[There's a flash of something boiling behind Akechi's eyes at that muted apology. Just the sound of it, quiet and breathless, barely a whisper, it sets his frozen skin ablaze right as his chest goes impossibly tight with the feeling of utter wrongness.

The Ren he knows wouldn't be put off by his furious display - much to Akechi's complete exasperation - nor would he ever apologize so meekly to him either. There's something fundamentally wrong here, not just the setting they've been thrust into, but something deeper that Akechi can't quite pinpoint yet.

Oh, and that knowledge pisses him off.]

If you wish to have me listen, then speak. And don't mince your words with me. I am not looking for your bullshit mercy here either. Speak plainly. Did you and your cohorts somehow fail to defeat Maruki after I disappeared? [The teen's eyes narrow suspiciously at his rival.] I sincerely doubt this is the reality you would choose to accept, so it can not be that you accepted his deal behind my back either. So what is it?