if your gonna say this story fits with yuri=friendship
keep it at just that! there was no gay in it, it was full on subtext galore….ah but for christ sake ofc it was” yuri” since that is just “friendship”, thank god i didn’t waste my time with another one of this “yuri” cuz at this point people got to realize you LITERALLY do not need that tag for god damn FRIENDSHIP
how come Yaoi is clear cut homosexual, or Bara for christ sake! they have 2 tags for clear cut gay between men YET “Yuri” is left for the stupid option of “they were just friends” AND “they bump clits like crazy” it’s literally a coin flip, at this point i don’t read ongoing stories unless i can already figure out the “Yuri” is actually god damn Yuri, usually the story description makes it clear but even THAT has the 50/50 chance of being a trap, just another waste of tag just to make a story about “friendship”
If you want romance, there's the romance tag.
Although this series heavily uses "friends" and "bonds" throughout, I'd say it's used in a comedic way rather than emphasizing that yeah this is pure pure pure friendship there is no deeper yuri relationship anywhere. "Friends" is almost always put in contrast with the things Akari does that are way beyond what's considered just friendship. Tangentially related thought, I love this series so much more because it explores aspects of yuri relationships beyond love confessions and going on dates.
For your tidbit on yaoi, I'm not sure if that sounds completely right to me. Gay undertones isn't just a yuri thing.