Ah. This was good. That extra weight was appreciated. Kai trailed his hand down to gently touch Kyoko's, a small unspoken thanks of his own before he ventured higher up. He slipped his fingers through Shinji's hair, starting up a slow and steady rhythm of strokes.

"Yeah." Really and truly. They were all able to say it now. Even if it wasn't the worst case scenario, even if they were grateful for that, it still sucked. "We did all we could though, so... I dunno what we would have done different."