Tangent aside, how in the world is someone who just fainted supposed to shoot an arrow at all, let alone successfully?
Anyway, Kagome finally reaches the end of the passage, where she's alarmed to find Miroku crumpled on the ground in front of the ledge overlooking the cave. She calls his name, she and Kirara bounding toward him, and he looks around at her in surprise. When she reaches him, he comments on how well she looks despite all this evil she's in the middle of, and she crouches next to him to inquire after his health, because... I mean, he looks as bad as I feel right now.
Kagome wonders where Inuyasha is, and all she has to do is look out into the cave beyond to notice that he's facing off against a giant ogre thing, Kikyou still passed out on the ledge just below the passage. It's the latter that Kagome displays some shock for, though she's looking fairly scratch-free after having just fallen on a bunch of rocks. The big ogre sidles next to Kikyou, laughing about how she's not human, as if he has any room to talk. Inuyasha makes a noise of disgust before the ogre lowers his massive hand to pick up Kikyou, threatening to add her body to the arsenal that is his flesh.
The ogre's detached arm goes flying at the ledge and bounces off the rock beneath it, startling Kagome and Miroku. Inuyasha leaps toward Kikyou, shouting her name, while the stump of the ogre's missing arm starts to look like its flesh is boiling. He seems to find this funny, laughing it up, even though the long flailing centipede body that pops out as a replacement limb doesn't look like it can feel GOOD to grow. What do I know, though? My whole world is pain right now.
The centipede-arm comes crashing in between Inuyasha and Kikyou, so Inuyasha is forced to leap backward to avoid the blow. Inuyasha has had it up to HERE with the ogre, screaming at the bastard so hard that I can almost hear his voice cracking. He lifts Tessaiga for another attack, but Miroku warns him once again against getting angry. If Inuyasha defeats the ogre, his cracking voice and uncontrollable hormones will be considered a pubescent BREEZE compared to the upcoming bodily changes.
Miroku didn't say that last part, by the way, it was all me. Regardless, Inuyasha yells at him to shut his face, sweating and everything. His eyes get wide at the sight of Kagome up on the ledge too, who looks down at him with a pained expression. He looks a little shifty when he mentally recites her name, but any further thoughts are cut short by that centipede-arm crashing into the ground in front of him again. After he's jumped out of the way of the blow, he decides that he has no choice, has to kill the damn thing, lunging toward the ogre once more.
Meanwhile, Kagome inquires about "kodoku" to Miroku, who gives yet another explanation about how Inuyasha and the ogre will fuse if Inuyasha continues to fight, win or lose. Kagome looks nervous, and then...
Kagome thinks that if she doesn't get Kikyou out of there, Inuyasha will just keep fighting to protect her. That might have been a valid supposition, if Inuyasha hadn't started fighting BEFORE Kikyou had even shown up. See what misconceptions the ignorance of a single crucial detail can lead to? Do you SEE?
As Inuyasha slashes at the ogre's chest with Tessaiga viciously, Kagome goes on to think that he could never just watch as a fainted Kikyou dies, a notion that seems to me to have a slightly bitter quality to it. Kagome manages to shuffle down to Kikyou's side, as she internally complains about how frustrating it is that Inuyasha won't just let his old flame die or something. Real nice, Kagome. Super.
Kagome calls out Kikyou's name to rouse her, and this works surprisingly well. Like, on the first try and everything. Kikyou opens her eyes, looking high as balls, but conscious at least. Kagome sounds surprised by her success so soon as well, asking if Kikyou can stand. Kikyou sits up at least, straining while Kagome assists, and they both look over at Inuyasha flying at the ogre and damning him to hell. Kikyou is glaring HARDCORE.
Another of the ogre's limbs, a tail-like appendage with short spikes on either side unfurls right into the wall above Kikyou and Kagome again, and Kagome has to push Kikyou out of its path to keep them both from being smashed like the rock. Inuyasha is again alarmed by Kagome's ever more involved presence in the cave, gaping at her and Kikyou. Kikyou calls Kagome a fool as she's helping her back onto hands and knees, which of course prompts a questioning noise from Kagome. Kikyou says that her appearance means that Inuyasha will lose her.
In reality, all Inuyasha seems to be losing is IT.
But wait! A projectile sails at Tessaiga and glances off the side, much to his and his opponent's surprise.
A massive up-draft whooshes past the passage where Miroku still half-lays, and he notices almost immediately that the concentration of evil is dissipating. The giant ogre haltingly says that the seal on the mountain has been broken. A rumble shakes the soup of youkai parts beneath Inuyasha's feet, which he receives with more gaping. Kagome does the same, looking up at the crumbled ceiling with fear. Kikyou seems to be the only one not freaking out, as she's sunk back down to one knee, looking ragged.
The youkai remains begin to be picked up by that up-draft, forming into a cyclone of body parts at the giant ogre is at the front of. It's not long before others get caught up in the storm.
So, what did I think of this chapter overall? There was something very inspired about how RT has used the information that Kagome DIDN'T have to guide her actions and feelings in this chapter. They seem very natural because, despite the audience being fully aware of the chain of events and how Inuyasha reacted to Kikyou only AFTER he was already embroiled in a fight, we still get the whole thing from her limited and late perspective. Because she didn't know what Inuyasha was going to do upon seeing Kikyou, Kagome had to assume he leapt into the battle pit to defend her, and her attitude is somewhat a reflection of this assumption.
In Kagome's mind, Kikyou was the cause of Inuyasha being in this fight in the first place, and therefore, it was frustrating that Inuyasha would risk his body's integrity to defend a clumsy fainting troublemaker who got herself into a mess. This is still a very bratty point of view, but it's not downright sociopathic like it would be if Kagome had known all the order of events. It's amazing what a difference being WRONG and not having all the information will do to influence a character's reaction to the world around them. I wish it were a bigger factor in more stories.
And sure, it meant that we had to get yet ANOTHER explanation of "kodoku" and a panel was wasted, but sometimes sacrifices must be made, I suppose.
As for Kikyou's sudden burst of strength there at the end, I'm going to admit that it's not SO far-fetched as I made it out to be in the recap. Kikyou's perspective was also skewed by what she saw as a reckless move on Kagome's part, putting herself at risk so that Inuyasha will lose her. This is probably what motivated Kikyou to get her ass up and break the "kodoku" spell, before even MORE people Inuyasha cared about and would lose in his attempt to save them by winning this hopeless battle showed up. She had to end it some other way.
Because it seems to me that she and Inuyasha weren't getting out of there without the spell being broken anyway. I mean, no offense Miroku, but I'm pretty sure that if that ogre couldn't muscle his way out of that hole in the ceiling before this point, something else was keeping him there.
I'll cut Miroku a little bit of slack here, though, because he's sick. Hell, I don't even know if I' making any sense right now myself. Far be it from me to demand clear thinking from a guy who was surrounded by evil for the better part of two-and-a-half chapters.
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