Hitomiko

was a miko admired for her power. She was forced by Naraku to trap Kagome Higurashi in an attempt to take her life. However, she was saved from Naraku's grasp by Kagome, though she later died from injuries she had suffered from Naraku days earlier.

Prior to the story
Fifteen years before the start of the series, Naraku didn't want to have future problems with Hitomiko's spiritual powers, so he attempted to kill her. At the time, she was just a child who lived in a village, playing a children's game called "Kagome Kagome" with her friends. When they stop, the person has to name whoever is standing directly behind them, but it was Naraku. Even at a young age, Hitomiko's powers were enough to not only protect her with a barrier, but cause Naraku to flee. But before he did, Hitomiko watched her friends and master murdered before her very eyes by Naraku because she could only protect herself with the barrier. Before her master died, he told her about the growing threats that surrounded her and upcoming training she must have in order to protect her own life.

During the story
After fifteen years have passed, Naraku once again made an attempt on Hitomiko's life. Not knowing that the sick villager was a trap, she attempted to help. However, just as she bent down to examine the sick villager, webs shot out from his mouth and captured her. She was able to destroy most of the threads with her powers, but it was too late as one of the threads had attached to her back. This incident eventually weakened Hitomiko. As she laid in her death bed, she ordered the villagers to sever her head from her body and bury them separately to prevent anyone from tampering with her body. After she spoke those final words, Hitomiko died. Despite her dying wishes, the villagers didn't sever her head because they thought it would be disrespectful, so they buried her whole.

Under Naraku's Control
A few days later, Kagome spotted Naraku's spiderwebs from a distance and the group rushed over to the location. There, they asked the villagers outside if anything strange had happened in the past few days. As they listened, Hitomiko's swift appearance interrupted the story, causing the villagers to be shocked and frightened though Inuyasha informed them that it was just a corpse. After that comment, spiderwebs appeared out of nowhere and they were attached to her body. Hitomiko told Kagome to leave the village or she would eventually take her life. Inuyasha attacked her with Tessaiga and severed some of the webs, but she warned that they cannot destroy her by severing the webs, and disappeared.

After she disappeared, Hitomiko was tied in Naraku's webs. After he had said that she couldn't defeat him because he had the sacred Shikon Jewel, he told her he had only one task for her: steal Kagome's spiritual powers and kill her. She used the webs to shoot out and pull Kagome into the gates of the village where the others couldn't reach her. There was a strong barrier set up that even Inuyasha could not break. After capturing Kagome, Hitomiko pondered on why Naraku wanted her to take Kagome's apparent weak powers. She cut Kagome and used her blood to trap the young priestess in a circle of her own blood, preventing her from escaping. Despite this, Kagome shot an arrow at Naraku and only then did Hitomiko realize that his goal was for her to take the spiritual powers from Kagome's bow. She told Kagome how she was merely aiming and releasing instead of properly using the bow's power, secretly talking Kagome through the proper way of using the bow's spiritual powers. Hitomiko gave her a choice, to leave the bow and depart, for she didn't want to kill her. Kagome instead, ran out of the house to find more webs around the area. There was no escape.

Hitomiko walked out and Naraku wrapped his webs around her neck and revealed the spider residing in Hitomiko's chest. Kagome was given two choices by Naraku: kill Hitomiko, knowing that the older priestess would be sent to Hell but save herself and corrupt her heart in the process; or allow Hitomiko to kill her. Naraku took over Hitomiko's body and took Kagome to what she said was Hell. There, she continuously asked Kagome why she is called Kagome, saying that the name "Kagome" holds a strong power in it, but if Kagome's fate was to be incinerated by the flames of Hell if she couldn't understand that. During this, Hitomiko's appearance became more demonic, gaining fangs and her hands became more like claws. When Kagome failed to give her an answer, she became angry and yelled at Kagome, asking her how she planned on saving her when she had no power. Kagome claimed that when Hitomiko was choking her, she could feel a strong emotion: deep sorrow.

Kagome thought back to when she was younger, the game her friends would always make fun of her name for, the children's game, "Kagome Kagome". She recalled how she always knew exactly who was behind her even though she didn't know how. Remembering that, she applied it to her current situation, visualizing in her mind that Naraku was the one who was truly before her, instead of Hitomiko. Once Kagome realized her true powers and pierced Naraku with her arrow, Hitomiko was set free from his control. A light then enveloped her and the webs that once covered her shrine disappeared. Before she was able to die in peace, Hitomiko told Kagome that something was sealing her powers. Her dying words to Kagome were about how she was a mysterious girl, particularly her name and her powers.

Physical description
Hitomiko had pale skin, brown eyes, and long straight black hair with bits of hair framed inward towards her face. There was a split in the middle of her widow's peak and she let a streak of hair on both sides frame her face in front of her shoulders. When she was younger, her hair was cut short just below her chin.

Outfit
Hitomiko wore the traditional attire of a miko and a chihaya over her miko attire. Her attire contains a necklace of beads and strings called muna-himo, which were attached to each lapel and tied in front to keep the garment closed.

Powers & Abilities

 * Immense Spiritual Power: Hitomiko was regarded for having a high level of spiritual power, even during her childhood. Her spiritual powers were equivalent in strength and scope to those of Kikyō's, being often complimented for it. This is why Naraku considers her a threat to him.
 * Spiritual Barrier: Hitomiko was able to create a barrier around her, being strong enough to prevent Naraku's miasma from killing her, even at a young age. After Naraku had killed her and she was under his control, her barriers were strong enough to prevent even the red Tessaiga from breaking through it. The bells that were attached to spiderwebs around the barrier were the ones that held the barrier together.
 * Curses: Hitomiko was able to use a spell to make Naraku flee in her youth. She was also able to use her victim's blood to make flames that intensify whenever they approached them.

Weapons

 * Kagura Suzu: Hitomiko used bells called , which have been shown to work only when they have the blood of the victim, who would be cut with the spiritual powers that came out of them and trapped in an energy ring, preventing them from moving. If the bells had these abilities before Naraku took control of her are unknown.
 * When the bells are intertwined with Naraku's webs, they use the target's blood to burn them if they step close to them.

Manga vs. Anime

 * The flashback of Hitomiko being confronted by Naraku as a child is not present in the manga.

Trivia

 * Hitomiko's seiyū, Fumiko Orikasa, also voiced four other characters in the anime series InuYasha: Enju, Sara Asano, Asagi and Nazuna.

Media appearances
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Manga

 * Chapter 507
 * Chapter 508
 * Chapter 509
 * Chapter 510
 * Chapter 511
 * Chapter 512
 * Chapter 519
 * Chapter 543

Anime
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 * Episode 16 (FA)
 * Episode 17 (FA)
 * Episode 23 (FA)