It helps, at least a little, even if Akechi's head buzzes with so many thoughts. Why him? How could anyone care so much for someone who has caused so much death and pain in just two short years? To say nothing of the direct harm he did to Ren's friends, his teammates... People Akechi knows Ren cherishes.

Akechi once insisted he hated Ren. It was so close to the inevitable betrayal. He had to, because if he hated his rival, then he could do what had to be done. He could revel in defeating the one who represented everything Akechi wished he could have had...

But it was a damn lie. Even Morgana saw through him.

But what does that mean for Akechi? It's not as though he's had time to truly unpack his own feelings and they might mean. Even here, he's been much too preoccupied...

Funny. He can hear that damned cognition mocking him with that sickening smile...

"I'd much rather you be frank with me." That much is true. It'd be stupid for Ren to lie for his sake. If anything, it'd be insulting. "But if that is how you feel, I trust you're willing to face the consequences?"

Between Akechi's own instability and how others may respond... Is Ren truly prepared to balance this with his friends and comrades? Akechi, selfish though he may be, knows better than to ask Ren to choose him over the Thieves. He doubts that's Ren's intention, anyway.

He'd be disappointed if it was.