See? With sentiments like that being presented, he can't possibly find it in himself to doubt how sincere Kai's affections are.

If the flush that's hit his cheeks isn't from kiss number three, it's definitely from the overwhelming joy and warmth those words stoke within him. That he's worth returning to. That he can be trusted with being a safe haven. It's intense - enough so to twist his stomach up, but that gut reaction of it potentially being too huge of a responsibility to trust him with is drowned out with how thoroughly he wants to hold on to that trust as tightly as possible. Doesn't Kai deserve a home he wants to come back to, after all? They've agreed before, it's not the place so much as the people there, and if Shinji can be that... he desperately wants to give it to him.

And so, he nods slightly, mouth drawn tightly with a barely constrained smile as he tries to figure out what he could possibly say to that.

"And I'll welcome you back every time," is what he decides on, a sheepish but sincere mumble. "No matter what."

Cute... Kai, that's too cute. Shinji squeezes his eyes shut at that little assault, but lets out a single, soft laugh when it's done.

It's still so much, to be thanked for something like this. For wanting to keep someone close by, for wanting to cherish them.

"I could say the same to you." Not just a manner of echoing the sentiment back for the sake of it, but it's also a measure of not outright turning down the gratitude. That's something worth keeping safe too, even if it is still a lot. "I'll always give you as much as I can."