for me its the fact that they met when he was 14 that stops me from shipping them. their dynamic reminds me more of mob and reigen
Personally not an issue for me since they hung out for a collective total of a few weeks...and then time skip. But I think people forget we can also just platonically ship stuff. It doesn't have to be romantic whatsoever. Even besties can be a platonic ship.
But compared to Mob who is younger, Satomi is actually a transitioning adult. He has moments where he's naive and moments where he's astute. Like you can feel him changing, and becoming more mature, and I like the contrast in terms of story-telling of someone who has seen a lot, and someone who is just finally setting off on his own.
I think they would be cute together but the age gap of 25 years is just a bit… I mean at least he‘s an adult now but It still feels a bit weird due to the age gap. But I don‘t need any pairings here anyway, I just enjoy the interactions the characters have here. I love how realistic the conversations are.