Chapter 31: A Visit To Shizuka's Home [Part 1]

Nobita looked at the empty room, casually tossed his schoolbag on the desk, and then sprawled out on the tatami mat, crossing his legs with a sigh. "Doraemon isn't here. Where did he go? I don't have any props to borrow now, even if I wanted to. Ugh… I still have homework to do. So troublesome. Maybe I'll just take a nap first."

As he muttered to herself, Nobita suddenly remembered the see-through stickers he had borrowed from Doraemon a few days ago. With a mischievous grin spreading across his face, he quickly got up and opened his closet, rummaging through it until he found the observation machine and the stickers. Clutching them tightly, he smirked. "Heh, I'll just check if Shizuka's done her homework. Then I can copy hers!"

Nobita activated the perspective sticker observation machine, plopped back down on the tatami, and pulled out his homework book from his schoolbag, ready to copy Shizuka's work.

Meanwhile, Dekisugi had just arrived home. After putting away his schoolbag, he gathered his manga tools and the day's homework. Without wasting time, he headed to Shizuka's house. Standing at her front door, he knocked lightly and called out, "Is anyone home?"

The sound of quick footsteps echoed from inside, and the door swung open to reveal Shizuka, beaming with delight. "Dekisugi, you're here! Come in quickly. My mom made snacks and drinks for us."

Dekisugi smiled warmly and stepped inside, carefully removing his shoes and slipping into a pair of pink slippers before following Shizuka upstairs. On their way, they bumped into Shizuka's mother, who was busy preparing snacks in the kitchen.

"Hello, Auntie," Dekisugi greeted, bowing slightly.

Shizuka's mother glanced back, her apron tied neatly around her waist, and smiled kindly. "Oh, Dekisugi, welcome! You're so polite. Go on upstairs with Shizuka. I'll bring up some snacks and drinks shortly."

"Thank you, Auntie," Dekisugi replied, following Shizuka to her room. As they entered, he noticed how tidy and pink the space was, adorned with dolls of various sizes and shapes.

"Dekisugi, let's start on our homework," Shizuka said, setting her books on the floor. "Some of today's questions seem really hard. I'm sure I'll get stuck on a lot of them, but you're so smart. Will you help me, Mr. Genius?"

She clasped her hands together in an exaggerated pleading gesture, her playful grin and slightly flushed cheeks betraying the serious tone of her words.

Dekisugi chuckled at her antics. "Well, since you asked so nicely, I'll do my best to help."

The two laughed, spreading out their homework materials on the floor. Shizuka's occasional questions filled the room as they worked through their assignments together. While Shizuka found some of the problems challenging, Dekisugi patiently guided her, explaining each step with clarity.

"Shizuka, look at this question. If you think about it this way, you can solve it much faster," Dekisugi said, pointing to a particularly tricky math problem.

Shizuka nodded, her face lighting up with understanding. "Oh, I see it now! Thanks, Dekisugi. You really make it seem easy."

Back at Nobita's house, he was lying on the tatami, biting a pencil in frustration as he watched the perspective sticker machine. he groaned. "Why hasn't Shizuka finished her homework yet? I have to wait for ages to copy this. Ugh, what a pain. Maybe I should switch to a different book."

Nobita began fiddling with the buttons on the observation machine, scanning through the various homework books in Shizuka's room. One after another, they turned up blank pages.

"This one's blank… And this one's blank… Seriously, hasn't she finished anything yet?" Nobita muttered, his frustration mounting. Just as he was about to give up, he noticed a homework book with only one question left to complete. "Finally! Shizuka's amazing. She's almost done with everything."

Excited, Nobita began copying the answers quickly, his tongue sticking out slightly in concentration. "If I finish copying this now, I won't have to stand during tomorrow's class for not doing my homework. And if I'm late, the teacher might even go easy on me since I'll have everything done!"

In Shizuka's room, Dekisugi glanced at the clock. It was nearing five o'clock. "Shizuka, we're almost done with the homework. Once we finish, I thought I'd work on some manga sketches. Would you like to see?"

Shizuka's eyes lit up. "Of course! I love the comics you draw. They're so creative and fun. I wish I could draw like you."

Dekisugi smiled modestly. "Thanks. It's just something I enjoy doing. I've been thinking of working on a new story idea, and your feedback would be really helpful."

Just then, Shizuka's mother knocked lightly on the door and entered with a tray of snacks and drinks. "Here you go, kids. Take a break and enjoy these while you work."

"Thank you, Mom!" Shizuka said cheerfully.

"Thank you, Auntie," Dekisugi added politely.

As they munched on biscuits and sipped their drinks, Dekisugi showed Shizuka a few rough sketches from his notebook. "This is a new character I've been working on. What do you think?"

Shizuka examined the drawing closely, her face thoughtful. "I like it! The design is really unique. Is this for the story you've been planning?"

Dekisugi nodded. "Yeah, I'm thinking of making it an adventure series. Something with a mix of humor and action."

Shizuka clapped her hands together. "That sounds amazing! I can't wait to see more."

Meanwhile, Nobita had finally finished copying the last question. he stretched out on the tatami with a sigh of relief. "Phew, that was exhausting. But now I'm done! Shizuka's really smart. She solved all those problems so easily."

Unaware that Dekisugi was actually the one helping Shizuka with her homework, Nobita felt a pang of jealousy. "She's so lucky to have such a good brain. I wish I could be like her."

As Nobita lay there, lost in thought, he heard a faint noise outside. Panicking, he quickly hid the observation machine and stickers back in the closet. "What if Doraemon comes back and catches me? I'd better act like I've been studying all along."

Back at Shizuka's house, Dekisugi packed up his materials. "I should get going soon. It's getting late, and I don't want to keep my parents waiting."

Shizuka nodded. "Thanks so much for coming over and helping with my homework. You're a lifesaver, Dekisugi."

"Anytime," he replied with a smile. "And thanks for the snacks, Auntie. They were delicious."

As Dekisugi walked home, he couldn't help but think about the manga he was working on. He felt inspired after sharing his ideas with Shizuka and couldn't wait to bring them to life on paper.