Zono in context. Opinion Piece.

I don't speak for everyone, but for those who like/dislike Zono, this is how I see his behavior. I get the feeling that Zono and Fumi don't interact at all without Kaede or Ryousuke as a buffer, or without them having sex. There's nothing that shows that they've grown romantically inclined towards the other that's organic i.e. just hanging out or those lull moments that provide character depth with one another. Zono's at the moment speaks more towards a lust filled jealousy with a sprinkling of pity more than i've fallen in love with Fumi even by the end of the chapter. They're definitely within their right to have a physical relationships with one another and other people while neither is in a relationship. However, Zono has indicated that Fumi is simply lonely and using Kaede as a crutch so Fumi should focus on someone else like Zono to ease his "broken heart". Then with this in mind what makes Zono any different? They're using each other which is again within their right, but how is Fumi getting a happy ending then if that's apparently the end goal? He's clearly doesn't have feelings for Zono at the moment, and Zono's own feelings towards Fumi are ambiguous. If Fumi falls in love with Zono it'll be the typical you took my virginity, now i'm conditioned to think that sex equals love situation because you're my first intimate interaction. Zono's only indicated that he wants Fumi to give up on Kaede and choose him, not the promise of a romantic relationship. After all they began having sex because of Zono's attraction to Fumi's face right? It's not even explained why they were having sex initially or technically continue. Zono "blackmails", Fumi but doesn't really mean it, it's just a sex game really. More or less a kink for their foreplay with one another. In real life Zono would probably bore of Fumi just as quickly has they began and go back to sleeping around tbh. That might change in future chapters, but right now it's the typical rich boy is lonely and settles for the resident player bad boy who just likes the chase.

More or less the author wants Fumi to be happy but really it's just toxic projection of needing affection more than love that Fumi keeps falling into. I don't even dislike Zono or anything like that he is what he is. I just feel it's forced that just because he's introduced among the initial central pairing, he's the fallback plan for someone like Fumi who needs clearly someone who would coddle him rather than play mind games. There'e not even enough character growth in Zono in one chapter for him to seemingly now love Fumi regardless of if he's still sleeping around. People who are in love still have sex with others, fair enough too. Yet, sometimes I'd rather just have the author introduce a new character instead than clash preexisting characters just for the sake of a relationship which clearly wouldn't mesh well without the central pairing to prompt it.