Please don't kill me

This fandom has a LOT of Iino fans and I respect that, but my favourite character in this manga is Ishigami. I found him funny and relatable from the start and as his character grew so has my love and appreciation for him. The genuine friendship between Ishigami and Kaguya is downright wonderful and one of my favourite opposite gender friendships in anime despite its limited screentime. His arc of regaining his self-confidence, his growing understanding of the women around him, and his love and loss have been genuinely wonderful to read.

I say all of this because, in my opinion, Iino is not the right person for Ishigami. To be clear, I actually do not have a preferred ship for Ishigami, I just do not like him and Iino together. I can definitely appreciate elements of what their relationship could be. They're both kind people in their own way, she could motivate him to be a more upright person, and he could help her loosen up a bit. There's material there, I just cannot see them working out. Ishigami is already becoming proactive on his own, he went out of his way to pursue Tsubame and it didn't work out for many reasons but one I want to highlight is that he was trying to change who he was to fit in with her. Ishigami is already a good guy, I'd argue he doesn't need to change drastically at this point. His grades are in order, he's a happier person with real friends, he's been motivated to find love and he'll likely be motivated again in the future when he's over Tsubame. I just feel like Iino would try to change him. She has strong morals and a strict code of conduct and it feels like if they really began a relationship she would steamroll his ideas and his hobbies. That isn't to say she isn't trying, she's learning about his hobbies and learning to play games etc. But that's honestly not going to change their fundamental outlook on life and how they spend their time. If I imagine that an irl friend were in Ishigami's situation I would see the red flags from a mile away. I'd be concerned that this girl would change him, a person I like and is growing to be a better man. I just don't know if he'd end up happy.

That being said, they're likely canon and if they are it would obviously go well because that'd what the author wants. This obviously isn't an attack on Iino fans or people that ship them, these are just my feelings towards this potential pairing. My genuine affection towards Ishigami as a character makes me want the best person for him. In the same way that many fans want to see Iino happy, I want to see Ishigami happy. I hope I got my thoughts across in this very, very long post.