II - FOR THE ONE YOU LOVE (Doraemon Reimagination Series)

4 - NOBITA'S DECISION

A long flight of stairs descending into the darkness underground stood in front of their eyes. Nobita, Suneo, Gian, and Doraemon were standing on the sidewalk, staring down at the stairs ahead, marching its way below. The honking of horns; cars, and motorcycles rushing by on the street; everyday people busily walking past them across the street on their left.

Seventh Street, they thought, this is it; this is our lead, our only deduction.

Suneo walked forward, out of the still group, looking up the signboard on top of the stairway. It was a rectangular blue board with letters making up the words: SUBWAY (SEVENTH STREET), lit up by white LEDs fixed underneath. Surrounding it was a number of placards with various types of advertisements on them. Suneo grinned and turned around. Bringing his face back to serious, he declared, "This is it. This is the one I've been talking about," turning to Nobita, he asked, "What do you wanna do next, Nobita?"

Nobita got bemused on being called out like that, out of the blue, by Suneo. Taking time to grasp what he tried to mean, he kept staring at Suneo with a clueless expression on his face. Gian and Doraemon looked around at Nobita too. Suneo continued, "Do you want to go in and find out what's going on right now, or do you wish to wait till tomorrow? It's your call. We'll go by whatever you decide."

Nobita, understanding what he meant, went deep into thoughts, putting his fingers on his chin.

While Nobita was busy thinking what should be their next move, Gian chimed, "You're the team leader after all. Well, not really according to how I feel. It's true I might've been the one to fully support your role as the leader last time. But after seeing you properly for a while, I've concluded that you are way too reckless to be a team leader," folding his arms, and crossing his legs, "However, this time's different. Shizuka means to you a lot more than any of us standing here. So, for the sake of this particular mission, you should clearly be the team leader. I'll let this one slide for now," pouting his face and looking away, "although I do know what you're gonna choose. Obviously you're gonna choose.......

Yes---" (Gian)
"No...!"(Nobita)

<Nobita and Gian ended up saying two different answers at the same time>

Gian jumped in surprise, "Wait, what?! 'No'?! Did you just say 'No' right now?" Even Doraemon and Suneo were surprised but not as much as Gian that they would jump.
Nobita replied, putting down his fingers from his chin and looking at Gian, "Yes, I did."
Gian freaked out even more, "HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHH?!?!?!?!?"

Suneo finally came outright and said annoyingly, "Gian, you're overreacting!"
Gian turned to Suneo, "Whaaaaaaaaaaaat!? How is this an overreaction? Did you guys not hear what Nobita just said?"
Doraemon replied uneasily, "Yes--he said he doesn't wanna go right now."
Gian babbled, "Exactly. Can't you see? By saying a 'No', he's contradicting all of the actions he has taken so far. Doesn't that surprise you?"
Doraemon confirmed, "Yeah it does. But yours is an overreaction, Gian." Suneo nodded.

Gian stood there gasping in surprise and disbelief. Nobita sighed and reported, "Look, I know you guys are surprised to see me decide this. I was the most in hurry to find and bring back Shizuka up until now. And don't take me otherwise: I still am in a hurry. It's just that......."

Gian, Suneo, and Doraemon waited for him to finish his words, eagerly gazing at his face. A honking car passed by behind Nobita, across the street. He continued, "....... I know fairly well how Cash is and what he is capable of. That's precisely why I don't wanna go right now. After seeing how things turned out or mostly, could have turned out last time we went up against Cash, there's something that I want to do before I go after Cash and Shizuka. No, actually, there's something that I have to do before we go out on this rescue mission."