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First of all, I need to make some corrections. After re-reading Chapter 67 and after talking to some other readers, I realized I got some things wrong (it was quite confusing): the Fuuri and the Yatagarasu are two separate beings (of course). There has been a swap between the “mabui” and the Zashiki Warashi-lookalike (this is shown on page 06 of Chapter 67). Then, the Yatagarasu captured the “soul” inside the vase. I had a hard time understanding that the “shiny” ball was the “soul” but once I got that right, things made more sense to me. Lastly, Watanuki unknowningly “invited” the Yatagarasu thanks to him using a word which has the same kanji/spelling of Yatagarasu (both “Yatagarasu” and “hachiku” have the same kanji for “eight”/八). It’s similar to how a vampire needs to be invited to their victim’s house.

Now that we got that cleared out, let’s move on…

Last chapter I mentioned that Watanuki was still not at Yuuko’s level and in this chapter the Yatagarasu confirms this when it says that it was also able to enter the shop because Watanuki’s kekkai is not as strong as Yuuko’s. We learn also that there is still a Yuuko kekkai protecting the treasure room. Watanuki seems shocked, but I can’t tell if it’s because this is news to him or if he’s just shocked about everything that’s happening (he looks stunned in a lot of frames).

The Yatagarasu explains how it got rid of its feathers and assumed a human form in order to be taken as a client (again, it managed to deceive Watanuki, something that would possibly not happen if it were Yuuko). Not only that, we also learn that the Fuuri was able to obtain the Zashiki Warashi-lookalike precisely because Watanuki prepared the shop’s backyard in such a way to “welcome” souls (as an altar), and that has backfired on him. Again, another mistake.

We learn that it wasn’t a coincidence that the Zashiski Warashi-lookalike appeared in the backyard exactly at the worst time possible, this was intended by the Yatagarasu, who has an unmatched ability to foresee the future — apparently only Yuuko would have been able to match it, according to Seoritsu-hime. So I’m guessing the Yatagarasu knew at which time the Zashiki Warashi-lookalike would appear at the shop’s backyard and acted accordingly.

Watanuki attempts to attack the Fuuri with his ofuda, but the Fuuri warns him that by doing so, Watanuki would also hit whoever is within the Fuuri (the Zashiki Warashi-lookalike).

Given that it recoved the soul it wanted, the Yatagarasu flees the scene, showing no interest in what happens next and leaving the Fuuri to deal with Watanuki alone.

The Fuuri then proposes an exchange: the Zashiki Warashi-lookalike for the “Shuuka”. Everyone is gagged.

Okay, so things are definitely coming together and all the bits and pieces that seemed unrelated are starting to feel very related. By the looks of it, it seems the Yatagarasu and the Fuuri plotted this together: the Yatagarasu wanted the soul that the Fuuri had and the Fuuri wants the “Shuuka” so together they plotted this against Watanuki.

I don’t even know at this point if the Zashiki Warashi-lookalike wasn’t also planted there by the Fuuri and the Yatagarasu. Is the Zashiki Warashi-lookalike even a human being? Or is she just a bait (all the crazy dreams she was having about Yuuko trying to kill her)? They must know about Watanuki’s kindness…

We also have Seoritsu-hime and the Book. Watanuki had a plan, he said he had everything he needed, but that was before he was tricked by the Yatagarasu and the Fuuri, of course…

I have been comparing Watanuki to Yuuko a lot. I know this is an unfair comparison and I’m not doing this because this is a competition. Instead, I am doing this to point out the fact that Watanuki is still learning and CLAMP are doing this by showing that Watanuki can make mistakes. I don’t know if Yuuko has ever made a mistake and I believe this is the first time since Watanuki became the “substitute owner” of the shop that we have seen him making a big mistake…

12 pages for this third chapter of volume 6. 56 pages so far for volume 6.

Chapter 69 will come out on December 8th.