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

11 - ASAGI, A NEW ALLY AGAIN?

Nobita took off the backpack from his back and sat in a buckle. Pulling the hood of his jacket closer around his face, he clutched his bag tighter near his chest. Kiyoshi was on the other side of the wall, searching for commodities in the sorta store room of the place. Several thoughts occupied his mind when he finally had a chance to pull the brakes, for the first time after he found out Shizuka's location from Doraemon's digital diary. Nobita slowly slid deep into his thoughts.

"You're too young to be like that. Life is too short to waste."

He is true though. I'm just a middle schooler. We all are just middle schoolers. We're supposed to go out, have fun, attend dances; not chase around some evil rustler across the timeline. We are just kids! But....

SHIZUKA-

Nobita winced.

"I'm sure your friend will be fine."

He frowned.
You don't know that.

Even though he had his doubts and fears, Nobita was disturbed by a new kind of emotions now. Something he hadn't thought of for the last couple of days. The feeling of - accountability.
He realised that he had put several of his loved ones into a potentially dangerous situation. How he might've brought them right in the face of possible disaster. He panicked.

I did not think it through before. Never even bore it a thought. How could I let this happen? I was only thinking about Shizuka this whole time, rescuing her; and never even considered the rest of my friends. I care about them just as much. How could I let their safety slip from my mind then? I might not care about what becomes of me while I try to get Shizuka out of here but them- Suneo, Gian, Doraemon- all of them. I drove them all to come here along with me. With no strategy, no idea what the hell we were getting ourselves into, no escape route, no backup. Nothing. I just dove head first into it without thinking about the consequences. And so did my friends to help me.
Huh? What was I supposed to expect? Of course they did it. I can't blame them. I would have done the same if it were one of them in my place. I should have been the considerate one. Not them. I should have been more rational, thought it through.

F*ck!! I am such a bad friend.

Outside Shizuka's cabin,
A tall, ripped, extraordinarily muscly man came across Mushi at the door. He was sitting on his chair, with his head bent down, dosing off. Before waking him up, he peeped through the ventilation of the wooden door to see what the girl was doing inside.
Shizuka was fast asleep.
He sighed and turned to face the man napping on a chair beside him.

"Oi Musashi-"
Musashi did not budge.
He shoved the man firmly on his shoulder to jerk him awake. Musashi jumped up and looked over.
"Oh, Khae! What's wrong? Is something the matter?"

"Nothing much. Just the Lord wanted to know how Lady Shizuka was doing. That's all."
"She's doing fine. She just went to bed a while ago," Musashi replied but his tone showed a slight inclination towards reluctance.
"That's good. I'll be off then. I have some business left to take care of. Can't waste time her long." He smiled.

As soon as Khae was about to leave, Musashi couldn't help but retaliate, "I don't get it, Khae."
Khae turned and asked, "Get what?"
Musashi continued, "Why is it that Lord Zuken sends you here to inquire about Shizuka so often nowadays? It was never this way for the past years. Why now then? It's been this way for a few months now. Earlier I used to report to him directly. I still do that. But he occassionally sends you to watch over Shizuka now. Why?"

Khae smirked, raising his eyebrows in surprise, "Oh it's Shizuka now, is it?"
Musashi said nothing.
Khae changed the topic casually, "Nevermind that. I don't care what you call her." He said that but the patronizing tone was so clear to Musashi that it was annoying. "Anyways, why does it bother you so much-what Lord is doing I mean?"