[ Years... He knew Akechi's experience with the Metaverse extended further back than he claimed, but that's longer than Akira would've thought. He presses his lips together, considering the rest. ]
... There's no way you could have known.
[ Because Akechi is right: Morgana is valuable in ways that extend beyond being a friend and teammate. The process of taking hearts is so out there that it's likely none of them every would've come up with the idea on their own. When it comes down to it, the Phantom Thieves only exist thanks to Morgana. Without his guidance, would they have ended up killing Kamoshida's Shadow? It's a real possibility. One he'd rather not dwell on. ]
Would you have, though? [ Stolen hearts, that is. There's still much he doesn't understand about Akechi's motivations. He knows that Akechi is (was, he supposes) working for someone powerful, but he can't imagine that forced confessions would ever have been as effective in furthering their goals as the mental shutdowns were. ]
no subject
... There's no way you could have known.
[ Because Akechi is right: Morgana is valuable in ways that extend beyond being a friend and teammate. The process of taking hearts is so out there that it's likely none of them every would've come up with the idea on their own. When it comes down to it, the Phantom Thieves only exist thanks to Morgana. Without his guidance, would they have ended up killing Kamoshida's Shadow? It's a real possibility. One he'd rather not dwell on. ]
Would you have, though? [ Stolen hearts, that is. There's still much he doesn't understand about Akechi's motivations. He knows that Akechi is (was, he supposes) working for someone powerful, but he can't imagine that forced confessions would ever have been as effective in furthering their goals as the mental shutdowns were. ]