Kagura affirms his repetition of the subject she wishes to discuss with him, and suggests that he HAS to have noticed that no matter how many times Naraku's body is smashed, shredded, and destroyed, he won't die. The brat Hakudoushi is exactly the same. She doesn't mention that SHE also possesses this quality, but I assume that's why she's so sure the lack of a heart leads to effective immortality. Kagura says as much, that this is all because Naraku's heart has been hidden in a safe place away from his body.
She asks if Sesshoumaru thinks so, while Jaken warns him at his back that this whole visit might very well be a trap. Kagura seems confused by this characterization of her intentions, so Jaken reminds her that he knows SHE'S an offspring of Naraku herself, and asks how they can POSSIBLY trust a single thing she says. It's not a TERRIBLE argument.
After a haughty pause, Kagura scoffs and reaches beneath her collar for something, saying that it's up to them whether they believe her or not, but it would be within their interests to take the crystal she offers from her bosom. Jaken asks what it is, and she tells him it's crystalized youki.
At last, Sesshoumaru speaks for himself, accusing Kagura of wanting to USE him. She doesn't deny this, instead asserting that killing Naraku would be impossible without someone with his strength and skill, and there's NO ONE to compare to him in these qualities. The focus is on little Rin here, who looks quite amazed by this overt praise of her guardian. Jaken looks less in wonder and more nervous, sweating over what he judges to be an attempt to praise Sesshoumaru to death.
Kagura kneels down to leave the crystal in the grass between them, since Sesshoumaru makes no move to take it, or ANY move, really. She says the rest is up to him, and then gusts upward on her feather, bidding him goodbye. Both Sesshoumaru and Jaken glare up at her retreating vehicle, the latter mumbling about "that woman" - no doubt he's relieved to see her gone. He approaches and scoffs over the youki crystal, inquiring what Sesshoumaru wants them to do with it. Jaken turns at the sound of Sesshoumaru's boots on the grass, finding he's wandering off again, and asks after him. Sesshoumaru absently says he'll leave the decision to him, because apparently he just can't be bothered.
Even so small a delegation makes Jaken sweat nervously again, wondering aloud what he should do. Rin kneels in the grass next to him and suggests he should take it, advice he repeats in question. Rin explains that it didn't look like Kagura was trying to FOOL Sesshoumaru at all.
Rin's reason for believing this essentially boils down to the fact that Kagura's praise of Sesshoumaru seemed really genuine to her, but Jaken is exasperated by her simple and naive point of view. Don't worry, Rin, I agree with you. SessKagu shippers gotta stick together!
Never thought you'd read that coming from ME, did you? ;)
Meanwhile, Sesshoumaru is lost in contemplations of this youki-erasing protection stone. Probably wishing HE had it so fuckers would just leave him alone and stop trying to get him to fight their battles for them. Heaven forbid he USE all that copious power he has for anything.
Narrow sky transition panel to Inuyasha's group, Inuyasha and Kagome heading the procession by some distance while Miroku and Sango bring up the rear, the former of the back pair letting out a long sigh. Kagome mutters to Inuyasha that Miroku is still depressed, and Inuyasha asks if it's about that youki crystal he lost to Hakudoushi and his massive science experiment. As if in answer, Miroku opines that it really is all his fault, but Sango assures him there was no avoiding it, and she's just really glad he wasn't injured. He says her name, looking at her earnestly. I'm sure you can see where this is going.
Ugh, I can't even type that without it leaving a bad taste in my mouth...
Yet another narrow sky transition panel brings us to three men on the bank of a body of water, one of them approaching a small shrine. The two hanging back ask "Danna-sama" if he's sure they won't face retribution for what they're about to do, and he answers that he's sure THIS time it will be fine. Always a bad sign when you're doing something that drew bad consequences before AGAIN. He holds up an ofuda he says he got from a high-ranking priest, and seems to think this new tool will make the difference.
Danna-sama sticks it over the door, pleading with whatever spirit that occupies it to be calm. Rather than peace, the little piece of paper crackles with branching electricity, and the area starts to rumble and shake, hard enough for the men to topple, shrieking. Close by, Miroku looks around, asking if the trembling they're feeling is an earthquake, but Kagome trails in a statement that it's something MORE than that. Miroku picks up what she's putting down, declaring there's youki he's also sensing here. Sango and he rush forward to meet whatever challenge this might be.
They find the men keeling before the little shrine, begging a "Nushi-sama" to please forgive them. There remains only a burn mark left where the ofuda was stuck before. Miroku runs up and inquires as to what happened here, observing that they've been suffering from strange events, and their band of heroes could help if they wanted. Danna-sama turns and says Miroku's name, recognizing him, which seems to take Miroku aback.
Oh, Kagome looks PISSED. You'd think SHE was the one engaged to Miroku and not Sango.
Cut to a mansion that is a little more modest than some others we've seen in this comic - but still a mansion. Presumably it's Danna-sama who calls for a feast for Miroku's return; the next panel shows just the Inuyasha gang sitting around an indoor firepit, Sango positioned intimately close to Miroku's side despite the implication of more of his promiscuous antics. Kagome asks what the situation is, and Miroku hesitates to say, appearing somewhat unsure himself. Sango suggests he doesn't remember, Inuyasha scoffing that there are too many possibilities for him to narrow it down.
A young woman slides open the door to their room eagerly, announcing herself by calling to Miroku and saying she's been waiting for him for some time. Miroku drops his fist into his open palm in a gesture of pinpointing a specific memory, and in no time he's on his feet and grasping the young woman's hands in his, calling her Shima and complimenting her on how beautiful she's become. All she can do is express how glad she is that he's finally here.
Sango hovers behind him with a fuming aura, and while Miroku mutters to calm down, she flatly lies that it's fine - it's just something that happened in the past, after all. Danna-sama confirms this from where he and his wife kneel in the doorway, and he begins the story of this past event with both of them having given up hope.
Flashback! Danna-sama and wife are sitting by Shima's futon, worried gazes fixed on their daughter lying in it. He says that Shima had always had a weak body since infancy, to the point where there was hardly a day when she could so much as lift her head from her pillow. Miroku was passing through one day, though, 2 years before, and he showed some sympathy for the sickly girl. He gave them some herbs for a tea that he instructed Shima to drink every day. Her father comments on how they got what was expected from "top-grade" herbs, which suggests there was some heavy expense involved in getting them. He and his wife DO say they worked well, though, a medicine so effective that Shima sits upright in fairly GLITTERING health at this moment. Still, Sango and Inuyasha are glaring in exasperation, both sharing the thought that Miroku grifted them.
Kagome leans into the conversation, suggesting that THIS is when Miroku and Shima became friends, but Miroku denies this, backed up by Shima saying that he left very shortly after handing over the herbs for the medicine. Miroku draws attention to the corroboration, insisting he did NO wrong. But of course, then Shima recalls Miroku asking of her what he asks ALL pretty young women who come into his life, however briefly: he asks her to bear his child when she gets better. It's a proposition she heartily agrees to.
At least she doesn't look fucking ELEVEN in the flashbacks.
Inuyasha is visibly annoyed, complaining that this conversation is pointless. Kagome insists that it's not, but Inuyasha indicates that he's MUCH more invested in the strange earthquake that happened earlier that LED them here in the first place. This reminds Miroku to ask about the shake-up at the shrine, ignoring the lump on his head from the tap to the head he received above from Sango.
Before he receives an answer, dust is shaken from the ceiling by another earthquake, causing Kagome to topple a little and cry out about the new tremors. Shima has flung herself into Miroku's embrace out of her fear, while he sweats about ALSO being scared, but for entirely different reasons; Sango's mood has worsened at the sight of Shima hugging Miroku, aura and face dark with simmering rage.
Danna-sama and wife once again bow to Miroku on the threshold of the room, begging him to save them, and suddenly dropping the info that Shima is set to become a youkai's bride at this point. He questions this claim in confusion, so Danna-sama finally explains that the shrine by the water is for Nushi-sama of the lake, who is quite insistent that Shima become his bride. Shima pulls away from Miroku enough to inform him that she TOLD Nushi-sama she was already engaged, but he didn't believe her. Miroku chuckles nervously, trailing in his new question of whether HE was the fiancé she was talking about, so Sango pipes up and barks that it's OBVIOUSLY him.
Shima brightly says that since Miroku has returned, having NOT forgotten his promise to her, her horrible fate has been averted. She's convinced this is a happy day for her, despite the sour expression of Sango and the less-than-thrilled face on Miroku. Girl, read the ROOM.
Regardless, Miroku vows that he will NOT let Shima go to a youkai, and Danna-sama is in joyous disbelief that Miroku will help them as Miroku soberly tells them to leave the matter to him. Danna-sama stands up and declares they'll get the wedding ceremony ready right away, having fundamentally misunderstood WHAT Miroku intends to do to solve the matter, to his shocked dismay. Inuyasha wonders aloud what about wiping out the youkai, and Shippou chirrups from Kagome's shoulder that Shima's parents are DEDICATED to the idea of her having Miroku's child. Ew, kid.
So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I think I blocked out or rushed over the plethora of relationship drama in this section of the comic the other times I read it, because I've largely forgotten this plotline. Having Sango and Miroku start to fight immediately after a tentative truce between Inuyasha and Kagome is a little much for someone like me. I'm a little prone to hyperbole, so my brain immediately started complaining that this was like a personal hell when Shima started fawning over Miroku.
I'll admit it's a little of an overstatement though. This is the first issue that Miroku and Sango have had since Miroku essentially promised to settle down with her once all this Naraku business is over - a promise he's bolstered with his lack of overt flirtatious behavior toward other women since he made it. So I think this is an interesting way for his nasty habits to catch up to him in the now, even though he's seemingly dedicated to building a life with Sango down the road. He's been so careless with his propositions to girls in the past, it's really no wonder that some of them might take that more seriously than he meant them to, especially someone in Shima's position, who is facing a marriage she REALLY doesn't want otherwise.
It's not clear yet why this "Nushi-sama" is so intent on marrying Shima despite her attempts to dissuade him, but it is seeming like a more serious situation than it first appears. A similar situation happened before, with Koharu experiencing an attempted assault and viewing the returned Miroku as a possible savior. It sadly highlights once again the fundamental issue young girls and women face not just in the time period depicted, but right here and now: "no" is not respected. Koharu needed to beat the shit out of her assailant to get him to stop, and he pursued her to seek revenge afterward, so Koharu was not going to escape unless rescued by another man. Shima is depending on another man saving her from a marriage with a creature she is not remotely interested in, not feeling free to refuse marriage in her own right. This is a common refrain throughout history to this day, female autonomy being denied over and over, and needing the authority of a man to make it legitimate.
Part of what made Miroku's past behavior so problematic is that he didn't take this fundamental fact seriously, just having fun, and not sparing a thought for what situation the girls he propositioned were enduring and whether THEY were viewing it in the same way. In a context where a good majority of the women he's flirting with are either WORKING or in precarious situations that require his commitment to escape, he's actively contributing to their anxiety around how to navigate their love and sex lives.
Isn't it remarkable that there's a whole class of modern society that believes women are BETTER OFF in this kind of dynamic???
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