Right... I totally forgot that Shimada had a girlfriend. We even saw her in a dream he had. But because of how much effort he has to put into Shogi on a regular basis just to keep up with everyone else, she suffered and ended up leaving him.
Do we seriously want Akari to go through that, as well?! I feel like it would be impossible to avoid it, unless he just gave up on his own dreams for her sake. Shit.
Now I worry about all these people saying they want him with Akari. They don't see how bad that could go down. At least Hayashida-sensei has the time and energy to dedicate to a romance.
I really do wish it could be Shimada, considering other factors, but... this is really tricky.