Chapter 44: "Haruka-chan, I’m Here to Keep You Company!"

Quillan walked over to the bed and stopped, but Haruka wasn’t there, the sheets untouched and the pillow still neatly in place as he glanced around the small apartment.

He let out a quiet breath. Maybe she’d been too embarrassed to stay. After everything that had happened tonight, he couldn’t really blame her. He sat on the edge of the bed for a moment, running a hand through his hair.

Remembering they were running low on bottled water, instant noodles, bread, and other basic groceries, Quillan grabbed his keys and headed downstairs to buy them. He wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway.

The night air was cool and still. Matsumoto Hitomi’s shop was still open, its warm light spilling onto the empty street. Quillan pushed the door open, the little bell above it chiming softly.

Haruka Himuro stood near the counter, her face flushed a deep, telltale red. She was mid-conversation with Matsumoto Hitomi, who was leaning forward with an amused, knowing smile.

"—and I said, ’Haruka-chan, you look like you’ve just seen a ghost! Or maybe something even better?’" Matsumoto Hitomi chuckled, clearly enjoying herself.

"G-Grandma Matsumoto, please, it’s not—it’s nothing like that—" Haruka stammered, waving her hands frantically.

The old woman’s eyes flicked toward the door. "Oh! Quillan! Speak of the devil."

Haruka whirled around. The moment her eyes met his, her face somehow turned an even deeper shade of red. She looked like she wanted the floor to swallow her whole.

Quillan blinked. "Haruka? Did you come here to buy something too?"

"I—I was going to—I just—" Haruka sputtered, unable to form a coherent sentence.

Matsumoto Hitomi looked between the two of them, her grin widening. "Well, well. Quillan, you didn’t tell me you and Haruka-chan were dating! Look at her—she’s red as a tomato! A young wife buying something for her husband, and now he shows up right on cue!"

Both Quillan and Haruka froze.

"N-No, Grandma Matsumoto, we’re not—!" Haruka started.

"Now, now, no need to be shy," the old woman said, waving a dismissive hand. "Young love is a beautiful thing! I was young once too, you know."

Quillan opened his mouth to correct her, but the look on Haruka’s face—half panic, half something else entirely—made him pause.

This was going to be a long night.

Quillan felt immensely awkward. In front of Haruka Himuro, he had no idea how he was supposed to respond to Matsumoto Hitomi’s remark.

Haruka, on the other hand, kept her head lowered, making it impossible to see her current expression.

For a moment, Quillan found himself stuck in a complete dilemma. If he explained things directly to Matsumoto Hitomi, he was afraid it might make Haruka unhappy. But if he didn’t clarify, who knew what other wild assumptions Matsumoto Hitomi might jump to?

Just as Quillan was put in a tough spot, a voice came to his rescue.

"What young wife and husband? That’s totally not it! Grandma, what kind of nonsense are you talking about?"

That voice was all too familiar. Quillan turned his head, only to discover Ruri Hosokawa actually appearing behind everyone, pulling a suitcase along.

"Ruri-chan, is that you?" Haruka Himuro didn’t feel any joy regarding Ruri Hosokawa’s arrival. On the contrary, upon seeing the suitcase beside Ruri Hosokawa, Haruka inexplicably felt a bad premonition in her heart for some reason!

"Class President-san, it’s you!" Quillan, for the very first time, felt that this tsundere girl Ruri Hosokawa’s voice actually sounded quite nice—no, delightful!

If Ruri Hosokawa hadn’t shown up at this moment, Quillan would probably still be squirming in awkwardness right now!

However, Quillan grew curious as well, asking Ruri Hosokawa, "Class President-san, what are you doing dragging a suitcase around so late at night? Don’t tell me you use a suitcase to carry her ’spoils’ when she goes shopping?"

"You’re the one shopping alone in the middle of the night!" Ruri Hosokawa didn’t give Quillan any pleasant face. In her eyes, Quillan was nothing more than a pervert, a guy whose eyes were filled only with girls. Otherwise, why would Quillan—clearly a guy—come to study at an all-girls school in the first place? What’s more, he had stolen her first kiss, yet deliberately let Haruka misunderstand her!

At the thought of all this, Ruri Hosokawa wanted nothing more than to tear Quillan apart. But as much as she thought about it, she didn’t actually dare to lay a hand on him. Ruri Hosokawa didn’t want to explain to Quillan why she had returned here in the middle of the night, but she had to explain things to Haruka, didn’t she?

So Ruri Hosokawa walked up in front of Haruka Himuro and whispered to her softly, "Haruka-chan, you aren’t still mad at me, are you? I admit I didn’t care enough about you before, but we’re good friends—you can’t misunderstand me like this! See, right after you left, I decided to follow you, and then move in with you to keep you company!"

So Ruri Hosokawa followed Haruka!

Quillan understood now. Haruka must have stepped out from the café earlier, and Ruri Hosokawa had followed her back to the rented apartment, noted down the address, then went home to pack her clothes before heading straight back here.

But what was Ruri Hosokawa’s motive for coming over? To keep Haruka company?

The corner of Quillan’s mouth twitched. If that was the case, didn’t that mean Ruri Hosokawa was going to move into his rented apartment, too?

This life was becoming impossible to live...

Having been inexplicably scolded by a young girl even younger than her own granddaughter, Matsumoto Hitomi was originally quite displeased. However, seeing that the girl seemed to know both Quillan and Haruka, Matsumoto Hitomi didn’t hold it against Ruri Hosokawa, simply chuckling, "Are Quillan and Haruka-chan really not in that kind of dating relationship? That’s quite a pity then. Alright, you youngsters go ahead and chat!"

With that, Matsumoto Hitomi merrily headed back inside her shop.

Haruka Himuro, on the other hand, was somewhat unhappy. Her misunderstanding with Ruri Hosokawa had not yet been resolved. Still, since the two of them used to be good friends and Ruri Hosokawa had come all the way to her door, it probably wouldn’t be too difficult to clear up the misunderstanding.

Quillan didn’t have enough energy to care about them anymore. Seeing Matsumoto Hitomi leave, he felt a bit like a third wheel himself, so he waved a hand at the two beauties and said, "Hey, I’m heading back to rest first. You two do as you like, take your time chatting..."

"Master..." Seeing Quillan about to leave as well, Haruka Himuro didn’t want to face Ruri Hosokawa alone, so she called out to Quillan, wanting to head back together with him.

However, Ruri Hosokawa pulled Haruka back, explaining to her, "Haruka-chan, don’t be like this! What kind of person this Quillan is, as if you don’t know? Before, when he was on the phone, he was boasting to someone that he was going to hit on every girl in St. Sakura Girls’ High, as long as she was pretty! What’s more, today he even stole my first kiss!"

"Is that so?" Hearing this, Haruka Himuro felt deeply displeased in her heart. Setting aside their previous friendship, she turned to question Ruri Hosokawa: "Wasn’t it you who voluntarily offered a kiss to Master, Class President-san? From the angle I was standing at, I saw it crystal clear! It was blatantly you leaning your body toward Master. Aside from Master’s lips being inevitably kissed by you, I didn’t see any other part of his body touch you at all!"

"Even..." Before Ruri Hosokawa could defend herself, Haruka continued, "Master didn’t even touch you with his arms, yet Class President-san claims that your first kiss was stolen by Master! Class President-san, do you treat everyone else as if they were blind?"

"I was going to bite him!" Wronged to the point of almost crying, Ruri Hosokawa extended the arm that had been grabbed by Quillan, explaining to Haruka: "Haruka-chan, look! From the angle you were standing at back then, you definitely didn’t see that I was being grabbed right here by Quillan, right? Let me tell you, it WAS Quillan who stole my first kiss! Haruka-chan, don’t forget, I’m whole-heartedly determined to drive this perverted scoundrel Quillan out of St. Sakura! How could I possibly... possibly give my first kiss to him?!"

Speaking of her first kiss, Ruri Hosokawa’s face flushed red. Because she was in a rush to refute just now, her voice had been quite loud in her excitement. Fortunately, it was night and there was hardly anyone around in the neighborhood, so presumably no one heard her say out loud that her first kiss had been stolen.

Even so, as a woman raised from childhood in a prominent family that emphasized feminine virtue and purity, thinking about how her first kiss had been stolen before marriage made Ruri Hosokawa feel deeply aggrieved inside.

Clearly, she was the victim, yet...

Haruka had misunderstood her and even wanted to break off their friendship over it!

Thinking up to this point, Ruri Hosokawa felt a surge of bitterness, nearly bursting into tears...