[ Ren looks shocked, maybe a little hurt for a second, but quickly slips off the mask of the sweet, innocent high school kid who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and did something stupid by accident. No, he slips into something more comfortable, something he's just now started constructing, just for Akechi. Of something closer to how he might be, one day, if he wakes up back home and makes it that far.

That's right, he's a Phantom Thief, and the little detective knows it. So he doesn't have to hide or shy away from that rebellious streak of his, not around Akechi. He doesn't have to pretend. Show him who you are.

So Ren laughs. Like it's the funniest joke he's ever heard. ] What happened to wanting to blow my brains out, Akechi? [ He's used to danger, now, gets high on the adrenaline of nearly losing. Loves the rush of changing someone's heart. There's a taunting flirtation, like Arsene Lupin himself, hiding behind the smirk on his face. ] You only want me to die if you can be the one to kill me? That it?