Synopsis: Doumeki continues to search for a way to restore Watanuki’s eye.

Although it is already late at night, Doumeki continues to search for a way to restore Watanuki’s eye. Watanuki arrives bringing food for him.

Doumeki explains to Watanuki that the storehouse contains books collected by his grandfather. His grandfather was careful not to let anything bad enter the place. Watanuki notices that protective wards have been set up. Watanuki thinks that in stuffy places like the storehouse, there are always some spirits but he couldn’t sense any there except for something he can’t quite explain.

After Doumeki finishes eating, Watanuki asks him if he is still looking for a way to restore his eye. He says he’s fine even if his eye stays like that. Doumeki tells him it isn’t alright with him. He then tells Watanuki he should head home already. Watanuki says he’ll try to research too.

Watanuki accidentally knocks off a wooden panel revealing a book wrapped in paper. It seems to have been written by Doumeki’s grandfather. Doumeki looks at the book. And there it is, a spell for returning an eye from a spider. Watanuki is amazed. He thinks it must be a common phenomenon for it to be included in the book.

According to the book, on the night of the new moon, water from a well must be gathered and the lost eye must be washed with it. Before Doumeki could continue reading, however, the book which Himari lent Doumeki (it was left by Doumeki on a table) opens by itself. A serpentine creature that looks like it’s made from text emerges. It strikes at Doumeki. Quickly, Watanuki pulls him away.

The creature aims for the book written by Doumeki’s grandfather and starts to devour the texts. Doumeki tries to stop it but Watanuki stops him. Doumeki is worried the book will be consumed but Watanuki is more worried about Doumeki.

Yuuko and Mokona suddenly arrive. She asks if Watanuki will take the serpent with him. She says it will be better to have it disappear. She asks Doumeki if she can use the wards set up by his grandfather. Doumeki agrees and Mokona collects the wards. Yuko throws the wards towards the serpent , one by one, and it eats off the ward’s text. Having consumed all of the wards, the serpent becomes a ball of thread.

Yuuko explains that it was a hon no mushi, a spirit which lives inside books.

Doumeki looks at his grandfather’s book and finds out that the hon no mushi has eaten the text on how to recover an eye.

Yuuko notices the book where the hon no mushi came from. She asks who the book’s owner is. Watanuki answers it’s Himawari’s. He looks at it and realizes that the book’s content is also ruined.

Watanuki then asks Yuuko what she was doing at Doumeki’s place. Yuuko replies that she wanted to see the storehouse. She thinks it contains lots of treasures. She also tells Watanuki she came for dinner. The food that Watanuki prepared, however, was already consumed. Yuuko then mentions about the afternoon tea to Doumeki but Watanuki stops her from divulging the fact that he was dressed as Alice.

Yuuko takes out a bottle of sake and from there, they party. Watanuki, of course, has to prepare the food. Doumeki specifically requests for croquettes.

The following day, Watanuki returns the book to Himawari and apologizes for it. He tells her what happened. Himawari tells him not to worry about it.

Watanuki remembers Yuuko asking him about the book. He wonders why Yuuko was concerned about it. He further remembers Yuuko telling him that Himawari isn’t his goddess of fortune.

As Watanuki walks home after school, he sees a vision with his right eye. He falls to the ground then sees a goldfish floating in the air. A girl appears. She catches the goldfish and eats it. The girl then notices Watanuki. She says Watanuki is like a celebrity in their world. She looks at Watanuki’s right eye and says there’s a scramble for it. She says she wants it too but a girl will get mad. She sees another goldfish then rushes off towards it. She tells Watanuki to ask “the girl” about his eye.

Watanuki tells Yuuko about the girl he saw earlier. Yuuko says it’s the neko musume. Watanuki can’t quite believe that neko musume would wear boots and miniskirts nowadays. Yuuko then asks him about what the neko musume said, that there’s a scramble for his eye. She comments that things have become troublesome. If they don’t hurry, they won’t be able to get his eye back.

At school, Watanuki worries about his eye. Doumeki notices him. He asks him about it but he doesn’t say anything. To Watanuki’s relief, Himawari arrives. She says she’ll be going home soon. Watanuki leaves to pick up his things. Himawari comments that Watanuki sure is in high spirits but she wonders if his right eye will be alright.

On their way home, Himawari tells Watanuki that she likes scary and mysterious things. She tells him about a very young spiriticist called Kohane-chan that she saw on TV. Watanuki and Himawari then part ways.

Watanuki sees a vision with his right eye again. All of a sudden, a woman gets hit by a car in front of him.

The Karasu-tengu arrive and hit Watanuki on the head with their fan. They say it’s all Watanuki’s fault and that he shouldn’t be in such a place. They tell him to take them to Yuuko.

Watanuki takes them to the shop. The Karasu-tengu tells Yuuko that the Zashiki-warashi was caught. They want to save her but they can’t. The one who caught the Zashiki-warashi has a cloud of malice which is poision to her. The Karasu-tengu ask Yuuko for help. Yuuko asks for the compensation. The leader of the Karasu-tengu gives Yuuko a fan. She tells them she will grant their wish but the fan is too much for a payment so she will send Watanuki. The Karasu-tengu object, they say it was his fault the Zashiki-warashi got caught. Yuuko tells them that they won’t be able to save the Zashiki-warashi by themselves. She then asks Watanuki what he will do. Watanuki tells her that he’ll go. She hands the Kudakitsune to Watanuki and then she raises the tengu fan to take Watanuki, the Kudakitsune and the Karasu-tengu to where the Zashiki-warashi is being held.

After Watanuki and the others disappeared, a concerned Mokona asks Yuuko if it’s alright for him not to go with them. Yuuko tells Mokona that there’s something Watanuki has to learn by himself.

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I have noticed that the second season of xxxHOLiC uses a lot of foreshadowing. For instance, at the start of the previous episode, Watanuki dreamt of Himawari , seeing her with only his left eye (that was because Mokona slept on his face covering his other eye). That dream foreshadowed how Watanuki will lose his eye to the spider. He sees the real world with his left eye, and a different world (the spirit world) with his right eye sometimes.

Also, in the previous episode, Yuuko reminded Watanuki that Himawari isn’t his goddess of fortune. That foreshadowed how Himawari, albeit indirectly, caused something unlucky for Watanuki — a hon no mushi appeared from her book destroying the text on how to recover his eye.

Not much is known about Himawari so far and her character has yet to be developed. The reason as to why she brings bad luck to Watanuki is still to be revealed. Himawari, of course, is unaware about this. Watanuki pretends there isn’t anything wrong with her but he is starting to wonder about what Yuuko told him.

The hon no mushi remind me of a mushi from Mushishi (in the episode about the scrolls).