Spoiler Warning. Details of the episode's plot are revealed below.
Sakura stirs from her sleep as someone calls her name, puzzled as the accent was so striking it couldn't be anyone in her family she assumes it's coming from the TV until she discovers it's off. Finally she catches sight of a flying cuddly toy and reacts with shock and confusion, until he gives her a few taps to wake her up and she remembers him and the events from yesterday. As Cerberus commences to comment on the weather while addressing her at the Cardcaptor she is still adamant she's unsuited for the role, however he affirms she managed to subdue the Fly Card. Sakura then hears her brother calling her down for breakfast.
When she comes into the kitchen Touya is stunned that she came after just one shout, prompting him to suggest that her punctuality harbours rain. In her annoyance Sakura begins to mention that Cerberus woke her but catches herself and amends that it was the alarm. After breakfast she hurries back to her bedroom and gives Cerberus a couple of biscuits she sneaked while she packs her school bag, prompting him to comment that children in the 90's have too much they're expected to do. When she mentions that both her brother and father will be leaving for school as well he's struck by the idea her father still has to go until she mentions that he's a lecturer at the university. She makes it clear he'll have to remain in her room as long as anyone else is in the house, which he affirms but she's surprised that he's no longer in sight. The time on her alarm clock causes her to forego checking where he went and prompts her to hurry off to school.
She gets to her classroom before anyone else and she puts her things down for the moment when Tomoyo comes in. Sakura wonders if she's here to tackle classroom chores but Tomoyo tells her she hoped to get a few minutes alone with her. Tomoyo brings her camcorder out while mentioning she got footage of something marvellous last night, pressing play to show something passing in front of the gibbous moon before the video stops. Sakura's confused by this but Tomoyo then shows a close-up edit, revealing it was of Sakura's first experimental usage of the Fly Card. Sakura's cry of surprise and alarm causes Cerberus to suddenly pop out of her schoolbag, thinking that her shout was due to the activity of a Clow card, but then everyone pauses in response to everything being laid bare. Tomoyo performs a slow double-take between her video and Cerberus before concluding they're one and the same.
During lunch Sakura asks Cerberus what he was doing in her bag, whereupon he answers that he wanted to learn how the Cardcaptor typically spends her day. Tomoyo is in no way alarmed by any of the events so far and cheerfully inquires as to who he is. When Sakura mentions his name Tomoyo remarks his name doesn't fit his appearance, prompting Sakura to give him the nickname 'Kero-chan'; he's not happy about this as it suggests he's a cartoon frog and emphatically declares himself Guardian Beast of the Seal. During this he mentions the cards, which causes Tomoyo pause for thought and leads to his recounting everything he told Sakura. While this exposition occurs something bizarre happens to the shadows of the football team. Tomoyo is overjoyed by the news that Sakura is a Magical Girl and asks for a demonstration, Kero is happy about this as no one else is in the area at this time. Sakura summons the Sealing Staff and affirms that it lets her practice magic but only if she uses a card to go with it, prompting Kero to pull one out of her schoolbag. However Tomoyo's more concerned about Sakura's poise during her missions. Come home time as the students leave a lot of their shadows stop and slip back into the school.
The next day Sakura arrives at school to find everyone staring at something in the playground; one of her friends leads her forward so she can see that a great pile of the chairs and desks. The classrooms also have this mess on a smaller scale, prompting everyone to try and get everything back in order. When Tomoyo arrives she puzzles over the way they were all stacked and whispers to Sakura that it could've been a Clow card.
Back in Sakura's room Kero affirms Tomoyo's suspicion, prompting Sakura to groan over the amount of work it left them in clearing the mess up, although Tomoyo tries to cheer her up by mentioning that normal schoolwork had been postponed as a result. They wonder just what kind of card could be responsible but Kero cannot come to any conclusions. He then makes it clear that Sakura must return to the school that very night to resolve the situation. She's not happy about this as she's heard ghost stories about the school. Tomoyo mentions that going to the school in the middle of the night could be dangerous, getting Sakura's hopes up until she says she's joining them to get the best footage yet.
Outside the school gates Sakura's feeling very trepid while Kero reassures her that he's there to help. Just then two vehicles come up and stop outside the gates and Tomoyo steps out asking if she kept them waiting. Sakura's stunned to see four ladies in uniform exit the car after her, leading to Tomoyo introducing them as her bodyguards. One of them advises her to be careful before they leave with the car, leaving the van behind. Sakura gushes over the unique fact that Tomoyo has her own bodyguards, prompting her to remark how unique it is that Sakura's a Magical Girl. She opens the van to reveal it's a mobile walk-in wardrobe of what might typically be thought of as fancy dress outfits, affirming that they're for Sakura to wear during her Cardcaptoring activities. Sakura feels this is superfluous but Kero insists that if she's dressed the part the cards would take her more seriously. With this backing Tomoyo escorts Sakura inside and gets her togged-up.
Now clad in a red and dark blue outfit complete with cape Sakura now enters the school premises while Tomoyo continues to film her, and then she remembers she's got a matching accessory for Kero to wear, leading to his constantly posing for her while Sakura's nonplussed by there being no sign of worry about either of them. Then she hears something and mentions this, bringing everyone's mind back to the business in hand. Suddenly the school statue comes flying at them with notable force, prompting a number of dodging tactics until Tomoyo notices that the shadow indicates it being held aloft by someone who isn't there. Kero considers this for a while and, just as a whole shadowy mass comes flooding out of the school buildings, he identifies this as being the work of the Shadow Card. Kero advises that Sakura summon the staff and demonstrate the poses she practiced with Tomoyo, leading to Sakura summoning the Windy Card to fend off the shadows, but all it does is fragment them. Now Kero calls for a tactical withdrawal and Sakura summons the Fly Card. Observing the shifting mass of shadows Kero deduces that the Shadow Card is utilising almost every student's shadow and concludes Sakura isn't quite prepared to tackle this much; Tomoyo wonders if there's another approach to the problem and Kero mentions that the shadows would dissipate if light shines on them but recognises that dawn would be several hours away, but Tomoyo is unperturbed. Sakura suddenly finds that the shadows have latched onto her staff and she's having to put in her all to avoid being dragged down when all the lights in the school start coming on, making the shadows vanish and returning flight control to her. She sees Tomoyo and Kero waving from one of the windows where Tomoyo explains that any Muggle such as herself can just switch on the lights. Kero then spots the Shadow Card proper and informs Sakura; she flies right for it steering around any counterattack before utilising the Windy Card once more to pin it down and seal it.
The next day Sakura brings a treat to school as a thank you for Tomoyo. She finds her in the media room where she's watching the footage from last night, revealing to Sakura that she hardly stopped recording all through the operation. Tomoyo's so thrilled with the results that she asks Sakura to invite her on any subsequent Cardcaptoring adventures, eager to film more demonstrations of her magic and also affirms that she'll personally make all of her outfits for these escapades.
This episodes provides examples of:
- Awesome, Dear Boy: In-universe, Tomoyo is excited at the idea of capturing Sakura's Card Captor activities on tape. She also gets a chance to let Sakura model in the clothes she's designed.
- Big "WHAT?!": Sakura's reaction when it finally dawns on her that Tomoyo filmed her flying through the sky.
- Contrived Coincidence: It's really fortunate that the only person who caught Sakura and Cerberus on tape was her cousin Tomoyo.
- Didn't Think This Through: Sakura and Kero didn't consider that while they flew at night, they could have been seen. Thank goodness only Tomoyo noticed.
- Secret-Keeper: The first episode where Tomoyo's aware of everything that's going on.
- Stating the Simple Solution: When battling a card like Shadow, it's best to turn on a couple of light switches.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Sakura does not like the possibility of getting caught up in a ghost story-type situation.
