It's being paced well enough in terms of emotional connection and growth between Shiori and Hinako. As for dates and romantic physical moments, the way the story is going right now, it would feel forced to have them? The way Hinako doesn't jump at Azami's offer to die? How she continues to trust Shiori despite knowing how the selfishness of Shiori has affected at least two lives? How she doesn't wish Shiori dead DESPITE knowing that her giving her blood is why she couldn't join her family in death?
Romantic subtext is littered between the way their connection continues to grow.
We continue to see it in the way Shiori fussed over her and made sure all that blood wasn't Hinako's even tho technically, she should have been able to smell.
As for the physical romantic moments, I think we're gonna get some cute domestic stuff. They're gonna be living together. I'm pretty sure Miko's probably going to be stepping out a lot since she's an active and social creature and Shiori will be the one on main guard duty.
Then again....... I don't want to put my guard down seeing as Shiori's brought up some curiosity as to what/who Erica is. She might be trying to investigate and leaving Miko with Hinako.
I love Miko but I do think we need some more intimate moments with Hinako and Shiori.
In short, we have a pause on the dates but they're still being plenty gay without them.
First of all, I apologize because I know, my friend, that I really went overboard with what I said earlier. Going a bit straight to the point, you're right that their emotional connection has grown so much. Hinako already said that Shiori is the most important thing for her, and from there it already shows that Hinako knows she loves Shiori, because she even stood up for her when Azami spoke badly about her, and she didn’t say anything to the tanuki when she did the same to Miko (and that’s her best friend lol). I really feel these homey moments are now when closeness will happen.
The plot has moved forward, and it’s time to advance the relationship a bit too, which is why I also want intimate moments between the two. Answering the first point, in chapter 62, she said she no longer hates that Shiori was kind to her, so Hinako indirectly admitted that she did hate Shiori’s selfishness, but when she listened to her heart and they had the conversation on the beach, Hinako saw that Shiori’s feelings are genuine and I think that made her see that Shiori, despite having been selfish, did it out of love, and that made her realize that she truly loved her and see her differently. Also, let's be honest, she said she would still be friends with Miko when she found out she was a psychopathic murderous monster, so when you put it like that, Shiori doesn’t look that bad lol.
More than her blood ruining 2 lives, she understood that with Azami it was a desire to live, a kind act with selfishness, but with a desire to do a good deed. Hinako saw it that way because she even said that although neither she nor Azami could appreciate Shiori’s kindness, at least with Hinako the blood was before the accident, so there really isn’t pure selfishness in making her live. That’s why Hinako stopped seeing it as something bad when she saw that Shiori did everything for Hinako out of love and not pure selfishness. Hinako, at some point, acts cruelly toward Shiori; she didn’t need to hate her because just knowing she was going to eat her was enough for her.
She needed to hate her because just knowing she was going to be eaten was enough for her, and you can see that when they go to their parents' grave. Hinako didn’t care about Shiori except for the promise of reuniting her with her family, but upon realizing that Shiori truly loved her, she stopped just seeking to die and yearning for her parents, but she also understood that she loves Shiori and that’s why she apologizes to her. I really hope these homey chapters do well for their relationship—they deserve it, and now that Hinako has admitted that Shiori is the most important, it’s time for her to show it. Lastly, something unrelated to this: I don’t think Shiori is going to investigate Erica too much.
When she delivered the blow, Shiori noticed something and said: it must be her, maybe she realized what she was the moment she touched her, and knowing Azami it’s likely she’s a yokai from Japanese folklore with just magic or maybe a counter to mermaids or an enemy since she hates her so much to have something just for Shiori and it explains because Azami said that Miko was an annoying element, maybe Erica is a yokai that's good against Shiori but not against anyone else.
