In the ordinary life of Crayon Shin-chan

Chapter 1439 Xiao Xu is Missing 6

On the other side, Shin-chan ran into Nanako on the road. Seeing Shin-chan looking down, Nanako couldn't help but call out, "Shin-chan, what's wrong? Did something bother you?"

"Nanako-neechan." Shin-chan, seeing Nanako, no longer showed his usual excitement. He hung his head, then suddenly remembered something, but immediately lowered his head again: "Never mind, Nanako-neechan probably doesn't remember either."

"What do you remember?" Nana gently squatted down and ruffled Shin-chan's hair. Sunlight fell on her long eyelashes, casting a soft shadow. "Is something bothering you? Tell me, maybe I can help you."

Shin-chan looked up, his eyes red and swollen, like a wronged little rabbit. He sniffed, his voice thick with nasal emotion: "Nanako-neechan, do you know a boy named Nohara Akihisa? His name is Asahi, and he's my older brother..." Suddenly, tears streamed down his face. "But nobody remembers him. Mom and Dad don't remember him, Kazama and the others don't remember him, even Bo-chan, who loves collecting stones, doesn't remember him..."

Nanako's smile slowly froze. She reached out and gently wiped away Shin-chan's tears, her eyes filled with doubt and worry: "Shin-chan, the Nohara Akihisa you mentioned... is he your brother? But I remember, Misae-nee only has you and Himawari as her children."

"No!" Xiaoxin shook his head violently. "Xiaoxu really exists! He was playing with us yesterday! He helped Adai find stones and even bought me cookies..." He became more and more excited as he spoke, his small body trembling slightly from crying.

Nanako fell silent. Looking at Shin-chan's earnest expression, she didn't think he was lying. She stood up, took Shin-chan's hand, and said, "Shin-chan, don't rush. Let's go sit on that bench over there for a while. Tell me slowly what Xiao-xu looks like, what he likes to do, and what you all played yesterday, okay?"

Shin-chan nodded, letting Nana lead him to a bench and sit down. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled patterns on the ground. Shin-chan lowered his head, sobbing as he described Xiao-xu's appearance in broken sentences.

Nana listened quietly, nodding occasionally, but her brows furrowed more and more deeply. She tried hard to search her memory for anything about "Nohara Akihisa," but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't recall anything.

It was as if this child had never existed in this world. But seeing Shin-chan's heartbroken expression, she couldn't bear to tell him directly, "There is no such person."

She gently patted Shin-chan's back and said softly, "Shin-chan, maybe...maybe Xu-chan has just left temporarily? Just like some friends, they may not be able to play with us temporarily because of moving or other reasons, but he hasn't disappeared."

Shin-chan raised his teary-eyed face: "Really? But why doesn't anyone remember him? He's not even in the photos..."

Nanako's heart sank. She remembered visiting the Nohara family a few days ago and seeing the family photo in the living room. The photo only showed Hiroshi Nohara, Misae, Shin-chan, and Himawari. Could it be... that Shin-chan really remembered wrong? Or was there some hidden story she didn't know?

Looking into Xiaoxin's expectant eyes, she took a deep breath and said, "Xiaoxin, although I don't remember Xiaoxu, I believe what you said. No matter what, as long as you remember him, he will never disappear. If you remember him, then there will definitely be traces of his existence in this world..."

Nana comforted Shin-chan while gently soothing his heart.

When Shin-chan returned home, he saw Hiroshi, Misae, and Himawari sitting in the living room. Misae, seeing Shin-chan, asked worriedly, "Shin-chan, where did you go? You're so late! We were so worried about you."

Shin-chan didn't answer Misae's question. Instead, he walked straight to the sofa, sat down, and stared blankly at the drawing in his hands. Hiroshi and Misae exchanged a glance, unsure of what to say.

Little Sunflower crawled to Shin-chan's side, babbling as if trying to comfort him. Shin-chan looked at Little Sunflower, and a glimmer of hope rekindled in his heart. "Little Sunflower, you're the only one who still remembers Little Xu, right? We must find Little Xu."

Xiao Kui blinked her big eyes, seemingly understanding but not quite. She gently patted Xiao Xin's arm with her little hand, then rummaged through her stroller and pulled out a crumpled crayon. She drew a crooked little person on Xiao Xin's drawing paper, with a crooked sun next to the little person.

Looking at the painting, Xiaoxin suddenly burst into tears, which dripped onto the paper and smudged into a small ink stain. He remembered that Xiaoxu had once taught Xiaokui to draw. The first little figure Xiaokui drew was completed by Xiaoxu holding her hand. At that time, Xiaoxu smiled and said, "Xiaokui draws so well. She will definitely be a great painter in the future."

But now, even the little figures that Xiaokui drew have become so blurry.

"What exactly happened?" Xiaoxin was confused. He couldn't distinguish between reality and illusion anymore.

He clutched the drawing paper tightly to his chest, as if it were the only proof that Xiao Xu had ever existed.

Misae looked at her son's red eyes, sighed softly, and went over to pat his head: "Shin-chan, no matter what happens, Mom and Dad are here."

Shin-chan shook his head, buried his face in Misae's apron, and said sullenly, "Mom, don't you really remember Asahi? The Asahi who always smiled happily, took care of Himawari, and took Shiro for walks."

Misae paused for a moment, then gently wiped away his tears: "Silly child, what nonsense are you talking about? There's no such thing as Xiao Xu. Have you been watching too many cartoons and started taking the characters for real?"

Hiroshi put down his newspaper and ruffled Shin-chan's hair: "A real man shouldn't cry so easily. Come on, Daddy will take you to buy an Action Kamen model, okay?"

Shin-chan didn't respond. He simply hugged his drawing paper and silently walked to the window. The sunlight outside was still bright, and the streets of Kasukabe were bustling with traffic—everything seemed the same as usual. But Shin-chan felt as if a piece of the world was missing, a very important piece, a piece about Asahi.

He looked at Kasukabe Park in the distance, the slide standing there all alone. The laughter of Xiaoxu and him sliding down it yesterday seemed to still echo in his ears, yet he couldn't quite make it out. He didn't know what to do, nor where to look for answers.

Xiao Xu was like a pebble thrown into the ocean, leaving no trace other than ripples in his heart. But he firmly believed that Xiao Xu was real, and that he was somewhere waiting for them to find him. Thinking of this, Xiao Xin wiped away his tears, and his eyes regained their resolve.

He turned to Hiroshi and Misae and said, "Dad, Mom, I want to go out for a bit."

"Where are we going?" Misae asked.

"I'm going to a place, a place where I might find clues about Xiaoxu." After saying that, Xiaoxin grabbed her drawing paper and rushed out of the house without waiting for their response.

If Shin-chan remembers correctly, they once buried a time capsule in the park!

......

Over at the kids' place, after Nini was found by Masao, everyone gathered at the park and discussed the things Shin-chan had done.

Nini looked at everyone and asked, "So, who exactly is this Xiao Xu that Xiao Xin is looking for? Why do we all feel a sense of familiarity with this name, but we just can't seem to recall anything about him?"

Kazama pondered for a moment: "Based on what Shin-chan provided, Asahi and I are probably very familiar friends. Moreover, he knows a lot of things, like he can teach Masao to paint."

......