If they are going to resume physical intimacy, I feel like Yuzu would have to be vouchesafed in a pretty serious manner as to whether Mei is endgame on all of this. I feel like Mei needs to prove she's into this. Otherwise she doesn't deserve Yuzu at all. Yuzu is far too kind and stupid to keep getting used. I think what I want to see is a couple's fight. They need to have out on everything. Mei needs to turn it around dramatically or she's just a spectator. No more secrets and closed doors.
Mei has to atone with more than 'I love you'. Mei has to change more than simply being a wealthy Japanese introvert who now WON'T have a symbolic het baby-making relationship with her arranged partner. Mei has to prove her individuality more than she has. Maybe that comes with time, and maybe that's what Citrus Plus is all about, but who IS Mei?
There is an expression that seems to fit here "still waters run deep". It is important to remember that just because stoic people don't show emotion doesn't mean it isn't there (coming from a family of stoics, I'd point out is is important irl too - you can't expect that people will always shove their feelings in your face, sometimes you have to look for other signs; tbh the same applies to malice too). It can be a challenge for writers to convey this, especially in more visual media (less scope for expository narrative; it is a pet peeve of mine that movies/TV so often have supposedly stoic characters having breakdowns/tantrums bc the writers are out of ideas on how to subtly convey emotion).
I think Saburouta has done a pretty good job with Mei - we have quite a few clues to the broad strokes of Mei's emotions, although like Yuzu we have to learn to look for them. It has been made very obvious that Mei is madly in love with Yuzu, and pretty much worships the ground she walks on; her makeover of the school rules was an early sign of just how much she values who Yuzu is, and what she has given her. When Yuzu wanted to date, and when she gave her the ring Mei truly believed their relationship was doomed, but loved Yuzu so much she didn't have it in her to say no. All the time she was rushing into her engagement and marriage she wore Yuzu's ring next to her heart (and Yuzu knows that); that separation hurt Mei at least as much as it hurt Yuzu. When she told Yuzu that she ran away because she wouldn't have been able to leave if she saw her, it was nothing but the truth.
After they reconciled, Mei took Yuzu to the school board meeting and declared that they were a package deal, she took her most precious ambition, the thing that had motivated her to leave in the first place, and shared it with Yuzu. She is doing her best to show Yuzu her love in her own way; Mei isn't someone to make showy conventional emotional gestures, to do so would be contrived even dishonest. Saburouta even draws attention to this in series, having Yuzu gush so much over Mei's small but genuine gestures, perplexing their friends.
I think the tension is more "walking on eggshells" than guilt/resentment/insecurity. The problem at the moment seems to be that they are going too far to show their devotion: both "standing back", Yuzu is avoiding asking for much for fear of pressuring Mei, trying to let her set the pace, but Mei is anxious to "do it right", conscious of her lack of experience and afraid of making a mistake (and would probably prefer Yuzu to take the lead), so things are moving very slowly. eg they would probably both like more physical intimacy in private, but neither wants to pressure the other. They have had some bad experiences - early on Mei's clumsy attempt to show her appreciation by giving herself to Yuzu at Christmas led to a major rift; and just when they were getting comfortable making out (nb Yuzu led) on the camp/trip, the hammer fell with the arranged marriage thing. It hasn't occurred to Yuzu that Mei would actually find sex in private much easier than PDA, and it hasn't occurred to Mei that the "proper order" of those two is entirely up to the participants (and that as much as she loves PG romance, Yuzu is also horny af).
Mei wants to talk about their relationship, particularly what she can do for Yuzu. She sighed when Yuzu fled instead of talking about what she wants (Ironically Mei's eagerness to please is probably one of the reasons Yuzu is so coy about her naughtier desires).
As for why things are quite so cool... with feelings that intense, when you start seriously making out... in the bed that you share... sex isn't far behind. It is something that would throw quite a shadow both for the characters anxious about taking that step, and from the fourth wall perspective of pacing, we probably won't see things heat up much until Yuzu, Mei and Saburouta are ready for things to go all the way fairly quickly.
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