Would you kick me out if I said I wanted it to be you? [ It's dangerous, because Akechi doesn't believe he can take care of anything without breaking it. It's dangerous because maybe Akechi can't take care of anything without breaking it. It's too much responsibility and too much heroism for Akechi and too much selfishness for Akira, but he doesn't have the energy to pretend there's any other answer right now.

He wants it to be Akechi. He wants Akechi to need him; he wants to need Akechi; he wants to be able to write away all of their myriad debts to each other in one fell swoop of reciprocity. It doesn't matter if they're needy if they both need the same thing. ]

It's one of those things. People don't notice I need help unless they want to, but everyone wants to have faith that I can manage anything.

But you -- you wanted to beat me, so it was okay if I failed. [ Akira puts the lid on the curry to let it simmer in its own juices a little.

It smells good, at least. ]

And if I failed with you, it made me want to keep trying. [ There's a weight to it there, because Akira feels like he has failed -- quantifiably, objectively, sincerely. But Akechi is here, and Akechi is still going, and it's --

It's one of the only things that's making Akira keep going. ]