professional snail imposter

“The self is not so weightless, nor whole and unbroken

Remember the pact of our youth

Where you go, I'm going, so jump and I'm jumping

You know what's a really common thing in shonen? Kids saving the day because adults can't or won't do what has to be done. From Hikaru's point of view, he's the only one who could perform the ritual to appease Nounuki-sama, and he's brave enough to try. It's something his vanished father did long ago, and he follows in his footsteps.

But from an outside perspective, Hikaru isn't doing this because he's strong and independent, but because the adults around Hikaru failed him. He was pressured into performing what they thought was a dangerous ritual in the presence of an eldritch entity, and when he failed, he was abandoned. The three families knew where he was and when, but it took a week for the search party to find him. Given that Yoshiki found him first, on what's implied to be his first try, I even think the search party was directed away from the forbidden mountain, so only Hikaru would have to die there.

hikaru was under a huge amount of social pressure. with dad gone he had to become man of the house at a young age (though luckily grandpa could at least provide financially for a little longer), and i don't think it's inaccurate to infer that the indou family has a fair amount of status in kubitachi. most have forgotten the taboo responsibilities from which they get their name, but centuries of mixed fear and reverence left them with a spacious home, a locked shrine, and lots of eyes on them. the half-understood secrets hikaru inherited only add to weight he bore at such a young age, so it's no wonder he put up such a strong front.

yoshiki is weighed down by being different, the subject of gossip and possible derision should his secret come out. with his dad giving up on parenting after kouhei's death, he's de facto man of the house too. he's scared to open up about this to hikaru, who's been groomed from birth to keep even deeper and darker secrets and that much more closed off. hikaru's role was to repent for the sins of not just his ancestors, but the entire town's. when yoshiki talks about feeling trapped, hikaru can't say that he does too. that he's bound to the land and its bloody history, heir to a curse few can name and none understand. he can't say that he's scared and alone and doesn't know what he's doing. so he makes yoshiki laugh.