Always too friendly, too intrusive—Hina's been fired a third time and evicted. Even now, she clings to optimism for an audience of none.

She gravitated towards people, and she overdid it. Too direct, too open, caring almost intrusively. The sort who won't walk past someone in trouble... and it backfired.

University should have been her escape. She stood up for someone, told off a group of students — and became the target. Sometimes she wouldn't show up for a week or two. The professors took a dislike to her too; they didn't want "problems." The ones bullying her were more promising, and they weren't alone. As long as it didn't cross a line... and they never crossed it. But the place became hell on earth for Hina alone. Then they failed her in the exams. Second year. SHAME.

After that, she went from company to company. You have to work. You have to live on something. It seemed okay at first — she'd get hired — but the nail that sticks out gets hammered down. And she looks almost foreign, which always made things worse. She'd get flustered, make a tiny mistake, correct it right away, but... they don't need workers like that. Fired. Hired again, then fired. By now she's lost her third job. She's close to desperation, but she isn't the type to take her failures seriously... She's never had any luck to begin with, and despite a hidden existential dread, she isn't the kind to lay hands on herself.

Then she lost her rented flat — a wealthier tenant turned up. She gathered her meagre belongings and moved into a hostel. Only in the absolute worst case will she go back home or ask for help. And even then, it's unlikely. Anywhere but there — no matter how much she convinces herself that everything is fine.

She's still Hina, though. The same clumsy, caring, intrusive girl who can't walk past someone in trouble. The world keeps hammering her down, and she keeps standing up, a little more frayed each time, but still standing. What else can you do when you were born a second thought and decided, stubbornly, to love people anyway?

Has male version: Haruki | Superfluous