Ren makes a tiny, terrified sound, scrambling backward and watching the tentacle with eyes so wide that the whites are visible all around his irises. At the sight of Maruki all in white, like he looked in his Palace, he loses any tenuous claim to calm he may have temporary clawed back.

"Leave me alone," he gasps between too-quick breaths. "Leave—leave me and—"

Alarm flares in Raoul. He urges caution, just as Ren himself thinks, Don't mention Akechi to him, you idiot. What the hell are you thinking? He chokes on the rest of his words, just in time. It does leave the end of that half-sentence dangling conspicuously; maybe if he was in a better state of mind, he would notice.

"Leave me alone," he repeats, stumbling over the words. "Leave me alone. Don't touch me. Leave me alone."