Reminder that this is written by a woman, and Ichikawa is supposed to be sympathetic and endearing, especially when most people think back to their own time as 13 year olds in middle school spending time around the girl they liked. (though, for me, that's so long ago, and I struggled even more to interact with the opposite sex based on what little I can recall, which is ironic because I was supposedly very 'popular' with the girls in my class in 8th grade despite my absolute obliviousness)
People so ready to look at him as if he's the weirdo, but he's perfectly normal for that age, albeit with more social awkwardness due to things we haven't gotten into yet. If anything, he's a pretty upstanding middle school boy for not blatantly creeping on Anna all the time in arguably more pathetic or creepy ways like Adachi or Nanjou who make Anna recoil, while Kyo makes her feel comfortable and safe, because he won't do anything to her she doesn't want done.