Sayo
After Kikyou falls from the cliff and out of Inuyasha’s sight, she manages to make her way to a village, where she becomes the shrine maiden and takes care of the injured and weak once again. Kikyou has a strong affinity for children, and is seen teaching a group of small children about medical herbs. She notices that two passing monks have been watching her and calls them out. One of them purposely drops a sutra that will expose a demon’s true form when touched because he can sense that Kikyou is not part of the living world. She can tell what he is up to and hands it back to him, shortly after gathering the children up to return to the village. They all appear to think very highly of her, and when the monk, Sekai, tells her to go back to her proper realm, they make faces and ask Kikyou if monks can be crazy.
She drops the children off one by one at their houses until only one small girl remains. She asks Kikyou if she will teach them more about plants and flowers the following day, but she does not respond. The girl looks concerned, more than likely remembering what Sekai said and asks her if she is going away. Kikyou smiles and asks the girl, whom she calls Sayo, if she likes her. Sayo immediately brightens up and exclaims that she loves her. Kikyou smiles even bigger and tells her that she thinks of Sayo like a sister. Sayo seems extremely pleased and then runs off back home. Kikyou walks off alone, thinking to herself.
Late at night, Sayo is troubled awake with thoughts of how Kikyou looked sad because of the monk. She gets up to get a drink and notices Kikyou walking outside. Curious, Sayo follows Kikyou to a lake and wonders what she is doing. She then remembers what the monk said and hopes that Kikyou will not leave somewhere. Kikyou calls her shinidamachuu and Sayo is surprised that she is with demons like that. Sekai comes and Kikyou asks him to overlook her presence. He says that he cannot and attacks her with a soul bond. Sayo clutches onto the tree, obviously worried about Kikyou’s safety. Kikyou then gets angry and deflects the soul bond, killing Sekai. She then hears a noise and demands to know who is there, only to see Sayo on the ground, cowering in fear. Kikyou approaches her and reaches out to touch her, but Sayo closes her eyes and flinches. Kikyou stops and looks sad, knowing she has frightened the little girl. She apologizes to Sayo and turns to leave. Sayo stands up and says her name, to which Kikyou stops and turns to tell her goodbye and to forgive her.
Kikyou seems to like young children a large amount, as she also played with them when she was still alive in her own village. Though she liked the other children, I believe Kikyou had a strong bond with Sayo because she reminded her of Kaede. She even says that she thinks of Sayo as a sister, and I do not think Kikyou was simply saying that to be nice. When Kikyou asks Sayo what she thinks of her, I think in a way she was wondering what Kaede thinks of her now. Kikyou is confused and doubts herself since she does not belong in the world, and looks to the people who bring her happiness for assurance. Kikyou feels horrible about scaring Sayo because she knew how much the girl looked up to her from their conversation earlier in the day. Even though you can assume they were not together for that long, she was obviously important to Kikyou. Sayo probably made Kikyou feel loved, appreciated and more than likely even alive.
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