While induring her life of loneliness and duty, Inuyasha, a half demon, came into her life. He too had suffered the pain of being different, the fear of showing weakness, and the loneliness of separation from others. He hoped to change his circumstances by becoming a full demon, and soon Kikyou began to hope to change hers as well. Instead of killing him when he tried to steal the jewel, the priestess merely fended him off, and soon he began observing her with great curiosity.

First he watched her from a distance, observing her kindness towards others, her strength and determination in her job, and her beauty and grace in everything she did. Perhaps he even perceived her loneliness which resonated with his own isolation. Even though he did not reveal himself to her, she could sense his presence, and it comforted her.

One day she is sitting in the sunshine and she notices him watching her and asks him to come out. He sits beside her, slightly uncomfortable and embarrassed, a feeling which intensifies when she asks him, "How do you see me?" Her status as a priestess (especially as the priestess guarding the Shikon no Tama) means that people look up to her, but she wants to be normal.

The two begin spending a lot of time together, Inuyasha following her where ever she went. He helped and protected her, while she softened his angry, wild side. It became apparent that the two were in love when she trips while walking on a dock and he catches her. He holds her close and for the first time she feels completely safe.

Along the way, Kikyou figures out a way for them to be together. They face two primary obstacles--he is a half demon and she has a duty to protect the Shikon no Tama. In order for them to be together, Inuyasha must use the jewel to become a full human--a wish that will purify the sacred jewel. He would be human and she would no longer be responsible for the Shikon no Tama, so they could live together in peace.

It appears that the two might actually be able to find a happy ending, but there are two problems neither one of the considered. The first is that there are people who do not want the jewel purified, but rather desire to see it become as evil as possible. One such person is the thief Onigumo, who Kikyou had been nursing after she found him badly injured. He desired the Shikon no Tama, but he began to desire Kikyou as well. He gave his body to demons and became Naraku, a horrible half demon bent on gaining absolute power. He is eventually successful in tearing Kikyou and Inuyasha apart.

The other problem is far more subtle. The fact that both Kikyou and Inuyasha had been hurt by other people (in Kikyou's case it was isolation, and in Inuyasha's case it was rejection) brought them together, but it also made them suspicious of people, including each other. They were both very closed people, who, for a moment, opened up to the other, but experience had taught them to fear vulnerability. Even Naraku points out that for two people so deeply in love, they were both easily tricked. The reason was because they, in some small way, had both been anticipating betrayal.

On the day Inuyasha was to take the jewel, Naraku attacked Kikyou in Inuyasha's form, and stole the jewel. He also attacked Inuyasha as Kikyou, and both lovers thought they had been betrayed. Kikyou uses the last of her strength to seal him to a tree, than dies, her heart full of hurt and rage. Naraku was not able to take the Shikon no Tama because Kikyou had it cremated with her body. It would return 50 years later when Kikyou's reincarnation, a young girl named Kagome, was pulled from present day into the past. Soon after, a witch resurrects Kikyou's body with the purpose of using her to find pieces of the jewel after Kagome accidentally shatters it. This reborn version of Kikyou has a different relationship with Inuyasha, and he, in turn, has to decide if she is still the one for him.

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