Ruri

ルリ
--

* Re:newal
* Hotel Staff
* Real World
* Hotel Arrival

**Ruri** is the head chef of the Tasokare Hotel and an eventual close friend of Neko. She is the longest working human staff member and, unlike Neko and Atori, knew her real-world status and had a reason for working there.

## Appearance

Ruri is a petite teenage girl who has deep blue eyes and long black hair tied into a side ponytail. As the youngest, she is the shortest person in the hotel aside from Kiriko. Easily set off, she seems to have perpetually furrowed eyebrows.

### Hotel Staff

As a staff member, Ruri wears an orange patterned kimono underneath a frilled white apron similar to Neko's. For footwear, she has white socks and black sandals.

### Hotel Guest

When she first arrived at the hotel, Ruri wore a black pleated shirt underneath a plaid yellow dress. Before remembering her identity, her head was represented by a dirty, broken carousel.

### Real World

In the real world, Ruri wears cheap clothes consisting of an orange "Love & Peace" top, a blue denim jacket, and a long plaid skirt. She has black ankle-length socks that she pairs with simple orange shoes.

### Behind the Scenes

*"It was very smooth to decide her hairstyle and color because 'she has no money, so she cannot even dye her hair.' As our original author's order, we decided that Ruri is wearing cheap clothes which she bought at the small local shopping stores and wears them continuously."*

- Artist's comments on Ruri's appearance
## Personality

Ruri is responsible, hardworking, and strong-willed. She is quite mature for her age as a result of her background and the need to be independent due to bullying. She is not afraid to speak her mind or to reprimand her older coworkers if they're slacking. However, she is still easily flustered, so Neko enjoys riling her up because "she looks even cuter when she's angry". When she is truly angry, however, she will distance herself from others and refuse to speak with them.

Despite how mature she acts, Ruri is still a somewhat scared and unknowing kid. She does not want to become too friendly with those around her, possibly out of fear of rejection like in her normal life. This is shown by her constantly denying her closeness with Neko despite knowing that she is a good person. In more serious situations, she freezes up out of fear and is unsure of how to act. This is first shown by when she is held hostage by Osoto, and secondly shown in her Special Story, where she admits she wouldn't be brave enough to turn in Osoto to the police in the real world, despite claiming she would be able to at the hotel in case Neko failed.

In Special Stories, Ruri mellows somewhat and more easily succumbs to her emotions than she did before. Her inner thoughts show that she is aware of her flaws, namely in regards to her shyness and denial of feelings towards those she cares about, claiming that she sometimes doesn't like the way she is. Nevertheless, she is able to properly show Neko her gratitude in having her as a friend without denying these feelings as much as she did in the hotel.

### Behind the Scenes

*"She is an ordinary girl who pretends to be strong. I think she is actually a typical type of heroine in women's games."*

- Benoma Ray
## History

### Background

Ruri grew up in a poor family. They didn't have much money for luxuries, so she learned to be cautious with her money. At school, she felt isolated from her classmates due to her situation. Because she didn't have enough money to spend going places with her peers, and because she was embarrassed to tell them about the fact, she would always do things on her own instead. As a result, her peers thought she was aloof and unapproachable, so they never bothered trying to befriend her. In regards to her family, it is unknown what type of relationship they had with her, but some parts of the text suggest they were fairly close, and that Ruri never held them in contempt.

One day as a 14 year old middle school student, Ruri got into some sort of accident that sent her to the Tasokare Hotel.

### Tasokare Hotel

Arriving at the Tasokare Hotel for the first time, Ruri has no recollection of who she is. At some point, she is able to figure it out, but it is unknown exactly how long it takes her. Afterward, she decides to work at the hotel as an excuse to not go back to the real world, as she isn't too fond of her normal life and enjoys the feeling of being needed. Upon Haruto Atori's arrival a few weeks later, she becomes more positive about working there and earning her salary. It is speculated by the Manager that this was because Atori told her something that made her want to go back to the real world.

A few weeks later, Neko Tsukahara arrives as a guest to the hotel and joins the staff shortly after. Ruri meets Neko as a senior coworker, but ends up being teased by her for being younger. Much to her own dismay, Ruri thereafter becomes the source of Neko's entertainment when she is bored.

When the Gambler arrives at the hotel, Ruri shows no fondness for him as she despises gambling. When he orders his favorite meal from her, it is revealed how good of a cook she is, even though the taste didn't match the nostalgic homecooked meal he was hoping for.

When Masaki Osoto arrives at the hotel, Ruri is in charge of cooking his meals, but does not meet him until Neko calls her to his room, desperate for someone to help him after he suddenly began bleeding. After he recovers, Neko voices her suspicions that he is a criminal. When Neko begins interrogating him, Osoto discreetly pulls a hidden knife out from under his pillow and holds it against Ruri's thigh, preparing to hold her hostage and prevent her from saying anything. After revealing his true nature, he grabs Ruri and holds the knife to her neck, threatening to kill everyone in the room for finding him out, beginning with her. Thankfully, Atori and Neko are able to come up with a plan that gives Atori an opening to punch Osoto and allow Ruri to get away. Shortly after, the Manager comes in to tell Osoto that killing someone is a direct ticket to Hell, and that there is no real incentive to kill anyone since only 1 in 50,000 people remember coming to the Tasokare Hotel. Atori tells Osoto to check out, and the criminal obliges. Ruri, traumatized by the experience, bids him good riddance.

However, this victory is short-lived as Osoto returns shortly afterward, realizing he can't leave since he does not know if he is alive or dead in the real world. With no other ethical options, the hotel staff allow Osoto to stay. While everyone else is wary around him, Ruri takes every measure possible to avoid him out of fear.

For the next few days, Ruri mainly stays rooted in the kitchen, hoping not to run into Osoto again. With a steady influx of new guests, she is able to keep herself busy while helping out Atori and Neko from time to time.

After Kaneko checks out of the hotel, Ruri loses her shift roster and is unable to find it. She tells Neko of this, and Neko allows her to copy hers down as a replacement. Ruri never learns that it was Osoto who stole her roster.

Later that day, Ruri hears a gunshot outside of the hotel and rushes towards the source alongside the Manager. Outside, they find a severely beaten Neko, a shot dead Osoto, and a shocked Atori holding the gun that killed him. Heartbroken by the realization that Atori will be sent to Hell, Ruri assumes that everything was the fault of Neko, and refuses to talk to her for the rest of the day. She solemnly watches from the second floor window as Atori and Osoto are pulled into Hell.

The next day, Neko approaches Ruri to say goodbye before checking out. Ruri says goodbye to her and then presumably eavesdrops on her conversation with the Manager to collect her salary. When Neko realizes she doesn't have enough salary to go back in time to save Atori, Ruri gives up her salary and gives it to Neko, telling her that she must make things right. Neko calls Ruri her "goddess" and thanks her immensely. Before finally leaving, Neko promises Ruri that she will become her first friend in the real world, then gives Ruri her contact information.

### Special Stories

Some time afterward, Ruri checks out of the hotel and goes back in time to the day Atori was supposed to die. She originally planned to turn Osoto in to the police as an extra measure in case Neko failed to save Atori, but ultimately couldn't bring herself to do it out of fear. Instead, she immediately writes Neko a letter and breaks down crying upon being notified that Atori is safe. The two exchange letters for several months until Neko proposes setting up a meeting between the three so that Ruri can see Atori for herself.

At school, Ruri decides to push away her fears and begin talking to her classmates. No longer intimidated by her, they quickly become friends, with some of them even knowing about her financial situation and arranging outings to simple places that work for her. Ruri is proud of herself for making the leap and grateful that her coworkers at the hotel gave her the advice she needed to do so.

On the day of the meeting with Neko and Atori, Ruri takes a bus to Tokyo and arrives at the hotel Neko and Atori are working at. Ruri poses as Neko's SNS friend who wants to meet Atori for advice in going into the hotel business. When Atori arrives, Ruri cannot keep herself from breaking down into tears. After she recovers, the three converse about hotel work for a while. Afterward, Neko invites Ruri over to her house, where the two hang out until it is time for Ruri to leave. Ruri then thanks Neko for everything she's done and hugs her goodbye.

## Relationships

### **Haruto Atori**

Ruri respects Atori as her senior and admires his work ethic. In turn, Atori is protective of her as his junior (especially after the incident with Osoto) and respects her work ethic as well. She comes to care greatly for him over the course of the story, to the point where she snaps at Neko and blames her for indirectly sending him to Hell. When she reunites with him in Special Stories, she is unable to keep herself from crying despite knowing he is still alive. In her behind the scenes developer notes, it is stated that she was in denial about feeling some sort of love for him. Based on her dialogue in the game, she likely had a small crush on him. However, neither of them showed any signs of noticing the fact.

### **Neko Tsukahara**

Ruri is the subject of Neko's teasing as well as her source of entertainment when she's bored. Because of this, Ruri often loses her temper and scolds Neko, calling her a pervert for enjoying her reactions. Although this is all in good fun, Ruri denies her feelings of friendship with Neko and pretends to like her less than she really does. After Neko indirectly sends Atori to Hell, Ruri turns on her and ignores her out of anger. However, she is able to come to terms with the matter the following day when she gives Neko her salary so she can make things right in the real world. Although she never outright says it, these actions show how much faith she puts in Neko since she is so easily able to give up her hard-earned time.

In Special Stories, she mellows somewhat and is more easily able to show Neko her appreciation. Although she still denies many things, she is able to truly open up to her since Neko is her first real friend. In her thoughts, Ruri states that she thinks Neko is cool and that she wants to be like her.

### The Manager

The Manager cares for Ruri just as much as he does his other guests. In comparison, Ruri is grateful for the Manager's hospitality, but thinks he can stand to work more diligently. Although she doesn't scold him as much as Atori does, the Manager still becomes flustered when Ruri calls him out on his slacking.

In Special Stories, the Manager and Ruri bond over their mutual exasperation of Neko's antics. They seem to be very close, talking as if they are friends since Atori and Neko have left. Against Ruri's desire to stay at the hotel with him, though, he advises her to work towards her future in the real world, as that is what he believes to be best for her.

### **Masaki Osoto**

After being threatened and held hostage by Osoto, Ruri became afraid of him and went to great lengths just to avoid encountering him in the hotel. On the other hand, Osoto generally did not seem to care about her after the incident. They had very few interactions afterwards, with Osoto's only link to her being through her cooking. At one point, he wanted to tell her that her cooking was good but couldn't bring himself to say it.

## Trivia

* Ruri is the youngest character in the game and the longest working human staff member.
* She is the only human guest whose room is not shown in the base game.
* She is the only human staff member to remember her background and real-world status.
* She is the only human whose full name is unknown.
* She does not like gambling, as it is likely a cause of her financial situation in the real world.