Inuyasha Manga: 027 The Broken Half

If that broken body that named a chapter before hadn't already been discarded, I would call that an improvement. Unfortunately, it looks like something else has been broken, but only half of it. That doesn't make it better though! Broken is broken, no matter which half is shattered! Someone should stop this asshole mask from breaking shit! It's always so careless with bodies and glass and halves...

I love how Inuyasha groans like he's just disgusted rather than hurt.

"Ugh, this blitch is so gross, hugging my arm with its nasty teeth..."

Kagome shouts at Inuyasha that attacking the mask's body won't do any good, since the Shikon fragment is in the mask itself. But it's such a small target, and you know how bad his aim is, Kagome... A chuckle escapes the mask and its many hands pop as wood grain spreads over them like veins and the nails elongate into claws. These claws dig into Inuyasha's other arm, the mask chucking that Inuyasha can't get away now.

Inuyasha groans again, this time making it clear that he's just grossed out by the creepy mask wanting to hold his hand. He yanks back his arm and rips off one of the grasping arms of the mask's body. Souta cheers, impressed that Inuyasha doesn't seem to be hurt at all. Kagome just stares in gaping awe.

Inuyasha pushes the blitch backward, feet skidding across the floor.

Hand still piercing the top of the crane, Inuyasha scoffs, asking the mask if it isn't too fucking bad that it got split in half again. Half of the mask curses Inuyasha and flies toward him, but he pulls his hand out of the crane and catches it in his fist, crumbling it with gritted teeth. Oh, so THAT'S the broken half they were talking about. Souta cheers some more, stoked that Inuyasha broke the breaker.

Kagome, always the party-pooper, leans over the side of the floor to inform Inuyasha that it's not over yet, because the half with the Shikon fragment is still on the loose. As she's saying this, Souta looks behind them and sees the unbroken half of the mask floating there and his eyes bug. The half-mask flies toward Kagome and she starts to scream. Inuyasha is still perched on the crane a ways away, wondering what's happening over there.

Souta jumps up and backs away from his sister battling the attempts of the mask to place itself on her head, a palm between it and her face fending it off. The mask declares victory, intending to take Kagome's body. Inuyasha growls at the scene in the building while Kagome stutters out his name pleadingly. He leaps back inside, shouting that he's coming, but Kagome collapses to her knees and the mask tells him that he's too late. Not to late for Kagome to keep fighting, though, still trying to push the mask away with sweat pouring down her face.

Inuyasha draws Tessaiga and directs Kagome to let go of the mask. She looks flabbergasted at first, but does what he says.

But your shitty aim...!

Whoo... Dodged TWO bullets there, girl. You're lucky as fuck.

Inuyasha asks Kagome if she's alright, and Kagome stutters an affirmative. He sheathes his sword and says that's good while he turns around, making Kagome think he's being a little nice now as she stares at him in bewilderment. In reality, he's smirking while his back is turned, thinking that she REALLY owes him now, and he won't be letting her have her way any time soon. He strokes his chin, plotting denying her all these "goodies" he thinks she doesn't deserve.

Kagome is contemplating the Shikon fragment and the mask that said it had survived for centuries. She realizes this means that there could be other fragments that made it all the way to her time as well. Except there won't be, because RT realized how she created an extra piece of the jewel with this little stunt and never did it again.

Spoiler alert. Sorry.

Kagome looks up to see the sun rising.

And no studying done at all, either! Turns out a rogue youkai was WAY more distracting than Inuyasha!

Kagome starts to run off, shooting a goodbye at Inuyasha and telling him to go back to the past without her. He's silent at her retreat, nonplussed. So much for not letting her have her way, huh? Inuyasha stares at where Kagome disappears with wide eyes, and Souta sidles up to him to tell him how rad he was back there. Inuyasha now looks annoyed as he asks if that's so.

Is that a soccer ball flying toward one of the windows of the school there? More distractions....

After Kagome's done with her test, she pulls on her backpack while she's running back home, sure that Inuyasha will be pissed again if she doesn't get in that well soon. But, thinking back on after he defeated the mask, sword propped on his shoulder and looking smug, Kagome admits he did appear a little cool.

Short-Hair-Girl sees her running past and tells her to do her best, and Headband girl jokes that Kagome is making her boyfriend wait. Kagome turns to shout at her that he's not a boyfriend, and they were thrown together by a cruel twist of fate, not noting the confused looks she's receiving. She starts running again, Short-Hair-Girl wondering if this isn't the day that Headband-Girl identifies as Kagome's first date with Houjou.

Here's a tip, Houjou: don't get a girl you like gifts revolving around her failing health, okay? It's weird at best, insulting at worst.

Back at the shrine, Kagome has amassed a ton of shit in her overfilled backpack and says that she's off. Souta trots along behind her, wondering aloud if she didn't pack too much, but she says that being prepared is difficult for girls as she huffs it toward the well. All of a sudden, her backpack becomes too top-heavy for her to handle and she falls backwards.

Maybe he thought he could be the one riding on YOUR back for a change, Kagome? Nah, he just wanted to take the backpack and sling it over his shoulder instead, telling her it's time to go. Souta thinks it's awfully nice of Inuyasha to carry Kagome's stuff for her, but Kagome isn't so impressed with that as annoyed. She IS a little flattered that he waited for her, though, and smiles at him as he walks to the well.

Meanwhile, Houjou is still standing in front of the theater, sighing and wondering whether Kagome has gotten sick again. No, you're just forgettable and boring, Houjou. Sorry.

So, what did I think about this chapter overall? I'm not sure why it was called "The Broken Half"? It was a reference to the less-important half of the mask, so I don't know why it was the one referenced in the title. The chapter should have been named after the half that remained - the one that nearly devoured Kagome's face in a feinting move that left Inuyasha dealing with the part it could do without while it went after the person with the jewel fragments. That was actually a pretty superb plan, and if Kagome hadn't trusted Inuyasha to do away with the half assaulting her, it might have worked.

But Kagome DID trust Inuyasha to cut the mask cleanly and without nicking her head in the process, which is quite remarkable. Not just because his aim is absolute shit most of the time, but also because she could have ended up possessed and dead if he failed. Those are high stakes, but she managed to trust Inuyasha to be careful, which really shows how reliable she perceives him to be in reality. She may complain about him a lot, but he hasn't so far let her down in their various deadly adventures, and she has come to depend on him.

Not to mention, she's starting to think about Inuyasha as much as she thinks about school. She mistook her friends' teasing about her boyfriend to be referencing Inuyasha, despite the fact that they don't even know he exists. If that's not an indication that she's starting to really get into the guy herself, I don't know what is.