It was a valid worry through and through. They were both too intimately acquainted with it, and that was exactly why Kai had to say something. He wanted to say it on his own terms, without anything else getting into the middle of it all and muddling it up. They were both good on doing that on their own, thanks.

Those worried hands caught his eye, and Kai watched them carefully for a moment. Ahh. Reaching over, Kai rest his other palm warmly over them.

"Mmmm.... I am the weird one here," Kai said with a dry breath of a laugh, "so I guess it'd make sense if I had the weirdo heart."

Kai gave both the boy and his hands a firm squeeze, tipping his head a bit to try and catch Shinji's gaze. There was light poking fun at his own old 'freak' reputation, but this right here was real important. "Even if it is," he said softly, "it can't touch how much I love you. 'M always gonna come back home."