Also from the JP side of things, I'm pretty sure Matsuri is openly lesbian, and not just for her character. I only glean my info from clips though, so ┐('~`;)┌
Also I like slow burns a lot. But I'm with Johnb. There's always this fear that you get invested over years and then the ending is just crap. I like slow burns if they reach a point where the characters get together and maybe the story even goes on. And show the couple in their earned relationship. HEA is so yesterday, too. I want to see the relationship that the couple (and me the reader) earned. And so there always is the fear of the series ending abruptly and ambigously like so many other series did. -.-
^Investing into something for years just for the ending to be crap is one of the main reasons why I mostly abandoned the battle shonen genre (except for World Trigger, at this point I doubt it can do something to disappoint me), so I can kinda understand why people don't want to be stuck in this series only for it to go nowhere, but I do personally like it.