Haruka joined Saotome Academy with a specific dream: to write a song good enough for her idol Hayato to perform. It's a pretty ambitious goal, especially considering she showed up basically unable to read sheet music. She could play piano—self-taught by her grandmother back in the countryside—but that was the extent of her formal training.
That lack of proper education sometimes gets to her. She'll doubt herself when things get tough, which is pretty understandable. But what she lacks in credentials, she makes up for in determination and a genuinely positive outlook. Fans often note that this combination of vulnerability and stubborn optimism is what makes her relatable.
Her social life clicked into place quickly. Otoya, Tomochika, and Natsuki became her first real friends at the academy, basically from day one. Masato came into the picture a little later and proved to be someone she could really lean on—someone who actually understood what she was dealing with.
Content compiled by AnimeList.moe from publicly available sources.