Suneo cleared his throat awkwardly. "Right then, it's settled! Next time we get a chance, we'll all come visit you!"
Just then, they reached the crossroads. "Okay, Gian and I will head off this way! See you tomorrow!" Suneo called out. He dragged Gian around the corner, their voices fading but still audible:
"Suneo, why'd you stop me back there...?"
"Gian, are you dense? Obviously..."
"Oh, I see... Hey! But I won't forgive you for calling me dense!" Followed by the sounds of their usual roughhousing.
As the sounds of their scuffle died away, Lin Yu turned to Shizuka with a gentle smile. "Shall we? I'll walk you home."
They walked side-by-side down the darkening street. Despite the growing dimness, Shizuka didn't feel scared; instead, a quiet, inexplicable sense of security settled over her. Neither spoke much on the way. Shizuka's mind replayed the day's tumultuous events, while Lin Yu was already deep in thought about his manga's progress.
Lost in their own thoughts, they soon arrived at Shizuka's front gate. "Lin Yu, I'm home," Shizuka announced softly.
Her voice pulled Lin Yu from his contemplation. "Alright then," he smiled, "I'll head off. See you tomorrow." He gave her a wave and turned to leave. It was getting late; he needed to get back to drawing.
"Um, Lin Yu..." He'd only taken a couple of steps when he heard Shizuka call out behind him.
"Yes?" Lin Yu stopped and turned back, smiling questioning.
Shizuka hesitated for a moment, then stepped closer, tilting her head up slightly to meet his eyes. "Lin Yu," she began softly, "please don't take what happened today too hard. Nobita... he really didn't mean it."
"I know," Lin Yu reassured her gently. "Don't worry."
"Then..." A little bolder now, she continued, "Would you like to do homework together tomorrow too? At my place? My mom makes really good cookies." She watched his expression closely, relieved to see he genuinely didn't seem upset, which gave her the confidence to extend the invitation.
"Okay, sure," Lin Yu agreed easily. "Sounds great. I'll look forward to it then."
Having accepted her invitation, Lin Yu turned and walked off into the evening shadows. Shizuka watched him until he disappeared from view before turning and heading inside her house.
Shizuka had always been a gentle and empathetic soul. Her earlier words weren't meant to excuse Nobita – she was genuinely upset by his actions today. She had simply wanted to offer Lin Yu some comfort but struggled to find the right words. The invitation and her reassurances were the best she could come up with, hoping to ensure today's events didn't leave him feeling down. 'I hope Lin Yu feels happier tomorrow,' she thought silently as she entered her home, thinking about her invitation.
Meanwhile, Lin Yu arrived home, quickly washed up, and headed straight to his room. Reflecting on the day's roller-coaster of events, a faint smile touched his lips. "Quite an eventful day," he murmured to himself.
Shizuka's concern, while kind, was ultimately unnecessary from his perspective. As a transmigrator simply inhabiting this identity, he felt no real connection to the parents of this body, whom he'd never even met. There were no deep-seated emotions there to be hurt. If anything, he felt a stronger sense of connection, or at least obligation, to the aunt who was currently his guardian. While not overly affectionate, she provided for him financially without stinting.
Still, compared to the relative quiet of his first two months here, life had certainly become more interesting since he started interacting more with Shizuka, Nobita, and the others. Today marked his first real, firsthand experience with the magic of Doraemon's gadgets. It was a strange, novel feeling to personally engage with elements from an anime that had been such a significant part of his own childhood memories.
"Right, need to pick up the pace with the manga," he thought, shifting focus. "Once I get a bit more proficient, maybe I can ask Doraemon about borrowing something like the 'Canned Production Studio' or those 'Efficiency Pills'. That would speed things up considerably." The sheer number of incredibly useful gadgets Doraemon possessed made Lin Yu sigh with covetous appreciation.
Of course, there was another path. If his manga actually got serialized and started earning 'Reputation Points,' he could potentially gain various abilities or items directly related to his own creations. He thought of "Cardcaptor Sakura" – many elements in that story, like the Clow Cards, were arguably just as magically potent as Doraemon's gadgets. Acquiring even one of those powerful cards would significantly bolster his confidence and capabilities, especially if he ever had to deal with potential interference from entities like the Time Patrol he vaguely worried about.
"'Right, focus!' he told himself sternly. 'Goal for tonight: finish the cover draft!'"
Giving himself a mental pep talk, Lin Yu refilled his coffee cup and sat down at his desk, ready to work. He picked up his pen and began sketching intensely. The cover was critical. A compelling cover was essential to grab an editor's interest when submitting to a publisher; it was the first impression, a symbol of the author's dedication. Like the wrapping on a present, the more appealing the cover, the more intrigued someone would be by the contents. And once the draft was finalized, he still had the arduous task of coloring it. Any significant mistake in the coloring phase could mean having to redraw the entire line art from scratch – a daunting amount of extra work.
He knew from his past life that even many established, non-beginner manga artists only managed to produce twenty to thirty pages of finished manuscript per month. Lin Yu recognized he still had a very long way to go to reach that level of proficiency and speed.
But this initial push, getting the first submission-ready piece done, was the crucial first hurdle. Once he cleared it, things should get easier. If the manga got approved for serialization, the Reputation Points would start flowing in. Whether he used them for rewards or to directly enhance his own artistic skills, it would accelerate his progress rapidly, allowing him to face whatever future challenges might arise with greater confidence.
...
The next morning.
Lin Yu awoke from a deep sleep, the dark circles under his eyes even more pronounced than before. He gave a lazy yawn, stretched, and got dressed. But as his gaze fell upon the beautifully colored illustration lying finished on his desk, his fatigue vanished, replaced by a jolt of energized satisfaction.
After two long nights of intense work, he had finally, successfully, taken the first crucial step.
"The beginning is always the hardest part," he thought, a determined glint in his eyes. "From here on, it should get easier. And I've definitely learned a lot."