Inuyasha Manga: 176 Kagome's Heart

We all have our aches and pains these days, don't we? Kagome's heart and my neck, which has just about had it with resting on a failing air mattress for an entire month. Granted, facing the possibility of losing the love of your life to his undead former lover isn't QUITE the same as spending every night sleeping on the floor at 31 years old and frantically looking for another place to live that will actually give you a suitable apartment ON FUCKING TIME, but they're both quite agonizing. At least Kagome has backups in Houjou and Kouga, all lined up and ready to go, while I'm trying to find a place within my meager budget to keep me warm and clean for the next year. When you put it that way, I've got a way worse pain on my hands here.

... Yeah, I know it's not even close to as bad, don't @ me.

This strange bit of gossip seems to be brought to you by a traveler muttering to two of the wounded soldiers Kikyou has patched up. One of the soldiers asks if that means there was a big-ass battle he can no doubt wish he could die in the middle of, but the traveler says that he doesn't think the disappearance of the castle had anything to do with humans. He says that the Hitomi family castle just vanished in a single night. Kikyou recognizes the name, (I'm guessing Kagewaki's, since I don't recall ever seeing it mentioned before this) and surmises that this must be Naraku's castle in actuality.

He's up and fled to another hiding place again. Somebody call olly olly oxen free, please.

Meanwhile...

It looks like Inuyasha had the same nostalgic visit to the place he and Kagome met, and it's no more happy a detour than hers. When Shippou whines that he hasn't said anything yet, Inuyasha, looking away, guesses that was about to be nagged to go see Kagome again. If he does, that of course means he has to tell Kagome what he couldn't when she was last standing right in front of him after the encounter with Kikyou, that they're breaking up. He hangs his head in misery.

Miroku walks out of the surrounding forest, remarking that he thought he'd find Inuyasha here. What he doesn't tell you is that this is actually the 15th place he thought Inuyasha would be. Miroku is accompanied by Sango a few steps behind, and his racoon-dog friend creeping up in front and greeting Inuyasha sheepishly. He's got similar news to the gossiping men at the beginning of the chapter, and Inuyasha asks what he's getting at by telling them that a castle has disappeared. The racoon-dog says that's exactly what he's getting at; the castle almost seemed to be scooped up by a giant monster claw and is gone. It's not until he adds that it seemed countless winged insects swarmed out of the site that he really grabs Inuyasha's attention. He seems pretty sure that the description fits Naraku's saimyoushou.

At Inuyasha's revelation, Miroku states that he and Sango are setting out tomorrow to have a look at the castle remains, and Sango asks Inuyasha what HE'LL do. He says he's going with them, of course, but she widens her eyes and asks if he's going to neglect Kagome. Inuyasha struggles to respond, stuttering and sweatdropping while his shoulders slump. He at least gets out half a statement about Kagome before he's cut off by a freshly irritated Miroku asking what further prolonging this will do. He says that Inuyasha should go see Kagome if he's so sure about his feelings, and Sango looks away in exasperation as she mutters that he's being forever indecisive. Inuyasha reaches his boiling point quickly, as always.

Were you just trying to get him to admit it, or did it REALLY take you that long to figure out that he didn't want to break up with Kagome?

Lowering his face to hide his flush, he asks who would be so selfish, thinking about his embrace with Kikyou and how he's already decided to protect HER. Inuyasha looks back up to bark that there's no way he can just ask Kagome to please come back... only to find that everybody else has already left him there in by himself, no longer willing to listen to his pitiful deliberations.

So they just continue in his head. He thinks it's correct that he can't ask her to come back, and surely Kagome realizes this as well. As he walks a familiar path through the woods, he's determined to go and break up with her properly, even though it won't be over for HIM either. He freezes and his jaw drops open when he reaches the clearing for the well, though.

Oh shit, it's like when they start putting out the Christmas decorations LONG before Halloween. Which they did again this year.

He stares, speechless, while she lifts her head and reveals a serene expression. I guess she didn't have anything to worry about when she freaked out about what her face must look like last chapter. They both remain silent as she stands to face Inuyasha, until she breaks the quiet to tell him she was thinking a lot on the other side of the well, about him and Kikyou and herself. Inuyasha says her name with a pained expression and tries to get out what he needs to, but Kagome cuts him off. She says she knows, understands his feelings, and thought she couldn't hang out over here anymore.

Despite Inuyasha's immense discomfort, to say the least, it's now or never as they're face-to-face. He prefaces his own thoughts by telling Kagome that before he met her, he couldn't trust a soul. Her serenity has collapsed into a quiet sadness as she listens to him tell her how she changed all that by crying for him, always being by his side for him. She can just SEE that "but" looming in the future, after he says he enjoys her company and feels at ease when she's around. He bows his head again as he gets into the hairy part, claiming that he shouldn't be allowed to LAUGH or ENJOY things. Knowing that Kikyou died following after him...

And this means that he can't enjoy your life while you've still got it WHY?

Kagome agrees, which is plenty of a red flag all on its own, but then she says she can't compete with Kikyou because she's ALIVE. No! Wrong message to take from this! ABORT! ABORT! But as Inuyasha stares at her, she just sits her ass back down on that well and starts to go into how much she thought about Kikyou while she was back in her time, and how they're two totally different people. Even if she's supposedly Kikyou's reincarnation, that means she's NOT Kikyou, and her heart is her own. Kagome puts on a little smile as she recounts one solitary thing about Kikyou's feelings she understands; that she, like Kagome, wants to see Inuyasha's again.

Inuyasha gapes, some more. Yeah, I'm not sure I would know how to respond to that bend in the topic either, friend. She continues by saying that once she thought of her and Kikyou's feelings of wanting to see him again as the same, she somehow felt a little better. That was when she gathered to courage to come and see him, though she's gone back to hanging her head and seeing more of her feet than Inuyasha again. He's still got his gaze firmly planted on her, though, and thinks that he also wanted to see her, yet that "but" gets in the way of such a notion again.

However, Kagome isn't letting him go there, even in his own head. She says with resolution that she wants to be together with him, and that there's no way she can forget him. He thinks about her while he stares, wondering how he should respond. She's talking again before he can, though, so he needn't have been so concerned. Kagome says that she just wants to ask him one thing, then stands, as he makes a curious sound, looking conflicted.

"I REEEAAALLY don't like my prospects with the other two dudes..."

Haltingly, Inuyasha asks if this means she'll be here for him and after a small pause, she smiles and says yes. She acknowledges internally that the bond between Inuyasha and Kikyou will never be cut, and she understands that. I feel like it really shouldn't have even entered your mind, girl, because DUH. Kagome thinks Inuyasha has to know just as she does that it couldn't have been by chance that the two of them met.

They approach each other while Kagome thinks that she wants Inuyasha to live. She grabs his hand and invites him to go, to which he responds with surprise and a stuttered agreement. Internally, Kagome affirms that as long as there are happy times, she wants them to smile often. Where Inuyasha's hand was loose in hers before, it tightens with a small glance in her direction. While Kagome doesn't know how effective her presence will be...

... There goes the most precarious of make-ups I've ever seen.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? It was something of a relief to see Inuyasha articulating his position so well, because I was beginning to think I was talking out of my ass speaking for him in the analyses of the past few chapters. He had very little to say up until this point other than the expression of his certainty that he HAD to say goodbye to Kagome, so I only had a few small character and facial cues to go off of. Thank goodness RT is still as skilled as ever depicting those minute expressions!

And where Inuyasha's decision to cut Kagome out of his life while leaning toward Kikyou was muddy before, who can really blame the guy? This is one MESS of a situation, so giving him a few chapters to sort it all out in his head wasn't too out of line. Impulsive as he is, he's likely not used to examining WHY he makes the decisions he does, or why he feels a a certain way. His hesitation to break the news to Kagome properly though gave him unprecedented time to do that, and it turned out he felt he didn't DESERVE the happiness that Kagome gave him while Kikyou was living a half-life of misery.

I don't think Kagome convinced him that he DOES deserve it by the end of the chapter, but she at least convinced him that SHE would be lost without it. He hinted early in the chapter that he considered it selfish to prioritize his wants over Kikyou's safety, so perhaps he's extended that logic to Kagome's feelings as well. With Kagome's linking of her and Kikyou's feelings, he's got a new way of looking at his relationship with Kagome as well; the two are not necessarily mutually exclusive, and perhaps denying Kagome's feelings he's refusing Kikyou's reality as well, and even his own.

Although, I'm more inclined that he's just giving in to a craving at the end there. It's a rare person who can refuse perceived indulgence, especially when they've spent the past few days repeating to themselves that they can't have it. Kagome coming up to him and insisting that she wants to keep being around for him may not have convinced him that he's worthy of having her there, but the warmth of her assurance that she'll support him is exactly what he thought he wasn't allowed, and he can't resist. Nor should he. EVERYONE deserves happiness, sacrifice notwithstanding.

I'm still miffed by Kagome's comment about being unable to COMPETE because she's alive, though. It was an iffy place to take Kagome's logic chain, because it suggests that no matter what she says about understanding Inuyasha and Kikyou's feelings, she still doesn't quite get that she was NEVER competing with Kikyou. It was never about choosing who to love, it was always about that sense of obligation Inuyasha felt to avenge himself and Kikyou.

If there's another interpretation to that line making it seem less bratty, I'm not sure. Maybe I need a few chapters to mull it over, because like Inuyasha, my initial reactions can be a bit hard to parse sometimes.

Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 234 Darkness vs. Darkness!!

Ah, a title that is an accurate description of my life right now... in a literal sort of way. My husband and I are currently sheltering in a studio apartment free of charge while the apartment we were actually promised is being slowly reassembled with an all new set of fixtures and carpet. Since my husband works in the dead of a night shift, he has to sleep during the day, and that means the blinds stay tightly closed, the lights stay off, and I stay in a permanent din all the way up until he leaves for his shift at 20:00 hours.

I call the daytime darkness of the apartment Bakura, because I can always decide NOT to dwell in it by fucking off outside for a few hours. I call the nighttime darkness Marik, because I can't escape, and I'm all alone to boot.

I hope this duel doesn't determine which one wins in my actual life, because I think I have an idea as to how this will play out. :(

Evilsplainer Marik over here, thinking he needs to explain something to asshole!Bakura that asshole!Bakura has clearly demonstrated his own mastery of earlier in the evening. Sure, it wasn't as... threatening as other!Marik's own presentation, but he wasn't exactly fumbling through it. Even if he DID lose.

Though it's asshole!Bakura's prior loss that has me nodding along with other!Marik when he says that this game of darkness will be asshole!Bakura's end. Guy hasn't inspired a lot of confidence as of late. Or ever. Doesn't stop him from being cocky when he tells other!Marik to stop talking crap before he's buried in darkness. Asshole!Bakura must not have noticed that the guy he's talking to has already immersed himself in compounded darkness, so I very much doubt this is a threat to him.

Other!Marik recalls that asshole!Bakura was sleeping in bed, knocked out by Yami's god attack, when the duel between Mai and himself was happening. This means that asshole!Bakura doesn't know the powers of Ra, so other!Marik is pretty sure he can EASILY defeat the asshole with his god card, and this certainty puts a smug smirk on his face. But asshole!Bakura has a smirk to rival the best, because he knows other!Marik is Ra's owner, and the original Marik has become his partner. He looks in his periphery, where the specter of Marik is glaring forward, toward his douchebag alter-ego. It's pretty clear how the original Marik is useful to him now, even if he wasn't confirming that he knows all about other!Marik's death now, and it was part of their deal. In his head, I suppose. As usual, it's not really possible to know what's being said aloud and silently.

In a double secret twist, smug other!Marik knows that his other self's consciousness is hanging with asshole!Bakura now, but he changed the original Marik's deck when he took control. So, now, even if Marik knows the effects of the god card Ra, he doesn't know how to counter the new strategy in the new deck. You guys got all that?

Yeah, THAT expression is familiar. I see it in the mirror every time I cover this manga on the blog.

Also, appropriate.

Other!Marik shouts at asshole!Bakura that they should start, but asshole!Bakura bids him to wait. He jabs a thumb over his shoulder where the Regular-Sized-Marik is hanging, wanting to say something. Asshole!Bakura seems rather annoyed by how troublesome this is, but he's willing to just let Marik ask whatever it is he desires. How generous of him. Other!Marik asks what his less-edgy self wants to get off his chest, and Marik begins by characterizing other!Marik as the essence of evil he created. Other!Marik is amused by this, wondering what the big deal is, because feeding on Marik's inner darkness WOULD make him that evil's creation. You are what you eat, as they say. Marik mentions that it must have been too bad to have been sealed by Rishid, but other!Marik buts in to claim their heart has lightened now thanks to him, and laughs that Marik should thank him for it. Yeeeeaaaaah, binging on that dark, dark chocolate cake of darkness isn't making you any lighter, I can tell you that for nothing. Whether metaphorical or literal, you're going to put on some POUNDS if you keep gorging yourself.

Marik pushes right on through the interruption and lets his other self know that he heard tell through his Millennium Rod manipulation of others - specifically through Anzu, he listened to Ishizu's tale of terrible woe about the Ishtars. He repeats the shocking end of the story in an accusatory way, that other!Marik is the one who killed the douchey dad. Other!Marik protests that the two of them are two minds in one body, and Marik shouldn't talk about it as if he's wholly separate from the issue, encouraging him to admit that it was HIMSELF who killed his father.

And Marik doesn't argue. He says it's true that the tragedy can be traced back to the darkness in his heart, and bows his head to wonder how he could do something like this to his father, eyes squeezed shut. Asshole!Bakura, living up to his name, smirks and says that he's "sympathetic" with Marik for killing his own father. I would tell him to keep his trap shut if he's going to act like this is a joke, but I'm kind of curious about this line and the meaning of the word "sympathetic" here. I should go back to Bakura's first appearance and see if there's an indication that his father is dead. Or perhaps the spirit in the ring is referring to history a bit further back?

Moving right along, Marik mumbles about five years ago, recalling what that piece of shit Shadi said about the pharaoh's soul leading his father down this dead-end road. He says he had interpreted the stranger's words to mean that the PHARAOH had killed his father. Pretty sure that was by design and NOT an accident, because Shadi's shittiness knows no bounds, but...

Asshole!Bakura looks shocked, and even though Marik never mentions a name, he properly identifies Shadi right away.

That's the face of an asshole who knows another asshole when he hears about one.

Anyway, other!Marik tells actual Marik to get on with what he wants to say, and Marik replies that he's determined to kill other!Marik as an apology to his poor douchey father. Other!Marik scoffs, and does that whole "come at me bro" offensive pose, encouraging Marik to go ahead and try. So the spectral Marik demands that asshole!Bakura get his ass going, even as asshole!Bakura is still standing in stunned silence at his own revelation. He snaps out of it to bark at Marik not to order him around, but Marik promises to guide him through all the necessary tactics.

But before he does so, asshole!Bakura wants Marik's word that in exchange for protecting "Baldie's" (Rishid's) life in the event of defeating the ones against Marik, asshole!Bakura wants the Millennium Rod and the secrets on Marik's back. Cut-and-dry, and surprising that this wasn't hammered out before other!Marik waltzed onto the scene to get his murder on. After all, asshole!Bakura WAS already protecting Rishid in the last chapter. Regardless, asshole!Bakura ponders the power of darkness he can get if he collects all seven items, but he knows he can't open the door to that power if he can't understand the "words". Assuming that means the ones on Marik's back, but don't quote me on it. For all I know, there are words on the Millennium Items themselves that no one bothered to mention before.

Switching gears, in addition to the aforementioned terms, asshole!Bakura asks if it's okay that the body other!Marik now occupies be burned to ash. That would be a total deal-breaker for me, but Marik says that's a-okay, no hesitation. Alright, I guess he's leaning right into his overwhelming guilt at learning the truth of his father's death. Asshole!Bakura grins and says he's glad to hear that, assured and ready to burn the shit out of other!Marik. I half-expect him to just take out a lighter and a can of gasoline. Other!Marik doesn't share my worries, because he's grinning too, threatening to send asshole!Bakura to the darkness. It's like a couple of demons damning each other to Hell. You're both already here, ya dinguses.

Far simpler than the rules to most of the games in this comic.

For some unknown reason, asshole!Bakura seems uncertain about the "body and soul consumed" part of the rule. I thought he already intuited it, considering he was convinced he would have to burn other!Marik. Unless... he was just going to do that because he wanted to. And here I was thinking the guy was the more innocuous of our two villains.

Other!Marik promises that soon asshole!Bakura will understand. Their duel in the dark begins with a traditional display of 4000 life points each next to their smug mugs. Asshole!Bakura announces he's drawing first and does so with gusto, as is ALSO tradition. He smiles at his new card, considering it lucky to get such a strong trap card right off the bat. Other!Marik smirks at him, thinking he's already got asshole!Bakura figured out, or at least his card structure, whatever that means. Asshole!Bakura shouts that he's starting, places one card face down, and plays "Goblin Zombie" in attack. With this, he ends his turn, and other!Marik looks just tickled as he wonders if asshole!Bakura really grasps that this is a game of darkness between Millennium Item holders. Well, go ahead and show us what that really means, bro. What's the hold-up? I have a schedule to keep, you know.

Other!Marik states that it's his turn.

Drills. Of course it's drills. Why wouldn't it be fucking drills?

That trap asshole!Bakura activated, though? It's a doozy. Called "Earthbound Counterattack", other!Marik seems unimpressed by the lack of anything happening at first, but then asshole!Bakura tells him to look down. When he does, he finds himself standing between the jaws of a wrinkled ghoul's head, gums littered with sharp teeth sticking out at plenty of odd angles. It's like that reveal in Wizard People Dear Reader when Harry Potter finally sees under Queerman's turban.

Me too, Harry. Me too.

Asshole!Bakura describes this tactic as using a weak monster as bait to activate his trap. Not sure he NEEDED to explain that, because it's probably one of the most basic moves in this game EVER, but if it makes him feel clever, he can gloat away. Other!Marik looks down at his hand and groans, knowing he can't stop his weird drill-monster's attack, so it keeps heading straight for the Goblin Zombie. As it does, asshole!Bakura justifies that his useless monster being attacked is okay, because his deck is structured around sending his monsters to the graveyard just to activate their special abilities. It's almost as if he has an audience to explain this to or something. :)

Drillago jabs the goblin with its many drill limbs, and Goblin Zombie bursts into a wispy cloud of dissipating holographic smoke. Asshole!Bakura is practically orgasming as he reveals that his eternal trap's effect activates with his monster's destruction, and demands that the Earthbound Counterattack chomp down on other!Marik. Other!Marik looks down his nose at the ghoul's jaws around him, like it's just a muddy dog brushing past him on the street or something. The jaws begin to close on other!Marik's legs.

But other!Marik just smiles at asshole!Bakura and tells him it's just too bad. Asshole!Bakura is flabbergasted as other!Marik activates his own card to remove traps in his way. He bids it take away the Earthbound Counterattack, and it's swept off by a cleansing whirlwind around other!Marik. Asshole!Bakura glares, resentful that other!Marik thought to put a card like that in his deck. Now it's other!Marik's turn to tell asshole!Bakura to look down, at his own body.

Ha! Good one!

Other!Marik wears an orgasming expression much like asshole!Bakura's, explaining that the attack he launched had taken some of asshole!Bakura's points. He says that losing life points in this dark game means the consumption of your body by darkness. Literally.

Man, that left arm of Bakura's just isn't going to get a break, is it?

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I wasn't looking forward to covering it, because I thought it was a tad unnecessary. In a tournament full to the brim with duels of which we all kind of know the outcome, I'd grown weary of watching them turn out the way I'd predicted. I know that the journey is the destination, and the interesting part of these isn't who wins but HOW it happens, but it gets a little old sometimes.

That said, KT does always make up for this in PART by keeping the stakes pretty high, and keeps up that helpful momentum here. I complained a little at the end of the previous chapter that I wished I knew a little more about asshole!Bakura's motivations, and we get some of that here. It seems that asshole!Bakura has a sense he won't be able to negotiate with the wild card that is other!Marik, so he's hedging his bets on the more reasonable between the Mariks, in the hopes that the regular one will give him the item and information he needs. Even though the regular Marik isn't the one in control of either his body or the Millennium Rod right now, he'd be far more willing to listen to a proposal once he gets back ownership of both, so it makes sense for asshole!Bakura to lean more toward the original Marik.

KT has also given us a bit of a catch-22 too, in the form of the price for playing this game of darkness. I KNOW other!Marik has to win this duel, because if he doesn't, it derails the entire climax of the arc. But other!Marik winning means that asshole!Bakura loses his body, the one he cared enough to save in his duel against Yami with a loss, and that means his OVERALL antagonism is lost in the story as well as his ultimate clash with Yami AFTER the tournament. I refuse to believe that KT's pet villain, who is continuously reintroduced to plot and plan, will just bow out before he has a chance to pay off. I'm curious to see how he loses, and yet retains his body.

Because I'm not worried about his soul. He's like Marik, sticking it here and there so he'll always keep popping back up no matter how many times he's not-so-subtly told to fuck off and stay that way.

Asshole.

Inuyasha Manga: 175 Where We Met

Normally I would advise against a poor lovelorn girl from visiting that hallowed place of first meeting, but maybe for Kagome, this'll work. Not because she can't avoid it, because living on the property hosting that particular landmark certainly makes it so. No, it's because her first meeting with Inuyasha was when he was pinned through his chest to said landmark and being a threatening monster. Nothing romantic about it. It should put things in a slightly different perspective for her at least.

Hell, considering Inuyasha's initial behavior, maybe this could be considered dodging a bullet!

Ugh, the fantasy equivalent to that box of your ex's stuff that you have to drive over to his house. It's official, this has all the hallmarks of the classic breakup.

Is it only classic because Inuyasha and Kagome set the precedent 500 years in the past? Food for thought.

Kagome picks up the vial of Shikon shards and thinks that if she returns it, everything will be over. and her life would return to normal. This sobering thought follows her all the way to school, shuffling in her melancholy and sighing as she arrives. It's REAAAALLY pathetic. Her friends Short-Hair and Headband greet her with smiles, stoked that she's left the alleged "hospital". Headband is curious about if this visit to the doctor really was because she was covered in mysterious spots, and Kagome sweatdrops over how obvious it is that her grandfather seems to have run out of specific fake illnesses for her.

Short-Hair is way more interested in what's happened since the last time they saw her. Kagome makes a confused noise, and Headband leans around her, telling her not to play dumb. On her other side, Short-Hair blurts out the dish she wants: more juicy gossip on her relationship with that rotten, two-timing, jealous, violent, very selfish guy. Sounds like the title to a strange children's book, and one that raises Kagome's hackles at first. Short-Hair wants to know if Kagome and her mysterious jerk-boyfriend finally broke up, but Kagome just hangs her head in silence, staring blankly at the ground. Headband says Kagome's name in question, but when her head hangs low enough to be hidden by her bangs, the other two girls edge back in nervousness, Short-Hair wondering in cluelessness if it was something she said.

That false sunniness isn't fooling a soul, but at least the people Kagome's trying to convince don't live in her head like with the guy in the post before this one. Can't do a poorer job pretending to be fine with heartbreak than him.

Low bar to set, though, and Kagome BARELY clears it. Both her friends are alarmed that SHE didn't break up with the guy, and draw the conclusion that this means Kagome is still in love with the jerk ex. Short-Hair, in particular, is pretty distraught by this, sweating and heart-thumping like she's running a marathon. Headband seems to just be on blank-stare mode. Kagome waves off the shock of her friends and insists that she's TOTALLY fine now. Short-Hair timidly asks if Kagome is really recovered, and Kagome replies with a swift and sure confirmation, then, with the most manufactured of grins, asks that they not bring this up anymore, since she's so fine and all.

Both girls put on their own phony happy faces, Headband internally translating the message into "don't cause me any more pain", and Short Hair just thinking how scared she is of Kagome's fake smile.

Anyway, who gives a shit, let's get back to beyond the well, in Kaede's village!

Sango side-eyes the third-degree Shippou is giving Inuyasha and questions if it's REALLY that simple. This said while fixing bandages to the guy for whom it might actually be that simple if he were in such a position. Miroku is looking lofty and bored, silent for a moment, until he turns to Inuyasha and tells him to go see Kagome. Inuyasha snaps that he doesn't want to listen to this again,, casting his gaze to the side in shame as he repeats no doubt for the thousandth time that he's decided not to see Kagome anymore.

Miroku is up and kicking Inuyasha upside the head in no time, informing the bastard that he has the wrong idea. Crouching down in Inuyasha's face with a threatening look, Miroku spells out for him that he wants Inuyasha to go to Kagome's place and get the Shikon fragments that she took with her, because INUYASHA is the only one who can go. Inuyasha is successfully intimidated by this, making a meek approximation of an almost-protest, while Sango questions the command's restriction to JUST the Shikon shards. In his frankly ineffectual little kid tantrum, Shippou demands to know if Miroku even cares what happens to Kagome. Miroku responds that it can't be helped, because Inuyasha has chosen Kikyou, and it would be cruel to ask Kagome back under those circumstances. Inuyasha just sits quietly, not offering a word in any capacity.

If I were Kaede, I would have told him to piss off and stop bothering me while I'm fucking WORKING if he doesn't want my advice, but that's why she's better than me. She just ignores the question and goes straight to reminding him that the current Kikyou is an imitation made of bones and earth, and she shouldn't even be IN this world right now. Inuyasha thinks that the soul IS Kikyou's however. Kaede continues, asking Inuyasha if he understands that he and Kikyou can't be together in this world, and that Kikyou's ultimate wish is to die alongside him. With zero of his usual passion and intensity, he claims this is fine; he'll go to hell with Kikyou as she wishes. He adds a note in his head, a little supplementary condition if you will, that it'll happen if it's their fate.

Back in modern times at the shrine, specifically the well-house...

Intellectually, she's on a level with Miroku, but the farthest she can get is propping her knee up on the lip of the well. She admits to herself that she doesn't WANT to give them back, and she's scared. Kagome knows that if she hands over those shards, she won't be able to see Inuyasha anymore. Not to mention she won't be able to go on cool time-traveling adventures. But that part is just me being insensitive again.

Kagome has graduated from seeing Inuyasha just not looking away from her in the forest to imagining him saying that he's sorry, and that he'll go with Kikyou now. She's taken her knee off the well, where both her fists clench on top of it, one around those precious Shikon fragments. She finds herself thinking it would be better if Kikyou weren't around anymore, and this shocks the hell out of her. She appears to wring her hands as she hangs her head, wondering if she's really become such a horrible girl. Convinced that she must have made a really horrible face with a thought like that, Kagome exits the well-house, because she can't see Inuyasha with an expression like that. Excuses, excuses.

She looks down at the glittering Shikon shards in her hand, in numb admiration of how they sparkle in the sunlight filtering through the leaves above. Looking up at them, she gapes at the giant before her.

She identifies it as the Goshinboku, that tree that Inuyasha got himself pinned to with an arrow, like an idiot. Remembering him hanging there, propped up with vines and roots twisting around him, Kagome walks up and puts a hand on the tree. It was here five hundred years in the past that she met Inuyasha for the first time.

Instead of recalling what a perfect little snot he was upon that first meeting, though, she wonders why they had to meet at all. If it was going to hurt so much, Kagome thinks it would have been better to not have met him at all. But here she is, having met him, standing with her head hanging and hand on a tree, wanting to see Inuyasha again. Tears running down her face, she admits to herself that she loves Inuyasha, and brings her hand from the tree bark to her face, questioning when it was that she started to love him THIS much.

Pinpointing the exact moment is kind of an exercise in futility, but if I had to guess, the estimated moment would be the exact moment you realized you might not get to see him anymore.

And it's only getting worse as the seconds tick by.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? This is another example of how good RT is at delivering honest, raw emotion. None of Kagome's pain is overplayed, or overdramatized for effect. The things that go through her head as she tries to process her broken heart are thoughts and questions I myself have had in undergoing the same turmoil. They're especially poignant for Kagome in her odd situation though, because Kikyou isn't SUPPOSED to be around, and Kagome meeting up with Inuyasha was the result of a crazy time-loop-paradox. Considering the odds at play in all of these variables, she's not being dramatic in considering her heartbreak to be fundamentally unfair. That's not teenage angst - that's the universe giving you the finger.

But she's not allowed to FEEL that way. Kagome's reaction to a wish that Kikyou wasn't around anymore is shock and revulsion, like she had committed an indiscretion. No one else is around, and she's not actually hurting anyone with this simple thought, but she has the impression that it's made her ugly, given her a terrible expression, and she wouldn't want Inuyasha to see her like that. She's still so concerned with how Inuyasha would view her despite knowing that they're through. It's an interesting representation of how young women are encouraged to bury bad thoughts by tying those thoughts to how they appear to people they love - an effective policing strategy. Be nice and polite and good at all times even in your head, or else you'll be ugly! Kind of insidious.

Another interesting part of the chapter was seeing how everyone ELSE was effected by the presumed breakup. Kagome's friends of course don't have any stake in this relationship, so their only reaction is to be a bit put-off by Kagome's morose attitude. For the rest of Inuyasha's group, however, whether or not they will ever see Kagome again rides on this. Shippou is inconsolably upset, as he was last time Kagome was meant to be gone forever, and his view of the situation is as narrow as that because all he knows is that he wants Kagome around and Inuyasha has hurt her to the point of leaving again.

Miroku and Sango have more nuanced views of the situation, though. Miroku doesn't want her to have to suffer for all the rest of their comfort, which falls in line with his Buddhist background. It's also pretty clear that he is BARELY tolerating Inuyasha's obtuseness right now, his cold and shrewd instruction to Inuyasha a big indication that he's also furious at the situation, even if he's going to act above pissing and moaning about it.

Sango remains thoughtful and withdrawn in her reaction, no doubt also pushing down those bad emotions just like Kagome. In addition, though, she's more willing to give Inuyasha the benefit of the doubt, questioning if his decision is really half as simple as Shippou is making it out to be. I can't be sure, but my guess is that she's considering her brother again, in parallel with Kikyou. She and Inuyasha had a rather intimate conversation about how a loved one might have changed, been mangled by horrible circumstances, but being unable to turn away from or abandon that loved one anyway. I can't imagine she'll ever forget that conversation for as long as she lives, and here Inuyasha is, acting on just what they discussed.

And, of course, Kaede has to put in an appearance warning Inuyasha that his decision will not end well, so he'd better be sure he wants to put himself all the way in Kikyou's corner. When a girl's own SISTER is doubtful that she's good for you, maybe she really IS that shitty, dude.

But I know, I know. He's really just rolling with the guilt and obligation here. Still, if Kagome can abandon HER duty to put back together the youkai-steroid that she broke just so she won't have to endure the pain of seeing Inuyasha again, he's not beyond doing the same with Kikyou. Not that I think Kikyou CAN be abandoned. I mean, it's pretty hard to abandon someone who splits the first moment they get a chance.

Yu-Gi-Oh Manga : 233 The Dark Conflict!!

Okay, KT, we get it. It's very edgy and DARK. I appreciate the attempt he's making here to draw in the edgelords while still subverting the trope of dark=bad, but his old habits are kind of undermining him. Dude, it's okay to let the image of your angry alternate-personalitied antagonist skinning his dad's back-tattoo off speak for itself. In fact, "dark" seems an utterly insufficient word to describe it. Maybe "deranged" or "psychotic" would paint a better picture. Either way, you're abusing this poor word, KT. Give it a rest.

Fifty bucks says that code is a bogus number Drama King Kaiba pulled out of his ass to inspire gossip among his passenger about where they're going and build anticipation. An info box beside a close-up of the windows on the blimp states it's 9:45 in the evening. Those milling around poor Mai's hospital bed are treated to an additional announcement that the power will be cut at 10:00 pm, which really MUST be an exaggeration, because I'm pretty sure that might mess up quite a few navigation systems, at the very least. Anyway, the announcement continues, encouraging the passengers to return to their rooms to get some well-needed sleep riddled with nightmares.

Honda repeats it's almost time for lights-out, turning to Yuugi and Jonouchi to lay some extra advice on them to go rest, because they must be pretty worn out from this SINGLE DAY OF BATTLE CITY. That it has taken me an ETERNITY to cover. Jonouchi begins to protest and looks down at Mai, all frowny. Anzu assures him that she'll take care of Mai, and reiterates that he'll need rest to prepare for whatever this tournament has in store for him in the morning. Yuugi suggests that he let his friends handle this, but Jonouchi just keeps looking forlorn, uncharacteristically speechless.

He's pondering how Mai's dying due to Marik's dark powers. There's that overworked word again. Jonouchi is sure Yuugi doesn't know about the entirety of the incident, or how he has 23 hours left to defeat Marik before Mai slips away. Still, he seems to keep it to himself and also decides to leave the room, imploring Mai silently to wait for him and promising that he'll fix this tomorrow. Now, if he has a brain anything like mine, he'll go over every possible move he needs to make tomorrow and not get one wink of sleep even though there is no way to take care of the problem right away, because fuck him, right?

He, Yuugi, Ishizu and Shizuka all leave the hospital room wordlessly, but Yuugi turns once they're in the hallway to tell Jonouchi to do his best tomorrow. He tacks on a completely unrelated comment about how Shizuka should get some rest too, which is a nice thing to say, if a bit random as well. Jonouchi addresses him back with a serious refusal to forget their promise to meet at an unspecified time in the future, reiterating that he'll beat Yuugi at that time with "that" power, also unspecified. Yuugi doesn't miss a beat, though, asserting that Battle City ain't over until the two of THEM have dueled. I would say that's pretty arrogant, putting yourself at the center of a huge event like that, but because he's the protagonist, it's actually true.

Yuugi says Yami will eagerly await the time they face one another, and Jonouchi actually grows a SMILE in response. Even in the face of another friend dying horribly of magical brain-worms, there's still something to look forward to.

And boy do these kiddos NEED something to look forward to.

Shizuka frets about how her brother's dream is to win against Yuugi, when Yuugi is pretty freaking good at this game, and Jonouchi flies into a stuttering fluster, demanding she not say doubting things like that. He says he always has a 50/50 attitude, which I guess is a way of saying he doesn't consider the likelihood based on skill, OR that he has no idea how statistics work. It's probably both. Shizuka turns to Ishizu and suggest they ask HER about the results of this upcoming duel, considering she can see the future. Jonouchi protests that this will make the thing uninteresting, but secretly, he wants to know.

But Ishizu tells them that her Millennium Necklace has LOST that particular power, ever since her duel with Kaiba, when he changed the future. Clearly she still hasn't considered the possibility that she was played by the necklace more than Seto Kaiba, but whatevz. Yuugi and Jonouchi are both flabbergasted by the news that Kaiba changed the future, and at first, Ishizu just looks blankly at them. If there were a thought bubble there it would include something about these damn kids needing to get off her lawn.

She pleads with both of them to return Marik's heart that's been consumed by darkness no matter what. Ishizu is sure with their powers to draw cards and shit, they can do it.

That foreshortening job is... yikes.

Ishizu spills that five other Millennium Items are needed to awaken the pharaoh's memory, including Marik's Millennium Rod. Since it's the duty of the tomb keeper cult to give the items to the owner of the pharaoh's soul, she feels she's done what she needs to. So Marik just complicated the shit out of this whole business because some rando wandered into his house and told him at his most vulnerable grieving point that he should be pissed off at a dead king?

I repeat: Shadi is the fucking WORST.

Yuugi examines the Millennium Necklace in his hand and thinks about how he now has two Millennium Items.

Ishizu ponders Yuugi's duty to collect the Millennium Items, which should be CAKE compared to that fucking card collection he's amassed. Jonouchi is already turned to walk down the hall, throwing a comment to a poop-faced Yuugi clutching the necklace in his fist that it's almost lights-out, and it's time to go. They head off to their rooms as Anzu peeks out of Mai's hospital room, sneakily. What's she up to? She runs around he corner to where Ishizu is heading in a different direction and calls out to her. Anzu begs to know about what happens when the seven Millennium Items are in place to Yami. It's a pretty desperate plea.

Ishizu and Anzu stand in the corridor silently, Ishizu keeping her back turned to Anzu as Anzu wonders why she's asking, even though she doesn't really want to know the answer. Eventually, Ishizu says through a long, slow blink that all the souls will have a place to return to, and that includes her. Anzu stands in alarmed silence.

Giving up that necklace didn't really make her more comprehensible, did it? Old habits die hard, I guess.

The blimp keeps cruising along as lights-out is called, and through his porthole, we see Jonouchi has already passed right out, tangled in his blanket, snorting and calling out in a dueling dream, or so I assume. Yuugi, having hung the Millennium Puzzle on his bedpost, lays awake and ponders the tragic story Ishizu told earlier. The revenge that Marik seeks due to his father's death (and Shadi's prompt, don't forget Shadi's prompt!), Marik's other personality, the seven items, Yami's memory, and how all those things are connected keeps him awake and he can't sleep. Yuugi sits up suddenly to find Yami hanging out in one of the armchairs next to his bed.

Well you guys DO share a head and all.

Yuugi looks over at the Millennium Puzzle dangling from the bedpost before he confidently states that Yami will definitely be able to collect all those items and get his memories back. Yami just looks silently over at him, so Yuugi goes on to fantasize about one day heading over to Egypt and placing all the items in the memory stone, fulfilling his current mission. Again, Yami remains silent, glaring forward this time. Yuugi ruminates a little more about when that time comes, and then scoots back beneath his blanket, cheerfully inviting Yami to sleep because tomorrow is quite the big fight. Yami looks over at him and finally smiles, nodding his agreement.

Again, you guys share a HEAD, so this attempt at hiding your sadness isn't likely to work, Yuugi. Then again, Yami's so preoccupied with his path potentially being blocked if he and his friends don't defeat Marik's evil that he may not have noticed. Everyone's dealing with their own special blend of overabundant stress and heartache, so I can't very well blame them if they overlook anyone else's.

I CAN blame the one guy who is actively reveling in his trauma by making another attempt to cause more, though. He's pulling that hidden blade from the Millennium Rod and everything. Marik walks the corridors, lit only by the tiny pinpricks above doorways - perhaps fire alarms, or is this a mandatory regulation that they're following about the minimum amount of light in aircraft in flight? I don't know. He makes his way to that specific hospital room housing Rishid, whom no one came to visit earlier, because it would entail them finding that dead doctor Marik killed earlier, and wouldn't THAT be a whoopsie! Rishid is still snoozing away in unconsciousness, so Marik lifts his Millennium Knife and edgelords it up by saying the darkness has come for Rishid. In the midst of commanding this man to die for the crime of being troublesome to him, Marik is distracted by something to his left.

You should have known, Marik? Who else would wear that shitty striped shirt? Asshole!Bakura's Millennium Ring produces the fuzzy image of someone he refers to as Other!Marik's owner lurking about as well, Regular-Sized-Marik. Other!Marik looks annoyed in his uniquely high way as he admits to himself that he forgot Marik put a piece of himself in Bakura when the latter was brainwashed. There should be pieces of himself EVERYWHERE then, given Marik brainwashed a shit-ton of folks. You ain't gonna get rid of that guy.

Marik says that he won't let Other!Marik kill Rishid, though Asshole!Bakura laughs that the guy's life has not meaning to HIM. What he's really interested is the secret carved on Marik's back, and the Millennium Rod of course. Other!Marik plays the ditz and recalls casually that Asshole!Bakura IS collecting the Millennium Items, as he's said before. Asshole!Bakura offers to spare him from being a piece of that collection if he just hands over the rod, but Other!Marik just grins psychotically and says he'll just see what it feels like to be shredded, even though the threat didn't have anything to do with shredding. Just because you have an obsession with dismemberment doesn't mean everyone ELSE does, my dude. Asshole!Bakura is perfectly content with Other!Marik suiting himself, but before Asshole!Bakura can lift a finger to make good on his vague plans, Other!Marik lifts the glowing rod.

As in Ishizu's flashback regarding the death of her father, Asshole!Bakura is suspended against the wall by the magic of the Millennium Rod, groaning. Other!Marik laughs and tells Asshole!Bakura to stay right there, because after he kills Rishid, it'll be his turn. He turns back to Rishid to make a THIRD attempt at the job, but again is distracted, this time by a bright light emanating from where he hung up Asshole!Bakura. The Millennium Ring at his chest like a beacon, Asshole!Bakura scoffs, and Other!Marik realizes with irritation that the hand holding up the rod won't move.

Asshole!Bakura is back on his feet again by the next panel, the wall cracked in his form behind him. He laughs that Other!Marik's power isn't so great after all. Other!Marik smiles a little, like it's all water off a duck's back. Asshole!Bakura suggests they play the games of darkness that only those chosen by the Millennium Items can play, which Other!Marik agrees to if it pleases him.

How about you both disappear? I'm pretty sure NO ONE would object to this.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? Most of it was just a reiteration of what we already know about the state of everyone's emotions - strained and broken. This does a pretty good job of covering the extent of the damage, though, because we've gotten a lot of this piecemeal over the course of the arc, and haven't had time until now to pause and take stock of the damage. There's a LOT. Everyone is hurting, to varying degrees and in a lot of different ways, and it's a little shocking to see it all laid out so plainly.

The second half of the chapter had me scratching my head a little; as per usual, the translator wasn't very clear on what was said between Asshole!Bakura and Other!Marik. I feel like there was more to it than what was successfully translated, but I have no real way of knowing. There also must have been so much more to the deliberations between Asshole!Bakura and the regular ol' Marik, but given how quickly the latter appeared and disappeared, I don't think there was much information here on what they discussed. Marik must have had to do some real convincing on Asshole!Bakura to interfere in something that he admittedly has no stake in. Perhaps they discussed the instability of Other!Marik and how bargaining with him for the Millennium Rod wouldn't work out very well, as was demonstrated in the actual chapter.

Or perhaps Marik was just briefly there to give Asshole!Bakura a narrative excuse to be there and KT didn't really give it much thought beyond that. But at least the "dark" in the chapter continued to be somewhat justified, what with lights-out literally making it dark for the struggle and everything.

Yaaaaaaay...

Inuyasha Manga: 174 Barrier of Earth

Oh that's great. One measly month of hiatus and I have to drill through some sort of rock wall? I anticipated it would be a bit difficult to get back into the swing of things, but not THIS difficult. It's not just a play off of the chapter title either. After the hair-ripping logistics of packing, mind-numbing days upon days of driving, mysterious car-sickness, a few too many days visiting with somewhat clueless family members, and finally arriving at our destination only to find that our apartment wasn't actually ready yet, so we would have to be stuffed into a tiny studio apartment for the next two weeks, it really DOES feel like there's something of a dense barrier between me and just getting to settle my ass down and relax with a little bit of a blog post. Instead of kicking back, I've got to ready my pickax and shovel to bust my way back into my chamber of solitude.

And here I go. Time to move some dirt out of the way...

Kikyou's way too smug for someone who almost got swallowed whole by a weird flying worm/fish thing. She shouldn't forget that Naraku would have gotten away with what she's describing above if Inuyasha hadn't been there to rescue her ass. At least not before the person who had a literal MONTH to let it slip her mind.

Naraku pulls the ol' "so what if I DID?" deflection, and Kikyou nocks an arrow and pulls back her bowstring in response. She retorts that he's 100 years too early to try and take her life before releasing that arrow, and I would like to point out that she's actually 50 years too LATE to be able to use that expression effectively, but Naraku's face is already kind of saying it? I mean, look at this:

Oh, and btw, he's getting his arm blown right off by the arrow during the second one, just for context. THAT'S how unimpressed he is with her grandstanding.

He smiles at her and scoffs, calling her a charlatan. Naraku admits he thought she would just rely on Inuyasha's strength and they would waltz into the castle together. Kikyou turns up her glare, calling Naraku scum for eavesdropping on her damsel-in-distress moment with Inuyasha, and this returns Naraku to a frowny state. He insists his peeping was only to make sure she was dead, then swiftly changes the subject to whether she really thought he'd let her go safely home. The same big glowing jars that birthed Juuroumaru and Kageroumaru glug in the corner, and yet another monstrosity climbs out of one of them, brain exposed and dripping demonic amniotic fluid.

Why does everything Naraku does have to be so freaking METAL? I hate his guts, but I find myself always having to give him mad props for style.

The zombie child from the womb jars extends a long slimy tongue to wrap around Kikyou's ankle, something she looks thoroughly unconcerned about. No doubt because it's not a moment later that the thing is blasted in half by the appearance of a subtle bubble around Kikyou, everything within the boundaries of it disintegrated.

Kikyou identifies the pulverized creature lying in pieces on the floor at Naraku's offspring, and asks if Narau understands what this means. She indicates that the same thing will happen to big bad Naraku if he lays even a single finger on her. By THIS, Naraku appears impressed, recognizing the barrier and how his zombie child has been utterly blown away by it.

Reminiscing about when Naraku's humble origins of the wild-thief Onigumo laying inert in his bandages on the cave floor, Kikyou says that plenty of Onigumo's delusions about her soaked into the earth. Naraku supposes that Kikyou put that earth into her body then, and she confirms this, stating that Onigumo's feelings protect her body, because he didn't wish for her death at all. He didn't exactly wish for her good health, either, so I'd wager there are still things he can do to REALLY hurt her.

Perhaps not, though, because Kikyou claims that one touch on the barrier of earth would cause Naraku to be overwhelmed with Onigumo's feelings and neutralize his youkai power. She grins, gloating that he can't kill her so long as his human heart remains and he's a hanyou. As Kikyou turns to flounce on out of there, Naraku contemplates his state as a hanyou, and how right Kikyou is, hers being the EXACT reason he's trying so hard to become a full youkai.

With a side of fava beans and a nice Chianti? Dammit, I already made that joke. I need to get a broader knowledge of pop-cannibals.

In the following panel, we see a series of village roofs while someone talks about what will stop festering, and their stock of gauze and bandages. Under one of those roofs, it's revealed to be Kagome, who proceeds to tell Sango, Miroku and a napping Shippou at her knee that she's headed back home now. Sango makes a noise of confusion as she takes the first-aid box into her lap, and Miroku asks if Kagome is going back to her country in the well again so soon. She puts on a false little smile and claims she just went back before to get some quick medicine. Sango suggests that perhaps Kagome should make up with Inuyasha before she goes, since it was a silly little fight they had, a reminder to Kagome about the less recent/important issues they had already been moaning over.

These girls have the worst memories, huh? Even worse than mine, and I regularly have to be reminded of my anniversaries with my husband. 

Later on, Miroku sits on the lip of the well while Sango looks down into it thoughtfully, stating the obvious fact that Kagome didn't look too terribly happy. Miroku agrees, though Sango still leans toward him with an expectant word, I guess trying to squeeze more juicy gossip out of him? If that's the case, she doesn't get much else, except a cryptic statement that it's not like he has NO idea what happened. Trying to halt the invasive conversation or baiting Sango with bullshit? Who knows.

Inuyasha emerges from the surrounding trees, looking WAAAAY too subdued. Miroku stands to greet him and Sango says his name, to which he responds with mild surprise. Miroku informs him that Kagome has gone back to her own world, but after a small pause, Inuyasha's response is decidedly LESS surprised. Expectations entirely met there, I imagine.

Miroku comes right out and speculates that Inuyasha met with Kikyou and that Kagome saw that very scene. I guess he wasn't as full of shit as I assumed before. Well-played, Miroku. As he asks with absolute confidence in his surmise if he's wrong, Sango lets out a noise of alarm. Inuyasha admits that Kagome saw, and Sango turns on her scandalized, scolding stance, haltingly calling Inuyasha shameless. Miroku, on the other hand, leans into Inuyasha's impassive face to examine it in disbelief.

Maybe "enlightenment" is the willingness to face the consequences of whatever you do, Miroku. Perhaps try it sometime? If someone is ever inclined to impose consequences on your privileged ass for anything, that is.

In Tokyo, Kagome sits on her bed hanging her head dejectedly. She's going back over the agonizing moment after she had caught Inuyasha's attention, when Inuyasha wouldn't look away from her. She thought he might have been trying to say something to her, but she was too scared to hang tight and listen, so she ran off. Gripping the blanket below, she knows this is because she's convinced that Inuyasha had already made up his mind. With those all-too-familiar panels of Kikyou shooting Inuyasha and her burning on her pyre, Kagome recaps how Inuyasha and Kikyou were brought into hatred by Naraku's trap and Kikyou followed Inuyasha in death. Now Naraku is going after Kikyou yet again, after already having split them up once.

Kagome recalls Inuyasha embracing Kikyou, and him saying that he's the only one who can protect her from Naraku. She lays on her belly so she can transfer her grip to the pillow beneath her head now, thinking it's IMPOSSIBLE for her to get into Inuyasha's heart.

Inuyasha is looking more resolved now, though still in a subdued way when he thinks that he can't leave Kikyou alone. This is why he's decided he can't see Kagome again, can't go back to her world anymore.

Back in Kagome's room, she's still pondering how she can't possibly compete with Kikyou's ultimate sacrifice way back when, abandoning her life for Inuyasha's sake. That might not be an entirely fair assessment of that situation, but the bottom line is, Kagome has already decided as well.

... Soooooooo, how about that sports team? Ehehe...

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? The rift between Inuyasha and Kagome is entirely different from what we've previously seen this time around. It's not a goofy misunderstanding. Neither Inuyasha nor Kagome are being, for the most part, overdramatic teenagers about this situation. Miroku laid it out very clearly when he observed that Inuyasha had a face like Buddha; calm, collected, and accepting of the way things are.

As it stands, Inuyasha can't be in a relationship with Kagome when he needs to stand with Kikyou against the enemy that murdered her fifty years ago. Making Kikyou a priority doesn't necessarily mean picking back up their budding romance, or else perhaps Inuyasha wouldn't look quite SO down about it. However, it might very well mean his death eventually, either in following after Kikyou when she inevitably has to abandon her imitation body (in much the same way Kagome characterizes Kikyou following after Inuyasha initially), or dying in an attempt to save her. Either way, he's committed to taking that leap if needed, and he can't allow himself to move on with Kagome in that case. He can't have his cake and eat it too.

Which is why I agree with Naraku here; Kikyou splitting off from the supportive Inuyasha to go to Naraku's castle alone is VERY interesting. Having a reliable ally against a mutual enemy is a valuable resource, and you would think Kikyou would be extra happy that Inuyasha has insisted on being that resource for her, since she's been pretty much clamoring for him to focus more on her ever since she was brought back from the dead. But she's decided she wants to go off on her own and confront Naraku, even when she has gotten to the point when Inuyasha would accompany her in a flash. It's almost as though she wants to hide the cave-earth-barrier from Inuyasha.

I get the impression that Kikyou is keeping her hand close her her breast because she doesn't actually trust Inuyasha. She's still stuck in her final moments of believing that Inuyasha betrayed her, after all. In a way, she's not exactly wrong. Neither one of them trusted or knew each other well enough in that horrible event for it to occur to either one of them that they were being manipulated by a third party, so in a manner of speaking, they both betrayed one another by jumping to those conclusions. In addition, while Inuyasha is willing to grow his trust in her and unite against their enemy, Kikyou CAN'T move past her shattered fledgling trust in that critical moment of her death. She still CAN'T trust Inuyasha, and if she can't trust Inuyasha, then she'll never include him in her moves against Naraku. Inuyasha is forever shut out.

How's THAT for being stuck between a rock and a barrier of earth?

... I'm sorry, I'll see myself out.