hikaru was only 15 when he died. between his father dying when he was in elementary school and his grandfather's cognitive decline, i think it's a safe bet that no one had done the ritual since before kouhei's death. hikaru probably never even learned everything he was supposed to know for the ritual since kouhei wanted the ritual to end with himself after realizing the entity on the mountain isn't what everyone thought it was. he'd just started passing down traditions to his son when he was killed for knowing too much. hikaru was going in blind, not just to the ritual but to the role of indou family patriarch overall.
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.
they sent a lone boy up that mountain to atone for their sins and he died there. it seems kubitachi still practices human sacrifice after all.
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