Hm, I haven't really thought about it before, but I do believe she's in love with him, even though her feelings always reminded me of something similar to that of a crush. She's naive, says that she wants to do anything for Akio, and feels upset when he doesn't spend much time with her.

As for the "takes care of me" thing, I honestly think that's due to the Japanese view on love and marriage. In today's Japan it's still very common for a husband to have the role of "taking care" of his wife. Tokiko said a similar thing when Akio asked her if she was living a normal life. "Yes, my husband is a kind man, he provides well for me." was her answer.

KaleMarsh wrote:

When you talk about love in Utena, you either have to be very specific and assume something pure or using a very wide blanket and include everything.

None of the black rose duelists really love anyone.  Their actions are all spurred by a form of love, but the fact that this love is so corruptible proves that it isn't really genuine in the way people have come to consider love.  Does Kanae love Akio?  Perhaps.  In the same way that Shiori loves Juri or Kozue loves Miki or Wakaba loves the idea of Saionji, but then I'm not sure if that's what you mean by love.

I agree with this in the sense that I believe that Kanae loved the idea of Akio, rather than Akio for himself. I think she loved the image that he presented of a kind, debonair, intelligent individual who was going to make sure she had a comfortable life and home. To overstate the obvious, he was her image of a prince, and she loved that.