Imasara desu ga, Osananajimi wo Suki ni Natte Shimaimashita - Ch. 26.5 - My Happy Date ("Wholesome" Version)

[GennArc]

• In 26 it's about getting her act together. It's already at this point that she could go back to school - same chapter mentions how her parents are leaving her tuition money.
• In 27 she's deciding it's her burden to "have to keep Mom calm, get Dad out of here peacefully, and finally restore the normalcy I've been longing for"

There is no shift here. 26 already includes "reclaiming the normal, happy life she had before, back in middle school". Which means solving the family problem, because

What am I going to do about school?
About home? About my awful dad and my mom who never does anything?
How am I going to deal with all of it?

hence the whole thing in 27.

End of 29 she's decided normal is impossible

Yeah, after her mother attempted suicide and she decided to ghost Yuu partly as an atonement for that.

I didn't say the shift was capricious, just that she holds onto a new reason to not be normal even when the universe is giving her an out - things stabilizing enough that she can go back to school.

How is this an out? She tried to do all the things to reclaim her normalcy and that led to the most devastating thing in her life since her father's death, and you're saying that "things are stable because she can go back to school"? Yeah, mother just almost killed herself and basically went mad, she had to give up on the only thing (or person) that was brightening up her life, best time to be normal again.

In 40, it's specifically Yuu's acceptance of her lies about her family where Aya first thinks Yuu is "always letting go of her when it counts". Yeah Yuu tells Aya not to not hide stuff sure, but reaching out would be backing up his words w/ the actions/offers that would convince her that he truly wants to hear about all the bad things because he cares about her and not just because he's kind. That's stuff like Yuu explicitly calling out her lies - "look I know that noise isn't your neighbors, why don't you want to tell me what's going on?".

Even if we accept that she actually wants him to "reach out", why do you think this is the type of reaching out she wants? As you pointed out, he asks and she says it's all good, but why does asking the next question specifically count as "reaching out"? And if she still insists it's nothing, would conditions for "reaching out" shift to the third question?

Which I think Aya is waiting to be "found" b/c the way Yuu and Hikari "saved" Aya was originally by stumbling onto ("finding") her at the bus stop/station/whatever.

It's a weird concept to me. Yuu wasn't even the one to talk to her first when he stumbled onto her. She thinks both of them saved her because of the role and importance they both played in the most difficult times of her life, not because they happened to meet her. I know that's not what you're saying, but I don't think there's any conceptual connection between meeting them initially and meeting them in 45, she simply wants to meet people dear to her whom she hurt before.

 

[story645]

she had to give up on the only thing (or person) that was brightening up her life,

The only person telling Aya that Aya has to give up Yuu was Aya. Most everyone w/ a remotely healthy perspective would tell a kid that their parent's poor emotional regulation is never their fault, but Aya chose to not confide in anyone about her plans.

best time to be normal again.

A month out when she's back in school b/c she's of negative help to her mother is a reasonably good time to reconsider her self imposed notion of when she's allowed to be normal again. Instead Aya decides to drop out on her first day back b/c Hikari annoys her and it's Hikari who pulls her into doing the normal things - going to school, having friends.

As you pointed out, he asks and she says it's all good, but why does asking the next question specifically count as "reaching out"?

B/c he just told her to promise not to hide anything and then almost immediately doesn't hold her to that promise when she hides the noise. That makes it seem like he wasn't serious about the promise he just asked her to make.

but I don't think there's any conceptual connection between meeting them initially and meeting them in 45,

I think similar locations is in part b/c of convenience and in part to riff on motif. Which Hikari and Yuu could have never saved Aya if they never found her.

she simply wants to meet people dear to her whom she hurt before.

She wants to meet the people who saved her, not the people she hurt, not even her best friend and one true love:

If I stay here—if I stay for just a few more hours—I might run into one of them.

The boy who saved me.
Or the girl who saved me.

 

[peortega1]

So what you're proposing here is to make an assumption in a hypothetical scenario. "How would she feel if she wanted him to tell his parents about her, if he didn't have a clue about that and if she had to ask him about it". I mean, yeah, if she wanted it and if he didn't have a clue and if she had to ask him, she would feel hurt. But that's way too many nested ifs for me.

Basically, story645 believes that all of Yami's interactions with Yuu were a lie, and that she doesn't even want to be the dominant member in the relationship, nor is she wants to the boyfriend in the relationship, even though her inner monologue made it very clear that a large part of her attraction to Yuu is based precisely on his submissive and innocent personality. If there's one thing Yami likes, it's being the dommy in top.
At no point does Yami say she wants Yuu to tell Hikari about her, much less does she want Yuu to introduce her as his girlfriend to Hikari. On the contrary, she expresses fear of meeting Hikari in chapter 26 and wants Yuu to stay as far away from her as possible.
The same goes for Yuu's parents. Yami never seems interested in meeting them or in Yuu talking to them about her. She's worried that Yuu's family will become a mountain of lies like her own, but she never shows any interest in them knowing about her relationship with Yuu, let alone meeting them.
If Yami did meet Yuu's parents, it was very much in the style of chapter 26.5, with her reluctantly agreeing after Yuu insisted or something similar. And yes, in that hypothetical scenario, Yuu surely only told her parents the "PG version" of her relationship with Yami.

I've had my share of "it's obvious that..." in my uni course, doesn't work on me. In 28 he even gives her the line of reasoning he used to convince his parents, why would he do it if it was "scripted" by Yami?

It's possible that Yami gave her a choice between several ideas and she chose that one. But at the very least, in my opinion, the lie in chapter 24 was Yami's idea.
In any case, the question I already mentioned remains. Why did Yami never go to Yuu's house to have sex with him? Why did she prefer to risk committing illegal acts that could land them both in jail or at least at a police station?
And yes, this implies Hikari parents are less worried for if her daughter carry her boyfriend to home to have sex.
Even more so if my theory is correct that Ayami's mother's suicide attempt stemmed from a phone call from the hotel during the three days they were there (and this also explains why in chapter 13.5 Aya's mother is described as paranoid and constantly monitoring her daughter in a way she didn't before the divorce).
As I said, Yami is still a minor who would undoubtedly need her mother's signed permission to spend 3 days in what she herself called "a prestigious and respectable hotel".
The answer is simple: his parents, as well as her mother, would never let them do it.

I don't see how "I have to take my friend to the hospital" is worse than "we're having a too-bad party at my friend's place till morning".

The boy just failed an important entrance exam he worked really hard to pass, and it's quite obvious he's sad and depressed, especially if his parents would realize he did want to be at the same school as Hikari —as the omake chapter 3 seems to suggest. It's understandable that he wants to forget everything and have some fun with his friends.
"I have to take my friend to the hospital" definitely sounds much more forced, especially in the context of they waiting Yuu for a family dinner with the neighbours. It feels more like an unbelievable excuse, particularly since Yuu doesn't say the exact medical reason why "my friend" needs to go to the hospital. This reinforces my idea that it was the naive Hikari, not Yuu's mother, on the other end of the phone.

Where's the overprotectiveness? They are just described as good parents, Yami says he was raised well, that's it. All his mother says in response to that party cover-up story is to do his best on public school exams

Compared to Hikari's parents, yes, they do seem overprotective, especially if you look at the subtext between the lines in chapters 12 and 24 with Seki and Yami.
From what Ayami tells us in chapter 13.5, it doesn't seem like she dealt with or got to know Hikari's parents very well during the girls' sleepovers at Hikari house during the months of their friendship. Hikari's parents seem less concerned about what kind of girls their daughter is friends with. Yuu's parents, in comparison, do seem more inquisitive and (over)protective, even more so because of how Yami describes them here.

 

[GennArc]

The only person telling Aya that Aya has to give up Yuu was Aya.

Does it make those events any less devastating?

B/c he just told her to promise not to hide anything and then almost immediately doesn't hold her to that promise when she hides the noise. That makes it seem like he wasn't serious about the promise he just asked her to make.

What if he genuinely didn't hear it well and thought it's just some noise? And what he asks her to promise is to tell him if something happens to her, not just "something happens" in general.
Besides, that doesn't answer my other question. If she continues denying it, will "reaching out" now be extended to the following question?

Ayami's mother's suicide attempt stemmed from a phone call from the hotel during the three days they were there

She attempted suicide before the whole trip.

The boy just failed an important entrance exam he worked really hard to pass, and it's quite obvious he's sad and depressed

It's understandable that he wants to forget everything and have some fun with his friends.

The people I know who are sad and depressed because of a failure don't usually go partying right after it. And we saw what Yuu was like after it, so he is very unlikely to be that type.

"I have to take my friend to the hospital" definitely sounds much more forced, especially in the context of they waiting Yuu for a family dinner with the neighbours.

If he used "hanging out with friends" as a pretext for his outings, I don't see why it would sound too forced if in of those outings his hypothetical friend hypothetically got injured.

Yuu's parents, in comparison, do seem more inquisitive and (over)protective, even more so because of how Yami describes them here.

In what way? Even on the day of exam results announcement he is the one who calls them late at night (from the hotel), not the other way round. They aren't even too worried by not hearing from him even though it's nighttime already.

 

[peortega1]

I'm just calling back to 13.5 when Aya says there's 0.01% chance Yuu isn't referring to Hikari

That 0.01%, in any case, must refer to the possibility that Yuu was in love with someone other than Hikari or Yami. Yuu spoke of "someone I've been in love with for a long time", which obviously doesn't apply to Yami, who was only Yuu's girlfriend for six months, and in any case, it's only in chapter 13.5 that the first anniversary of their first time together had come.

You are welcome to disagree w/ me, but it is reasonable to interpret the following text as Aya was planning to ghost. Where that goodbye is referring to this goodbye

I still find your interpretation too much forced, especially after looking at your timeline. It doesn't make sense that Yami would lie, not only to Yuu, but also to the reader in her inner monologue, about something as important as her mother's suicide, and then go so quickly from proposing they live together in chapter 28 to wanting to break up in chapter 29. That's why it doesn't make sense for her to insist to everyone that everything will be alright at home, that her mother is fine, that everything is sorted out, while her mother is literally recovering in a clinic after a suicide attempt. That would be too much of a lie, even for Yami.
And I don't think for a second that Maruto intended to portray her as such an unreliable narrator in such an exaggerated way, including the line where she tries to convince Yuu to stay longer at the hotel and he says his parents won't let him (Why do this if she already had to beg for an extension for only 3 days?).
Of course, another issue is that for your theories, which lack significant textual support, it's necessary for Yami to be this much of a liar, not only with Yuu and Hikari, but also with herself and the readers who see her thoughts.
That's why I consider it most likely that her mother's suicide attempt occurred during that three-day trip, and Yami finds out in a phone call that conveniently happens during one of the many periods when, according to her, Yuu was asleep while she stayed awake.
Therefore, I believe that "this is what I decided from the beginning" refers to her "carefree girl living in the moment" attitude, which is indeed a lie.
That's the difference between her "I love you, Yuu" in chapter 27 and her "I want to be with you always, Yuu" in chapter 28. In the first example, her internal thoughts make it clear that she's avoiding her family conflict. In the second one, her inner thoughts confirm that here she is 100% honest.

Even expies don't mean identical. CLAMP's multiverse is literally shared soul and CCS Sakura & Syaroan are still different from TRC Sakura & Syaroan

I never said that the Expies meant identical. Obviously, Yuu Izumi and Yuu Takamura are different characters, just as Sakura and Shaoran from CCS are different from Sakura and Shaoran from TRC, or Takeru and Sumika from Muv-Luv Extra are different from Takeru and Sumika from Muv-Luv Alternative, since they've lived different lives and had different experiences.
That doesn't change the fact that they share a soul, as you said, a common basic personality, just like Ayami Sudo and Ai Kamiya; and that all the hints we've seen of Yuu Takamura on screen show him as someone who, as far as we know, doesn't seem like the type of person who would be capable of lying to his parents under pressure. I gave several narrative examples that demonstrate with evidence that this is indeed a shared trait between Izumi and Takamura. Definitely, as I said, I can see him giving his parents what you called "the PG version" of his relationship with Yami as soon as they pressured him about it. If his parents could keep his exam a secret, they could also keep his relationship with Yami a secret.
That's why I say the burden of proof is on you to show that Yuu would be capable of lying to his parents and completely avoiding the issue under direct and sustained pressure. Nothing about him suggests that.

She attempted suicide before the whole trip.

I've already explained why I find it too unbelievable and inconsistent with Yami's portrayal in chapter 28 that she, in this moment, already knows her mother attempted suicide. It makes much more sense that the news arrived via a phone call during the mini time skip between chapters 28 and 29, and it would be more appropriate for Maruto's typical melodramatic tone.

The people I know who are sad and depressed because of a failure don't usually go partying right after it. And we saw what Yuu was like after it, so he is very unlikely to be that type.

I mean, many people certainly do go out partying to try to forget a failure. Even if Yuu doesn't seem like that kind of person, it's also clear that this is the first time he's failed so drastically in life, affecting him so deeply, which explains why he made decisions he'd never made before.

If he used "hanging out with friends" as a pretext for his outings, I don't see why it would sound too forced if in of those outings his hypothetical friend hypothetically got injured.

What exact word does he use for "my friend" in the call in chapter 26.6? Does it have a gender? Is he referring to a male friend or female friend? It doesn't help that the Japanese "kanojo" is closer to "novia" in Spanish than "girlfriend" in English.
Anyway, if he doesn't give details about his friend's supposed injury, it feels like a very forced excuse (at least compared with the party in Kaneda house, over all seeing the respective contexts), especially since if they're just hanging out in the city, it would be very strange for someone like that to suddenly need to go to a clinic.

In what way? Even on the day of exam results announcement he is the one who calls them late at night (from the hotel), not the other way round. They aren't even too worried by not hearing from him even though it's nighttime already.

We don't know to what extent he texted his parents during the hours he spent on his date with Ayami at the restaurant, which is why he says he'll stay in touch with his mother in the hours that follow in chapter 26.6—that is, he's afraid his mother will call him if he stops communicating.
In any case, according to chapter 24, it was still relatively early in the "nighttime" when they entered the love hotel, probably around 9:00 or 10:00 PM.

The flirtatious senpai is the lie

Yes, that's exactly where your entire argument falls apart. You're making up, without any textual basis, that Yami is lying about playing the role of a flirty and dominant senpai when it's literally the most basic fact of Ayami Sudo's characterization, even in the Hikari arc —remember which chapter is "Aya-chan's" debut?
Ayami is a girl who likes to dominate, likes to give orders, likes to be on top, likes to take the initiative. Her main sexual trigger is that she likes to see Yuu trembling and writhing. In short, Ayami does like being the boyfriend in this relationship.
The fact that she also has a more tender and sensitive side that Yuu did see and tried to reach doesn't mean that the flirty and dominant senpai side is false (what is a lie, in any case, is the mask of a "carefree girl who lives in the moment", something different, and something Yuu does directly call a lie). And yes, as I said, Yuu Takamura did make the effort to take the initiative at times and respond emotionally to Yami, typical of these female domination mangas. That's why it took external problems to sink the relationship and the strong emotional connection they had.
Chapters 24, 25, 25.5, and Omake 4 made it clear that Yami can be, and wants to be, dominant without needing to lie or wear a mask. And yes, part of that dominant personality stems from the fact that this is the only way she can be involved in a romantic relationship, being in control and knowing with complete certainty that Yuu won't do anything she doesn't want.
You're precisely repeating Yuu's fears from omake 4 after the breakup, when in fact, Yami's POV in chapter 13.5 —and repeated in chapter 39— makes it clear that that emotional connection was real and that she truly loved and still loves Yuu precisely because of his submissive and innocent personality.
That's why, even without the trauma of the attempted SA, she was already compatible with Yuu, based on what Yuzuka implied about Ayami's past. This dominant girlfriend - submissive boyfriend dynamic is what allows them to function as a couple, and as I said, it's something copied from Yuu Izumi and Ai Kamiya from Shikimori-san, the characters on whom Yuu Takamura and Ayami Sudo are based.
Her annoyance with Yuu, in any case, is that he didn't grovel after her as much as Hikari did, nor was he as masochistic as Hikari.

 

[story645]

Does it make those events any less devastating?

No, but it goes to my point that Aya deeply believes she doesn't deserve good things. Aya spins herself a story of why she has to dump Yuu and won't clue in anyone who might talk her out of it.

What if he genuinely didn't hear it well and thought it's just some noise?

He seems to have heard it pretty well, flagged exactly what it was, and I think Aya's "of course that was a lie" is flagging that he should know her well enough at this point to know she's lying here:

"Didn't I just hear something really loud over there?"
"...The connection's bad, maybe?"

My voice cracked just a bit on that last part.

"No, that wasn't it. It sounded like glass or dishes breaking. Something really loud..."
"Maybe it was outside? Oh, there's a drunk guy wandering around in front of my house. Could be that?"

Of course, that was a lie.

I could hear it clearly too

And what he asks her to promise is to tell him if something happens to her, not just "something happens" in general.

This reads somewhat general:

Promise me you won't hide anything if something happens."

and her parents fighting downstairs badly enough for plates breaking is something happening to her.

If she continues denying it, will "reaching out" now be extended to the following question?

Yes, b/c if he cares that she's hiding stuff than he should care why she's hiding stuff. The problem is he says he doesn't want her to hide things and then lets her get away w/ hiding all the things - going into when he flags that she's "always lying" but doesn't ask why.

 

[story645]

That's why it doesn't make sense for her to insist to everyone that everything will be alright at home, that her mother is fine, that everything is sorted out, while her mother is literally recovering in a clinic after a suicide attempt.

Why was I here? To pick up my mother, who had been staying here longer than originally scheduled, an extension I'd begged the hospital for.
All so I could take that [final trip.

the burden of proof is on you to show that Yuu would be capable of lying to his parents and completely avoiding the issue under direct and sustained pressure.

What in the text (not extrapolation from other texts) suggests that his parents applied direct and sustained pressure?

You're making up, without any textual basis, that Yami is lying about playing the role of a flirty and dominant senpai

It's the "carefree lazy girl" who teases Yuu:

I let go of his hand and poke his nose playfully.
Teasing him like the younger guy he is, pretending to be the lazy, carefree girl who lives for the moment.

 

[peortega1]

Ayami mother suicide attempt

Yes, I know that quote; it's not convincing. The problem is that this quote doesn't prove that Yami's mother attempted suicide before chapter 28 and the three-day trip. When Yami arrives at the clinic in chapter 29, her mother is still on an IV and sedated. She doesn't look like she'd been there for a week or more. The logical scenario is the one I already outlined:
- At some point during the mini-time skip between chapters 28 and 29, probably at the beginning of the second day, somewhere when Yuu was conveniently asleep— according to Yami, he spent a good part of that trip sleeping, exhausted after so many rounds of sex, and as soon as he woke up, she was back in action— Yami receives a phone call notifying her that her mother attempted suicide and that she needs to get to the clinic in X number of hours to pick her up, as her mother'll be discharged. That's why she begs for a day or two extension to finish her trip with Yuu —when Yami originally wanted to stay at least a week, again.
Otherwise, I repeat, why beg Yuu to stay a whole week? Why offer to live together? Why tell him, and especially the readers, that everything was perfect with her family? Always from her POV, Ayami's inner monologue makes it clear that she knows when she's lying, or rather, believes she's lying and is actually more genuinely concerned for Yuu than she herself admits (chapter 23).
Also, this explain how Yami got the signed permission of her mother to the trip and is only after leaving home, her mother decides kill herself. Again, this "respectable and prestigious hotel" never would accept as guest an underage girl without a signed legal permission from her parent(s). This is a supposed minimally realistic work.
There's always a factor in the text that indicates this disconnect between Ayami Sudo's mind and words. This disconnect is conspicuously absent in chapter 28. If there's a point where her mind and mouth are perfectly aligned, it's here. The logical, and perhaps more appropriate, explanation, for this so melodramatic work is Yami receiving a phone call that comes AFTER chapter 28.
This would explain why Ayami feels so guilty about having sex with Yuu while her mom was attempting suicide and why she decides to leave him so abruptly. And incidentally, at a moment when Yuu genuinely believes everything is fine and won't pressure Yami again like he did on the first day of their trip, as we see in his POV omake 4.

What in the text (not extrapolation from other texts) suggests that his parents applied direct and sustained pressure?

As I said, the way both Yami and Hikari talk about them. Yuu saying in chapter 26.6 that he'll have to stay in constant communication with his mother so she doesn't worry.
And this in Yuu PoV chapter 3:

The new year came...and the final career preference form I submitted on my own initiative left my homeroom teacher and parents extremely astonished.
My mother said to me, "Then why didn't you try harder from an earlier age?" and I had no words to reply.
Still, to keep things looking good, I lied to my parents and told them it was just a commemorative exam. I wanted to play it safe at the public school, but the private one let me take a risk.
But since they were paying the not-inexpensive exam fee, I promised them I would put in my best effort.

This definitely works quite well as the equivalent of what you called "the PG version" of his relationship with Yami. The truth, but not the whole truth. And he speaks under pressure from his mother, not of his own volition.
What makes sense is that they would have applied the same pressure to him at some point during the 6 months of his relationship with Yami (meaning there was plenty of time for such a scene) as Haru did in chapter 43 and Yami in chapters 22-23.
This is especially true given Yuu's firm assertion that he isn't ashamed of being Yami's boyfriend. If Yuzuka could so easily uncover his secret with Ayami, why would Yuu's parents have been able to find out about their own son?
All of this, combined with extrapolations from other works, makes such a scene highly probable. If Yuu's parents could so jealously guard the secret of something as innoffensive as failing an entrance exam, they'd be even quicker to hold in secret the "PG version" of his relationship with Yami. In both cases, these are his private affairs that don't concern Hikari until Yuu decides to tell her.
It's only Yami becoming Hikari's best friend and literally giving Hikari permission to date her ex-boyfriend that creates a moral obligation for Yuu in chapters 36-38, even if he thought she didn't saw nothing.

It's the "carefree lazy girl" who teases Yuu

The flirtatious senpai and the carefree lazy girl are two different characters; Yami combining them is another thing. But the examples I gave demonstrate that Yami is capable of teasing and dominating Yuu without having to play the "carefree lazy girl" role. That she can be, and is, dominant even when she drops the mask, even when Yuu manages to get her to be sincere and honest with him.
Precisely this is the meaning of the metaphor of Yami reaching Yuu´s hand and Yuu squeezing her hand, holding her. And is Yami who dumps Yuu´s hand and not the inverse, leaving him fall.
There's a reason she puts on the mask in chapter 28 only AFTER her disappointment at Yuu screwing up the whole living-together proposal. Before that, she was being sincere, or at least that's what her inner monologue in this chapter states explicitily. Yami isn't a character capable of lying to herself, to Yuu, and to the readers, all them at the same time.

 

[GennArc]

This reads somewhat general:

Not with the full context

"Hey, um... everything's fine, right? Yami-senpai?"
"Huh? What is?"
"Being at home... it's okay, isn't it?"
"...Yeah, it's fine."

It was because of this place. My parents' house.

I hadn't been back much in the past six months -- or really, longer. And now, being here again, I remembered just how much I hated it. It made me sick to my stomach.

"See? My room's got a lock on the door now. Plus, my dad's been acting all scared of me lately, so he's keeping his distance."
"You're really sure you're okay? Promise me you won't hide anything if something happens."

But for now, just for now, I had to play the role of the Matsushita family's one and only daughter. Not happily, but I had no choice.

"Don't worry about me. You know me, Yuu. I'm not the kind of girl to just quietly take crap lying down."
"Well... yeah, you're definitely the type to dish it out instead."

Yes, b/c if he cares that she's hiding stuff than he should care why she's hiding stuff. The problem is he says he doesn't want her to hide things and then lets her get away w/ hiding all the things

So "reaching out" basically means barraging her with questions until she gives up and confesses, even though he doesn't even know for sure if there's anything she hiding?

What exact word does he use for "my friend" in the call in chapter 26.6? Does it have a gender? Is he referring to a male friend or female friend?

He is using tomodachi, which is genderless.

Anyway, if he doesn't give details about his friend's supposed injury, it feels like a very forced excuse (at least compared with the party in Kaneda house, over all seeing the respective contexts), especially since if they're just hanging out in the city, it would be very strange for someone like that to suddenly need to go to a clinic.

Doesn't sound any more forced than loser party.
People get injured all the time in cities, you could simply trip and break your arm or get food poisoning.

We don't know to what extent he texted his parents during the hours he spent on his date with Ayami at the restaurant

We almost certainly know that he didn't because his mother tells him to do his best on public HS exams during the call from the hotel, which is a response to him telling her about his failure.

In any case, according to chapter 24, it was still relatively early in the "nighttime" when they entered the love hotel, probably around 9:00 or 10:00 PM.

Where is this written in chapter 24?

 

[story645]

basically means barraging her with questions until she gives up and confesses,

Reassure her that he knows the truth - her parents are fighting loudly downstairs (which yes is a thing happening to her) - and that he's not going anywhere so she doesn't need to hide it. Ask her why she won't trust him w/ the truth. Ask what she's afraid will happen if she stops hiding things. Reassure her that her family stuff isn't a burden to him.
ETA: Which yes I think is out of character for Yuu, and an unreasonable ask of most inexperienced teenagers. But Aya's insecurities tied with her expectations are why Yuzuka expects the relationship to fail.

 

[story645]

her mother is still on an IV and sedated. She doesn't look like she'd been there for a week or more.

Many folks in a hospital are on an IV and sedated til shortly before discharge. And it's a suicide attempt - that can take a while to stabilize and any decent hospital is going to want to be careful given that the patient has no supports at home except a minor child. If anything, that's why the hospital would even be amenable to keeping her a few extra days to help the kid get things more sorted out.

mother attempted suicide and that she needs to get to the clinic in X

What medical system are you dealing w/ that's discharging a suicidal patient shortly after a suicide attempt? Especially to their minor child?

Otherwise, I repeat, why beg Yuu to stay a whole week? Why offer to live together?

B/c she didn't actually expect him to say yes. And these were tests of commitment more than legit things she was planning to do.

Again, this "respectable and prestigious hotel" never would accept as guest an underage girl without a signed legal permission from her parent(s).

My guess is Aya wouldn't be all that bothered about stealing her mother's stamp to forge some paperwork, if it went to that.

Yuu's parents could so jealously guard the secret of something as innoffensive as failing an entrance exam, they'd be even quicker to hold in secret the "PG version" of his relationship with Yami.

If his parents are guarding the secret, it's b/c failing the exam is something Yuu is ashamed of, which he says as much when he finally confesses to Hikari. And his parents knew about the exam cause he told them on the career preference form - they didn't have to pressure him at all for info.
Where's the indication in the text that his parents knew about Aya?

If Yuzuka could so easily uncover his secret with Ayami, why would Yuu's parents have been able to find out about their own son?

I think this contrast is the point. Yuu's feelings for Aya are controlled enough that he can keep it locked down.

Yami isn't a character capable of lying to herself, to Yuu, and to the readers, all them at the same time.

I don't think she's lying to the readers in that I think the readers are supposed to interpret her as a character who is struggling w/ being honest (w/ herself and the people she loves) about what she wants.

The flirtatious senpai and the carefree lazy girl are two different characters

Who act the exact same way? It's how Aya creates distance by wearing a "light" persona that she uses to deflect (lie) away from being vulnerable.

 

[peortega1]

So "reaching out" basically means barraging her with questions until she gives up and confesses, even though he doesn't even know for sure if there's anything she hiding?

Basically, yes. Also he has to endure and suffer stoicly the inmediately next rage attack of Ayami, because if Hikari could forgive Ayami after she tried to whore Hikari, Yuu had to do the same. When the most healthy is, or should be, precisely how Yuu in his passive way tried to conduce Ayami and put moral limits to her in a way Hikari never did it.

He is using tomodachi, which is genderless.

I say this because in Spanish, "amigO" or "amigA" are different words compared with the genderless "friend" in English. I mean, if Yuu technically said to her mother or to Hikari he was with a girl in that moment, he didn´t lie.
Even more with the confusing formal status of his relationship with Yami, being him the only one who made a formal love confession in chapter 29.
Very typical from him. He doesn´t lie, but his words are almost always ambiguous. In this way, he can say the truth without enter in uncomfortable details for him.

Doesn't sound any more forced than loser party.
People get injured all the time in cities, you could simply trip and break your arm or get food poisoning.

Again, the loser party supposely happens Yuu failed a very important exam. It was not a "normal" day for him. But the date with Yami of chapter 26.6 doesn´t have that context, so, is more strange Yuu says his "friend" is injured but he doesn´t give details about it. So, is more forced and raise more questions.

We almost certainly know that he didn't because his mother tells him to do his best on public HS exams during the call from the hotel, which is a response to him telling her about his failure.

Or simply he didn´t enter in details in those messages and only in the call he is being more detailed about his failure and how he plans spent the night out of home. Anyway, again, is Yuu who says he will have to be in permanent communication with her mother in chapter 26.6 even after the explanation of the hospital. This sounds more as an (over)protective mother.

Where is this written in chapter 24?

Here:

Late February.
The chill in the air felt like winter was making a comeback. By nighttime, it had turned bitterly cold.
"Yeah, yeah... so, today, we're doing a too-bad party at Kaneda's place till morning."
But right now, where we were, the outside temperature didn't matter. The heater was cranked way up, almost like it was hyping us up for what was about to happen.

So, had to be 9-10 p.m. in this moment, I guess.

Who act the exact same way? It's how Aya creates distance by wearing a "light" persona that she uses to deflect (lie) away from being vulnerable.

This is very different to lie. The flirtatious senpai is the way Aya creates a domination-submission relationship where she is always in control and on top. This method allows her to control Yuu and feel comfortable and secure without being vulnerable. And is this dominant personality one of the main reasons Yuu felt attracted for her.
The lazy carefree girl is the way Yami directly lies to Yuu when he doesn´t make everything she wants -like the proposal to going to live together-. And still here, he normally manages to see her real heart under the mask.

 

[story645]

This method allows her to control Yuu and feel comfortable and secure without being vulnerable.

Yeah so that's the thing, the flirtatious senpai carefree lazy girl - it's all a construct for her to avoid being vulnerable/keep up her walls. Which that's a bad thing/red flag in a serious romantic relationship - partners are supposed to be part of a person's support network, but they can't support if they're not let in.

ETA: which that's what happens, Aya decides to she has to go at the family stuff alone rather than letting Yuu in. Yeah Yuu told her not to hide things, but really how much is she supposed to think he means it if he doesn't say anything when she immediately hides something after his ask? He doesn't have to be insistent to acknowledge that he sees her hiding.