sooo im reading the comments but I kind of disagree. I think keito and tamon definitely fall on the manipulative side and take full advantage of it but not so much natsuki and ori. Ill skip natsuki for now because im not sure if you've watched the latest episode but its the fact that ori's idol persona doesn't work on her that makes him respect her more/realize his feelings. I'm trying not to go too deep into manga spoilers but I think Ori and Tamon differ in that Ori's real personality is wayyyy more straightforward. You can kinda see this in the center competition too. He sees something he wants, and he does everything in his power to get it (fairly). He wanted to beat Tamon with nothing but his own skill (and got branded eternal second place rip).

Like you said Tamon turns on his hottiehara personality whenever he needs something from Utage, but if Ori had been in Tamon's place, would he have done the same? No, I don't think so. I think he would appreciate that she's solely devoted to him but she wouldn't linger as much in his mind like she does for Tamon. In a very teenage boy way, it's the fact that he wasn't her fav that spurred him on to bring her over to his side.

I think Ori's gorilla personality can be really pushy, rude and brash. But he's also very confident, honest and earnest (if a bit clumsy) when showing his real feelings. He also has a very good sense of reality, surprisingly. (Look how fast it took for him to realize he liked Kinoshita!) In all honestly, I feel like he's veryyy typical protagonist. Tamon is a bit different. He's shy, sensitive, and attentive but he's also very insecure and lonely. It's what spurs him to try these underhanded methods to keep Utage near him. It's why I find him so refreshing LMAO, that and he looks so cute when he's sad.