The Rest
Kino meets many people throughout her journey, and no matter how small or insignificant, Kino always takes something away from them.Her parents
It's kind of weird to call her parents "insignificant", but considering the bonds she had with the original Kino and with Shishou, it is easy to see how much she needed that kind of support, the kind her parents clearly did not give her. Whether they were corrupt from the surgery or just generally insensitive lugheads, they are not winning any parent of the year awards. Throughout the entire episode, they treat Kino largely with indifference. Kino is clearly lonely, even though she is surrounded by them every day.
The best proof of this is in the end, when they try to kill her. She is so insignificant to them that they would kill her over having her own thoughts. Not only that, but they did it without any hesitation, without even wincing.
Kino's parents raised her for almost 12 years, but in a few months, two people completely changed who she had been. Kino's parents were failures, no matter how you look at it.
Shizu & Riku
Shizu is like a male version of Kino- someone with awful parents who decides to take a journey with the help of their talking companion (in his case, Riku, a dog). They meet in the battling tournament and Kino manages to defeat him to win. At the end, she launches a fireball and he dodges, and watches as it kills his father. He was upset but was able to put it behind him.
Although he's not nearly as important as he is in the light novel, Shizu definitely influences Kino. He's kind of like her traveling companion, someone who knows how she feels. They connect on a level deeper than she could with any townsperson. Because of that, Shizu is an important friend to Kino.
Nimya
Nimya is the epitome of optimism and determination. She had a goal from the beginning, and she didn't stop working until she achieved it. When Kino arrived, she didn't have much faith in what Nimya was doing at all, but she supported her and helped her anyways. It all paid off when Nimya was finally able to build her flying machine and soar through the skies.
When Kino left, Nimya was sad, because to Nimya, she was the person who helped her dreams come true. Kino, on the other hand, viewed the whole experience as she does any other- an experience. That said, it's clear meeting Nimya did teach Kino many things.
Hermes: What did you say, Kino-san?
Kino: I said, I didn't think a human could fly.