If Lin Yu knew what was going through Nobita's head right now, he'd probably tell him he was getting more than his fill of 'dog food' (internet slang for feeling like an unwanted third wheel watching a couple's affection).
Watching Lin Yu and Shizuka chat and laugh together while he sat ignored felt like pure torture to Nobita, but he couldn't even find an opening to butt into their conversation. This feeling, somehow, was even worse than getting beaten up again by Gian and Suneo.
After stewing for a moment, seeing Shizuka's attention completely focused on Lin Yu, Nobita stealthily reached out towards her finished homework. His only hope, he figured, was to finish his own homework quickly so he could join their conversation and, hopefully, put a stop to their growing closeness. With painstaking stealth, he managed to slide her workbook over. Casting a furtive glance at Shizuka to ensure she hadn't noticed, he quickly opened it and began copying the answers.
"Lin Yu, your manga sounds really interesting! When are you planning to submit it?" Shizuka, completely captivated by Lin Yu's description of Cardcaptor Sakura, asked softly, leaning in slightly.
"Probably sometime this month," Lin Yu replied. "I'll let you know when I actually submit it."
"Okay! You have to promise to show me the finished chapter first, though! I'm really excited to read it!" Shizuka insisted eagerly.
Lin Yu smiled and nodded. Just then, feeling a bit thirsty from talking, he casually picked up the glass of milk Shizuka's mother had brought earlier and took a sip.
Seeing him drink, Shizuka reached for a cookie herself, glancing over towards Nobita to see how he was doing with his homework. But her glance caught Nobita red-handed, hunched over her workbook. Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"Nobita! Are you copying my homework again?!"
Startled by her sharp tone, Nobita, already feeling guilty, looked up in a panic. Seeing the annoyed look on Shizuka's face, he gave an awkward, sheepish grin and scratched his head. "I..."
"You need to try it yourself first! If there's something you don't understand, you can ask Lin Yu or me," Shizuka reprimanded gently but firmly. "Just copying like this doesn't help you learn anything!" (Copying homework, while not a major crime, always bothered Shizuka. She felt it was just a way to avoid effort. As his friend, she genuinely wanted Nobita to improve.)
"I just couldn't figure them out!" Nobita mumbled, still scratching his head with that awkward smile. "So I wanted to look at yours to understand the method, hehe." (In Nobita's view, copying was obviously much easier. Why bother with the hard way?)
Shizuka was momentarily speechless, choked by his response. She was trying to help him, and he clearly hadn't grasped her point at all.
Lin Yu mostly stayed out of this little exchange, watching with quiet amusement from the sidelines. Copying homework wasn't a huge deal, but brushing off a friend's genuine concern with such a flimsy excuse... Nobita's emotional intelligence really was a bit lacking. If this were Crayon Shin-chan, Lin Yu mused idly, he probably would have said something outrageous by now and somehow gotten Shizuka laughing instead.
Seeing Shizuka look genuinely annoyed with Nobita, Lin Yu decided not to interfere further. He took another sip of his milk, preparing to get back to his drawing.
But just as he did, Lin Yu froze mid-motion. A notification had suddenly popped up on the System interface within his mind:
[Ding! Received 1 Reputation Point from Minamoto Shizuka.]
Since the System had activated, it had remained completely silent until now. This sudden, unexpected notification made Lin Yu's eyes widen in surprise and excitement. When he'd been explaining Cardcaptor Sakura to Shizuka earlier, he hadn't been thinking about the System at all; he was just indulging her curiosity. He never expected that simply showing her a few illustrations and describing the plot could actually generate Reputation Points from her!
This was a pleasant surprise! He had assumed he wouldn't be able to gain any Reputation Points until the manga was officially serialized. While one point was minuscule and couldn't be used for much, it was a promising start! At the very least, Shizuka's positive reaction confirmed that Cardcaptor Sakura resonated with someone in this world. He had initially worried that differences between worlds might affect how the story was received, but Shizuka's enthusiasm suggested he'd been worrying unnecessarily.
Just as he was feeling pleased about this small validation, Shizuka suddenly let out a sharp gasp beside him.
"L-Lin Yu! You..."
Putting down the milk glass, Lin Yu turned to her with a smile. "What's wrong? Is there a homework problem you need help with?" He assumed Nobita was stuck again.
But he quickly realized Shizuka wasn't looking at Nobita or the homework. Her face was rapidly turning scarlet, and her wide eyes were fixed intensely on the milk glass still in Lin Yu's hand.
Seeing her stare, Lin Yu glanced down at the glass, puzzled. "Is there something in the milk? Why are you looking at it like that...?"
"Th-that glass... that was my milk..." Shizuka whispered, her face now completely crimson. She seemed to shrink into her kneeling position on the floor, her hands clutching nervously at the hem of her skirt, twisting the fabric, making her look incredibly flustered and shy.
After uttering the words, Shizuka immediately ducked her head down like a little quail, unable to meet Lin Yu's gaze. Her mind flooded with a chaotic jumble of mortified thoughts. 'H-how could Lin Yu drink my milk?... Oh no, oh no, this is so embarrassing... Does this count as an indirect... Ahh...!?' She could feel the heat radiating from her own face and desperately wished she could disappear into a hole in the floor. And the fact that Nobita was right there made it exponentially more embarrassing!
While Shizuka was practically combusting from embarrassment, Nobita, who had been agonizing over his homework, now sat completely frozen, his mind utterly blank.
"You..." he finally managed to stammer, pointing a trembling finger at Lin Yu. He couldn't seem to form any other words.
Lin Yu acting close with Shizuka was one thing, but this? An indirect kiss?! That was something even he, in all his daydreams, had never managed! The shock completely short-circuited his brain.