If anyone wants to do a statistical analysis of what letters the names in Inuyasha start with, then... well, congratulations on putting more effort into this question than I ever wanted to.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get the fuck on with this shitty fucking recap of this fucking manga.
Fuck.
A guy is sitting on the horse's back, bandaged with his arm in a sling. Whichever bitch they're searching for better watch out, because this guy tells the search party to break her limbs when they find her. One of them stutters out an affirmative, seeming not to be really down with that kind of brutality.
Crouching in some tall grass in the water next to the bank, a girl peers at the river next to her. She's shivering, clutching herself and wondering what it is she's going to do with tears in her eyes. Well, hopefully NOT get caught by a freak who wants to break all your limbs. Unfortunately, it might already be too late. A couple members of the search party appear to have spotted something in the mist, a figure kneeling by the water to dip a container into it. They all identify her as Koharu and charge at her, the front man swinging a big pole at her. She flinches back out of its way, of course, and whacks her would-be assaulter over the head with her bamboo container. He's more dazed than hurt, looking up at the woman he attacked in confusion.
Because the girl who is still crouching in the tall grass isn't the one whose standing over him now. In fact, the girl in the grass is looking out at the commotion she can doubtlessly only hear with some confusion. The rest of the front man's search party has caught up to him now, including the man on the horse, who demands to know who this new bitch is.
The guy she hit with her bamboo container stutters that this woman isn't Koharu, but the guy on the horse doesn't respond. He's staring at Sango with wide eyes when he comments on her beauty and commands what once was a search party to be a kidnapping party instead, and take her back with them. I almost feel sorry for these doofuses surrounding Sango with their impotent sticks raised, because the guy on the horse isn't going to be the only one all bandaged when she's through with them. But the girl in the tall grass starts to stand, because she doesn't know Sango's badassery, and is willing to reveal herself if she can at all help the stranger not be kidnapped.
She's not as fast as Inuyasha, who leaps out of nowhere to punch the teeth out of Sango's attackers. Literally, a tooth flies out of one dude's swollen face. As the guy on the horse stares in shock, Inuyasha correctly pegs him as the leader and sinks a fist into his face too. When Inuyasha is finished beating their heads in, the whole group splashes away, the horse galloping off ahead of them in the opposite direction while the minions apologize for the case of mistaken identity and assure their gross lord that he'll be okay.
The girl from the grass steps up to Sango with a meek greeting and Sango assumes she must be the one those men were really after. She tells the girl not to worry about them now, as Kagome and Miroku descend the hill behind her, asking what the hullabaloo is about. Miroku's appearance is of particular interest to Koharu, whose heart skips a beat at the sight of him.
She seems to recognize that he's having a little trouble placing her, so Koharu tells Miroku her name, and he takes just another moment before smiling and recalling "that one time". He returns her embrace as she gushes about how it's been three whole years, and Miroku says she looks really different. Sango looks on, speechless, while Inuyasha wonders if they're friends. Kagome whispers to him that it seems like a more intimate relationship than that.
In the following panels, Koharu describes how she lost her parents and siblings to war, and was found by Aburachouja, who made her work hard labor from morning to night. In the flashback, her slightly younger self leans on the tops of small barrels, crying. She recalls being hungry and tired, and the crying was a daily practice. But then Miroku, looking strangely the same as he does now, offers her some food. He'd been called to the village for an exorcism, but he was the only person who was nice to her. In her flashback, he asks how old she is, and she answers that she's eleven.
Aaaaaand, we all know where THIS is going.
Just in case he doesn't though, Kagome and Sango scurry back for the latter to call him a beast, and the former to berate him for even saying such things to children. YOU'RE ALL CHILDREN. All you little fucking bastards... Anyway, both girls fall over in comic shock when Koharu clasps her hand and tells them how happy she was to be asked such a question. Miroku also has a little bit of a sickly reaction to her statement, even before Kagome sits back up and looms over him, demanding he take responsibility for his actions. Actually, when she does that, he looks a little confused and somewhat cautiously says that he hasn't laid a finger on Koharu yet. Sango asks angrily if he's sure about that, and Miroku echoes their protests that Koharu IS a child, after all.
Then way make the proposition in the first place? What, are you just staking your claim before anyone else beats you to her? Man, you are gross.
Koharu says that Miroku soon left the village, but promised he was come back to take her away. However, she's had a recent bit of trouble with her kidnapper's son, who's been leering at her around corners for a little while now while she's been working. The young Aburachouja aimed to force himself on her the night before, and a sympathetic Kagome asked if that was when Koharu ran away. Koharu answers that she took the chance to run after beating him unconscious with a piece of firewood, explaining the bandages. Good girl. Kagome accepts the story with a little bit of a nervous grin. Hey, whatever gets her away from a rapist.
Koharu presses herself against Miroku again and begs for him to take her with him. He says her name, but trails, looking like he's thinking of some way to let her down gently. She argues that she's got nowhere to go, and besides...
Later, Inuyasha, Miroku and Sango are sitting on the steps up to some building or other. Inuyasha informs Miroku that under no uncertain terms is he to understand that they can't bring the girl with them. Miroku agrees, while Sango eyes him from her periphery. After a pause, she spits that they can't just abandon the girl either. Miroku also stands by this assessment, stating they'll have to keep her close until they find a place for her to live. This, of course, makes Sango all the more sour, and she snarks that of COURSE they have to shelter and protect the one he asked to bear his child, even if it was a joke. Miroku tells her it's something he always says when he meets a new girl, and Sango OF COURSE has to match this with a slightly delayed comment that he hasn't said it to HER at all.
So, after a moment the two staring at one another blankly, Miroku grabs her hands and apologizes for his negligence, Sango shouting in his face that he doesn't have to say it at all despite this being exactly what she wanted, obvi. Inuyasha is in the background, eyes just about rolling out of his head having to witness this garbage. Don't get too smug there, kiddo. I seem to recall you and Kagome saying and doing some pretty stupid shit in the awkwardness of your relationship. Whole chapters have been dedicated to them, of which I have complained extensively.
Elsewhere, Kagome is hanging with Koharu, confirming that Miroku is her first love. They squat on the bank of a stream while Koharu affirms this, telling Kagome that she thought of Miroku every single day. She daydreamed about someday meeting him again, the thought sustaining her through every possible hardship. As she examines her reflection in the river, she says she's happy enough that she wouldn't mind if she died. I mean, part of dying is not really minding ANYTHING anymore, so that's of course a given.
In a nearby copse of trees, the child decked out all in white with the mirror we saw at the end of the previous chapter is lounging on a tree branch. She has the aforementioned mirror propped in front of her, but it doesn't display her reflection - it shows Koharu's in the river.
In a village, someone is determining that Koharu is indeed quite the unfortunate girl. It's an old man that Miroku is speaking to, asking if he can charge her to his care. The old man smiles kindly and agrees, but elsewhere, Koharu is trying to persuade Miroku's companions that she'll definitely not get in their way, begging them to let her stay with them. Inuyasha is obstinate that no means no, arms and legs crossed in a double blocked pose. Kagome is more gentle, trying to explain that Koharu would be in danger with them, even as Inuyasha bluntly commands her to give up this pleading and stay where she's at.
At that moment, Miroku descends the hill toward Koharu, announcing that he's reached an agreement with the old guy. Koharu hunches, dejected by the reality that this is happening JUST when she's been reunited with Miroku. Later, they sit together, Koharu looking awfully tiny resting against Miroku's chest as he sits with his arms draped around her and a leg on each side. In spite of the intimate pose that Koharu's expression reads as FAR too innocent for, Miroku is trying to explain to Koharu why she can't come with him. He says he wouldn't know how to protect her in battle, the youkai after him being awfully difficult to deal with. He claims, all the same, that it will be painful for him to be separated from her, resting his cheek on the top of her head.
The rest of the group is examining this scene from a distance, Inuyasha, Kagome and Shippou all leaning toward it in curiosity. Sango is the only one who has her back turned, glaring in Miroku and Koharu's direction through her periphery. Inuyasha wonders out loud if this act of Miorku's is supposed to persuade Koharu to stay, and Kagome admits it seems more like a seduction. Sango bitterly comments that clinging to Koharu like that will just leave a lingering affection, only to find Inuyasha has redirected his curious stare at her. She asks him what he's looking at, and he in turn asks if he's been imagining that she's been a tad on edge lately, wide eyes innocent. This doesn't stop Sango's assurance that it's just his imagination from being somewhat... threatening.
In the evening, the old man, Sonchou-sama, apparently, is thanked for his sheltering of Koharu, and is implored to take good care of her. Sonchou asks if they're leaving already, inviting them to at least stay the night. Miroku declines, stating the longer their stay, the greater Koharu's pain will be. Didn't seem to care much about that when you were cuddling her before, huh? The rest of the party observes this exchange silently, Sango sullen in her speechless state, and Kagome noting sadly that Koharu isn't coming to see them off.
No, she's crouched in a room somewhere crying. She looks up suddenly, though, as if sensing Miroku's impending departure, suddenly regretting her isolation from him. Eyes still welled with tears, Koharu calls his name, bolting out the door. In the black of night, though, she is met with the white form of the girl with the mirror.
So, what did I think of this chapter overall? It was a refreshingly fair and accurate representation of a situation that I see a lot of stories TRY to portray and FAIL at, all the time. A lot of narratives taking place in historical settings treat child brides and grooming as a sort of set dressing, like their players are engaging in a simple tradition rather than a complicated socioeconomic push that has a lot of layers. RT seems to have come close to giving us a true emotional representation here, though, even at the expense of a main character's innocuousness.
Because let's face it, Miroku did not come out of this chapter looking good. Not even okay. He's a giant asshole here, taking advantage of a young girl's vulnerability. He's absolutely engaging in grooming behaviors, his every physical contact with her is a draw meant to keep her attached to him, even as he's promising his friends that he's letting her go. Everything from his position as a priest (a class of people across cultures who have been known to take habitual advantage of their positions of authority, sexually and otherwise) and his not insignificant seniority (at least in the context of Koharu's developmental stage at this time) suggests that he's preying on her loneliness and the fact that she's been extensively abused.
Why he's doing this isn't clear, because he doesn't appear to be doing it out of maliciousness. But given how Miroku usually relates to those of the opposite sex, he may not know how to interact with Koharu in a way that's not overtly flirtatious. There might be a clue in the Aburachouja character at the beginning of the chapter being so willing to trade the girl he was pursuing for a strange girl he had just seen at the drop of a hat. Even nowadays, we have an overwhelming subset of men who believe that they can't be friends with women, that the only way to relate to them is in a sexual way because of the myth that women's minds work in a completely different ways. This attitude would have been all the more prominent in this period, when women were property and not really considered more than commodities.
Sango is, of course, an OBVIOUS foil to this view of the fairer sex in her time, being strong, capable, and smart in her own right, an expert in her profession. She's also closer to Miroku's age and maturity level than Koharu, whom she shows some clear signs of jealousy toward in this chapter. Over the rest of the series, we should all keep this in mind when we watch the romance between Sango and Miroku develop, because Sango's role in his life is going to cause somewhat of a schism between how he sees women now, and how he sees Sango later. Koharu is a symptom of Miroku's habitual misogyny, but Sango is him throwing out his last pack of cigarettes, so to speak.
As for Koharu herself, it was heartbreaking seeing her moon over this guy she barely knew as a symbol of a happier life. Miroku really kind of screwed her over with the stupid little question he brushes off as something he says to ALL the girls he meets. He may not have understood how alone and desperate Koharu was at the time, something he might have learned if he had bothered to spend the time getting to know Koharu that Kagome was throughout the chapter. But, of course, that all-encompassing assumption that women are only for flirting was probably all the thought Miroku put into that, if any.
I know Kagome doesn't confront him about this later, but I like to think she gives him a long lecture about it at some point off-panel. Headcanoned.
Also, does it strike anyone else as a little creepy in a way that Miroku came on to a girl whose name and age resemble that of Sango's brother now? Is it just me?
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