Again, they walk in silence through the darkening alley; something hungry scuttles in the garbage gathered against the wall. You really wanted to live that badly? he wants to ask, but that just sounds pathetic. "And so you did the same thing over and over.

"I'm surprised you never came to terms with death. Considering all we've done, and the inevitable outcome. I may not know the details of your situation, but I like to think I have a little perspective on bad deals by now."

Turning other-Akechi's words back on him? Sure he is. They've called one very particular chain to mind, a razor-sharp one snarled around his throat and heart, the one that drove him from the kitchen in Inaba. The unarticulated thing that's driven him on, when his hate and cruelty might have flagged. I want him to be proud of me....