"Doraemon! Doraemon, are you there? You've got to help me this time or I'm dead!"
The wooden stairs echoed loudly as Noby Nobi burst into the room, his voice a frantic mix of sobbing and panic. He grabbed Doraemon's chubby blue arm and began shaking it wildly.
"What's wrong this time, Noby? Did Gian and the others bully you again?"
"No, it's not that! There's a math test tomorrow at school! If I don't do well, they're gonna call my mom! I just know I'm going to fail! Please, Doraemon, I need your help!"
Noby's face was a waterfall of tears and snot, his desperation so convincing even he almost felt sorry for himself.
"All right, fine. Here take this."
"Super Fan!"
With a sigh and a roll of his eyes, Doraemon pulled what looked like an ordinary electric fan out of his pouch. Noby's eyes sparkled instantly. He knew Doraemon wouldn't abandon him.
"Thanks, Doraemon! But… how do I use it?"
"It's simple. Just use it to blow the school away and you won't have to take the test."
"Blow the school away?! Are you kidding me? That's insane!"
"No good? Then how about this flashlight? Point it at the teacher, and he'll turn into a gorilla."
Doraemon pulled out yet another gadget, but Noby was clearly unimpressed. He flailed his arms and shouted, "Come on! Can't you be serious for once?!"
"Hmph. You brought this on yourself, Noby. If you'd actually studied, you wouldn't be in this mess right now."
Doraemon turned to leave, clearly done with Noby's drama.
"Wait, wait, don't go! Please, Doraemon!" Noby begged, clutching at Doraemon's leg. "I swear, this is the last time. I promise I'll start studying seriously after this. If I fail, Shizuka will hate me for sure. You don't want that, do you?"
Looking at Noby groveling, Doraemon sighed deeply, torn. If he kept relying on gadgets, Noby would never grow up. But in the end, Doraemon was too soft-hearted to say no.
"Sigh… You swear this is the last time?"
"Yes, yes! I swear! I'll study hard from now on!"
Noby wiped away his tears, nodding so vigorously his head looked like a bobblehead.
"Fine. But remember what you said." Doraemon started rummaging through his pouch again. "Let me see… Ah, here we go. Memorization Toast!"
He pulled out a stack of bread slices. "Just press a textbook page onto the toast and eat it. You'll instantly remember everything printed on it."
To demonstrate, Doraemon grabbed one of Noby's textbooks, stamped a slice with a page, and popped it in his mouth. Moments later, he flawlessly recited the content word for word.
"See? Simple and effective."
"Awesome! You're the best, Doraemon! I'm gonna ace this test for sure!"
Eyes gleaming, Noby began gobbling down the toast like a man possessed, while Doraemon calmly helped press more pages onto bread slices.
"Hey, Kevin, you're back. Want some memorization toast? It'll help with the test tomorrow."
"No thanks, Doraemon. I'm not worried about the test."
Kevin Cross shook his head as he walked into the room. For him, this kind of exam didn't require any gimmicks.
Besides, he already knew the downside: the knowledge gained from the toast would be… well, expelled the next day. Not exactly a long-term investment.
"You might want to study the normal way, Noby," Kevin added. "If you forget everything tomorrow, it's gonna blow up in your face."
"Hah! As if that's gonna happen! You'll see I'll beat you all tomorrow," Noby grumbled through a mouthful of toast, only to choke on it and start thumping his chest in a panic.
"Noby, can you go pick something up for me?" called Tamako from downstairs, her voice floating up as she set a shopping basket by his bedroom door.
"Ugh… Doraemon, can you do it for me?"
"No way. She clearly called you."
"But I'm busy right now!"
Noby made no move to get up, his face scrunched in irritation. He hated errands, especially in such a critical moment.
"You're hopeless," Doraemon sighed. "Fine, I'll go-"
"I'll go instead," Kevin said, stepping forward and grabbing the basket before Doraemon could.
"Really? Thanks a lot, Kevin!"
"No problem. But… can I borrow a Take-copter?"
"Of course! Go right ahead!"
Doraemon handed Kevin the small propeller with a grin, then turned back to toast duty for Noby.
Kevin examined the gadget in his hands with curiosity and anticipation. It was such a simple toy, but with just a flick of the switch, it could lift you into the sky. The engineering behind it was a mystery maybe it had something to do with anti-gravity fields or even black mambas.
"Let's just hope it doesn't crash…"
With a deep breath, Kevin strapped it onto his head and clicked the switch. After wobbling in place for a few moments, he finally got the hang of it and soared out the window.
"Whoa… this is beautiful."
The sun was beginning to dip below the horizon, and the clouds were awash in fiery orange light. The twilight sky gradually faded into soft pastels, like angel wings returning to their heavenly white.
From above, the entire town looked like a painting. Kevin drifted quietly, taking in the golden arc of the sun dipping behind rooftops, the winding streets dotted with people returning home, and the lush trees behind the school swaying gently in the breeze.
Moved by the moment, he instinctively began to sing.
"It's been a long day without you, my friend..."
"And I'll tell you all about it when I see you again..."
"We've come a long way from where we began..."
"Oh, I'll tell you all about it when I see you again..."
"When I see you again..."
His voice, full of warmth and soul, drifted down from the sky. People on the ground looked up in wonder, some even moved to tears without knowing why.
Something about the song about that voice from the clouds stirred a deep emotion in everyone who heard it.