So the storehouse tools are still relevant. Hakuri won't be able to heal and progress until he confronts the pain he's keeping inside. He needs to get rid of them so he can start to value himself and not put Chihiro's plans in jeopardy. So he can finally let himself be loved without conditions.

We see this clearly in his reasoning to stay with Chihiro. He's doing it to prove himself as valuable and to make the world safer for other people. He lets people talk about him like he's a useful tool for Chihiro to use against the Hishaku. Hakuri won't do anything for his own sake, only others'

He still has a victim's mindset to downplay, avoid, and deny. Those tools in his warehouse are a literal manifestation of his suffering that he internalized and keeps away from everyone else. He brought down his abuser, but the mental scars still remain. The trauma doesn't fade right away.

The storehouse reveal was incredible! But holy shit, is that a log? A CHAIR? Why are we still learning about how badly he was mistreated in what's supposed to be a moment of triumph? Because Hakuri literally keeps that pain buried deep inside where no one can reach. He doesn't want to see it.

So despite the horrors he went through, it's not the focus of his story. It's just to contextualize how deeply fucked up his family was. Hakuri's an atoner now for Ice Lady's sake, nothing to do with what happened to him. And chapter 36 really drives this home in a gruesome way.

Hakuri accepted everything that happened to him and only endured to be useful for his family's sake. He wanted to do awful things if it meant being loved. He's not the innocent victim that Char was. Which is why this reveal took so long- he's not a victim first and foremost like she was.

Yet the focus of the chapter went to how he treated Ice Lady so badly that he drove her suicide. THAT was his turning point. He realized how toxic his family was and decided to put an end to it all. Not the torture or abandonment- only the death of an innocent. Because he was an abuser himself.

But then we get the full reveal at last in ch. 35. And oh boy was that a nightmare. Soya used a jump rope on him? A wrench? Broke his fingers with pliers? USED A VEGETABLE PEELER? JFC! And he still frames it as not so bad because Soya kept losing the tools and going back to using his fists.

It's easy to forget Hakuri's victim status by ch. 32. We're reminded when he flashes back to talking about it with Chihiro and Shiba to explain why he's so sturdy, but it's quick and nothing we didn't already know. So that seems like the extent of his experience. Time for him to beat Soya!

The only hint we get to something more is the mention of a dead "merchandise woman" and a panel of her obscured face. From there we switch back to Chihiro's PoV. He saves Hakuri, cheers him up, and everything seems fine as they plan the raid. Hakuri helps out and is put in a position to ascend