I agree with you about the sniffing thing. Also I must say saying I like to to someone is open to interpretation. We know he likes him but he could have meant it as I like you as a person...I mean they were talking about school and how he helped him so its understandable he took it that way. Also this manga seems like Gay for you I guess so of course his first reaction would be "oh i like you too have my sister"....
Yep. After reading some comments where people said he confessed I reread it and well the translation is somewhat clear on that point. But as you said the character used is important and in my experience (in manga ) they always misunderstand because of that. Usually, the person confessing needs to spell it out for the other person and I think this is a similar situation.

DAMN. Why do people in BL always find out that the other party is gay through shirt/coat sniffing. Is it an actual thing. Is there no other way to tell your man you like him Σ(っ°Д °;)っ