Chapter 8: The Girlfriend Catalog Maker

"Ah~ that was delicious. Shizuka-chan really put her heart into today's cookies."

Nobita had been invited to Shizuka's house and treated to some snacks. Naturally, her handmade cookies were exquisite. It also felt like there were more of them, in a wider variety than usual, and she even packed some up as a souvenir for Doraemon.

"I'll give half to Doraemon, and since I promised, I'll share the other half with Dekisugi."

Dekisugi would probably use these delicious cookies as a reference to bake even better ones. They were competing to see who could cook better, which basically made Nobita the judge of their cookie contest.

"I fully welcome this kind of rivalry that brings happiness to everyone around them. I hope Doraemon is home today."

Nobita arrived at his house beaming with satisfaction. He climbed the stairs, entered his room, and checked to make sure it was empty. Just to be safe, he even peeked into the closet, but no one was in the usual sleeping spot. Realizing Doraemon wasn't around, Nobita placed the cookies he got from Shizuka on his desk. At that exact moment—

"T-T-T-Terrible news, Nobita-kun!!!"

The desk drawer burst open, and Doraemon flew out. The violently flung drawer smacked Nobita right in the stomach, knocking him flat on the floor. Completely ignoring him, Doraemon continued to scream in a flustered panic.

"That hurts! What in the world is wrong?"

"This is no time to be calm! Because of that Mallet gadget, something terrible has happened!"

"Eh!? Does this mean it's going to take even longer to turn Dekisugi back to normal?"

A few weeks had already quickly passed since Dekisugi turned into a girl. It didn't hinder their daily life, but only Nobita knew that Dekisugi used to be a boy. Feeling somewhat guilty, or perhaps just unable to stop worrying, Nobita had ended up spending a lot more time with Dekisugi.

Thanks to Dekisugi acting as a buffer, Nobita could even converse comfortably with Gian and Suneo. There were no issues with playing or studying; at first glance, it seemed like an entirely positive situation. But the biggest problem was that his opportunities to hang out alone with Shizuka were drastically decreasing. It was fine to invite her to join them, but it was hard to ask Shizuka to play the boyish games Dekisugi preferred. On top of that, they were holding regular study sessions, leaving him with almost no free time.

Because of this, today's cookie invitation had been a godsend—a rare chance to finally spend time with Shizuka.

"That's not it! Your future has changed, Nobita-kun! Anyway, you need to come with me to the future to find the cause!"

Saying that, Doraemon grabbed Nobita's hand, pulled him into the desk drawer, shoved him onto the Time Machine floating in the space-time continuum, and hopped on himself.

"How exactly has the future changed?"

"You're no longer marrying Shizuka-chan!"

"Eh?! That's a disaster! Why on earth..."

"I have no idea either! Anyway, let's go find out who your partner is and investigate why it changed."

Nobita was shocked by this sudden, world-shattering revelation, but right now, uncovering the cause was their top priority.

"Where are we going?!"

"Um, not that one, not this one either..."

Doraemon started tossing various pieces of junk out of his 4D pocket, looking for something. A baseball, a rice bowl, a traffic safety charm... As always, only completely unrelated items came out.

"Ah! Found it! A normal photo album~!"

"A normal photo album?"

What Doraemon pulled out had nothing to do with Secret Gadgets; it was just an ordinary photo album.

"Look, when I first met you, Nobita-kun, I showed you photos of the future, right?"

"I remember! It was the one filled with terrible photos, like my company going bankrupt and me marrying Jaiko, right?"

"Those photos should have disappeared after I changed your future, but look at this."

When Doraemon opened the album, a single wedding photo was tucked inside. Normally, in the timeline altered by Doraemon's arrival, Shizuka should have been pictured standing next to Nobita.

"Wait, the groom is me, but there's someone else standing next to me."

"Exactly. I was casually organizing photos yesterday, and this picture had suddenly appeared in the album. History is slowly changing."

"But who could it be? She's incredibly beautiful... To think there's a future where I meet and marry someone this gorgeous."

Staring at a bride as beautiful as an actress made him feel somewhat embarrassed. He didn't know who she was, but it meant someone had fallen in love with Nobita and married him—someone stunningly gorgeous.

"This is no time to be grinning! It means you won't be able to marry Shizuka-chan! Just to be sure, do you have any idea who this is?"

"I have absolutely no clue. Besides, I can't even figure out her name just from a photo of her as an adult."

No matter how much he racked his brain, he didn't know who the woman was. It was possible that elementary-school Nobita hadn't met her yet, or perhaps she just looked too different as an adult to recognize.

"You took out the Girlfriend Catalog Maker for me once before, right? I don't think there was anyone this beautiful in it..."

"Anyway, there's no name on the photo, but the date it was taken is written here. Let's go to this exact day and find out."

"Hurry! Hurry!"

"Don't rush me. Even if we hurry, we'll arrive at the exact same time anyway."

The Time Machine sped through time and space, arriving at the date written on the photograph.

"Is this the era where I get married?"

"First, let's find your bride, Nobita-kun, and confirm her identity. Invisibility Cape and Anywhere Door~!"

From his pocket, Doraemon pulled out the familiar pink door that could take them anywhere they desired, along with a cape that wrapped completely around the body.

"It'll be a huge hassle if someone spots us, so let's hide under the Invisibility Cape while we look for your bride."

"My heart's starting to pound."

Putting on the cape and turning completely transparent, Doraemon grabbed the knob of the Anywhere Door and announced their destination.

"To wherever adult Nobita-kun's bride is!"

Stepping through the door, they found themselves in what appeared to be a wedding venue. Various staff members were bustling about, so the two quickly moved to the edge of the hallway to stay out of the way.

"Doraemon, with this many people around, I won't know who my bride is."

"It'll be fine, Nobita-kun. If she's getting married today, she must be in a waiting room wearing a wedding dress. There's probably a waiting room right near... Wait, isn't that Shizuka-chan?"

"Where?! Where?!"

Looking closely, they saw a grown-up Shizuka, dressed elegantly, walking down the hallway.

"Why is Shizuka-chan here? Does this mean I am marrying Shizuka-chan after all?"

"No way. That outfit follows a guest dress code. She probably came to give her greetings before the ceremony. Ah, she's going into that waiting room over there. Let's slip in with her."

Sticking close behind Shizuka as she opened the door, the two invisible sneaks slipped into the bridal waiting room.

"Ah, Shizuka-kun. You came."

"Of course I did. We're best friends, aren't we?"

Inside the room, a beautiful woman who looked breathtaking in her wedding dress happily welcomed Shizuka, and the two began talking intimately.

"Could she be an acquaintance of Shizuka-chan?"

Nobita thought Shizuka was a guest he had invited from his side, but judging by their interaction, she was clearly very close friends with the bride.

"Still, she's incredibly beautiful..."

"Geez, Nobita-kun, you're so carefree. But it's true, she's beautiful enough to be a celebrity somewhere. Why would someone this gorgeous marry someone like Nobita-kun...?"

"What do you mean 'someone like me'? I might grow up to be a reliable and popular guy in the future, you know!"

The two bickered in whispers, but they were in complete agreement about one thing: the bride was exceptionally beautiful.

"I always thought you two made a great couple, but to think you're actually marrying Nobita-san..."

"Yeah. When we were in elementary school, I never dreamed I would end up marrying Nobi-kun."

Through the Invisibility Cape, Doraemon poked Nobita's arm.

"Nobita-kun, it sounds like she's known you since elementary school. Do you really not have any idea who this is?"

"I have no clue."

He said he didn't know, but there was only one person he could think of who called him "Nobi-kun" with such a clear, beautiful voice. But no, that can't be, Nobita thought, his heart pounding.

"Say, when did you fall in love with Nobita-san?"

"Well, you see... I was kind of isolated in class, wasn't I? Especially with the girls; there was always a distance between us."

"That's true. After all, you were always so popular with the boys, and you were way too helpful and caring to everyone. They were probably jealous of you."

The bride spoke with a distant look in her eyes, as if recalling their elementary school days. Nobita vaguely recognized those eyes. As he realized who that voice belonged to, he felt his face turn burning red. Yet, he still couldn't be completely certain. He shook his head, telling himself it couldn't be true, but...

"I think Nobi-kun was the only one who didn't treat me differently. He didn't see me as a 'beauty' or an 'honor student'; he always treated me as an equal friend. That made me so happy at first."

Looking back on joyful memories, she continued to speak softly, savoring the past.

"You know how I was a girl, but I always loved playing with the boys? I couldn't bring myself to jump into their circles, and if anything, boys were always hitting on me, so I was actually a little afraid of them. But when I was with Nobi-kun, I felt safe. When I said I wanted to play, he even invited me to play baseball. ...I was so happy. It was my first time playing baseball mixed in with the boys. After that, I was able to become friends with Goda-kun and Honekawa-kun too, and it felt like I suddenly fit right in with the class."

"But Dekisugi-san, you were always teaching Nobita-san how to study too, right?"

"Yes, but rather than me teaching him, it was more like Nobi-kun was being considerate and studying with me for my sake. You know, kids at that age usually hate studying, right?"

"That's true. But his tardiness decreased, and before we knew it, he stopped forgetting his homework, too."

His face began to burn, turning bright red, but thanks to the Invisibility Cape, Doraemon couldn't see Nobita's reaction.

"Hey, come to think of it, you haven't been late or forgotten your homework lately, have you?"

"Yeah... I haven't had to stand in the hallway either."

Nobita answered Doraemon's question as calmly as he possibly could.

"Nobi-kun is incredibly kind to everyone. The truth is, he can do well in his studies if he tries, and he can enjoy reading too. Plus, his marksmanship is genius-level, and he has a flexibility of thought that I lack. But you know, what made me love him the most was his kindness. Being so good-natured, honest, and able to care about other people's feelings as if they were his own... that's not something you can achieve through sheer effort or studying. It's a truly wonderful talent."

The face she made while praising Nobita was a gentle smile full of affection and devotion for the one she truly loved. That smile was more beautiful and adorable than any expression Nobita had ever seen. Looking at the bride's figure, Nobita was finally certain.

"I always thought that if you were to get married, Dekisugi-san, it would be to Nobita-san. Even though so many other people approached you, you always looked the happiest when you were right by Nobita-san's side."

"The one who is truly cool is Nobi-kun, though. But you were aiming for him too, weren't you, Shizuka-kun?"

"Well, until then, I had always been the closest to him. I thought I was the only one who realized how kind Nobita-san was. When the two of you suddenly got so close, I definitely got jealous."

Doraemon seemed to have lost his voice entirely, freezing in stunned silence. It was as if someone had pulled his emergency shut-off tail without even touching it.

"Yes, you and I were always best friends and rivals, Shizuka-kun, but I never expected us to fall for the same person."

"I suppose I can't call you Dekisugi-kun anymore, Nobi-san."

"Actually, we talked about it, and we're going to keep my current last name because of my work. You know, my first name sounds weirdly boyish, right? So I wouldn't have a hard time with it... He never laughed at my name. He even praised it, saying it was a good name that my parents put their hearts into."

Between the bride's dazzling smile and the incredibly sweet things coming out of her mouth, Nobita's head spun so much he felt like he was going to faint. Doraemon had to prop him up from behind as they somehow managed to stumble out of the waiting room.

"Say, Dekisugi-san. Are you happy to be marrying Nobita-san?"

"Yes. Being Nobi-kun's bride makes me the happiest person in the world."