Inuyasha continues to wonder about Kikyou's hate for him and if she can't find peace without exchanging his life for it. Well, maybe if you would explain to her properly that you experienced something similar with a doppelganger of hers, she would lay off a bit. As it stands, she has Kagome tied to the tree she was laying in earlier with the soul-collecting bug things, watching Kagome as she frets that she's unable to move. Why restrain her when she's not mobile? I'm sure Kikyou has her reasons.
Kikyou tells Kagome that even if she screams, she won't be heard, and will be completely invisible to Inuyasha. Kikyou is absolutely determined not to let Kagome interfere. Kagome asks frantically if Kikyou intends to kill Inuyasha and if Kikyou really hates him that much. I guess Kagome's MOUTH can move just fine, which seems to be an established pattern with her now. Kikyou says that Inuyasha wants her to die too, but Kagome shouts that this isn't true.
Inuyasha looks pretty close to crying himself, saying aloud his heartbreaking discovery that Kikyou was indeed the one stealing young girls' souls. As her soul-collectors swirl around her carrying those souls, Kikyou speechlessly holds a fist to her chest defensively, glare back in place. Inuyasha asks her why she would do this, and Kikyou explains that her imitation body made of her bones and dirt doesn't move well unless it's filled with souls. Interesting to me, but to Inuyasha it appears to be unspeakable. At least, he's not speaking as he stares at Kikyou.
Kikyou smirks, though there's a sad quality to the expression as she asks Inuyasha if he finds her repulsive for her driving hatred for him and her donning of the souls of the dead. Kagome thinks Kikyou's name in a pitying way from her position against the tree. Inuyasha, on the other hand, intensifies his glare while he leans back in indignation. He calls Kikyou a damn fool, and says though she may hate him...
Kagome's heart hammers with what she sees as confirmation that Inuyasha has been in love with Kikyou this whole time. She thinks back on when Inuyasha told her he wanted her by his side and wonders what the hell all THAT was about then, a bit peeved now. She adopts an indignant look while Inuyasha tells Kikyou that no matter what she looks like, he doesn't think he could ever hate or be repulsed by her. Kikyou stares at Inuyasha in shock.
She hangs her head demurely, hesitantly asking Inuyasha if he really means that. Inuyasha says her name as a question, and in response Kikyou takes another step toward him to lift her hand to his face. He looks alarmed, prompting Kikyou to ask if he doesn't find it dreadful that she could kill him right then and there with that very hand. He's speechless, sweat on his forehead and wearing a conflicted look. Kagome tries to shout at him to look out, trailing off in her warning for him to get away from Kikyou.
Kagome looks ill as she stares in disbelief at the lip-lock in front of her. When Kikyou and he separate, Inuyasha's eyes are still wide and he utters a noise of surprise. Which is understandable, because it's got to be really weird to have someone who just claimed to hate you turn around and make out with you moments later. Kikyou embraces him, saying she wanted to do this intimate stuff with him when she was alive. Inuyasha says her name, returning the hug, and Kagome continues to stare with at hurt face as she tries to eke out what she's seeing in her head. She wonders if they're in love with each other after all, and what she's doing here shortly after she's closed her gaping mouth. She feels like an idiot, and has already begun to cry.
Inuyasha can't seem to say anything other than Kikyou's name at this point, most of his thoughts remaining internal. He knows the scent he's smelling is Kikyou's but there's also the scent of death from the grave dirt she's crafted out of. He finally speaks up, asking Kikyou what he should do. Kikyou tells him it's too late for them to return to where they were, so she would like to stay like they are now just a while longer.
Kagome looks off to the side with embarrassment, because she can't keep looking at the lovebirds. However, a strange hissing sound and an even stranger aura lures her gaze back. Around Kikyou and Inuyasha, Kagome sees the soul-collectors swirling while crackling, whooshing sounds surround them.
So, what did I think of this chapter overall? This was one of the most beautiful chapters so far when it comes to the characters and their expressions. Every minute detail was so defined in not just the characters' faces, but their body language. The way Inuyasha clutched at his chest when he mentions that he had thought of her every day stood out particularly to me as just so evocative, driving that emotion home.
Which was really necessary for a chapter like this, because of the amount of emotional content presented in a whole host of ways. Kikyou's reaction to Kagome's claim that Inuyasha is still in love with her is a cold glare, which at first seems a bit odd until you recall that Kikyou's previous experience with Inuyasha was with him telling her to return to Kagome. The experience with "Inuyasha" before THAT was the one in which she died. There's reason for Kikyou to think that Inuyasha wants her dead.
So why did she get all tender toward him, then? Well, this was Kikyou's ego speaking. I mentioned in the last chapter that Kikyou is likely to be feeling the distinct sensation of being replaced by Kagome, and when Kagome tells her that Inuyasha is still in love with her, this feeling is lessened. If her "replacement" is saying this, there might be some truth to it. That's why Kikyou put on her puppy-dog eyes when Inuyasha sees her and tried to appear as vulnerable as possible, sneakily pushing him to admit that he still has feelings for her. It was emotionally gratifying as well as an in to force him to die with her. After all, her hatred of him has a base in the love they once shared and the betrayal she felt over it, and it's this same feeling that drives her ideas that both of them should die together now, since they didn't back then.
It's interesting that she brings up them not being able to go back to how they were when Inuyasha asks what he should do, considering she's grasping so desperately at righting what she sees as an injustice that he's alive while she can't move on. It appears that she's well aware by this moment that she, specifically, is incapable of picking up where she left off, meaning she has nothing to gain personally from manipulating Inuyasha's residual feelings for her except to create the illusion of the proper context for their demise. According to her, at least.
It's also interesting that Inuyasha asked what he should do to begin with. He knows this isn't the Kikyou he once loved, if not from her scent of graveyard soil alone. It was after smelling this and realizing this Kikyou was trapped in an imitation body not her own that he asks the question, which gives me the impression that he's specifically asking what part he should play in helping her to be at peace again.
And she answers in turn, although in a very sneaky way.
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