Chapter 28: Ruri Hosokawa’s Plan

After Quillan and Miyuki Sakurai left, Ruri Hosokawa walked over to Haruka Himuro and asked with a sour expression: "Haruka-chan, please explain—what exactly is going on?"

"Ruri-chan, I..."

Seeing the concern on Ruri Hosokawa’s face, Haruka Himuro found herself at a loss for words.

Logically, given how close they were as friends, Haruka Himuro should have told Ruri Hosokawa about her situation. But...

At the thought of Ruri Hosokawa’s family background, Haruka Himuro just couldn’t bring herself to speak.

As friends, Haruka Himuro’s family circumstances and Ruri Hosokawa’s were like heaven and earth!

"Haruka-chan, what on earth happened to you?"

Seeing Haruka Himuro hesitate, Ruri Hosokawa knew something must be wrong. Actually, Ruri Hosokawa had often visited Haruka Himuro’s home in the past, so as a close friend, she knew a fair amount about Haruka Himuro’s family situation.

Of course, Ruri Hosokawa still didn’t know that Haruka Himuro’s father was such a worthless person—that he would abandon his own daughter and go into hiding, leaving behind a mountain of gambling debts!

Otherwise, Ruri Hosokawa would have directly asked why Haruka Himuro needed to move into a rental. Haruka Himuro was silent for a moment, then finally made her decision.

To preserve her friendship with Ruri Hosokawa, and to keep Ruri Hosokawa from feeling ashamed of having a friend with such a disgraceful family background, Haruka Himuro had no choice but to continue hiding her situation from Ruri Hosokawa: "I’m sorry, Ruri-chan. I made you worry. But nothing happened to me—it’s just that my home is a bit far from school, and I’m planning to get a part-time job to earn money, so I moved into an apartment complex close to both the school and the shopping district!"

"Then why are you living with that pervert Quillan?" Ruri Hosokawa suddenly accused Haruka Himuro angrily: "Haruka-chan, don’t you know that Quillan is a total pervert and a creep? How can you live with a pervert like that?"

"But I had no choice!" Haruka Himuro said quietly: "That’s Grandma Matsumoto’s place—a three-bedroom apartment. Quillan can’t fill such a big place by himself, and sharing means we can split the rent and save a lot of money!"

At the mention of saving money, Ruri Hosokawa seemed to understand—Haruka Himuro must have lived very frugally in the past—and she fell silent.

It seemed Quillan’s decision to leave had been the right one. Ruri Hosokawa cared so much about Haruka Himuro that leaving while she was furious and letting Haruka Himuro calm her down had indeed been very effective!

Haruka Himuro continued explaining to Ruri Hosokawa: "And you don’t need to worry about me, Ruri-chan. Mas—oh, Quillan and I are just sharing a place, and it’s Grandma Matsumoto’s apartment. Grandma Matsumoto is a very kind person. She..."

Haruka Himuro then began telling Ruri Hosokawa about Matsumoto Hitomi, going on about how good Matsumoto Hitomi was to her—and she actually succeeded in diverting Ruri Hosokawa’s attention!

But when afternoon classes began and Quillan returned to the classroom, Ruri Hosokawa started bringing up the old matter again.

All afternoon, whenever she had a spare moment, Ruri Hosokawa would turn around and glare at Quillan, looking like she wished she could devour him in one bite. Quillan, meanwhile, ignored her gazes—either not looking at her at all, or simply lying on his desk sleeping.

Ruri Hosokawa was very displeased at being ignored. As a young lady who was also stunningly beautiful, she had been the center of attention since childhood. Growing up that way had made her accustomed to a worldview where she was the center of the universe!

In Ruri Hosokawa’s view, Quillan ignoring her was a provocation!

"Haruka-chan, do you remember what we talked about yesterday?" Ruri Hosokawa withdrew her gaze from Quillan and whispered into Haruka Himuro’s ear: "Haruka-chan, you’re not going to stop helping me drive him out just because you’re living with him now, are you?"

"I..."

Haruka Himuro felt awkward. That was indeed what she was thinking. But Ruri Hosokawa’s tone seemed very serious, as if she couldn’t tolerate Quillan staying at St. Sakura. This left Haruka Himuro both embarrassed and torn.

One was a boy she had strong feelings for—someone who had even saved her once, her savior!

The other was her very close friend, with whom she had previously agreed to team up against Quillan!

Haruka Himuro didn’t know how to answer. Ruri Hosokawa urged her from the side: "Haruka-chan, what’s wrong? Say something!"

"It’s nothing... I was going to say, I have no problem with it. I’ll definitely stand on your side, Ruri-chan!" Haruka Himuro thought it over and decided to agree to Ruri Hosokawa for now—but she’d find a chance to give Quillan a heads-up later!

That way, she wouldn’t offend either side, right?

Haruka Himuro thought she was a genius!

Then Ruri Hosokawa began describing her plan: "Haruka-chan, I heard that Amatsuki-san from the Discipline Committee seems to hate Quillan too. Amatsuki-san is a very skilled martial artist, you know. What do you think—if we go to her and join forces, can we drive Quillan out?"

"Huh?" Haruka Himuro’s body trembled upon hearing Ruri Hosokawa’s words, and she felt an inexplicable surge of worry.

Right now, she didn’t want to drive Quillan out at all—on the contrary, she very much hoped to keep getting along well with him!

But Ruri Hosokawa was talking about going to find Kaoru Amatsuki, that incredibly formidable woman, and joining forces against Quillan!

If that happened—never mind that Kaoru Amatsuki was the head of the Discipline Committee with the authority to punish students for disciplinary violations—just based on Kaoru Amatsuki’s combat skills alone, Quillan would probably have a very hard time!

If that happened, wouldn’t Master be in danger?

Haruka Himuro grew worried for Quillan, so her face looked somewhat pale, and she didn’t know how to respond to Ruri Hosokawa.

Not hearing a reply from Haruka Himuro, Ruri Hosokawa didn’t think much of it and continued talking to herself: "This plan will definitely work. Haruka-chan, you think so too, right? Actually, I went home last night and thought about it all evening before deciding to cooperate with that arrogant Kaoru Amatsuki!"

"Even though that arrogant Kaoru Amatsuki is just as annoying, if it means getting that perverted jerk Quillan out of St. Sakura Academy, then I’m willing to do whatever it takes!" Ruri Hosokawa thought her idea was simply brilliant. As she talked to herself, she happily grabbed Haruka Himuro’s arm, her beautiful eyes curving into crescent moons!