if she went through with it or never showed any kind of remorse and tried to apologize for it I would agree. But to me it came across as an empty threat considering how quickly she tried to apologize for it. As I think if she was serious about it she would of not tried to make up for it and feel bad about it so quickly. So to me I don't see her a bad or evil person because of it. To me she just comes across as someone that is scared and acted without thinking.
She may not be a bad person, and neither is Chika, but my MC is not going to have a romantic relationship with either of them. And for different reasons.
The truth is, the MC couldn't have known whether she was serious or not when she did it (and it's safest to assume she was). In fact, just because she regrets it later doesn't mean she wasn't willing to do it at the time. Still, if I'd been given the option, I would have refused to accept the terms of the blackmail and told her she could go ahead with it if that's what she really wanted to do. The MC saved her and her friend, and if her way of thanking him is by blackmailing, my first instinct is to have nothing to do with her. And if she goes ahead with it, she'd never be able to say she's with the "good guys" again. I don't know how much that would affect the MC, but in the long run it would hurt her more than it would hurt the MC, so go ahead.
And the truth is, I don't know what she would have done if the MC had gotten up in a huff and stormed out, telling her that if this is how she thanks him for helping her friend, next time her fucking mother would help her, but not him. And that she could shove the photo up her ass.
I certainly would have loved the option to do so.
I feel like some people take Ayase's character way too seriously, I understand not liking her but at the same time it is anime-like game with overpowered characters that doesn't really follow real life norms.
She was not in a position to destroy our life with that poor blackmail attempt and even if she was, we already moved past that plot.
For me, the simple act of blackmailing the MC is enough to deny any kind of romantic relationship between her and the MC in the future. To me, she's not really a LI anymore, and I don't care if she regrets it, apologizes a thousand times, or makes cat poses; it won't change my opinion. I could forgive her, and even go so far as to accept that the MC and her were friends, but no further.