Chapter 31: Argument Between Haruka Himuro and Ruri Hosokawa

It was after school in the afternoon. On the hurried street, a few passersby noticed the students by the roadside.

Three girls in sailor uniforms, and one sunny boy in casual clothes, tangled up together in something...

Then one of the girls actually kissed the boy right there in front of everyone!

"Young people these days!"

"Hehe, youth is great—so uninhibited!"

"This young man’s impressive, so young and already this skilled!"

The passersby who saw this either shook their heads or nodded, commenting among themselves. But they seemed to find this sort of thing unsurprising. After shaking their heads and sighing, they didn’t say much more and continued on their way.

Of course, some people condemned the behavior of students kissing on the street, saying things like "young people today don’t know self-respect" and such. Naturally, these comments reached Quillan’s and Ruri Hosokawa’s ears.

But neither of them reacted. Quillan figured he was a boy—a kiss was a kiss, no loss on his part—so he shamelessly endured the passersby’s stares. Ruri Hosokawa, meanwhile, was completely dazed. She never would have imagined her first kiss would be stolen from her like this!

Ruri Hosokawa was so stunned that she forgot to resist, forgot to make any movement at all, letting Quillan kiss her lips just like that.

Quillan didn’t dare move either, because he didn’t know if he made any move, whether Ruri Hosokawa would immediately explode. After all, just moments ago, Ruri Hosokawa had been like a madwoman, desperately trying to bite him!

So the two of them held their positions—Ruri Hosokawa on her tiptoes, leaning forward in a "voluntarily seeking a kiss" posture, while Quillan stood in place, head lowered, looking like he was receiving her kiss.

This situation lasted a full dozen seconds or so, until Miyuki Sakurai and Haruka Himuro, who had been glaring at each other nearby, heard the passersby’s comments and turned their heads at the same time...

"This..."

Miyuki Sakurai’s mouth hung open, standing there in shock. Haruka Himuro, meanwhile, let out a loud scream: "Ah!"

Ruri Hosokawa’s body jolted, snapping out of her dazed state. She realized her lips were still being kissed by Quillan, and she was instantly overcome with shame. With a hardened heart, she seized the chance and bit Quillan’s lip hard!

Girls can be terrifying when they get ruthless. Ruri Hosokawa bit down with such force that she split Quillan’s lip open!

"Ruri-chan, what’s going on?" Haruka Himuro was extremely agitated, because in her heart, Quillan wasn’t just her savior—he was also a boy she had strong feelings for, someone she even liked!

Yes, after just one encounter and one day together, Haruka Himuro had discovered that she’d already fallen deeply for this boy who had saved her from the darkness. Otherwise, why would she be willing to be Quillan’s personal maid and, even when Quillan didn’t want it, insist on making him her master?

From the moment Quillan saved her that morning, Haruka Himuro had resolved to make Quillan her future support. Even though Quillan seemed to have no feelings for her, Haruka Himuro still hoped to stay by his side, silently accompanying and protecting him!

But now, the person she had vowed to protect was kissing her best friend right in front of her! And what made it worse was that from Haruka Himuro’s angle, it looked like Ruri Hosokawa had actively kissed Quillan.

Even if she was her best friend, Haruka Himuro couldn’t take it anymore and exploded.

For the first time in her life, she used an accusatory tone with Ruri Hosokawa!

"What do you mean, what’s going on?" Ruri Hosokawa was also upset, because she’d inexplicably lost her first kiss, and now her good friend was interrogating her like this. She felt wronged, and covering her pretty face, she shouted in a voice tinged with tears: "What’s wrong with you, Haruka-chan? That pervert clearly forced a kiss on me, and you’re blaming me?"

What should have been an argument between Quillan and Ruri Hosokawa was completely transformed by Haruka Himuro’s involvement.

Haruka Himuro accused Ruri Hosokawa without restraint: "Is that so? Ruri-chan, that’s a nice way to put it. I saw with my own eyes you leaning in to kiss Master, and you’re saying Master forced you? And actually, Ruri-chan, you don’t really hate Master at all, do you? I’ve suspected it all along—how could a sunny boy like Master ever say something like that? It was clearly you, Ruri-chan, deliberately lying to me. You just wanted an excuse to get close to Master and steal his first kiss, didn’t you?"

"Eh, Master..."

Ruri Hosokawa lowered her hands from her face and stared at Haruka Himuro in shock, momentarily speechless.

She even forgot to defend herself, her mind fixed on one thing: why was Haruka Himuro calling Quillan "Master"...

Haruka Himuro, meanwhile, assumed Ruri Hosokawa had tacitly admitted her accusation, so her misunderstanding of Ruri Hosokawa deepened. This time it was her turn to cover her face and cry: "Ruri-chan, you really are like this. Why? You have such a good family, such a good mother, but I have nothing left. My home is gone, my family is gone. I can only humbly live following Master. But now you... you even want to steal my Master!"

"Haruka-chan, I... I didn’t!" Ruri Hosokawa was stunned by Haruka Himuro’s sudden emotional breakdown. She’d just wanted to explain, but now she could only look at Haruka Himuro with concern and ask: "Haruka-chan, what are you saying? What do you mean no family left, no home? And what exactly happened between you and this jerk? Why are you calling him ’Master’?"

This string of questions showed that Ruri Hosokawa’s mind was full of confusion about what had happened between Haruka Himuro and Quillan, and about what had happened to Haruka Himuro herself!

A pair of former good friends were now on the verge of turning against each other. Quillan and Miyuki Sakurai stood to the side, watching Haruka Himuro and Ruri Hosokawa, momentarily unsure what to do.

Miyuki Sakurai thought for a moment, then looked at Quillan and asked: "Quillan, what... what should we do?"

"It seems..."

Quillan shook his head and said: "I’ll have to trouble you to go to Sister Ai’s shop first, Miyuki. I need to sort this out before I come over!"

Hearing Quillan’s words, Miyuki Sakurai was reluctant—once again her alone time with Quillan had been interrupted—but she still nodded obediently, gave Quillan a warning to "be careful," and then headed toward the Moe-Jam Cafe...