MC basically confessed his feelings to Natsukawa indirectly. Too bad the MC himself didn’t even realize it, while Natsukawa’s reaction makes it seem like she noticed his feelings
She certainly chose the harder way of being an idol. On the bright side, this way she can be the kind of idol she wants to be. Under an agency, she would be a format idol. It's still possible she and Kageyama could make deals with record labels.