Japanese singers win prestigious U.S. gospel competition

NEW YORK —

A group of U.S.-based Japanese singers has won a prestigious gospel competition recently held in the United States, becoming the first-ever Japanese to win the event, the group’s representative said Tuesday.

The Harlem Japanese Gospel Choir won the choir division of McDonald’s Gospelfest at the Prudential Center, New Jersey last Saturday, Kimiko Matsuo said.

The event is one of the biggest of its kind in the country. Known for the high quality of entrants, about 40,000 people enter auditions and some of the award winners become professional singers.

The Japanese group passed an audition in January and won the main event with its rendition of a hymn, ‘‘How Great Is Our God,’’ according to Matsuo.

Gospel, a type of religious music developed by African-Americans, is popular in Japan, where some fan clubs have been formed.

The group was established in 1997 by Tommy Tomita, a Japanese native who has been showing tourists around Harlem for more than two decades. About 20 members—including homemakers, office workers and students—gather weekly in Harlem to practice.

‘‘To be honest, I am surprised that we won,’’ Matsuo said. ‘‘We did practice very hard, but being a Japanese group singing gospel is unusual and may have helped,’’ she said.

http://www.japantoday.com/category/entertainment/view/japanese-singers-wins-prestigious-us-gospel-competition

Asian dancers dominating U.S. ballet competition

JACKSON, Mississippi —

Asians are dominating the stage as the USA International Ballet Competition heads into its final round, with nearly half the 34 finalists announced Monday hailing from Asian countries.

Among those dancers was Maki Onuki, a petite Japanese ballerina who said she’s not surprised so many Asians made the final cut.

Onuki and her non-competing partner, Tamas Krizsa of Hungary, practiced “Juanita y Alicia,” a contemporary ballet created by Washington Ballet artistic director Septime Webre.

During her rehearsal of the percussion-heavy dance, Onuki was confident even as Krizsa chided her about keeping her legs straight and close together as he slung her over his shoulder and held her in the air.

“I think Asian people have strong technique. We’re short and have really compact bodies that are easy to control. Girls who have long legs, it’s hard to control,” said Onuki, a 24-year-old dancer with the Washington Ballet.

The USA IBC, considered the United States’ official international ballet competition, began June 12 with 103 dancers. They’re all competing for medals, cash awards, company contracts and scholarships. There are junior and senior divisions in the two-week competition that officially ends Sunday.

The winners will be announced Friday.

Among the Asian finalists are 16 dancers from the Philippines, South Korea, Japan, China and Taiwan. The United States and European countries have the next largest contingent of finalists with five each, IBC officials said.

“It certainly reflects the fact that Asians are working more or spending more time on ballet,” said Bruce Marks, former artistic director for the Orlando Ballet and Ballet West in Utah and chairman of USA IBC. “I’ve just come from Vietnam. Vietnam is booming. There’s a beautiful opera house in Hanoi.”

Marks said the competition has always been in tune with what’s going on in the world. During the early years of the USA IBC, which was first held in Jackson in 1979, “we were very aware of the Soviet bloc,” Marks said.

Marks said 13 of the judges came from countries that included Russia, Bulgaria and East Germany during one of the early competitions.

Hae Shik Kim, a judge this year from Seoul, South Korea, said an emphasis on ballet in her country has come about as more dancers are given opportunities to study abroad.

Kim said she was the first South Korean awarded a government scholarship to study at the Royal Ballet in England in 1966.

John Munger, director of research at Dance USA, the national service organization for professional concert dance, said the Asian dominance at the competition isn’t surprising. Munger said over the past 25 years, there’s been increased ballet activity in Pacific rim countries, such as the Philippines, China, Korea and Taiwan.

“The other side of the coin is there has been a notable internationalization of ballet around the planet,” Munger said.

A 2006 study he conducted of 76 dance companies with annual budgets of $1 million or more found the dancers represented 73 nations.

Munger said it’s possible Caribbean or northern South American dancers will figure prominently when the USA IBC is held again in Jackson four years from now.

http://www.japantoday.com/category/entertainment-arts/view/asian-dancers-dominating-us-ballet-competition

Today's Tip Strategy Means Knowing Your Bandwidth

One key element of strategy that is critical for all businesses—but particularly for smaller or early-stage companies—is the issue of choice. The choice I refer to here is deciding on an area of focus: What you do and don’t, what products or services you offer and what you don’t, and to which customer segments. It is important that you do not try to be all things to all people, as that just doesn’t work.

One client of mine in the prepared food industry had a unique product line that was particularly easy for customers to make and was very high quality. The modest-size company identified seven distinct market segments that could use their products and began selling to all of them. With limited resources, their sales force was stretched thin. The various segments all had very different characteristics, so trying to market to all of them resulted in messaging that wasn’t particularly on target for any of them. When we prioritized the segments by potential for volume and profits and focused marketing and sales efforts on those with the greatest degree of fit of the technology with their specific needs, the performance improved substantially.

Here are some questions to ask yourself to be sure you are making appropriate choices:

1. Do I know which product or service offerings represent my strongest value proposition?

2. Do I know which customers value my products or services the most?

3. Am I applying enough resources to deliver my best offers to my most important customers?

4. Which resources can I divert to higher-potential activities if I eliminate other activities?

Barry Horwitz
President
Horwitz & Co.
Boston

http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/tips/archives/2010/06/strategy_means_knowing_your_bandwidth.html

Robot Taekwondo Battles Slated for October

South Korea will be staging robot taekwondo battles this October at the Korea International Robot Technology Exhibition and Conference in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province.

The battles will pit two programmed robots against each other in a bloodless match designed to demonstrate and promote the art of taekwondo. The robots will react with programmed thrusts, jabs and kicks depending on what their sensors detect.

“They would fight each other based on their embedded sensors, which help predict assaults and attacks by its opponents,” said a member of the Ministry of Knowledge Economy (MKE), which is the group responsible for sponsoring the event.

The MKE will provide the robots, while university students will be charged with programming them. Obviously, the robots will not initially perform as well as human taekwondo challengers, but Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) researcher Roh Sung-su guarantees that their performance “will improve” in due time.

What will remain the same, however, are the rules. “A game is composed of three rounds lasting nine minutes with three referees to oversee the bout,” said Roh. Whosever robot garners the greatest number of points will take the win.

Also included at the conference are nine other competitions that according to Korea Times will involve “humanoids, robotic football matches, rovers as a variety of combat machines.”

Interested parties who read Korean may register at Robot114.There is over 147,000 USD worth of prizes at stake, so if you don’t read, write or speak Korean, I suggest you start learning right away!

http://www.weirdasianews.com/2010/06/22/robot-taekwondo-battles-slated-october/

True Friend Doraemon Fan Fiction Chapter 8

A small brown leaf detached itself from the tree, gliding gracefully on the evening breeze until it settled itself in Nobita's hair, its presence unheeded.

Nobita gazed up the blood-red sky, thinking about everything that had happened. Shizuka had made a fool out of him. She had ditched him for Dekisugi. Nobita can't say he was surprised; after all, the difference between him and Dekisugi is like heaven and earth. Dekisugi was good-looking, Nobita was not. Dekisugi was refined, Nobita was coarse. Dekisugi was witty and humorous, Nobita was vulgar and foolish.

A tear slowly slid down his pale cheek unheeded.

"It's my fault," Nobita said to himself.

If I had only known better, I wouldn't have even asked Shizuka out. I made her do this terrible thing. She always liked Hide-san; I was just a nobody, a fly he kept getting in her way.

Nobita reached into his pocket and pulled out a small kitchen knife. The red rays of the setting sun gave it an almost bloody shine and it seemed to Nobita that the knife was almost caressing him like a lover...

"What the hell do you think you're doing!"

The sudden shriek made Nobita jump and before he could even turn around, something short tackled him from behind, sending him to the ground and the knife over the garden wall. Nobita sat up and turned to the blue cat-robot who glared at him, panting.

"Don't you ever let me catch you even thinking about something like that!" yelled Doraemon furiously. "You've done many stupid things before but this has to be at your top five! If not, then right at the top!"

Suddenly Nobita saw red. How dare Doraemon interfere, he did not understand how Nobita felt, he did not see that the only way Nobita could benefit anyone was to just disappear...

Suddenly, Nobita swung out, his fist catching Doraemon right in the side of the face, sending the cat-robot rolling back.

"You don't understand how I feel at all!" shouted Nobita. "Do you know how much it hurts me? Do you know how much pain I'm causing to everyone else? I'm worth nothing! It's better if I just..."

He was cut off when Doraemon rammed his hard head into Nobita's mid-section, driving the air out of the young man.

"You're in pain, so what!" shouted Doraemon. "Everyone gets hurt from time to time! You have to come back from this, better than ever! Only cowards take the easy way out and commit suicide!"

"Don't call me a coward!" screamed Nobita, crashing his fist right into Doraemon's gut, sending the cat-robot sprawling on the ground. "This is for the good of everyone else! If I'm gone, than Shizuka and Dekisugi can be happy together, mama and papa wouldn't have anyone to be ashamed about and you wouldn't have any burdens left to handle, so you can just fuck off back to the 21st century..."

"You selfish little bastard!" shrieked Doraemon, striking Nobita hard in the face, breaking Nobita's glasses and sending the young man crashing to the ground. The cat-robot quickly pinned Nobita using his 129.3 kg body weight.

"What about Sewashi-kun and your future generation? If you die, they all will cease to exist! You are now the pride of your family, papa and mama are so proud of you. They are so happy that you have such a bright future ahead of you now! How could you take away that happiness from them? What about Suneo and Gian? They'd be losing a dear friend! What about me..."

Doraemon trailed off, too overcome with emotion to continue. Nobita just looked away, tears streaming down his face. He had known that he would hurt a lot of people if he had committed suicide, but the pain in his heart was too much.

"I thought that after all the changes I've been through, she might have accepted me at last," Nobita said quietly. "I don't know what to do anymore; I don't know how I could ever become somebody to her..."

"Nobita-kun, she is the one who doesn't deserve you," said Doraemon gently. When Nobita looked at him with confusion, Doraemon managed a weak chuckle.

"Look at everything we've been through together," Doraemon said. "When she was trapped in the storybook world, you were the one who willingly threw away everything to save her. You willingly faced dinosaurs, demons, cannibals, mad robots and who knows what else, all for her. If she can't see what a great person you are, then she doesn't deserve you at all."

"It wasn't just me," said Nobita quietly. "You, Gian and Suneo were there too. The three of you were always there."

Doraemon smiled a little. "But you always went that extra smile for her. If she turned her back on you, I say forget about her. You deserve someone who cares about you."

Doraemon got off Nobita and helped him up. Doraemon took out the Restoration Light Gun and fixed Nobita's glasses, handing them back to their owner.

Nobita placed them on his face and walked back to the house, Doraemon following.

"Doraemon?" Nobita said.

Doraemon grunted questioningly.

"Thank you."

Doraemon nodded.

From a nearby window of the house, Mr and Mrs Nobi had been watching the exchange.

"Nobita is really lucky," said Mr Nobi. "He has such a loyal friend. Loyalty is something you just don't find everywhere in the world now."

"It's not just that," said Mrs Nobi. "It's true friendship. Doraemon is probably the truest friend Nobita will ever have. It was a blessed day for our son when Doraemon climbed out of the drawer of his desk."

Mr Nobi nodded, and then suddenly chuckled.

"What's so funny?" his wife asked.

"If I recall, Nobita chased Doraemon out with a broom that time," Mr Nobi said. "Remember? We found him hitting that desk again and again. When he told us what happened, we convinced him that he was imagining things."

Mrs Nobi laughed. "Well I'm glad we were wrong about it. If not Doraemon would have never entered our lives and turned Nobita's around. Although, I had some doubts at first."

Mr Nobi laughed. "You and me both. But looked how well is turned out. Everything's looking up for Nobita."

Mrs Nobi nodded, smiling. Suddenly, a solemn expression replaced her smile.

"What's wrong?" asked Mr Nobi.

"Does this mean Dora-chan will leave us soon?" asked Mrs Nobi.

"Eh?"

"After all, I was told that he wasn't going to be here forever."

"But how long has he been here?"

"A little over ten years."

"Why should he leave us now?"

"He has another home, remember?" said Mrs Nobi. "I just wonder how Nobita would take it if Doraemon leaves. Remember the first time he left, Nobita was..."

"...a little boy who lost his best friend," countered Mr Nobi. "But that little boy is now a man. He'll be able to handle it."

"I guess you're right..." said Mrs Nobi, not at all certain.

"Why don't you stop worrying and prepare dinner?" said Mr Nobi, chuckling. "Trust me, it'll be fine."

Mrs Nobi nodded, smiling a little and made her way to the kitchen.

Mr Nobi took one glance back out the window and was about to leave the room when his gaze fell on a picture hanging on the wall. It was a picture taken about two years after Doraemon's arrival. It was picture of Mr Nobi, his wife, Nobita and Doraemon at a picnic in the mountains. He and his wife were holding hands and waving at the camera while Doraemon was giving Nobita a piggyback ride, both of them laughing.

He wiped off some dust off the picture and straightened it. Satisfied, Mr Nobita headed to kitchen to help his wife cook.

"True friend, a true friend indeed," he muttered to himself as he went.

"It hadn't been easy, but the government has agreed to grant us all temporary protection and will allow us to plead our case before the senate next month before they start negotiations," said Med wearily in the Time TV.

"That's a small victory, but a victory nonetheless," said Doraemon. "It must have been hard trying to get around the company hunters while negotiating."

"The Invisibility Creams you sent us really helped, thanks a lot," said Med, smiling tiredly. "Especially since the supply shops all refuse to trade with us. We've been force to go to the black market for supplies."

"Will it really come to fighting?" asked Doraemon sadly. While he couldn't be there for his friends, he had sent whatever help he can through the Time Machine and Dorami. Food, gadgets, repair tools, whatever he could give.

"The government still views us as 'products'," said Med, snorting with disgust. "It doesn't seem they'll change their minds and grant us rights as civilians but there's still some hope they might. Small hope is still better than no hope, eh? Still, no harm in preparing in case we have to fight...which is likely."

"How are the others?" asked Doraemon.

"Kid wanted to rush into the company building, guns blazing and all," said Med, laughing a little as he straightened his turban. He always liked Middle-Eastern clothing thought Doraemon with amusement.

"...even Matadora had a hard time trying to restrain him, though he wanted to attack the company himself. Nichov, Wang and I are the ones handling the negotiations. Rinho, Matadora, Kid and Wang are in charge of preparing for battle. Wang is under a lot of pressure, juggling the negotiations and preparing for battle."

"I want to be there with you guys," said Doraemon heatedly.

"Don't be ridiculous," said Med, taking a puff from a hookah he just pulled out of his four-dimensional magic lamp. "Nobita is still your main priority and these negotiations will take a few years. We'll be able to manage without you."

"Still, if there's anything I can do..." said Doraemon.

"...what you've been doing for us is fine," said Med firmly. "Don't worry about us."

"All right," said Doraemon reluctantly. He was so torn between wanting to help Nobita and going home to aid his friends in their, no, his struggle.

He heard footsteps coming up the stairs.

"Med-kun, I have to go now," said Doraemon quickly. "Get some rest, you look terrible."

"You're no beauty yourself," retorted Med, chuckling. "See you later, Dora."

Chuckling, Doraemon switched off the Time TV. He climbed out of the cupboard that served as his bedroom to greet Nobita who was dressed in his best.

"Do I really have to go?" asked Nobita grumpily.

"The best way to forget a girl is to see other girls," said Doraemon cheerfully. He took out the Dokodemo Door and opened it to the restaurant where Nobita was to meet the girl that Doraemon had arranged for him to meet. It had been three weeks since their exchange and Doraemon had been pestering Nobita to meet a girl that he had met. Nobita had been refusing but finally, sick of Doraemon's persistence, he reluctantly agreed.

"Have a good time!" said Doraemon cheerfully, pushing Nobita through the door.

He switched the Time TV on and pulled out a dorayaki and sat back to watch how things would turn out.

Nobita sat at a table, an untouched glass of water within his reach. He looked around but could see no one who might be looking for someone else.

Great, another girl who's ditching me he thought darkly.

He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, breathing deeply. Maybe he'll just leave and go to a ramen store to drown his sorrows in ramen. He hadn't even met the girl and she already...

"Nobita-san?"

His eyes snapped open and beheld a beautiful woman a few years younger than him. She was slender, though not as slender as Shizuka. Her black hair was tied back in a ponytail and she was dressed in a simple but elegant red dress. Her face looked very familiar though...

"It is you!" the woman said happily, sitting herself on the chair opposite Nobita. "It's been a long time since I last saw you! How have you been doing?"

"We've met before?" Nobita asked, still trying to place where he might have met her.

"Of course we have!" cried the woman. "A lot of times, in fact! I used to...Doraemon didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?" Nobita asked, bemused.

The woman chuckled a little. "That blue rascal of yours. I'm Jaiko."

Nobita stared at her for awhile, his mouth shut and his eyes wide. In his mind, when he heard the name 'Jaiko', it conjured up an image of a girl who is slightly smaller than Gian but looked nearly exactly like him. He often thought that she looked like Gian in a dress and wig. But this woman before him, this beauty...

"No way!" Nobita cried out. "Your Gian's sister!"

"That's right," said Jaiko, looking surprised at his reaction.

"But you look...different!" cried Nobita, eyes growing wider by the minute.

"That's what Doraemon said, in his own way," replied Jaiko, laughing.

She told him about what happened when she met Doraemon at the cake shop.

"You're Jaiko! You're Gian's sister!" Doraemon cried, his eyes wide and mouth wide open.

"Yes, that's me!" said Jaiko cheerfully.

Her cheerful demeanour threw Doraemon off, the Jaiko he remembered was always quiet and brooding. The only time she was cheerful was when she was playing with Shizuka or her other friends.

Not only that, the Jaiko Doraemon remembered looked too much like Gian. But this woman before him, slim, beautiful and charming called herself Jaiko, Gian's sister! The words were out of Doraemon's mouth before he realised it.

"You don't look like Gian in a dress anymore!" he cried.

Jaiko's eyes suddenly narrowed and darkness seemed to fall around her. With a roar worthy of fifty lions, she swung her handbag onto Doraemon's head, flooring the cat-robot and leaving a lump the size of a dorayaki on his head.

"That was very rude!" cried Jaiko, her feminine voice contrasting sharply with her earlier roar.

"I'm sorry, you're definitely Gian's sister," said Doraemon, rubbing the lump gingerly. "But you've changed a lot!"

"I've been exercising a lot for the past few years," said Jaiko. "I'm doing a Public Relations course so they need me to be more presentable and more welcoming."

"I thought you wanted to be mangaka?" asked Doraemon.

"I do and I've been working on it during my free time," answered Jaiko. "How's Nobita-san?"

"He's fine, but he had a very terrible heartbreak recently," replied Doraemon sadly. "He's never been the same since then."

"How terrible!" said Jaiko with sincere concern and sympathy. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"You're very kind, Jaiko," said Doraemon. "But I don't..."

Suddenly Doraemon had stared at Jaiko with such an intense gaze that she couldn't help but take a step back.

"Maybe there is something you can do," cried Doraemon. "Do you really want to help Nobita-kun?"

"Eh? Of course," answered Jaiko, surprised by the sudden change in Doraemon.

"Then would you go out with him?"

Jaiko was stunned to silence.

"Jaiko-chan?"

"I suppose I would, but I haven't seen Nobita-san for a long time now..."

"It's all right," said Doraemon earnestly. "Why don't you two just meet and we'll see what happens from there!"

The cat-robot had given her such a pleading gaze that Jaiko hadn't the hard to turn him down.

"So here I am," said Jaiko, finishing her story.

Nobita stared at her. She was very beautiful and if he looked closely, he could see hints of Gian in her, the slightly chubby cheeks, and the roundish nose. But still, she was very attractive. But there was one thing that Nobita wanted to clarify.

"So you just came to see me because you felt sorry for me?" asked Nobita.

"No!" cried Jaiko. "Well...yes, but that wasn't the entire reason."

"What is the entire reason?" asked Nobita.

To his surprise, a blush appeared on Jaiko's cheeks.

"When we were little, I always had a crush on you," she said. "But you never had eyes for anyone but Shizu-chan. Sure, you looked at other pretty girls from time to time but you never once gave a glance of interest. So I was very sad about that. When I told Doraemon I went through all these changes for my course, I wasn't being completely honest. A childish part of me still wanted your attention. So I changed myself. When Doraemon told me to help you with your...situation, it was the perfect excuse to see you again."

Nobita just looked at her.

Jaiko, her face brick red, stood up and bowed. "I'm sorry, Nobita-san, I should..."

"...stay," Nobita requested. When Jaiko just looked at him with surprise, he said. "It's all right. Just stay here. I'm glad you're not just here out of pity. Are you still crushing on me?"

Jaiko snorted a little. "Not anymore, but I was curious to see how you'd react."

Nobita smiled. "Well you saw that already. But how on earth did you..."

The two of them slowly became engaged in their conversation, heedless of the time that went by.

Doraemon, watching on the Time TV, smiled a little. He had realised then, that Jaiko's sudden change was probably caused by Nobita's change. So he had wondered how it would turn out if the two met each other again.

It's funny, I was the one who intervened and caused Nobita to marry Shizuka instead of Jaiko. But then, nature walks in and sets the history back to how it was. Well, not exactly how it was, but close.

Doraemon wasn't naive; he knew there was a chance that the relationship might fail. But regardless of what would happen, he would be monitoring and maybe guide it a little every step of the way.

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4286495/9/True_Friend

True Friend Doraemon Fan Fiction Chapter 7

"…it's terrible oni-san! 30, 000 of them went for the recall and were destroyed on the spot! The rest of them already fled or went into hiding!"

Doraemon was horrified.

Dorami had contacted him via the Time TV and told him about the new recall for the disposal of all the units from his year. Already 30, 000 had been destroyed, fellow cat robots that Doraemon had once studied with, played with and knew.

"Did they say why they were doing it?" he asked.

"They described your batch having a glitch…" answered Dorami. "…that all of you were faulty for being too…human."

Doraemon was outraged, but he did not show it. Instead, he asked a question that had been on his mind since Dorami told him about the…genocide.

"What about Kid-san and the others?" asked Doraemon.

"They've all gone into hiding and are organizing a resistance even as we speak," answered Dorami. "Oni-san, there's no way they can win!"

"What do you mean by resistance?" asked Doraemon. "Is it resistance through political means or through force of arms?"

"For now, its politics," answered Dorami anxiously. "But with the aggressive way the company is hunting then down, they'll be forced to use force of arms sooner or later."

"I see," said Doraemon.

A silence hung between the two of them.

"Oni-san, you can't come back now," said Dorami. "Not until this crisis is over."

"I still have to help Nobita," said Doraemon. "I can't go back yet."

"Just focus on Nobita-kun for now," said Dorami. "But…"

Before she could finish her sentence, a low buzzing sound was heard in the room. Doraemon realised it was coming from his pocket. He rummaged through it and pulled out a glowing card.

"That's…" began Dorami, but before she could even finish, Doraemon had pulled out another screen the size of a PDA. He inserted the card into the slot and an image appeared on the screen.

A face that was very similar to Doraemon's appeared on the screen. However, this one had catlike ears and a round Chinese skullcap perched on top. This one was also dressed in a red and gold coloured Chinese outfit, giving the impression of a kung-fu master.

"Wang Dora," exclaimed Doraemon, his eyes widening at the sight of his old friend.

"Doraemon," said Wang, a tired edge in his voice. "I assume you already know?"

"Dorami was just telling about it," Doraemon said, acknowledging that he knew of the slaughter. "What about you and the others? Are you all safe?"

"We're all in hiding for now," answered Wang Dora. "Med-san is trying to negotiate with the government for protection…but it's not going well because they consider us…"

"…mere robots." finished Doraemon with disgust. He was vaguely aware that Dorami was still staring at him anxiously through the Time TV. He shook his head at her and she nodded understandingly before the screen went blank.

"Doraemon, we need your strength with us," said Wand Dora quietly.

Doraemon felt a burning desire to go back to the future to fight alongside his friends, but he still had another battle here that he has yet to win.

"I can't, Wang, not yet," said Doraemon, shaking his blue head. "I still have some important matters to deal with here."

Wang Dora's eyes softened slightly. "How is Nobita-san?"

"He's been brooding for the past few weeks," said Doraemon sadly. "He just goes out for classes and doesn't talk to anyone. He doesn't even eat properly anymore."

Wang Dora sighed.

"I understand," said the other cat-robot. "We'll hold the fort till you get here. You just take care of Nobita-san, all right?"

Doraemon nodded, grateful for his friend's understanding. "It's good to see you again, Wang," he said.

"And you, Doraemon," replied Wand Dora before the screen went blank.

The blue cat-robot sighed as he placed everything back into his pocket and looked up at the clock. It was 3pm.

Doraemon went downstairs and into the corridor. As he passed the doors of the living room, he could hear both Nobita's parents discussing their son anxiously.

"He just sits outside after he gets back," said Mrs. Nobi concernedly. "He doesn't eat, he doesn't talk to me. All he does is stare at the grass!"

"I tried talking to him but he doesn't even twitch," said Mr. Nobi, sighing. "Whatever happened to him, it must've been really bad."

"Of course it was bad!" snapped the mother. "You think he'd brood around if something wonderful happened to him?"

The father snapped something back and the two were bickering away.

Doraemon shook his head and went to the garden. Sure enough, there was Nobita, sitting on the grass, staring away at a bush as though it was the most fascinating thing in the universe.

Doraemon tired to talk to him again but as always, Nobita remained unresponsive. Doraemon gave up and walked out of the house.

He cursed Shizuka for her betrayal. After the incident, Dekisugi had visited Nobita and tried to apologise but Nobita had simply stared at the other man expressionlessly. Shizuka had also tried to see him but in this case, Doraemon had chased her away. Gian and Suneo had also visited to try to cheer Nobita up, though they didn't know the whole story but had failed miserably.

Doraemon and Nobita's parents had of course tried to cheer Nobita up but the man had remained unresponsive. Doraemon had exhausted every idea and every gadget he could but none had come close to succeeding.

Doraemon suddenly stopped.

He had been walking aimlessly and his feet had automatically taken him to the cake shop. He eyed the dorayaki and figured that if he couldn't cheer Nobita up, he might as well try to feed him even if he had to shove it down the man's throat.

He stepped up to the counter and was about to order the dorayaki when something else caught his eye. It was a square rice cake called Mochi.

Upon seeing the cake, Doraemon felt himself being thrown back in time.

Nobita was lying down by the heater, a brand-new manga and snacks by his side. Doraemon was about to climb out of the drawer to greet Nobita when he overheard the boy saying: "Maybe this year will better than the last". That made Doraemon laugh and he told Nobita of the two minor misfortunes coming his way in a while.

Needless to say, Nobita had been spooked by hearing Doraemon's seemingly disembodied voice but had freaked out when the cat-robot had climbed out his desk-drawer. The boy had spewed out countless questions that Doraemon did not even have the time to register. Doraemon had managed to shut him up and would have explained his purpose right there and then when he spotted the plate full of white cakes.

"What's this?" Doraemon had asked, picking the plate up.

"Mochi," answered Nobita, his look of shock giving way to annoyance. "Want some?"

Doraemon tried it and cried: "It's delicious!"

He finished it all off and had even licked the plate clean before thanking Nobita and leaving the stunned boy behind. The treat had sent a wave of happiness and contentment through Doraemon and the cat-robot was humming away happily as he drove the Time-Machine back to the 22nd century.

Suddenly, he remembered his original purpose.

Cursing, he quickly drove back to the 20th century and scrambled out of Nobita's drawer only to find that Sewashi was already there.

After apologizing, he and Sewashi had proceeded to explain why they were there.

After hearing Nobita's response, Doraemon's conclusion had been: "The boy is an imbecile."

Doraemon smiled to himself, many years had passed since then and his initial judgement of Nobita had been wrong, something he was very happy about. Nobita had improved himself beyond Doraemon's wildest dreams and though the cat-robot would rather face a hundred rats than admit it, he had also improved Doraemon.

But one thing that Nobita had never been able to handle was rejection. As a little boy, Nobita had always run crying to Doraemon whenever he saw Shizuka talking to Dekisugi. As a teenager, Nobita had let out his bitterness whenever Shizuka acted like he was invisible around Dekisugi. Now, this latest form of betrayal and rejection had finally broken Nobita and Doraemon was at loss. He didn't know what to do about this.

All he knew was that Nobita deserved someone better than Shizuka, someone who could see him for the changed person that he is, someone who could make him happy, someone who could make him come to Doraemon with a smile on his face rather than a frown, someone who…

"Aren't you Doraemon?"

Doraemon looked up to see a slim, pretty woman in front of him. Her hair was dark and long, her face shapely and soft brown eyes twinkled down at him. She looked familiar…

"Don't you remember me?"

Her voice sounded familiar as well…

Then it hit him.

Leaping 129.3 centimeters in the air, Doraemon cried: "YOU'RE…"

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4286495/8/True_Friend

True Friend Doraemon Fan Fiction Chapter 6

Doraemon felt that things were back to normal or rather close to it. He had pulled out certain gadgets to comply with Nobita's requests like he used to, bragged about the gadget's functions and demonstrating them like he used to.

But it was not the same.

For one, Nobita's requests were no longer childish, selfish or ridiculous. Another difference was that he made his request because he had exhausted any other viable option of his own.

Still, he made his request the usual way: on his knees with a whiny voice and his arms flailing around to emphasise his point.

Doraemon managed to book the restaurant that Nobita wanted and even planned a route that Nobita should take to make the experience more romantic. He guffawed at Nobita's plans to make a romantic conversation and wisely suggested to keep it simple for a first date. Nobita agreed.

By Saturday evening, Nobita was confident that nothing could go wrong.

DDDDDDD

"Ohayo, Shizuka-san," greeted Dekisugi.

"Hide-san!" greeted Shizuka, her cheeks colouring slightly.

She had been spending that evening trying to figure out what to wear for her date with Nobita tomorrow when her doorbell rang. She had answered the door and to her surprise, she found the man on whom she had been crushing on for years standing in her doorway.

Dekisugi chuckled a little. "Good to see you again, Shizuka-san."

"You too," replied Shizuka, her voice a little higher than normal. "Please, why don't you come in?"

"It's all right, I won't be long," answered Dekisugi. "Actually, I was wondering if you were free tomorrow."

Shizuka felt disappointment in her heart and was about to answer that she had a date with Nobita but a dark voice in her head stopped her.

"Why?" was all she asked.

Dekisugi shuffled his foot a little, looking embarrassed. "Actually, I have reservations at this great restaurant and I really want to take you there. After that, maybe we could just hang out…"

He trailed off, looking at his feet.

In her head, Shizuka weighed her options. She had waited for what felt like an eternity for Dekisugi to ask her out and now that it has happened, it had to clash with her date with Nobita.

There were a few options she could take.

Suggest another time to go out with Dekisugi.

Cancel her date with Nobita.

Turn Dekisugi down.

She was juggling her options when Dekisugi looked up and gave her that million-dollar smile that always weakened her knees.

"So, what do you say?" he asked.

Hearing his voice and seeing his smile drove out all coherent thought out of Shizuka's head and before she knew it, she was saying 'yes'.

After Dekisugi had left, looking very happy, Shizuka went back to her room and laid on her bed. She was surprised at herself for agreeing to Dekisugi's invitation when she already had plans with Nobita. But then, this was the chance she had been waiting for…

The dark voice earlier began to talk in her head again.

Are you seriously going to give up your chance with Dekisugi for Nobita?

Dekisugi is charming, clever, polite and respectful. Nobita is nothing compared to him.

Screw Nobita, he's just a pervert who always peeks on you when you're bathing.

As the thoughts continued to run through her head, Nobita faded from her thoughts and all that was left was Dekisugi. She got up from her bed and happily prepared for her date with Dekisugi.

DDDDDD

-SUNDAY-

"So are you sure you'll be all right?" asked Doraemon.

He and Nobita were waiting for Shizuka at the train station. Doraemon had wanted to wait with Nobita, but the girl had not shown up yet and it was almost time for Doraemon to go to work at the old folks' home.

"I'll be fine, Doraemon," answered Nobita. He was dressed in a light green sweater over a simple red shirt and a pair of slightly faded blue jeans. His long hair was combed, parted down the middle, giving him an intelligent but slightly rugged look.

"You should get going, you're going to be late," added Nobita, looking around anxiously for Shizuka.

Doraemon nodded. He was about to leave , but then he stopped and embraced Nobita.

"Doraemon!" cried Nobita, surprised and a little embarrassed by the cat robot's unexpected actions.

"I'm sorry, but I'm just so proud of you Nobita-kun," said Doraemon, letting go of him and taking a step back, smiling up at him. "Today my boy becomes a man!"

Nobita laughed. "Shoo! You're going to be late."

Doraemon chuckled and took out the Take-copter and flew off, waving at Nobita.

Nobita waved back and returned to looking out for Shizuka. She was a little late…

DDDDDD

Gian prepared himself for his game, meditating a little to calm his mind and sharpen his focus.

Until one of his teammates snapped him out of it by clapping him on his back.

"You ready to kill the quarterback, Takeshi-san?" he said.

Gian grinned enthusiastically. "Not just the quarterback, but anyone with the spine to stand in my way."

His teammate laughed. "Then they'll no longer have a spine."

Gian laughed and stood up. He looked at himself in the locker-room mirror. He had changed so much over the past eight years. He was no longer flabby or round, but he was now extremely muscular. Where there was once a big tummy, six packs stuck out proudly. His slightest movement suggested raw, physical power.

"Admiring yourself? I thought that was my job," said an all-to-familiar voice.

Gian grinned and turned around. Sure enough, there was Suneo, as fox-faced as ever. His features were the same as ever, though slightly elongated. Plus, a hint of a moustache was apparent just beneath his nose.

Gian picked up his old friend in a crushing embrace and put him down.

"Glad you could make it!" cried Gian. "Are the others here?"

Suneo chuckled. "I'm the only one here so far. I heard Doraemon couldn't make it, but did you know that Nobita and Shizuka-chan are coming together?"

"Really?" said Gian, looking surprised. "Nobita finally got the guts to ask her out then! Good for him!"

Suneo nodded. "I better get going, thanks for the tickets by the way."

Gian waved off the thanks. "Just promise to cheer from the sideline every time a crush someone."

Suneo laughed. "I've been doing that for years."

And he ran off.

Gian flexed his muscles. The thought of his friends coming to see and support him sent a fiery surge throughout his body. He grinned.

He hoped his opponents had some good paramedics.

DDDDDDD

It was night by the time Doraemon had tucked in the last of the old men in the home. He left and looked up at the night sky.

He should be heading home, but he was itching to see how Nobita's date was going.

He put on the Take-copter and flew of to the Tokyo Dome.

Upon arriving, he was greeted by a thunderous roar from the crowd. He looked down to see Gian, roaring with fury as he crushed the opponents' quarterback.

Doraemon chuckled. "Glad to see he found some use for his strength."

He flew over to where he knew Nobita and Shizuka would be seated. Instead, he only saw a worried-looking Suneo and two empty seats beside him.

He landed beside Suneo. The audience, so captivated by the sight of Gian crushing his opponents, did not even notice a blue cat robot landing from the skies.

"Doraemon!" cried Suneo, looking surprised to see him.

"Suneo-san, where are Nobita and Shizuka?" asked Doraemon, raising his voice to be heard over the noisy crowd.

"I was hoping you could tell me!" answered Suneo. "They never showed up!"

Doraemon's eyes widened and he quickly flew off.

He took out the Time TV to locate Nobita and to his surprise; he found that Nobita was still at the station, alone.

He flew over there quickly.

He approached Nobita, who did not even look up as Doraemon neared.

"Nobita-kun…" said Doraemon.

"I called her, she said that she'll be a little late," answered Nobita tonelessly. "She does like to take her time in the bath…"

"A little?" repeated Doraemon incredulously. "This is more than 'a little', Nobita-kun! She very late! She may not even show up!"

"Don't say that!" shouted Nobita. "She'll definitely show up!"

However as he said that, Doraemon saw at once that Nobita didn't believe his own words. Behind those round glasses, Nobita's eyes were shut tightly and tears were falling from them.

Doraemon was now furious. Where the hell was Shizuka?

He took out the Time TV to locate Shizuka and to his fury, he found that Shizuka was walking somewhere with Dekisugi, having ice-cream!

He took out the Dokodemo Door and ran through it once, appearing in front of the very surprised Shizuka and Dekisugi.

"How could you! How could you!" shouted Doraemon angrily. "How could you betray him like that, Dekisugi!"

Dekisugi looked confused. "Betray who?"

"Don't play innocent with me!" shouted the cat robot. "You knew he had a date with Shizuka and you still went out with her! I thought you were a decent person! But I am shocked that you could be such a scumbag!"

"Hold on," said Dekisugi, looking very confused. "Who had a date with Shizuka-san?"

Doraemon paused in his rage, looking into the confused man's eyes. He saw nothing but genuine confusion there. Doraemon felt confusion mixing with his rage before realisation struck him.

He turned to Shizuka, his eyes wide with shock and fury.

"You…you…I can't believe he went through all that trouble for someone…someone…like you!" spat Doraemon with fury.

"Doraemon, what's going on?" asked Dekisugi, looking worried.

"Shizuka had a date with Nobita-kun!" raged Doraemon, completely beside himself. "She had a date with him tonight! Nobita spent hours looking for the best restaurant to take her to…looking for routes for a nice walk…and…and…"

As Doraemon continued to rant in his fury, Dekisugi's expression turned from confusion and concern to horrified before turning to Shizuka.

"Is this true?" he asked.

Shizuka looked away, staring at the pavement as though she had just discovered that all the secrets of the universe were etched into the stone.

"Shizuka?" prompted Dekisugi.

"It's true," answered Shizuka, her voice quiet.

Dekisugi breathed in quickly and took a step back from Shizuka as though she had suddenly just threatened him with a gun.

"Why?" he asked grimly.

"Because…I like you…" said Shizuka quietly.

Dekisugi cut her off.

"You made me hurt my friend!" he shouted and Shizuka cringed. "I…I'm shocked that you could do such a thing…I…"

He abruptly turned and walked away from her, through the Dokodemo Door. He quickly went to Nobita.

Doraemon had stopped in his ranting and was now giving Shizuka a cold glare.

Shizuka looked back at him and tried to say something but failed.

Doraemon just shook his head and went through the door. It vanished from her sight.

Shizuka collapsed to her knees and began to cry. What on earth had she done?

DDDDDDD

Dekisugi was bowing on the floor before Nobita, begging the other man's forgiveness. Nobita just stared at him blankly before standing up.

He touched Dekisugi on the head and muttered softly. "It's not your fault…it's mine."

He walked off into the darkness towards his home.

Dekisugi tried to follow him but was stopped by Doraemon.

"It's better if you leave him alone for now," said the cat robot quietly.

"I'm truly sorry, Doraemon," said Dekisugi. "I had no idea…"

"Don't blame yourself, Dekisugi-san," said Doraemon sadly. "It's not your fault."

"But…"

"Enough. It's best if you head home now."

Dekisugi tried to say something else but Doraemon quelled him with a look. He sigh and moved to walk away but stopped.

"Look after Nobita-san, Doraemon-san," he said worriedly.

Doraemon just nodded quietly.

What else have I bee doing?

DDDDDDDD

All the models from the year 2112 have been proven to have a certain flaw. This flaw makes them make erroneous judgments, poor decision making, unnecessary behaviour and poor overall performance.

The report ended there.

A man in a business suit read it quietly. His oily black hair was slicked back and his dark eyes simply stared at the report. His hands were locked together. An amethyst ring shone from one of his fingers.

"How many models were made in that year?" asked the man, his voice resembling that of an angry bull.

A scrawny old man in a white lab coat rose from the opposite seat to answer. He was completely bald and his clever little eyes were obscured by a pair of black goggles. His voice was high and reedy.

"Approximately 800, 000," he answered.

The man in the business suit snorted. "What are these erroneous judgments and all these other defects?"

"I believe it makes them behave more or less like humans…"

"They are not."

"That much is obvious, sir," said the scientist. "But it does interfere with their work functions…"

"So what do you suggest?"

"Total recall for reprogramming…"

"How much would that cost?"

"It is not yet certain…"

"Approximately?"

"14 million in US dollars…"

"No reprogramming then."

"Sir?"

"Recall and have them all disposed off."

"But…"

"Now!"

The scientist pursed his lips but walked out of the office to obey.

The man in the business suit looked at the profile of one of the products and snorted. He threw it down on the table before leaving the room.

On the profile of the product were the following details.

Date of manufacturing: 3rd September, 2112

Location: Matsushiba Robot Factory

Status: Operational

Product Class: C

Product ID: DRA 120903

It went out about the current owner, sales price and so on. At the bottom of the page:

Other aliases: Doraemon

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4286495/7/True_Friend