Right from the common route, huh? That's pretty early on! Chalking this as major instincts on your end, haha.
About the Izumi favouritism, I can't really say I prefer Izumi over Souma... maybe some things just happened subconsciously? ^3^ I think maybe it comes across that way because there's a little bit more completeness(?) to Izumi's arc. In hindsight, I do think that Souma's route doesn't have the URGENCY towards the end because Izumi is more intimately tied to the debt.
^3^ woop