Spoilers: Okay so I keep seeing this comment over and over again on chapter 7 (?) of SYA about Ishioka's expulsion. "How could a White Room student fall for this." Is pretty much the jist of them all.
1. Ishioka is no longer a White Room student and has not been for five years. In addition to this, it's stated he is in the lower end of his generation. I believe that the fandom's perspective of White Room students is very skewed because ppl forget that Amasawa and Yagami were still the best in their generation. Not to say he doesn't have at least a gen ed college education, but it's true that book smarts do not necessarily translate to intelligence.
2. Imagine yourself in this situation. You've been friends with this girl for only two months, however you find yourself maybe subconsciously having feelings for her. You know they won't be reciprocated, but on the day you see that love letter, you feel your heart swell with anxiety and anticipation. When you meet her and she takes your hands in hers with a smile on her face, you feel happy. She gets a bit closer, you enjoy the intimacy of the moment. And in less than half a second you find that she has moved your hand to her chest. I'm merely asking, would you have had time to react? It isn't exactly a matter of falling for a ruse, it was something built up on a relationship, and he was ready for some kind of payoff. Add that to being slightly shaken from earlier.
Now I do agree this is one of my weakest pieces of writing in the fic but like come on it's not horribly implausible I think you guys just don't understand that not all White Room students are some hyper capable student in *every* regard. Kiyotaka is literally a prime example that the students were never on equal footing (no matter what his initial "average" scores may say.) The White Room is a highly controlled environment, yet they all end up different.
Anyways that was a bit of ranting too sorry y'all this has just been bothering me so much.