Lunch break finally arrived. Lin Yu had spent the entire morning relentlessly working on his manga pages. When he got tired during class breaks, he'd take short naps. By lunchtime, he'd managed to complete the half-page left over from the previous night. Including the complex cover page from before, he'd managed to complete four draft pages in three days. Now that he was working on the main chapter content, the difficulty had increased, demanding even more energy.
'If all goes well,' he calculated, 'another ten days or so of pushing like this, and I should...'
"Lin Yu, if you don't eat soon, your lunch will get cold," Shizuka's clear voice interrupted his thoughts.
His slightly unfocused gaze shifted from his untouched lunchbox back to her. He blinked, then offered a gentle smile. "Oh, right. I was just thinking about something. I'll eat now."
"About the manga?" Shizuka asked softly.
"Yes," Lin Yu explained as he started eating. "I was just calculating when I might finish the first chapter and be able to contact someone for review."
"Are you really in that much of a hurry?" Shizuka hesitated for a moment, then asked quietly, her voice tinged with shyness. "Seeing you like this... I'm a little worried about your health." (After all, they were still in the classroom, and blurting out such openly caring words too loudly would make her blush.)
"Don't worry," Lin Yu reassured her. "I'm quite resilient..."
"Lin Yu," Shizuka suddenly suggested, "how about I bring you breakfast starting tomorrow morning?"
"Breakfast?" Lin Yu tilted his head, a little surprised. "But Shizuka, don't you usually eat at home? Bringing breakfast would be..."
"It's no trouble at all! I'll just tell my mom; I'm sure she won't mind," Shizuka insisted. (The thought of telling her mother she wanted to make breakfast for Lin Yu made her cheeks warm slightly again.)
"Still, it's probably too much trouble for you," Lin Yu demurred.
"Not at all!" Shizuka said, her usual gentle demeanor replaced by a surprising firmness. "Actually, I really want to help you, Lin Yu. I might not be able to assist with the manga itself, but I still want to do what I can."
Seeing the unwavering determination in Shizuka's eyes, Lin Yu felt a warmth spread through his chest. He'd been in this world for a while now, but there weren't many people he could truly talk to. And as for people who genuinely cared about him? Besides his aunt, whom he'd only met a few times, there was perhaps only Shizuka. Arriving alone in this unfamiliar world, initially feeling out of place, and now finding someone showing such genuine concern... For a transmigrator, it was a deeply touching feeling. Faced with such sincere kindness, Lin Yu found he couldn't refuse. He nodded. "Alright then."
"Then it's settled! I'll bring you breakfast starting tomorrow~" Shizuka chirped, her eyes sparkling with a smile. Though the idea was still a little embarrassing, seeing Lin Yu accept her offer made her incredibly happy.
But after settling the breakfast plan, Shizuka looked at the manga pages on Lin Yu's desk, her expression turning thoughtful again. "Lin Yu, how much more do you have left to draw for the first chapter?"
"About twenty-odd pages more," Lin Yu estimated. "If things go smoothly, probably another ten days or so."
"And you'll have to work this hard every day for all those days?" Shizuka asked quietly, her spoon idly stirring her lunch as she looked at him with concern.
"Yeah. Otherwise, it'll take much longer," Lin Yu confirmed.
Hearing this, a thoughtful look crossed Shizuka's face. "Lin Yu, if that's the case, why don't you try asking Doraemon for help?"
"Doraemon has so many amazing gadgets! If you could borrow one, it would surely help you, right?"
Lin Yu smiled and glanced briefly in Nobita's direction. "If Doraemon were willing to lend me something, that would be fantastic, of course," he said. "But... Nobita seems to have some misunderstandings about me right now. It might be a bit awkward to ask for gadgets under the circumstances."
(Lin Yu had considered approaching Doraemon. But his current relationship with Doraemon wasn't very close; they'd only met properly once. His original plan had been to gradually build a good rapport with Doraemon before trying to borrow any gadgets. Without that familiarity, Doraemon would likely refuse. Doraemon's gadgets were incredibly powerful, and if not used correctly, they often caused a lot of trouble. Even with Doraemon supervising, Nobita frequently made messes. Lending them out to someone less familiar would be even riskier from Doraemon's perspective.)
"Oh, I'm sure it'll be fine!" Shizuka said optimistically. "Nobita's actually a good person deep down; he just likes to play pranks sometimes. And if you explain things properly to Doraemon, I'm sure he'll help you!" The thought of Doraemon's wonderful gadgets brought a rush of excitement to Shizuka. The idea that one of them could help Lin Yu avoid working so hard made her genuinely happy.
"Let's go to Nobita's house together after school and ask Doraemon! What do you say?" Shizuka suggested, her face bright with anticipation.
"Alright then, let's give it a try," Lin Yu agreed. Seeing Shizuka so eager and full of good intentions, it felt wrong to refuse. Besides, if he could actually get his hands on some of the gadgets he was thinking of, it would be an enormous help.
"Then it's settled! I'll go tell Nobita right now!" Shizuka exclaimed, her face beaming. Forgetting her lunch entirely, she hopped up and practically skipped over to Nobita's desk.
Watching her hurry off, Lin Yu shook his head with an amused smile. When it came to his affairs, Shizuka seemed even more proactive and enthusiastic than he was.
"Nobita!" Shizuka's cheerful voice chirped beside him.
Hearing Shizuka's voice, Nobita, who had been wallowing in misery since the morning and had resigned himself to waiting for Doraemon to magically fix everything, suddenly perked up. 'Could it be? Did my dejected behavior this morning actually catch Shizuka's attention?'
As this hopeful thought crossed his mind, Nobita immediately sat up straighter, plastered a warm, welcoming smile on his face, and pulled out the chair beside him, gesturing for Shizuka to sit.
"Shizuka! You came! Here, sit down! Do you want to play cat's cradle? Or maybe after school, we could..." His face was one big, eager-to-please smile, full of fawning adoration. (He looked remarkably like what people in Lin Yu's previous world would have called a 'simp'.)