His first priority … of course it would be tying up the loose ends Shido left behind. Akechi had only been planning to take revenge upon his father for his entire life. How could Ren possibly compete with such a goal? Of course he wouldn’t be a priority. Akechi was relentless about pursuing his goals, Ren knew this. And if he was hurt by the revelation that he wasn’t important enough for Akechi to tell him, at any point during those forty-five days, that he’d managed to survive, Ren concludes that was his own fault for having such an expectation when really, he should know better. He knew Akechi well enough for that blood oath, after all.

Ultimately, this was good news - Akechi survived. He was still alive, and that meant Ren hadn’t failed to save him after all. Now he could stop carrying around the weight of that particular regret. The ache in the side of his head doesn’t subside, but Ren decides to ignore it now. Composure regained, he opens his eyes again and nudges his glasses up the bridge of his nose before turning to Akechi with another of those ever-so-slight grins.

“Careful. That almost sounds like an apology.”

Akechi doesn’t apologize - that’s it, that’s the joke. Ren’s hands return to his pockets - he is fine now. A misstep, not a fatal error. The people who hold importance in your life aren’t obligated to return the sentiment. He’d simply grown too comfortable with how in sync he and Akechi were as they worked together last winter, but their partnership was always going to be temporary. It’s fine - Ren’s heart would heal.

Eventually.

He steps forward to the now-opened hood and continues to not have a single clue as to what he’s looking at.

“These are a lot easier to deal with when they can actually tell you what’s wrong.”