Thank's for replying guys!

I agree with what Lady B said about love and recovery from pain. But I also agree with Dany and the others when they talk about abuse. Kagome may have matured over the course of the manga, with the result that when she returns to the Feudal Era three years later, she thinks, walks, talks and behaves like an adult. But to Inuyasha, three years is nothing. Three years are nowhere near enough to mature him to a level where we can b completely certain that he will never regret his choices, or continue to feel that he owes Kikyo his life. It's just strange, y'know? Through most of the manga he's got his mind made up - no matter how much he wants Kagome, his life belongs to Kikyo and it doesn't matter if Kagome's heart gets hurt in the process. But while the three-week wait was an endearing declaration of passion...it's not enough to convince me of a true about turn. Shall we call it a case of too much too soon? And with Kagome being, literally, Inuyasha's home, it would make sense that he would be desolate if she were to leave him. The question is..is it devastation over the loss of a dear friend and confidante, or a lover? Seems to me more like the former...look at how they talk to each other! I don't know of any guy who'd call the girl he loves names...not even something as mild as wench. That's something I would fully expect from a friend though..because when you're friends, anything goes.

Kagome and Inuyasha's relationship, when viewed from the angle of friendship..seems like a perfect fit to me. But viewed from the angle of love? Suddenly all that fighting and name-calling and sitting and so on looks a lot more like abuse than friendly banter-bashing. It's simple - you accord the person you love a far greater degree of respect and care and gentleness than you do a friend. If a guy friend called up and said, "Hey bitch, what's up this weekend?" I'd probably come back with, "Hey arsewipe! Wanna go catch that new movie?" But if the guy I like or my boyfriend did it? He'd be a dead man. And if it was the guy I like..he wouldn't be turning into my boyfriend anyway. Especially not when I know I look like the younger twin of his dead lover...whom he was so traumatised over that he was willing to let her kill him.

Finally, it's true - Sesshoumaru-Kagome offers so many more possibilities..and workable hang-ups for a fanfic writer and reader to play with! And considering that Sesshoumaru is possibly the most developed character, in terms of attitude change and maturity and and general view of life...seems like a better fit, ne? Especially as Rumiko Takahashi herself has shown that despite his frigidity, he adapts his opinions and his behaviour more easily and rationally than Inuyasha does. Far less trying on a girl's patience! Especially a modern hotheaded girl like Kagome..no matter how much she grows up.

I have never really appreicated Kagome/Inuyasha a lot as more than friends. Inuyasha tried to kill her for the jewel the first time they met. (Now I know Sesshy did it too but I think a lot of people forget that.) Without the necklace, or his selfish desire to get the jewel for himself, he would not have protected her even from her many early death experiences. He was going to ditch her and do it on his own until Kaede stepped in.

I thought it was a bit strange that Kagome fell for him at all but I always looked at it in the 'you can't help who you love' sort of thing. A lot of people have their first crushes on jerks, it's not a far jump to believe she's like a lot of other people there.

I think however that the abusive relationship never really ended on either side of it. She did sit him just if she was mildly irritated from time to time. Those sorts of relationships are incredibly unhealthy and I just was never a fan of the pair to begin with.

Now I know Sesshomaru also tried to kill Kagome at first, but he developed through the story to the point of protecting her without the need to be beaten by the beads to do so. I think that the biggest difficulty he'd have in that relationship would be creating other half-breeds but it's obvious by the end of the series that he doesn't just hate humans for no reason anymore.

I have to agree with a lot of folks that Sesshomaru would just be a better take because he actually has real character development and changes in the series. Inuyasha I think is almost as selfish and rude at the end as he was at the beginning in my opinion.

I believe this thread has run its course. Excellent points and counter-points have been brought up, and I think everyone has something to think about. However the responses have become not only redundant, but heavily negative toward a specific pairing.

I also feel that some are using this thread to justify their preferred pairing, an act which I think we all can agree is not beneficial to anyone. As followers of a non-canon pairing, I think we've all been on the receiving end of negative opinions. Let's not perpetuate that.