[Hesitantly, in a quiet tone of voice:]

... Luna?

[... That's better than before, at least. He nods despite the fact that she can't see it.]

Yes. Has Brilith-san stabilized you?

[Haha... Yeah. Good luck, Luna. Akechi's voice is perfectly even now that he knows she's awake and not fucking dying. There's no telling what kind of face he's making right now.]

Will there be any remaining damages once she's done everything she can with the resources available to us?

... I see.

[There's a pause here. Perhaps he's choosing his next words carefully...? Eventually, all he says is:]

You should return to your low power state, then. It's pointless to stay in pain if you can avoid it.

[...]

Is that something you want to discuss right now?

[...

He's quiet for a long, long moment. When he speaks up again, his voice is flat.]

Were you prepared to die for Nicolas?

... I should have told you about the gun. [Flatly.] There was no need for you to intervene. After last week, this is exactly the type of outcome I wanted to avoid.

[...

She will hear his footsteps, but it doesn't sound like he's leaving. Just... moving around.]

Mammon-san and Phoenix-san both died two weeks into our partnership. It's been two weeks since we started working together, Luna.

[So maybe he thought Luna would die this week, because being a cursed child is just like that sometimes.]

[He is... somewhere. There's a pause before Luna hears his footsteps again, approaching her. A moment later, she will feel a very tentative touch on the back of her hand — like he isn't sure what to do with this at all.]

... All I need is one more week to break this cycle once and for all. I don't care what your directives say. You aren't allowed to die before then.

[... It's hypocritical of him, really. But his instinctive response isn't to agree, or to vehemently deny that he's prepared to die. It feels like a lifetime ago at this point, but Phoenix... really was right to call him out all those weeks ago. What a joke.

In the end, his hand lingers for a moment longer before he retracts it.]

I want to see this through to the end. So, I'll... [Like pushing glass through his teeth.] I'll try as well.

... Akechi is my mother's name, yes.

[This is, apparently, an important distinction he needs to make. It's not his family's name. It's his mother's. Given the memory he unwittingly shared with Luna several weeks ago, however, she may have a guess as to why he doesn't go by his father's name.

There is another pause before he adds:]

You may call me Goro, if that's what you truly want.

[She can't see his face, but he sounds a little... baffled. Like this isn't something that happens very often to him, if at all.]