Gosh this episode made me all misty-eyed. The first half was pretty rough, but man I am so relieved this event did not get dragged out, and I am super glad this was resolved without any further complications.
When Sayu learned she works together with Yaguchi Kyouya, a man she has slept with over the course of her journey. He was surprised when he discovered she had been using a fake name with him, and was unbearably persistent. Sayu was put into a tough spot when Kyouya blackmailed her into bringing him back to her home. It was frustrating to see her only text Yoshida when I just knew Kyouya had no intention to just talk. Bloody bastard, sure enough despite the fact she kept tell him NO, she had no interest in having sex with him, he still tried to force himself onto her. The worst part was that Sayu stopped fighting back because she was more concerned about causing problems for Yoshida, than herself. Thankfully Yoshida clearly sensed something was amiss, because he had rushed home and was able to stop them before they started.
And I must say, I admire the way Yoshida handled the situation. Despite seeing Sayu in tears, he still had the patience to hear what she had to say first, and then he dealt with Kyouya as he saw fit. But most of all, Yoshida made me love him even more when he grieved for the fact how she has been hurt and thrown away time and time again. That’s why I was so proud of him when he fired back at Kyouya that he doesn’t want to be one of the adults who teaches her things that are wrong. He just wants her to be a normal teenager, go to school, make friends learn things and grow up, and he will do whatever he can to support her so she can finally hold her head up high and do that.
For Yoshida, since they day they met, his mission has always been to teach Sayu to value herself. Today he reassured her that she did nothing wrong, refusing Kyouya because she didn’t want to was right, and was normal for her to be scared in that situation. He always tells her to think more about herself more, because if she doesn’t, there won’t be anyone to protect her. He also does not want to see her get hurt at the expense of trying to protect him or someone else. That’s why he always reminds her, if he gets in trouble for housing her, she isn’t the blame, it’s on him because he chose to do so knowing there will be real consequences if he is caught.
I absolutely loved this scene because it was 100% support. It wasn’t romanticized, it was simply a raw moment of comfort and support. And that’s all it needed to be. It was perfect.
While Yoshida did a phenomenal job supporting Sayu today, the one who ended up putting Kyouya in his place was none other than Asami. The moment she sniffed out trouble with Kyouya, she imeaditely confronted him– to which he brazenly told her that he had suggested to go to Sayu’s place and have sex, only to be turned down. Asami had NONE OF IT, slapped him in the face when he admitted he tried to force her and then ordered him to apologize for it. Though he “apologized”, he only applied it to being rough– asshole, when in reality he was being a jerk from the moment he blackmailed her. It was a basically sorry, not sorry. Weirdly, he honored his end of the so-called “deal” (aka: threat) to not to share Sayu’s secrets since she fulfilled the request of bringing him to her house– but that doesn’t change the fact he is super gross and needs to stay in his own lane.
But it is thanks to Yoshida and Asami empowering Sayu that she was able to tell Kyouya that she is not ready to forgive him, and she will get mad at him if he that tries again. Better yet, Sayu finally has the courage to look towards the future. Instead of focusing on running away from her past, she now is able to start thinking about her future, and where she wants to go with it.
I AM SO PROUD OF YOU SWEETIE!
It was a great treat to be given wholesome bonding time between Sayu and Asami afterwards. I am so happy that Sayu has made a friend like Asami, because when she heard that Yoshida had to stay overnight for work, she made sure to stay together with Sayu that night so she wouldn’t be alone. It made me happy to see Sayu open her heart to her, sharing the story of her journey as a run away. In turn, Asami opened up about herself, the kind of relationship she has with her parents, the loneliness of living in the big house, and her dreams of becoming an author. But she recognizes how far Sayu has come, so she gives her beautiful words of encouragement that even with her past, she has a future, and everything will be okay.
Next week it looks like we might be learning a bit more about Yoshida when he was younger!
