Yeah, that’s too much of a stretch to make, unless it’s just making excuses for the scene being written and the author telling us it meant nothing. I don’t tend to make excuses for intentionally misleading scenes like that unless it’s for a “mystery” plot. The romance plots should not be done like mysteries, so this definitely doesn’t get a pass. It’s just the author jerking us around, because “hahaha! M doesn’t know yet!”
Why M needs the MC in danger to realize feelings
Then, given the way she writes M, we will be waiting till b6 or b7 to get this, because there is no other way it can happen for M. The other three work fine under your conditions, but M does not because M is M, not N or F.
Without the MC’s life being in danger, none of b3!M would’ve happened, even the bakery scene, because M would never have walked the MC to work without practically being forced into it due to the bounty. And, as I was writing this, I realized I no longer agree with @JBento about the bakery scene being what prompted the soft scenes in b3.
No, I think it was the fear of losing the MC that prompted those changes. Without that, we may have had a moment or two, like in b2, but it would not have gotten any further than a temporary soft moment, followed by M dismissing it (like the “weird” about the roof scene in b2).
With M, I think you need the threats to the MC’s life to help M understand their feelings, because M is not the type to think about such things for long on their own. Look at b2. There are a couple of times M notices something different with the MC (the roof scene and the scene where M talks to Rebecca), but it’s a passing thought and they shrug it off.
Even after the bakery scene, where M is disturbed and on the roof again, M tries to shrug it off, then gets bothered when the sexual thoughts turn to something softer. They shrug it off again. That’s how M is. Everything with M is instinct, not conscious decisions to behave a certain way (except when they’re shitty to the MC to “prove” they feel nothing, but that’s a whole other story).
M is not the “sit and self-reflect to figure things out” kind. They go on instinct and don’t overthink things. They also live in the moment, not caring about the past or the future–and that part is directly from Sera.
So, without a dire threat to the MC, there’s really nothing to prompt a realization from them. Worse, there’s no reason to move away from the status quo of “this is just about us fucking or me wanting to fuck you”. Any “weird” moments for M would be dismissed unless there are added stressors involved, and–even then–the most you will get is a confused M that finally says “Fuck this noise” after a few moments and goes along their way.
Remember, M doesn’t want a relationship. They sneer at such things, actively avoiding them, and when F and N try to push them into thinking that way, they dig their heels in and get pissed. When a virtual stranger even suggests such a thing, they angrily call the MC a fucktoy and pout, then won’t even talk to the MC until the MC shows up at their door begging for a place to stay. The apology only happens because the MC forces them into it, and M reluctantly agrees they’re apologizing while stating they meant every word they said, but realize they shouldn’t have said it. It changed nothing and got M no closer to recognizing their need for the MC.
It’s only the constant threat of having the MC taken from them that suddenly has M behaving differently and not actively fighting it. Dezh didn’t allow anyone to learn about the supernatural, but I read the code, and the scene where the MC asks M to go to Tina or Verda’s for dinner shows exactly how M feels (or, rather, doesn’t feel) at that point. And M is nowhere near a realization, not one hair’s breadth closer than they were at the bakery scene given their initial nasty refusal to the MC’s request that they go to dinner.
Contrast M’s behavior there with the discussion with a MC who is on M’s bff path. In the kitchen scene at the warehouse, M tells the MC that they’re sure they’ll do something uncomfortable and miserable for them, just like they do for the rest of UB. That does not apply to a MC on M’s romance path, clearly. I mean, M agrees to go to the dinner, but only after begging. And it was begging. So, in many ways, a bff M has progressed further as a friend at that point than M has progressed as a LI.
I think part of it is M either consciously (or out of habit) trying to make clear that the sex (or want of sex) means nothing to them, so the MC doesn’t start thinking it means something to them. Because it doesn’t. It’d be one thing to agree to go with a friend to a dinner M doesn’t want to go to–there are no mixed signals there. To go with the MC they are trying to fuck or fucking might give off the idea that M wants something more. And they vehemently do not want something more, hence why they shit on the MC to show others the MC means nothing to them.
It’s only after the building falls on the MC that M behaves differently. That is what triggers the shower scene, and it’s the first time M sought out the MC for anything other than a desire to fuck or because they are forced to do so (every other time, it’s the MC seeking M out).
And really, all of the soft moments with b3!M came as a result of the threats to the MC, because the MC was injured, or because M is going on instinct and not thinking. The latter immediately is followed by M being confused or angry or both.
Any time the pressure is off the MC in b3, M reverts to the same confusion they started with. They get soft, then get pissed and confused about it. And that worsens if anyone points it out.
Just looking at the scenes you mentioned in M's route:
Diner scene:
Soft M going on instinct >> gets confused >> gets questioned >> gets pissed >> shits on MC
Training scene:
This one is a strange one, hitting several points at once.
We start with cold/distant M, go to taskmaster M, and land on horny M, or so it seems. From there, it can go in one of several directions:
MC goes along with the experience: turns out not to be sexual. No words are spoken and it’s interrupted before M can make it weird or bad
MC refuses the experience: M is confused and freaks out, admits they’re worried for the MC, and gets mad that everything they do is about the MC lately
Nearly dead scene:
Catatonic MC >> frightened and soft M
Shower scene:
Injured MC >> Soft caring M, refusing to leave MC’s side
Crystal scene:
By the time the not-a-date scene rolls around, M isn’t all that worried anymore. The MC has been kept prisoner in the warehouse, so they’ve been safe. Still, after the MC pitifully asks where M is going, M allows them to come. The scene was “natural” like I think you mean, with no feelings triggered by threats to the MC. M and MC are just talking, nothing too deep. It’s casual.
Then M gets hit by pain. And here, without the threat against the MC, M takes a few steps back. Once they get over the pain, they shove the MC away from them, make no connection between the MC’s touch and the lack of pain, and just move on. This is the M you get when the MC isn’t in direct and immediate danger. It’s almost as if the conection between them doesn’t exist at all for M.
At the shop, it’s really more of the same. M hates people and lets the MC handle it. There’s the hand holding, but it means nothing to M. It’s a way of coping and helps “for some reason”. There’s no need to question it or resist it. And, once the crystal is cleansed, M lets go of the MC’s hand and bolts.
Once back at the warehouse, it’s back to confused M (probably wondering why the hell they wanted the MC there at all), until “instinct” kicks in and they go for another kiss that mirrors the diner kiss, if the MC allows it to happen, followed by a possible realization. If not, then it hops right to the chance to realize love for M. And then it’s interrupted…
Pre-mission scene:
MC in danger >> M freaks out and we get angry soft M
Auction scene:
MC in danger >> Soft M
Hug scene at auction:
MC had been in danger >> Soft, affectionate M
Can I have tonight:
MC is safe, but M’s been through the wringer, afraid of losing MC and even says so >> soft M
M takes a shot:
Author fucks with M-mancers
Given all of the above, by retconning and having M not really realizing their feelings at the end of b3, we will be back to the SSDD (same shit different day) with M at the beginning of b4 if there is a time jump.
Any lack of real contact between the MC and M for any amount of time now that the MC is no longer in danger will cause M to revert back to pre-bakery scene M. Sure, we may get a soft moment here or there–followed by the same “derrrpp, I’m confused” bullshit we see every time M is soft and the MC is not courting death–but there’s nothing to drive M forward.
And, without that massive kick in the ass, M can’t figure things out. They need those intense, dangerous occurrences or, at the very least, something that is threatening to take the MC away from them, for them to understand it.
Because, let’s be honest: M will never sit around contemplating their feelings for the MC for more than a half a minute before forcing their thoughts to other stuff (like fucking). They have no desire for things to be more than wanting to see the MC naked, and the thought of dating makes them physically ill.
The worst part is that, if b3’s threats weren’t enough to make M get it, the only chance we have of M figuring things out by the end of b4 is if the MC literally almost dies a few dozen times in that one (because once, along with being kidnapped and having a bounty on them was not enough). And, given the ball, that won’t happen, so my guess is that M-mancers are fucked until b5.
