Theory - Kashiro has a developing crush on Ruri
Hey all, this is just a post (and it'll be a two-part long post without much editing, lol) about a theory that formed in my head as I read and then reread the manga. I don't mind if people agree or disagree (this is just a theory) but it's something that stood out to me, and I think there's some textual support for it. Could you say I'm reading too much into it? Yep! But I'm posting about it anyways. I'm going to be posting images from the manga alongside text as I go on to illustrate my thoughts, so SPOILER WARNINGS UP TO CHAPTER 27. I'd also like to note that I don't think Ruri has feelings for anyone, currently, or that romance is even the focus of the story; this is literally just me going "huh... hang on a second, this is a little..." as I read.
I want to lay the groundwork with a few images. First, take a look at the pin in Kashiro's hair; it's a pretty standard bunny-face shape, nothing fancy or noteworthy, but I bring it up now because we'll circle back to her hairpins later.
While Kashiro is the first person to react positively to Ruri's horns among her classmates, I don't think this on its own indicates anything, but this is clearly the moment where Kashiro takes some interest in her. It's also interesting to note that she immediately refuses to let boys touch Ruri's horns, and we'll circle back to this too, but I didn't think anything of these two moments at the time.
This is the chapter where Kashiro offers to tutor Ruri and catch her up on the material; I thought at first that Kashiro's pupils always have hearts in them! Turns out that's not true - this image of her right next to Ruri is the only time the hearts in her eyes show up, alongside a noticeably heavier blush than Ruri. Consider, also, that the context of this picture is a selfie at their Starbucks pseudo-date. Ruri's hands are both visible, but only one of Kashiro's hands is, so presumably she's the one taking the selfie. Also, notice that there aren't any pins in Kashiro's hair this time! Funny, that. Look at the next couple of images:
The way Kashiro starts a conversation with Ruri here, teasing and with a heavy blush, is pretty reminiscent of how high schoolers talk to their crushes; she then immediately follows through with a very sincere offer of help, so I don't think it's her purely teasing Ruri. She does seem to already be genuinely caring about Ruri's progress in school, and although Yuka did give Ruri her notes, Kashiro actually sits down with her and goes over everything with her one-on-one. Also... notice the new hairpin? What an interesting design, Kashiro. Remind you of anything? Funnily enough, she's now switched to calling Ruri by her first name (she calls her Aoki at the start) and continues to do so for the rest of the manga.
While other people have different reactions to her horns, Kashiro is the first person - and the only person - to specifically call them cute. While at first I thought that Kashiro was only interested in the horns, she also calls Ruri herself cute (and notice the shift from the first time she spoke to Ruri) multiple times, so I don't think it's just that. Note the prominent blush, as well - it shows up on Kashiro a lot when she's around Ruri. She's also the first person to do the little "dragon pose" around Ruri.
Here Kashiro is genuinely concerned for and checking up on Ruri, but notice how clingy she immediately gets to Ruri. There's also these two panels (far right and top left) where Kashiro tells off Yoshioka for touching Ruri's horns. Once she learns that it's acceptable, she goes in herself... with little hearts floating off of her towards Ruri (touching them in the next panel). Again, I want to bring up that Kashiro seems pretty clingy towards Ruri in general, not just towards her horns.
This is where I started thinking that something was up. First, Japan has a widespread cultural trope about two people sharing an umbrella being a romantic gesture; in real life, in books, anime, manga, etc. Teenagers will draw their names under umbrellas together with their crushes or the people they're dating, and so on. You've probably seen it or read it in at least one work set in high school before. So, it's interesting to me that Kashiro (note the hairpin, which is drawn in full detail - a heart!) who has her own umbrella for the rain closes it as soon as she's close to Ruri so that she can share an umbrella together with her (you can see her closing it in the second panel as she ducks under). This is definitely something that Kashiro would know the significance of. And, again, the same blush showing up around Ruri, as per usual.
Another example of Kashiro wanting to touch Ruri (even at her peril).
This is the Chapter 15 header. Starting to notice a theme with Kashiro's pins when she's around Ruri; they're either hearts or dragons. Interesting. What did she mean by this? This is also the chapter where Kashiro has organized a group study session again for Ruri's benefit, and, looking in on that session:
Kashiro is pretty insistent that they'll wait for Ruri; even the other girls (and Maeda, who we've all seen is, uh, not very tactful) all react in surprise to it. if it was just a study session, why wouldn't you tell her that you'll do another one with her later, finish up with your current group, and then go home? Instead, it seems to me like Kashiro really wants to see Ruri, specifically, and refuses to compromise on this.
Here she is hugging Ruri upon her arrival; she also gets out of her chair as soon as Ruri makes it, although I didn't include that panel (so many images already...) along with her immediately closing the gap between the two of them when Ruri admits that she's been happy to get to know all of them. This pattern of behavior around Ruri from Kashiro keeps repeating, and while I wouldn't think twice about it as a one-off, it happens a lot - and continues to happen.
Here she is staring (I can only call it 'wistfully') at Ruri after seeing her growth and new bond with Maeda. Dragon pin number 1 is back! Wahoo! I hit the image limit for this post, so, the slightly shorter part 2 is in a comment below!