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Soon it'd be time to let him go, but not just yet. Kai turned his head to press a kiss fast against Shinji's temple first.

"We'll pick this up later then," Kai promised.

Then he eased back, sliding his hands to Shinji's shoulders to give them a warm squeeze. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Mm," Shinji nods gently, sliding his hands up to Kai's, pulling them carefully off his shoulders and holding on to them tightly for another moment.

"Good luck."

Another fond squeeze, and those hands are released. After a hard swallow, though, he's got one more thing to say before letting Kai run back off, "Be careful out there, okay?"

You're killing him, Shinji. There was no way he could ignore that, dipping back in to gently bump their foreheads together.

"I will." Even if he'd probably have to make up for that later, but the present was blissfully ignorant. "... Keep an eye on Bug for me, ok?" Let the citrus into your life.

"I'll find her. Don't worry."

With that... there he go.

He had mostly meant it for any wandering dangers still lurking in the newly uncovered areas around Havenwell, but there's really no telling what might go wrong otherwise. It's fine, this is fine.

He exhales a shuddery breath as Kai leaves - there he go - waiting until the front door clicks shut behind him before daring to move. Watch after Bug, huh? That was probably a gentle nudge to tell Shinji to keep some company nearby, even if it was just the resident orange. The citrus friend will be tracked down and carefully scooped up, so that it can join Shinji while he isolates himself in the bedroom once again. Local girl will not have to be subjected to him tonight if she does not wish for it.

Just Boy, and Bug, lying on the floor, perhaps contending with some more flowers while they wait.

Eventually, the boy's tablet would alert him to a few incoming messages. Let the Bug alert him to them further by rolling directly towards the sound. Beep beep.

found her
omw

might be a whle tho
u h hands kinda hurt we're walking
im fine tho promise

really dont worry

Step 1: do not worry
Failed step 1.

At least hearing back from Kai at all, and the fact that it's a mission successful message, is its own relief. Just... the kind that comes with fresh, new worry over what could have happened to lead to hurt hands and walking back home. Which is different, if nothing else, from the numb sense of self-disgust he's otherwise cultivated during his wait.

what

is sent preemptively, quickly followed by,

no
You can tell me when you get home.

There's no reason to make him type more than necessary if his hands are already ?somehow? hurt.

Is Kyoko hurt at all? Y/N

n

But wait, there's more.

same boat ur in
worried about u

There's a moment where he wants to tell Kai to tell her not to worry, but that sort of contradicts his earlier plan to not make Kai feel like he has to meddle between them.

He didn't expect her to be totally fine after all of that, but if she's unhurt, that's better than the alternative, especially if they managed to get up to something that ended up with Kai injured. Instead, he just looks over that last message over and over for a moment, sighing gently as he does. Even after all that, after he pressed her to the point of hurting her, she's worried about him. Jeez...

He sits back on his heels, carefully tapping out a reply that hopefully doesn't warrant Kai saying anything else.

Ok
Thank you.
Both of you stay safe, I'll see you when you get back.

🍊

It was probably easy to tell when the pair had finally made it home. There was a whole fuss in the kitchen, and a fuss in the hallway, and just generally a fuss up until soft 'goodnight's were exchanged.

There was a light knock at their door before Kai was popping his head in. "Shinji? We're back."

Thank goodness for all the fussing, giving Shinji enough of a heads up to tidy any stray petals up once more before that familiar face peeks in. Don't mind him shutting the window, and don't mind the faint hint of redness around his eyes, because as soon as he hears that gentle knock, Shinji's full attention is on Kaito.

"Kai," here he comes, hurrying over to the door while speaking in worried, hushed tones that surely won't carry to any of the neighboring bedrooms. "Are you okay? What happened?"

That redness wasn't going unnoticed, young man. Kai looked at it with a small frown, but it softened just as soon as it appeared. "Some stuff," he offered unhelpfully at first. He would have reached out to pat him on the head, but as he came into the room more fully it was clear his hands were already full with... bags of ice??

Let's shut the door with a helpful lean though. Kyoko wasn't going to want to hear the rehashing of events, and Kai had a feeling he might be a sounding board soon enough. "'M fine. Think I just sprained my hands."

Ice isn't a total surprise if he'd managed to hurt his hands, but how ? did he sprain ? both of them?? Shinji's worry only deepens, his brows knitting tighter together, though he doesn't doubt that he'll get a fuller story soon enough. He's home now, somewhere nice and safe where those injuries won't be exacerbated, and that's... a good start.

"Come on," he offers quietly, placing a careful hand at Kai's back to steer him toward the bed. "You must be tired."

Kai was easily herded along, because bed had been the goal destination all along. "Kinda," he admitted as they went, knowing that it was probably going to be obvious the moment his body hit a soft surface. He wasn't nearly tired enough to not make sure Shinji was going to join him on the bed though-- the hug from earlier was simply on pause after all.

He plopped himself down, reaching out to encourage Shinji down with him. "You too." An Emotionally Draining Day for Everyone.

Everyone is tired tonight. Before Shinji sits down, though, he stays standing right in front of Kai for a moment. It's a good position to just... gently run his hands through the other's hair. You did a good job, doggo, all of that hard work deserves a reward.

He won't just ignore that invitation to join him, though. Normally he'd want to take one of Kai's hands in his own as he does, but they are. occupied. Alas. Instead he opts to settle his hand on Kai's shoulder as he settles his butt down on the bed.

"I'm glad you're back, both you and Kyoko."

Ahh. Kai had looked up at him, but his eyes fluttered shut at that gentle touch. How nice. It's soothing in a way that Kai wasn't sure he deserved, but he was going to bask in it all the same. Could he really say his heart ached if it was still full to the brim with all this warmth?

He sighed down at his hands as Shinji took a seat though. Geez. They sure were causing trouble, weren't they, even if they'd saved (?) the day. Well, whatever, one of them could deal with not being iced for a second so he could encourage Shinji to lean on him a bit more.

"Mmm... me too. I'm glad knowing she's home, but... sorry it took so long. Wanted to be with you too."

"It's okay," he reassures him, carefully leaning in and sliding his hand around Kai's back to grasp at his shirt. Of course, he wanted to have them both back as soon as possible, but, "You were doing what I couldn't. It was a big job, so I didn't mind waiting."

As if it wasn't an agonizing wait, or something. Still, there's no reason to make Kai worry more than he already has, and he can probably figure out as much without Shinji even saying it.

"Thank you."

He frowned a bit at the gratitude. "I dunno if I did a good job at all," he murmured a bit guiltily. He really wasn't sure if he'd managed to bring Kyoko any comfort at all. She'd come home but...

"I tried."

"S'more than I did."

All his efforts did was chase her off, even if Kai doesn't believe his attempt was wholly successful.

"I'll talk to her tomorrow," he says softly, resting his head against Kai's shoulder. "I'll try... and smooth some things over with her as much as I can."

He chased her off, and Kai drove her to violence to herself on reflex. A stunning pair they made.

"Mmm." Kai rested his head right there against Shinji's. "She wants to talk to you, too. Y'both think you messed things up with each other so... if you both want to make it right, I don't think you have to worry too much."

Being close to people... is hard.

Kai had already told him that they were in the same boat, but hearing him say it really drives the point home. He doesn't want to dismiss the idea that she would want to make up, because he's sure she doesn't want to leave things as messy as they are. Kyoko... is a good person. He's always thought that, and this whole debacle hasn't done anything to change his mind. She shouldn't have had to deal with him pressing too hard.

"I just feel like an idiot," he mumbles, "For letting it get that bad... and then running off and leaving her to cope with it."

Getting close to people certainly was messy, wasn't it.

"'M sure you were just lookin' out for her," Kai murmured back. "But Kyoko's... worse at taking help than we are." Which was saying a lot, because these boys were disasters. "I don't think I've ever really gotten things right with her yet."

Shinji's fairly certain that, actually, what he did was more selfish than that, but he also kind of doesn't want to dominate the conversation with how much of a screw up he feels like right now. Let's continue, then.

"Did she give you any idea of what's been bothering her...?" If not, he's more than willing to let the matter lie, there's no reason for him to chase it down again if it's just going to blow up in his face once more, but the part of him that was worried enough to try in the first place really, really wants to know.

"Kinda."

Sorta. Enough for her actions to make sense but her intentions that much more confusing. "I promised I'd keep it a secret." So there wasn't too much he could actually tell Shinji. Though, even if he hadn't made that promise it wouldn't have changed much. "She'd already told me more than she wanted to, so I didn't push for specifics..."

Kai let out a heavy sigh. "Kyoko thinks its real bad but its... it really shouldn't be. S'just something that hurts."

Well, at least one of them is... not informed, really, but less in the dark about it. A part of him feels disappointed about the secret status being enforced, but not even that part wants to pursue more information about it.

"She told me... the was no way it wouldn't ruin our friendship, so I guess... it really is better if it stays a secret." As painful as it is to think about, to just leave her with something so heavy to bear on her own. If Kaito can hold on to even just a fraction of that burden, that's. good. that's better than nothing.

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