Episode 3

**Living Together** (共同生活, *Kyoudou Seikatsu*) is the third episode of the *Hige wo Soru. Soshite Joshikousei wo Hirou.* anime television series.

## Summary

Yoshida goes on a movie date with his colleague Yuzuha which has Sayu anxious that the two have started a relationship with each other, which would mean she'd be kicked out of Yoshida's apartment. Sequentially, Sayu witnesses Yuzuha embrace Yoshida in the streets, which confirms her beliefs, leaving her despondent.

### Plot

A dream shows Sayu where she has sex with an old hook-up. Awakening from the dream, Sayu looks at Yoshida, who rests soundly on his bed.

The next morning, Yoshida prepares to head for work as Sayu promises to make cabbage miso soup for him. Before he leaves, Yoshida comments how Sayu's hair is still a mess in the back, which has her feel embarrassed. Alone in the apartment, Sayu performs her chores around the house, but notes how Yoshida doesn't touch and only has her do house chores. Later in the day, Yoshida enjoys lunch with his subordinate Yuzuha, and soon they're joined by a colleague named Endou. He details that since Yoshida rejected the business trip offer he was assigned it, Endou also believes the reason behind the rejection is because he's found a woman. Hearing this irks Yuzuha and Endou starts to probe Yoshida if it's true or not, but Yoshida calmly rejects the notion. Yoshida claims that he's simply waiting for a package within the next couple of weeks. Not wanting to probe Yoshida any further, Endou drops the subject for now and when he's gone, Yuzuha kicks Yoshida claiming she was angry for some reason. Curious as to why, Yuzuha answers that she's angry at everything which perplexes Yoshida. By dusk that afternoon, Yuzuha finishes her tasks for the day like she said she would, and for a reward, coaxes Yoshida to take her out to a movie. Right as Yoshida was following the excited Yuzuha, he bumps into his Airi and the two briefly greet each other while then go on their separate ways.

Back at Yoshida's Apartment, Sayu is bored out of her mind since there's nothing to do around the house. She also believes that Yoshida will kick her out of the house when he doesn't want her any longer. One instance would be that Yoshida finds himself a girlfriend and because he's so nice, he'd easily find one, but that raises the question if he'd so it with her or not. Sayu's cellphone then buzzes and its a text message from Yoshida which states, he's going to watch a movie with a colleague and will be home later to eat. Understanding the situation Sayu starts to prepare his dinner, but then decides to go outside for a bit.

Meanwhile, Yoshida and Yuzuha walk out of the movie theater and give their thoughts about the movie and then discuss the movie's theme of fated encounters. Unbeknownst to Yoshida and Yuzuha, Sayu was in the streets searching for Yoshida in a frantic manner. The two co-workers conversation then takes an interesting turn when Yoshida asks Yuzuha, whether or not, she ever had a fated encounter before or not. Amused by the question, Yuzuha and answers that she has had one and doesn't want to "let it go". Not fully understanding what she meant by it, Yoshida wishes her the best of luck with that and Yuzuha says that she will and then embraces Yoshida. From afar, Sayu witnesses this scene unfold and distraught by what she saw runs off. Yoshida then carefully gets Yuzuha to get off of him and the two separate, but before Yuzuha leaves the scene, she asks Yoshida, "What if she was his fated person to be with?" Instead of giving her a straight answer, Yoshida tells her to not be stupid and go home. Finally the two of them go their separate ways.

Walking home, Yoshida happens to walk by the same lamp post that he first met Sayu by, and contemplates who he's fated to be with in relation to his first meeting with Sayu. Upon returning home, Yoshida finds the house empty and Sayu's cell phone left behind. Panic-stricken, Yoshida leaves his apartment and searches for Sayu believing that she may have been kidnapped. Elsewhere, Sayu sits on a bench by a lamp post at a park, where she reflects on what she saw between Yoshida and Yuzuha. This makes her become emotional as Yoshida never did that with her and realizes that she feels jealous about it. At that moment, Yuzuha finds Sayu and decides to stay with her until the last train arrives in order to deter any police that may approach her. They then have a heart to heart with one another and as it turns out, Yuzuha confesses after learning that Sayu is a runaway that she was one in her youth. Yuzuha then asks if the reason Sayu is a runaway because of her parents, however, she answers that she's in good terms with them. If she was to give a reason it's because of there is no such thing as "unconditional kindness" and that there's always a reason/condition behind it. To that point, Yuzuha agrees and can relate stating her own thoughts and experiences. Hearing them makes Sayu believe that Yuzuha is talking about Yoshida. Yuzuha then recites a quote she heard in a movie about how fear can either help or hinder you depending on the circumstance. It's situations like that Yuzuha advises that one should level with the person and be open and honest with your feelings. And if the person truly is as a nice person of person as they're described to be, they should believe in Sayu, as Yuzuha tells her. Believing what Yuzuha has told her is true, Sayu resolves herself to follow her advice. Just then, Yoshida arrives at the scene and approaches Sayu noting that he's been searching for her. Not wanting to get between the two, Yuzuha lets the two go home together, but not before stating that she demands a full explanation about everything between Sayu and him.

Home again, Yoshida takes off his suit as Sayu now only dressed in a bra and undies confronts him. Although Yoshida wants her to get dressed, Sayu refuses and tries to sexually seduce him. Wanting to know if he's attracted to her, Yoshida answers that he is attracted to Sayu, however, he still refuses her advancements. Sayu then confesses that taking in a teenage girl is more disadvantageous than advantageous as if he could be arrested if the police found out. Yoshida then deduces that her interpretation of an advantage was her body, Sayu confirms it and admits at first she hated it, but grew to feel fulfilled by it. It's when her services become a "disadvantage" that she's kicked out and she's back to square one. Sayu then asks why Yoshida allows her to stay there without asking for anything other than having her do menial chores around the house. Furthermore, she states how nice Yoshida is or rather too nice, so to keep her anxiety of him abandoning her at bay, she does what she can to please him and asks for him to sleep with her. On the other hand, Yoshida embraces her tightly and then gives her a long drawn out compliment. He finishes it off confessing he has no feelings for her while calmly stating he does not want to sleep with someone he's not in love with. Once that is all said and done with, Yoshida has Sayu get dressed.

The two then sit together and admits that she's been more of a help to him than she's realized. This confession leaves Sayu tearfully emotional and Yoshida offers Sayu to stay with him until she decides to go home and Sayu accepts the offer. Internally, Yoshida thinks that's when they finally really started to live together.

## Characters

List of characters in order of their appearance:

* Sayu Ogiwara
* Kyouya Yaguchi (flashback)
* Yoshida
* Yuzuha Mishima
* Endou
* Airi Gotou