Unironically fine with this because this conversation was too important to be interrupted and from a meta perspective, obviously the author isn’t going to kill or injure the two of them. At least not permanently.
Games, manga, anime, theater, drama, movies...they are safe spaces to further push the narrative envelope because they are "not real" (no matter the lived experiences that may be behind them, sadly). Japan isn't as politically progressive as some of their pop culture can make some think, even less so with the recent election.
And isn't it perfect.
No, she 100% still liked him even when he was a boy. In the first chapter, she was blushing thinking about the "boy" she likes and in this chapter, you can see her fall into despair because of the two of them kissing, and other past chapters showed she clearly had something for him. She wished for him to be a girl because she didn't care about his gender romantically, but felt awkward trying to interact with him as a boy because of the dynamics of being a boy and girl in a friendly relationship, similar to how many boy-girl childhood friends grow apart in middle/high school because they don't wanna be seen as weird for being close to somebody of a different gender or seen as dating, even if they have strong feelings, and wished for him to be a girl to make it easier to interact with him in a way that feels more romantic, but also natural, which is implied in the first chapter when they talk about how girls are allowed to be affectionate towards each other without it feeling romantic or making the other part self conscious.I still can't feel any "romantic" affection coming from Noelle that isn't...strange?
She never romantically liked him (because he was a boy) from the beginning. I think she was confused and wished for him to be a girl instead because she did like him to some extent. She only started showing visible interest when he turned into a girl. Fundamentally, he's still a guy and HIM on the inside. But he's exploring how comfortable he is now being a girl.
Meanwhile, Eito, recognized him immediately and still likes him for him (regardless of gender).
Noel is clearly a lesbian or just plain confused. She needs to sort that shit out and not cause Kei any further confusion and heartache. She's too self-absorbed to realize his feelings. But at the end of this chapter, she is admitting to understanding a lot of what's going on with Eito. Maybe cause she had the same worries.
And if it wasn't abundantly clear, I am biased towards Eito.
