I have a few of those, for sure, but they don't have much to do with this chapter. Mostly they're directed at the American health care system (if you can really call it that) at the moment. I had to go to an urgent care center recently to get a little help for the pinched nerve in my back, since it wasn't healing very well on its own like it usually does, and it was, as always, an experience. I'm sure I can expect the same for the procedure I'm having at the beginning of this next week too, if not even MORE frustrating, since it's an expensive ultrasound that my insurance will probably not bother to cover. I swear, it's getting harder and harder to justify going to the doctor when there's something wrong, because I wonder if it's really worth it to get BETTER when it costs so much to do so.
Still, the pharmacist that filled my prescription was nice, and got me a hefty discount on the meds, even though THEY didn't take my insurance. Go figure.
Yeah, it seems awfully easy to trick you into being separated from your group these days, buddy. Maybe think twice before listening to zombie vacant-eyed strangers next time?
When Inuyasha jumps off a rooftop part of the castle complex, he notices immediately Sango and Miroku standing protectively in front of a huddled mass of travelers, in defense against the castle staff. One of them has a whole row of archers that he commands to fire on these damn people DARING not to just roll over and die. As the other defenseless travelers herded to the castle stutter to be spared, Sango and Miroku grimace at their attackers, looking thoroughly exhausted.
Just how many of these murder-guards ARE THERE in this castle, exactly?
Miroku and Sango gape at Inuyasha, saying is name in alarm, as if they really didn't expect him to show up at all. Oh ye of little faith. The man who was ordering the arrow volley curses at the "youkai" Inuyasha, but in a stuttering, nervous tone. Inuyasha seizes him by the collar and demands to know if he's the boss, not waiting for the answer before driving his fist right in the guys face. The other travelers announce their intention to flee the scene at this point, running toward the gate, Sango looking at them out of her periphery with a somewhat scandalized look. Not a WORD of thanks for her, I guess.
Meanwhile, Inuyasha is regarding the castle staff lying in the dirt out cold, realizing that they're just ordinary humans. But then he picks up a smell that alarms him. Miroku tries to inform him that Kagome is inside the castle, but Inuyasha is already running for the porch, shouting that he already knows. He sweatdrops, because he recognizes the smell as Kagura's.
Inuyasha also spots the half-dissolved priest corpse on the floor there and correctly identifies him as the one who told him the fake news about Kikyou being alive. Or, rather, a miko being alive, in any case, because Inuyasha and crew drew the conclusion themselves. Knowing now that this was definitely 100% a trap, Inuyasha yells Kagome's name, only to be answered with silence. He internally curses, thinking he was just a MOMENT too late.
Meanwhile, Kagura's giant feather is zooming through the air, toward a temple supported on the side of a hill by stilts.
Hmm, interesting choice, to lop off the heads of the statues around the place. Amps up the creep-vibes for sure.
Kagura enters the door to the place, greeting Kanna in a casual way and being greeted back blandly. Kagome remains quiet behind her, still holding Shnooky. Kanna holds out her palm, with a Shikon shard in it, and Kagura leans over it in offhand curiosity.
And be quick about it, because apparently this kid is just itching to retire already. He says that his job will be over after this, and his body will be hidden. Kid really spent five minutes alive and is already like, "yup, I'm done, put me in the fucking ground."
Kagura scoffs about the prospect of Kagome being degraded to a mere underling of Naraku as she holds up the black shard, then lifts Kagome's chin with her other hand, gazing at her a moment. It's both ominous and vaguely romantic? It surprises me that a popular ship didn't emerge from this tiny wellspring.
Kagome is still conscious enough to worry about not being able to move her body. She wonders if it's because the baby she's holding in her arms has grabbed onto her soul. It's obvious to her that she has to let go of this kid and get away from him, but since she can't move her body... Shnooky tells Kagura to hang on a moment, because he's noticed that the IMPERTINENT Kagome has regained her consciousness. Probably the massive desperation in her mental begging for Inuyasha to come and save her. Shnooky tells her this silent prayer of hers is futile, and that she knows full well help won't be coming for her, since Inuyasha has chosen Kikyou over her.
What does it matter that everyone knows that it's a RUMOR of Kikyou manufactured by Shnooky's team that couldn't possibly have kept Inuyasha occupied for long before he figured it out?
Inuyasha in fact is on his way, running through the forest, presumably in the direction of Kagome and her captors, berating himself for being a massive fool. He's also mentally begging - for Kagome to hold out until he can get to her. Meanwhile, Shnooky is trying to convince Kagome to give up consciousness again. He urges her to remember the moment when she knew Kikyou had died, how she had actually felt a little happy, that her rival in love was no longer an obstacle. He points also points out that Inuyasha went running to Kikyou the moment they heard she was alive, and concludes that Inuyasha's heart belongs to Kikyou, whether she's alive or dead.
Funny you have to CONVINCE this girl to hate people, right? Kinda wrecks your premise about how easy it is for people to hate each other, lol.
Shnooky assures her that it's good for her to hate, that she's doing the right thing, and tells her to fill her heart with hatred again so that he can get a good grip on her soul again. Her eyes squeeze shut slowly, and Kagura assumes she's fallen into unconsciousness again. Kagura holds the polluted Shikon fragment up to Kagome's forehead, in an attempt to press it into her skin. But Kagome is THINKING AUTONOMOUSLY again. She questions the assertion that she has a grudge against Inuyasha and hates Kikyou, and decides it is true, but there's something else to her complicated feelings over these people too.
After a moment, Kagura asks what's going on here, because the Shikon shard is being repelled from Kagome's forehead. Shnooky looks surprised, or as surprised as a sleepy-looking infant can, anyway. Kagome forces out a statement about Shnooky being wrong, who appears annoyed that the girl has rejected his suggestion that she's a creature of pure hate or something. Again, Kagome asserts that what Shnooky said is totally wrong, aknowledging that the fact Inuyasha being unable to forget Kikyou is still depressing to her, even if she can intellectually accept that it's natural. She slowly says that her having a grudge against Inuyasha and being jealous of Kikyou are normal feelings that ANYONE would feel in her situation, and they're not the same as wishing someone ill or whatever.
She struggles at first to say this next part with full gusto:
As the nervously sweating Inuyasha lands in the room, Kagome starts to sway, muttering his name in her relieved realization that he came to help her after all. All this being too much, Kagome falls into a dead faint, at last releasing Shnooky from her arms in the process. Inuyasha yells out to her, lunging forward to catch her before she collapses to the floor. It looks like Kagura was the one to snatch her baby boss out of the air, because in the next panel, she's holding him while she drawls that this must be the reason why Naraku can't stand that Kagome girl. Because she's not so easily manipulated into thinking that she hates everyone and everything as random castle staff.
They're certainly not NICE.
So, what did I think of this chapter overall? It's been a minute since I've read over this arc, so I didn't remember it too well, and I was afraid there would be a lot of blatant congratulatory nonsense for Kagome being the most special and pure girl in the world. When people remember Inuyasha these days, I do see a lot of whining about how Kagome is a Mary Sue, or at least lacking in many relatable flaws, so in taking in some of that net talk, I came to expect that was actually the case.
But this chapter contradicts that popular notion pretty thoroughly. Not only does Kagome have pretty big jealousy and pettiness flaws, but she has to face them more than once, this being one of those times. The previous time was when she was sulking around about seeing Inuyasha and Kikyou together and had a long, hard think about how much pain it caused her, and she eventually came to feel better about it when she found a sort of kinship between her and Kikyou over their shared love for Inuyasha. During this "shadow work session", she has to take that observation a bit further and conclude that her jealousy and resentment ultimately stem from a place of LOVE, not HATE, and even when it hurts her, she doesn't wish the people causing that hurt any kind of harm because they are also important and special to her. Therefore, in this chapter, she refuses to let her negative feelings eclipse the positive ones she feels for Inuyasha and Kikyou, all by out loud acknowledging the positivity that those complicated emotions come from. They wouldn't exist without the love. They didn't spring forth fully formed from a vacuum. They are fundamentally good, normal, and manageable without being a liability to her or her friends.
It's a fairly good message, but I still resent the fact that we don't know more about the context of the amplified hatred of the castle staff, because that context might have been used to bring into sharper focus why THEY gave in so thoroughly to Naraku/Shnooky brainwashing. Did they not have the practice at self-reflection that Kagome had? Were they just riddled with too much fear around the chaos happening in the area? Why did they make the DECISION to fully turn their efforts over to pure hate and murder? I maintain that shit is a CHOICE people make, and it's very conspicuous when RT leaves out motivations like this, because she's usually so phenomenal at characterizing even very minor short-arc characters we never see again.
It's entirely too easy to see when she's getting sloppy, is all I'm saying. Tighten it up, lady!
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