One thing this shows is that it's Shirota's choice to be her closet now. He's had many outs at this point...he didn't have to try and get into her school, he could've walked away when she fired him, he could've let Hina win the contest. He's still doing it because he wants to.
Yeah I have to say I'm continuously baffled by a lot of the comments here. It's like they don't realize what they're reading. Shirota being submissive to Takamine is central to the entire premise. The Manga just does not work without it. And I for one am glad it's that way.
To me this is like...