Interesting to see the level of self-awareness from him where he's able to put himself in Tsubasa's shoes, but at the same time he's still an impulsive, emotional teen who just blurts out his feelings to his boss at work.
I have a feeling he himself is expecting to be rejected, but we'll see. Probably won't make it hurt any less. At the same time, his realization might give him a chance to make amends with Tsubasa - not that I think they should or will get back together, but more that it'll give them both a chance to get some closure and move on, because that was kind of a shitty breakup, especially with their friends getting involved.
So far the overall theme of the manga seems to be "fantasies vs reality". Note how Sensei forced herself on Kaede as a result (or part) of her mental breakdown caused by the reality of teaching not matching up with how she'd imagined it'd be. Note how the playboy keeps disappointing girls and causing them to break up with him because their fantasy of what dating a hot guy would be like doesn't line up with the reality of dating him. Note how Tsubasa had a fantasized view of Kaede when they first met, and because of that she was entirely unprepared to deal with the reality of who he was. Kaede himself also had a kind of unrealistic view of what dating and having a girlfriend would be like, and even now he seems to have a fantasized view of who his boss is and what she's like. I suppose next chapter we'll get to see how that measures up against reality. I, for one, am really enjoying this series.
