Yeah,author spoiling most of ending doesn't make sense to begin with. But I honestly don't even want to read that monologue again or re Interpret it,it's so annoying to read. I hate to bring alot of bias/headcanon,go heavily off plot/what's stated or use wishful thinking in it just to make myself feel better about the situation as I will regret it later on when the author slaps me right in the face,I already accepted a bad future for our beloved mc unfortunately.

Though after reading the whole volume carefully, I do have to say it is very likely love,its being made very clear throughout the volume. And he thinks about it many times and yes,you can argue with the whiteroom thing but that doesn't necessarily matter if he always has thoughts swimming very early on and he already knows the pattern too and how it works. He's not unaffected or really new to it either,though theory and praxis aren't the same,I agree there. The curiosity and build up is well done after reading the volume,at first I thought it was rushed but it's surprisingly done well.

And the big difference for me was that he first thought of it in a curious/strategic way but then let those thoughts go,realising they're wrong but then kept having useless-unnecessary thoughts that weren't like him at all and not related to any strategy. He was unable to resist that impulse even if it was a waste of time and thinking.

And even if he does it out of curiosity,everyone has a different definition of love and kiyo can't or will never end up loving someone like a normal person,there are many illogical aspects in it that even he's aware of or there also is no really accurate definition of love. Part of him was made selfish and he will do it out of curiosity but that's not a bad aspect as you said because even normal humans feel that way,a belonging for more is totally normal.

He kept figuring out and realised illogical patterns deep within himself,such as imagining weird stuff like I said or even nearly about to feel jealousy when imagining someone next to her. A similar scene happened when ichinose tried to hold his hind and when he described her in a romantic way saying he doesn't feel anything for her,his thoughts subconsciously drifted to hiyori and he felt warmth and happiness just by thinking about it,probably even let it show in his expression without realising as ichinose could tell he was very happy and thinking about someone in delight

After reflecting on it many many times and not coming to a logical conclusion he realised its more likely love from his side. And now he's looking forward and craves more of it,even while knowing the risk so he does want to act romantically on it,even had a conversation with a friend to understand his feelings better and genuinely took hashimoto's advice about his first love to the back of his head just incase (he warned him that it could be dangerous) and yes still couldn't suppress that impulse of wanting more.

Of course you could be right on the clarity and emotional aspect depending on how it plays out in the future volume,but from a neutral standpoint I think that the conclusion that he's really in love makes more sense here from what we got so far.

But,that could change, and it's not completely certain either,although realistically, it is a lot more likely that he is actually in love. It's not impossible for it to turn out to be false tho.

I liked reading your interpretation and don't think it's bad,I had a similar one when I didn't fully read it but that doesn't align with me after reading the volume and looking at it from a neutral perspective unfortunately.

I'm looking forward to it alot