"So tomorrow at Seiya's house?" Yasuo asks me, who is with Haru, to which I nod, we agreed to do the monthly project at Seiya and Melia's house, since it's close to the company and the factory served both me and Seiya to be able to go to training, in 2 months everything was going to end for better or worse. And even if it costs me, I have to give everything for those I love. Seiya and Melia are waiting for me at the school entrance so that what happened yesterday doesn't happen again, Shizuka also leaves to go to her house so...

"Guys, could you wait for me a little longer? I want to talk to Shizuka something, it will be quick" The two Hiranos look at each other and nod with a smile, so with the way clear I approach her "Shizuka"

"Hi Nobita, are you already leaving with Seiya and Melia for training? Don't overexert yourself too much, okay?" The way he tells me that makes me feel good, it's my motivation.

"Yes, but first I wanted to talk to you about something." She notices my long face and invites me to sit on a bench that was near the entrance and under a tree, we both sit and Shizuka waits for what I want to tell her, this hurts me. "Shizuka, the truth is that you are a great friend to me, I care about you a lot, you have been with me when I was having a hard time, you were there when I was struggling for my life in the hospital and you fixed my cap, even today you defended me from a trick of Suneo, I really appreciate you a lot."

"It's because you mean a lot to me too Nobita, I really care a lot about you"

I just look at her with sadness, I can't help but tear up, it's just that... I tried so hard and doing this is going to hurt me, I just lower my head while my glasses don't reflect my pupils, my voice breaks "And for that same reason... We should distance ourselves for a while"

Needless to say, Shizuka's face turned sad because she doesn't understand why I said that to her "What?! Why? Are you mad at me? Did I do something wrong? Why don't you want us to continue being friends?!" She could tell that her voice was breaking with every question she asked me. "Answer me, Nobita! Do you hate me?"

That's it, I just stand up and run away without answering him and approach Seiya and Melia "What happened? Why are you crying?" Seiya asks, nervous about seeing me cry and he sees how Shizuka also gets up to follow me.

"Let's just go, I don't want to be near her!" I scream with all my might to which the twins only nod worried, the three of us start running while I can hear Shizuka's voice calling me.

"But when we get there, you have to explain to us because I'm really confused." Melia looks at me seriously as we run, I just nod while my tears fall, I'm sorry I have to do this to you Shizuka, but if Professor Matsuyama hurt people who weren't my friends, You would surely go through something worse because of me. I love you, but for that reason, I have to stay away from you for a while, I'm sorry.


-(Leaving P.O.V)-

The girl with the pigtails was confused by everything that happened, Nobita had told her that they could no longer be friends, what seemed to be getting better took an unexpected turn on the part of the boy, only one question summed up all the others that were now passing through Shizuka's mind: (Why?).

"Why is he suddenly behaving like this? Everything was going well and suddenly this happened" She really felt that sentence painful (We should distance ourselves for a while) while she watches how the boy ran away without wanting to look at her face. She didn't know whether to return home or go to the Suchimu factory, the place where he was going to be. She hadn't realized that she was crying because of it, and wiping the tears with her fingers, she makes the decision to go to Suchimu Corp.

She walks fast because in her mind she wanted to know why Nobita told her that, why he wanted to be away from her, why he no longer wanted to be her friend. She manages to reach the warehouse that was next to the factory, on the outside it looked dilapidated but that was an image since inside was the practice room for the STEAM Experiment program. Shizuka knocks on the door of the warehouse waiting for someone to open the door, someone comes out but it was Melia, who had taken off her long gloves showing her mechanical arms.

"Hi Shizuka. What's going on?" The black-haired girl says with a sad smile, apparently she already knew why Nobita did what he did.

"Hi Melia, Nobita is here right? I want to see him!" Melia just sighs as she goes out and closes the door.

"Uh, he doesn't want to see you now, I'm sorry" Melia says to which Shizuka only begins to get upset again.

"But why?! We were doing so well, things started to get quiet in class, he was motivated to do the mission thing! So why did he tell me that he doesn't want to be my friend anymore?" Shizuka starts to tear up again, to which Melia sighs again.

"What you say is true, a while ago Seiya and I talked to him and he said that he was also going to keep his distance from Dekisugi. Although I don't know how he is going to do it at school, I can't tell you the exact reason why he is doing it because he made Seiya and I promise not to tell you because you would surely be worried, but I can only tell you that there is fear and pain in his words." Melia opens the door "That's why I think we should let him calm down a little, maybe this way he will reflect and change his mind about that radical decision he made, which seems exaggerated to me, but it's understandable knowing his feelings." The inventor enters and little by little closes the door "I'm really sorry."

The sound of the door closing sounds leaving Shizuka sad and confused, but she remembers what her friend told her about the expression of those words: "Fear and pain", it had indirectly given her a clue since even they weren't very satisfied with his decision. The girl can't help but tear up but she thinks that maybe it was better to listen to Melia and let him calm down at least for today, so she just leaves slowly.

Inside, Nobita was also still crying because of what he had to do, he takes off his glasses for a moment to wipe his tears better, Seiya just looks at him while Melia approaches "Hey, isn't this a bit exaggerated? In the end you will have to meet them at school. I understand why you do it, especially because we know how much you care about Shizuka, but it seems to me that it's better to have the support that you have had until now closer." Doraemon just appears using the Anywhere Door.

"Hello everyone! Nobita, I brought you a snack that mom made and..." Doraemon notices the sad atmosphere and Nobita putting on his glasses with a long face "But what happened now?"

"Hello Doraemon, it's okay" Nobita gets up while he goes to Mia who showed him how to use a homemade treadmill that she assembled herself to help him with cardio.

Seiya sighs as he notices that Doraemon was only very confused by that answer "Don't worry, I'll explain everything to you." Shizuka manages to get not to her house, but to Dekisugi's house, where she tells him at the entrance about the situation that happened.

"Is Nobi going to distance himself from us? That's unusual, especially when it comes to you, Shizuka, he really appreciates you a lot" The smart boy says trying to think of a response to his friend's strange behavior.

"I don't know what happened, we were very good, the truth is that it hurt me that he did that but it confuses me, especially because of how much fun we had together." A sea of memories begin to come to her.


"W-wait!" The boy takes out the two tickets, they were for today's theater show. Doraemon had suggested giving Shizuka a gift if he wanted to be more than friends with her, and since many liked to go to the Central Theater, he was perfect, although he cost him almost all of her allowance. "I have some tickets for today's show at the theater. Do you want to go with me? Theaters are fun, heh" says the boy while he scratches the back of his neck.

Shizuka smiles at him "Of course, it sounds fun" Nobita's eyes light up as she blushes with excitement.


"Nobita is NOT a thief" Shizuka says firmly while Dekisugi nods "Maybe if you took more time to get to know him better and be his friend instead of bothering him, you would realize that this trick of blaming him is nothing more than another joke to bother him and I believe him when he said that he bought the tickets with his own money."

"Shizuka..." Nobita says, tearing up.


"Oh it's pretty!" The girl with the pigtails draws her special attention to a double necklace of a mechanical heart that shines among all the things for sale.

"That reminds me a little of Vapu's story, except for the clear ending." The object had also caught the attention of the boy, it was a golden opportunity for him, who scratches the back of his neck while blushing slightly "Do you like it a lot?" Asks the boy with the glasses to Shizuka, who nods her head with a slight blush as she looks closely at the heart necklace.

Nobita approaches Shizuka as the blush on his cheeks rises higher, showing the necklace hanging from his hands a little nervously. "T-here, it's for you!"

The girl takes the necklace with a blush on her cheeks and a smile "Nobita, you didn't have to bother buying it, the theater thing was more than enough. But..."

"But?" The boy gets more nervous thinking that he had screwed up, while Hanz watched everything carefully as if he were watching another play, but the girl just laughs softly while she feels the heart of the necklace, breaking it in half.

"It's a double necklace, see?" The girl shows him how each half could be joined and separated, and that the necklace was thick so there were actually two of them. "So, for this day, it's better to have each other's half, because of how fabulous this day was, seriously, thank you for today"

The boy takes half of the necklace, being very happy and nodding his head, each one puts on their respective necklace while smiling at each other.


Shizuka takes out her half-heart necklace, wondering why her friend wanted to distance himself from her, after all, they both enjoyed each other's company and vice versa, until Dekisugi talks about something "Hirano told you that there was fear and pain in his words right?" Shizuka nods sadly as she looks at her necklace, the smart boy thinks about that a little more and reacts "What if this has to do with what happened yesterday?"

"About Professor Matsuyama? What do you mean?" The girl asks confused, she was still upset by what happened that she couldn't be able to think things through.

"It's a theory, but because Professor Matsuyama had some interest in corrupting Nobi to be like him. What if he's terrified because he rejected his ideals? People like Professor Matsuyama who performed experiments just to see his reactions, would be curious to go further to test their results. I noticed that Nobi was acting very quiet after uncovering Honekawa's lies. It could be that something in his words also resonated regarding his fear with the baron." Dekisugi says

"It makes sense that Nobita is afraid of Professor Matsuyama, after all, he put him through the worst 2 months ago and on top of that he made him relive it yesterday" Dekisugi denies what his friend says, which surprises her.

"I think that more than the fear of what the professor will do to him, it would be the fear of what the professor could do to those who are with him. If he said that directly to you, it means that in reality in his mind believes that for the moment distance is the only way." Dekisugi sighs "I really don't want to lose Nobi, he is a good friend, but if he is going through a moment of confusion believing that moving away from what he wants is a way to protect those he loves from repercussions, we have to give him some space to reflect."

Shizuka and Dekisugi say goodbye, while the boy closes the door of his house, she starts to think about what her friend said. "Is it that...Nobita is afraid that Professor Matsuyama...?" Shizuka is startled, thinking she knows what is happening.

And the only way to verify it was to talk to Nobita, some say that it was better for him to cool his head for a while, but Shizuka couldn't stay calm remembering the moment when Nobita told her that, he had that expression of pain and sadness, so she would try whatever she could to get to him, for now she only had to return home.

At dusk, Doraemon and Nobita walk home, the boy worked on his cardio to increase his stamina so the guns are ready and did homework with Seiya. Nobita had not left that sad face with which he said goodbye to Shizuka, the mechanical cat puts his hand on his back while he smiles at him. "You've fought so hard to get closer to her. Do you think this is the right thing to do? Or do you just not feel the same anymore?"

"Of course I love her! I adore her! And after everything that happened, how she was with me in the hospital and how she protected the cap that my grandma gave me, I love her more! Especially with that kiss!" Nobita says all this while blushing while he has his hands on his head and then sighs sadly. "And I think... For that same reason I'm afraid that Baron Kurai will mess with her. Besides, I think that in the end someone like me won't make her happy, I'll be able to do my best and everything, but... What if... Did I end up hurting her in the final? Did it take me so long to help Gian and Suneo just to see how they reacted, how they asked me for help, I should have done it instantly even knowing that they are a couple of heartless people, that... Maybe I do have a dormant and corrupted side inside me."

"You don't have it, you helped that pair despite what they did to you, you made the right decision, if you think you could ever be able to hurt Shizuka because of what the Baron told you, then you are naive" Nobita looks up Doraemon while he continues smiling at him in an understanding manner "You may have flaws that you are working on, but there is something that doesn't change in you, you continue to care about others even if sometimes you take exaggerated measures. You aren't going to be like Professor Matsuyama, believe me. Besides, I wouldn't let that happen either."

Nobita smiles at that last part "That's why I think I couldn't keep you away, I couldn't live without you, buddy, especially in these moments where everything will get very crazy"

The mechanical cat smiles mischievously "And you couldn't do it if you tried, I'm also on the program because of the deal you made with Mr. Hirano. Do you forget? And I promised you that I wouldn't leave you alone in this problem again. Also, I'm surprised you included Dekisugi in that, you guys have become close too and..." Just as they were already at the entrance of the house, Nobita hugs Doraemon lovingly, so the robot cat returns the hug.

"Yeah, since Dekisugi is a friend I can trust, I also want to protect him. And... Thank you for being with me Doraemon, I really need you, especially when Independence Day comes" Nobita says to Doraemon who nods with a smile.

"I know that and I also hope that you reflect on this idea, you really love her and I see how much this decision is hurting you" Doraemon thinks as they separate, he opens the door and they enter the house finishing another day.


After that a week of classes passes where the atmosphere had a completely confusing change for some and sad for others. Nobita arrived at school but when Shizuka greeted him and wanted to talk to him, the silly boy greeted her dryly and walked away from her. That also happened with Dekisugi and although he knew he should give him some space, he couldn't help but give a sad sigh. Shizuka tried to talk with him but Nobita kept avoiding her, that broke both her and his hearts, because they BOTH wanted to go back to how they were before, but Nobita remained firm in his decision to protect her.

Suneo had also returned but now that his classmates saw him as someone who embellished reality, he is no longer admired him as much as he was number 2 in the class. Gian was still apathetic about what happened but in the same way and like the rest, they were confused especially by the distance between Nobita and Shizuka, since Nobita was the one who always wanted to be with her whenever he could.

Likewise, at the end of classes, Nobita said goodbye to the pair he decided to distance and left with Seiya, who was the only one who seemed to act normal. But the situation worried him, Nobita behaved normally with the rest and it was true that he began to change his way of acting in class, he always handed in his homeworks and even improved his grades, not yet to a great extent but he was making progress significant to the 0s he always got. And although the teacher was pleased that he was improving academically, he was concerned about how Nobita was the one who became reluctant.

He continued training his cardio and now he felt in sync with the engine, he even tried to use his power without the guns since because they left Melia a very elaborate monthly project in class, she was taking a while to make the weapons, but she told him that she would have them done for Friday. Nobita manages to use the targets to shoot with one of the energy rays, hitting the target at will, which excited him by sharing that emotion with Doraemon, although a moment when he didn't see Shizuka in the same place was enough for him to became depressed again, he just wanted her to see him and tell him that he was doing well, but that was no longer possible, only the support of his mechanical robot friend didn't make him fall further into depression for having to push away the one he loved.

His own mind had played tricks on him that wouldn't let him get out of the idea that for now... That was the best.