After Lu Ming walked Shizuka home, he returned alone. Looking at the empty villa, he figured Sister Lin Hua might have gone out to buy groceries.
Meanwhile, Nobita practically scrambled into his house, tossing his schoolbag at the entrance.
He dashed straight to the storage room and threw a baseball glove, a cap, and a baseball into a sports bag.
Nobita didn't even bother zipping it up properly before rushing back out the door.
Running at full tilt, Nobita reached the baseball field next to the open lot. From a distance, he could see Gian swinging a baseball bat.
Suneo was nearby, assigning positions to the other classmates.
"Nobita! What took you so long?" Gian's voice boomed the moment he spotted him.
Gian rested the bat on his shoulder and glared at Nobita. "Did you bring everything? If even one thing is missing and it causes us to lose today's game, you're dead meat."
Nobita quickly set the bag on the ground and frantically rifled through it for Gian to see. "Look, I... I brought it all! The glove, the cap, the ball—they're all here."
Gian gave it a cursory glance and didn't give Nobita any more trouble, waving him off to play as an outfielder.
Nobita ran to his position, but he couldn't stop wondering. At this very moment, was Lu Ming hanging out with Shizuka?
Were they chatting about things he didn't know? The more he thought about it, the more agitated he became. He didn't even register Gian yelling at him to "watch the ball."
Just as the first inning began, Suneo hit a ball in Nobita's direction.
The ball flew high and straight. It should have been an easy catch, but because Nobita was distracted, his reaction was a split second slow. The baseball hit him in the chest with a "thud" before bouncing onto the ground and rolling into the bushes.
"Nobi... Nobita! What the hell is wrong with you? You can't even catch a ball that's right in front of you!" Gian's roar immediately echoed from nearby.
Startled, Nobita scrambled into the bushes to find the ball, but he didn't see a rock underfoot. He tripped and fell face-first, scraping the skin off his knee.
"I'm... I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Nobita scrambled up, enduring the pain as he retrieved the ball.
Seeing this, Gian's anger cooled slightly, and he told Nobita to get back to his position quickly.
However, Nobita's injury only made things worse. Whether he was throwing or catching, he was always a step behind.
He either threw the ball straight to the opposing players or watched blankly as it flew past him, unable to react in time.
After several innings, their team had lost miserably. Gian's expression grew increasingly grim, and his grip on the baseball bat made it creak.
As soon as the game ended, Gian bellowed, "Nobita! Get over here!"
Nobita swallowed hard and walked toward Gian, trembling with fear.
Seeing Nobita's sluggish pace, Gian charged over, grabbed him by the collar, and hoisted him up.
Witnessing Nobita's pathetic state, Suneo added fuel to the fire from behind Gian. "Gian, look at him. He wasn't even trying. He definitely dragged us down on purpose."
Tears were already streaming down Nobita's face as he hurriedly explained, "I didn't! My leg is just a bit hurt."
Suneo laughed and continued, "Then what about the first inning? You couldn't have shown up already injured!"
Nobita stammered, "I was just... just a bit distracted earlier."
"Distracted!" Gian sneered. "Nobita, I told you this game was important. I even specifically warned you to play well, and now you're telling me you were distracted?"
He released Nobita, clenched his fist, and brought it down heavily on Nobita's head.
"You think this is just a game? Because of you, we lost! Today, I'm going to beat you to a pulp!" As he spoke, his fists began to rain down on Nobita.
Nobita winced in agony but didn't dare dodge. The more he tried to avoid the blows, the harder Gian hit him.
Suneo watched from the side, occasionally making a show of restraining Gian.
"Gian, don't hit him too hard. He just didn't take your words seriously, that's all," Suneo said with a malicious grin.
It wasn't until Gian was exhausted that he finally shoved Nobita to the ground.
After Suneo and Gian left, Nobita remained sprawled on the ground. His arms and legs were sore and numb, and the wound on his knee was still seeping blood.
He didn't dare cry out loud. Only after Gian and Suneo were far away did he slowly crawl up and limp home with his sports bag.
As the wind brushed against him on the way, his wounds stung even more, and a wave of grievance surged in his heart.
He had lost the game, gotten beaten up, and was still plagued by thoughts of Lu Ming and Shizuka. The more he thought, the more miserable he became, tears blurring his vision as they rolled down his cheeks.
Nobita finally managed to stumble to his front door. He pushed it open to find Doraemon sitting on a cushion in the living room, eating a dorayaki while watching the latest Lion Mask cartoon.
"Doraemon..." At the sight of Doraemon, Nobita's tears began to pour again, his voice cracking with sobs.
Engrossed in the TV, Doraemon heard Nobita's voice and turned around, dropping his dorayaki in shock.
"Nobita, what happened? Why do you look like this?" Doraemon rushed over, noticing the bruises on Nobita's arms and the scrape on his knee.
Fuming with rage, Doraemon asked through gritted teeth, "Was it Gian and Suneo again?"
With that, Doraemon stood up, ready to rush out and settle the score with them.
Seeing this, Nobita lunged into Doraemon's arms and finally let out a loud wail. "Waaa... Doraemon! I was distracted during the game today because of Shizuka and Lu Ming.
I caused the team to lose, and that's why they beat me up... And... and Lu Ming and Shizuka became deskmates.
They were even studying together after class. I even saw Shizuka being so caring toward him. I feel so miserable..."
"Waaa... Doraemon, what should I do?" Nobita sobbed, pouring out all his grievances at once, which made him feel slightly better.
However, his tears and snot ended up smeared all over Doraemon.
Doraemon patted Nobita's back and sighed. Between being bullied by Gian and his obsession with Shizuka, it seemed Nobita was truly having a rough day.
Doraemon then reached into his four-dimensional pocket and pulled out a pain-relief sticker, applying it to Nobita's wound first.
"Doraemon, do you have a gadget that can make Shizuka hate Lu Ming?" Nobita asked once the pain had subsided.
"I do!" Doraemon said, pulling it out of his pocket. "The annoyance potion. Just drink this and you'll definitely be one hundred percent guaranteed to be hated."
Before Doraemon could even finish his sentence, Nobita grabbed the potion and ran out.
"Drinking this potion won't just make Shizuka hate Lu Ming.
It will make everyone afraid to go near you and hate you! Do you understand, Nobita?" Doraemon finished and turned around.
But the space behind him was already empty. Nobita had already hurried off with the annoyance potion.