Chapter 32 We are friends

“That being said, it’s really strange.”

Xia Yu touched his chin and thought silently, if it was just an ordinary theft, it would be impossible not to leave any traces.

Besides, how could a thief steal stuffed dolls instead of property? This is not something a thief would do, not to mention the rumors. This kind of unusual incident feels like déjà vu...

"Tomoyo, do you think it's possible that the Clow Cards are to blame? After all, it's hard not to think so with such a strange phenomenon."

Xia Yu expressed his guess, but it was all he could guess. Although Sakura sealed a Clow Card in each episode, the timeline of the drama was actually very long. It took two months from the first episode to the eighth episode.

By the time Sakura had collected all the Clow Cards, she had already entered fifth grade.

As for why he couldn't even remember the plot clearly but could remember the timeline? That's because he remembered that Li Xiaolang appeared in the eighth episode.

At that time, Li Xiaolang asked, "Haven't you collected all the Clow Cards in two months?" This directly hit Sakura, and he also remembered the connection between two months and the eighth episode.

Moreover, based on the tone of this world, even if he couldn't remember the story of collecting every Clow Card, as long as there was an unusual situation around Sakura, it would be right to guess that it was the Clow Cards.

"Clow Cards?"

Hearing Xia Yu's guess, Zhi Shi pondered for a few seconds and murmured, "It's not impossible. It looks like I have to investigate with Xiao Ying. Xia, do you want to come?"

"Of course. After all, we are comrades, aren't we?"

"Haha~ You're right, we are comrades-in-arms."

After the physical education class was over, Tomoyo immediately found Sakura and told her the results of her discussion with Xia Yu.

After hearing this analysis, Sakura was unsure but agreed to go to the toy store after school.

If it was really the Clow Cards that were causing trouble, then she must seal up the troublesome Clow Card.

……

Ding~ding~ding~ding~ding~
In the afternoon, the sound of the school bell echoed across the campus, and the day's classes ended.

After saying goodbye to the teacher, the students headed towards their homes.

During this time, Sakura and Tomoyo led Xia Yu towards the toy store that had only been open for a short time.

The toy store is near the school. Its name is "TWIN BELLS", which means "twin bells". The logo at the door is two golden bells tied with golden bows.

Because it was a newly opened store and there were bad rumors about it, the toy store was deserted and had almost no customers.

crunch~
"welcome."

Hearing the sound of the door opening, the originally gloomy-looking store manager forced a smile and greeted Sakura and the others who came in.

The store manager is a beautiful and gentle woman with long, slightly curly gray-brown hair. She exudes a gentle and peaceful temperament, but this temperament can never conceal the fragility and sadness in her eyes.

Seeing that two of the three customers who came in were students who had helped in the store before, the manager's originally worried face relaxed a little.

But on the contrary, Sakura and Tomoyo were shocked. They looked at a big-eyed doll in the cardboard box. The familiar doll was the doll that Chiharu had lost before.

"what happened?"

The store manager was a little surprised when he saw Sakura and Tomoyo looking surprised.

"Maki-sister, that's Chiharu's..."

Sakura pointed at a stupid panda-headed doll in a daze. The store manager turned around curiously and when she saw the familiar doll, she couldn't help but reveal an expression of fear and shock.

"here we go again……"

"Again?" Seeing the complicated expression on the store manager's face, Sakura couldn't help but feel curious: "Maki-sister, do you know why Chiharu's doll is here?"

Although it was strange that the doll that was stolen from Chiharu's house suddenly appeared in the doll shop, judging from the manager's attitude, she seemed to know something about the inside story.

The store manager was silent for a few seconds after hearing Sakura's question, then he sighed deeply and said, "I opened a store in another town before, and the same thing happened there, and it happened several times in a row..."

At this point, the store manager's voice trembled a little, and even her tone was filled with sadness and loss.

"So some rumors started to spread that anyone who bought something in my store would be robbed. But since the culprits were never caught, some people started to suspect that I was the one who staged this."

By the end, the store manager's voice had become choked up, as if he was about to cry: "I'd better close the store..."

"How could this be……"

Hearing this, the kind-hearted Sakura felt a little sorry, and Tomoyo couldn't help but say, "What a pity, such a great store."

Xia Yu, who had always been an invisible person, didn't feel anything. After all, this was his first time in this store. Although the store was not big, he could feel that the owner was managing it carefully.

As for the aura of the Clow Cards... he still didn't feel anything. The time with the Water Cards he remembered the plot, but this time he had no impression at all.

What's more, he didn't even know what Clow Card was causing trouble. Even with the "Show me the way" spell, he couldn't find the true form of the Clow Card.

You should know that there are fifty-four Clow Cards in the animation, and many of them are used to make up the number, because there are only nineteen Clow Cards in the comics. In order to match the playing cards, the animation increased the number to fifty-two regular cards and two special cards.

So apart from a few memorable Clow Cards and important plot turning points, he didn't even have a vague impression of the rest of the daily plot. After all, according to his sense of time, those were memories from nearly twenty years ago.

On the other side, the store manager heard Sakura and the others' dissuasion, shook his head and said sadly: "I still can't do it alone. I was once engaged to a doll designer, but he died in an accident. He loved dolls and he dreamed of selling the dolls he designed in his own store."

"Maki-sister..."

Sakura and Tomoyo looked at the store manager's back as he turned his back to them, and for some reason they felt sad.

They wanted to speak up to comfort the manager, but when they opened their mouths they didn't know what to say. Even if they were precocious, they were still just elementary school students with no emotional experience.

How can they comfort each other when they are like this?

"If I give up, he will probably be very sad, but I have already..."

For a moment, the atmosphere in the store was a little depressing, but soon, the manager wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes. There were students present now, and she understood that the innocent and carefree elementary school students were not suitable people to listen to.

"Sorry, I just couldn't help myself..."

The store manager calmed down, then pulled the corners of his mouth and forced a smile, saying, "I'm sorry to have made you worry about me. It's getting late, so you should go home quickly."

Looking at the manager's red eyes, Sakura was silent for a moment and didn't say much. After saying goodbye to the manager, she quietly left the toy store.

Seeing this, Tomoyo and Xia Yu nodded goodbye to the manager, then followed Sakura.

After walking in silence for a while, Sakura suddenly turned around and looked at Tomoyo and Xia Yu who were following behind her: "I want to help Sister Maki. No matter if it's the Clow Cards that are causing trouble, I want to help Sister Maki."

"Tomoyo, Xia-san, you will help me, right?"

Hearing this, Zhishi and Xia Yu smiled at each other and responded with one sentence each.

"Of course."

"We are friends."

Hearing their answers, Sakura couldn't help but stepped forward and held their hands, and said with some emotion: "Thank you!"

(End of this chapter)