Wicked women got sidelined XD.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH... Kei just threw a bomb.
The older I get... and I admittedly am not exactly super experienced in that regard... the more I come to realise that people get caught up in the "romance" part of a relationship, to the detriment that what they truly need first is a friendship.
As I see it... "romance" isn't A feeling... but a state of being where two people share many feelings, that go from attraction to just liking each other company, and those feelings are what hold a relationship together.
You can share hobbies or interests, or simply like to share what you like or not too; you can just respect your partner's interests without liking them... but you need to respect them.
Kei is worried their talks don't turn into romantic moments... but it is these shared little moments of interest that really bond them.
And Kotoko may not share that interest in the same way, but she deeply respects their liking for it.
In a way... this story is surprisingly "realistic", as they are too young to understand and are always too anxious to find a resolution to their feelings.