Episode 48

Return to the Place Where We First Met is the forty-eighth episode of the InuYasha anime.

Synopsis

 * 1) Kagome, having just witnessed Inuyasha and Kikyō embrace one another, runs back to the modern era; Inuyasha resolves that he can't see Kagome anymore, because it would be too hard for her, and Kagome reciprocates these feelings, believing that there is no room in Inuyasha's heart for her.
 * 2) Kagome thinks that she must be in love with Inuyasha, when she can't bear the thought of never seeing him again.
 * 3) Kagome finally returns to the Feudal Era, and, even though she tried, she concludes that she cannot forget about him, and asks Inuyasha if he will allow her to stay with him.

Summary
Kagome has returned to the feudal era and caught Inuyasha and Kikyō together. Inuyasha tells Kikyō that he is the only one who can protect her and hugs her. After Kikyō leaves, Inuyasha turns around and realizes that Kagome has seen the whole thing. Inuyasha wants to tell her something but Kagome runs off. The next morning, Kagome gives the bandages and medicine she brought to Miroku and Sango and explains that she's going home again. Sango tells Kagome that she should make up with Inuyasha. After Kagome goes back home, Miroku and Sango see Inuyasha coming out of the forest and Miroku tells him that Kagome left and asks Inuyasha if she saw him and Kikyō together.

Back in the modern day, Kagome sits in her room and thinks about how Inuyasha chose Kikyō and decides not to return to Inuyasha while in the feudal era, Inuyasha also decides that he and Kagome shouldn't see each other anymore. The next morning, Kagome wakes up and realizes that Inuyasha won't come for her anymore and that she still has some shards of the Shikon Jewel with her. She decides to return them and just put her adventures in Feudal Japan behind her and get on with her normal life. At breakfast, Souta is worried about his sister and Grandpa says that she's having boyfriend problems. Before they can pry Mrs. Higurashi stops them and Kagome excuses herself and heads to school. On the way to school, Kagome's three friends meet up with her and asks her about her "jealous boyfriend" Wanting to avoid the subject, Kagome tells them that he dumped her. Thinking that Kagome is upset about the "breakup", the three girls decide to stop talking about it.

Back in the feudal era, Shippō yells at Inuyasha about what he did to Kagome. Inuyasha tells the others that he can't see Kagome anymore but Miroku says to go get the shards Kagome took with her. Sango and Shippō are upset with Inuyasha but Miroku says that they have no say in what Inuyasha does. Later, Kaede explains to Inuyasha that he and Kikyō could never be together in that world. Inuyasha then tells her that he will die with Kikyō.

Back in the modern day, Kagome gets ready to take the jewel shards back but she is afraid that once she returns the shards that she won't be able to see Inuyasha again. Out of jealousy, she wishes Kikyō would disappear. Kagome decides she can't let Inuyasha see her like that and leaves the well house. Outside, she walks in front of the sacred tree and the shards start to glow. Kagome remembers that's the place where she first met Inuyasha 500 years in the past. Kagome starts to cry and realizes that she has fallen in love with Inuyasha. Mrs. Higurashi comes home and Kagome runs to her sobbing. Mrs. Higurashi asks Kagome if she feels more pure when close to the sacred tree and explains about how her husband (never mentioned before) proposed to her there. Mrs. Higurashi tells Kagome that she has faith in her to make the right choice.

In the feudal era, Miroku tells Inuyasha to make a clean break with Kagome. Inuyasha decides to go say goodbye to Kagome. When he gets to the well, he is surprised to see Kagome. Kagome tells Inuyasha that she understands about his feelings for Kikyō and about the bond she shares with Kikyō in wanting to be with Inuyasha again. Kagome asks Inuyasha if she can stay with him. Knowing his answer, she takes Inuyasha's hand and leads him away from the well. As the walk hand in hand, Kagome tells Inuyasha with her thoughts that she will be by his side always.

Differences from the manga

 * Kikyō pulling a knife out and threatening Inuyasha is does not occur in the manga.
 * In the manga, Naraku is watching Kikyō and Inuyasha's embrace through Kanna's mirror in his castle. This is not shown in the anime.
 * The scene of Kagome at home eating breakfast with her family and the later scene of Kagome's mother comforting her under the Goshinboku are not in the manga.
 * In the manga, following her encounter with Inuyasha, Kikyō confronts Naraku at his castle. An Unnamed incarnation attacks Kikyō, but, having covered her body in dirt from Onigumo's cave, the incarnation is instantly destroyed upon touching her. None of this is present in the anime.
 * In the manga Miroku, Sango, and Hachiemon tell Inuyasha that they heard that a castle had recently vanished, and poisonous insects were seen flying away from it, leading them to believe that it was Naraku's castle and that they planned to investigate the following day. In the anime, Miroku and Sango approach Inuyasha and tell him to make a clean break with Kagome, and make no mention of Naraku's castle.