Ah, haha, gotcha. Maybe we'll be able to increase her Confidant rank up to a certain point (e.g. level 5) then it'll be locked until she joins the party? That would be weird if they're not a certain rank yet when they join though... so yeah, I suppose the lunch screenshot could be a scripted story event.No, I'm just inconsistent lol.
I'm thinking it makes the most sense for it to be automatic to reconcile with her being a party member late in the game while also being introduced early.
And yet there's conflicting evidence with the lunch scene.
Though for all we know, that could be a story event.
Speaking of Confidants and hanging out with them, I'm not holding out too much hope but it would be great if we could do fun and not-useless events with them after maxing them out, especially those we romance. That was one of the bigger disappointments for me in the original game.