It’s Akechi’s way to be indirect when speaking about certain things, Ren knows this. That way he effortlessly weaves a verbal maze is one of the many things about the other boy that Ren always found intriguing. And … the fact that Akechi answered him as directly as he did is more than Ren guessed might result from his question. He nods with a quiet hum of acknowledgement and flashes Akechi a sideways grin.

“Well, I don’t think anyone can fault you for falling into my conversational clutches. I can be extremely charming.”

That’s funny, right? Playing at being the cartoon villain to Akechi’s shining star detective hero, even though they both know the situation between them is nothing so simple, and it never was. Ren absently reaches up to fiddle with a piece of his hair, silently debating whether to push any farther forward. After a moment’s hesitation, he decides to offer Akechi the same measure of honesty. It’s only fair, after all.

“I liked hanging out with you too, you know. Sometimes I even managed to forget you wanted to put me behind bars.”

Those times he’d spent alone with Akechi were special, little secret pieces of his life that Ren kept all for himself. Their first visit to the jazz club felt like a particularly important milestone in their relationship. It’s a special place for me, Akechi told him at the time, and Ren couldn’t help feeling a little bit special himself that he’d been chosen to share in something so meaningful.

“Muhen-san said to tell you to come by again sometime, by the way.”