"Lin Yu! How could you! Doing something like that to Shizuka!" Nobita exploded, his earlier shock replaced by righteous fury. Shizuka was his future wife, the girl he'd admired for years! How could he not be furious seeing this happen? In his mind, Shizuka's extreme embarrassment registered as extreme anger directed at Lin Yu. This was clearly his moment to step up and defend her honor! "What's the difference between that and being a creep?!"
Faced with Nobita's indignant outburst, Lin Yu showed no sign of embarrassment. Instead, he glanced towards Shizuka, who was still trying to disappear into the floor like a little quail, and a mischievous smile played on his lips. "Ah," he murmured softly, as if just realizing something, "no wonder that milk tasted so sweet just now."
"Pfft..." The words had barely left Lin Yu's mouth when he could almost hear the metaphorical sound of steam rising. Shizuka's already rosy cheeks instantly became firetruck red. Her heart felt like it was doing somersaults, pounding wildly against her ribs. Lin Yu's words – the milk tasted so sweet – echoed relentlessly in her mind, filling her with an overwhelming mix of mortification and a strange, unfamiliar thrill.
'It's just ordinary milk... how could it be sweet...?' she thought frantically. And yet... that feeling, like she'd just swallowed spoonfuls of sugar, kept swirling inside her, tickling at her heart. Shizuka was still young. Faced with such a blatantly sweet, teasing remark, her defenses crumbled instantly.
"You... you...!" Shizuka stammered, completely overwhelmed by shyness. But while Shizuka was mortified, Nobita felt a fresh wave of fury surge through him. "You...!" he repeated, grinding his teeth. This Lin Yu! Not only did he show no remorse, but he actually doubled down with a comment like that! It was infuriating!
"What's wrong?" Lin Yu asked, feigning innocence, though inwardly he was enjoying their reactions immensely. "Did I say something wrong?"
"Did you say something wrong?! Apologize to Shizuka right now! Or... or else I won't let you off!" Nobita sputtered. He paused midsentence. He was used to being threatened by Gian, but actually threatening someone else? He'd never really done it. A quick glance confirmed Lin Yu looked physically capable, probably more so than himself. But the words were already out, and he couldn't back down now, not in front of Shizuka. He forced himself to finish the sentence, even though the threat felt utterly toothless.
"Oh, is that how it is?" Lin Yu mused, a slight smile playing on his lips, though his tone was agreeable. "I genuinely wasn't sure... Perhaps I really was being too forward..."
Sensing the atmosphere growing tense again, Shizuka quickly lifted her head, cutting off their exchange. "Nobita! How can you talk to Lin Yu like that?" she exclaimed, surprising Nobita. "After your prank yesterday, Lin Yu didn't even say anything! And he just helped bandage you up today! How can you threaten him now?!"
Truthfully, Shizuka hadn't actually been offended by Lin Yu's sweet comment earlier. It was simply the kind of teasing flirtation a young girl had never encountered before, leading to overwhelming shyness, not genuine dislike. Perhaps Shizuka hadn't even consciously realized it yet, but her feelings were shifting. Nobita was, and always had been, just a childhood playmate, like Gian or Suneo. But Lin Yu... Lin Yu felt completely different. At her age, girls often matured faster emotionally than boys, developing the first stirrings of romantic awareness. Combined with Japan's somewhat more open media portrayal of such things, Shizuka was beginning to view Lin Yu through a different lens than she viewed Nobita. Besides, this whole situation was just a misunderstanding. Far from being truly upset by Lin Yu's actions, that sweet comment had left a lingering warmth in her heart. Now Nobita had barged in, making everything awkward and tense. Combined with his behavior yesterday, Shizuka couldn't help but feel Nobita was being incredibly immature. His actions were genuinely disappointing. He hadn't appreciated her trying to help him with his homework, and now he was threatening Lin Yu? Shizuka strongly disliked violence and bullying, and this side of Nobita was truly unpleasant.
"Shizuka, but I was just..." Hearing Shizuka defend Lin Yu and scold him left Nobita feeling utterly bewildered and wronged. He thought he was sticking up for her! Why was she turning on him?
"What just happened was a simple misunderstanding!" Shizuka said firmly. "Acting like this, how are you any different from Gian and Suneo when they bully you?"
Seeing Shizuka genuinely angry at him left Nobita completely baffled and hurt. His brain simply couldn't process it. Wasn't he supposed to bravely defend her, she'd thank him, and realize Lin Yu was bad news? How had it turned around so completely that he was somehow the bad guy? The more he thought about it, the more wronged he felt.
"It's okay, Shizuka," Lin Yu interjected soothingly. "Nobita was just upset and spoke without thinking..."
"I don't need you pretending to speak for me!" Nobita shrieked, Lin Yu's calm voice being the final straw that made his pent-up frustration explode. He ripped off his glasses, furiously wiped away fresh tears, spat out the words, and bolted out the door.
"Nobita!" Lin Yu called after him, but Nobita didn't even look back as he clattered down the stairs. Lin Yu sighed, a flicker of genuine helplessness crossing his face.
Downstairs, they heard Mrs. Nobi's confused voice: "Oh? Nobita, what's wrong now? Hey, Nobita! Nobita!" But it seemed she couldn't stop him either.
"Looks like Nobita might have some misunderstandings about me," Lin Yu remarked, looking towards the empty doorway with a sigh.
Just then, Shizuka's mother reappeared, looking puzzled after Nobita's abrupt departure. "Did something happen between you? Nobita seemed to run out crying just now," she asked.
"Nobita misunderstood something between him and Lin Yu," Shizuka explained, her cheeks puffed out slightly in lingering annoyance. "I told him off a little, and he just ran away." Everything had been fine today until Nobita showed up and made things chaotic, and then acted like he was the victim when called out. Even good-natured Shizuka felt irritated.
"Shizuka," Lin Yu said, seeing the situation, "maybe we should call it a day here. I should probably go check on Nobita at his place. Perhaps apologizing might make him feel a bit better." He began packing his drawing supplies back into his bag.
(Lin Yu genuinely didn't have much patience for Nobita's antics. Plus, now that he and Shizuka were getting closer, he wasn't keen on letting Nobita have as many opportunities to interact with her as he did in the original story. Wasn't this a perfect opportunity to subtly manage that? Besides, he hadn't actually planned any of this to trap Nobita; the kid had brought this entire mess upon himself through his own actions. Lin Yu was just reacting to the situation Nobita created.)