 2 months people have been giving you a lot of attention, Nobita. Do you know that Shizuka had to fix her whole routine just to come see you? She looked tired, but of course, she is a very good person, favors are returned, even those who accompany it with pity."
What Suneo says perplexes Nobita, in part, what he said was so ridiculous that even Gian noticed it. But on the other hand, he feels that it was true that Shizuka changed her routine for him, which partly made her feel guilty. "See how quiet you are, zombie?"
"It's true, Shizuka spent every day of my boarding school taking care of me, maybe, just maybe... I took time away from her for being weak." Nobita remembers the kiss on the cheek the day they were in the playground and how they walked together the same day he returned to school. "That's why I want to change, because she's not the only one I took time away from because of that."
Hanz was using theater binoculars, looking closely at Nobita's hand, which began to emit an intermittent glow. "Very good, good. What a good service."
"Do you really think I wanted attention just because I'm a mediocre mechanic? Do you think I wanted my heart to be taken away by a guy who wants to control the city?" The silly boy puts his hand on his face while crying "Do you think I wanted to spend 3 weeks without being able to move or open my eyes? Do you really think I wanted the people I care about to have suffered because they saw me risk my life clinging to a second chance that Seiya gave me? That is underestimating Seiya and Melia's efforts for me, they have also gone through the same thing, maybe not with the same prostheses but we lost a part of ourselves due to the same circumstance! IS THAT ATTENTION CATCHING?!"
The boy with the glasses can't help but kneel and cry more as his voice breaks, which takes Gian and Suneo by surprise "I couldn't scream, I couldn't do anything! When I get those attacks, my chest hurts in a horrible wayand it won't end for a year! Do you know what it feels like when your breathing stops and you only see others cry for you little by little?! I DIDN'T ASK FOR A CRAZY OBSESSED WITH POWER TO KILL MY HEART!"
Nobita begins to cry frustrated and loudly, he was venting at that point about everything that happened, Hanz smiles seeing everything "Come on, express yourself more, little heartbroken, the public wants to hear your pain" He says in a low voice. The silly boy manages to calm his crying, he didn't want to have another attack and just looks at the pair while he continued to tear up a little.
"I can be a zombie just because I have a motor instead of a heart and whatever you guys say. But what about you? Did you guys try to help that day? At least I can say I lost my heart because of that, Doraemon used the Anywhere Door to get the people out, Seiya, Melia and Dekisugi made sure that the people got out of there... Even Shizuka took a risk saving a little boy!" Nobita stands up while the pair gets nervous.
Gian scratches his head "Well that's true... But we were going to help, really!"
"S-sure, but since you guys had everything under control, it's better to support from the outside." Suneo crosses his arms nervously but Nobita raises an eyebrow. "It's not like at that moment I was tempted to close the anywhere door when I saw you in there thinking that you were the only one left but because Gian asked about Shizuka, I didn't do it."
Gian and Nobita are perplexed upon hearing that, even Suneo himself is perplexed "HUH?! I said that?!"
"Suneo, tell me you didn't say what you said." Nobita's glasses are white, the seriousness was rising.
"Y-yes but when I realized Shizuka was there too I didn't do it" Suneo startles again until he feels something on the back of his neck and when he takes it out, he realizes that he had a gray label with black stripes. "What is this?! It made my mouth move like it was nothing!"
"That's the honesty label, I saw it once when Doraemon was cleaning the gadgets in his pocket, it forces you to be honest even if you don't want to. I don't know how it got to you honestly" Nobita says a little disappointed.
Hanz just holds back his laughter because he did know since on the day of returning home from the hospital and without Doraemon realizing because he distracted him with his jokes, he put his hooked hand into his pocket, taking the label and quickly putting it away in his pants pocket, he placed it on Suneo when they were entering the warehouse very quickly like a ghost that isn't detected. "Having researched the gadgets of the blue cat served me as a wonderful thing, there's a reason people tell me: the quick hands". Suneo looks up noticing Hanz's presence and immediately recognizing him having seen him the day of the incident, the guy just smiles, waving and hiding behind a thick beam.
"Hey!" Suneo reacts but looks at Nobita
"If it wasn't for Shizuka, I would have been trapped... Do you hate me so much? So much so that you guys would let a psychopath try to kill me?" Nobita starts tearing again.
"Of course not, I didn't know about that!" Gian shakes his hands "Ok, I do enjoy it when we make fun of you, but watching you die? Of course not, I'm not that kind of person."
"Me neither, I swear. I don't want that to happen to you, I just want you to stop giving others grief for being a fool. I was just nervous and wasn't thinking clearly!" Nobita notices how Gian was more sincere, but Suneo was nervous, even though he told the truth about himself.
"Those are lies! I'm sick of people making a fool of me!"
When Nobita cries, a feeling of warmth invades his chest, and without realizing it, a glow forms on one of the fingers of his fisted hand. "I don't want any more lies, or any more jokes! I'm a calm person who don't hurt to anyone... But that doesn't mean I want you to make me suffer!"
The clumsy boy hears a noise from nowhere behind him that interrupts him. When he looks back he sees a shadow smiling and out of fear and confusion he had, as if instinctively, he points his index finger near where the guy was, the light transforms into a beam that is shot towards the shadow's feet, leaving the three perplexed.
"What?" The pair says while Nobita looks at the hand that he had just shot, he looked perplexed as the finger that he shot was smoking, but curiously it wasn't burned, which seemed strange to him.
"I... I did that?" says the perplexed boy
"Of course you did that, little one" The shadow applauded while smiling "I knew that going to school on behalf of the mayor was a great idea" The shadow finally reveals himself to the boys, leaving them even more surprised by who he was.
Nobita was the one who was startled the most. "...Professor Yamada?"