Yet another barrier. According to the wording though, this one seems belong to the TOWN rather than Naraku and his minions this time. It's about time someone else figured out they can take some defensive measures against him like he does against them, although, I must admit, I do still wince a little at the word "barrier" at this point. They pop up so often in this story, it's a wonder that everyone doesn't have their own little bubble of protection.
I mean, at the very least, THESE guys should all have their own barrier by now. With how often Naraku messes with them in particular.
Miroku plays the role of GPS, assuring the group that they've gotten over the pass, and should be arriving in Hijiri-sama's town soon. Kagome in particular is eager to get to the town, to learn a bit more about Hijiri-sama, brows drawn down in a rare expression of agitation. Clearly, she still has her suspicions as to the identity of this person who fired the arrow that broke Hakudoushi's barrier, but she doesn't voice them, even in her inner dialog.
Cut to a village landscape over which a large cloud of flying vampire creatures is flocking. They descend on a certain spot, but are repelled in the air by a, surprise, BARRIER.
A very Hitchcock vibe going on here.
With a mass of cringing villagers behind her, another little child, much like the one that was with "Hijiri" in the previous couple of chapters, dispassionately tells them all not to move from this cave. A stuttered affirmation is muttered among the crowd, but someone else also expresses their nervousness over Hijiri-sama not having returned yet.
In the air, Abi scoffs at the barrier, calling it impudent. She smirks, observing that humans are sturdy in a group, so she suggests that they cause the individuals in the barrier to scatter. As per precedent, the vampire birds burst into flame, and start surrounding the barrier various points. The villagers inside, understandably, are very disturbed by the creatures being on fire and being surrounded by flames, and panic, convinced that they'll be roasted alive. A small group of men cry that they can't take this, spot a small spot where there aren't flames, and make a break for it with the intention of escaping the frying pan. The child at the head of the congregation delivers a toneless command not to leave the barrier, trailing in a statement of what will happen once they do. Probably because it pretty much immediately happened the moment these guys stepped outside.
While a majority of the runners get instantly mummified by the blood being drained from them in record time, one man is still fleeing a couple of vampire birds in pursuit. Thankfully, he's saved by them being ripped apart by a speeding arrow, fired by the "mysterious" shrouded figure on horseback that is known as Hijiri-sama, galloping in to save the day. Those in the barrier express a little relief that Hijiri-sama is back, and plea for Hijiri to save them now that they have shown up. No time to relax; the work of a quasi-religious savior figure is never done.
Hijiri-sama leans over their horse's neck in their urgency to reach the refugees in the cave, and Abi recognizes them as the person who put up this barrier. She points her vampire creatures toward Hijiri, commanding them to KILL. Hijiri wastes no time aiming another arrow up into the very heart of the flock.
TOTAL. ANNIHILATION.
Abi is flabbergasted. The refugees stutter in their relief and shock that the vampires were destroyed, and they are saved. In growing petulant anger, Abi curses and wonders aloud what is going on here, realizing she's had no end of trouble since she got tangled up with Naraku. Hijiri is now aiming another arrow at her, and with another curse, she disappears in a flicker of flame.
Now that they can see the threat has gone, and it's due to Hijiri's power, they bow and express their gratitude as Hijiri rides up at a much more leisurely pace. Hijiri says nothing (big surprise), looking up at the sky in silence.
Narrow sky transition panel! Inuyasha and company are rolling into town, the town they have been heading for since their confrontation with Hakudoushi at the pass. The first thing they notice is the multitude of vampire creature parts littering the ground.
"Or to save their tomato crop. Either way, works for us."
Anyway, they say they're real grateful, and add in a bit of a rapid change of subject that a single arrow took the whole flock out. The inuyasha group, with Kagome at the forefront, kind of stare speechlessly, the phrase about just one arrow looming in its thought bubble above them. Eventually, Kagome is the first to find her voice, asking haltingly where Hijiri-sama is, which seems to surprise Inuyasha a little as he looks around at her. The villagers they are talking to inform them that Hijiri has left the area, like this is the most obvious thing in the world. It seems, despite this place being Hijiri-sama's town, that Hijiri spends the minimal amount of time here possible, lol.
Kagome makes a questioning noise, so the villagers elaborate with a quote from Hijiri about going to find the vampire nest and destroy it. Miroku says they must have JUST missed each other, and came close to even passing one another on the road. Kagome gives Inuyasha a bit of a side-eye, asking him if they should try to go after, and when Inuyasha asks if she means after Hijiri, she responds...
She is rather blunt, isn't she?
Inuyasha just kind of looks down contemplatively, Miroku quietly waiting for the delicate conversation to develop, and Sango/Shippou hanging in the background thinking about poor Kagome. No one is giving much thought to Inuyasha, who is really turning this conundrum over in his head. He at first asserts that Naraku killed Kikyou, but when he really examines what he knows about the event, he has to admit that he didn't SEE it or Kikyou's remains. He just saw the broken bow on the ground. He does wonder why Kikyou wouldn't let him know if she WAS alive. I can think of a couple of reasons, but we'll just see where this goes.
If you take too terribly much longer about this, kid, you're going to miss your window to follow Hijiri, no matter who the hell they are.
Meanwhile, the rest of the group sits around a fire and chills for a minute. Sango says that Kagome is very brave for saying what she said, and after asking for confirmation that she's talking about Kagome pointing out Hijiri could be Kikyou, Miroku makes the unconcerned statement that if it really IS Kikyou, they'll cross paths eventually. Since they're all searching for the vampire bird nest, it's more than likely. Wow, it's one of those rare moments these days where I can agree with Miroku and NOT be annoyed by him! How novel!
Sango also agrees, but admits to worrying about how "unsteady" Inuyasha will get if he meets up with Kikyou, presumably in regards to his relationship with Kagome. 15-year-olds gonna 15-year-old, I don't know what to tell you, girl. Sango says Kagome will forgive him if this happens, as she always does, but she briefly voices a fantasy of pushing him off a cliff and causing permanent injuries to his legs if she were in Kagome's place, which... is CONCERNING. Miroku sweatdrops, asking her not to say that with such a serious expression. In the spirit of the conversation of hypotheticals, if I were him, I would be VERY NERVOUS right now.
Kagome and Inuyasha sit on the edge of a short cliff, so Sango may get her wish here. There's a little distance between them as Inuyasha asks Kagome if she's okay with this. Not that she has much of a choice. Facts are facts, after all, and when they find out Hijiri's identity, there won't be any room to disagree with it. At first, Kagome pretends not to know what he's talking about, but then turns his own question back on him, asking what he'll do if they discover Hijiri is Kikyou. After a pause, he says he doesn't know, turning his face away when Kagome looks over at him. She turns the opposite way as well, thinking that he's being rather blunt. She's certainly one to talk, isn't she?
Inuyasha does know one thing, though: that if Hijiri is Kikyou, then that means the bastard Naraku failed to take her life. Kagome stares at him in mild surprise.
I mean, he's trying to kill ALL of you. Kikyou isn't really unique in that regard.
So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I'm glad that Abi is finally starting to realize that teaming up with Naraku might not have been the best move on her part. He really doesn't have a single thing to offer in this partnership, at least not anything that isn't there to simply counteract the consequences of his own interference. He promised her a bit more efficiency in her task, but really seems to have delivered LESS. If he were doing business today, his Google Reviews page would be FLOODED with negatives. I'm just surprised that it took Miss Abi so long to figure out that he is giving her absolutely NOTHING, because from the moment he showed up, he was already promising her very little.
And, of course, the Kikyou drama has rekindled in full once again. Honestly, it's a shame, because I can kind of see why RT would have to bring Kikyou back in this instance - the thing that is still most effective against Naraku and his incarnations are her arrows covered in her own graveyard dirt. On the other hand, she can't bring Kikyou back without bringing back the tension that there is between her, Kagome, and Inuyasha. It's an unfortunate side-effect, because nobody really likes this drama. It's not a FUN kind of drama. It's the kind of drama where you just feel awkward and weird for all of the characters involved, especially when you're about the same age as them, and you can kind of see yourself in ALL of their positions.
It doesn't help that this is proving to be very strangely written. At first, it seems like RT is trying to obscure the fact that Hijiri is Kikyou, despite how obvious that silhouette is under the cowl, so she has Inuyasha say he doesn't smell Kikyou on the arrow she leaves behind. Then in the very next installment, they've all pretty much come to terms with the fact that this is very likely Kikyou, so that small act of hiding it seems to be utterly useless. Like I said above, I can think of a few reasons why Kikyou MIGHT want to fly under the radar right now, since everyone thinking you're dead is excellent cover to continue sabotaging your enemy. If she told Inuyasha and company that she was still alive, it would only be a matter of time before Naraku found out too. After all, two can keep a secret if one of them is dead.
And yet, Kikyou as a character just isn't doing a good job staying on the down-low. She's doing such a BAD job that the reader has pretty much figured it out right away, and the characters very soon after. The secrecy ultimately did little but to fill space, and that my attitude toward it is evolving much the same way as Abi's attitude toward Naraku - it promised very little, and ultimately gave me disappointment.
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