Helpless, the real Nobita could only watch in mounting despair as Lin Yu, masquerading as him, led Gian, Suneo, and Shizuka towards his own house. His heart was a knot of pure misery.
And so, the group arrived at Nobita's home.
"Mom, I brought some friends home to play!" Lin Yu called out cheerfully, playing his role perfectly.
Mrs. Nobi (Tamako), who was busy cleaning, heard 'Nobita's' voice and hurried out. Seeing Gian, Suneo, and Shizuka, she smiled warmly. "Oh, it's Shizuka and the boys! Come in, come in! I'll bring up some snacks for you all in a bit." Then, turning to Lin Yu, she added, "Nobita, dear, try not to be too noisy, alright? Be mindful of the volume when you play."
"We know, Mom! We'll just play for a little while, then we have homework to do," Lin Yu replied dutifully.
With that, the four of them headed upstairs.
Meanwhile, the real Nobita could only pace miserably outside his own front door, watching the scene unfold with a crushing sense of helplessness. "What do I do? What do I do?" he whimpered, tears welling up. "Mom doesn't recognize me, Doraemon's turned into a giant tree... I can't even go home!" His shoulders slumped, heart heavy with regret as he aimlessly wandered.
Upstairs, Lin Yu, still playing Nobita, presented two thick stacks of manga with a grin. "Gian, these are for you."
"And Suneo, these are yours."
"I was out of line earlier, I hope you can forgive me."
Seeing such generosity, Gian's face split into a wide grin. He clapped Lin Yu heartily on the shoulder. "Nobita, I knew you were a good egg deep down! You've got real guts!"
"Yeah!" Suneo chimed in, equally pleased. The anger from the morning's incident had completely vanished, replaced by the joy of free manga.
"Nobita," Shizuka suddenly asked, looking around, "why is there a big tree in your room?" She was pointing at Doraemon, still under the effect of the Substitute Sticker placed by the real Nobita.
Lin Yu shook his head, feigning confusion. From his perspective, it indeed looked like a tree, though a strange feeling pricked at him. He had no idea what was going on with that. "I have no idea," he said.
"Probably something Doraemon cooked up, right? Maybe it's one of his gadgets!" Gian guessed, approaching the 'tree' curiously and giving its trunk a playful pat.
The sticker, which had been clinging on for a whole night and day, was accidentally knocked off by Gian's tap. In an instant, Doraemon was free!
"I'm saved!" Doraemon cheered, tears of joy streaming down his face the moment he returned to normal. Being forced to stand rigid as a tree for an entire night and most of the day was exhausting, even for a robot.
"Thank you, Gian! You saved me!" Doraemon exclaimed, shaking Gian's hand gratefully. Then, his expression hardened as he turned and stomped towards Lin Yu.
"Nobita! You went too far! Do you have any idea how tiring that was?!"
"Oh, so it was one of Nobita's pranks again," Shizuka said sympathetically towards Doraemon. Lin Yu, however, just shook his head, looking utterly bewildered. "A prank? When was this? I don't know anything about it. I don't remember a thing!"
"I'm furious, Nobita!" Doraemon fumed, hands on his hips, cheeks puffed out.
Just then, Mrs. Nobi arrived with a tray of snacks and tea. "Doraemon, Nobita, why are you two quarreling again?" she asked gently.
"Mom, you don't know how awful Nobita was!" Doraemon wailed, looking utterly dejected. Mrs. Nobi chuckled, lifting the lid off a plate of dorayaki. She patted Doraemon's head. "There, there, Doraemon. Look, your favorite dorayaki. Won't you forgive Nobita?"
"Dorayaki!" Doraemon's eyes lit up. "Mom, you're the best!" He grabbed one and stuffed it into his mouth, mumbling happily, "Well, since Mom says so, I guess I'll forgive you."
After their snack, at Shizuka's suggestion, they began their homework. As they worked, Shizuka looked up at Lin Yu in astonishment. "Nobita," she said, her voice filled with disbelief, "when did you get so good at this? Today's problems are so hard, but you've solved all of them!"
Gian, who had been struggling to write even a single word, snatched 'Nobita's' notebook. His jaw dropped. "No way! Nobita, don't you never do your homework?"
Suneo leaned over, peering at the neat, clean handwriting on the page, and rubbed his eyes as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"Oh, is that so? Today's homework didn't seem much different from usual," Lin Yu said modestly. He glanced outside at the darkening sky. "It's getting pretty late. Why don't you all stay for dinner? We can finish our homework properly then."
"That sounds great!" Shizuka said, "But I'll need to call home."
"Me too," Gian chimed in.
"No problem," Lin Yu smiled. "I'll go tell Mom right now."
As Lin Yu left the room, Doraemon trotted after him, looking puzzled. "Nobita, you're acting really strange today. You never do your homework. Why so proactive all of a sudden?"
"Doing homework is actually quite fun! You can learn so many things," Lin Yu explained with a knowing smile, subtly aware of the sticker still on his back.
"Nobita, it's wonderful that you feel that way!" Doraemon said, genuinely pleased. After all this time, it seemed Nobita was finally making some progress.
Downstairs in the kitchen, Mrs. Nobi was preparing dinner. "Mom," Lin Yu said, "Shizuka and the others are staying for dinner. We're going to finish our homework afterwards. Thanks for cooking for everyone tonight."
"My dear boy, why so polite all of a sudden?" Mrs. Nobi chuckled, but hearing they were focused on homework brought a wide smile to her face. "You run along upstairs. I'll call Shizuka's and Gian's parents in a bit. You all just focus on your studies."
Lin Yu nodded, cast a quick, amused glance towards the street outside where the real Nobita presumably still lingered, and then headed back upstairs, a faint smile playing on his lips.
Kids' pranks are normal, Lin Yu mused. Everyone does silly things when they're young. Being mischievous is part of growing up. However, his thoughts sharpened, that doesn't mean Nobita gets a free pass for the trouble he's caused.
If this had happened to anyone else, they might have ended up beaten by Gian and unable to even go home.
If you pull a stunt, you need the courage to face the consequences. Otherwise, Lin Yu decided, I don't mind letting Nobita fully experience the fallout of his own little prank.
Re-entering the room, he rejoined Shizuka, Gian, and Suneo, and they continued with their homework for a while longer.