Fate... might be too lofty of a word to be placing on the involvement of someone like him, but with the general melancholy feeling that's blanketing the two of them right now, he can't bring himself to argue.

As Kyoko retrieves her prize from the altar, Shinji fishes his SDAT from his pocket, swapping the tape inside with one of the ones in his hand. All of them had been suspiciously close to the end of the tape, so the rewind button is hit before he makes careful work of untangling the headphone cord. From the beginning, once again.

"You've always been very kind to me," he answers, holding one of the earbuds out to her. "So, if I can help you in return, at all, I'd really, really like that."