Ruka Sarashina

* Manga
* Anime

**Ruka Sarashina** (更さら科しな瑠る夏か, *Sarashina Ruka*?) is a supporting character and occasional minor antagonist of the *Kanojo, Okarishimasu* series. She is a girl whose heart beats slower than the average person and she seeks a lover that will help her cope with her condition.

## Appearance

Ruka's most identifying features are her short black hair and blue eyes tied up with a ribbon, usually a blue one. With her ribbon off, her hair is a voluminous layered bob. She's often in her school uniform, which consists of a white button up with a tie, a blue blazer and a hiked up skirt. During her rental dates, she usually wears a turtleneck sweater with a variety of patterned short skirts. Her casual wear usually consists of sundresses, though she wears longer sleeved clothing and leggings when dressed up for conservative occasions.

Ruka has a womanly figure that belies her youthful appearance. Although she personally admits her figure isn't as filled out as Chizuru's, she is described as having a sizable bosom and long, slender legs. She is considered very attractive, often comparatively with Chizuru by the male characters, and tends to gather a lot of attention when in public.

## Personality

Ruka is described to be a cheerful, determined, and passionate girl. She is a straightforward person who is honest with her feelings. On the flip side, her traits often convey her as being self-centered, pushy and possessive. This personality of hers developed after learning of her condition and being alienated from her peers. Because of this, she became very fixated on the idea that getting a boyfriend would help her in having a faster heartbeat.

Ruka's brash persona often leads to conflicts with Kazuya and, more specifically, Chizuru. On top of that, her determination can lead her to being stubborn to a fault. This often leads to her making poor decisions to get what she wants, and she will often throw tantrums or act out if things don't go her way.

That said, Ruka is not a bad person by any means; underneath her clingy and at times nasty behavior, what she wants is Kazuya to be proud of her and gain the love of his family. On serious occasions, Ruka can also be reasonable and attempt to rise above her personal flaws. She will show restraint and even work alongside those she would normally dislike. Kazuya notes that under different circumstances, Ruka's perceived negative traits would be desirable for anyone that wanted her as a girlfriend.

## History

Ruka is born with an irregular heartbeat, leading her life to be tormented for being treated differently from the others because she can collapse if she performs a hard working activity. This leads her to become a rental girlfriend as a wish to have someone who can make her heart beat faster without any trouble. For a while, all the people she met with had no effect on her, until she met one who was truly genuine during a coincidental meetup, Kazuya Kinoshita.

The sincerity of Kazuya made her fall in love with him and slowly led to her decision to quit her rental girlfriend job. She technically blackmails Kazuya into being her "trial boyfriend" under the condition that she does not reveal Chizuru's job and her relationship with Kazuya. Unfortunately, this causes her to become a thorn on Kazuya's side. To make the matter worse for Kazuya, she now works at the same job as him.

## Etymology

* The name **Ruka** means "lapis lazuli" (瑠, *ru*?) and "summer" (夏, *ka*?).
* Ruka's surname **Sarashina** means "change" (更, *sara*?) and "department, section" (科, *shina*?).

## Trivia

* Ruka's favorite color is blue.
* Ruka's heart condition is - or is similar to - bradycardia (low heart rate).
* In the anime adaptation, the chapter that covered Ruka's past and health condition was compressed into a music video played during the credits for Episode 07.
* Ruka makes social media videos that garners lots of hits, though Kazuya Kinoshita suspects that her beauty is the reason behind it.
* At 153 cm (5'0"), Ruka is the shortest known female character in the series, parents and grandparents notwithstanding.
	+ In contrast, her live-action counterpart, portrayed by Mio Kudo, is the tallest female cast member at 165 cm (5'5").

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Chapter 139
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 This is an estimation based on calculations. See the Talk page for details.
3. ↑ Anime Season 1 Reference Book
4. ↑ Chapter 65
5. ↑ Chapter 203