He had all the time in the world for you, Shinji. However long Kai had taken to think about this, he owed Shinji that much time and more. It was a lot! He knew it was a lot, and this was grossly unfair of him. He'd already had so much right here in his arms, where did he get off with wanting anything more than this? when it wasn't even possible to have it anyway??

Kyoko's status was pretty 'It's Complicated' from Kai's standpoint too. Her heart was very clearly elsewhere in ways she thought would ruin their friendships. That still seemed like it was a Kyoko kind of exaggeration, so he was taking it with a grain of salt. That didn't change the ache in his heart though. Her feelings were real enough.

He hadn't needed to say any of this. He could have gotten away with saying nothing at all, and he wouldn't have had to know he put that heaviness in Shinji's voice. It would have been worse if he found out some other way, Kai reminded himself. There was always going to be another way.

"Mm... so I hope whoever she likes knows she's as great as we do," he softly.