[ The latter part earns a small widening of his smile...

And maybe a small flutter in his chest, but that's not an important detail to go into right now. Seeing that smile is nice, too. His head tilts to the side just a bit, a small amount of fondness slipping through the cracks just a tiny bit... ]

Trusting people is hard... [ The smile dims a bit and he lowers his gaze. ] ... One of the first moments of real trust from me, only happened because the guy was stubborn enough to keep reaching out. And that happened less than a year ago.

[ A small shrug of his shoulders. ]

Before that, I was alone most of the time. It was my fault, but...

[ Is that a brief flash of uncertainty in his eyes before his gaze shifts away? ... Nah, that's totally just Akechi's imagination.

But, after the second-long pause, a quiet 'heh' slips out as he shifts his stance, hand reaching up to almost awkwardly twist his bangs. ]

Guess it goes both ways. [ He holds a blink, exhales, and looks back to Akechi. ] Can't say I've ever told anyone about that.

[ He lowers his gaze in thought, expression softened now. ]

... But I guess it isn't the worst thing to have put out there.

[ A quiet laugh. He doesn't look like he regrets it, in spite of the initial discomfort of something unfamiliar. ]