With a hostile and temperamental personality, the titular protagonist of Inuyasha is a classic tsundere male lead. As such, he often finds it difficult to express his emotions and deliberately tries to hide how he truly feels. As the human teen Kagome grows closer to the half-demon, she struggles to navigate her blossoming feelings for him when his own are typically unclear.
Despite a past that makes him distrusting and wary of humans, Inuyasha grows attached to Kagome as they follow their shared mission to collect the Shikon Jewel shards in the Feudal Era. While fans are often left uncertain of Inuyasha's feelings due to his contradicting actions and indecisive heart, here are five times he let his true feelings for Kagome show.
Inuyasha Treats Kagome's Cold
When Kagome is sick in her own modern time, Inuyasha visits her and tries to take care of her himself. He makes a Feudal-Era medicine from fresh ingredients he fought various demons to collect, hoping it would cure her cold. It's the same medicinal recipe his mother used to make, so he's treating Kagome in the best way he knows how.
Inuyasha insists she get some sleep and sits by her bedside to watch over her. While Kagome sleeps, he looks through her photo albums lying in her room in an effort to understand her better. The natural instinct to nurture sick loved ones reveals how worried Inuyasha is about Kagome's well-being.
Inuyasha Cries for the First Time
In Season 4, Episode 25, Inuyasha moves Kagome, Miroku, and Sango's bodies away from a burning building. He and Shippō believe they're dead as they move them to an open clearing. Inuyasha leaves Shippō to take his anger out on the nearby forest while cursing himself for letting his friends die, revealing his raw feelings of pain and grief to the audience.
When he returns to the clearing and finds Shippō crying, he tells him to stop and claims real men never cry no matter the circumstance. Inuyasha holds Kagome's limp body tenderly in his arms until she suddenly wakes up. Despite his earlier words, he cries in relief and sheds tears for the first time. While Inuyasha typically puts up a tough front, he admits to Kagome that he's afraid of the thought of her dying.
Inuyasha Promises to Protect Kagome
With her spiritual power sealed by Magatsuhi, Kagome returns to the modern era to take her entrance exam in InuYasha: The Final Act, Episode 18. After falling asleep at her desk, she wakes up to a blanket wrapped around her and Inuyasha in her room. Kagome asks Inuyasha if she'll be stronger once the seal on her spiritual powers is broken -- she wants to become strong in order to stay with everyone in the Feudal Era.
When Kagome leans on Inuyasha and asks to stay with him, he grabs her hand and promises her he'll protect her with his life. Grabbing her hand tighter, he leans in closer and tries to kiss her. When Kagome's younger brother interrupts their kiss, Inuyasha is visibly annoyed.
Inuyasha and Kagome Kiss for the First Time
When Kagome is stuck inside the Shikon Jewel later in InuYasha: The Final Act, the jewel tries to trick her into granting the wrong wish that will keep her trapped inside it forever. She tells the Shikon Jewel that she doesn't need a wish and she'd rather wait for Inuyasha to come save her. Placing her full faith in him, Inuyasha desperately tries to reach her. He yells out to her, but she can't hear him as he battles his way through to find a path out.
As he spots a glimmer of light, Inuyasha uses his Tessaiga sword to break through and find Kagome. After fearing he may lose her forever, Inuyasha is overcome with relief and joy that he's able to reach her. He embraces her as they share their first kiss together. This moment finally confirms their romantic relationship once and for all.
Waiting for Kagome's Return to the Feudal Era
The Shikon Jewel shatters after Kagome wishes for it to disappear forever, and she ends up transported back to her own modern era. With the jewel's power no longer in play, the Bone Eater's Well loses its former magic and Kagome can no longer use it to transport back to the Feudal Era. She ends up graduating high school, and years go by in the Feudal Era before the well responds to her wish to return to Inuyasha's side.
Inuyasha recognizes Kagome's scent and returns to the Bone Eater's Well to help her out of the well. She finds out Inuyasha had been waiting by the well all this time in the off chance she returned to their era. Despite the years that had passed, Inuyasha's feelings never changed or lessened. The couple then promise to spend the rest of their days by each other's side.
