Episode 186

Kohaku's Shard is the nineteenth episode of InuYasha: The Final Act.

Synopsis

 * 1) Kagome succeeds in passing her high school entrance exam. Wanting a big dinner to celebrate, Kagome hopes she can cook something Inuyasha will appreciate.
 * 2) Back in the Feudal Era, things have been peaceful for the last week; although Kohaku remains unconscious and is ultimately possessed by Magatsuhi.

Summary
Kagome uses a payphone to call home; she happily infroms her mother that she passed her entrance exams. When she asks for a big dinner to celebrate, Kagome is instructed by her mother to get groceries for it. After shopping Kagome wonders if she bought too much, but then thinks Inuyasha being there will help solve getting rid of the excess food. She then has a daydream about him appreciating her cooking, thinking he can be cute sometimes.

At the Higorashi residence, Grandpa is tending to his bonsai garden, feeling relaxed. However, the moment of tranquility is broken when Inuyasha lands right on top of his bonsai trees. Inuyasha complains about Kagome being late, contemplating goign to look for her. However, he then covers his nose in pain; Grandpa is cooking a foul-smelling fish and fanning the smell at him - "Hurt my bonsai, and suffer my wrath!" Grandpa explains that he's been charged with keeping Inuyasha there to ensure he stays out of trouble. Sota returns home from school, wondering what the two of them are doing; he explains Kagome is shopping for dinner. Hearing this, Inuyasha gets an idea and runs off.

Kagome returns home later, being shocked to find pigeons flying around the inside. Inuyasha greets her, saying that he heard about her shopping and wanted to help get ingrediants. (No doubt, she immediately has him get rid of the birds.) In the kitchen, it's revealed Inuyasha has also stolen koi from someone's backyard. Kagome demands that he return them. Despite trying to protest, Inuyasha is frightened by Kagome into complying. Mrs. Higorashi screams about a cockroach in the kitchen. Grandpa runs in with a newspaper, ready to kill it. However, Inuyasha has drawn Tessaia to slay the pest; he blasts it with the Wind Scar, leaving a hole in the kitchen wall and tons of broken pipes. Kagome is left stunned by his inability to think things through, while Inuyasha realizes he's just done somethng that warrants a Sit! command.

In the Feudal Era, Sesshōmaru is tracking Magatsuhi's scent. Byakuya of the Dreams appears before him on his origami crane; he is left confused by Sesshōmaru's new arm, wondering if it grew back. Sesshōmaru dismisses the annoying pest, who flies away from him; Byakuya says he knows it's Magatsuhi that Sesshōmaru is after, revealing him. Sesshōmaru lands a blow on Magatsuhi with Tenseiga, only to watch in shock as the wound closes; he continues slashing away at Magatsuhi in a futile attempt to slay him. Byakuya only laughs to himself, thinking about how the Magatsuhi in front of Sesshōmaru is nothing more than an illusion of his, and that the real one is "right back where you started."

In Kaede's village, Jaken is left amazed that Kohaku can continue to sleep without food or water (it's been well over a week); Rin says sleep is good for children, as it helps them grow. She then guesses Jaken didn't sleep a lot because of his size; he immediately defends himself. Tending to her unconscious brother, Sango finds the irony in getting spend so much to time with Kohaku now that he's unconscious. Outside, Miroku shows the village children he can write, but one of them notices all the words Miroku is writing are about girls - "princess, sister, elder sister".

A shadow covers the village, forcing Miroku to send the children away from their safety as demons begin emerging from the clouds. He is left to wonder if they're working for Naraku or Magatsuhi; Miroku opens his Wind Tunnel, sucking in demons. Sango rushes outside, knowing his wound will open again if he pushes himself too far, and tosses Hiraikotsu to destroy some of the demons. However, Miroku notices the shadow is still with them, meaning that these demons are nothing more than a distraction for the two of them; Kohaku is the real target.

Inside Kaede's house, Rin sees a shadow creep up from the entrance as Magatsuhi appears behind Kohaku. Miroku and Sango enter to see Magatsuhi possessed Kohaku; he explains within the boy is the final shard that will complete the jewel. Having taken control of Kohaku, Magatsuhi now knows the boy's life is sustained by the shard. Sango demands Magatsuhi give Kohaku back, to which he says he will... if she doesn't mind a corpse once the shard is gone. When Miroku and Sango threaten to stop him, Magatsuhi summons demons that destroy Kaede's house. Transforming Kohaku's weapon, Magatsuhi taunts Sango in the boy's voice, saying he will kill her. He swings the weapon forward, but she blocks it with Hiraikotsu; he alters the weapon again, making it stab her in the exact same spot Kohaku had struck her the first time.

Miroku prepares to unleash his Wind Tunnel, making Magatsuhi wonder if he'll pull Kohaku to his death; however, Miroku grabs Kohaku once he's close enough and sucks in Magatsuhi's spirit form. However, Kohaku remains possessed. Magatsuhi asks Miroku what he hoped to accomplish, explaining that his power is infinite so long as the defiled shard is there. However  Miroku sucked in something no human was meant to take in - the poison of evil spirits. Miroku convulses as blood comes out of his mouth. Rin runs to Kohaku, hoping to bring him back to his sense, despite Jaken's warnings; she ends up poisoned by Magatsuhi's evil aura. Magatsuhi takes off on a demon's back, to give Naraku the shard.

At that time, Inuyasha and Kagome return from the present; she's still angry with him for ruining dinner. Inuyasha says he already apologised for his actions, helping her out of the well. Kagome then senses something wrong; Inuyasha smells blood and poison from Kaede's house. They rush there to find it in ruins. Kagome tends to Sango while Inuyasha checks on Miroku; the monk says he doesn't have much time. Inuyasha looks under Miroku's robe to see the miasma scar has started reaching his heart. Miroku reminds Inuyasha that the Master of Potions' medicine prevents him from feeling pain; however, this is lead to him sucking in too much miasma. To her horror, Sango can hear Miroku's Wind Tunnel even when it's closed; Miroku is left to wonder if it will be his Wind Tunnel or Magatsuhi's poison that kills him first.

Inuyasha and Kagome race after Kohaku; she's worried because the shard has been defiled into a shade of black far worse than before thanks to Magatsuhi possessing Kohaku. Kagome hopes she can still purify the Shikon shard.

Back in the village, Sango changes into her demon slayer uniform, despite the pain of her injuries. She tells a concerned Shippō that killing Naraku will not only save Kohaku but Miroku as well. In a hut, Kaede and Jaken watch over Miroku and Rin; Jaken fears Sesshōmaru will severly punish him for not being able to protect Rin. Sango arrives at that moment, making Jaken think it's Sesshōmaru; he begs forgiveness until he realizes his mistake. Sango asks Kaede how Miroku's doing, only to hear he's not in any pain; she begins crying because the Master of Potions' medicine is what pushed Miroku to the point of tearing his Wind Tunnel open. She asks Kaede to give them privacy. Walking away, Jaken demands to know why they were chased out. However, Kaede, who is carrying Rin, pays him no mind; she simply says she'll create an infusion to ward evil spirits for Rin. Inside the hut, a tearful Sango begs Miroku to live, giving him a kiss.

Elsewhere, Sesshomaru finally comes a realization as to why Tenseiga hasn't been able to wound his enemy; the Magatsuhi that he's been attempting to destroy is nothing more than an illusion created by Byakuya of the Dreams. He then flies up to Byakuya, giving a swipe of his claw; Byakuya turns away from the attack, losing his Illusion Gourd to the strike. A piece of flesh falls out of the destroyed container, making Sesshomaru realize it was the source of the scent. Byakuya explains the reason for the ruse, saying Sesshomaru should entertain him for bit longer; he summons an army of demons. Sesshomaru asks if Byakuya really thinks he can impede him with weaklings like these, to which Byakuya says is why he gathered 1000 of them. However, in one swipe of Bakusaiga, the army of demons is gone. With an eye twitching, a stunned Byakuya looks on in disbelief - "All of them at the same time!?"

Farther away, Inuyasha and Kagome see appendages coming out of the clouds and realize they belong to Naraku. Inuyasha destroys the head of the demon Kohaku is riding on with Adamant Barrage. Magatsuhi corrupts Kohaku's weapon again, using it to keep himself off the ground; he asks if they've come to take back the shard. Kagome attempts firing an arrow to purify the shard, but Magatsuhi's mere aura bounces it away; he taunts her for not remembering that he sealed her powers. If they try stopping him from giving Naraku the shard, he'll dismember Kohaku; it won't hurt him because he's immaterial. Magatsuhi claims Kikyō's magic can't affect him, telling them to watch as the jewel is completed.

Inuyasha races up the weapon, telling Kohaku to snap out it; however, Magatsuhi pins him in place. He laughs at the idea, saying if they could see what the defiled shard has been showing Kohaku since he fell unconscious, they'd understand why it's better to let him die. The shard is making Kohaku relive the day Naraku forced him to slaughter his father and comrades, hurting Sango in the process. Magatsuhi says if Kohaku were to wake up, his soul will be broken; however, he then says the damage is already done as Kohaku cries blood. Arriving, Sango calls to Kohaku, telling him to wake up despite the pain the dreams are giving him; Magatsuhi only taunts her with Kohaku's voice.

In Kohaku's dream, he begs for help after reliving his worst nightmare for so long; a lone Soul Collector appears and leads him to a glowing portal outside Naraku's castle. Once through the light, he sees Sango looking after Miroku; Kohaku is glad she's safe. However, he then has an infusion of memories from when Magatsuhi possessed him, horrified he's hurt his sister again, not to mention forced Miroku to put his life on the line to save him for her sake. Sango turns around and begs Kohaku to save Miroku; Kohaku asks if he can, and she tells him he can because he's her brother.

Kohaku breaks free of Magatsuhi's spell awakening and wiping his tears away; Sango is relieved her brother has come back. Kagome sees that Kikyō's light has now entered Kohaku's shard, telling Magatsuhi his claim was a bit premature. Grabbing the edge of his transformed weapon, Kohaku asks Magatsuhi if he's ready to die; Kohaku is planning to commit suicide and make his body unusable as a vessel for the spirit by jumping into a canyon. Magatsuhi says he won't be hurt and he will still be able to manipulate Kohaku's corpse to give Naraku the shard. However, Kohaku tells him that won't happen as his sister and Inuyasha will stop him. Resigned to death, Kohaku jumps. Sango and Inuyasha chase after him; Inuyasha thinks Kohaku is crazy. Kohaku thanks everyone for what they've done for him as Magatsuhi is forced out of his body by Kikyō's light. Magatsuhi only curses Kohaku, for now he's exposed.

The episode ends with far shot of Kohaku mid-fall, and Sango's echoing voice calling his name.