Erika Hinata

is a supporting character in New Normal. After a series of unfortunate encounters with Haruto Hata, she begins to a develop a romantic interest in him and becomes a rival for his affection against Emi Natsuki.

Background
Hinata is a first-year high school student. Born a few years after the pandemic, she has only ever known the world as it is post-pandemic.

Volume 1
One day during lunch Haruto Hata accidentally walks into Hinata's stall while she is eating and he sees her unmasked face. Deeply upset by this, she begins to beat him with her lunch tray and call him a pervert, causing a scene. She is only stopped by Emi Natsuki who grabs the tray and defuses the situation.

After their initial meeting, she is introduced as the newest member of Hata's club, the Drone Racing Club, by the president of the club, her older brother. Surprised by his presence, she again causes a stir, but drags him away before he can explain what happened, telling him that he must not tell anyone he saw her mouth. However, while later practicing with the drones, she is curious as to whether or not Hata thought her mouth was cute. When he responds that it was, she is elated.

Hinata elects to stay late and through her drone happens to witnesses Hata sitting with Natsuki in the rooftop garden, maskless. Shocked by the sight, she accidentally crashes her drone in front of the pair. Hata finds her after quickly deducing that it was her that crashed the drone. Hinata admonishes him for his and his girlfriend's behavior, but he explains that Natuski is not his girlfriend. Misunderstanding their situation, Hinata simply assumes he was rejected and feeling sorry for him she insists that he go on a date with her to cheer him up in exchange for taking responsibility for the drone crashing.

On another day, they go on a date and appear to actually enjoy it. However, they stumble upon an anti-mask protest and one of the protesters threatens to remove Hinata's mask. Hata defends her but he himself has to be rescued by Masato Sagara and other members of the Outbreak Prevention Ministry(OPM).

After getting away, Hinata praises his efforts to protect her and offers to show him her mouth as thanks. She suddenly thinks better of it, however, and instead offers to let him feel it while blindfolded. However, Hata inadvertently sticks his finger inside her mouth causing her to again call him a pervert and chill their relationship, with her giving him the cold shoulder the next time they see each other at school.

The two of them do not talk again until she calls him to warn about the OPM arriving to test him for exposure to the JAGD virus.

Volume 2
Hata tests positive and is forced to isolate as a result and Hinata video conferences with him, teary-eyed, again insisting she'll do him the favor of going on a date with again when he's released from isolation.

While Hata is in isolation, Hinata expresses a great deal of concern for his well being. Discussing the matter at school with her brother, they are overheard and confronted by Natsuki. Afraid of having revealed a secret, the siblings run away. Natsuki runs after them but twists and injures her ankle while going down a flight of stairs.

After Hata returns to school from isolation, she is eager to see him, acting very friendly, and physically dragging him away from Natsuki whom she apparently now considers a rival. When she later learns she that Hata has tickets to go to a pool, she insists that she should go with him and directly confronts Natsuki. However, the three end up attending together. Despite some tension the trio have fun at the pool, but as their time ends Hinata notices Hata sitting by himself, upset and crying. Unsure of what to do, she embraces him and he tells her about Nami Shiina.

Back at school, she is glad that Hata told her about Shiina and seems to have cheered up and she asks him on another date during the next holiday to which he agrees. Their date is at a festival celebrating the anniversary of the construction of the wall around Tokyo. However, at the festival they encounter Natsuki, her friend, and Hata's own friends. The pair seem to have a good time but are apparently followed the entire day by the others. Desperate for some time together alone, she eventually takes him to the top of a tower due to wishing to watch the events from there.

Alone in the darkness at the top of the tower, Hinata teases and comes on to Hata, taking off both her own and his mask. However, they are suddenly awash in light from the celebrations and she desperately covers his and her bare faces. However, she is startled by a gun pointed at her head from Sagara. Sagara recognizes Hata and allows them to stay and watch the release of sky lanterns for the commemoration.

Appearance
Hinata is an attractive young woman long blonde hair and amber eyes. She usually wears a red bow in her hair as well as earrings. Her regular mask has two heart-shaped adornments just below her eyes. The hard shell mask she wears for swimming has an asymmetric stripe running diagonally across it as well as a single flower-shaped adornment in its upper right corner.

Personality
Hinata is highly spirited and assertive. This leads to aggressive behavior such as when she initially attacked Hata due to believing he had walked in on her intentionally, or domineering behavior such as when she compelled him to go on a date with her. However, it also allows her to lavishly praise Hata for protecting her from the anti-mask protestor, and to actively pursue Hata once she has feelings for him.

She also apparently thinks very highly of herself, framing her date invitations as her letting Hata go on a date with her. She also insists that no one can be depressed with her around them. However, despite her apparent self-confidence she does appear to be a bit self-conscious. After having had her mouth seen by Hata, she seems to become preoccupied with whether or not he thinks it's cute and after seeing him with Natsuki she is curious as to whom he considers cuter, going so far as to offer to show him her mouth again.

Similarly, beyond her bravado, she shows genuine concern for Hata on multiple occasions, especially after he protects her. However, even before that her insistence on going on a date with him does seem to come from, in part, a legitimate desire to cheer him up. When she notices that he's upset and crying over the loss of Nami Shiina, she embraces him and begs him not to cry as she hates crying, as she begins to cry herself. This gives Hata a chance to open up about Shiina to her.

She is also conciliatory, sharing the pool tickets with Natsuki after feeling responsible for her spraining her ankle and despite considering her a romantic rival. When she wonders if Hata will share his secret about Shiina with Natsuki she is initially sad that it would no longer just be a secret between the two of them but is okay with it if it helps him feel better.