Yes, getting into Kagome's head on this matter will be all too enlightening.
Kouga pushes himself up off Kagome's lap, trembling with the effort, though he insists that his wounds aren't a big deal. He staggers toward Inuyasha as he holds his shredded arm, calling Inuyasha a wimp before he lunges for him with his one good fist drawn back. He claims that a good left hook would destroy Inuyasha. Inuyasha readies his fist too, because he's fully prepared to call Kouga's bluff, but the bullshit doesn't last long enough for them to meet. Kouga collapses, chin in the dirt, from dizziness. Kagome gapes at his fall, half-leaning forward as Kouga's tail flutters down with the rest of him.
Kouga's youkai wolves stare in much the same manner, Two-Tone calling Kouga's name in concern, and Mohawk despairing that it's no use in his condition. He's completely unable to fight, which means Inuyasha's continued advance forward with claws extended, telling Kouga to prepare to die, is going to be certain.
So Kagome tells him to sit.
Inuyasha-loves-the-ground jokes aside, I've noticed him making that gesture with his hands all throughout this manga, presented as a sort of reflexive thing? It doesn't seem like something your fingers should do when colliding with something naturally, so I wonder if this is some sort of bit. A cultural joke I'm not savvy to? *shrug*
Anyway, Kagome turns to Mohawk and Two-Tone, urging them to get away from there in a hurry. They seem a bit taken aback by this taking a moment to gape at Kagome, but agree nonetheless. Both of them kneel beside Kouga and pull him to his feet, barking at him to scram with them. A whole crowd of wolf youkai carry Kouga off like he's crowd-surfing into the distance. Inuyasha yells after the bastards to wait, like they would be so inclined.
Well, one of them was, anyway. Kouga demands to be let go, so he can waste the dog-turd, but Two-Tone snaps at him not to try anything like that now. He reminds Kouga that Inuyasha isn't a NORMAL opponent, because one swing of Tessaiga felled the Gokurakuchou boss when their pack had trouble with just the normal ones. One slash and the boss was torn apart.
Kouga can't argue with this, and just curses, sweating. He silently warns Inuyasha not to think this will end here, and it sounds a little like a warning to the audience as well. A big sign that says, "LOOK OUT: IDIOCY AHEAD."
Inuyasha fumes about her assessment at first, then sits up and gets right in her face. He asks if she wasn't at all frightened after being KIDNAPPED, a fair question. Again, she stammers, rationalizing that they protected her in general, and how they weren't completely violent or anything. Okay, Patty Hearst. Whatever you say.
Sango observes that Kagome appears to have become rather sympathetic to her kidnappers in such a short time, and Miroku assumes it would be hard to hate someone who makes grand declarations of love toward one. Inuyasha crouches in the foreground, looking surly, before he stands and scoffs. Kagome looks up at him and says his name in entreaty, asking him to wait a moment as he turns his back, but he tells her to shut it.
Miroku approaches Kagome, apologizing for bothering her when she's all BUSY and everything, but reminds her that there's work to do. She looks confused before the chopped corpse of the Gokurakuchou is shown and Kagome picks a Shikon shard from somewhere in the carnage. She and Miroku sit and take inventory, because the Gokurakuchou had one shard, and then took one from Kouga's arm as well. Sango suggests that he and his wolf buddies will come to take it back, and Miroku agrees without hesitation.
Kagome voices a concern that Inuyasha and Kouga will try to kill each other when they meet again, to which Miroku and Sango respond with a "DUH" while looking at her like she's the dumbest human being on the planet. She sweat-drops, a little unnerved by their quick, blunt answers. I guess she's expecting a little support for her delusions of civility? I don't know. Anyway, Sango tells Kagome that she should go and cheer Inuyasha up. When Kagome gives her a questioning look, Sango informs her that Inuyasha was really worried about her. Miroku says with a deadpan expression that he kinda feels sorry for the guy. Kagome turns to look at where Inuyasha is sitting, wordless but with concern.
Kagome sits next to him and he eyes her with irritation, but then looks the other way when she begins to speak. She puts on a sweet smile, thanking him for saving her and apologizing for making him worry. Like the little snot he is, he scoffs and theorizes that maybe it would have been better if he hadn't come to save her after all. Understandably, Kagome makes a confused noise, so Inuyasha elaborates that she was taken in by Kouga's sweet talk and was persuaded to beg for his life because of it. Kagome stares at him blankly, seemingly clueless about what "sweet talk" could mean, until she brings up herself the fact that Kouga said he loved her, and asks dumbly if THIS is what Inuyasha was worried about.
Inuyasha twitches and struggles to speak for a moment, and then shoots to his feet, asking Kagome what she could possibly mean by that question, and yelling that of COURSE he totally wasn't worried about it. Kagome sees right through this and knows he actually was, yet in the next panel she wonders if he could be jealous. I don''t know, can you think of any other reason that he might care so much about a potential rival and then deny it vehemently? Don't act humble now, Kagome, it just looks like stupidity at the moment.
Standing there fuming, Inuyasha continues to glare at her, so Kagome attempts to sooth him by saying she doesn't have the same feelings for Kouga. Inuyasha snaps that no one asked her about that, then sits down in a huff and demands the conversation stops there because he's fed up, despite Kagome starting to protest to his overly defensive bullshit. They sit in uncomfortable silence for a moment, Inuyasha haughty and cross-armed, Kagome looking a bit harried and tired. Only for a moment though. Inuyasha says a plain "hey" to get her attention again, and when she asks what's up, he looks her dead in the face and questions what really happened with Kouga.
Oh boy.
Inuyasha's sweating shock at Kagome's outburst is overrun by a new wave of anger as he demands to know why she has to get so angry with him, and calls her an idiot for good measure. She accuses him of jumping to perverted conclusions as her explanation, screaming right back in his face. He yells at her to shut up again, and says he doesn't want to look at her anymore.
And just like that, Kagome's expression springs back to a mild one with raised eyebrows. After a pause, she utters a resigned phrase, then closes her eyes, brows back down again, and calls to Sango behind her. When Sango answers, Kagome asks to borrow Kirara. Sango asks where she's headed as she lays a leading hand on Kirara's back. Inuyasha scoffs and says that Kagome must want to pay Kouga a little visit.
Shot of Tokyo. Kagome is laying sprawled on her bed and lets out a frustrated exclamation. She wonders what's up with dumb old Inuyasha, and promises to not go back until he comes to get her. But, recalling how he said he didn't want to look at her, she rolls over and presses her face into the pillow worrying that perhaps he won't be getting her after all. The cat leans her chin on Kagome's back, no doubt thinking they're just lazing about.
Back beyond the well, Kaede is confused as to why it's NEWS that Kagome and Inuyasha are fighting, asking if that isn't normal by now. The answer is yes, yes it is. However, because Shippou is young and even the most mundane bullshit is novel to him, he pouts that this fight wasn't like their normal ones.
So, what did I think of this chapter overall? There's not much to analyze here, which should surprise no one, of course. This is just what it says on the tin, honestly. Girl does something that boy thinks is suspiciously kind to a guy he doesn't like, boy starts jumping to asshole conclusions while girl tries to explain her reasoning, boy refuses to accept this as the truth, girl gets angry, rinse repeat. I've already touched upon how this is just a reversal on the Inuyasha/Kikyou/Kagome issue before as well. In a way, Kaede is right; this is about as normal as it gets.
But, Shippou isn't exactly wrong here either. The shoe is on the other foot with this one, and Inuyasha reacts a lot differently to a perceived romantic threat than Kagome. While she might get mad and surly with Inuyasha, she tries to suppress that urge to scream and yell, regardless of how successful she is in the end. Inuyasha jumps straight to the confrontation, a lot eager to pick a fight. He doesn't even have the rudimentary inclination to stew in his anger rather than force it on everyone else. Once again, his social ineptitude combined with stubbornness is a big part of why this fight is so much different.
Another part is that Kagome has come to empathize with a guy who was openly hostile to them right off the bat, all the villagers he and his murdered notwithstanding. Kouga insulted him and kidnapped Kagome, and letting him escape after all that seems like she's validating Kouga's behavior. Condoning it even. It would be hard for him to separate the kind part of Kagome who is trying to avoid an injured guy from being slaughtered in cold blood (by her almost/kind of boyfriend who should not be so cold as that to boot) and the insecure part of him that can't be sure she's not just identifying with Kouga's hatred for him.
Not to mention, Kagome's explanation just... wasn't all that convincing. Perhaps Miroku's somewhat right as well. Maybe she's been swayed at least a LITTLE by flattery. Stranger things have happened.
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