Shinji winces slightly at that last thought. Even he had people who, somehow, had genuinely seemed to like him back home. If it came down to it, he's sure he'd rather take the loneliness than risk sticking with someone who only saw him as 'convenient'. P-... probably.

The topic does kick something loose in his mind, though. An exchange he hadn't been meant to see, one that had eventually lead to a very frayed night for the both of them. 'Why go so far for me?', answered with, ''Cause we're friends'. He wants to give Kai the space to explore these admissions on his own, but Shinji's own curiosity gets the better of him, so after holding on to the question for a moment, he releases it gently out into the open.

"What about Kei...?"

Surely that had been a different situation altogether, right? Or is there more to the story there?