Tamaki quits whimpering like she has for the last couple of episodes. Takuma decides to get all badass and rescue her. When Medicine Bureau Guy proves to have magic powers (he rather reeks of "onmyouji," doesn't he?), Takuma runs into the shrine and
grabs the Onikirimaru. And firmly refuses to accept anything other than "screw destiny!" as an answer. We may not have a plan, but hey, Job 1 is to get away from the bad guys and reject any option that involves people getting sacrificed. We'll figure out what to do later!
And Tamaki decides to pitch in and help with breaching a barrier...and Takuma decides to work
with her as a team instead of insisting on doing it all himself. Damn, how many episodes have we been waiting for this from both of them?
And Sixth Guy Ryo (whose name I finally can now remember!) jumps in and saves them from Eins (I just do not
get Eins, really)--and he's the missing Inukai, which explains
why Shinji got drafted. And he actually
told Tamaki about these things! Actual passing on of useful information!!! (Seriously, I wondered if I'd wandered into another series for a second, there.
)
Meanwhile, Oni-baba continues to be evil, Drei has unpleasant plans for Tamaki, and the other three guardians are supposedly going to be sent after Takuma and Tamaki. Hopefully they're bright enough not to do this.