Yeah the Hermit thing is kinda glaring us in the face, though with the coat and hood he looks a lot bigger than the actor guy so they could still pull a sibling switch on us.
Kenichi has improved a lot if he can take that beating from Kisara and stay on his feet. I don't agree with his stand to not fight back since she clearly put the time and effort in to being a competitive fighter, girl or not. However, Kenichi doesn't have bloodlust so it's natural for him to come up with gender as a reason to not fight back.