If you haven't seen the anime then I suggest you do, it added a lot of scene that fleshed out their characters more.
If they die in the battlefield, what then? More uncaring, apathetic teachers and nurses might replace them, and that would just make the students' lives worse. Their hands are...
I think you're undermining both of their characters a lot. They do genuinely care for the students and want them to survive the brutal years they have to stay at the school. Unfortunately for now the only thing they can do is training the students to be the strongest versions of themselves (Omi)...
Idk tbh, you could also argue that sacrificing yourself like that isn't "self-love", and if they're only rating her (and her team's) performance then it can't be high with Abi being like that, and Junna now injured.
I can't fcking wait to see what happens tho lol
Okay so I'm strictly talking about a fictional scene between fictional characters. I don't think the backlash would be that bad even if they reverse the gender? Mainly because the kiss here was initiated by the underaged character.
If anything I feel like this scene would get the most backlash...