I didn't foresee Hina herself interpreting it as a ruse to allow Rei to remain a part of the whole incident. And then Rei himself tries to correct her, only to be silenced. Man, what a mess. I'm not sure what to think of this. On one hand, it's better this way since Hina won't be hurt, on the other hand, won't this actually hurt Rei? Can he go back to their previous state? And is any genuine romance between those two now impossible?
We are over 100 chapters in, so even in a manga like this, where the main point is shogi, not relationship drama (serious or romcom), the love interest should already have appeared as a character, even if there was no trace of romance present yet. But if Hina is out of the picture, there's... absolutely nobody (unless this turns yaoi, haha). So, it's either Hina or an MD staff member will need to remove the romance tag one day soon.