>>3616401It's fandom, especially for the anime. I've heard that the is a bit more fuel in the manga due to developments past the adapted arcs, but that's hearsay and probably more shipping goggles stuff. This is a sports series written by a woman with minimal female characters, and, while the demographic market is seinen, the series's large female fanbase goes beyond coincidental in to targeted by the author. Still, doubt that any of the pairings will ever go anywhere in the end. The one with the most legs is probably Mihashi/Ave (or vice versa), but Mihashi is generally too broken to engage in any kind of non-platonic relationship, regardless of the partner's gender.
