Chapter 56: The Quarrelling Pair

Although she had long suspected it, suddenly having the truth laid bare left Hatsumori feeling deeply unsettled. She believed that Rukia shouldn’t be like this, especially as her closest friend.

She was well aware of her own feelings for the president.

Hatsumori had thought that her relationship with the president had nearly reached the point of official recognition—that once she told Rukia, she would gradually come to accept it.

She did not see herself as condescending, nor overly self-centered.

If a person couldn’t even reveal their true feelings, weren’t they doomed to endure the pain of unrequited love?

If, when she first confessed her feelings to Rukia, Rukia had straightforwardly said she liked the president too, Hatsumori would have openly welcomed a fair competition.

She wouldn’t have been angry or resentful; after all, the president was an exceptional person, and it was only natural for anyone to like him. Rukia was just a normal girl.

But she had misjudged Rukia.

Why bring it up now, instead of back then? Was it because, having entered the Kuchiki family, Rukia’s standards had risen along with her status?

What Rukia didn’t know was that Hatsumori’s relationship with the president had already made substantial progress—it was no longer the same as before.

If Rukia found out that Hatsumori and the president were together, how heartbroken she would be...

Before afternoon class, Rukia entered the classroom and saw Hatsumori already seated.

Without a word, she walked over and sat beside her.

“Momoko,” Rukia greeted her proactively.

“...”

Hatsumori ignored her, glancing sideways with tightly pressed lips, suddenly overwhelmed by a wave of sadness.

She didn’t know what their relationship would become from now on.

She certainly didn’t want to become strangers with Rukia, yet she was still angry over what Rukia had said to her.

Rukia had bluntly accused her of scheming to set her up with Asanagi, as if she were some kind of villain.

Asanagi was actually a very decent person; except for his shortcoming in demon arts, his grades were excellent. Didn’t Rukia know that Asanagi had always liked her?

What was wrong with her trying to bring them together?

But as she thought this, she felt a twinge of guilt—there was indeed some selfishness involved. Still, if it worked out, it would be a win-win situation.

Seeing that Hatsumori wouldn’t respond, disappointment flickered across Rukia’s face; she bit her lip tightly, her eyes reddening faintly.

The two former best friends sat together for the whole class period, yet neither acknowledged the other.

Only when the bell rang did Rukia pack her books and leave immediately.

“Rukia?”

Renji greeted her, but received no reply, leaving him baffled.

Kira approached Hatsumori and asked, “What’s wrong with Kuchiki-san?”

Hatsumori ignored him.

Kira sensed something was wrong. “You two... didn’t have a fight, did you?”

Renji quickly came closer, “You had a fight?”

Hatsumori glared at the two and, with eyes watering, said to Renji, “It’s all your fault!”

Renji was utterly confused. “What do I have to do with this?”

“You’re just too stupid! Go away!”

Hatsumori got up, leaving the two boys standing there, puzzled.

“I think Hatsumori has really lost it,” Renji remarked.

“What on earth happened between them?”

“How should I know?”

#

At the student council headquarters, most members were busy handling leftover tasks from the previous day.

“Where are Rukia and Hatsumori?” Shin asked, noticing two absences.

These two rarely missed any work or events among the student council members.

Kira quietly approached Shin and said, “It seems like they had a fight.”

Shin was taken aback.

A fight?

Hatsumori and Rukia were usually inseparable; did they really have a quarrel?

Could it somehow be because of him...

Shin glanced at the affection level list again.

Rukia’s was at 82.

Hatsumori’s had risen to 85.

He pondered; the fight might indeed be related to him, but Hatsumori probably didn’t know that he had confessed his feelings to Rukia, and Rukia likely wasn’t aware that he had kissed Hatsumori.

He sighed deeply, burdened with guilt.

#

The next day, Rukia took a leave of absence from class.

Hatsumori looked at the empty seat beside her, a heavy feeling settling in her chest.

Kira and Renji came up to ask, “Hatsumori, what exactly happened between you and Kuchiki-san?”

Renji added, “Why not just make up if it’s not a big deal? You girls are so troublesome. Kira and I never argue.”

Kira secretly thought otherwise—whenever he trained with Renji, he often wanted to get angry at how rough Renji was.

Hatsumori snapped back, “You two don’t understand anything, so stop talking nonsense!”

Then she glared at Renji and asked, “Tell me, if Kira liked Rukia, how would you feel?”

Renji was stunned, then suddenly grabbed Kira’s collar. “What? You like Rukia?!”

Kira gave a big, speechless look. “She said ‘if’!”

“Oh...” Renji finally let go.

Hatsumori felt they were impossible to communicate with and left the classroom.

“Hatsumori, where are you going? Class is about to start!”

“None of your business!”

Kira sighed helplessly. “She’s probably just angry now; she’ll be fine in a couple of days.”

Renji scratched his head. “So what exactly did they fight about? And what’s this about you liking Rukia?”

Kira thought deeply and guessed, “It’s probably... something about feelings.”

Renji’s mind raced, then his expression turned fearful.

“Kira!”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think Hatsumori... might have a crush on me?”

“...”

Renji then carefully explained to Kira, “Yesterday, Hatsumori said it was because of me, called me stupid, and said more things just now. So... they fought because of me?!”

Kira showed no expression. “You’re overthinking.”

“I’m serious! I can’t say much about Rukia, but if Hatsumori likes me, then it makes sense they’d fight. Maybe Hatsumori thinks I like Rukia, so they turned against each other!”

“There’s absolutely no chance of that.”

“Kira?”

Kira Ichiru first looked at Renji with a caring-but-dumbfounded expression, then sighed heavily.

Hatsumori liked the president.

Everyone in the student council knew this.

From what Hatsumori had just said, Rukia seemed to have feelings for the president too.

If that’s the case, then Renji, who had quietly liked Rukia all along...

Kira gently patted Renji’s shoulder. “Forget it, it’s none of your business.”