sketches and such

However, he have no pride in being the housekeeper, even his culinary skills, which is praised by all who try it, was something he initially tried to hide it from Nene in chapter 15. He doesn't want to be a stay at home mom, he wants to be a man.

Kou only ever brags about being from an exorcist family, focusing on history not his own achievements. Being a Minamoto means being a great exorcist, that's what he wants, that's what he needs.

He explicitly says "every boy" when talking about exorcism despite Tiara being the kid with the most potential in the house and his grandmother being the one to seal hanako, because to him being an exorcist is the man's job.

Every man in the Minamoto household is an exorcist, the nature of the job is also very masculine: An exorcist will work all day, gain a lot of money, and surround themselves in violence. A good punch will save the day! Is cool manly stuff!! Heroes on TV do that!! And that cool life is something Kou isn't allowed to be a part of.

Kou loves Teru and he admires a lot about him, but Kou's hero is specifically Teru the exorcist prodigy. He doesn't want to be like Teru in any other way, we do not see him wishing to join the student council or trying to study hard to be the top of his class like Teru, Kou only ever worshiped Teru's exorcist life.

Kou dislikes being called stupid but he very rarely take it personally, unlike when he is called weak. Being weak sticks to him much more.

He never tries to look smart but he tries to look manly to compensate his perceived weakness. Kou is still young, his ego is very fragile, he doesnt feel nearly as tough or as reliable as he acts. He is horrified by the idea of not looking manly.

A modest dress is enough to bring him to tears of shame.

And he was unconfortable in the april fools art of 2016 where Hanako, who he considered very strong, wore a ribbon and a skirt.

(I couldn't find the translated version of this mini comic but i hope just the images are enough to convein his distress .)

A big part of his awkwardness and 'annoyance' with Mitsuba comes from how openly queer the boy is. Before we go over Mitsuba, let's talk about Akane.

There are implications Kou is attracted to Akane: It's a subtle thing, if you blink you'll miss it, and if you ignore it, the plot doesn't change in the slightest, but for this specific discussion, his behavior with Akane is note worthy.

Akane is the type of boy Kou admires: Akane is physically strong and supernaturally powerful, he is seem as reliable by the school and is sought by many for help, he is someone his big brother respects and work alongside, even something as small as Akane's fighting style (hand to hand combat) is something Kou considers cool af.

So any hint of attraction Kou might feel for Akane is extremelly easy to dismiss as an attraction to his 'manly' traits.

Is natural to be nervous around a cool older boy, is natural to want to impress him and to get depressed when his efforts don't work, is natural to get embarrassed and nervous when Akane pay attention to him, and while not as usual, is also not that odd that Kou get overwhelmed by every little thing his cool upperclassman does.

None of the scenes above get special focus: Any explanations for why Akane affects Kou so much can be seem as a puppy crush just as easily as they can be tied to Kou's insecurities with zero gay implications.

There is one exception though, one odd scene.

In chapter 21 of the spin off, Aidairo goes out of their way to draw a big panel of Akane in a very detailed manner, putting focus on his apparence while implying this is Kou's POV.

Kou get flustered and unnerved in this scene.

The message here is simple: Kou find Akane's flirty smirk pretty.

Usually this kind of panel is followed by brieftly acknowladging the person's beauty (think of Nene's first meeting with Sakura) and moving on but Kou does not acknowladge it. Kou is confused as hell by his own strong reaction and his instinct is to find another explanation for it, blaming his flustered unease on Akane 'indecent' behavior.

Which is a decent excuse but it doesn't work, not with Kou.

Kou never gets flustered by flirty acts or dirty comments unless he is personally attracted to the person doing it.

Just compare Kou's lack of reaction to Hanako-chan being 'seductive' with him to his strong reaction when Hanako acted the same way while possessing Nene, who we know Kou finds pretty:

So he is not flustered by Akane's insinuation, he is flustered by Akane's smirk and uneased that the attraction is towards a boy. This possible attraction isn't relevant to the story because Kou isn't even aware of it, nor does he want to be: Kou will avoid the gay option whenever he can. He already likes girls after all!

Now we can talk about Mitsuba.

Nothing about Mitsuba's is manly: his voice is high pitched, he loves pink, he was bullied for being girly, he whines a lot, he is a scaredy cat, so any attraction Kou might feel near Mitsuba cannot be excused as admiration, Kou need to work overtime to make up reasons for why he get flustered and that is a lot of hard work. Also very confusing to Kou.

Kou knows he doesn't want to be like Mitsuba, but he doesn't allow himself to be attracted to a boy either: that is not manly, and if Kou is not manly he is weak and weak people aren't good enough to be an exorcist and a Minamoto that isn't an exorcist is worthless. Unlike his house duties, being gay doesn't make anyone depend on Kou it just makes him 'less manly' in his own eyes and he cannot afford that.

He have too many self image issues to accept he is gay and since he still find Nene cute any feelings he get for a boy are surely something else? Anything else? Kou will take any excuse he finds.

Another very important contrast between Akane and Mitsuba is their sexuality: Akane is openly in love with a girl and does not see Kou in that light, meanwhile Mitsuba show zero interest in girls and is constantly planting the idea that Kou is attracted to him in his head. That Kou wants to date him.

Is hard to ignore the gay explanation with a guy that is constantly screaming "I am cute! You know I'm cute! You find me cute!!" and straight up tells Kou that he think Kou wants to date him.

Kou admits Mitsuba's 'weird' face (since Kou cannot call another boy 'pretty') and his insistence to be called cute is one of the things he consider the most bothersome about the guy:

(Is noteworthy that since Mitsuba doesn't have any clear masculine traits Kou literally doesn't know what he likes about Mitsuba)

As the manga goes on Kou's relationship with Mitsuba gets complicated and more intense, so Kou starts to get excuses as to why he is so obcessed with Mitsuba, an obcession that is gay yes, but is also very intertwined with grief. With failure and weakness. Which I go over in more detail here

As the manga goes on Kou gets closer to Mitsuba, but he is also consistently berated for being weak, so his fear of not being enough gets feed and his desperation to be realiable grows stronger. I cannot imagine Kou confessing he like a boy no matter how obcessed with Mitsuba he gets. I simply can't.

He has to work on his self steeem before he can beat his internalized homophobia.

Bonus:

Another reason I believe Kou's internal homophobia comes from his personal sense of inadequacy and not something taught in the Minamoto household is because of how Teru acts.

Teru is far more entangled with exorcism and the family history than Kou but while Teru's job is masculine, him as a person is not: He is needy and pouty outside of a proficional enviroment, he wears bright fruity clothes on his day off. He hides under the covers when he is sad. He is comfortable wearing cute hairclips at school during halloween while Kou is very embarrassed by a hairtie in the safety of his own home.