ひげを剃る。そして女子高生を拾う。4

Having finally been found by her brother, this is a book of back stories, goodbyes, and coming to terms with Sayu's imminent departure. Since the events are so focused on Sayu, there's almost no presence of the romance elements (btwn Yoshida and his coworkers). Imo this is very strongly in the book's favor, since the romance elements mostly vary between passable and terrible in this series. The interactions Sayu's brother are interesting, and the whole thing is definitely a bit heartbreaking. I'm in general lost on why Yoshida doesn't look into or make efforts to become her legal guardian, since he's already basically been acting and thinking of himself as that for the last few months. I also still want to yell at the adults to an extent, and the way Sayu's need to go back home is framed, and that they're all just talking about her going back to an abusive household as if that's naturally what should happen, and framing it as her needing to stop running from things.

In case anyone is still worried about this: the story has still maintained the same line. Some of the characters comment about Yoshida and Sayu's relationship/絆 being particularly special/close (closer than family). Some of them even have to tell Yoshida that he can't just call her 赤の他人 (complete stranger) after all this time. At one point, Mishima mentally states (her perception) that Yoshida is a hair's breath away from romantic feelings. In general, I consider her the character with the worst 性格, and the least reliable perception and judgement. Anyway, if you've read this far, you probably have your own opinion on that.

I'm definitely curious to see how the story wraps up in the next volume.