This makes a lot of sense. I also feel like there's actually been a lot of development that's not really been acknowledged because people want them to confess already. And I do too, but I actually love how this is going right now! We're actually going somewhere now, and have been for a while. Hana's confession was a huge turning point
Man, and I thought the Miraculous Ladybug love square was complicated. But I do like that there are layers that need to be overcome before the two dudes actually get together, and it is slowly (but surely) making progress, just really slow. But I do think each "arc" has had significance in helping our two dudes like each other for their real selves. Like Yuuma and Shumei actually getting along despite wanting nothing to do with each other at the start. I wonder how the author will get them to like each other romantically.
I can understand why the author is going with this route. That's because the relationship between Hana and Mei is born on lies and deceit. Seriously, their relationship is an entire mess of issues. And in order for them to truly become a couple, they'll have to overcome those issues. Otherwise, there's gonna be a lot of plot holes in the story.
So far, the author has been breaking down the issues with their relationship by exploring them piece by piece. Since they are both crossdressing, they don't see their relationship really as same sex. In their mind, the other person is a girl while they are a crossdressing man. So the idea of them dating as their crossdressing self never crosses their mind. That's because they want the other person to fall in love with their male self. That is why it is so hard from them to confess their love to each other as their female persona.
This issue, however, is dealt with by their friends who are in a relationship despite being both girls. Because of it, the both of them no longer see an issue in them dating each other even as their female persona. But their relationship is way more complex than that. It's not simply about dating the same sex. They are cross dressing as a female and there is the issue of coming out to the other person.
This issue is then dealt with by their friend's dad who is a crossdresser and was able to reunite with his family while coming out. And Yuuma himself was able to overcome this fear thanks to the help of is coworker who came out as a boy. But the issue isn't just about coming out as a boy. The both of them has met the other person's female persona as their male self. And Yuuma, especially, discover that Mei does not like him at all.
Even if Hana accepts Mei confession, Mei is just going to reject Hana once she comes out as Yuuma. The other way round is true as well. That's because Mei doesn't like Yuuma and Hana doesn't like Shuumei. And Shuumei and Yuuma themselves aren't that close yet and still only kind of growing close to each other. Eventually, they probably will get to the point where they can come to like each other. However, things between them can no longer wait. Mei is ready to confess to Hana right now and Hana has already confess to Mei.
As things stand, their relationship is going to end in tragedy. That's because both of their male self are not ready to date each yet but their relationship as their female persona is already progress to the point of dating. In order to fix this, something drastic has to happen. Something has to happen for their male self to actually like each other. Which is why Kippie's character is introduced.
As a character, Kippie likes both Yuuma's male self and female persona. And more importantly, he knows that Yuuma is Hana. To simply put it, he likes and accept everything about Yuuma including his otaku hobbies and cross dressing hobby. Whereas Mei only likes Hana and will most certainly reject Yuuma. Perhaps Kippei can help Mei overcome this issue. Perhaps after getting jealous of seeing Kippei having both Yuuma and Hana all to himself, Shuumei can overcome his bais towards Yuuma and come to like him. Then there is the issue of Mei coming out as Shuumei to Hana which I think will take another Arc as well.