Please note the SPOILER warning, many key elements and developments of the anime, Kannaduki no Miko are revealed in the following paragraphs, do not continue reading if you do not want to know the various plot twists.
Kannaduki no Miko - Episode 4: Granting of wishes
Early morning greets the two priestesses who are creating a magical barrier for the town people to escape behind in the event of another attack from the Orochi. Souma finally gets the courage to ask Himeko out on a date. While having lunch in the rose garden, Himeko expresses her concern that there might be some truth to the rumours of Chikane and Souma seeing each other. Chikane assures her that they are not a couple and encourages Himeko to on the date (it is uncanny how Chikane knows Himeko wants to accept his invitation even before she admits it).
Himeko wants to go because Souma has always been there for her. She always had fun and was never afraid whenever she was together with Souma as kids. She goes on to say that it was because she could look forward to being with Souma that she could endure everything when she was young. We get a flashback of a man viciously pulling on the braid of a young Himeko. Chikane says she is fine as long as she is able to see Himeko smile. The two girls spot distinctly glum expressions as they look at each other.
From this and various things we have seen so far, it seems like Himeko may have lost her real parents when she was very young and her foster father was physically and/or mentally abusing her. Q uite a shocker actually, did not see this coming. This explains her timidity and self-effacing personality, as well as her low self-esteem. Chikane seems to have no clue about Himeko’s traumatic childhood and Himeko does not look like she is going to tell her anytime soon.
Chikane prepares Himeko for her date and Otoha “helps” out (hilarious). Chikane picks out a dress, accessories and shoes, then is about to style her hair when Himeko cries out and pulls away as she has a flashback of her braid being pulled and a sinister pair of scissors. Chikane is shocked and Himeko just says that she will do her hair herself.
Meanwhile, Souma plans for his date and Yukihito teases him about his meticulous schedule (he has restroom stops planned as well). Suddenly, Tsubasa appears in his mind. We cut to Tsubasa’s point of view and see a flashback of a man bleeding on the floor, then of two boys, the younger boy crying and the older boy standing over him with a bloody knife in his hand.
Chikane sends Himeko off on her date and barely restrains herself from running the blond. The date starts and they are quite cute together, Himeko is shy and Souma is stressed about making sure all go according to plan. Meanwhile, Tsubasa makes an appearance at the Oogami residence and Kazuki recognises him as he departs.
At the mansion, Chikane brushes Himeko’s uniform in despair as she recalls how the other girl freaked when she tried to touch her hair. She drops the brush and forlornly hugs the uniform. Otoha brings tea and Chikane is fully composed again. Otoha spikes her tea and Chikane appreciates the thoughtfulness to give her comfort. Suddenly she gets a premonition and drops her cup.
Back at the amusement park, Himeko and Souma watch the sunset together and they remember a time when they were young and they were watching a similar sunset on a rusted car situated on a hill overlooking the town. Little Souma told little Himeko to look for him there whenever it was unbearable at her house. The kids in the flashback are really cute and much too young to be discussing something so serious and it is heartbreaking to see them so wise beyond their years.
You see here very clearly the tight bond they have. Even at such a young age Souma was determined to protect Himeko, no wonder he was able to overcome the Orochi in him. To be forced to hurt someone he knows has been hurt too much already must have been devastating. So he tries with all his might to overcome the urge and use the power to protect her instead. The friendship and understanding little Souma extended to her at a time when she so desperately needed it, must have meant so much to Himeko, little wonder that she feels more than affection for him. Souma has a place in Himeko’s heart that no one else can supplant.
Souma gives Himeko a pretty rose hair clip as a belated birthday present and Himeko is touched. She remembers the man pulling on her braid and callously chopping off her hair while she struggled and cried. Then she softly tells Souma that she always thought she did not deserve to live and that everyone hated her and found her a nuisance (definitely something she learnt from the abusive foster father). But then she met Chikane and Souma and now she finally believes she deserves to be loved. Saying she cannot always be afraid because of what happened to her when she was a child, Himeko bravely asks Souma to put the hair clip on for her.
As Souma clips it in her hair, she flashes back to a funeral where little Himeko kneels in front of two photos and then to the vicious hair cutting and finally Himeko comes to terms with her past and is no longer afraid. Souma tries to confess his love (calls her by her first name) but gets hit by a mental attack from Tsubasa, who shortly appears with his mech. Souma turns red eyed and grabs Himeko but says he will always protect her no matter who he has to fight and tells her to run as he summons his mech. The two mechs face off and Souma meets Tsubasa at last.
