Episode 14

Kikyo's Stolen Ashes is the fourteenth episode of the InuYasha anime. It first aired in Japan on February 5, 2001.

Synopsis

 * 1) A demon ogress named Urasue steals Kikyō's remains and soil from her grave with hope of resurrecting the deceased miko so that she will do her bidding and find the shards of the Shikon no Tama.

Summary
In the middle of the night in Kaede's village a blue fire flies over. It passes through some trees cutting them down. The rumbling wakes Kaede up and other local villagers. The blue fire lands at and it turns out to be a demon. Kaede shoots an arrow at her, but fails. The demon goes further in to the cemetery, the villagers follow her up the stairs. The Demon has come to Kikyō's tomb. Kaede figures that she's after Kikyō's remains. The demon pulls out her weapon and scratches it like nails on a chalkboard. Kaede shoots another arrow but it is sliced in half and the demon attacks them and the grave-site. She digs her hand into the ground and pulls out a pot and states her name is Urasue before she disappears.

Inuyasha is running the forest until someone calls his voice. He turns around and a sacred arrow strikes him. He thinks the one who called him was Kagome, but it isn't her; it is Kikyō. He then wakes up realizing it was just a dream and looks down to find Kagome and Shippō sleeping soundly by a fire. He decides to sit by Kagome and stares at her thinking how she is almost identical in appearance to Kikyō and wonders if that is the reason why he had the dream. Kagome suddenly wakes up and slaps him in the face. She then asks him if he wanted to talk about something while yawning. Inuyasha then abruptly tells her that she doesn't look anything like Kikyō, confusing Kagome. He then sees Urasue carrying the scent of graveyard soil and Kaede's blood.

The groups returns to village and find Kaede injured. Kaede tells them that Urasue robbed Kikyō's grave-site, and took her ashes. Inuyasha turns away and tells her that Kikyō betrayed him 50 years and can still feel the pain that the arrow pierced his chest; obviously not caring. The flashback shows the event where Inuyasha stealing the jewel and Kikyō pinned him to the sacred tree.

Inuyasha is then sitting by a tree thinking of not the only the scent of Kikyō's ashes but also graveyard soil that Urasue took. Kagome goes to him and tells him they have to go to get back Kikyō's remains and tries to convince him to feel sorry for Kikyō. He turns away from her avoiding eye contact. Kagome then grabs his hair to make him turn to her and demands to know why he hasn't been able to once look her in the eye. She then believes that its because she looks like Kikyō and yells at him when Inuyasha grabs her hand and insists it's not like that with a glimpsed look on his face and attempts to kiss her. Kagome, shocked, shoves him away. She feels confused and finds it hard to believe he tried to kiss her. After a brief argument about her pushing him away so hard, Kaede comes up to them says she fully intends to recover the ashes. Kaede asks Inuyasha in which direction the scent went, and he tells her. Kagome, watching him walk away, feels that it wasn't "her" Inuyasha almost tried to kiss.

Inuyasha leads the directions of the scent of the ashes. Kagome now fully thinks that is wasn't her that Inuyasha was looking into; but Kikyō. That night Kagome lets Kaede sleep in her sleeping bag and Inuyasha tells her to get some sleep as well as they had a big battle the next day. Kagome thinks back to when he almost kissed her and begins to say his name when she sees that he is asleep. The way he is sleeping reminds her of when she first saw him sealed to the tree she first met him. Think back to when he nearly kissed her, she realizes that the look on his face to her wasn't one of hatred in his eyes. She then wonders if he was actually in love with Kikyō.

The following morning Kaede tells Inuyasha the story of Kikyō's grave and that she was a loved one left behind, for she was a powerful priestess. Ever since she died her spirit encourages the villagers to be strong. Kagome then finds it obvious that Inuyasha was in fact in love with Kikyō all along ever since her death. She then suspects that Kikyō perhaps did not return Inuyasha's feelings since she had pinned him to a tree and cast a spell upon him. Her eyes begin to fill up with tears with sympathy for Inuyasha which he sees and lands on her back saying how her sympathetic looks were giving him the creeps. She makes an excuse insisting she was only thinking of something funny. Inuyasha demands answers knowing that wasn't it, but Kagome tells him to forget about it, annoying him.

Beyond the mountains Urasue enters her kilt cave where inside a tomb is surrounded by burning ashes. She throws a plant on top of the tomb and the fires go out. She then stabs a hole into it telling it to "arise" and the stabbing causing the tomb to crack open. The tomb opens and comes out a newly resurrected Kikyō. Urasue reveals how she wants her to retrieve the remaining shards of the jewel for herself and demands that since she brought her back to life she must serve her every wish. The body arises, but isn't able to move. Urasue is at first confused. But she soon realizes that the body has been revived, but the soul has not returned. Urasue then also realizes that Kikyō's soul has been reincarnated into another body, she then angrily throws Kikyō's body to the side. She wonders angrily how she can retrieve the jewels.

In the forest, Inuyasha and the group find tombs all around them. They make it to a bridge which Kagome is scared to cross over. Inuyasha tells her to go wait by the end of the other side they came if she was so scared clearly mocking her. But she refuses to stay "a couple hundred feet above the ground blowing in the wind." He then says to come if she wants before going on his own. Shippō is almost crossing the bridge when on the other side clay soldiers come out of the tombs from back on the ground. Inuyasha, Kagome and everyone realize they are surround. Inuyasha manages to battle and defeat them, but there are too many to take all at once.

Urasue hears the noise outside and decides to see what's going on. She grabs hold of the herb from the clay Kikyō's hand, but the clay Kikyō won't let go of it. The clay figures hears the voices as well. Urasue sees Kagome on the bridge and realizes she is Kikyō's reincarnation. She breaks the bridge causing everyone to fall but grabs Kagome. Kagome demands she release her, but Urasue threatens her saying she has been through too much hard work to give up now and declares she has "plans" for her, plans to bring back Kikyō. Kagome is stunned and says that she "doesn't like the sounds of that."