@aasegovia88 nah, ushigome not on top. She lost because she forced a kiss on him without consent, there just hasnt been a resolution of that yet. And in this chap you see hodaka specify that kissing requires consent. And pf course immediately afterwards takae shoots herself in the foot by forcing a kiss too. On top of getting rejected.
The big 3 names 'most likely to win' have always been ushigome, takae, and kuzuhana, as they have had the strongest influence on the plot and on hodaka. The other characters have been support plot points.
And kuzuhana is making a 'sacrifice play' to help and protect him right now while the others are being selfish. From a story perspective she is establishing herself as theone to win by showing she values him more.
Her fade out of the story for so many chapters, to come back stronger now, is a misdirect intending to make the audience turn their belief to others. Imo the author kept her away for far too long lol, it created frustration.
And as a side note..... while i understand why takae had to 'eliminate herself', i think it was a sad way to do it by her forcing a kiss. Because it erased dozens of chapters of character development. She was becoming someone who seemed less selfish and more supportive. A person i liked. I get why... the author is doing the "underneath their love for hodaka, the girls are still the delinquents they were when you first met them" thing. Proof of this concept is the deliberate reminder of the panty blackmail incident from chap 1.
