Skimming through Book 12

I was browsing the 12th volume mostly to read about Kagetora's and the rest of the Yasha-shu's reaction to Naoe's death. Suffice to say, Kagetora's anguish as he held Naoe's body in the first few pages of book 12 was heart-breaking. A sadness so deep that he used his soul's energy to cry out to Naoe, begging him to answer.

Something that just frustrates me is how Chiaki didn't get to see Kagetora's pain or even heard his 'call.' He did not witness Kagetora's utter helplessness as he sat there holding onto Naoe's corpse in disbelief. He did not see Kagetora's plea to Hojo Ujiyasu to just let him die. And he would probably never realize how much Kagetora is haunted by Naoe's affectionate words ('I love you', 'I'm always here with you', etc). He was in fact completely taken by surprise when Kousaka told him of the incident. I mean, even Hakkai (not the Saiyuki one) heard Kagetora's cry of anguish... It really makes me wonder if Chiaki is just too dense or matter-of-fact.

I'm certain that Chiaki still sees Kagetora as this ruthless person who will stop at nothing to defeat Nobunaga, but my suspicions that he does actually care about bratty Takaya have been cleared. Chiaki does care for Kagetora! :) (and I'm happy ♥) Chiaki hugging Kagetora telling him that he'll not allow any stupidity such as suicide (and in a somewhat choked voice) really made me smile. He had just lost one comrade (Naoe), he wasn't going to lose another (Kagetora).

The end of book 12 is where Kagetora's insanity begins. To put it simply, he wakes up and thinks that Kotarou is Naoe, and behaves like the events of book 11 never happen. The smiling and joyful albeit insane Takaya really breaks Ayako's heart.

By the way, Kagetora does briefly fight Nobunaga in this volume. And this villain is really... The words he used to taunt Kagetora... yikes. Saying things like being stimulated at seeing fear in the eyes of a fierce beast (re: Kagetora) and how he won't let Kagetora die so easily but torture him until he gets his answers, until he hears him moan in pain... Sadistic much? O_O

Anyway, I really should be reading these books in order rather than jumping all over the place.