Remember when we left Dokugakuji and Yaone, back at the end of Reload #16? Well, the plot's finally gotten back to them. --in Houtou Castle: as they eat at a table together, Yaone sadly glances at an empty seat. It's been a month since Ni Jienyi took Lord Kougaiji in to treat his wounds, she says, and in all that time we haven't seen him even once; we aren't even allowed to visit him. I'm so worried... then Doctor Ni's voice comes over the intercom, bidding them both come to Rasetsunyo's room; "the little Rabbit Prince" (usagi no ouji-sama), he says, is waiting for them. They find Kougaiji standing gazing up, as he often did, at his trapped mother. In relief, they rush forward, calling his name and asking if he's well; but to their shock, he slaps Doku's hand off his shoulder, and stares through them, as if they aren't there. There's a barcode tattoo on his shoulder. ==Probably best not to touch him, he might kill you, says Ni over the speaker. What do you mean? demands Yaone, and Doku calls to Kou anxiously, but his face is blank.
We see Team Sanzo climbing a mountain path. Gojyo complains that it's no fun hiking with guys. No choice, growls Sanzo, these woods are too dense for Hakuryu to get through. The little dragon agrees, and Gojyo grumbles that he ought to try changing into an airplane sometime. Hakkai urges them to hurry, as they don't want to be caught by nightfall, but Gojyo chooses to stop for a cigarette and the others go on ahead. He's just remarked on the pleasant peace and quiet when a sound makes him look up--at a huge bear looming over him. UH-oh.
Kou kneels at Lady Gyokumen Kyoshu's feet, Doku and Yaone standing helplessly by. She's very pleased with the change in him, saying that he's always looked at her as if she were a roach, but now he'll surely do anything she asks. Ni assures her that's so, and she decides to test him by having him kill the servant who's combing her hair. The poor youkai begs for mercy, but Kou expressionlessly throttles him to death in a moment, before his friends' horrified eyes. Yaone buries her face in her hands.
[You remember, I'm sure, that the first time we met Prince Kou, he refused to fight the Sanzo-ikkou in a village street because of the risk of harming innocent civilians. Human civilians, at that. This...ye gods.]
Ni asks Lady GK how that was, and her only complaint is that he carelessly let blood splash onto her. She orders him to go after the SI and bring her the Maten Sutra, along with one or both of Sanzo's arms; but before that--she holds out the comb dropped by the luckless servant--"comb my hair for me."
Gojyo, running like hell, overtakes the rest of the ikkou, and when they see the bear chasing him they take to their heels as well.
Dokugakuji, furious, storms into Ni's chamber and demands that he return Kou to normal. Normal? asks the doctor, you mean, the weakling who couldn't defeat Son Goku alone? He wanted to be stronger, and the obstacle to that was his weak heart--you knew that yourself. --but what exactly is so important to you? he asks Doku. Your precious prince? or is this just your way of making up for the fact that you could never save your brother from your mother's anger, Sha Jien? [Whew.]==Doku is completely thrown by the realization that Doctor Ni knows this much of his past. [And this is considerably lighter than the manga version, in which Ni says that Kou wanted to kill, not just defeat Goku--AND makes clear that he knows about Doku/Jien's incestuous relationship with his mother...] As he stands stunned, Yaone comes running in with the news that Lady GK has sent Kou after the Sanzo Party, and they'd better go too. They run from the room as Ni chuckles.
Back in the mountain forest, the SI are still being chased by that bear (...sigh. lame. badly animated, too. And makes one wonder when exactly Sanzo forgot how to talk to bears, a notable gift of his in childhood.). Sanzo takes some shots at it but succeeds only in panicking Goku. They flee into a cave and hit a dead end; Sanzo's shot ricochets around the cave causing further slapstick comedy, and Hakkai finally takes the bear out with a ki blast. Gojyo, however, found (1) a passage deeper into the cave and (2) more bears...
As Yaone and Doku's riding-dragons take them in pursuit of the prince, Yaone remembers the day that Kou's mercy saved her from being fed to the Hundred-Eye Demon. It's my turn to save you, she thinks; please wait for me. ==Kougaiji walks into a village being raided by youkai and orders them out of his way; they take exception to his tone and surround him with jeering threats, but the expressionless prince just says "Move."
Hakuryu finally finds the reason the bears are on the rampage--a wounded bear cub lying in the cave--and Hakkai carries the baby out, heals it with ki and gives it back to mama. Yay for cute.
But Yaone looks down aghast at a massacre: dozens of youkai bodies strewn down the village street. She and Doku investigate, and Doku grimly says Kougaiji must have done it--"but this Kou is not the one we know". In his mind's eye Kou walks unconcernedly away from the slaughter, his claws dripping blood. We may be unable to do anything anymore, he tells Yaone. That rabbit bastard was right... He pours out his story to Yaone, saying that when he first met Kou he was so strongly reminded of his younger brother, Gojyo. I tried to repent for not being able to save my brother; I tried to hold onto something else, through Kou...I have no right to protect him, says Doku painfully. But Yaone fetches him a solid slap across the face and angrily calls him a coward, saying she can't forgive that; he and she are the only ones who can help Kougaiji-sama now. Doku, as always, is grounded by her intensity and loyalty, and holds her close, saying he's sorry.
And--oh, for pete's sake--the Sanzo-ikkou is menaced by yet another bear...
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