Fruits Basket ch.94

June 24, 2004 | 30 Comments

Since the last four or five chapters have been spent on developing the back story of Tohru, Kyou, and Kyoko, it's not surprising to see this chapter focusing exclusively on Yuki and his development. This chapter, however, is quite interesting because we get to see Yuki from the perspective of another student who reminds me of Yuki from a couple of years ago. Just like Yuki, Machi seems to suffer from a self-confidence problem, mostly thanks to her patronising mother. But when you see Machi and Yuki side by side right now, you can easily tell how far Yuki has changed as a person. He definitely has opened up a lot more these days. I attribute this mostly to his determination to find friends outside the Sohma family.

The chapter begins by showing a flashback to the time when Yuki asks Machi her favourite colour. The scene then quickly shifts back to the present day with Yuki declaring that he's completed this year's student council's tasks. Because of this, Kakeru suggested that they should celebrate together tomorrow. Kimi then tells them that there is an inexpensive new eatery that's just been opened close to the school. Upon hearing this, Yuki decides to ask Machi if she'll like to come with them to the place tomorrow. Machi, however, quietly declines the offer and tells Yuki that he should not bother himself to ask what she wants. Yuki suddenly gets impression that Machi doesn't like his questions and decides to tell her that he simply wants to know about her interests. Strangely, upon hearing Yuki's words, Kakeru suddenly snaps and starts name-calling Yuki. Yuki is, of course, pissed off with Kakeru's sudden verbal outburst and threatens some bodily harm in return.

Their fight, however, comes to a halt when Kimi gives out a piece of paper with the address of the new eatery on it. Upon reading it, Yuki decides to give the paper to Machi. Yuki then asks the others if the place is normally visited by many crowds, probably worrying that his fangirls will turn up. When he hears this, Kakeru decides to tease Yuki by saying that he now remembers that Yuki is a princess who probably tend to pass out if he has to face massive crowds. In exchange, Yuki laughs sarcastically and tells his friend that he is indeed a mature royalty and because of this, he decides to throttle Kakeru's neck. Not wanting to be outdone, Kakeru also ends up throttling Yuki and tells him that one of these days he'll force Yuki to walk along a late night shopping district. LOL. I assume Kakeru meant the red light district, an area that is often visited by perverts looking for young nubile things.

Having said that, as usual it doesn't take long for the two to revert back to being good friends. The two end up going home together while Machi looks on with great interest as the two leave the school. Machi herself goes back to her own house which turns out to be quite a shipwreck. As soon as she arrives at her house, she receives a call from her mother asking her why she came home late. Machi simply answers that it's because of the student council thing. Her mother then asks if Machi has made any friends at the council and if Kakeru is okay. While listening to her mother's conversation, Machi remembers some of the things that her mother used to say about her. Predictably, none of it are any good. Apparently her mother often says that Machi is a boring girl. It also looks like she often pressured Machi to be the perfect little girl. Unfortunately, it seems that Machi never seems to measure up to her mother's expectations.

Anyway, the conversation between Machi and her mother ends with Machi's mother saying how Machi is still as boring as usual and how she wishes that Machi can be a bit more talkative. Thanks to the 'kind words' from her mother, Machi ends up believing that she really is a boring person. Apparently Machi also never had the chance to develop her own interests because she has spent the majority of her life trying to please her mother. Despite that, nothing seems to make her mother happy and Machi eventually is forced to live on her own. Feeling sad because she has nothing or no one important in her life, Machi picks up what looks like a bookmarker and looks at it closely. While doing so, for some reason she remembers about Yuki and begins to remember the first time she hears about him. However, unlike other students who think that Yuki is an unapproachable Prince, Machi's first impression of Yuki is that of a lonely person.

Having said that, Machi seems to notice that lately Yuki has changed into a rather different person. He seems to laugh a lot more and is more approachable than he used to be. Machi, however, is distracted from her own thoughts when she hears the sound of an alarm clock. She soon realises that she has fell asleep right through the night and now finds herself facing the day when she should meet the other council members at the eatery. At first Machi is hesitant to go. She feels that she doesn't know what to wear because this is the first time she is going to meet her friends outside the school. In the end though, it seems she eventually manages to muster up some courage to see them. Anyway, as she travels from her house to the destination, Machi's mind is filled with various philosophical questions. She thinks that this world is filled with things and people that she doesn't understand. And the truth is, she feels that she doesn't know much about herself either.

Machi also feels that her existence is like a hollow shell. One that makes her feels as if she's a doll with missing parts. Because of this, she sometimes feels that she is not a human because a broken doll can't possibly be human. As she passes through a group of people in the street, she also wonders if they actually exist or if she's the one who is non-existing. If she does exist, she wonders if her existence is even necessary in this world. Anyway, her Evangelion-like thoughts thankfully came to a halt when Yuki suddenly appears in front of her, looking happy. He tells her that he thought he came too early but he's relieved to see her there as well. Shocked by his sudden appearance, Machi falls over and accidentally drops her bag, spilling its contents in the process. Upon seeing this, Yuki decides to help her picking up her stuff. He, however, is puzzled when he finds a bottle opener amongst the items that are scattered in the street and wonders why Machi has it in her bag.

Machi is embarrassed of the finding and has no choice but to tell Yuki that she was half-asleep when she put items into her bag and possibly took the bottle opener without realising it (remember that her room is very messy so in half-asleep condition, she can't possibly tell what is what). Machi tells Yuki not to bother helping her picking up the other items because she can do it herself. Unfortunately for her, Yuki once again ends up picking up something that she doesn't want him to see. This time it turns out to be a bookmarker that is made out of a maple leaf. Upon seeing this, Yuki wonders if this is the same leaf that he gave to Machi as a souvenir not too long ago. Machi tries to deny it and tells Yuki that the item does not have a particularly deep meaning to her. She just think it should not be thrown away. Because of that, she ended up making a bookmarker out of it. Upon hearing this, Yuki looks happy and thanks her.

Machi is confused and asks Yuki why he thanks her. In reply, Yuki tells her that he's happy because she seems to consider the leaf as something that is important to her. Machi immediately turns as red as a beetroot and tries hard to tell Yuki that it wasn't particularly important to her. Yuki retorts back that the fact that she has the bookmarker meant something. In reply, she tells him that the bookmarker simply got wedged inside her book, it wasn't something important to her. Besides, she thinks that it is too big to use anyway and tells Yuki that she will return it to him. The two then ends up in a minor scuffle where Machi tries to give Yuki back the leaf/bookmarker but Yuki refuses to take it back. Their little scuffle, however, is interrupted when Kakeru arrives and wonders what happened between the two. Machi tells Kakeru that the scuffle is none of his concern. She, however, becomes embarrassed again when Kakeru recognises the maple leaf as the one that Yuki gave to her as a souvenir.

Anyway, the whole incident makes Yuki wonders if Machi likes maple leaf. When Machi denies it outright, Yuki then asks if it's the red colour of the leaf that Machi likes. When Machi stutters trying to find the answer, Yuki smiles and tells her that his question has been answered. He also promises her that he will remember it. Anyway, not long after this, Kimi and Nao arrives on the scene and Kimi is surprised to see Machi wearing her school uniform underneath the jacket. Kakeru then tells Yuki that this was the first time he ever saw Machi looking embarrassed. In reply, Yuki smiles and tells Kakeru that Machi looks cute when she becomes mad and blushes profusely. For some unknown reason, Kakeru somehow starts throwing temper tantrums again upon hearing Yuki's word, much to Yuki's annoyance. Never the less, the five student council members end up going to the eateries and have a good time together. Kakeru especially seem to enjoy teasing Machi's preference for red colour.

Impression

Well, Machi turns out to be one unusual girl. But anyone who has to endure that kind of insult from his or her own parents will be as messed up as the poor girl. Having said that, I'm getting kind of bored with the abusive parents theme of this series. I think the number of abusive parents have now exceeded the number of non-abusive parents in this series. Kazuma (Kyou's foster father) is probably the only good parental figure that I can think of at the moment. At any rate, it's kind of fun to see Yuki evolving into an entirely different person lately. If you had asked me a couple of years ago if Yuki will go out with other people, I'll say that you're insane. But it seems his perseverance to know other people better has finally paid off. I think his decision to accept the student council position despite his fear was a good one. He was also lucky that he gets to meet a bunch of nutcases like Kakeru and Kimi in the council. These people help him a lot to cast away his tendency to shy away from others because unlike the other students, they treat him just like one of their own.

© memento 2003