Episode 151

Kagome's Instinctive Choice is the one hundred fifty-first episode of the InuYasha anime.

Synopsis

 * 1) As Kagome looks on at an unconscious Kikyō, her two assistants, Kochō and Asuka, tell her that she must decide whether or not to save Kikyō, which Kagome responds that she has no choice but to do so, as she is apparently the only one who can save Kikyō; they tell Kagome all she has to do is touch Kikyō and the shōki coursing through her will purify.
 * 2) Kagome enters the water and touches Kikyō, but the shōki does not purify; Kagome then seemingly enters Kikyō's thoughts and sees a flashback of when Naraku, disguised as Inuyasha, mortally wounded Kikyō 50 years prior, leading Kagome to understand that Kikyō's soul is unable to move passed this moment in time.
 * 3) Fortunately, Kagome is able to purify the shōki ravaging Kikyō's body, saving her life; Kikyō leaves soon after and Inuyasha and the others arrive on the scene and an upset Kagome tells Inuyasha to go after Kikyō, but Inuyasha declines saying that since Kagome saved her, he does not need to search for her. Later Kikyō thinks of how if there were any uncertainty from Kagome, it wouldn't have worked. And she can still feel the warmth from her.

Summary
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 Shippō finally manage to destroy the remaining 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 Kikyō's, demands to be taken to the barrier.

Kagome, during this, finds Kikyō in a small water hole below a waterfall. Kikyō's helpers explain to her that Kikyō is being poisoned by Naraku's miasma, and that Kagome is the only one who can save Kikyō. They tell Kagome that all she must do is touch Kikyō 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 Kikyō. Kagome grabs a hold on Kikyō and tries to heal her, but as she begins to purify her, she sees the miasma is pushing away the purification. Kikyō's helpers reveal that darkness makes the miasma stronger and Kagome must save Kikyō before the sun sets.

Suddenly, as Kagome struggles to save Kikyō, she then sees the last day of Kikyō's life when Naraku tricked Kikyō 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 Kikyō's soul is already beginning to fade away.

Shippō, 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 Kikyō and silently chants for her to hang on as Inuyasha "really wants to see her [Kikyō] again, so just hang in there." Kikyō 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 Kikyō's body and saves her soul. Physically exhausted however, Kagome passes out as Kikyō fully awakens.

When she awakens, she is laying next to the waterfall beside her bag, and Kikyō and her helpers are standing nearby. Kikyō 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." Kikyō 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 Kikyō 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. Kikyō 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 Kikyō 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 Kikyō leaves. Kagome then stares after her thinking how Inuyasha has thought about no one but Kikyō since realizing she might be alive and then admits that Kikyō 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 Kikyō's soul wondering if it had been a test. She then wonders if it was about Inuyasha and if Kikyō's helpers thought she wouldn't save Kikyō since she was "in her way" with Inuyasha as her rival for his affections. 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 Kikyō's scent. Kagome bluntly states Kikyō 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 Kikyō 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 Kikyō or not. However Inuyasha asks Kagome if something happened between her and Kikyō and she recalls saving Kikyō's life wondering how she could suddenly feel so horrible when she had been so determined to save Kikyō 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 Kikyō. 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 Kikyō. This causes him to talk about how he found out how "The Holy one" was really Kikyō's puppet and that the real Kikyō was overcome by Naraku's miasma and her life was nearing its end; he then asks how Kikyō was when she was with her. Kagome then explains how Kikyō was before telling him that she purified the miasma and it seems that she will be fine. Inuyasha is stunned that Kagome saved Kikyō's life.

Kagome encourages him to follow Kikyō again, but this time Inuyasha flat out refuses to because 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."

At the end of the episode, as Kikyō 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.