Ichigyou Ruri

"Is that so?"

-- Ichigyou Ruri's favorite catchphrase.

Ichigyou Ruri or Ruri Ichigyō (一行瑠璃, Ichigyō Ruri), is a high school student of Kyoto Municipal Horikawa Senior High School, she is the main female protagonist of Hello World.

Personality
Ichigyou Ruri is portrayed as a silent person and harbors love for reading. She has the knack to scare anyone who tries to talk to her or interrupt her. She can also be grumpy and avoids long conversation in order to free her time and read books as much as she can.

However, as the story progresses, Ichigyou Ruri showed how innocent she is after meeting Katagaki Naomi. Although Naomi is the one and only guy she's given her trust, and realizes that she is in love with him since he is the sole person to reach out for her and understand her.

Due to her lifestyle, Ichigyou Ruri turns into a loner and it takes more effort to open herself.

Appearance
Ichigyou Ruri has pale white skin, yellowish brown eyes and deep blue hair. She ties her hair on both sides with small ponytail and let the rest drop. She is always seen in the film with her uniform. She also has a mole on her left cheek. Her spring uniform consists of black sailor uniform, pale brown ribbon and black skirt whilst her summer uniform is a white short sleeve sailor uniform and also a black skirt. Her socks cover most of her calf and shin and sports black leather shoes.

When at home, she is wearing white sleeveless shirts, blue short pants and yellow cotton jacket.

Summary
Ichigyou Ruri is a female high school student of Kyoto Municipal Horikawa Senior High School and classmates with Katagaki Naomi. Silent, book lover, and grumpy at some time, Ichigyou is known at her class as a loner and doesn't speak to others. She is also a member of the Student Library committee just like Naomi. Since then, the two grew closer by the latter's kindness as he frequently helps her in every way he can. Later on, Ichigyou opens up to him and the two became lovers.

However, Ichigyou Ruri is a recorded data inside the ALLTALE, and was forcefully transferred by Sensei into the "real world" to revive the real person. However the revive went into the wrong turn as the Homeostatic System plots to erase her. But then Katagaki Naomi came to her rescue and the two finally returned into their world together.

Plot
We decided to narrate the plot in Ichigyou Ruri's perspectives. If you think it's incomplete you may see the complete one here.

Exchanging Contacts
"If you want something, send it to this address."

--- Ichigyou Ruri giving a note to Katagaki Naomi.

Ichigyou Ruri was selected to join the Student Library Commitee by the time the story progressed. On the spin-off anime, Another World, Ichigyou introduces herself by mentioning only her name and greeting her fellow members. Her introduction she gave is too short, receiving silent response into every members, although she doesn't care at all. She was left out with no one asking for her WiZ although Katagaki Naomi eventually tries to exchange contacts with her, but she doesn't know how to use it. Afterwards, Katagaki Naomi asks her phone instead. Seemingly annoyed to his insistence, Ichigyou Ruri rather gives him her home address on a paper and makes her way out of their meeting room.

Growing a Bit Closer
"That bookmark... I've been searching for it since yesterday"

--- Ichigyou Ruri after seeing her bookmark.

On the afternoon of April 20, 2027, Ichigyou Ruri gets involved into an incident with Katagaki Naomi on a bus heading home. Katagaki Naomi was picking up his book when suddenly it moves into her direction and bumped his head into her lower back. She keeps her composure but her gaze at him is hurting, Ichigyou gives Naomi a slap on his right cheek at the bus stop and turns away next, leaving him with his explanation unsaid.

April 21, 2027, Wednesday, Katagaki Naomi met her in their school library to return her bookmark she dropped at the bus stop. Realizing his sincere apology, Ichigyou Ruri apologizes for not hearing his explanation and thanks him for offering the bookmark back to her.

On April 24, 2027, Saturday, Katagaki Naomi sent her a letter telling her to bring some materials for cleaning duties on Monday. Later on, Naomi saw her with the rug and smiles, Ichigyou Ruri then nods at him as thanks. She also thanked him the day before with a letter. Even without any constant communication, she started trusting Naomi even a little.

Bookworms
"Is that so? I go there and read it as well.. every month."

--- Ichigyou revealing her own activities to Naomi.

On May 6, 2027, Ichigyou Ruri goes on library duty with Naomi at the library and notices a couple of male student eating and loudly chatting. Although Naomi should've acted sooner, his shy personality prevents him from doing so. That's when Ichigyou Ruri demonstrates her ruthlessness against rule breakers with a dreadful gaze. By the time the school hours ended, Katagaki Naomi invites her to go off duty.

Together, they depart the school premises and walk into the same street. He sees her off by the nearest bus stop but before he could, Ichigyou Ruri asks him why they were riding the same bus on April 20, 2027 and learns Naomi reads the "Mysterious Magazine" at Kita Library. She responds with her favorite catchphrase, and reveals to him that she reads the same magazine at the same library every month. Before the bus door would close, Ichigyou glances back at Naomi and shows him a glimpse of smile.

Slow and Steady
"Then I'll do the middle shelves instead."

--- Ichigyou Ruri persuading Katagaki Naomi.

On May 8, 2027 afternoon, Ichigyou is on library duty when she suddenly fainted after returning a book at the upper shelves. But good thing Naomi was there to provide cushion for her fall, and brought her into the committee room to rest. Ichigyou reveals to him of her Acrophobia, fear of heights, in which he tells her they all have shortcomings and it can't be helped. Naomi then wishes for her to ask him for assistance and let him do the upper shelves next time. Although she insisted to do the lower shelves too, Naomi thinks she can do it because of the large books, she then persuaded him to let her do the middle ones instead. Afterwards, she drinks her orange juice Naomi gave with a grumpy but cute expression.

Ichigyou and Naomi continues classifying the returned books into the book shelves later on. They know how hard it is to do this part of their duty, although because of it, they began to talk more often. As she became much used to Naomi, Ichigyou ask him to teach her use the WiZ application on her smart phone. Afterwards, they exchange contacts as her way of thanks, but deep inside her there is more than it.

Her Smile
"That feeling... I think I also understand it."

--- Ichigyou agreeing to Naomi's point of view.

On the early June, their committee is at the start of preparation for their biggest event, the Secondhand Fair. Ichigyou and Naomi are eventually partners since they've become much closer. On June 7, 2027, they left a book donation drop box on their classroom and on other class sections. By the 14th of June, they opened the donation box to only retrieve a couple of book. Ichigyou however is determined to do her part and encourages Naomi to do his too and eventually asks anyone they encounter for donations. They even accepted a bundle of old magazines from a faculty officer.

Three days before the event, their whole committee only mustered a total of 37 books for the fair. Suddenly their committee president suggested the two to not only focus on collecting and rather donate some old books of their own as an addition to their stocks. Ichigyou heeds his advice but he asks Naomi for final confirmation. She eventually invites him into her house and assists her. She guides him into their attic and unravels a floor piled with her grandfather's book collection. But then Naomi asks her if it's okay to take some of her grandpa's books since it is also precious to her. She confirms her jealousy if anyone buys them although she thinks the books' desire is to be read after all. Naomi agrees to her opinion then asks her what are the books she refers for the fair.

Ichigyou and Naomi pushes a big cart loaded with her grandfather's books and transport it back to their school. When they arrived in the riverside, they decided to take a rest and drink their bottle of water for rehydration. Ichigyou asks him suddenly of his genre preference in which Naomi thinks he prefers anything. But then Ichigyou discloses that she likes adventure novels. She expresses how she loves the character's determination, she likes them for never giving up even in hard times. She also feels to try living like that, she emphasizes it well due to her loneliness and how she had become. After hearing her thoughts, Naomi thinks that Sci-Fi books fits him the most. He loves how the genre shows him a wonderful new world and differs that it's more than just a fairy tale, he feels as if it's an extension of their normal lives. Reading them gives him the sensation like he's part of the tale, and that in the real world, he's just an extra - that's also why he can't explain his part at all and repeats his love for the genre.

Ruri agrees on him and understands how he feels, she also showed him her brightest smile. Naomi is left struck by her, and realizes how precious her smile is. The mood was even lifted after the petals of white daisy flew straight towards her. He literally keeps his composure sooner and later grabs the "' The City at the Bottom of the Great Lake'" on the cart. Ruri asks if he wants it for free, but he rather wants it by the fair. Naomi suddenly finds a Loan Card attached to the front cover's back prompting her to sit right next to him, suggesting he might be the luckiest person to see it.

Confession
"Dating is something you can't do alone. So... let's do it together, shall we?"

--- Ichigyou Ruri to Katagaki after the Secondhand Book Sale.

After they returned from her house, Kadenokouji asked the entire committee to also help her fetch the other books. They left everything at the guard post wrapped with plastic and their sign post for their fair afterwards and left home. Kadenokouji expresses her sorry for having most of Ichigyou's late grandfather's book for the fair and thanks her either way. Ichigyou was still having problems with making friends but she's seen to have improved in communicating with Kadenokouji. But an accident occurred when their sign post slid next to a light bulb and slowly burns and all the books they managed to collect were completely destroyed. Ruri stood there facing the burnt books in the next afternoon, especially The City at the Bottom of the Great Lake's that was at the top. Everyone is devastated, but Ruri never showed how depressed she is and might have returned to her former self after that.

On June 25, 2027, Friday, Ichigyou gets greeted by Naomi in the locker area feeling exhausted. He invites her into the library and surprises her with a box filled with books of her grandpa. Naomi found them separated from the others and decided to take for their fair. She notices the The City at the Bottom of the Great Lake on top of the pile and grabs it. Naomi expresses his relief to see that book safe before he fell unconscious and Ichigyou catches him. She gazes at his sleeping face with admiration. Kadenokouji sees them in it as she crazily wanting to squeak for it, but the other members showed up as well with their additional donations for their Secondhand Fair.

Later on, Naomi was brought to their committee room to rest while the others are busy marketing the books for their fair. Kadenokouji wears a red robin hood costume as their mascot at the corridor, while Ichigyou attends those who are about to buy the books at the receiving table. But then Kadenokouji quickly drags her away to force her in wearing a white maid dress. It wasn't shown on the film if she joins Kadenokouji on the corridor or if she returned to her chair.

After the fair, Ichigyou proceeds into the committee room to see if Naomi has woken up only to see him still asleep. She stays for a while to watch over him with the The City at the Bottom of the Great Lake with her. Later on, Naomi wakes up only to see the day ending and Ichigyou Ruri with him. She informs then of the fair's success and their books sold out. Naomi smiles hearing his efforts were not in vain, Ichigyou sits next to him and expresses her gratitude with a straight face. Although Naomi thinks he doesn't deserve it, Ichigyou repeats saying her thanks with a sincere smile. As he sees her cute side, Naomi confesses that he likes her. Ruri is slightly shocked for his revelation and keeps her composure. She stands and walks halfway into the door to throw her catchphrase as if she doesn't care for his feelings. She then states that dating isn't something he can do alone, so it'd be best if they try it together. Naomi gets surprised for her answer- Ichigyou Ruri gladly accepts his feelings. But it became obvious with their current situation as he made the best move for her, and with it Ichigyou started liking him for his efforts.

Tamper and Transfer the Data
"Katagaki-san?"

--- Ichigyou after seeing Naomi at the Ujiwara Bridge.

Ichigyou Ruri wasn't invited by Katagaki Naomi to see the fireworks festival on July 3, 2027 together. She lies down on her couch on their living room alone while listening a music on her phone and reading a book when suddenly she was transferred into the Ujigawa bridge with Katagaki Naomi, where the festival is held. Naomi drags her to run but a black silhouette ties her right leg down, preventing her to escape. He tears the thing apart but it eventually returned, he suddenly stands idly as if he's hearing someone. Katagaki Naomi then raises his hand to materialize an enormous dark sphere of gas, Ichigyou fell into silence watching him. The sky rumbles and a lightning strike is about to hit her, Naomi casts a small Black Hole, easily sucking the thunder with its gravitational pull.

Afterwards, Katagaki Naomi happily embraces her, Ichigyou Ruri happily hugs him in return although she doesn't understand what was happening. He felt his action embarrassing but then Ichigyou Ruri looks at him beet red. Katagaki Naomi realizes that Ichigyou Ruri is about to give him the first kiss. But as their lips were about to touch, they get interrupted by the Good Design.

The mysterious glove transforms into a Yatagarasu as it disappears into the sky, followed by falling eight jet black blocks that turns into a cellar. Ichigyou Ruri finds herself inside it and begs Katagaki Naomi for help, but then she gets sucked upward. For one last time, Ichigyou Ruri screams his name, trying to reach out his hand as the force increases and completely taking her away from Katagaki Naomi.

Hello World
"You are not Katagaki-san."

--- Ichigyou Ruri telling the future Katagaki Naomi.

Ichigyou Ruri wakes up on a hospital bed surrounded by medical equipments. She sees Katagaki Naomi at her side smiling, but as she blinks she saw an older Naomi - Sensei. He then embraces her expressing his relief to see her again, but then she is doubtful to who this person really is.

Afterwards, Sensei explains what happened to her and how many years she was lying. She looks upon the window and see the reflection of herself, older and frailer. He gives her the bookmark she had on the night of the Fireworks Festival then asks her if she remembers that night. But all she knows that moment was violent and nothing comes into her mind. Sensei attempts to kiss her but Ichigyou Ruri interrupts him, asking the book she had that night, then pushes him away after he can't answer her question. Ichigyou Ruri realizes he isn't the Katagaki Naomi she knows, the real one she love understand the value of that book to her and she knows Naomi will give it to her instead.

But then they get interrupted by the fox men, Sensei realizes the world he lives in is also a part of ALLTALE and they are there to destroy the foreign object: Ichigyou Ruri herself. The fox men assaults her and Sensei, they push Sensei down as they attempt to choke her to death. Sensei pleads them to let her go but it was ineffective. Ichigyou Ruri losses her grip for resisting the fox men and starts to loose her breath. Sensei shrieks in response to see his beloved dying until Katagaki Naomi arrives for her rescue. The fox men flies into the wall and nailed by bear traps, Ichigyou Ruri holds her throat grasping for her breath and notices Katagaki Naomi beside her. She gets up to embrace him quickly, Ichigyou Ruri knows he is the real one. Naomi explains to her the situation she is in and he also there to take her back to their world.

After watching Naomi punch his older self, the two escapes the hospital with Katagaki Naomi carrying her in piggyback. The fox men eventually spots them in the distance and chases them in herd. Ichigyou Ruri and Katagaki Naomi find themselves in a situation they are hunted by the homeostatic system as they hastily need to reach the Kyoto Station's Grand Staircase. The place mentioned by the Good Design is the best place for transferring Ichigyou Ruri's data back to ALLTALE. Afterwards, Sensei comes to their rescue with his car and gives them the ride they need into the Grand Staircase. He then expresses the real reason for taking her, and to redeem his sin, Sensei wants them to return safely together.

Afterwards, the trio arrived into the Grand Staircase via shortcut. Katagaki Naomi begins to erect the conversion gates, he then asks her if her legs can make to the bottom. Ichigyou Ruri responds to him that she'll somehow make it, but then Naomi encourages her to do their best in which she bravely agreed. Sensei gives her his coat as he tells Ichigyou to go immediately, she asks him if he is also Katagaki Naomi. Sensei then points out the real one and he is nothing more than an extra. Ichigyou Ruri suddenly embraces him, and asks Sensei if he loved him before showing her smile and tells her goodbye.

Ichigyou Ruri slowly traverse the conversion gates alone and succeeded eventually. But as she calls upon Katagaki Naomi, she finds the staircase dissipating slowly confirming that she has returned into their world inside the ALLTALE. As the recovery finally ended, Ichigyou Ruri sees Katagaki Naomi beside her. She tries to approach him but her body is too weak to walk anymore and Naomi catches her instantly. Realizing she has finally returned to his side, Ichigyou Ruri buries her head to his chest repeatedly speaking of his name. Katagaki Naomi felt relieved to see her too and embraces her and they finally both share their first kiss.

After a while, the two held hands looking into the landscape of Kyoto. Ichigyou Ruri asks him if they really have returned to their world. Katagaki Naomi shakes his head but tells her they are back, and reveals to her that their world now is something that no one knows about.

Epilogue
The information about this section can be viewed here.

Trivia

 * In Japanese, her first name Ruri stands for Lapiz Lazuli (瑠璃) and her last name Ichigyou means One Liner (一行).
 * Lapiz Lazuli is a semi-precious stone characterized by its deep blue hue, this is also the color of her hair which states the foundation of her name.