Higehiro: After Being Rejected, I Shaved and Took in a High School Runaway (Volume 1) – A High Schooler and a Broken Heart

Yoshida confessed his feelings to his boss and she rejected him. Distraught, he turned to booze. On his way home, he found a high school girl living in the streets and couldn’t leave her to be preyed upon so he took her in!
Higehiro: After Being Rejected, I Shaved and Took in a High School Runaway (Volume 1) – A High Schooler and a Broken Heart
What happened?
Yoshida had been in love with his boss, Goto for five years so he was pretty upset when she rejected him. He got drunk. Really drunk. As he staggered home, he found a high school girl sitting on his street. He told her to go home. She didn’t have a home. He told her to go to a friend’s house or rent a booth at a karaoke place or an internet cafe. She didn’t have any money. Then, she said he could sleep with her if she let him stay at her house…
Yoshida may have been drunk but that still made him mad. He asked her where she was from and how long she’d been living on the streets. She was from far away and it had been six months. Six months… What had this girl been through? He took her in but told her to leave him alone. All he wanted was miso soup. When he woke, he had forgotten everything and was surprised to find a high school girl making him miso soup for breakfast.
When he finally put it all together, he decided to let Sayu stay with him until she got her things together. If he kicked her out, she would find someone else to stay with and chances are they wouldn’t be as honourable as he. All he asked is that she keep his place clean. And that is how Yoshida started living with a high school girl!

What did you think?
I actually loved this book. At first, I was worried that it would descend into something else, but Yoshida really is a decent guy and I believe that he is doing this to protect Sayu who seems a little nieve and unworldly. It’s sad to imagine what she had been through for the past six months and before that if her family aren’t even looking for her. However, this has led me to put together a theory. It may be a bit out there and probably won’t come true, but I think it’s a cool idea so I’m going to share it with you.
What is Sayu isn’t real? So far, only Yoshida has seen Sayu and he first saw her when he was grief-stricken and drunk. It’s entirely possible that his subconscious made her up to help him get over his rejection. It’s also interesting that she has been helping to make him into a better person. He was already thoughtful and kind, but now he’s shaving and wearing an ironed shirt (as if that makes you a better person). However, he is more confident and that has impacted his relationship with Goto and Mishima, his co-worker that has a crush on him.
At the end of this volume, Yoshida came home to find Sayu gone. Everything he gave her was still there, but his house was empty. This would be an amazing way to reveal that she wasn’t real all along, however, there are four more volumes so I get the feeling this idea is but a pipe dream. Regardless, it’s been a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to finding out what really happens.

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