With that thought, Daichi Yayahara went to wait for the bus—running all the way back simply wasn't practical.
Since he had nothing urgent to do today, he figured he might as well stroll around town a bit before heading home. That was his cheerful decision while riding the bus.
Meanwhile, Nobita and the others were at the usual open lot.
Suddenly, a squirrel-like creature darted past, startling everyone and sending a wave of screams through the group.
Once they calmed down, Suneo pointed at Nobita. "I just remembered! I've been trying to figure out which animal Nobita's face reminds me of—and I finally got it! It's a tanuki!"
Gian and Shizuka both stared at Nobita's face. A few moments later, Gian burst into laughter. "Hahaha! He really does look like one! He's a spitting image of a raccoon dog!"
Shizuka chimed in, "You shouldn't say that about Nobita… but now that I look closer—hehe—it really is uncanny…"
Nobita turned red with anger, cheeks puffed out in frustration.
The rounder his face got, the more they laughed—now he looked even more like a tanuki.
Furious and on the verge of tears, Nobita ran home to Doraemon for justice.
Back at home, Doraemon was peacefully reading manga when the door suddenly slammed open, jolting him upright. He turned his head—only to be met with Nobita's tear-streaked face flying toward him.
Terrified, Doraemon dropped his book.
Nobita latched onto him, wailing, "Doraemon, you have to help me!"
Pushing him away slightly, Doraemon asked, "What happened this time? Suneo and Gian bullying you again?"
"Yeah! They said I look like a raccoon dog! sob sob..."
Doraemon was initially indignant. "Outrageous! How dare they say that you look like a—pfft… Hahaha…"
Mid-sentence, he looked more closely at Nobita's face and couldn't hold back his own laughter.
It was too accurate—especially with the glasses on, Nobita's round face and features made him the perfect raccoon dog look-alike.
"Even you're laughing at me?!" Nobita's sadness turned to rage, and he pounded Doraemon's head with his fists.
"Ow ow ow! Stop, stop! I give up!" Doraemon begged, and Nobita finally relented.
"Okay, okay, I admit it was a bit much. Here—try this: the Raccoon Dog Set!"
"What?! Even you're calling me that now?! I knew it! You think I look like one too!" Nobita shouted, raising his fists again.
Doraemon quickly waved his hands. "No no, it's not like that—listen! This gadget is based on an old folktale where samurai got tricked by tanukis in the forest into eating rocks and mud. This device creates illusions—you can make others see whatever you imagine! Try it out!"
He handed the gadget over.
Nobita put on the glasses and tail and, at that point, looked exactly like a raccoon dog.
He scanned the room for a test subject—and his eyes fell on Doraemon.
Before Doraemon could react, he was surrounded by a horde of giant rats in his vision. With a dramatic gasp, he fainted on the spot.
Nobita was thrilled. "This is perfect! Now I can get revenge on Suneo!"
He strutted out the door and began his search. After wandering through a few streets, he spotted Suneo heading home.
"Heh… talk about fate!" he grinned wickedly and activated the illusion.
Suneo, happily walking, closed his eyes and chuckled while thinking about Nobita's round face.
When he opened them, he was standing in a dense forest path. "What the—? I swear this was a regular street. Why is it a mountain trail now?"
He turned around. That path had turned into forest too.
Panicking, Suneo bolted forward.
Nobita, watching nearby, giggled uncontrollably. But due to the illusion, Suneo couldn't hear a thing.
Eventually, Suneo saw a house up ahead—Nobita recognized it as Shizuka's place.
Suneo, hungry and confused, spotted a traditional-looking girl stirring a pot.
Holding his stomach, he called out, "Excuse me, Miss! Is that food for me? I won't be shy, then!" He immediately started drinking.
Inside, Shizuka had been scrubbing the floor when she saw Suneo barge in. She was shocked—no one in Japan entered a house uninvited like that.
Then she heard Suneo talking to her mop bucket, calling it a pot of porridge. Before she could stop him, he had already started gulping down the dirty mop water.
She was so horrified she nearly had a trauma on the spot.
Even in a hallucination, porridge and dirty water tasted vastly different.
Suneo's expression twisted. He immediately threw the bucket aside and pointed at Shizuka.
"You—you tricked me! This whole place is fake, isn't it? You're a tanuki in disguise! Where's your tail?! I'm gonna find it!"
With that, he lunged to lift her skirt.
Shizuka shrieked, called him a pervert, and ran from the house.
Suneo gave chase, the two tearing through the streets.
Soon, they passed a wandering Gian. Shizuka dashed behind him like he was her savior.
But to Suneo—still hallucinating—it looked like a fox spirit hiding behind a gorilla.
"Hmph! So you brought a gorilla to help you? Fine! I'm not scared!" He raised his fists.
Gian froze. "Did you just call me a gorilla?" he growled.
Before Suneo could react, Gian punched him square in the face.
That blow knocked Suneo right out of the illusion. As reality snapped back into focus, he trembled in terror.
But it was too late. Gian was already furious—the rest would not end well for him.
Nobita, watching from the sidelines, whistled happily and walked away, completely satisfied.
Then, as he rounded a corner, he saw a familiar expressionless face walking straight toward him.
"Oh, it's that guy… The one who bullied me and became my tutor? Heh… time for a little payback."
He activated the illusion.
Daichi Yayahara had been casually strolling, thinking about picking up some dorayaki snacks to pass the time.
Suddenly, the world around him changed. Trees rose up around him—it was a dense forest.
"Hm? What's going on? Did someone set a trap? Or… is this an illusion?" he muttered.
"No… no formation here. And I haven't pissed off any mages lately… Wait. A non-mage with a grudge and access to weird tricks… It has to be—Nobita."
He activated his detection spell. Sure enough, the area around him was still full of buildings and streets.
Just nearby, a figure stood watching him, wearing raccoon ears and a tail. Daichi inspected the aura—it was Nobita, in disguise, wearing some kind of illusion device.
So that was it. Just another of Nobita's dumb pranks. He'd panicked for nothing.
The glasses were emitting subtle mental pulses, altering his perception and feeding him the false forest imagery.
But mental illusions like this were powerless against trained spiritual defenses.
Daichi triggered a surge of spirit energy in his sea of consciousness, shattering the illusion.
Then he calmly walked toward the smugly watching Nobita.
Nobita, thinking the illusion still held, stood confidently in place.
Daichi stopped in front of him. "What are you doing? Cosplaying as a raccoon dog? Honestly, it suits you."
That single comment cut Nobita deeper than any illusion could.
But Daichi wasn't done. He grabbed Nobita by the ear.
"Wasting your time pretending to be an animal? If you've got that much energy, go study. You missed tutoring yesterday. Let's make it up."
Without another word, he dragged the protesting Nobita toward his house.
"Nooo! I'm sorry!" Nobita wailed, but Daichi ignored him, expressionless.
At the door, he tossed Nobita inside before stepping in himself.
Nobita's mother quickly came to greet them.
"Hello, Ma'am," Daichi said. "I found Nobita wandering around, so I brought him back to do his tutoring."
"Oh, that's wonderful," she said cheerfully—then turned to Nobita and instantly shifted expressions.
"Nobita! Why are you wasting time outside when you could be studying? And what on earth are you dressed as?! You look like a raccoon dog!"
With those words, Nobita collapsed to the floor in despair.
Looks like… I really am a raccoon dog for life...
(End of Chapter)