Inuyasha/Kagome

Pairing
Pairing:	Inuyasha/Kagome
Alternative name(s):	InuKag, IxK
Gender category:
Fandom:	InuYasha
Canonical?:	Yes
Prevalence:	Popular
Archives:
Other:
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Inuyasha/Kagome, also known as InuKag, is the canonical het pairing of Inuyasha and Kagome from the manga and anime InuYasha.

Canon

Inuyasha and Kagome meet at the beginning of the series when Kagome, an ordinary Japanese high-schooler, is attacked by a demon that comes out of the old well near her family's shrine, causing her to fall down the well. Climbing out of the well, she finds that she has been transported to an alternate, feudal-era Japan. She comes across Inuyasha, a powerful half-demon, in a clearing, where he has been pinned to a tree by an enchanted arrow and kept in a magical sleep for the past 50 years. He wakes up, and Kagome frees him in exchange for his help with fighting the demon attacking her and the people from a nearby village.

It emerges that Kagome is the reincarnation of Kikyo, a priestess who was responsible for binding Inuyasha to the tree 50 years earlier. Because of this, the two initially have an antagonistic relationship. However, Inuyasha is shown to care for Kagome under his brash exterior and frequently acts to protect her. Early on in the series, he acquires the Tessaiga, a sword whose true power is unlocked when it is used to protect a mortal (non-demon) - reinforcing Inuyasha's role as protector to Kagome (although she is more than willing to stand up for herself).

The overarching plot of Inuyasha is the quest to retrieve shards of the Shikon no Tama, or Jewel of Four Souls, a powerful jewel that gives unimaginable power to whoever possesses it. Inuyasha is initially shown to want the jewel so that he can transform into a full demon. When the jewel is accidentally shattered by Kagome shooting an arrow at a crow demon that has swallowed the jewel, the two reluctantly team up to find and retrieve the shards of the jewel (which are powerful by themselves) in order to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands. Inuyasha pretends that he is only on this quest with Kagome to try and obtain the full jewel for himself, and not because he cares for her or wants to help her.

Another factor in the dynamic between the two is that Kaede, Kikyo's sister (now an old woman) acts to prevent Inuyasha from turning on Kagome and the villagers by throwing a set of enchanted prayer beads around his neck. When a particular command or phrase is uttered, they send Inuyasha crashing to the ground. The word that Kagome utters to activate the beads' power is "Sit!", and she frequently uses this to 'punish' Inuyasha or rein him in (sometimes activating it by accident).

Fanon

Some popular tropes in shippy fanworks for the pairing:

• Kagome pets Inyusha's ears, something that she is shown doing in the manga/anime within seconds of encountering Inuyasha, unable to resist the temptation. This is a popular occurrence in fluffy fanworks and a way for fanwork creators to bring out a softer side of Inuyasha.

• Inuyasha travels to Kagome's world - Inuyasha is able to travel to Kagome's time via the well that brought her to the feudal era, and so fanworks have him meeting and interacting with Kagome's family as well as trying (to varying degrees of success) to blend in in modern Japan.

• Inuyasha transforming into a human - canonically, this is something that happens during the full moon. It is, therefore, a popular trope for hurt/comfort fanworks and sickfic, and a way for fanworks to explore Inuyasha's more vulnerable side.

Fanworks

Fanfiction

• His Ears by Maru Maru. {oneshot} Why doesn't Inuyasha let anyone touch his ears? (April 2004)
• Restless New Moon by Colhan3000. Why does Inuyasha hate the New Moon so much? Is it really just because he becomes a weak human at that time? Or is it something that happened on one of those nights many years ago? InuKag FluffWAFF (October 2004)
• Homecoming II by sol-li. Inuyasha is left injured and sick after an unusually nasty battle with Naraku. To help him recover, Kagome brings him back through the well with her so he can have some quiet time at her house. But, of course, things go downhill from there.... (January 2005)
• Youkai In The Mirror by SugarRos. Kagome Higurashi is lucky. She has good grades, good friends, and the cute, popular boy in class just asked her out. But when she accidentally unleashes a very wicked youkai from a very wicked spell, her luck runs out. Now on the run from a powerful priestess, Kagome must help Inuyasha get his revenge. (October 2012)

Fanart

• Inuyasha by Manda Schank
• 滑りました (Slip) by ルリヤ (October 2013)
• InuKag - Since Then by Cati-Art (June 2013)
• InuKag - ED Secret Santa 2013 by Noble-Maiden (December 2013)
• Kagome is done with your shit, Inuyasha by vika (July 2015)
• [Inuyasha x Kagome] Had fanart commissioned for my Inuyasha fanfic and wanted to share it with you! The artist did a fantastic job! by mmhinman

Doujinshi

• Candy Gang (2001)
• Honekui no Idobatakaigi (2000)

Communities & Archives

Challenges

• inukag-week
• [1] - InuKag Fluff Week

Archives

• InuKag Forever - A collection of InuKag fic rec lists
• InuKag Fanfic Rec Masterpost by itsyourboychristopher
• [2] - Biggest InuKag fanfiction archive on Tumblr
• [3] - InuKag on Tumblr
• [4] - An InuKag timeline