No promises. He'll hold that thought quietly in his heart unless an opportune moment opens itself up and he can release that sentiment into the wild. Who knows if and when that will even happen? Perhaps Kai will be safe from the burden of this knowledge indefinitely, but perhaps not.

He's choosing to take that last comment as input on the fruits of his arts and crafts labor, and he looks it over one more time, just to be sure, with a thoughtful hum. Kai's input is valuable, certainly, but that kind of positivity and encouragement isn't unexpected, either. Shinji can probably only trust his own judgement so far, so his best bet, he thinks, might be to meet somewhere in the middle of his own expectations and what Kai would be happy with. "You think so?"