Can you imagine if Shion get scared and also confess... that would literally break Kiki's mind.
But yeh, to feel loved by someone u really need to love urself fist. Otherwise those feelings would never reach u.
Spending so much time disliking urself at the measure of others is not an easy cycle to get out of. Im glad she actually felt the weight of Michiru saying she was cute. A simple thing, but we know for Michiru is a huge deal.