It really struck me when the author says in the afterword: “I love girls who can’t be honest about their feelings,” because it really brings out the difference between how authors think and how a lot of readers think.
On the one hand, readers also do respond positively to characters who can’t be honest about their feelings—that’s the tsundere trope in a nutshell, and those are often very popular characters.
But for the “in denial” characters like Micchan, lots of readers are like, “OMG! She needs to get a clue!,” or they spend a lot of energy shipping Denial-chan with everybody in sight, including the MC, etc.
It’s pretty clear that for authors, such characters are an interesting technical challenge, in a way more compelling to create than a lovey-dovey lead (although here Sana is nicely conflicted herself—swept away by Ayane while struggling to come to terms with all her new feelings).
I guess the readers hoping for a change in characters like Micchan are responding the way the authors want them to, but I can see that keeping the characters in denial would be more fun to write.