What an incredibly romantic chapter.
One of my favorite parts is the underlying hesitation. Shiori constantly asks Hinako (and herself), if she really understands Shiori’s emotions. Hinako says that she finally understands it, but I think Shiori’s love and possessiveness is far beyond comprehension. Shiori’s wish isn’t to replace Hinako’s family, but to be the only one. Not in the sense that Hinako is isolated from all her friends and outer society, but to perceive Shiori as her most important person.
She uses the role of family to achieve this. If it was her friends that passed away, and Hinako was feeling immensely guilty about this, then Shiori would have tried to become her most important friend instead of family. It falls in line with how monsters try to imitate human customs without completely understanding the intentions behind them.
I think it’s easy to dislike Hinako’s character because we default to “happy endings.” Characters actively (or even unintentionally) struggling with doing “the right thing” will constantly challenge the reader to empathize with them. However, I think it’s very commendable for Hinako to recognize her mistakes and the care that surrounds her.
I say “right thing” loosely. An interesting part of the story is that there’s no strong judgement against her suicidal ideations. She has perfectly reasonable motivations behind why she feels depressed and suicidal. And even when she feels her lowest, Hinako is a compassionate person that’s (somewhat) socially functioning.
The story softly discourages, and like what readers have said, validates Hinako’s thoughts. Yes, it’s okay for you to feel like this. No, you’re not alone. Hinako’s apathy towards life can’t be completely overturned anytime soon, but at least there’s someone waiting by her side to show life is worth living.