I would say that him getting his first camera could have been at the hands of her mentor but Hayato would not have been very good at sticking to her wishes. Or anyones wishes. He's kind of the epitome of I DO WHAT I WANT. Otherwise they could have met just met when they were younger and then met up again on the battlefield.

I could see him possibly giving her a pep talk on leaving Caldera sometime while he was running around battlefields.