"Charm? I wouldn't go so far as to say that, though certainly you have something." His smile flashes again, smaller, less blinding. That tilt of Ren's head, the hand on his glasses. Ren, real Ren, and the... small army of people he's attracted just by existing. It is still, today, incomprehensible to Akechi that Ren draws people to him with so little work.

Real Ren, though, has never smiled at Akechi like that. Not once. It could make his own stomach flip, if he forgot himself. While he's smiling, his eyes are still cold—still, it's progress. "Yes, I'd say we're going to have a beautiful relationship. You say something absurd, I try to live with it because I have no choice. Either that, or you live in fear of my revenge. I'd prefer that."