An accident while cleaning up Dômeki’s place causes Dômeki to fall under a curse and lose the use of an eye. Watanuki decides to sacrifice his own in order to help him, but Dômeki doesn’t appreciate or accept this. Advising and guiding them through all of this is Yûko, who reveals a little more of why Dômeki cannot enter her store. Even Himawari-chan is starting to notice the forces of destiny pushing Watanuki and Dômeki together. Strange things start happening to Watanuki’s vision other than loss. In the meantime, a customer comes to Yûko’s store, wishing to hide a photograph which contains a secret, a secret determined to reveal itself in one of the creepiest xxxholic stories yet. All together this was another intriguing tale, deepening Watanuki and Dômeki’s relationship, yet allowing Watanuki to spend more time with Himawari-chan, whom shows surprising insight behind her cheery exterior. Yûko was the usual complex mixture of fun, wisdom, and mystery, offering a little more direct information to Dômeki, perhaps because she was sympathetic to his situation. Maru, Moru, and Mokona were as always Yûko’s cheerleaders, even when the story themes took on a heavier weight, touching on those which have appeared in Tokyo Babylon, X 1999, and Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, involving individuals choices, consequences, the burden of sacrificing yourself for another, and the scars it can leave on a person you want to protect. These motifs have been in this storyline since the beginning, yet they seemed to delve deeper this time. A darker theme was developed as well, one that Yûko spoke of to Watanuki in the very beginning, of the weight of certain actions. One woman suffers as the consequence of that weight and Yûko shows again just how mercilessly fair she can be about granting a wish. All of these plot and character elements came together in a lean, languid art style, true to this series’ particular look, evoking a unique CLAMP mythical, yet everyday fashion. For all of these qualities, I give this four stars.