Summary: Slighty Revised. It is 1999, and Watanuki has noticed some very interesting things.

Disclaimer: I do not own X or XXXHOLiC. They both belong to wonderful ladies of CLAMP.

A/N: This theory was brought on by three main things: The feathers that permeate every frame of the X/1999 manga, the wings we see represented on both Kamui and Fuuma's backs, and the story in XXXHOLiC where Watanuki comes across a feather that came from the 'wings' of one of his schoolmates. I think it explains a lot about Fuuma's behavior.

Feathers

Watanuki sees the feathers everywhere.

It is unnerving, to say the least, and he knows instinctively that they definitely have something to do with the strange goings-on in Tokyo the past couple of months.

He knows what they are, of course—he had first encountered them years ago when a girl in his school had started sprouting a pair of wings. There is no mistaking it, especially considering that only a select few, including himself, can actually see the damn things.

He recalls Yuuko's words sometimes, and it does nothing to ease his nervousness.

"These wings cause a person to lose something within themselves—the limiter that sets one's inhibitions. Even an emotion like love, if it is expressed without any restraint, can lead to violence."

"But what would the purpose of removing somebody's inhibitions be?"

"Without inhibitions, it is far easier to feed off of one's soul. The wings are tools used for executing some of the more powerful spells—it is a means of gathering power from people's souls."

Wherever he goes, he makes very sure to capture as many as possible so that he can ask Yuuko to destroy them. And as he hands her the sack full of dangerous feathers, she smirks that all-knowing smirk before casting the incantation. Yuuko knows exactly what is going on…and Watanuki is growing increasingly confused-

-Until he meets an unsettling teenager wearing a trench coat and sunglasses, and there are suddenly more feathers than usual.

He looks at Watanuki with calm, piercing eyes, and Watanuki knows that this stranger is looking straight at his soul. The stranger says that he knows Watanuki's true wish. Watanuki says that every wish has a price, and he's sure that his own has a price that he is not willing to pay.

The stranger smiles gently at this—he is happy with Watanuki's answer.

And as he turns to walk away, Watanuki sees two small, angelic wings sprouting noticeably from the stranger's back.

Watanuki collects the remaining feathers.

And as he hands the unusually full sack to Yuuko, she smirks that infuriating smirk and says, "I see you met Munou-kun."

Watanuki supposes so.

"He's instrumental in the apocalypse, you know. Somebody has cast this spell on him for that very reason."

Watanuki, who in the past might have gotten very upset over a thing such as the apocalypse, dismisses it easily. He has learnt by now that if Yuuko is not worried about something, it is not worth worrying about. He asks why anybody would want to cast the spell without the intention of stealing the victim's soul.

"Understand, Watanuki, that sometimes people with power will take it upon themselves to give Destiny a helping hand."

And suddenly, Watanuki understands.

Somebody has purposefully removed the stranger's inhibitions.

Somebody with power is using the stranger that Yuuko calls 'Munou-kun' to give destiny a helping hand.

As another spell-feather floats gently to the ground, Watanuki wonders how many more people have fallen victim to it and its brothers.

Watanuki is not so sure he wants to know.