@mogu
Page 3; panel 5, page 4; panel 6, and page 5; panel 6: I don't necessarily think that ALL of those are meant to lead up to them living together being a surprise to US, the readers, I think most of the later ones are just meant to be hints and surprises for the CHARACTERS in the story only (which is necessary, because even if it's obvious to us, it's obviously not obvious to the characters). It's not like, say, having Catherine having remembered to tell Kou that a new girl would be moving in ahead of time would make the story better. Totally agree with you when it comes to the contrivedness and all the repeated "fate" comments in the chapter though.
"P5 Panel 2 GAAAAAY"
For this one I agree with you.
"P8 Pane l3 Again, GAAAAAY"
For this one I do not. Remembering Hotaru's face because she thinks she's pretty cute, and taking an interest in Hotaru because she's a friend of Aoba, are two very different things.
"P6 Panel 1 Why does she have a room that was used for homestay and then suddenly wasn't?
Did she just randomly decide to opt out of the homestay program immediately after Hotaru left? And leave that room empty for 10 months?"
Sure, I don't see why not. Seems entirely plausible to me. And then maybe after that, this time around, Catherine is lending Hotaru the room not for homestay as a student, but simply because she's going to work for her now.
"Panel 3 Someone with no experience who hasn't even finished school is being placed on the same level as an extremely famous veteran with nearly 10 years of industry experience."
Hotaru's raw artistic skills being on an entirely different level from Aoba is something that has been pointed out repeatedly in the story by multiple characters, including Aoba and Nene. Thus, it's not unlikely that she's even better than Kou. Maybe not in terms of ideas or work speed, but in terms of pure, raw artistic talent, maybe. That being the case, Catherine probably saw some of her work, realized her skills and potential, and decided she wanted her. Certainly, Hotaru doesn't have Kou's experience at all. Experience isn't everything though. Natural talent matters. People being upstaged by other people with less experience, but more talent, is something that happens all the time in the worklife.
