Shino's basically Sawako's only real connection to her past—they were classmates back in middle school. At the start of the series, she's literally the only person Sawako actually talks to, which says a lot about how isolated she is. Shino clearly cares about her and keeps tabs on how she's adjusting to high school life, but she mostly fades into the background, popping up here and there to push Sawako toward other people or situations. She's the one who first started calling Sawako by her nickname, which is kind of a big deal considering how few people bother with her at all. Sawako's too shy or modest to even think of Shino as a real friend, though Shino is definitely trying to look out for her.
Content compiled by AnimeList.moe from publicly available sources.
