@nobaka—
If you'll show me a point in the story in which Suzu has been shown to think of some other male character as much as she has of Daisuke, then you'll have a case for the “any female friend” claim.
Chiaki is unmotivated or untalented not merely with respect to academics. She is signally lacking in thoughtfulness in any context, including what most people would call “common sense”. Consider her attempts at stage magic, in which she substitutes brute strength for tricks, with the result usually being destruction; or recall the cake box which had a false bottom but no true bottom, so that the cake hit the floor. Again, she either won't think or she's just stupid. To the extent that Suzu sticks with her original characterization, she lives as if in a different world; she is either connected to the occult or she's a
chuunibyou, but she at least learns and follows the rules of that world. (And note that the character of Suzu has, with time, been made less of a black
maga or of a wannabe black
maga.)
Indeed, so long as the series does not approach a conclusion, no girl can establish an insurmountable lead. However, if they choose to wrap-up the series, then they might (or might not) let one of the girls win. And the series will not go-on forever, so it's not perfectly idle to pay attention to which of the girls has established a lead.
