A battle against a demon in the Modern Era, leads Inuyasha to a chance encounter with Orihime. A blossoming friendship soon follows.
Auburn Strands and Red Threads is an Inuyasha/Bleach crossover fanfic written by Juri.DP
Don't read the tropes below unless you want to be spoiled.
This work provides examples of:
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- A-Cup Angst: While Kagome is by no means flat-chested and has a relatively average chest size for a girl her age, she finds herself feeling offended and jealous of Orihime's more buxom figure during their first and very brief encounter. That and her unnatural hair color leads her to question the latter's heritage as she doesn't look like a typical Japanese girl.
- Accidental Murder: Orihime involuntarily kills Inuyasha when he tries to steal her hair pins.
- Inuyasha was trying to break it to retrieve the jewel shard embedded in one of them.
- On the other hand, he didn't have to be so rash and impatient. There are better ways to handle the situation. Harassing a poor, confused girl into destroying one of her most treasured possessions and the only gift her late brother left her was not one of them. Good thing said girl revived him afterwards.
- Inuyasha was trying to break it to retrieve the jewel shard embedded in one of them.
- Accidental Pervert: When Orihime wakes up, startled, from her coma due to a severe head injury, she has the misfortune of showing off more than she should to three males in the room, especially Inuyasha.
- Accidental Theft: What essentially kicks off the plot. Inuyasha accuses Orihime of stealing the jewel shard from him, which in turn prompts him to keep hunting her down in the modern era determined to get the shard back. In truth, he dropped the shard at her house and she happened to find it after he left, and the reason she didn't given it back to him is because he keeps referring it as a jewel shard when it looks nothing like a jewel. These whole series of events eventually lead to an Accidental Murder, Orihime reviving Inuyasha, and Tastes Like Friendship.
- Action Girl: Being a crossover between shonen shows, there are a plethora of girls/women who are this.
- Adaptational Super Power Change: Orihime not only has the original powers in she had in canon, but, thanks to a sacred jewel shard accidentally fusing with one of her hair clips, her fairies gain additional power-ups. Ayame gains telepathy through touch and Tsubaki is able to track things as long as Orihime senses them. Orihime, being Orihime, is somewhat anxious of using her new powers. Because of how unstable, uncontrollable, and unpredictable, she is afraid of them randomly going off and hurting someone innocent or, worse, someone she cares about. At first, apprehensive of her newfound abilities, she later realizes she needs some serious training with her new powers because they aren't simply going to go away just because she's worried and uneasy about them.
- Age Insecurity: Inuyasha, weirdly enough, to the point where people questioning his age makes him uncomfortable. His own response is to reluctantly reveal, due to his half-demon heritage, he has lived for a long time, implying he has either forgotten his true age or doesn't want to share it.
- All-Loving Heroine: Orihime.
- Alternate Timeline: The story seems to revolve around this with Kisuke resetting the world whenever Orihime dies.
- Arc Words: Red String of Fate. Many characters seem to contemplate the concept of Fate in one or another.
- Back from the Dead: Sora. This trope is Played With in an interesting way, as this current timeline's Sora is still died. The Sora Kisuke interacts with is an Alternate Timeline version of Orihime's older brother.
- Beam-O-War: The Wind Scar vs. Bankai Getusga Tensho. Getsuga Tensho wins.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: Overall, the main reason Inuyasha fell for Orihime. She saved his life (thrice), treated him like normal, despite his oddities, doesn't seemed bothered by his odd and unnatural appearance, and taught him things without hesitation, hinting that Kikyo and Kagome didn't give him the same courtesy (initially). Inuyasha himself confesses to both Miroku and Kagome (at different points in the story) this is why he fell so hard for Orihime.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: This is somewhat deconstructed in a very interesting way. Inuyasha and Kagome were like this before the former met Orihime. In fact, it was an argument they had and Kagome's childish stubborn refusal to return until she got an apology from Inuyasha (over a misunderstanding that happened a week or so prior) is what led to Inuyasha's chance meeting with Orihime. Inuyasha even lampshades this trope by noting he is often confused on where he stands with Kagome. One minute they could be fighting/arguing and then the next there would be a Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other moment between them. Even one reviewer noted that Inuyasha's relationship with Kagome feels like an uncertain spark.
- Betty and Veronica: Lampshaded by Inuyasha and done in quite an interesting way. When deciding on who he wants to be with, Inuyasha (Archie) admits that he's willingly throwing himself into a Love Triangle (the first for him crushing on a girl who is already smitten with someone else) and not sure if he can make Orihime (Veronica) fall for him compared to the easier route he could have taken with Kagome (Betty) who has obvious feelings for him. Both girls share a few similar traits (being kind and compassionate), but Kagome being the Reincarnation Romance of Inuyasha's First Love, and, therefore, has somewhat of a connection to his past makes her the Betty while Orihime's Third-Option Love Interest status (due to being an entirely new face with no connection to neither Kikyo nor Kagome) and her own mysterious world(s) to visit and travel to makes her the Veronica.
- Orihime is the Archie to Ichigo's Betty (a human/Substitute Soul Reaper who lives in the same era as her and is her friend and classmate) and Inuyasha's Veronica (a mysterious half-demon from the past who came into her life by chance).
- Birds of a Feather: It may not seem like it at, but underneath the surface, Inuyasha and Orihime have a lot more in common than one might initially think. They are both orphans forced to grow up with a lonely childhood after the death of a loved one, were bullied/orchestrated by society during said childhood because of an odd characteristic (Half-Human Hybrid and Implausible Hair Color, respectively), grown up being very independent, tend to keep problems to themselves (Inuyasha due to pride and Orihime due to self-esteem issues), and are recklessly impulsive when it comes to their emotions, especially love.
- Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Inuyasha has this dynamic with all his love interests. Orihime most prominently.
- Buxom Beauty Standard: The first thing people notice about Orihime usually. Either admiring/lusting after her figure (in the case of boys) or feeling envious (in the case of girls).
- Cassandra Truth: Everyone, at first, seems to have a hard time believing demons exist and that Inuyasha is a half demon. Even Orihime, initially, didn't understand the concept of Inuyasha being a half demon because he doesn't look at all monstrous like the textbooks she's read describes demons to be like. They all eventually learn to accept the existence of demons, and time travel in general.
- Ichigo has a very, very difficult time accepting that Orihime and Kisuke are just friends, finding their sudden friendship very weird and disturbing, and believes they are engaging in some sort of a Compensated Dating.
- The Cavalry: Lampshaded by Sango. With Inuyasha mortally wounded, Kagome running out of arrows and bandages to patch up the injured half-demon, and Sango and Miroku nearly exhausted from fighting an unaccountable amount of demons, all hope seemed lost... until Orihime and her friends arrive.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: Being a crossover between two shonen series, there are no shortage of people who are this. Orihime is the most prominent (it's how she met Inuyasha, after all). With Inuyasha trying to return the favor.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Sango and Kagome are noted to be this. This is lampshaded by Inuyasha to be the reason why he turns to Miroku instead of Kagome when dealing with his situation with Orihime. Kagome will not take kindly to him rambling on and on about another girl, even if it was (initially) for non-romantic reasons.
- Close-Knit Community: Of the friendship variety. Ichigo strongly believes that everyone should share the same friend group, and when Orihime strays from this mindset, he struggles to understand why, which leads to him spying and questioning her growing friendship with Kisuke and Inuyasha, people outside their friend circle. It's also because of this mindset that leads to him to wanting to know Kisuke and Inuyasha better because since they are friends of Orihime and are of no threat to her, then he should stop being stubborn and try to be friends with them as well. He also has a bit of Green-Eyed Monster moment when he learns Orihime comes to Kisuke or Inuyasha for help instead of asking for assistance from him or any of their shared friend group, basically telling Kisuke, almost in a possessive sense, to come to and inform him of Orihime’s troubling private affairs in the future.
- It's also a bit deconstructed when Orihime finds this mindset a bit annoying and suffocating, especially when people like Ichigo think they doing it for her "protection".
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Orihime. Who could have guessed? Inuyasha seemed to find this aspect of her personality endearing. Even Ichigo finds it more charming and puzzling rather than off-putting.
- Compensated Dating: Ichigo, being the idiot that he is, wonders if Orihime and Kisuke have this kind of relationship, and goes to talk to Orihime about it. This greatly offends Orihime for two reasons. One, Ichigo bad mouths Kisuke's good name, and two, the audacity of him believing that she would engage in indecent activities.
- Conflicting Loyalty: Miroku seems to be caught between encouraging Inuyasha to pursue Orihime, and not wanting to betray Kagome, knowing she's a dear friend who has deep feelings for Inuyasha. Although, he is enjoying how closer he and Inuyasha has gotten ever since the latter met Orihime.
- Miroku, having enough of keeping Kagome in the dark, eventually advises Inuyasha to inform Kagome he is moving on and no longer holds feelings for her.
- Cordon Bleugh Chef: Orihime.
- It’s because of this that Tatsuki and, especially, Ichigo believes she is lying about cooking and making dinner for Kisuke. However, Kisuke, his companions, and Inuyasha greatly enjoy Orihime’s cooking, much to her great delight.
- This is very notable in that, people who claim Orihime doesn't know how to cook are the same people who have never tried her cooking in the first place, judging Orihime’s cooking skills purely on how unaesthetically pleasing it looks rather than how it taste. People who have tasted her cooking, quickly learn that Orihime is a Supreme Chef.
- It’s because of this that Tatsuki and, especially, Ichigo believes she is lying about cooking and making dinner for Kisuke. However, Kisuke, his companions, and Inuyasha greatly enjoy Orihime’s cooking, much to her great delight.
- Covert Pervert: Let's just say Inuyasha and Orihime tend to have some rather... naughty thoughts about each other. This is a major clue to their attraction to the other party, which Inuyasha eventually/has already realized, but Orihime... not so much.
- Crush Blush: Despite being in denial regarding her feelings towards Inuyasha, after inadvertently hearing his confession, Orihime can't seem to stop blushing when around or thinking of Inuyasha.
- Dislikes the New Guy: Ichigo is not very fond of Inuyasha. While it was initially because he thought Inuyasha was an enemy out to harm Orihime, the misunderstanding is eventually cleared. Yet he still has a very difficult time liking the half-demon. After much contemplation, he admits he is envious of Inuyasha and Orihime's closeness, but doesn't know why.
- Dude Magnet: Orihime. So far Inuyasha, Shippo, and, possibly, Ichigo (given his growing jealousy of Orihime getting close to other males who aren't him or part of their friend circle) have varying levels of feelings for her. Miroku does try to hit on Orihime the moment he meets her. But that's... Miroku.
- She has noted that she constantly used to get love letters at one point until she told her friends how much the love letters bothered her, then they mysteriously stopped.
- Everyone Can See It: Everyone seems to quickly pick up on Inuyasha's feelings for Orihime. In fact, it's easier to count on one hand how many people haven't noticed his growing affection for her. Ichigo and Orihime herself.
- Orihime does eventually and inadvertently overhears Inuyasha's confession, and it is now struggling to understand which kind of "love" does he mean and what does it mean for their relationship down the line. She's also struggling with whether or not it's okay to move on from her long time crush on Ichigo and focus on returning Inuyasha's affections.
- Florence Nightingale Effect: The story basically starts with this trope. Orihime heals an injured and unconscious Inuyasha after his fight with a demon. Friendship and eventually romance blossoms between them.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Inuyasha definitely has cases of this towards Ichigo since he is the guy Orihime is in love with, getting easily jealous and irritable whenever Ichigo is mentioned.
- After Inuyasha confesses his feelings for Orihime to her, Kagome starts to show signs of this. Not initially, at first, but later on.
- Ichigo also seems to show some very subtle signs of this, wondering why Orihime would come to Kisuke instead of him or any of their shared friend group for help.
- He also admits to being a bit envious of Inuyasha and Orihime’s closeness, not finding the hypocrisy in this line of thinking with how close he has gotten to Rukia in such a short amount of time. And when a hurt and offended Orihime calls him out this hypocrisy several chapters earlier when Ichigo is trying to dig for the truth of Orihime and Kisuke's sudden friendship, a flabbergasted Ichigo claims that his friendship with Rukia is nothing like Orihime's friendships with her new and mysterious friends, Kisuke and Inuyasha.
- Half-Human Hybrid: Inuyasha. Due to his insecurities about his half-demon nature and the problems it caused during his harsh upbringing, he is surprised when Orihime and eventually her friends don't bat an eye at his nature, accept, and treat him like normal.
- Handsome Lech: Miroku, of course. He tries to hit on Orihime the moment he meets her, earning a vicious punch from Inuyasha.
- Has a Type: Lampshaded. At one point, Orihime wonders if she has a thing for scowly-faced men with tough attitudes, but are really good guys deep down.
- He Is Not My Boyfriend: Whenever people asks if Orihime and Inuyasha are a couple/dating, a flustered Orihime responds that it is not the case (which is true). However, after her Love Revelation Epiphany, it is getting harder and harder to believe.
- Healing Hands: Orihime.
- Heartbroken Badass: Inuyasha spends a couple of chapters like this once he learns Orihime is a Smitten Teenage Girl.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: Inuyasha and Miroku slowly develop into this, and the rest of the group grow suspicious over the reason why.
- Honor Before Reason: Discussed. When Inuyasha wants to rescue Orihime because I Owe You My Life, Miroku tries be the voice of reason by attempting to warn Inuyasha he's basically sending himself on a Roaring Rampage of Rescue Suicide Mission against an unknown organization who they don't know anything about or what they are capable of (i.e. Soul Society and Soul Reapers), but Miroku relents when he can't talk a determined Inuyasha from changing his mind.
- Hopeless Suitor: Inuyasha is very much aware of his status as this after discovering the new girl he has affections for is already a Smitten Teenage Girl for someone else. However, after going through a period of being a Heartbroken Badass and realizing he can't easily forget about Orihime, he decided he is not going to give up on winning Orihime's affections until she makes it perfectly clear her feelings for Ichigo can not be changed/replaced, and/or she and Ichigo have a Relationship Upgrade.
- Hypocrisy Nod: Ichigo is well aware of the fact that he is a hypocrite who can't stand to being on the opposite end of shady secrets. He's usually the one in the middle of mysterious business. But the moment someone else is, he can't stand not being in the know, and spies on them for their "protection" he claims.
- Hypocrite: Ichigo finds it very hard to believe and a bit disturbing with how fast Orihime became Kisuke's friend in such a short amount of time, claiming that Orihime can not be friends with someone in such a short time. He does not seeing the irony when he became close friends with Rukia in a shorter amount of time, enough to risk his life to save her. Orihime calls him out on this.
- Hypocritical Humor: Love confessions should be easy, right, Orihime? This is coming from the same girl who can't spit out her own feelings for Ichigo in over three years.
- I Owe You My Life: The (initially partial) reason Inuyasha is protective of Orihime because she saved his life, despite not knowing who and what he is.
- Improperly Paranoid: Ichigo. As the story goes on, Ichigo seemed to have become this. It was initially justified in the beginning because he didn't know who Inuyasha was, and thought he was an enemy out to harm Orihime. Once the misunderstanding is cleared up, Ichigo is still in the belief that Orihime is in some kind of perceived danger, which makes no sense. Given the new threat of demons, besides being in possesion of a jewel shard, Orihime is in no more danger than any of his other friends, yet Ichigo is still in the belief that if something isn't done or changed, Orihime will be the one who suffers the most. Fans have pointed out Ichigo's paranoia seems be less and less about Orihime and more about Ichigo's growing possessiveness of her and envious of her relationship with Kisuke and Inuyasha as he seems to be losing his spot as Orihime's closest guy friend, doesn't know how to handle it, and secretly wants (or as close as it can) everything to return to the status quo. It has gotten to the point where his paranoia had caused him to express well-meaning yet insensitive concerns about Kisuke and Inuyasha, thoughtlessly belittle Orihime's feelings, and caused a rift in his relationship with her on more than one occasion.
- In Love with Looks: When Miroku meets Orihime for first time, he believed Inuyasha's intense attraction to her was because of her looks. He near instantly realizes he was wrong, and Inuyasha is genuinely in love with her and his feelings grew as time went on.
- Innocently Insensitive: Ichigo. To the point, other characters have to monitor/censor him, so he doesn't make well-meaning yet insensitive comments to or about Orihime. For instance, comparing Orihime's weight to other girls, or questioning her growing friendship with Kisuke and Inuyasha.
- Orihime realizing she was being this towards Inuyasha after discovering his true feelings for her (not that she could have known at the time when she was gushing about her crush on Ichigo, and she thought she was bonding with Inuyasha due to Unrequited Love) causes her to be remorseful and apologetic and dejectedly wonder if she was being carelessly cruel to Inuyasha.
- Insecure Love Interest: After her Love Revelation Epiphany, Orihime starts showing signs of being this. She questions why and how Inuyasha can fall for someone like her, even going as far as to believe he may have feelings for her, but he isn't very happy to be having those feelings. Even the mere thought of the half-demon either not liking her in the way she thought he meant or falling out of love with her makes her anxious and subconscious. Not to mention, she has become much more bashful and flustered around him. Yeah, she is really being very unsubtle about her growing feelings for Inuyasha to the point almost everyone quickly notices it.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Inuyasha and Ichigo.
- Orihime, at one point, ponders if she has some sort of attraction to these types of men.
- Lonely Together: Inuyasha finding out Orihime has no family causes him to feel a tinge of empathy for her.
- Longing Look: Inuyasha has been noted to shoot Orihime these looks/expressions with her being none the wiser.
- Love at First Sight: Inuyasha essentially falls in love with Orihime the moment he meets her. However, at first, he chalks her up as a witch who is out to get him, and has put a spell on him.
- Love Confessor: Inuyasha seems to have an easier time telling everyone who isn't Orihime he's in love with Orihime (well, at least, people he's close to and is comfortable with knowing). He's confessed to both Miroku and Kagome about his feelings for her thus far.
- Although, his confession to Kagome both serve to finally let her now the truth of why Inuyasha has been acting so strangely, and as a breakup from any romantic relationship that's been happening between them. This does lead to Inuyasha and Kagome's relationship being a little rocky later on with Inuyasha's guilt for hurting Kagome's feelings (but he does not feel guilty for falling in love with Orihime), and Kagome's spiteful jealousy.
- Love Hurts: After developing and understanding his romantic feelings for Orihime, Inuyasha soon has to deal with pain, anguish, and tribulations that comes with falling in love with a person who is already in love with someone else. Which is a first for him. Although, for someone like him, he is surprisingly...sensible about his jealousy towards Ichigo. He doesn't...lash out as he normally would.
- Love Makes You Dumb: Discussed.
- Miroku reprimanded Inuyasha for letting his feelings for Orihime cloud his judgement and shirk responsibilities. For instance, when he let's her keep a jewel shard knowing it would put her in constant danger of demon attacks (it's more complicated than that). Miroku labels Inuyasha as a "hopeless romantic".
- Love Revelation Epiphany: Inadvertently hearing Inuyasha's confession, starts Orihime on a slow path to realizing her own feelings for him.
- Love Triangle: Inuyasha/Orihime/Ichigo.
- Orihime/Inuyasha/Kagome.
- This one gets resolved later with Inuyasha choosing Orihime over Kagome.
- Orihime/Inuyasha/Kagome.
- Lunacy: The first time Orihime sees Inuyasha's human form, she is in complete awe and amazement. Since his transformation into a human is dependent upon the moon, she gleefully wonders if he is some kind of were demon. A confused Inuyasha has to carefully elaborate to her that all half demons have a period of weakness, and his weakness happens to turn him into a full human with all his demonic powers lost on the night of a new moon.
M - Z
- The Medic: Orihime and Kagome are this to their respective groups. Orihime through her powers, and Kagome through modern and mundane means.
- Mindlink Mates: Inuyasha and Orihime seemed to have a slight variation of this as they both seem to be able to sense when the other is in danger or mortally wounded. It is not explained why or how they developed this ability. The only hint is that Orihime somehow (and accidentally) connected her soul to Inuyasha's when she revived him.
- Nice Girl: Orihime.
- This is somewhat deconstructed. Because of Orihime's overt kindness and compassion, her friends believe her to be kind of naive and easily susceptible to be taken advantage of, and, therefore, needs to be protected at nearly all times. This, in return, somewhat aggravates Orihime with how weak and fragile her friends tend to believe her to be.
- Not Good with Rejection: Kagome. When Inuyasha breaks up their relationship because he fell in love with another girl (Orihime), she tries to pull off I Want My Beloved to Be Happy by being understanding, cheerful, and supportive. However, it is implied that the breakup has not settled in with Kagome as Kagome, noted by Miroku, has come back to the Fuedal Era a couple of times during the week both her and Inuyasha were away (for different reasons). Which hints at Kagome partially being in hopeless denial about the breakup, and hoping Inuyasha would choose her over his new Love Interest at the end of the day. When that doesn't happen, and she realizes Inuyasha has truly moved on from their relationship, Kagome becomes very cold and spiteful towards him. But, luckily, she is not petty enough to let Inuyasha die when he becomes mortally wounded as she still cares for him as a friend.
- Oblivious to Love: Inuyasha has quickly picked up that Orihime is this, sometimes playfully calling her dense.
- That is until she overhears him muttering to himself how that he loves her. Now, she's struggling to understand what exactly does he mean when he says he loves her, and, if he does mean it in a romantic sense, how can he fall in love with her in such a short amount of time, especially since she's well aware of the fact that he had crush on Kagome before they ever met?
- Ichigo's oblivious of Orihime’s own feelings for him, and part of the reason why she calls him out on his hypocrisy.
- One Dialogue, Two Conversations: This happens when Inuyasha comes to Miroku for advice on how to deal with a girl asking him to eat dinner with her. Miroku believes said girl Inuyasha is talking about is Kagome when it's really Orihime. This misunderstanding is eventually cleared up after Inuyasha has dinner with Orihime when Miroku mistakenly encourages him to.
- Perverted Sniffing: Tatsuki accuses Inuyasha of doing this to Orihime. When, in actuality, being the half dog-demon that he is, Inuyasha is trying to familiarize himself with Orihime's scent, so it'll be easier for him to track her down. Although, Tatsuki's outrage is justified as most people don't know of the existence of demons.
- Plot Parallel: Orihime's meeting and eventually friendship with Inuyasha nearly mirrors Ichigo's meeting with Rukia. Both Orihime and Ichigo each encounter Inuyasha and Rukia, respectively, when they fight a mysterious monster, which promptly introduces the red-heads to new and mysterious supernatural entities and dangers. After the women are arrested by the Soul Society for doing something "bad" with their powers, it leads the men to attempt a Roaring Rampage of Rescue because I Owe You My Life with various results.
- The difference in the relationship lays in the fact that Ichigo and Rukia's relationship remains strictly platonic while Inuyasha and Orihime begin to develop feelings for each other.
- Poor Communication Kills: You can say that this trope and too much Belligerent Sexual Tension is what killed Inuyasha's relationship with Kagome, leading him to fall out of love with Kagome and in love with Orihime.
- Promotion to Parent: Orihime remembers Sora fondly as this. No surprising she does not take well when her brother has apparently come Back from the Dead.
- Kisuke erases Orihime's memories of Sora, finding it too soon for her to learn about Alternate Timeline Sora.
- Protectorate: As much as Orihime does appreciate her friends care and concern for her, she sometimes finds it annoyingly suffocating because of how weak, helpless, frail, and naive they wrongly tend to believe her to be, especially when characters like Ichigo push it to the "Orihime must be supervised twenty-four/seven" territory.
- Reality Warper: Orihime, which makes her an incredible and most powerful healer in the story. To the point where it's a Story-Breaker Power in the Inuyasha universe. Injuries that usually take Inuyasha a couple of days to heal from, even with Kagome's treatments, only takes several minutes to heal with Orihime's powers. Every Inuyasha character always end up amazed, stunned, flabbergasted, or an any combination of the three whenever they first bare witness to her healing prowess.
- Second Love: Inuyasha eventually becomes this for Orihime, especially after overhearing his confession.
- Ship Sinking:
Word of God has informed that this isn't a story where characters swap pairings. So, no Inuyasha/Kagome and no Ichigo/Kagome. - Shipper on Deck: Many characters are seen to be supportive and on board with Inuyasha/Orihime. In fact, it has been hinted that the only people who are against the relationship are implied to have feelings for one of them and, therefore, jealous of the relationship or friends/acquaintances of the jealous party.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: The reason Orihime fell in love with Ichigo. Despite his delinquent looks and mannerisms, he's a good-natured guy who would anything to protect his loved ones.
- This seems to be part of the reason Orihime begins to reciprocate Inuyasha's feelings. He seemed to be the first boy who put her and her happiness as a top priority. He's beginning to fill the void in her heart that not even Ichigo or Tatsuki could. As lampshaded by Ichigo, he's fully aware that Orihime lives alone and has no relatives to speak of, but thought nothing much of it because she always seemed cheerful and happy, despite her lonely living conditions. This is something he begins to realize he took for granted when he laments that Orihime seems closer to Inuyasha than him.
- Smells Sexy: Inuyasha finds Orihime's scent highly addictive and intoxicating, which contributes to him falling in Love at First Sight with her.
- This makes sense as it's heavily implied in canon, being part-dog demon, Inuyasha bases attractiveness on how people smell rather than how they look.
- Smitten Teenage Girl: Orihime reveals herself to be one. When Inuyasha discovers this, let's say he doesn't take it well to the point where after the revelation, his friends note that he seems silent, depressed, and even more short-tempered than usual. After a confrontation, Miroku quickly picks up that he is heartbroken.
- Stalker Without a Crush: Lampshaded by Rukia. Ichigo gets so antsy about Orihime's relationship with Kisuke and Inuyasha that he begins to spy on her using his powers just to make sure she is "safe". Thankfully, it doesn't last long when he understands they are not enemies out to harm her. Though, Inuyasha still irritates him.
- Tastes Like Friendship: Inuyasha having dinner with Orihime is what essentially kicks of their friendship.
- Third-Option Love Interest: In short, between Inuyasha's complicated relationships with Kikyou and Kagome, Orihime seems to be this. A girl with no relation to either girl. No complicated Reincarnation Romance involved. It also seems to invoke Last Girl Wins.
- Training from Hell: Discussed and defied. Orihime wants to invoke this, so she'll be better able to sense demons and protect herself and her friends from the new threat. However, Inuyasha is against training her, which is easy to see given how protective he is of her.
- Unknown Rival: This is kind of zigzagged. Ichigo is unaware that he is Inuyasha's competition for Orihime’s love. On the other hand, Ichigo is a bit envious of Orihime and Inuyasha's closeness.
- Unrequited Love: Orihime teaches Inuyasha about the concept of crushes.
- Though, the half-demon already knew about the concept of one-sided love, he just didn't know there was a name for it.
- Unresolved Sexual Tension: Inuyasha/Orihime.
- Inuyasha is fairly quick to pick up on his feelings for Orihime. Orihime...not so much. Justified in that Inuyasha has more experience in the field of romance compared to Orihime, so, unlike her, he is not so Oblivious to Love.
