Ruby Red

RubyRed is the femslash ship between Ruby Hoshino and Kana Arima from the Oshi no Ko fandom.

Canon
Kana and Ruby meet for the first time when they are just kids when Aqua is casted with Ai into a movie that Kana is also casted into. Ruby recognizes Kana immediately as she is already well-known as a child prodigy. However, they don't take a liking to each other, as Ruby feels repulsed and annoyed by Kana's big ego. After Kana makes a negative remark regarding Ai's acting, Ruby gets really mad, although she tries to not show it. Later, Ruby watches the shooting of the movie and witnesses Kana breaking down into tears because she believed Aqua's performance was much better than hers. She begs the director for retake, but he refuses to do so because he didn't see any problem with the current take.

Years later, Hoshino siblings apply to Yoto High School. While they're chatting on the corridor, Ruby mentions Aqua's name and Kana, who happens to walk by, hears it and with excitement starts to talking to the boy, who doesn't recognize her at first. However, Ruby, just as when they first met immediately says "Ah, isn't she the genius child who will lick a lying snitch?" and Kana angrily corrects her that it's "flick a crying switch"- this conversation is almost the same, as the one they had years ago. When Kana is trying to process the fact that Ruby is the one applying for performing arts programme, the girl whispers to her brother that she never really liked her, what makes Kana mad. After that, Ruby teasingly calls Kana "Loli-senpai" and offers her to be friends.

Ruby learns that Kana had managed to convince Aqua into playing a role with her in the adaptation of a popular manga, "Sweet Today". As Ruby, Aqua, and Miyako watch the episodes from the adaptation that had already been published, Ruby, who is a big fan of the original manga, becomes disappointed. She calls it "atrocious," and even mentions that Kana's acting used to be a way better. When Kana learns what Ruby said about her performance from Aqua, she shouts "Shut the hell up!". Then, she admits to how, for the sake of the adaptation, she is holding back her acting potential and purposefully putting on a bad show because it is the only way for her to not be left behind by the director. To her, the production as a whole is a bigger priority than her own reputation.

Kana spots Ruby and her brother at the Yoto High School Entrance Ceremony and congratulates them. Afterwards, she shows them around the school and assures Ruby that there's nothing to worry about, welcoming them in the entertainment industry.

Ruby is desperate to become an idol, but she can't find any other potential members. When Aqua suggests Kana, Ruby realizes that, based on her own experience as an idol otaku, the other girl is exactly the type of person that fans would go crazy for. However, she is too afraid to invite her because she considers their relationship to be too "unusual," and she believes that Kana dislikes her. Aqua then messages Kana telling her that he has something important to tell her, asking her to meet up with him after school. The moment she learns that person who wants to talk with her isn't Aqua, but instead Ruby, Kana gets angry, especially when Ruby welcomes her with, "You've kept me waiting." Kana's attitude changes, and the atmosphere between the girls is tense and unpleasant. Finally, Ruby asks Kana if she would like to join her idol group, which takes her by surprise. She is afraid that being an idol would be a terrible choice which would ruin her career, but she also takes note of how Ruby reminds her of Ai, an "ideal idol," and recognizes her potential. When Kana is about to turn down Ruby's offer due to the risk and how she sees herself as "not cute enough," Aqua manages to convince her to join the group. Kana, still full of doubts and claiming that it's a bad decision to join, signs the contract with the Strawberry Productions anyway. Cheerfully, Ruby then says to Kana, "Let's give it our best, senpai!"

Ruby and Kana are watching the first episode of "Love Today" together and make negative comments about Aqua's behavior in the show. Later, they meet in order to make plans and to decide on a name for their idol group. Ruby complains about being bored and not being able to do anything, since Kana was "being difficult." Kana then admits that it's hard for her to think about their idol future because she still doesn't feel like it's real, and she doesn't know how she would explain to her parents that she's a self-proclaimed idol now, despite not having any prior experience. Miyako overhears Kana and walks in, offering to start promoting the idol group online on YouTube. Kana teases Ruby by saying she has nothing to offer besides looks, so she would be lucky to get even a few thousand subscribers. Then Pieyon, a physical trainer who masks himself with a round duck hat, walks in. Kana, who has never heard of him before, doesn't hesitate to express her confusion towards his appearance. Ruby quickly tells her to show him some respect and explains that he's a popular internet fitness trainer, and she tells Pieyon to not go easy on her. They start an intense, one-hour long training session for a YouTube video. Kana catches Ruby when she's about to fall from exhaustion. At the end of the video, the girls reveal their faces and introduce themselves, as they both wore same hat that Pieyon usually wears during the session. Both of them are extremely drained, and Kana helps Ruby stabilize her breath by holding her asthma inhaler for her and supporting her back. When asked about a name of their group that they still don't have, Kana says that she'll go with whatever Ruby chooses.

When Ruby is about to make a post online about some awful juice from a brand she just drank from, Kana stops her and explains to her that if she does so, they will automatically never get a sponsorship or offer from that company. Ruby says that Kana is overreacting, so she tells her to search up her own name on Twitter. For a moment, Ruby falls silent, so Kana takes her phone from her and enters "Hoshino Ruby" on Twitter. The engine offers "Hoshino Ruby", "Hoshino Ruby Pieyon", and "Hoshino Ruby cute" as search suggestions. Kana teases her for the last one, making Ruby feel embarrassed. However, Kana later explains that it's called ego-searching and that it's completely normal, as almost 90% of idols do it from time-to-time.

While Ruby, Kana, and Mem-cho pick out the colors they want to represent them for their glowsticks. Mem-cho chooses yellow, while Ruby chooses red, as it was the color Ai used. Kana goes with white, which Mem-cho is surprised with, as white glowsticks as seen as special, and people tend to fight over them. When Kana seems to be rethinking her choice, Ruby tells her that white suits her, as Kana isn't an idol otaku in the first place.

When the group arrives at the backstage to put their belongings down, Ruby states that she's not scared for the performance at all, more-so excited and prepared. Before the new B-KOMACHI is needed to go on stage, Kana goes to a different room to reflect on how she needs to properly lead both Ruby and Mem-cho during their idol career, as she didn't want either of them to go through the feeling of rejection business-wise like she did as she received less and less job offers as she grew older. Suddenly, Ruby hurriedly runs up to Kana, telling how she's become extremely nervous for the performance out of nowhere. Kana is surprised and Ruby explains that the nervousness has gotten worse the closer the time of their performance got. Ruby, worried, asks what she should do. Ruby picks up Kana's hand, asking her if she's scared or not. Kana tells her that she's not scared at all, as she has years of past experience working in the entertainment industry. Ruby immediately detects that Kana isn't being truthful and states that everyone is so quick to lie, verbally noting that Kana's hands are freezing cold. She asks if Kana is actually nervous too, and Kana bursts out, swiftly denying Ruby's question and pulls her hand away from Ruby's, stating that she hasn't fallen so low to the likes of needing Ruby to worry about her. Calmly, Ruby says that the more cowardly the puppy is, the louder it barks, suggesting the reason behind Kana raising her voice is because she's actually nervous too. However, she says she's relieved and put at ease a bit knowing that Kana is scared too. Kana turns to look away from Ruby, and she believes that Kana is more nervous than she first thought, reassuring her that it'll be alright and that they'll be on stage together with Mem-cho too. Kana bursts out again, shouting that Ruby and Mem-cho are the exact reason that she's nervous to go on stage. She says that she wouldn't think twice about going up on stage if it were just her alone, as she's "failed time and time again" over the years. However, since Ruby and Mem-cho will be on stage with her, she's afraid of the other two failing, as she doesn't want either of them to experience what it felt like to fail. She says again that it's because she's not alone that she's scared. The two both fall silent until Ruby tells Kana that she doesn't know much about Kana's childhood-actor days, or how well received her acting career has been because to her, Kana is just a young girl. To Ruby, Kana is cute and hardworking, and is just another rookie idol. As she turns around, Kana's eyes sparkle when Ruby encouragingly tells her that it's only natural for them to fail and that they should just have fun and go for it. Kana smiles, giving Ruby the signal to take Kana's hand and bring them to the changing room so they can get ready for their performance. As Kana finishes changing into her idol outfit, she refers to herself as "Rookie idol, Kana Arima" in her head, showing how she took Ruby's words to heart.

When the trio go up on stage for their first performance, Kana immediately notices that there is a majority of yellow glowsticks, with even a few red ones, but no white ones in sight. As the group finishes their first song, "STAR☆T☆RAIN," Kana looks in Ruby's direction as they cool down from the rigorous choreography, thinking to herself that Ruby is really "dazzling". She admires Ruby's determination to become an idol during her interaction with the fans between songs.

Quotes
"Aw, she's so dazzling."

- Kana after viewing Ruby perform.

Fanon
Ruby Red isn't a very popular ship, as Kana canonically has a crush on Aqua, but more people have started to acknowledge it.

Fandom
FAN FICTION