Despite the quiet thoughts that Kai's feelings were ones that might lead nowhere, hearing Kai say that, admitting that he's also sure that he has no real chance here... That hurts more than Shinji expected, too.

"So do I." She deserves to feel as cared about as possible. If whoever she fancies is even half as kind and attentive as Kai is, then she should be good, hopefully. Hopefully.

That only does so much to address Kai's confession, but knowing a fuller scope of it makes that secret feel less turbulent. It's still a vast, murky thing on Shinji's end, but it seems like it won't be tossing either himself or Kai around too much. His own worries about whether or not he'll be able to stave off some of those more depressing thoughts this has set free can be set aside for now. He clasps his hands a little tighter together before narrowing his focus down solely to Kai's plight.

"Do you feel any better?"

Secrets off your chest, and ideally flowers out of your throat as a result?