Hinagiku Kayō

Name: Hinagiku Kayō

Birth name: Hinagiku Yukiyanagi

Gender: Female

Age: 16 at first appearance

Birthday: April 30

Occupation: Agent of Spring

Favorite foods and drinks: Orange juice, hamburgers

Voice actor: Yuka Nukui

Hinagiku appears as one of the central protagonists of Agents of the Four Seasons: Dance of Spring, alongside her attendant Sakura Himedaka.

She is a manifest god in human form who was entrusted with spring by the gods of the four seasons.

Ten years before the main story, she was kidnapped by bandits after shielding Sakura, Rōsei Kantsubaki, and Itechō Kangetsu during the seasonal rite.

After enduring years of captivity and trauma, she eventually returned to her role as an Agent.

At the center of her story is a quiet but powerful love for winter, embodied in her feelings for Rōsei.

Her life also carries a complicated bloodline, since she is the biological daughter of the previous Spring Agent, Kōbai Yukiyanagi.

Her divine mark, the sign of an Agent, is located on the nape of her neck.

It takes the form of a cherry blossom pattern.

The author reportedly decided from the earliest planning stage that the Agent of Spring would be a girl.

Hinagiku was written with great care because her background and surrounding circumstances are essential to understanding her.

One of her representative lines is: “Spring is here... safe and present.”

Hinagiku is described as a delicate beauty, often compared to a fairy of spring.

She has luxurious amber-colored hair, rare citrine eyes, rosy cheeks, and lips like cherry blossoms.

Her appearance is said to be almost divine in its perfection.

She resembles the ideal image of a “spring maiden” brought to life by an artist.

She wears a pale cherry-pink hakama with a pure white kimono.

The outfit combines old Yamato ceremonial clothing with modern decorative touches, including an obi ornament tied like a large flower.

Her divine mark is on the back of her neck.

It is shaped like a cherry blossom.

Hinagiku refers to herself as either Hinagiku or I.

Her voice is sweet like sugar candy and so beautiful that it is likened to a heavenly songbird.

Even without perfume, she carries a natural fragrance like spring itself.

Because of severe emotional trauma, her mental development is younger than her actual age.

She is shy, withdrawn, and speaks in a halting, childlike way.

Years of confinement also left her unfamiliar with ordinary worldly life.

Because she was taken overseas during captivity, she can speak a little of the Central Language.

Despite her fragility, she is deeply kind, thoughtful, and morally gentle.

She is so kind that Sakura says she is almost too kind.

Even after being harmed, she does not easily wish to break another person’s heart or embrace malice herself.

Her mercy is not simple naivety.

Having learned firsthand how terrifying human cruelty can be, she fears that if Sakura becomes too violent in protecting her, Sakura will only be hurt in return.

At first glance she seems like a frightened girl doing her best to survive.

But in truth, she has a powerful inner core and will still try to protect others even in desperate circumstances.

According to Rōsei, whenever Hinagiku feels a sense of duty, she thinks only about protecting people.

She will use her strength for those she loves and make flowers bloom without hesitation for anyone in pain.

Rindo Azami describes her as spring itself, something that shines on others.

Many people are drawn to her warmth, purity, and natural charisma.

She possesses the saintly temperament and magnetism expected of an Agent.

Even unintentionally, she enchants the people around her.

Her influence is so powerful that a bandit group called Higan West, originally aligned with anti-winter extremism, changed its ideology into spring supremacism after being moved by her self-sacrifice as a child.

She has even been described in terms associated with charm and dangerous allure, fitting for a season that can drive people mad.

Hinagiku’s current personality is not exactly the same as the one she had in childhood.

After years of being cornered by abuse, her original self suffered psychological collapse and experienced what is effectively a mental death.

The present Hinagiku emerged in the fifth year of her captivity as a second personality.

Still, she is not a completely separate being, but more like a continuation growing from the same root.

Her fundamental wish to protect others never changed.

What changed is that the current Hinagiku, after learning through suffering, also gained the courage to declare war on those who hurt her.

She carries guilt over the fact that she lives in the place of the original girl.

In her own heart, she sometimes sees herself as an imitation who took the rightful place of the first Hinagiku.

Birth

Hinagiku was born as Hinagiku Yukiyanagi, daughter of the previous Spring Agent Kōbai Yukiyanagi.

Her father was Haruzuki Kayō.

She was born from an illicit relationship between her parents.

When she was still a newborn in the hospital, Haruzuki’s legal wife attacked with a kitchen knife and nearly murdered both mother and child.

With support from Haruzuki, Hinagiku was raised by her grandmother.

She was taught harsh and unreasonable rules, such as never going to the Spring Village, never being selfish, and always behaving in a way everyone would approve of.

Even so, she did not grow twisted or bitter.

She grew into a gentle daughter who loved her mother.

After her grandmother died, she went to live with Kōbai in the imperial city called Dawn.

That period did not last long.

Unusual succession

At age five, she saw the spring scenery from a ship while with her mother.

For Kōbai, it was the final manifestation of spring, and for Hinagiku, it was the only time she was ever held in her mother’s arms.

Soon after, she was formally acknowledged by her father and renamed Hinagiku Kayō.

She was then separated from her mother and hidden away in an estate under Haruzuki’s name.

One month later, her mother died by suicide.

At the same time, a divine mark appeared on the back of Hinagiku’s neck and she inherited the power of the Spring Agent.

Normally, the power of an Agent is passed to the person most suited to it.

A direct hereditary succession from mother to daughter was unheard of, and it caused unease in the Spring Village.

Because she was also the daughter of a mistress, her position remained delicate.

At her mother’s funeral, her father told her, “You are cursed. It is as if you killed her,” leaving a deep wound in her heart.

Later, while training at the Spring Village residence, she met Sakura Himedaka, who suddenly appeared in the garden and would one day become her guard.

The two healed each other’s wounds and became irreplaceable to one another.

Meeting winter and the abduction

At age six, Hinagiku traveled with Sakura to the Winter Village to perform her first manifestation of spring as an Agent.

Until then, the only time she had been able to act like a normal child was when she was alone with Sakura.

The time spent in the Winter Village slowly changed her.

As a child isolated for being both the daughter of scandal and the strange girl chosen by supernatural power, she found something precious in the days she shared with Rōsei Kantsubaki and his attendants.

In particular, she and Rōsei developed mutual feelings.

That happiness was shattered when the extremist bandit group called Hanadoshi attacked the Winter Village.

Hinagiku shielded Rōsei and was abducted by the attackers.

That event defined the next decade of her life.

Confinement and survival

Hinagiku was held captive for eight years by the leader Suzu and others, and was subjected to both psychological and physical torment.

She was forced to use her abilities for labor in cannabis cultivation and made to participate in a grotesque family role-play.

Suzu gave her the name of Suzu’s deceased daughter.

The name is censored in the original novel, so its official form remains unknown.

The criminal trade extended beyond Yamato, and Hinagiku was taken overseas as well.

Whenever she angered Suzu, she was beaten.

When Suzu called her by that false daughter’s name, it was always accompanied by threats to kill the people Hinagiku loved in the Winter Village.

To survive, she endured by nurturing another self inside her mind and clinging to memories.

Eventually, Suzu attempted to use Hinagiku to produce descendants for a new village bloodline.

Hinagiku resisted, was assaulted, and finally lost all hope.

At that point, her original self died mentally and entrusted everything to the other self.

The newly awakened identity caused the power of spring to go out of control and nearly destroy the bandits’ base.

After wandering through the snowfield, she was rescued by the Spring Village.

But her suffering did not end there.

In a state of extreme exhaustion, she learned that the search and rescue efforts for her had already been called off.

This deepened her wounds and weakened her powers.

She became temporarily unable to manage daily life and was so distressed that she even refused to perform the manifestation of spring.

Several attendants were assigned to her one after another, but none could help her recover.

Half a year later, she reunited with Sakura.

After two years of convalescence, she finally returned as the Agent of Spring.

Dance of Spring

Having regained enough strength to face her duty, Hinagiku set out for the Dragon Palace to perform the seasonal rite.

On the road, while protected by Sakura, she met a girl named Nazuna in the mountains.

After a complicated series of events, Hinagiku successfully manifested spring.

It marked her true return.

Afterward, she visited the Summer Palace and spent time with the Summer Agent Ruri Hazakura and her attendant Ayame Hazakura.

She formed a warm friendship with them and successfully manifested spring there as well.

Later, however, the Autumn Agent Nadeshiko Iwaizuki was abducted by bandits.

Determined not to let the tragedy of ten years earlier repeat itself, Hinagiku rose again with her attendants and headed to the Office of the Four Seasons.

Hinagiku’s ability is called life acceleration.

Within the story, such powers are often referred to as divine authorities or supernatural arts.

Her catalyst is plant seeds.

By using a folding fan and chanting the Spring Song, she can call forth sunlight and accelerate the growth of life.

Her technique combines vocal incantation with dance-based ritual movement.

This raises the power of the effect and allows it to reach a wide area.

Even at only six years old, before completing the formal seasonal rite, she once created a gigantic cherry tree through sheer determination to protect others.

That tree shielded both her own attendant and the winter retainers.

Her power is not limited to support and defense.

It can also be devastating in battle, to the point that her uncontrolled awakening nearly destroyed an enemy base.

Nagatsuki described her as one of the most exceptionally gifted Spring Agents in history.

At the same time, the sheer scale of her power makes her especially dangerous if it runs wild.

Spring Song

The text of her incantation can be rendered in English as follows:

“Spring moonlit haze, soften the sharpness of the sword; let the dark night blur and drift. Endure this longing. Spring banquet, bloom in splendor dyed with wisteria. Mountains and fields, be stained with rapeseed flowers. No flower blooms forever upon the earth. Ah, how dearly I yearn, my lord of winter. Like the moon, I will pursue your back for all eternity.”

Hinagiku

Hinagiku’s relationship with her former self is one of the most tragic parts of her character.

She repeatedly encouraged and comforted that earlier self in her mind, only for the original girl to choose mental death and entrust life to her.

She feels guilt for taking the place of the girl who should have lived.

In a dream, the original Hinagiku appeared and ran to their mother Kōbai, answering that she would keep trying.

Rōsei Kantsubaki

Rōsei is the Agent of Winter and Hinagiku’s first love.

She sees him as the most noble boy she has ever known and as her destined partner.

The original Hinagiku risked her life to protect him.

Even after her personality changed, those feelings remained.

When they reunited, she trembled with emotion and conveyed the feelings of the original Hinagiku to him.

Their bond gradually develops into something close to mutual love.

Sakura Himedaka

Sakura is Hinagiku’s guard, closest companion, and the most precious girl in the world to her.

Hinagiku can be more honest and dependent with Sakura than with anyone else.

She willingly reaches for Sakura’s hand herself.

In her heart, Sakura is the only one who truly remains at her side.

Even though Hinagiku also loves Rōsei, her devotion to Sakura is enduring and absolute in its own way.

She believes that no matter how many decades pass, even if they both grow old, the love she gives Sakura will not change.

Itechō Kangetsu

Itechō is one of Rōsei’s attendants.

Hinagiku respectfully calls him an older-brother figure and is fond of him.

Ruri Hazakura and Ayame Hazakura

These two are the summer sisters she befriends at the Summer Palace.

She becomes especially close to Ruri, to the point that they address each other by given name.

By sharing her own painful past, Hinagiku helps the Summer Agent reflect on love and regret.

She advises her to be kind to the person she loves so she will not be left with regrets.

Rindo Azami and Nadeshiko Iwaizuki

These are the autumn pair.

When Rindo was devastated after losing his master, Hinagiku saw echoes of Sakura’s past pain in him and comforted him with gentle words.

Hinagiku and Nadeshiko also share striking parallels.

Both suffered neglect from family and were later abducted by bandits.

Hanaya Kannagi

Hanaya is the Archer of Dawn.

As fellow living deities and members of the same generation, the two get along well.

Haruzuki Kayō

Haruzuki is Hinagiku’s father.

After blaming her for her mother’s death at the funeral, he became emotionally distant from her.

Ten years later, they finally spoke again over the phone.

Even as a child, Hinagiku sensed that her existence was not a comfortable one for him.

Zansetsu Kayō

Zansetsu is her half-brother.

She has never met him.

He secretly supports her from afar.

However, due to his own wishes and the consideration of others, this fact is kept hidden from her.

Kōbai Yukiyanagi

Kōbai is Hinagiku’s mother and the previous Spring Agent.

From her, Hinagiku inherited both the power of spring and the belief in enduring hardship while waiting for the right moment to fight.

Suzu and Henderson

Suzu and Henderson are the figures tied most directly to her years of captivity.

Suzu, in particular, became in a twisted sense another mother to her.

She kidnapped Hinagiku, orchestrated the attack on the Winter Village, and through distorted love unintentionally caused the death of Hinagiku’s original self.

Suzu was also the first person against whom Hinagiku consciously held unforgiving hatred.

Mikami

Mikami was Suzu’s subordinate.

Hinagiku remembers this person as a cold adult who did not raise her, but merely kept her like livestock.

Bob

Bob was a foreigner and is now deceased.

While still one of the criminals, he was one of the very few adults who treated Hinagiku kindly.

He often brought her hamburgers, which is why they became one of her favorite foods.

Hinagiku remembers him as a gentle, heavyset man.

Noah

Noah was the Winter Agent of the Bridge Kingdom and is deceased.

Like Hinagiku, he was also a living deity kidnapped by criminals.

Unlike her, he died in both body and mind.

He represents the possible fate Hinagiku herself might have met.

Nazuna

Nazuna is the girl Hinagiku meets near the beginning of the story.

Hinagiku manifests spring for her sake.

According to material related to This Light Novel Is Amazing! 2022, the author had already decided from the beginning that the Spring Agent would be a girl.

Hinagiku was created by imagining the kind of girl who would best embody spring.

The author also revealed in an interview that in an earlier concept, Hinagiku was originally supposed to go on an adventure with a boy.