Books like xxxHOLiC Rei, Vol. 1

I'm confused. It was good, but I'm confused.This isn't a direct sequel to xxxHolic. It's like... "The Lost Adventures of" xxxHolic. It takes place during xxxHolic, but they're adventures we haven't seen previously. That's what is confusing me. I don't know where we are in the timeline. Granted, you don't really need to know, but it would kinda be nice.This volume also felt a lot slower than the original xxxHolic. There were only two tales in this volume, but they also didn't feel nearly so fleshed out as in the past series. Maybe it's just me.This followed the adventures of Yuuko, Watanuki, and co., but there seems to be certain characters missing. The Black Mokona, for instance, is nowhere in site. Neither is Tanpopo, despite this seeming to take place after the point they should have appeared. It still has the "frenemy" vibe from Watanuki in relation to Yuuko and Domeki. It still has Himawari hanging around being totally oblivious to Watanuki's crush. It does not have all of Yuuko's bizarre pop culture references (which I always liked), so that was a tad disappointing.Part of me believes it's a case of rose-colored glasses (and the fact I was always longing for the next volume of xxxHolic that never came). I'll keep reading because it really was good and I really did enjoy it. I just hope it can shine like the original.Edit upon finishing series: Apparently it was a sequel. Timey-wimey stuff was going on.