WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Fruits Basket Season 2, Episode 22, "That's Not What I Want!" now streaming on Crunchyroll.
This week's Fruits Basket picks up immediately where last week's showstopper left off, with Yuki talking to Kakeru about his feelings about Tohru. Like many of the other Sohmas, Yuki sees Tohru as the ideal mother figure he never had. All of his vaguely romantic gestures towards her in the past are explained away as how he though men were "supposed" to act towards women, and that it felt uncomfortable to him.
Structurally, "That's Not What I Want!" is very much a bridge episode, a collection of assorted moments necessary to ease the transition between bigger "event" episodes. In addition to continuing from last week's character study of Yuki, it's also continuing the story of the Cinderella play, which is going through major rewrites. The thematic common ground between these different elements is that of Yuki and Kyo's differing relationships with the idea of "princehood."
Kyo does not want to be the Prince in the play. He's not showing up for practices, and he gets angry with Tohru for even letting Shigure know he got the part. When Yuki tries to convince Kyo to go to rehearsal, the scene directly parallels the flashback of young Yuki trying and failing to give Kyo back his hat. It shows how, for all that the two have grown, their conflict of bitterly envying in each other what they lack in their own lives is still as intense as ever. Kyo's anger is so intense he punches through a window!
It's at the height of the fighting between the Sohmas that Machi comes in and drops a bombshell: in her estimation, Yuki is one of the least prince-like people she knows. To anyone else, this could sound like an insult, but it's actually exactly exactly what Yuki wants to hear. Unlike his brother Ayame (who's broken into the school and assigned himself the role of costume designer for the class play), Yuki's never been comfortable with the role forced upon him, and Machi seems to genuinely understand him.
Where Yuki can't convince Kyo to take playing the Prince seriously, Tohru can. She's been struggling with the play herself, her good nature and lack of acting talent making her a horrible fit for the traditional stepsister role and necessitating much of the rewrites. Even so, she's dedicated to doing this play. And Kyo feels dedicated to her, so despite his reluctance, he will be a "prince" for her sake.
New episodes of Fruits Basket Season 2 premiere Mondays at 1:30 PM EDT on Crunchyroll