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Fruits Basket follows Tohru Honda's life after her mother's passing. Tohru ends up living with a boy from her school, Yuki Sohma, and other members of the Sohma family. She soon learns that the family is under a curse that turns them into different animals of the Chinese zodiac if a person of the opposite sex embraces them. While staying with the Sohmas, Tohru learns a lot about the family and each of its members.
One example is that there is much more to Yuki Sohma than what his peers think of him. At school, Yuki is seen as the princely type, with many admirers but no true friends. It isn’t until his senior year, when he takes up the position of student council president, that things start to change. He meets his best friend, Kakeru Manabe, and his future wife, Machi Kuragi. However, is it really Machi that Yuki should’ve ended up with?
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Yuki Sohma is the most popular boy at his high school -- there’s even a fan club for him. Although Yuki is seen as perfect, this tends to make him feel isolated. Most people look at him as untouchable, only admiring him from a distance. Yuki gets caught up in the expectations put on him. He struggles to interact with others by keeping close attention to his actions so that he doesn’t step out of line with how his peers view him. It isn’t until Tohru Honda enters his life that things start to change.
Tohru Honda sees that there is more to Yuki Sohma than what people make him out to be. She makes it one of her missions to befriend him and be there for him when he needs support or someone to talk to. Thanks to Tohru, Yuki is able to gain the confidence to step out of his comfort zone and take up the responsibility of the student council presidential seat once he becomes a third-year. Once he officially becomes president, Yuki meets a select group of interesting characters that he can’t begin to imagine himself working well with. The person he initially can’t stand the most is Kakeru Manabe, his newly-appointed vice president.
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Yuki is quick to identify why Kakeru gets on his nerves. He is reminded of his cousin and his brother when he interacts with Kakeru, both of whom Yuki also can’t stand. The vice president makes building friendships and having conversations seem effortless. It isn’t until a confrontation that the two finally discuss the unexplained tension between them. After this, the two are able to confide in each other. Yuki and Kakeru become best friends almost immediately, and Yuki finds himself becoming comfortable letting his true colors show.
The friendship between Yuki and Kakeru works so well because Yuki is able to make amends with the traits of his cousin and brother that used to greatly upset him. The traits that he hated were ones he was envious of, and by being directly exposed to them and forced to face them, Yuki is able to move forward with his struggles with his relatives. Kakeru also pushes Yuki out of his comfort zone. Even though Yuki wishes for nothing but to escape, he needs that push of encouragement. Kakeru pulls Yuki around and into new environments and situations that he would never put himself in alone.
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What would’ve made the story of Yuki that much better is if he ended up with Kakeru, his best guy friend. Yuki’s character is impacted greatly because of the expectations put on him by everyone. Both his family and classmates expect Yuki to be a certain way and not break the standards they have set for him. A love between Yuki, one of the main protagonists who is meant to meet standards of perfection, with Kakeru, who helped him come out of his shell and be true to himself, would’ve tied together the story of Fruits Basket with a perfect ribbon. If this relationship had existed, the stereotype that was placed upon Yuki to be the perfect prince capable of doing nothing wrong or considered different would’ve been combated by the pure love and acceptance between the two boys.
Kakeru managed to help Yuki find himself -- and find friendship along the way. While Yuki canonically ended up with a woman he lacked chemistry with, the best relationship for him came out of the connection he made with Kakeru. Yuki may have been able to push out of the expectations that were placed on him, but this ideal relationship would have allowed him to do so in a much stronger way.