I don't know if this has been asked before, but I'm just curious of everyone's thoughts and ideas. Basically I was wondering - what do you think would become of Inuyasha after the events of the canon divergence where sesskag becomes a thing?

To clarify, picture this - the events of the show canon are the same, up to the point where Kagome comes back, but Inukag don't become an item when she does. This is a common thing in canon divergence fics, and we usually follow Kagome after this point, where she has an adventure that gets her and Sesshoumaru into shenanigans that make them end up together. Love that stuff. But the problem is - Inuyasha is kind of forgotten as a character. I mean I get it, he's not important to the romance or plot, but from my pov Inuyasha would always be a really close friend of Kagome's, no matter what happened between them, so a lack of interest in what becomes of him just feels strange. Kagome would care about what happens to him (unless the plot of the fic is about their separation as friends and she's cut all ties with him.)
Yeah he sometimes shows up in a later chapter to gripe about sesskag but his character arc will usually just be letting Kagome go and accepting it.

So basically, what do you think Inuyasha would do if he didn't get with Kagome?

Would he stay at Kaedes village? I know he's a character that has always searched for a place to belong and he found that in his friends, but would spending his days carefree in the village be enough? He always kind of seemed to enjoy fighting due to his demonic heritage, so I can see him getting tired of it after awhile and just coming back every now and then to visit.

Just pairing him off with a random love interest can feel incredibly forced if it's not handled properly. and after all the stuff he had to go through with Kikyo and Kagome I can see him just leaving romance alone for a little while, but that might just be me.
I always liked the idea of him learning more about his heritage through Sesshoumaru, since a relationship between Sess and Kagome would help ease the barriers between the brothers, and allow easier communication, but I've only seen this properly explored once in the fic - Prince Charming by forthright.

Anyways! I'm interested to hear your thoughts!

I hate Inuyasha as a character so he plays very little role if he's not a driving factor in what caused the split in the group. Inuyasha to me is nothing more then a spoiled child, so I have used the reappearance moment but more as an after thought since I use him or something he did to be the point she left in the first place.

I'm exploring it more in some of my unfinished work, having him play a role as a friend that still plays a part in her life, or as some other part of her life. I've seen it done well as few times, but for the most part I would rather him play very little to any role if the concept behind his arc in the story doesn't help move the entire story along. If it's simply extra, which I've seen done well a few times, then I feel like it would best be left as a spin off element for another fanfiction rather than added in when it plays no major role in overall plot.

Inuyasha's role is different for each of my fics, depending on how he fits in with the universe I'm going with. But I usually like to try and have him there as a supportive friend for Kagome, because at the end of the day they still love each other, even if not romantically. He usually is doing his own thing in my fics - he continues hunting Naraku, or lives on his own (sometimes married), or lives in Kaede's village or something like that. I've never written a fic where he lives with Sesshomaru and Kagome, but I would not be opposed to such a scenario, because family fluff is my life. Haha.

I agree with the romance thing. I feel that he would take some time for himself before he moves on from Kikyo and Kagome.

Well if we go Sess/Kag, I see Inuyasha as striking out on his own and building a life for himself. He did survive on his own for more than a hundred years or more before he met Kagome, even if he still cared about Kikyou. She was dead. As for the future, well, five hundred years is fifty decades and five centuries for him to mellow out and grow up. Whether or not he gets married and has kids too is arbitrary. I could see him spending a couple centuries looking for hanyou like himself. Society, human and youkai, isn't tolerant of them. I could see him building something out of nothing, a sanctuary for them, and for himself too.

A place of their own.

Sess could help.

Which is why I love him in Forthy's fic - Prince Charming. It's the only AU story I've read that explains Inuyasha's character as a whole and gives him a decent ending, without Kagome.

Too many authors either kill him, make him OOC, or have him slip into the background. Especially when he could help Sess understand Kagome and humans generally in better terms. And help to prepare Sess for the inevitability of hanyou offspring.

I suppose it's the skill of the author to fill in possibilities.

So far for me Forthy's done it best.

~ Pyre

I think it depends on where you diverge.

Inuyasha hardly grows in the story. He's more like an RPG character that levels up and softens over time because some chick has a crush on him. Earlier in the series I could totally see him trying to harm her for the 'betrayal.' As time goes on, though, I could see him trying to fight for her not because he's in love, but because he saw her first. After Kikyo is thrown of Mt Hakurei would be a great time for writers to diverge as it seems to be a turning point.

I always felt that having Kagome relive Kikyo's life was a gross cop-out that ruined the story for me (and another example of Takahashi giving Inu gifts he didn't earn), so I always saw those two as friends in the end. Like... friends who should have never slept with each other.