I am very glad to see you have a good support network, and as long as you are truly okay, then I won't press that issue. I have no personal vendetta against you or for addressing your concerns, but I do care if you understand this from my perspective as well.
I think I understand what you're saying, but I'm also, again, going to have to pull the writer card. This doesn't just come from my personal opinions, I actually do have some formal education in writing and editing. The first chapter is the background. There is only so much you can cover in any book or IF without going on too long and losing a reader's interest. The first chapter is set up for the rest of the book. Some of the detailed context of the MC's relationships come into play as the IF goes along. They share stories from the past and such. The text directly tells the reader that the MC is friends with both Aster and Yarrow. The MC seeks them out eagerly right after breakfast. This is your setup, that is what tells you as the reader about their relationship. The reason it is immersive is because I do not cover details needlessly or in excess. When a text tells you what you need to know, the reader is meant to take it and run with it. I do not write paragraph after paragraph of details on people or even the setting. Your mind fills those in. This is a stylistic choice. I personally do not want to read 10 pages of context, so I don't write like that.
Your MC seems fine with Aster, but there was about as much information given about him as there was his brother, yet Yarrow is still the one painted with doubt.
The response choices in the first chapter are to shape your character's personality. None of them are geared toward changing the relationships MC has with their friends. Your interpretation is that there would not be "blunt" responses if not for this. Some people are just blunt, or stoic, or serious. That's what these choices are capturing in the background.
I will repeat this. There will be no options to distance the MC from Yarrow ever. It is not necessary by my design. He is a plot line. He carries the story forward as an adult. As a child, you cannot choose to be distant and as an adult, your MC is mature enough to have emotional distance without being unnecessarily rude in the world's context.
You've again applied what you know of stalking behavior towards Yarrow. Again, Yarrow is a child here. He is older than the MC, but he is still a child here and the MC literally grew up around him and Aster from day one. This is also directly explained in the text. You do not need background stories because it is spelled out literally for the reader. They have been almost like siblings and great friends all of MC's life. They simply would not ever feel that Yarrow was doing anything untoward.
Yes, Yarrow AND Aster will have a reluctance to be apart from MC because they are the best of friends. There's a connection of companionship and love between ALL of them. You cannot apply adult behavior to children.
What I'm picking up from the rest of your response is that you have contextualized these things about stalking and sexual assault because you do not agree with how I set up the MC's background and the setting. That does not track for me. The way I have set up the story is focused. I do not waste words and your time as the reader. I specifically tell you what you need to know and who you need to know it about. I do not spend tons of time setting up the world because you experience it as you go so you can imagine the specifics yourself. And I am right to assume you can do this just fine and conclude that the setting is medieval fantasy. You came up with that on your own without me going into pages upon pages of redundant explanation for you to get that. I don't need to justify my style to you, that's not what this conversation is about. Every author writes differently and the style that works for IF isn't the same that works for short stories or traditional novels. You said yourself that what I've done is immersive, that's the goal, so it seems my style works just fine for that purpose.
Your notes on the setup still do not track with how this brings you to come to paint Yarrow/Oswin as you do. If the text directly tells you that he's a friend, you should not require tons of background or extra stories to headcanon the appropriate context. I have not described it, I have defined it. There are some childhood anecdotes through the other chapters, but that is all I can offer on what you want.
It's not for me to determine for you, but reading what sort of topics you tend to avoid makes me think this IF won't sit well for you if you were to continue. The warnings list does cover some of the topics you avoid, and there are unskippable dark things the further in you get. Some really rough things happen to the MC back to back. No matter what you decide either on my work or someone else's, just put your peace of mind first.
I will be starting a new project soon, but I don't know if it will suit you (also, still for you to decide). My style will not change, though the MC's background will have more of an impact on the story I write so there will be more details out of necessity. I intend to explore more traumatic backgrounds for the MC in the next one. The story will revolve around what happened to the MC in the past.
Thank you for your time and response. If you decide you'd like to reply, please feel free to say what you need to, but know that I may not respond. I feel I've said my part and explained my take well enough, so I'll not push you. I don't want you to think I'm trying to convince you of anything, I just want to give perspective on my end.
All the best!
-Lunan