though nicanor and naoki never really spoke, in the end he saw him in a somewhat positive light? when he first saw him nicanor was a little spooked by him and the spoopy laughter and lack of overall reaction to dead bodies kind of put him off??? but nicanor just kind of brushed that off and didn't really have much of an opinion on him until he started to hang out with aqua? although that didn't really make him dislike naoki or anything!! really, it just made him kind of curious about naoki?? like whoa aqua ooshima??? is be ing??? nice to someone??? is naoki arakawa a saint or??? that coupled with the fact that momoko was cool w/ him made nicanor figure that naoki wasn't a bad guy uou!!!
during the last trial, when naoki decided he didn't want to stay nicanor knew that that was going to be his choice!! because both he and aqua were alive and there was no reason for them to keep risking their lives?? so he was just kind of,, "ok adios...."
he does wish for him and aqua to be happy though eve n if naoki doesn't really stop aqua from punching people in the face >:^| !!!!
Tamaki considers Naoki to be one of the more tolerable students here and has since the beginning of the game. True, their initial impression of him was ‘creepy as shit’, and they haven’t dropped that assessment of him, but he was also really sensible in trials where other people were being too sentimental for their taste, he was perfectly decent company when they stood on the beach and smoked together, and he did give them their body pillow so they could realize their ridiculously stupid pipe dream of lighting it the fuck on fire. Also, he was cool about them stealing his and Aqua’s underwear on impulse and then hiding it in their top drawer for a few weeks (I still can’t believe they did this, and thank you for alerting me to the underwear so much), so there’s also that.
Does Tamaki consider Naoki to be a friend? Not really, although they definitely would at least call him an acquaintance of some sort if asked. (And now I’m thinking of how much I wish these two interacted more…) The two of them never got that far in the literary critic’s eyes, and as far as they know, Naoki didn’t feel any loss whatsover at their death. And if he didn’t, man, they totally understand that - if Naoki had died before them, they would’ve been ‘Eh, whatever, better him than me or the people who matter’, so… (God, this kid projects a lot.) Also, he has absolutely shit taste in boyfriends from their perspective (ah yes, another one of the people who seem to think this), and while they wouldn’t have minded hanging with Naoki more, it might have meant hanging with Aqua too, and yeah no. Actually, Tamaki doesn’t like the majority of Naoki’s friends. Sorry, Naoki.
Also, Naoki was one of the people who were shooting down the idea of sticking around and reviving the dead kids in favor of leaving and saving their own necks, and… let’s face it, if Tamaki was in Naoki’s position (and assuming at least a few of their important people were still around), they would have done the same without a second though, because Tamaki Manabe is selfish as shit and is willing to kick innocent people under the bus as long as they and their important people can live. (This… kind of showed in their murder, so…) But of course, with Tamaki being Tamaki, they completely failed to see things that way and immediately became bitter and just a bit resentful because that’s what they do best.
I don’t think Tamaki would ever deliberately seek Naoki’s company out or make attempts to contact him post-despair because ‘eh, he’s not important to me, and I’m not important to him, so no loss on either side’, so alas, I have no post-despair canons for them. Woe.
Kosuke never talked to Naoki outside of trials, and even within them, they did not interact much. Yet, Kosuke sees some of himself in Naoki, in the way that Aqua and Naoki became a close, loving couple. In some way, he's jealous of the way that they stayed with each other.
In this way, he wishes the best for Naoki. Even if Kosuke's own relationship is unstable at times, he sees that what Naoki and Aqua have is real and genuine. He would not wish ill on either of them for that.
Saori looked up to Naoki! She… um, looked up to pretty much everyone that worked hard, but Naoki was part of ~that group~ of people that Saori Really Respected. Wakana once gave her a warning to be wary of Naoki, but?? he always seemed really kind and friendly and open (haha) towards people. And then seeing him and Gorou interact that one time and she was pretty darn sure she wanted to be his friend
WHICH SHE… never actually ended up going through with because things were pretty crazy after getting sick and Kaoru dying and then WOW WE’RE OUT OF HERE but yeaH MAN she would have loved to have gotten to know him more
(also she. thought him and aqua were cute. she respects relationships that look to be healthy and positive and... the both of them seemed to be just that so! her rating on aqua is probably high just because naoki and him are close lau ghs)
They… never got to interact, which is so so so unfortunate, but… Lee never forgot Naoki’s creepy-ass grin, so that’s one thing. It’s also a part of the things that haunted her that the game was her fault.
But then mafia… Showed them being horribly cunning together, so there’s that. It’s a weird thing????? I’m not even sure with this girl.
But hey! If Naoki wanted a henna tattoo she’d agree like after 5 seconds! Which isn’t instant! :D
Kiseki doesn't really have hardly any feelings on Naoki, tbh! Naoki is one of those people who didn't really do enough in Kiseki's eyes to warrant spending brain power on.
That's not to say Kiseki doesn't notice Naoki. Naoki lives on the same floor and is friends with two people who could very easily smash Kiseki to a pulp, so he's generally pretty careful to step as lightly as possible around bug boy. However, that's all Naoki really was to Kiseki. He didn't consider Naoki a friend... or even an ally, really. Kiseki would've gladly thrown Naoki under the bus to save himself, like that time he tried to cast suspicion on Naoki by calling out the fact that there was evidence being hidden.
Kiseki's opinion of Naoki is marginally better than his opinion of other people, but it's less because he actually likes Naoki better and more because he doesn't really care about Naoki when he dislikes almost everyone else.
As a person, the waiter almost sees them as being a decent human being but otherwise, watching Naoki constantly reminds him of memories he’d rather forget. Naoki’s dependency and devotion to Aqua makes Shun physically ill and it isn’t because it's Aqua of all people—it was because Naoki being… Naoki. Shun hated how the boy made excuses for his lover, constantly and almost insistently, he hated how the boy burn bridges for his lover and become solely on his side alone. He had how Naoki seemed to let his views become skewed, different and twisted because he was influenced by his emotions. Not that Aqua was any means a genuinely terrible person but it showed what type of person Naoki really was.
Overall, Shun does not associate with Naoki if he can help it. He doesn’t hate him but he finds him at times sickening to watch. If it had been anyone but Ooshima, Shun might’ve actually feared for him.
