Yep, this is something I think Ocean is trying to do in more detail than I've seen other devs do - have more impactful "collateral" to the goings-on in the MC's life. He makes out with a girl in public, word travels that the two of them are 'together' - this is usually the type of thing that would happen in a school setting with rumors, drama, etc. so this makes the choices and their circumstances more impactful as you, the player, have to consider "what if someone sees" as a variable in the equation of how things may play out in the story as a result.
I've wondered about the same as the poster above mentioned with Amber since that is undoubtedly my primary route as of now - how is a relationship with her going to be handled given Ocean's efforts to tell a story that properly presents the grapevine and public reaction as legit players in the story - early on, a relationship development with Amber will likely be kept under wraps as much as possible for obvious reasons - it would clearly hurt her reputation as a practitioner, not to mention she clearly has a known name in the area given her name and status, but eventually, Bella will figure it out and then her relationship with MC will probably dictate the response on that front - if he's on friendly terms it'll be less nuclear with Bella. The flipside is Nojiko & Nami - they will likely be angry with Amber when they first find out as they'll assume Amber somehow took advantage of him and that'll be a conflict that has to be explored and resolved.
As the story progresses and they get past Bella / Nojiko / Nami conflicts, I would imagine the sensible thing to do would be for the MC to stop seeing Amber as a therapist, at least officially, so she could become more of an actual girlfriend without as much of the stigma, although they would still have to be mindful of the presentation; things would have to progress very gradually in terms of in-public displays - Bella / Nojiko / Nami would have to be onboard and understanding first before it could be more public. Only Ocean knows all of the variables being considered here as there are undoubtedly angles we haven't considered such as the reactions of people we aren't really all that familiar with (like the woman Amber was talking to in the kitchen in the recent update; there are likely more unknowns along those lines) - gonna be a fun and interesting ride.
