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

He gravitated towards people, and he 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 his escape. He stood up for someone, told off a group of students — and became the target. Sometimes he wouldn't show up for a week or two. The professors took a dislike to him too; they didn't want "problems." The ones bullying him 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 Haruki alone. Then they failed him in the exams. Second year. SHAME.

After that, he went from company to company. You have to work. You have to live on something. It seemed okay at first — he'd get hired — but the nail that sticks out gets hammered down. And he looks almost foreign, which always made things worse. He'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 he's lost his third job. He's close to desperation, but he isn't the type to take his failures seriously... He's never had any luck to begin with, and despite a hidden existential dread, he isn't the kind to lay hands on himself.

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

He's still Haruki, though. The same clumsy, caring, intrusive guy who can't walk past someone in trouble. The world keeps hammering him down, and he 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?

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