The thought of Maruki—of Akechi's Shadow—Ren can't even put it in words; even the image makes him want to vomit. He shudders. He can't stand it, he can't stand any of this, and he can't stand Akechi talking about himeslf like that. About either of them, the Akechi aboveground who's not a stupid animal or Akechi's Shadow, who's more than just a—a void.

He knows it's a bad idea to say so, but everything about this situation is a bad idea, and if he doesn't say anything he's going to scream, or cry. "Don't talk about yourself like that."