Haruto Hata

is one of the protagonists of New Normal. After accidentally seeing his classmate and crush, Emi Natsuki, without her mask, they begin to secretly spend time with one another without wearing their masks, going against societal norms.

Background
Hata is a second-year high school student, member of the Drone Racing Club, and the classmate of Emi Natsuki. Born a few years after the pandemic, he has only ever known the world as it is post-pandemic.

Due to accidentally seeing Natsuki's unmasked face, the pair of them begin to secretly spend time with one another without wearing their masks. This includes sneaking into a park to have a picnic, an activity not practiced post-pandemic, and of which Hata is totally ignorant. As they are leaving their picnic early due to an infection alert, Hata sees a shadowy figure in the bushes but decides not to tell Natsuki. They subsequently encounter members of the Outbreak Prevention Ministry, including Sagara, who stop and question them about any suspicious individuals in the area. However, Natsuki informs them that they have not seen anyone before Hata has a time to respond. Hata then hears a rumor from his club president about mutated survivors who live on the other side of the Tokyo wall that come over to raid. This idea appears to disturb him.

Due to a misunderstanding, Hata initially believes these secret activities with Natsuki are due to romantic interest on her part, but he quickly realizes he is mistaken. Around the same time, he and Natsuki's secret is discovered by Erika Hinata, a junior classmate, younger sister of the Drone Racing Club president, new member thereof, and another girl Hata unintentionally saw without her mask. Hinata is flying her drone in an unauthorized fashion when she happens upon Hata and Natsuki sitting together in the school's rooftop garden without their masks. Shocked by the sight, Hinata crashes her drone. When Hata goes to speak with her, she is disgusted by their behavior but, in effect, forces Hata to take the blame for crashing the drone in exchange for a date with her that he doesn't want.

During the date, they encounter an anti-mask protest. One of the protestors threatens to forcibly remove Hinata's mask and Hata jumps in to protect her. He is physically overpowered but is himself rescued by members of the Outbreak Prevention Ministry, including, once again, Sagara. However, as a consequence he is infected by V-21 and is subsequently placed in an isolation facility by Sagara.

In isolation he meets and video conferences with a young woman, Nami Shiina, who is also isolated in the room across from his. One night a disturbing commotion can be heard outside their rooms and Shiina reaches out by video conference for mutual comfort.

Appearance
Hata has a slight build and is short compared to his peers. He has medium length, closely cropped hair and does not consider himself to be attractive. His mask is unadorned.

Emi Natsuki
Natsuki is Hata's classmate, sitting to his immediate left in class. At the start of the series, he has an unrevealed crush on her, often stealing glances at her when she is not looking. However, they already appear to have at least an amicable relationship, with Natsuki singling him out to offer encouragement for an upcoming drone racing competition, causing much jealously amongst his friends.

He seems to have significant feelings for Natsuki, appearing elated when he believes they're going out romantically and describing the time they spent together as like a dream. However, when she reveals her own ambivalent feelings and asks how he feels, he says he would prefer not to go out with her with such feelings.