Obviously a lot of how one views this episode depends on whether or not you think Yuuji's denseness *plausible*. In order to avoid rehashing things, I'd rather comment on a few other things:
1. The eating ramen contest was fun, because it was the first time I think we've seen Yuuji act as a competitive teenage guy--"I don't really understand it, but I won't lose!" was as priceless an expression of male competitiveness for the sake of competitiveness as I can think of. And it was neat seeing it come from, of all people, Yuuji. Although Yuuji's no coward, he rarely acts like "one of the boys," and I liked seeing him show some testosterone.
2. I'm of the opinion that Konoe really is Hecate, but obviously a version that's been sealed or something, who is also completely unaware of who she actually is. Or maybe the doll theory some of you have bandied about is what's going on. But I think the two are somehow related. My own speculation is that this is a trap of some kind for Yuuji, which he will walk into, partly because Shana won't be around to protect him, because she's been avoiding him.
Continuing my speculation, after Yuuji walks into the trap, some combination of the following will occur:
1. Shana will have to mount a rescue op. of Yuuji
2. Yuuji himself will show of some of his new powers
3. If Konoe is Hecate, she will become herself again, and out of loyalty to Yuuji for all his help, will help him escape. The same thing will occur if Konoe is some kind of surrogate or doll separate and apart from Hecate, but connected to the latter in some way.
4. The crisis will help sort things out between Shana and Yuuji. Konoe will conveniently disappear as part of the resolution, whatever it might be.