WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Fruits Basket: The Final Season Episode 10, "I Just Love Her," now streaming on Crunchyroll and Funimation.
As Fruits Basket: The Final Season approaches its conclusion, Kyo Sohma is in a difficult place. And yet, he has more reason for hope than ever before. He acted cruelly and cowardly when he abandoned Tohru and indirectly led to her hospitalization, something he feels terrible about. That same sequence of events, however, has also led to Akito completely reassessing her worldview, offering Kyo and the other Sohmas more freedom than ever before.
In Episode 10, "I Just Love Her," Kyo works up the courage for two long-awaited, anxiety-inducing confrontations, and begins the process of initiating a third. The first of these is his long-awaited fight with Yuki. Once upon a time, Kyo's freedom depended upon this fight, and he's been preparing for it for years, but he could never have prepared for how it would turn out.
Physically, Yuki pummels him, but the real battle here is emotional. In a fiery and impassioned speech, Yuki forces Kyo to admit that when it comes to what matters most, he's already won. For all that they've hated each other, they're forced to admit they envy each other. Yuki can beat Kyo at many things, but he can never make Tohru happy the way Kyo can. Kyo might feel like he failed to protect Tohru recently, but he needs to stop wallowing in this failure and realize that he can help Tohru without feeling like he has to be some sort of superheroic savior.
The second big confrontation, one which is even more emotionally difficult for Kyo, is with his abusive biological father. Kyo starts off by doing what his father wants of him: admitting guilt for his mother's death. The abusive parent gloats about this, but even with this admission, Kyo stands firm that he's not going to be locked up in the cat's prison (unbeknownst to both of them, Akito's ordering the prison be destroyed). When his dad snaps at him over this, Kyo realizes his dad would abuse his mom in the same way -- Kyo might have admitted guilt, but it's obvious his dad was truly responsible for his mom's fate.
Kyo's final tough but necessary confrontation only begins as the episode ends. The day Tohru's dismissed from the hospital, Kyo finally comes to visit her... but when she sees him outside the hospital, she frantically runs away. This time, however, Kyo isn't running away from her -- he's running after her. As much as he's tried to distance himself from it, Kyo can't help but love Tohru, and he needs to make things right with her.
New episodes of Fruits Basket: The Final Season premiere Mondays, subbed on Crunchyroll and dubbed on Funimation.
