I'm getting Deja vu right now.
DEJA VU, I'VE JUST--
Oh wait, wrong thing. Yes, just like before when he tried to distance himself from her, but at least the reason is better this time.
I actually don't think he's doing the wrong thing here; as far as he knows (and as far as we know) Kusunoki only likes him as a friend, so if be was to tell her he likes her, it could make things awkward, ruin the friendship. He can't yet control his feelings and reactions since this is all new to him, so he's trying to avoid letting his feelings be found out, which requires him to keep a bit of a distance.
Of course, Kusunoki doesn't know any of this, so to her it seems like he's repeating his prior behaviour of dumping her on other people. A misunderstanding, but one that I actually find realistic and believable.
Also BIG THANK YOU to Shadowsama Scans for all the recent releases! This is one of my favourite manga so I'm really happy we're getting pages so quickly.