Kagome's friends Headband and Short Hair offer their assessments that she's got the high school entrance exams in the bag and their congratulations, while their classmates all clap and Kagome accepts the praise with a tear in her eye. She runs across a field in a full stadium waving a banner with her perfect math score on it, friends cheering, eyes still welling in joy. She thinks this isn't a dream, then questions this thought.
Turns out it IS a dream and Kagome is grinning like an idiot in her sleep with her math textbook laying across her chest as a nearby fire crackles. She sits up in her sleeping bag looking out over the slumbering Shippou at the foot of her bag, Miroku leaning on the side of a roofed rest area, and Inuyasha snoozing on his side by the fire outside. She's disappointed by the realization of her suspicion that it wasn't real after all. Dreams a super jerks like that.
Later, Inuyasha is cross-eyed with rage as he shouts at Kagome for suggesting she go back to her time again. He says he thought they were past that nonsense, and Kagome responds with irritation that she has a really important mock exam coming up. She prays that he gives her the three days to prepare she's asking for while Miroku wades around in the stream next to them (fishing no doubt), asking her what could be worth so much trouble. Shippou is in agreement, telling Kagome that she would enjoy herself so much more if she just stayed there forever.
Inuyasha yells a question about her liking her "exams" so much, but she yells back that she hates them, and it's looking like they still haven't discussed exactly how important these are for her success yet. Either that, or Inuyasha is refusing to accommodate the information in his brain because he just wants to piss and moan about something to make Kagome feel bad for leaving. Either one could be possible, honestly.
Shippou's attention is caught by something floating toward the rock he's perched on in the middle of the stream.
Kagome asks him what it is, and he answers that there are no cut-marks. He sets it on the ground and on further examination, it definitely looks like the head never even HAD a body attached to it, skin smooth and unbroken where the neck-wound would normally be. Miroku wonders aloud if these heads can truly be human.
All of them sit around the head in conference, Kagome suggesting it could be some kind of model. Miroku finds that hard to believe, and Inuyasha confirms that this can't be the case, because they definitely have a human scent. So, they all just stare for a few more moments, until Kagome claps decisively and tells them all they have to investigate. While she gets up and starts gathering her things, Inuyasha asks her about that mock exam she was begging to go home for earlier, but she says she won't be able to study with this mystery hanging over her head.
Heheh. I know some don't like the official translation, but there are so many great puns in it.
Miroku stands too, saying they should go as long as Kagome is still with them. They walk quickly, side-by-side, Kagome asking Miroku if it's the work of a demon, and Miroku answering that this hypothetical demon may be using a Shikon fragment. Why ELSE do you think he wanted to confront it while you're still around, Kagome? You've already turned down his other interest in you.
Inuyasha snaps that they're forgetting HIM, because he's hanging back. Kagome tells him to stop dragging his feet then, and Miroku says they should finish this job quickly.
Although one man seems to be making his way down the mountain pretty well even on his bare feet. He's booking it too, huffing and puffing and complaining that he was tricked. Whatever ancient master he expected, it wasn't the THING he met, and he's planning on getting the hell out of this ungodly hole. All out loud, by the way, with the last part cut off when he sees a figure emerging out of the mist ahead of him.
Its a large man with weirdly... defined eyes for a manga character and a walking stick. He asks where Mr. Narrator is going after he was accepted as a disciple of the large man. When Mr. Narrator doesn't answer, the large man reminds him of his and his fellows being tired of starving from famine, conscription into war, and dying like bugs. The large man's flat mouth lifts into a grin and you can see pointed teeth gnashing within as he continues to reminisce about Mr. Narrator's disenchantment with the world, so he was offered training in the ways of the hermits.
Mr. Narrator cringes and takes a step backward at the large man's approach, promising not to tell anyone what he's seen here, but that's not a promise he'll get the chance to keep.
Meanwhile, Miroku is leading the protagonist party along the stream further, Kagome commenting on the heavy fog. Miroku says they've climbed quite a ways up the mountain by this point, but the ground still appears pretty level, so...
Ahead, there are voices pleading and asking to be heard. Shippou makes a noise of alarm while Kagome confirms that she hears the voices too. She realizes that they're coming from a twisted tree planted on the rocky bank of the stream, which doesn't seem possible, but okay.
Miroku, ever the ambassador, strides forward to hear their tales, and stands beneath them asking for clarification on who these people are and what happened to them. A gray-haired man's head says they were all devoured by the old man of the mountain, confusing Inuyasha with the term "old man". Kagome is also somewhat surprised that it's not a youkai.
The man's head tells them that he and the others were all people who tired of the world, who left their homes in search of the rumored paradise on earth that the mountain was supposed to be, and the ancient master that tended that paradise. But they were only food for the "Peach Man" hermit. Inuyasha scoffs and calls them fools for being taken in by a story like that. Kagome indignantly yells at him, and Miroku wacks him on the back of the head, asking flatly if Inuyasha doesn't think they've suffered enough. Kagome begs the man's head for forgiveness and he gives it easily, then she asks if there's anything they can do for him.
He says it's too late for them already devoured, but there's still some on the mountain who haven't been eaten, and they might be up for salvation. Suddenly, something clatters above the group and they look up the cliff next to the tree, noting that something's dropping from above. Bones clatter to the ground and Kagome cowers behind Inuyasha, screaming as though they're going to get her or something. Come on, Kagome, you should be getting used to this morbid crap by now. Shippou stutters that these are human bones, and Miroku says they're still fresh.
The roots of the tree snake like tendrils around the bones, and one of the branches rapidly sprouts a head; Mr. Narrator's, to be exact. Kagome notes the new growth with a disturbed expression, and the man's head tells her it's the owner of the bones. The head is now an enchanted fruit, the heart of the Peach Man's elixir of youth and longevity. Inuyasha gives a snort of disgust.
Heart pounding, Kagome repeats Shippou's phrasing and realizes he means the new moon, the night Inuyasha's powers disappear, becoming human. Well, you guys DID say you wanted to handle this shit quickly, and nobody's quicker than Inuyasha when he's avoiding being caught with his human pants down.
Back up in the cliff house, the Peach Man chomps down on his namesake, sighing in relief. He tells his attendants fanning and serving him that he has to have a bite of fruit every once in a while to ward off indigestion. These attendants don't say anything in return, possibly because they're various forms of weasel dressed up in clothes. It's weird and unexplained, so just go with it.
So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I'm a fan of this arc because the horror aspects come back in full force, and this chapter is a strong beginning to that. The very concept of finding a human head without any sign of being severed from a neck is just so flesh-crawlingly creepy, and coming to find that the heads grow as fruits on a tree leaves a lingering chill. I'm curious as to how RT came up with such an idea, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's some kind of cultural reference I'm missing to it.
After all, there's something to be said for the fact that the Peach MAN isn't far off in name from the Peach BOY, though I don't think this villain and that hero share much in common beyond that. It might just be that the heads resemble peaches when the grow on his tree, but there could be some subversion there as well. I'm not terribly familiar with the Peach Boy, so I'm only speculating here.
Other than that, there were a few things that bugged me about the chapter. The man speaking as he was trying to flee the mountain was one. Granted, I will mumble to myself sometimes about things that are bothering me, but that doesn't ever sound like the out-and-out exposition he was laying down there. It's almost as if he had an audience that he wanted to tell all his motivations to like a terrible actor...
Shippou answering his own questions was another that just bugs me. I get the feeling that in the planning stages of the chapter, RT wanted Miroku to say that it was the new moon, but realized somewhat late that he was unaware of Inuyasha's transformations and it would look cheap if he said it, so the line was given to Shippou instead. It still looks super hokey as a hasty fix, though, so I'm a little peeved by it.
And finally, those animals serving the Peach Man are really throwing me off. Forget what I said about going with it, because it's just too strange. They appear to be sentient, possibly youkai, but who KNOWS how they came to serve this dude or why... Don't get me wrong, I'm GLAD it's unexplained, because there would be no room for an explanation in the story, but I think I'd prefer them not being there instead. Either give him terrified human slaves or nothing at all.
But that's just like, my opinion, man.
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