Episode 151

Kagome's Instinctive Choice is the 151st episode of the InuYasha anime.

Plot
In a town, women gossip, discussing the strange happenings at the birth of the new lord. All the vassals in the birthing room are dead under strange circumstances, and they wonder if demons are responsible. The lord is happy to have an heir.

Meanwhile, Sango, Miroku and Shippo finally manage to destrory the remaning demons and meet up with Inuyasha who finds them. Inuyasha, realizing Kagome was not with them, asks where Kagome is. They then tell him how Kagome followed soul collectors and how she passed through a barrier and hasn't been seen or heard from since. Inuyasha, realizing the soul collectors are Kikyo's, demands to be taken to the barrier.

Kagome, during this, finds Kikyo in a small water hole below a waterfall. Kikyo's helpers explain to her that Kikyo is being poisoned by Naraku's miasma, and that Kagome is the only one who can save Kikyo. They tell Kagome that all she must do is touch Kikyo to purify the miasma and heal her wound, but tell her she must make the choice whether or not to save her soul. Kagome instantly says she will; somewhat surprising her helpers before she jumps into the water and reaches out to touch Kikyo. Kagome grabs a hold on Kikyo and tries to heal her, but as she begins to purify her, she sees the miasma is pushing away the purification. Kikyo's helpers reveal that darkness makes the miasma stronger and Kagome must save Kikyo before the sun sets.

Suddenly, as Kagome struggles to save Kikyo, she then sees the last day of Kikyo's life when Naraku tricked Kikyo and Inuyasha into believing they had betrayed one another. As she watches the vision, her helpers fear she will not make it in time as Kikyo's soul is already beginning to fade away.

Shippo, Miroku and Sango lead Inuyasha to the barrier where Kagome vanished behind and they search for her. But they cannot pass through the barrier. Kagome struggles to purify Kikyo and silently chants for her to hang on as Inuyasha "really wants to see her [Kikyo] again, so just hang in there." Kikyo then begins to awaken and Kagome then silently thinks, "You want to see Inuyasha too. You do, right?" Finally Kagome fully purifies the miasma from Kikyo's body and saves Kikyo's soul. Physically exhausted however, Kagome passes out as Kikyo fully awakens.

When she awakens, she is laying next to the waterfall beside her bag, and Kikyo and her helpers are standing nearby. Kikyo then asks Kagome why she saved her, surprising Kagome, as she had a choice. Kagome then says how everyone keeps telling her that but that it "hardly boiled down to a matter of choice." Kikyo says nothing and Kagome directly stated, "If there's a person right there who I can save and I'm told she can only be saved by me, of course I choose to save her." This causes Kikyo to bluntly say that she's not going to thank her for saving her since she "made the choice." This also surprises Kagome, but she says nothing. Kikyo then asks if she saw anything while she was in the water, but when Kagome asks what she means, she then begins to leave. Kagome asks where she was going and Kikyo explains that Inuyasha was going to be there soon and he will be looking for her (Kagome). She then adds on that she will go into hiding for a little while in order to restore her strength and she leaves going into the woods. Kagome then yells after her asking about Inuyasha and if she will even bother to see him, but Kikyo leaves. Kagome then stares after her thinking how Inuyasha has thought about no one but Kikyo since realizing she would be alive and then admits that Kikyo is the one Inuyasha wants, and chooses, to be with.

Inuyasha then catches the sound of the waterfall and quickly flees to Kagome's location as the others follow him realizing that the barrier has finally broken. Meanwhile, Kagome is sitting by the waterfall in deep thought about the "choice" she made to save Kikyo's soul wondering if it had been a test. She then wonders if it was about Inuyasha and if Kikyo's helpers thought she wouldn't save Kikyo since she was in her way with Inuyasha. This infuriates her, furiously wondering how they thought she could be so "awful."

Inuyasha then arrives and is relieved to see she is alright as well as the others. Inuyasha then sniffs around clearly looking for Kikyo's scent. Kagome bluntly states Kikyo has already left and then says she tried to get her to stay to see him, surprising Inuyasha. Kagome then sadly realizes Inuyasha is happy about Kikyo and urges him to go after her; silently making the others uncomfortable for her. Miroku then asks Inuyasha what he is going to do; follow Kikyo or not. However Inuyasha asks Kagome if something happened between her and Kikyo and she recalls saving Kikyo's life wondering how she could suddenly feel so horrible when she had been so determined to save Kikyo then. Inuyasha then bluntly asks what her "problem" was and Kagome snaps yelling at him that the whole mess with his fault before declaring she hates him, clearly hurting him.

That following night, the others suggest Inuyasha apologize to Kagome and when he asks what for Sango states at how "sad and dejected" Kagome was and Miroku asks if he was sure he wasn't going to follow Kikyo. Inuyasha says that was hardly a given option with Kagome's current emotional state. Sango then asks him that if Kagome had "sent him off with smile," would he have gone. Inuyasha then clearly becomes uncomfortable. During this conversation, Kagome is guilt-ridden for snapping at Inuyasha and fears he must hate her. When she looks up Inuyasha is there and he asks if she is still mad at him and Kagome asks him if he was going after Kikyo. This causes him to talk about how he found out how "The Holy one" was really Kikyo's puppet and that the real Kikyo was overcome by Naraku's miasma and her life was nearing its end; he then asks how Kikyo was when she was with her. Kagome then explains how Kikyo was before telling him that she purified the miasma and it seemed she will be fine. Inuyasha is stunned that Kagome saved Kikyo's life.

Kagome encourages him to follow Kikyo again, but this time Inuyasha flat out refuses to as Kagome had saved her life, verifying she must be fine, and won't go after her. Kagome asks if he was sure and Inuyasha then insists he was. He then changes the subject by demanding that she "take back what she said earlier." Kagome asks what he meant and Inuyasha says not to pretend she forgot she said she hated him. Kagome then pretends as if she did forget and Inuyasha says clearly upset, "Do you have any idea how much that hurt?!" The others then watch nearby as Sango then comments, "So it did bother him."

In the end of the episode, as Kikyo walks through the woods she says there was no uncertainty in Kagome's heart when she saved her because if there was, then the wound in her chest would not have healed. She then thinks how she could still feel Kagome's "warm touch," as the episode ends.