Exactly.

[ he doesn't know exactly how this game works, but he doubts there's any chance of Eichi being saved this time. ]

On top of that... Last time was different. They knew - or thought they knew, anyway - that he was one of the people they'd been looking for for hours. This time, he'd just be taking the fall for someone else. Their feelings shouldn't be as strong.

[ hikage is very calm and matter-of-fact about all of this. it almost sounds like he's used to thinking about people this way. ]