Warning: the following contains spoilers for Sasaki and Miyano, Episode 3, “Senpai Is...” now streaming on Funimation.
After 3 episodes, Sasaki should already be nominated as the best boy of the year for his patience, respectful attitude, honesty, and the way he tries to embrace everything about Miyano. It is really no surprise that Miyano is slowly beginning to be moved by his attitude, which is the first major step towards romance.
Sasaki is very blatant about how he feels, but the face-to-face interactions are often not taken seriously by Miyano since he still wanted to treat them as jokes. Though he definitely did not neglect Sasaki’s charming yet flirtatious behaviors, it was just easier to dismiss them. But it’s Sasaki’s behaviors when Miyano isn’t aware (or so Sasaki thinks) that revealed Sasaki’s true feelings to Miyano. This is why Miyano is finally starting to waver on his resolve about being just a friend.
Miyano had always worried about Sasaki being looked down upon for reading BL, so when he saw one of Sasaki’s classmates Ogasawara getting angry at seeing Sasaki reading BL, he thought his worst fear had come true. Sasaki scolded Ogasawara for having this bias and he also defended BL as something good just as it is.
To Miyano, this was more impactful than anything Sasaki shared with him when they are alone because while Sasaki showed interest in the genre to his face, he didn't know how Sasaki really felt deep down. In a sense, Sasaki’s defense was a validation of Miyano’s identity as a fudanshi, something that Miyano desperately craved. The fact that Sasaki could say it so earnestly and openly, made Miyano admire him even more.
This showed that Sasaki genuinely appreciated and understood Miyano and his interests, and was not just going along for the sake of his romantic pursuit. Sasaki gave Miyano some chocolate for Valentine’s Day, and Miyano decided to return the favor on White Day. Sasaki never expected to receive something in return, especially when he gave the gift as a sign of confession, so receiving a return gift is basically a return of affection, or at least that he's very special.
Although Miyano tried very hard to clarify that he is only treating Sasaki as a friend and a senpai, even he was not convinced that this is true. He found himself thinking way too much about Sasaki, especially the moments of affections. Additionally, Miyano noticed that he is not shipping Sasaki with anyone, he doesn’t even place Sasaki within the usual category of uke or seme, and this was a big deal. Miyano was not shipping Sasaki because he subconsciously doesn’t want Sasaki to be with someone else, but he is yet to consciously understand why.
Miyano soon got a very serious awakening when Sasaki confessed his feelings to Miyano, whom he thought was asleep on the train. Miyano was always able to overlook Sasaki’s confessions because they were always said in jest, like a tease. But when these words were said in secret and in such a serious tone, it became much harder to ignore, especially for someone as well versed in BL tropes as Miyano.
Now that Miyano realizes Sasaki’s feelings, their relationship can never go back to the friendship that Miyano thought they had. But based on Miyano’s reactions to Sasaki’s confessions, he is not necessarily opposed to being in a relationship with Sasaki. Now the only thing that seems to stand in their way is Miyano’s own mental blocks and inferiority complex about being a fudanshi. But hopefully, Sasaki’s acceptance can quickly bring him out of his shell.
