Hmm, I thought the end of Pure Water Adolescence pretty strongly implied Kowo was a woman. Could only draw guys --> implies yaoi/shounen-ai -> implies fujoshi.
As for this story itself, I'm not really too fond of the type of attitude where someone tries too hard to hide their true self. At least, to the extent of lying or saying something you don't truly feel. So yeah, the MC troubled me a bit in this story, but as you guys said, the pacing (and reveal at the end) were very good. Kowo is also one of the top mangaka whose works I am super excited to read.