The sunny boy from Cardcaptor Sakura

Unexpectedly, the first to learn baking skills from him were not Sakura and Syaoran, but Tomoyo, who seemed indifferent to the world and quietly accompanied him.

Tomoyo herself was also clever and quick-witted. After a few lessons, the desserts she made were quite impressive, and the taste was about three or four parts of his skill. Although it was only three or four parts, it was already better than most people.

At least among ordinary people, eight or nine out of ten don't know how to bake.

Xia Yu was happy to teach Zhi Shi, who was eager to learn. He had originally thought he would be playing games every day during the summer vacation, but he never expected it to be like this.

Well, it's not bad.

Late August, the weather was clear.

It's been almost a month since the holiday started, and in about a week, school will reopen.

"School's starting. It's been a rare month of peace and quiet. I guess things will get busy again soon."

On the way to the Zhi family, Xia Yu walked slowly. There had been no unusual events in the past month, in other words, no Clow Cards had caused any trouble.

It's unclear whether it was the gentleness of the Clow Cards that allowed Sakura to get through the summer vacation so smoothly, but there's another possibility: the Clow Cards might also be on summer vacation.

"Well, it's nice to relax a bit."

Xia Yu walked briskly, in a good mood.

The world is gentle; the faces of passersby are free of anxiety, and even the breeze seems gentle. Xia Yu enjoys this atmosphere, which is why he likes to walk.

The only thing that bothered him was that none of the pedestrians were holding their phones. You see, in his time, it was the norm to be looking down at your phone and chuckling to yourself; simply walking around was a rare sight.

However, this peace will probably only last for another two or three years. In Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card, button phones have long been gone, and everyone has switched to touchscreen phones.

There are only one or two years left until the Sakura: Clear Card arc.

"Huh? This is it?"

Suddenly, a sign on the roadside caught Xia Yu's eye. It was a sign that was put up when Tomoeda Town held events.

At that moment, an event poster was pasted on the notice board.

"Summer Festival? Tsukimine Shrine?"

After reading the announcement aloud, Xia Yu paused and pondered.

Summer festivals are a general term for various folk events held in Japan during the summer, usually between July and August. During the festival, visitors wear kimonos and yukatas, stroll around the streets, shop, and participate in entertainment activities, similar to garden parties in China.

The original custom of this temple fair originated in China and was later introduced to Japan. Combined with Japan's local culture, it gave rise to various festival activities, and has now become a unique national cultural feature of Japan.

However, what made Xia Yu stop and ponder was not the summer festival, but the location where the summer festival was held, Tsukimori Shrine.

He vaguely remembered that an important character in Cardcaptor Sakura was related to the Tsukimori Shrine, and that the Tsukimori Shrine was a rare place filled with magic, with the shrine's interior filled with the magic of the moon.

As for who that person was, he couldn't remember. However, it seemed that the person would come to their school as a teacher later, so it didn't matter if he couldn't remember. He was sure he would remember when he saw the person.

With that thought in mind, Xia Yu stopped thinking, started walking forward again.

These things are irrelevant to him for now. The important thing is to go to Zhi Shi's house and teach her baking. Speaking of which, what dessert should I teach her today? Cream puffs?

Before long, we arrived at our destination.

Xia Yu arrived at the Zhi family's residence with ease. Although the Zhi family's residence was very large, after visiting several times, he eventually became familiar with it.

Come to think of it, Sakura doesn't seem to have visited the Chise family as many times as he has.

Xia Yu's expression gradually became strange. Why did he feel like he had taken Xiao Ying's place?

No, no, it must be an illusion.

This summer vacation, Sakura and her family seem to have gone on vacation to a villa deep in the mountains, so Tomoyo can't ask Sakura to play with her.

Tomoyo probably knew in her heart that even if she wanted to be with Sakura every day, Sakura also had her own life and couldn't give up everything to be with her.

So... I'm actually Sakura's replacement?

Xia Yu's expression became even stranger.

"Hmm? Xia, what's wrong?"

Tomoyo, who came to greet Xia Yu, noticed Xia Yu's increasingly strange expression and was slightly puzzled.

"No, it's nothing."

Xia Yu shook his head, realizing that Zhi Shi wasn't that kind of person, and that the idea of ​​a substitute was definitely just him overthinking things.

Besides, his personality and Sakura's personality are almost the opposite of each other, and they have nothing in common. So how can you talk about a substitute?

Tsk, he must have been too idle lately to be thinking so much. In the past, these thoughts would never have even crossed his mind.

Xia Yu pulled himself out of his thoughts, but even he himself didn't realize that, without knowing when, he had begun to care about Zhi Shi's opinion of him.

"Let's go to the kitchen."

"Ok!"

After exchanging greetings, the two entered the Tomoyo family's kitchen as usual.

Since it's a teaching activity, there's naturally a sequence. Xia Yu usually makes the dessert first for Zhi Shi to try. If Zhi Shi likes it, then he teaches her how to make that dessert.

If you don't like it... there's no dessert that Tomoyo doesn't like.

Sure enough, no one can resist Camille's cooking skills!

Today I made cream puffs, also known as choux pastry, although the correct translation should be cream rolls.

This is a dessert originating from Italy, with cream pastry filled with cream, chocolate, or even ice cream. It is made using water, cream, flour, and eggs to create the filling.

Because Xia Yu likes chocolate, she made chocolate-filled cream puffs.

Once the baking was complete, Xia Yu picked up a cream puff and put it in his mouth. He took a bite, and the soft filling burst open in his mouth instantly, rich and smooth, reminding him of an advertising slogan.

Dove, indulge in silky smoothness.

As expected of him!

"Come and try it, the desserts are quite good this time too."

Xia Yu swallowed the cream puff in his mouth, then casually picked up another one and offered it to Zhi Shi's lips.

Tomoyo looked at the cake being offered to her mouth and felt that something was off. Why did she feel like Natsumi was teasing a child?

But seeing Xia Yu's expectant eyes, Zhi Shi paused for a moment, then opened her mouth and took a small bite.

As the chocolate filling spread in her mouth, Tomoyo's eyes widened slightly. Although she had expected it, the taste still surprised her.

"How about it?"

"good to eat!"

"Hehe, that's right, don't you even know who did it?"

Xia Yu chuckled, placed the partially bitten cream puff in Zhi Shi's hand, and turned to prepare the ingredients. Since Zhi Shi liked it, she would have to try baking it herself later.

Tomoyo held a cream puff she had already taken a small bite of, and watching Natsume get busy again, she took another small bite.

It's really delicious.

……

After the class ended, it was time for dinner.

Although Xia Yu's cooking skills were also quite good, he was a guest, and besides, this was at the Zhi family's residence, so he became the one waiting to be served.

Because Zhi Shi's parents are both career-oriented and strong-willed, they usually don't come home for meals, which is why Xia Yu chose to stay for dinner.

Otherwise, eating alone in such a large house would feel rather lonely.

He is still too kind.

"Xia, would you like to go to the summer festival tonight?"

Just as Xia Yu was idly sitting on the living room sofa reading a book, Tomoyo suddenly came over and said to him, "Sakura invited me to the summer festival tonight, along with her brother and Tsukishiro-nii. I've already accepted."

"Summer Festival?"

Xia Yu put down his book and looked up: "Is it the summer festival at Tsukimori Shrine?"

"Huh? Xia, you know about this?"

"I saw the sign when I came over, but it requires wearing a kimono, right? I don't have one." Xia Yu tugged at his casual clothes. He's not Japanese, so he doesn't have any custom-made kimonos at home.

However, the summer festival is just a small event, so there probably aren't any strict requirements. Wearing casual clothes should be fine.

"Don't worry, Xia, you don't need to worry about this."

Tomoyo suddenly smiled slightly, which startled Xia Yu. "Don't worry? Why don't you need to worry? Is there a century-old kimono shop nearby?"

He didn't know if Tokyo had any century-old shops, but Hiroshima and Nagasaki certainly didn't...

For every joke from hell you hear, your merits decrease by one.

No, he has to put an electronic wooden fish here, and tapping it will add a little merit.

Merit +1 +1 +1 +1...

Before Xia Yu could dwell on his thoughts for long, Zhi Shi had already returned.

She was holding a set of folded clothes in her hands, all dark in color, decorated with bamboo and bamboo leaves.

Seeing the clothes, Xia Yu had a rough idea of ​​what was going on, but he still asked, "This outfit is...?"

"It's Xia's kimono."