:Episode 5 -"I wanted to stay...":
(focus on Tohru)
Another episode which directly follows the one before,
sees Tohru trying to put her decision into action
(I want to learn more about
Sohma-kun and Kyo-kun. This feeling grows stronger
and stronger, but I'll start slowly and work my way
up steadily from what I already know.) by borrowing
books from the schhool library about their hobbies
(Kyo/martial arts, Yuki/gardening)
and reading up on those ~ and of course she also gets
a new recipe book to have more options for lunch and
dinner at Sohma house ^^.
This is the first episode focussing on Tohru's inner
self and her development. In the first episode we
were introduced to her and then got the contrast of
the Sohma household-lifestyle and problems. In the
following episodes she mostly served as a bystander
and stand-in for the viewers (always
with the special innocent Tohru-charm and world-view)
and started catalysing inner changes in the members
of the Juunishi she met (except
for Shigure who certainly seems happy with himself
the way he is). This episode will be a clarification
for all the nebulous feelings which leave Tohru to
be fascinated by the Sohmas, but in true dramatic
fashion she has to get through quite a bit of hardship
to come to this revelation:
Having just gotten the books from the library she is
called to the phone by one of the teachers, where
her grandfather tells her that the restauration of
his house is complete, so she should now come home.
Still in a state of shock and deadened emotions, Tohru
wastes no time telling this to Shigure after her return
from school. When Tohru tells this to Shigure, Kyo
is practicing outside and is surprised and annoyed
at being informed (now he has
just about gotten used to her being there)
that her stay was meant to be temporary. Being Kyo
he can't articulate his upset other than to lose his
temper, which Shigure accurately and mercilessly points
out:
Kyo (interrupting,
upset): THAT'S NOT WHAT I WAS..... asking...
Tohru: Oh, p- pardon me...
ummm...
Shigure: Kyo-kun was just
taken by surprise at this sudden news. However, his
becoming angry at you, Tohru-kun, is what you would
call misdirected rage. Though I do understand why
he would miss her.
Kyo (firing up): Why should
I!?
Shigure: Even so, this is
indeed sudden.
Tohru: Luckily, this is
a Saturday. I think I'll get my packing in order and
take my leave of you this evening (Kyo
in the background raging silently then turning away
upset).
Shigure: There's no particular
need to hurry, any time is fine with us.
Tohru: No, I have to put
my things away at the house there and everything.
After all they say to strike "when the iron is
hot". So then, I'll go start packing right away
(opening the door to find Yuki
standing outside with a surprised and upset look on
his face). ...Um..., thank you for your kindness
while I was here.
Yuki: Ah... Umm..
(watches her go up the stairs to her room).
Shigure (leaning out of the doorframe):
Don't just "Ah... Umm" her. Couldn't you
have said anything a little more tactful than that,
Yuki-kun? I'm not sure if you're just too curt or
too uncultured, but unless you're more amiable, you
won't be able to carry on - shall we say - smooth
relations with... (Yuki tunes him
out).
Downstairs the two youngsters are prodded by Shigure
to tell him why they aren't stopping Tohru from leaving.
Yuki, calmly sitting at the table retreats into his
logical shell and points out that the agreement only
had been for the time of the house-renovations. So,
when the renovation is finished, it is only natural
for Tohru to leave. Kyo, curled sideways on the floor
with his back to the others and his hair hanging into
his face completely obscuring his eyes, simply comments
in a low, thoughtful voice that "Having
her... having others in the house is weird, isnt't
it?" - leaving Shigure and Yuki silent.
At the top of the stairs Tohru is slowly packing her
things, having a silent discussion with her mother
again, berating herself for always putting too much
emotion and effort into connections to other people
and attempting to adopt them as family...
Tohru (packing):
I had things wrong. There was no way I could
have become family. Mother, I'm really missing something
after all, huh? Come to think of it, when I was a
child, there was a game called "Fruits Basket"
we used to play.
(memory: You're an apple, you're
a banana, you're a mandarin orange, you're a watermelon.
Cherry, Asian pear, peach.
Honda, you're an onigiri riceball.
Onigiri? How delicious!)
That was probably meant as a slight tease (Okay,
here goes! Apple!) However I didn't realise
it. (Now peach!) A fun-looking
game was unfolding before my very eyes... (Orange!)
I waited earnestly for them to call "onigiri"...
Yes, ever since long ago, I haven't thought things
through enough. There is no way an "onigiri"
could have joined a fruits basket.
Embarassed at the desire to make the Sohmas her family,
which she has just discovered inside herself, Tohru
takes her leave of the family in a flurry of well-meaning
household tips. And to make completely sure everything
goes smoothly and they know where to turn if they
have any questions, she hands Shigure her grandfather's
adress.
Everything seems to be in good form, but when Shigure
and Yuki find the cold dinner Tohru has thoughtfully
prepared for the family, it does make them feel a
bit melancholy - although only Shigure voices that
thought.
The tone of the family reunion is set, when Tohru after
her polite greeting is accepted into the house by
her aunt with the words "You
didn't have to rush so. It would have been fine if
you had taken your time." Only her grandfather
welcomes her openly. Her female cousin is annoyed
she has to share her room (after
all they just renovated and enlarged the house, for
crying out loud!). No one treats her with respect
(calling her "Tohru-chan"
in a patronising tone).
Meanwhile not-so-subtle Shigure quetches around the
Sohma-house about Tohru's absence, reminiscing about
her delicious food and Yuki's abysmal performance
in a kitchen (^^). "To
think that two handsome young men could not gang up
and keep the girl who could cook stew this delicious
from leaving - it's pathetic."
Tohru's male cousing is unhappy with her ironing of
his clothes, her aunt is out of patience with the
fact that she does not know where things are in the
kitchen. Tohru finds that the kitchen reminds her
of "home", i.e. her kitchen at Sohma house.
At the same time Yuki and Kyo are reminded of Tohru
again and again by little things they remember.
While Tohru stands in the dark at the window of the
room she shares with her female cousin, hoping the
Sohma boys watch the full moon as well, Kyo is lying
in his favourite private spot on the roof and looks
sad.
The next morning in school Tohru is happy to greet
Kyo:
Tohru (happy
to see Kyo in school): Good Morning!
Kyo: H- Hi! (turns
and leaves)
Tohru walks to the classroom somewhat
dejected.
Yuki (waiting for her in front of the classroom):
Good morning!
Tohru: Good Morning!
Yuki: So, how are things
for you at your grandfather's house?
Tohru: Right. Everyone is
being kind to me and things are pleasant.
Yuki: Really? That's good.
Tohru: Yes! (they
keep on talking)
Both boys obviously miss Tohru, but this time tables
are turned in their emotional reaction to this hurt:
Kyo, normally so outspoken about things he likes or
hates, withdraws and can't deal with the root of his
problem. Yuki, the quiet and reserved guy who so often
hides behind his good looks and icy intelligence,
attempts to show Tohru that his caring for her continues
and that he still is her friend, just as she had wanted
him to be - even when there had been that talk about
hypnotizing her into forgetting the Juunishi-curse
(in episode 2). But when
the boys return home, both of them head right for
their private places (Kyo on
the roof, Yuki and his secret base vegetable garden)
and brood about their most cherished memories of Tohru.
You can see Kyo's sadness and helplessness in his
eyes, while Yuki broods elegantly. There is no doubt
neither one has any idea how to stop hurting.
However, Kyo's reaction at school confirms Tohru in
her decision to stop relying on the boys' kindness,
i.e. their interest in her and her well-being. But
when she returns to her grandfather's house this time,
her aunt has a sordid question to ask her:
Tohru:
Hello, I'm home.
Aunt: Do you have a moment?
Tohru: Yes?
Aunt:Tohru-chan, I understand
you have been living in a house with men up till now.[...]
I had a detective agency check up on you.
Tohru: Umm, why did you
go to all that trouble?
Aunt: Our oldest son, you
see, has the dream of becoming a policeman. As such,
there would be a problem if anyone in his family were
to have a criminal record, right? I thought that maybe
using a detective agency was overdoing it, but a long
time ago Kyoko-san was quite wild... They say "the
apple doesn't fall far from the tree", so it
made me uneasy.
Now that you're living in this house, be careful not
to undertake anymore rash actions, okay?
 Male
cousin: Tohru-chan... You didn't do anything
indecent with the men in that house, right?
(The grandfather slaps the cousin)
Aunt: Grandpa!
Grandfather: Don't you know
how to do anything besides ridicule others?
Tohru-san, I apologize. Please don't think poorly
of them. They're just disagreeable folks by nature.
Aunt: Just a minute, Grandpa!
You can't follow with that!
When a totally shocked and distraught Tohru leaves
the room, her grandfather follows and opens her eyes
to her freedom of choice:
Grandfather:
Tohru-san? Even this family is dear to me, and this
is where I live. Even if they do say a few untoward
things, I can tolerate it. However, there's no reason
for YOU to put up with it to keep living here.
Tohru: You don't mean...?
Grandfather: Ah, don't get
me wrong! I'm not trying to chase you out of here.
It's just that it wasn't like Kyoko-san to put up
with anything, and you are her daughter, right? Kyoko-san
would be more vivacious living in a place where she
could spread her arms wide... Katsuya used to say
so as well.
Tohru: My father?
Grandfather: Yes. So if
there's somewhere you'd rather be, you can go.
Tohru: But... that wouldn't
be right. My mother loved me so much,... and I have
two wonderful friends named Hana-chan and Uo-chan...
I have been so blessed...
Sohma-kun and the others were so nice to me, and now
I'm being allowed to live in a house with a roof on
it... I should be thankful for all of it.
(starts crying) And yet...
and yet for me... to want to go back there... To think
that leaving Sohma-kun and the others' house would
make me this lonesome. I wanted to learn more about
Sohma-kun and Kyo-kun. I wanted to eat our meals together,
and talk to them about lots of things,... much, much
more...
Truthfully, I did not want to leave. I wanted to stay
in that house, with Sohma-kun, Kyo-kun and Shigure-san.
I wanted to stay.
Yuki: In that case...
Tohru: Huh!
Yuki: Come on back home!
[...]
Kyo: Let's go!
Tohru: Kyo-kun, you too?
(get's grabbed by the head while
Kyo drags her out the house)
Yuki the ever-courteous and practical explains to the
flabbergasted family that the door was unlocked so
they let themselves in and wants to know where "Honda-san's"
things are. He completely lets the reins on his temper
lose though, when the male cousin can't keep his dirty
mouth shut once again: Male
Cousin: By any chance are you one of the
people in the house where Tohru-chan was cohabitating?
Yuki (low voice,
very threatening): Don't you call her "Tohru-chan"
like you were cozy with her. You LOWLIFE! He
looks at least as dangerous as when he fights Kyo
^^ - no matter that the cousin is a head taller than
him.
Outside an annoyed and somewhat embarrassed Kyo tries
to talk some sense into Tohru, pointing out that she
shouldn't have left them if she didn't want to and
how much trouble it was to have to work together with
Yuki to find this house:
Tohru:
Umm, Kyo-kun, what were you doing there?
Kyo: You were the one that
left the address, weren't you? And what a hard address
to find!  Thanks
to you I got caught having to walk around here looking
for you together with that damned Yuki, you know!
Tohru (thinking): Even as they
were quarrelling, they came to pick me up?
Kyo: Wh-What are you smiling
about?!
Tohru: R- Right, sorry!
Kyo: Thaaat's not what I
meant... It's just...
anyway, I don't even know why I am doing this. Why
is it that the moment you left, I had to become all
irritable!? Not knowing the reason just made me more
cranky!
And REALLY! If you didn't WANT to leave, you should
have said so from the BEGINNING!
Tohru: How do you know about
that?
Kyo: We heard you, every
word.... (Tohru blushes deep red)
It's okay... to tell people what you want,
you know. If people tell you day after day, then you'd
lose your head, but in your case...
It's okay for you to complain or say what you want
once in a while.
It's okay to get discouraged. (Tohru
can't keep from crying now)
Wh-What's the matter!? Why are you crying? Hey!
Tohru: I want to... go home..
I want to go back home where everyone else is.
Kyo (exasperatedly grasps her hand
and drags her): OKAY, then! Let's go on home!
Tohru: (childhood memory/desire:
Onigir!) I'm sure there's nobody else as lucky as
I am, Mother.
So then, let's go home! To the house where my new
family is!
I'm back!
This episode's obvious plot point has cleared the way
for Tohru to stay with the Sohmas permanently. Below
that level I believe that Tohru has clarified
for herself how she feels about the Sohma's and why
she is so interested in them. She even manages to
be inoffically adopted into the family, at least by
the two boys.
No wonder this episode has NO comic relief except Shigure
(when he provokes the boys into
thinking about Tohru) and no eyecatches at
all.
Kyo and Yuki have openly acknowleged that she
is important to them (although Yuki has admitted his
admiration of her personality to others before now),
and her catalyst role has brought the taciturn Yuki
to take clear action, while the people-shy and emotionally-clumsy
Kyo tortures himself into admitting his emotions to
Tohru and to encourage her to be a bit more forward.
It seems as if a riceball can belong in a fruits basket,
after all.
~ END OF EPISODE
to watch a slideshow of the most interesting
moments in Episode 5. You better bring some time though,
since the images are of good quality ;-)
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