In modern-day Tokyo, Kagome Higurashi lives on the grounds of her family's Shinto shrine with her mother, grandfather and little brother. On her fifteenth birthday, when she goes to retrieve her cat, a centipede demon bursts out of the enshrined Bone Eater's Well (骨喰いの井戸 Honekui no Ido) and drags Kagome into it.
But instead of hitting the bottom of the well, Kagome time travels to the past during Japan's Sengoku period. The centipede demon seeks the Shikon Jewel (四魂の玉 Shikon no Tama, lit. "The Jewel of Four Souls"), an artifact that would grant any wish the bearer desires; it had previously been defeated by a warrior priestess named Kikyo, and Kagome looks just like her. In fact, Kagome is a reincarnation of Kikyo and houses the Shikon Jewel in her own body. Kagome finds a young man pinned by a sacred arrow on a tree and, in a moment of desperation, frees him to defeat the centipede demon. The man is Inuyasha, a half-dog demon (yōkai) who was pinned by Kikyo for trying to steal the jewel. However, the Shikon Jewel is extracted from Kagome's body, and in the ensuing fight with another crow demon, the jewel is shattered into numerous shards that disperse across ancient Japan, falling into the hands of those who then gain the individual shards' power.
After Inuyasha gains his father's sword Tetsuaiga and is subdued by a magical necklace to keep him in line, he aids Kagome in collecting the shards and dealing with the threats they cause. The two are joined in their quest by the young fox demon Shippo while dealing with third parties groups like Inuyasha's older brother Sesshomaru and the partially revived Kikyo, whose own version of what happened years ago brings the events into question. When joined by Miroku, a perverted monk whose bloodline is cursed, Inuyasha and Kagome learn the truth: that the initial conflict between Inuyasha and Kikyo, revealed to originally be lovers, was caused by a devious half-demon named Naraku. The evolving Naraku is revealed to have been born from the soul of an evil man named Onigumo inhabiting a body created by countless demons as part of a pact and who also placed the curse on Miroku's family. Naraku is after the Shikon Jewel shards for his own ends. Inuyasha's group is soon joined after by Sango, a demon slayer whose clan was killed when her younger brother Kohaku fell under Naraku's control. Over time, Inuyasha enhances Tetsuaiga powers as he contends with Naraku's minion incarnations like Kagura and the reanimated Band of Seven. Inuyasha's team is loosely allied by Sesshomaru, Kikyo, and a wolf demon named Koga, who wants to avenge his comrades while flirting with Kagome.
While Naraku momentarily removes his heart in the form of the Infant, who later attempts to overthrow Naraku through his vessel Moryomaru, Kohaku regains his freewill and memories, as he attempts to help out of guilt for indirectly killing his father. During that time, Sesshomaru settles things with Inuyasha to enable his brother to perfect Tetsuaiga to its optimal abilities. Eventually, Koga is forced to stand on the sidelines, Kikyo posthumously uses the last of her power to give Kohaku a second chance at life, and Naraku finally reassembles the Shikon Jewel. Although Inuyasha and his allies defeat him, realizing his true desire is for Kikyo's love despite his hatred towards her and that it can never be granted, Naraku uses his wish to trap himself and Kagome in the Shikon Jewel. The jewel intends to have Kagome make a selfish wish so she and Naraku will be trapped in conflict for eternity. But with Inuyasha by her side, Kagome wishes for the Shikon Jewel to disappear. The action, though, causes Kagome to return to her time with the Well sealed, and she and Inuyasha lose contact for three years.
(To be continued)
