I, Nobita, had returned to a normal life, back on track like usual. It was just like how the sun rises every day without fail. I got up really early each morning, and since elementary school here doesn't start until after 8 a.m., I had plenty of time after waking up around 6.
Sword practice was a daily must for me. After working up a sweat, I could still take a bath before heading to school. Actually, I could just use Doraemon's Anywhere Door to get to school directly. But that would take away the fun, and unlike in the original story where I overslept and rushed out in a panic, now I had all the time in the world. Plus, walking to school had its own charm.
Walking to school was something I really enjoyed because I always ran into someone I liked on the way. Sure enough, I hadn't gone far when, at a corner, I bumped into that familiar cute girl. She was wearing a pink skirt, standing quietly at the intersection, and when she saw me, she happily ran over.
"Good morning, Nobita!" Shizuka's smile was as sweet as ever.
"Shizuka, good morning," I replied with a smile, and we walked side by side.
My relationship with Shizuka had gotten even better. When we walked together, I held her small hand, and she didn't pull away like she used to. It was like those old love stories—couples who go through adventures together end up closer. But at the school gate, Shizuka would shyly pull her hand back, probably afraid of the teachers spotting us.
The blush on her cheeks was like a soft, warm little orange, gentle and beautiful.
It was just like those early romance couples I saw at school back then— a mix of shyness and boldness.
In class, it was that crew-cut teacher again, Sensei. It felt like he was the only teacher for the whole class; he taught cultural subjects, PE, and was even our homeroom teacher.
Without me being the class dunce anymore, that role fell to Suneo and Gian, especially Gian—his grades were a total disaster, basically single digits on every test. At least Suneo occasionally passed.
Mainly, without me to share the blame, their mischievous antics in class got all the teacher's attention. They got scolded every day and dragged out to stand in the hall as punishment. That used to be my daily routine, but now Suneo and Gian were the ones enjoying it.
School felt a bit boring now that I'd gotten smarter; elementary lessons weren't challenging at all. Shizuka's presence and Suneo and Gian's antics added some fun, though. Luckily, school let out around 3 or 4 p.m., so I wasn't bored for long.
But Suneo and Gian weren't easy after school either. After our adventures brought us closer, those two would come over every few days to butter up Doraemon and borrow gadgets to play with. They loved using them for pranks, and it always caused trouble, leaving Doraemon and me to clean up the mess. It was exasperating.
Of course, Doraemon wasn't a fool. After helping clean up a few times, he firmly decided not to lend them gadgets anymore. But every time they promised sweetly and brought high-end dorayaki, he'd somehow end up lending them out again. And then the cycle of mess-cleaning repeated.
Even though our family wasn't short on money now, Doraemon just couldn't resist the dorayaki from Suneo and Gian.
It made me facepalm!
Sometimes, Suneo and Gian would use the gadgets they borrowed from Doraemon to prank me too. But with my current strength, after they got me a few times with Doraemon's weird gadgets, I'd use my superpowers to give them a thorough thrashing.
They'd cry and wail every time, but afterward, they'd still keep at their mischief like it was fun.
On the other hand, Suneo and Gian had changed their old ways and were always eager for me to join the baseball team.
If I didn't show up, they'd just mess around and refuse to play actual games. With my current skills, hardly anyone could beat me in sports—even without superpowers, I'd win.
So every baseball game I joined was a guaranteed victory, which is why Suneo and Gian didn't want to let go of me as their secret weapon.
They always hoped I'd come play more.
But for me now, a whole baseball game was just a warm-up. With my enhanced physical abilities, life felt like it had lost some excitement.
Thanks to our shared adventures, Suneo and Gian liked hanging out with me more, even without baseball.
Unlike in the original story, their attitudes had improved a lot. Suneo didn't mock me every time we met anymore; we could interact like normal friends. He'd even invite everyone over to his house for fun stuff.
As for Gian, he was still hot-tempered but didn't randomly hit people anymore. Sometimes, going through dangerous adventures could really improve relationships.
…
Doraemon felt that without having to clean up after Nobita like before, he didn't feel bored or anything. Instead, he had his own life routine, not just being a childcare robot focused on helping Nobita.
Doraemon's daily schedule: He got up and washed up with Nobita in the morning.
After Nobita left for school, Doraemon helped Tamako with housework and ran errands like buying groceries. Once that was done, it was his free time. Doraemon would go hang out in the local cat circles.
Sometimes Nobita wondered how Doraemon's blue, round body managed to fit into the neighborhood cat groups—it was baffling.
Doraemon would chat with them in cat language that outsiders couldn't understand, sharing daily fun stories.
After the cat meetup, Doraemon would go on dates with Mii-chan, which was his favorite thing besides eating dorayaki. Mii-chan was a white female cat.
Speaking of which, isn't it said that cats prefer colorful patterns, like the legendary beauty of calico cats?
Why did Doraemon like a white one?
It was similar to human aesthetics!
Then, Doraemon's round body would squat on rooftops with Mii-chan, chatting in cat language. Though no one knew what they said, every time Doraemon came back, his face was red and flushed.
At noon, Doraemon was just like the old Nobita—lounging on the tatami, one hand holding a comedy manga, with a basket of dorayaki nearby.
That was his afternoon nap routine.
He'd only go downstairs when Nobita got home from school to help Tamako Nobi prepare dinner in the kitchen.