Honestly, I still don't like Morinaga as a literary device.
Sure, she doesn't seem like she's a villain, but my issue with her was always that she stole the spotlight and the agency from the main characters. Now, even though she looks like a good friend, she is still stealing the spotlight and the motivation behind the relationship. Rather than it being a story about two people figuring out their feelings for each other, it seems like it's now a story about a 3rd person teaching a couple of fools a lesson.