[Akechi is both a creature of denial and someone who faces his issues straight on, fooling himself into believing that he has a grip on all of them. He knows that Ren is offering him more than mere companionship here. The weight of his previous question hangs in the air. On his end, Akechi hadn't answered it directly. He also didn't evade it, either. The question is too ... pointed for where Akechi stands.]

Much of my so-called nobility feels like nothing more than a sham. I know what you're referring to, what I did—but it doesn't carry the same weight for me as it does you. After all, do you realize I'm not simply grateful that you brought down my father? I resent you for it, too. I was meant to be the one who did it. [It's a complicated situation.]

I can't take what you've offered to me in its entirety today. [Because of that resentment. Because of how he denies himself. Because while he has memories of himself in a healthy relationship with this boy, he can't begin to figure out how to do that himself. The weight of who he is smothers that Goro Akechi.]

But I will return home. It's the least that I can do.