Yuki Sohma

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Yuki Sohma
Manga Anime Re-Design Past Design 2019 Anime 2001 Anime
Kanji	草摩 由希
Rōmaji	Sōma Yuki
Also known as	Prince (by Arisa) Princess Yuki (by Haru) Damn Yuki (by Kyo) Rat-boy (by Kyo) Yun-chan (by Kagura) Yunyun (by Kakeru and Kimi) President (by students)
Description
Gender	Male
Age	16 (Beginning of the series) 18 (End of the series)
Height	170.5 cm / 5'7"
Weight	54 kg / 119 lbs
Hair Color	Light Grey (Manga, 2019 Anime) Greyish Purple (2001 Anime)
Eye Color	Dark Grey (Manga, 2019 Anime) Purple (2001 Anime)
Blood Type	A
Cursed Year	Rat
Actual Year	Dog
Professional Status
Occupation	Student
Affiliation	Sohma Family Kaibara Municipal High School
Relatives
Parents	Unnamed Father Unnamed Mother
Siblings	Ayame Sohma (Older Brother)
Spouse	Machi Kuragi (Wife)
Children	Mutsuki Sohma (Son)
Extended Family	Unnamed Father-in-law Unnamed Mother-in-law Unnamed Brother-in-law Kakeru Manabe (Brother-in-law) Mine Kuramae (Sister-in-law) Hibika Sohma (Niece) Chizuru Sohma (Nephew)
Debut
Manga	Chapter 1
Anime	Episode 1 (2001) Episode 1 (2019)
Voice Actors
Japanese	Aya Hisakawa (2001) Nobunaga Shimazaki (2019) Miyuri Shimabukuro (Young, 2019)
English	Eric Vale Kate Bristol (Young, 2001) Amanda Lee (Young, 2019)

“	I wish I could’ve lived my life without making any wrong turns. But that’s impossible. A path like that doesn’t exist. We fail. We trip. We get lost. We make mistakes. And little by little, one step at a time, we push forward. It’s all we can do. On our own two feet.	”
—Yuki Sohma

Yuki Sohma (草摩 由希, Sōma Yuki, "Yuki Soma") is one of the deuteragonists of the Fruits Basket series. He is the younger son of his parents and the younger brother of Ayame Sohma by ten years.

He is the Rat of the Chinese Zodiac. Known to his classmates with various nicknames such as “Prince Charming”, Yuki is depicted as an attractive, reserved, and accomplished young man with many admirers. However, due to his broken family, abusive childhood, and the effects of the Curse, Yuki has severe self-esteem issues and feels isolated. He has a fan club at school named Prince Yuki Fan Club, though the result is that Yuki feels further isolated.

Yuki lives together with Shigure Sohma, and the two are later joined by Kyo Sohma and Tohru Honda. As he gets to know Tohru, he tries to convince himself that he’s in love with her, but later comes to terms with the fact that he had been looking for a mother figure in her. Fueled by Tohru’s kindness, Yuki finds the courage to stand up to his own weaknesses, and eventually becomes president of the student council despite his misgivings. In the process, he becomes best friends with Kakeru Manabe and falls in love with Machi Kuragi.

In Fruits Basket Another, he is married to Machi and the father of Mutsuki Sohma, his son acting as one of the main characters.

Appearance

Yuki's full appearance in the anime.

Yuki is a fair-skinned and slim teenage boy of an average build and height. He is noted by his peers to be very beautiful with a feminine and prince-like appearance, and is often admired for his looks. Yuki, however, has a complex about his feminine face.

Yuki has light-grey eyes and nape-length, straight, dark-grey hair, worn in straight bangs which frames his eyes, coupled with two longer strands of his bangs hanging loose at each side of his face, going right down to his lower-chin. He also has several cowlicks sticking out from his hair.

Yuki wears the standard Kaibara High uniform for males, which consists of a blue sweater (white during summertime) with white color around the edges, and a yellow shirt underneath (white in the anime). Like most of the other students, Yuki wears his school uniform buttoned with a light-blue necktie. On other occasions, he mainly dresses in light colors, such as blue and white, and is often seen wearing clothes in such colors. He is also seen wearing Chinese-style clothes and collared or tight-fitting clothes. However, after meeting Kakeru and becoming the student council president, Yuki gradually stops wearing Chinese style outfits and leans more towards looser, more casual clothing.

Personality

While Yuki is viewed as a perfect, untouchable prince by most of his peers at school and displays a very kind and charming personality, he is also awkward, terrible at cleaning and cooking, and lazy around the house. Furthermore, Yuki has a multitude of issues which stems from the abuse he received during his childhood; he has severely low self-esteem, feels isolated and lonely, is terrified of rejection, keeps people at a distance, and struggles to communicate his true feelings in a natural way. Yuki is also acutely attentive to his actions and how they may be perceived by others, resulting in him having a very cold and closed off countenance. He feels like he is trapped in the façade of the ideal prince everyone loves from afar, because he was convinced that no one would ever accept his real self. In fact, rather than being admired from afar, Yuki wishes to have friends of his own, and envies Kyo for being able to socialize more easily than he can. He also admits that above anyone or anything, his biggest enemy is himself as his inferiority complex makes him compare himself to others and feel insecure almost all the time.

However, Yuki gradually begins to recover from his past issues and finds the courage to stand up to his own weaknesses and learn to be himself thanks to Tohru's influence. Kakeru and Machi also help Yuki open up more and express his feelings frequently. As time goes on, Yuki opens himself to others and lets himself enjoy life the way he wasn't able to before, and becomes a genuinely happier person, as well as more outspoken, honest, straightforward, stubborn, and relaxed; not as worried about upholding his image as a prince. Because of this, Yuki gains more confidence and begins showing more of his witty, sarcastic, snarky, teasing, cheeky, and sometimes arrogant personality, often saying things that make fun of or provoke other people. But he becomes more sensitive and self-conscious as well, as he acknowledges how unfair and self-serving his way of blaming his problems on others was, he decides to focus on working with the bad things about himself and stop looking for something or someone to blame. Yuki even decides to forgive despite all the pain she inflicted on him, simply because he wanted to move on with his life, unbound by the pain of the past. Despite such things, he is also known to be very a kind, inviting, considerate, wise, and emphasizing person as he has always been; he is able to reach out to both Kakeru and Machi and help when with some of their respective issues, as well as help Kisa Sohma with her self doubt.

Yuki has always unintentionally sought Tohru's friendship, listening ear, and understanding quite often, and has benefited from Hatsuharu Sohma's and Ayame's affection for him whenever he's in a tight spot he is unable to get himself out of. When this trait is pointed out to him, however, he resolves to change himself into a person who can give back as much as he receives. Yuki also reveals that he is a greedy and selfish person, admitting that he doesn't want to solely receive, he wants to be someone's equal and give something only he can give. This is why his relationship with Machi means so much to him, since only he can give her the support and acceptance she yearned for considering how well he understands her, and vice-versa. It is also shown that once he cares about someone, he will make an effort to ensure that they are happy and satisfied. Towards the end, Yuki has acknowledged his own growth, from a weak person who wasn’t good at making connections with other people, to a strong, independent, and full-fledged "human being", in which he thanks Tohru for helping him become the man he is today.

History

Staying at the main house

Yuki was favored being born as the Rat, and while his parents were neither rejecting nor overprotective of him, they used Yuki as a tool to acquire wealth and status for themselves within the Sohma family. Meanwhile, his older brother Ayame has been unfavored since Yuki was born, since the Snake is not as valuable as the Rat. As a result, his parents let Ayame do whatever he wanted growing up, which caused an enormous rift between Yuki and his older brother.

Meeting Akito Sohma

Yuki met Akito for the first time.

As a young child, Yuki suffered from severe respiratory problems that inhibited him from doing most things. When he was still very young, his mother sold him off to Akito due to him being the Rat and therefore the "closest to God". For a few years, Akito kept Yuki as a playmate and they would constantly stay in Akito's room and play together. Occasionally, Akito would have angry outbursts, but would always calm down moments after.

Yuki’s abuse by the hands of Akito began.

At some point, however, Akito's mind went completely insane and she proceeded to torment Yuki for years. Yuki was verbally, emotionally, and especially psychologically abused by Akito; he was locked up in a windowless, dark room for days on end while Akito convinced him that no one would accept him for who he is, that he was absolutely worthless and that no one would ever come to save him. He was also told that everyone, including his family and several Zodiacs such as Kyo and Hatsuharu, hated him.

Meeting Kyo Sohma

Yuki met Kyo for the first time.

During the Sohma's annual banquets, Yuki was always by Akito's side and never interacted with anyone; in fact, he had never exchanged a single word with the other Zodiacs, not even his older brother. During one banquet, Yuki heard about the Cat, Kyo Sohma, who isn't part of the Zodiac and therefore cannot join in the banquet. Yuki snuck out to meet Kyo and was instantly taken by his "pretty orange hair". Yuki meekly tried to befriend Kyo, but the moment Kyo found out that Yuki was the Rat, he began yelling at Yuki that he hated him, that his very existence had only brought him misfortune, and that he would be better of dead. Yuki was devastated and began crying. He went to his mother for consoling, but she slapped him and shouted for him to go back to Akito's side. Because of this event, Yuki began thinking Akito’s words were true— that he was hated and that his existence was unnecessary. His last attempt at saving himself from Akito's abuse was by going to Ayame for help, but he was instantly rebuked.

Making his first friends

Since he was the Rat, Yuki was forced to attend a famous private school where he didn't know anyone. In reality, Yuki wanted to go to school with Kyo and the other Zodiac members instead. Because of his abuse at the hands of Akito, Yuki did everything he could to avoid other people, since he had no idea how to interact with his peers and since he didn’t want to be hated by even more people. That was, until a group of boys invited Yuki to play soccr and gleefully asked him to be their friend. Yuki was overjoyed, and quickly adjusted to his happy life with his new friends.

Yuki was accidentally hugged.

One day when he was playing tag with his friends, a girl accidentally bumped into Yuki and he transformed into a Rat. Because of this, Hatori Sohma was forced to erase Yuki's friends' memories. Yuki begged and cried for Hatori to not, since they were the first friends he had ever made, but to no avail. Thereafter, as expected, his friends didn't know who he was anymore, leading Yuki to despise Hatori and closing himself off from people once again. He also asked Akito if he truly was so strange that he had to keep the Curse a secret, to which Akito replied that he did have to, since it was strange for a little boy to transform into a rat. She also told him that any normal person would be repulsed if they knew.

Meeting Tohru Honda

Yuki broke down in tears.

One day while Yuki was still feeling down due to the situation with his friends, Yuki saw a hat flying off to his direction in the streets, and to his surprise, it belonged to Kyo. Yuki attempted to give it back to Kyo, but the latter harshly refused and went back to his adoptive father. This was the final straw and the last ounce of rejection, as Yuki broke down in tears and thought about the things he had always wanted: a parent who would hold him close, a home he wanted to return to, a place where he could laugh with everyone, and a "himself" that no one would leave.

After losing his first and only friends and after the incident with Kyo, Yuki lost his will to live. As a result, Yuki's mental and physical worsened, but his parents and brother showed no concern towards his worsening state. Akito’s negative words were engraved deep into his mind, yet Yuki wanted to do something useful in a dark world that hated him.

Yuki gave Tohru his hat.

When Yuki found a young Tohru Honda sitting alone and crying in the neighborhood, having been separated from her mother, Yuki was able to guide Tohru back to her neighborhood so she could reunite with her mother. When he had accomplished in doing so, Yuki gave her his hat. After helping Tohru, it gave Yuki the hope to keep living, since he could help her at a point where he felt completely useless. Furthermore, he understood that there is happiness in the world, and what’s more, he helped make it happen. However, being confined by Akito once again only filled him with resignation and despair, and he once again became "weak" and unable to reach out to people.

Meeting Hatsuharu Sohma

Yuki was confronted by Hatsuharu.

Sometime after Yuki's meeting with Tohru, Hatsuharu Sohma, the Ox of the Zodiac, confronted Yuki. He told Yuki that he hated him and that it was his fault that people constantly called him stupid, due to the story of how the Rat tricked the Ox to become first in the zodiac. After Yuki asked Hatsuharu whether he believes he is stupid, Hatsuharu realized the mental trap and that he was in fact not stupid, to which Yuki told him that he believed him. Hatsuharu has since loved Yuki.

Occasionally, Yuki would watch Hatsuharu and Kyo perform martial arts, and while Yuki expressed an interest in it, he was always refrained to do anything by Akito. It is also mentioned by Hatsuharu that at some unspecified point, Yuki became mute due to the trauma he had suffered.

Freed from main house

Haru begs Shigure to free Yuki.

Since Hatsuharu loved Yuki, he would occasionally come to check up on him when he was locked up in Akito's room. It is stated that Isuzu Sohma would join too, but she would stay outside to protect Hatsuharu from trouble. Eventually, Hatsuharu grew sick of how Yuki was always suffering, and realizing how emotionally drained Yuki was, begged Shigure to save Yuki and let him live in his house outside of the Sohma compound. Thanks to Hatsuharu's pleads, Yuki was eventually to leave the Sohma estate and live with Shigure.

Fruits Basket

First Year Arc

Tohru requests Yuki to stay her friend.

Yuki’s first appearance is when he meets Tohru by his doorstep, where she was conversing with Shigure about Chinese zodiac paperweights. As they are classmates, they decide to walk to and from school together. The same night, Yuki and Shigure find out that Tohru is living in a tent on the Sohma's property, and thus offer her to temporarily live in their house, to which she eventually accepts. After Tohru falls asleep in their home, Yuki goes to fetch her things along with his “companions”, but doesn't tell Tohru how he did it the next morning. Nonetheless, he tells Tohru to be herself, causing Tohru to remember her mother giving her the exact same advice when she was young, and reassures her that it's fine for her to live with them. Suddenly, Yuki is attacked by Kyo, who suddenly appears to challenge him to a fight. Amidst the commotion, Tohru ends up accidentally embracing Yuki, Kyo, and Shigure, who turns into a rat, a cat, and a dog respectively, much to her surprise. She discovers the Sohma Curse and promises to it a secret. This causes Yuki to worry, as he is concerned that her memory will be erased by the order of Akito. The next day at school, however, Yuki is touched by Tohru's request to become friends with her again would she have her memories erased, which contradicts to Akito's words that he wouldn't be accepted due the curse.

As time passes, Yuki accustoms himself to live together with Kyo and Tohru, and though he is often at odds with Kyo, he develops a strong affection for Tohru. So when Tohru briefly returns back home to her grandfather's house, Yuki and Kyo go to her grandfather's house due to being bothered by her department, and listen in from the outside as Tohru reveals that she wants to spend more time with the Sohmas and live with them. Kyo and Yuki eventually arrive to take Tohru back to their home, and Yuki thereafter lashes out at Tohru's male cousin for treating her unwell. The three then walk home together, hand in hand, and Tohru joyfully moves back in with the Sohmas.

Yuki and Kyo arrive back home.

For the following months, Yuki takes a part of his school's cultural festival, and gets to know Tohru's friends Arisa Uotani and Saki Hanajima. During New Year's Eve, Yuki and Kyo unhesitantly planned to spend it at the Sohmas' family estate for the banquet as Tohru insists that they go with Shigure to celebrate while she stays in the house. However, on their way there, the Sohmas encounter Saki Hanajima, where she points out that Tohru will truly feel alone as it would be the first time she will spend the New Year without her mother. This causes Yuki and Kyo to rush back home, mentioning that they "want to go home", whereupon Tohru is tearfully happy that they're back. Later, Tohru, Yuki, and Kyo climb up to the rooftop to watch the sunrise to start their new year together.

The year starts with Yuki catching a slight fever, though he still competes against Kyo during an endurance run, though they are interrupted by Hatsuharu Sohma. As Yuki watches Haru and Kyo duel and Tohru asks if he also likes martial arts, Yuki has flashbacks about Akito and suddenly collapses from the fever. Hatsuharu transforms into an ox to take Yuki back home. Back at Shigure's house, while Yuki is asleep, Hatsuharu tells Tohru his story with Yuki and how he saved him. When Yuki wakes up from the fever, he turns into his rat form when Hatsuharu tells Tohru to call him by his given name.

Yuki gives Tohru a ribbon.

On Valentine's Day, Yuki and Tohru accompany Kyo and Kagura Sohma for their double date. After the end-of-term tests, Momiji Sohma invites Yuki, Kyo, and Tohru to visit a hot springs inn owned by the Sohma family for White Day. The next day, the four visit the inn and spend the night there, where Yuki also presents a ribbon to Tohru as his return gift afterword. Momiji later reveals that he and Hatsuharu will be joining their high school as first years, which surprises Yuki.

Second Year Arc

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Before Summer Vacation

Tohru defends Yuki from Akito.

On the first day as a second-year student, Tohru meets Akito Sohma and when Yuki sees Tohru with Akito, he rushes towards them. Akito confronts Yuki for skipping the New Year's celebration, in which Yuki begins quivering in fear. Suddenly, Tohru pushes Akito away to protect Yuki. After Akito leaves the ground, Tohru realizes that Yuki needs to clear his mind and invites him to play badminton with her, her friends, Kyo, and newly-enrolled Momiji and Haru. After playing badminton until the sun sets, Yuki thought about the things he had always wanted: a parent who would hold him close, a home he wanted to return to, a place where he could laugh with everyone, a "himself" that no one would leave, as well as a warm place and a warm person, which he had come to find in Tohru.

A few days after Yuki's meeting Akito, Yuki's older brother Ayame visits the house, much to Yuki's displeasure. Ayame confides in Tohru that the brothers are not close for years partly due to Yuki's childhood isolation and wishes to reconcile with Yuki, particularly after hearing Akito confronting Yuki at school and is concerned it would depress him. Although Ayame is unsuccessful in getting closer to Yuki, Yuki does acknowledge his brother wanting to bond with him.

Yuki discovers the hat.

At the first anniversary of Kyoko's death, Yuki asks to accompany Tohru, Saki, Arisa, and later, Kyo, to Kyoko's grave, where he pays his respects to Kyoko. As the sun sets and they return home, Yuki is shocked to discover a hat in Tohru's room, the same hat which he gave to a girl he initially forgot about in his childhood who indirectly saved him; leaving Yuki to suspect it might be Tohru. Following this incident, Shigure brings Yuki, Kyo, Tohru, and Hatori to the Sohmas' lakeside house for a short vacation, though Yuki and Kyo remain silent since visiting Kyoko's grave due to their respective emotional turmoils. Tohru is afraid it is because she is a burden, but they reassure Tohru that they were preoccupied and not at all angry at her, though when they started arguing, Tohru is happy that they are back to normal. Ayame also visits the lakeside, much to Yuki's annoyance.

After meeting with Kisa Sohma again, who had temporarily become mute due to being bullied constantly, Yuki disagrees with her teacher's words that Kisa needs to find the good in herself in order to recover and move on, as Yuki believes that one can recover only when someone else accepts them for who they are, referring to Tohru's acceptance of him. Kisa finally speaks in agreement, and resolves to better herself by returning to school. Yuki also resolves to move forward; unwilling to consider the offer earlier, he now accepts becoming the next student council president by Makoto Takei, who had constantly pestered him about it before as well.

Yuki watches from the window as Tohru runs after Kyo.

During summertime, after meeting with some Zodiacs after a while again, Yuki is shocked to witness Kyo's adoptive father, Kazuma Sohma, removing Kyo's bracelet from his wrist and thus exposing his true form in front of Tohru. Yuki can only watch at Tohru's back as she runs after Kyo, which surprises him greatly for a reason; Yuki later reveals that it's because, for the first time, she looked like a “woman” in his eyes. The next morning, Yuki is very unsure of his feelings and decides to put a “lid” on them as to not make his negative feelings spill out. However, he is also sure that once he has gotten it together, he will be able to face his feelings. Yuki's uncertainty attracts Hatsuharu's attention and brings it up with Tohru, who is also worried about Yuki, and Hatsuharu later tells Yuki that it is alright to stay silent on his feelings but he should not make Tohru worry. Yuki soon reassures Tohru that he strives to better himself gradually.

At one point, Yuki asks Ayame if he could visit his costume store, which the latter happily accepts. Tohru joins as well, and together, they find more about Ayame's shop and his seamstress, Mine Kuramae. When the brothers are left alone for a while, Ayame brings up the upcoming parent-teacher conference and offers to accompany Yuki, though Yuki wants to bring their parents despite not having been in contact for a long time. Ayame then advises that regardless of what their parents think, Yuki should follow his own feelings, that he is not a tool for others, and that he is not alone to help him. Both brothers though acknowledge the need to accept their differences and move on from them.

Yuki after meeting Kakeru and Machi for the first time.

After interacting more with his fan club and Motoko Minagawa, an unknown boy and a girl who seems to know who Yuki, take notice of him. And as summer vacation nears, Yuki begins to prepare for his new student council duties. When he enters the student council room, he officially sees the unknown girl, Machi, who is surrounded by papers cluttered around the room. Yuki asks if she is okay, but Machi retreats and insists that she is fine. She thereafter calls for the unknown boy, Kakeru, who was sleeping in a nearby room. Kakeru then introduces himself and Machi as the new vice-president and treasurer respectively, which shocks Yuki greatly. Yuki is soon dragged out by Kakeru, and when the latter makes fun of him for his feminine appearance, Yuki becomes annoyed. However, Kakeru only laughs and tells Yuki he is an interesting guy. Yuki thereafter tells Tohru how he thinks that both of them weird people, but the fact that Kakeru said he was interesting, something that no one else had said to him, made him very happy.

During Summer Vacation

Yuki "confessing" to Tohru.

As time goes on, Yuki becomes increasingly uneasy in Tohru's presence due to knowing that she was the girl he saved when they were younger and the one he gave his hat to. As summer vacation arrives, Yuki head to the Sohma beach house along with Tohru and the other Sohmas. During the vacation, after thinking about Tohru's cap, his childhood, and when he was confined by Akito, Yuki tells Tohru that his "lid is slowly opening" and that there is something he needs to tell her, but is not yet ready to (in regards to their mutual past about Tohru's cap). After being confronted by Akito by said matter, who also joined them at the beach, Yuki finally comes to realize his own feelings. Yuki eventually thanks Tohru for always accepting and helping him, kisses her forehead, and admits to himself, but not to her, that she is so very dear to him. This surprises Tohru greatly and she spends much time thinking about it, and Yuki later apologizes for confusing her and doesn't expect any answer from her, but does say that he won't apologize for the kiss. Tohru is just confused about what Yuki was so sad about and wanted to convey, but Yuki says that he will tell her eventually. For the rest of the remaining days at the beach, Yuki "introduces” Tohru to Rin, he wonders if he will be forced to stay by Akito's side at times along with the other zodiacs, and he also refuses to fight Kyo again because he knows about how he has made him into his scapegoat and how he can't defeat him because of their predestined fates.

After Summer Vacation

Kakeru tries to understand Yuki.

When Yuki returns to school, he takes over completely as the student council presidents and meets the two secretaries: Kimi Toudou and Naohito Sakuragi. Yuki is unsure if he can manage such eccentric people, but decides to do his best, as he had promised himself. Yuki also tries to find more about Rin and why she dumped Haru, and in the process learns that it was only thanks to Haru that he could live with Shigure, and she calls him a weak idiot. Haru later apologizes for Rin and assures Yuki that his kindness and weakness is valuable and that he will find someone who understands him. During the parent-teacher conference, Yuki's mother's attempt to dictate his future is broken up by Ayame's flamboyant arrival, which gives Yuki the strength to tell her he will decide his own path. As he continues spending more time with the student council, his annoyance towards Kakeru grows, and although they are initially at odds and even fights once, they come to understand each other and Yuki mentions that spending time with others might not be so bad.

During the second year's school trip, Yuki spends time with Kakeru and Kimi, and learns that Kakeru is "interested" in Tohru, but not in a romantic way. Yuki tells him that he will never forgive him and never speak to him again if he hurts Tohru, though he is embarrassed about his childish words. However, when Kakeru confesses that he has a girlfriend he is crazy about, Yuki starts admiring him for the fact that he can freely say that he loves someone. He also realizes that he doesn't dislike the new parts of himself. After returning from the trip, Yuki gives Machi a red maple leaf as a souvenir, and although she initially didn't want one, she seems to like the gift. When Machi trashes the student council room again, and Kakeru asks Yuki to overlook it, Kakeru tells Yuki that Machi is his younger half-sister, and until recently their two mothers fought over who is the family heir, a battle that still affects Machi. Yuki realizes that himself, Machi, and Kakeru live with the burden of their parents. When Yuki requests for his mother to fill in his phone contract, he is shocked to hear her say something so motherly for the first time. When Machi returns to school, she swears that she will never continue with her destructive tendencies again. Yuki, however, tells Machi that wording it that way will only put more pressure on her, and that it will not solve any of her problems, and that both sides need to understand why she does things like that, though Machi is unable to answer.

Later, when Yuki is accidentally locked in a storage closet, he has a panic attack and the thing Akito said to him during summer vacation resurface. Machi ends up breaking down the door with a chair because she felt like he might not like being alone and helpless, and Yuki gives his thanks to her. Yuki later confides in Kakeru that being alone in that dark room made him recall something “painful”, something he thinks is pathetic and pitiful. Yuki then admits to him that he has always been looking for a “mother” in Tohru.

Third Year Arc

When Tohru falls from a cliff and is hospitalized, Yuki looks after her until the ambulance arrives. He also visits her in the hospital on many occasions to keep her company. However, upon realizing that Kyo had not visited Tohru even once, he was enraged. Partly because he had made Tohru cry, and because Yuki acknowledged that Kyo was much more capable than anyone else. Yuki later confronts Kyo at home and consequently beats him up about not going to see Tohru in hospital, how Yuki idolized Kyo and wanted to be like him, and about how much he really made Tohru happy. After the confrontation, the two boys began seeing eye-to-eye, and after Yuki heard that Kyo idolized him too, Yuki broke down in tears.

As Yuki returns to school, he is shocked to realize that he hasn’t really been struggling that much with Tohru’s absence that much. This is thanks to, as Yuki describes, the support of people around him, specifically Kakeru and Machi. Thanks to their support, Yuki also realizes how self-aware he has become and how much he has grown. Then Machi calls him up out of the blue for a little impromptu gift exchange. Machi gives him fertilizer while Yuki gives her a Mogeta figurine. Towards the end of their meeting, Machi is able to confess to Yuki, and they finally realized that they needed one another to be complete.

As time went on, Yuki began thinking that he wanted to tell Machi about the Sohma Curse and his own history as the Rat. Despite the risks and the fact that he could only hope that she'd would accept him, he also expresses how he wants to be with her forever. At a later date, Yuki calls Machi and asks her to meet him at a certain spot. As Yuki was getting ready to tell Machi the truth, his curse breaks unexpectedly, so he instead embraces and confesses his feelings towards her. Machi asks him if she could call him by his first name, to which Yuki happily accepts and kisses her. They soon become a couple, and they visit Kakeru and his girlfriend Komaki Nakao together.

Epilogue

Towards the end, Yuki gives Machi the key to the apartment he will be staying in while he attends college. When she rejects it, he jokingly attempts to throw it out of the window. This made Machi flustered and she embarrassingly accepts the key. Machi then expresses that she will lonely once Yuki graduates and moves away to attend college, but she also tells him that she'll catch up to him. Yuki is happy by hearing this and replies that he'll wait for her.

At the end of the day, Yuki goes home to Shigure's house for the last time. He and Kyo casually greet one another, and Yuki asks him if he could speak to Tohru in private. Kyo tells him that Tohru is in the living room, and before making his way there, Yuki tells Kyo to stay level-headed and calls him a "stupid cat". This puts a smile on Kyo's face, and he, in turn, explains that he needs no looking after and calls Yuki "stupid rat". This makes Yuki smile as well.

When Yuki sees Tohru and is welcomed home by her, he is endeared by the gesture since he wouldn't be able to hear a "welcome home" from her anymore. He goes on to explain how happy he is for her sake, and how much her kindness, strength, encouragement, and support has helped him grow into the man he is today. In connection to this, Yuki is finally able to tell Tohru his true feelings: that she had existed as a mother-figure for him. Although he is a bit embarrassed about his true feelings, he expresses how grateful he is for meeting Tohru and how she has been by his side. Yuki repeatedly thanks Tohru for everything she has done and finally calls her by name: "Tohru", and they exchange a handshake. This makes Tohru, overwhelmed with emotions, cry. The scene fades out to one of many memories Yuki shared with Tohru, Kyo, and Shigure in their house.

The Three Musketeers Arc

Yuki is shown hand in hand with Machi while they are on a date. It is mentioned by Ayame that after Yuki had his first kiss, Ayame sent him a bouquet of flowers to congratulate him, and although Yuki thanked him, he also comically told him to never do something similar again. He also talks with Ayame on the phone and tells him to "lay down in his eternal slumber", comically distressing Machi.

Fruits Basket Another

Yuki and his family.

At some point, Yuki married Machi, having one son named Mutsuki Sohma between them. Mutsuki mentions that Yuki and Machi are very loving parents, and that they have a family tradition of waking up early whenever the snow would pile up, and then make trails of footprints in the snow. Thereafter, they would have breakfast together as a family.

When Mutsuki entered middle school, Yuki told him about the Sohma family and its former Curse, as well as his own history as the Rat. Mutsuki then expresses how he was happy that Yuki had told him, and then tells Yuki about how he was glad that he and Machi were his parents, that he is glad that he lives with them, and lastly that their home is the place he always wants to come home to, since it was always fun and warm. Upon hearing this, Yuki breaks down in tears and Machi comforted him. It was this day that Mutsuki realized that people cry when they are happy, too.

Silhouettes of Yuki and the others.

Yuki is also seen in a memory flashback as silhouettes with Tohru, Kyo, Machi, Hajime's unknown younger brother as Mutsuki played with Hajime when they were younger. Mutsuki mentions that it must be very special for Yuki and Kyo to see Mutsuki and Hajime, their sons, get along as well as they do, especially considering their initial antagonized relationship as teenagers.

As stated by Mutsuki, he lived with his parents in town until he moved from home to attend the school they attended, Kaibara High. Mutsuki mentions that even though their home is very clean now (as opposed to both Yuki and Machi's messy rooms during their teenage years), they have a "secret" that no one knows about. Mutsuki is also very messy and proudly admits that he takes after his parents in that aspect.

Appellation

• Family
• Friends
• Sohma Family

Image	Name	What they call Yuki	What Yuki calls them
	Ayame and Yuki's Mother	Yuki	Mom (母さん, Kā-san)
	Ayame Sohma	Yuki	Big Bro (兄さん, Nī-san)
	Machi Kuragi	President (会長, Kaichō) Yuki-senpai / Yuki (from Chapter 131)	Kuragi-san Machi (from Chapter 73)
	Mutsuki Sohma	Dad (父さん, Tō-san)	Mutsuki

Image	Name	What they call Yuki	What Yuki calls them
	Tohru Honda	Sohma-kun Yuki-kun (from Chapter 14)	Miss Honda (本田さん, Honda-san) Tohru (from Chapter 136)
	Kakeru Manabe	Yunyun Yuki	Kakeru
	Arisa Uotani	Prince (王子, Ōji)	Uotani-san
	Saki Hanajima	Yuki Sohma	Hanajima-san
	Kimi Toudou	Yunyun	Toudou-san (once) Kimi
	Naohito Sakuragi	President (会長, Kaichō)	Nao
	Motoko Minagawa	Yuki	Minagawa-san

Image	Name	What they call Yuki	What Yuki calls them
	Kyo Sohma	Yuki Damn Yuki (くそー由希, Kusō Yuki) Rat (ねずみ, Nezumi) Stupid Rat (馬鹿ねずみ, Baka Nezumi)	Kyo Stupid Cat (馬鹿ネコ, Baka Neko)
	Shigure Sohma	Yuki-kun	Shigure
	Kagura Sohma	Yun-chan	Kagura
	Momiji Sohma	Yuki	Momiji
	Hatsuharu Sohma	Yuki	Haru
	Hatori Sohma	Yuki	Hatori
	Akito Sohma	Yuki	Akito
	Kisa Sohma	Big Bro (お兄くん, Onī-chan)	Kisa
	Hiro Sohma	Big Bro Yuki (由希兄, Yuki-nī)	Hiro
	Ritsu Sohma	Yuki-san	Ritsu
	Isuzu Sohma	Yuki	Rin
	Kureno Sohma	N/A	Kureno
	Kazuma Sohma	Yuki	Master (師範, Shihan)

Differences from the source material

• Yuki's appearance differs between the manga and the anime adaptions:
  • The 2001 anime depicts him with purple hair and matching purple eyes.
  • In the 2001 anime, his school uniform is black instead of dark blue like in the manga and 2019 anime.
• In the manga, Yuki was verbally, emotionally, psychologically abused by Akito in the manga. In the 2001 anime, he is also shown to have been physically abused, as he was whipped by Akito as well.
• Yuki's hat is completely removed from the 2001 anime, leaving no connection between him and Tohru.

Yuki restrains Kyo in his true form.

• Yuki's role in the true form arc in the 2001 anime is different from the manga and the 2019 anime.
  • When Kyo runs away after having his true form exposed, Kagura Sohma talks with Yuki, saying that only Tohru can help Kyo, which, in turn, convinces Yuki to find Tohru, due to his affection for her.
  • When they find Kyo, he lashes out at Tohru, but she is saved by Yuki, who restrains him. After Tohru was able to talk with him about the situation, she carries him home in her arms, with Yuki following.
    • In the manga and 2019 anime, Yuki only watches by the window and notices Tohru's view from the back as she is following Kyo. This specific moment is later crucial in Yuki's development. This possibility wouldn't exist in the 2001 anime.
  • The next day, Kagura is also seen treating Yuki's injuries from Kyo's attack.
• Since the 2001 anime didn't cover the entire manga and since the manga was still ongoing while it still aired, there are notable differences in the ending:
  • Yuki among others also accompanies Tohru to the Sohma main residence to see Akito. Yuki and Shigure restrain Akito from hurting Tohru further when he lashes out at her, and when she begins to feel sympathetic, Akito eventually realizes that Tohru accepts the Sohma family curse.
  • The 2001 series ends on a bright future day with Tohru, Yuki, and Kyo back at the residence where they live.
• It is also implied that Yuki genuinely and romantically loved Tohru in the 2001 anime, just like Kyo loved her. This is also due to the fact that the revelation that Yuki actually had been seeing in a "mother-figure" in her hadn't been revealed in the manga. Towards the end of the series, Yuki realizes how much strength he had gained by loving Tohru.

The Rat of the Zodiac

Yuki is Cursed by the spirit of the Rat of the Zodiac. Whenever he is hugged by the opposite sex, or if his body goes through a great deal of stress, Yuki transforms into his Chinese Zodiac form. Like all the Cursed Sohmas, their respective animals are drawn to them; and in Yuki's case, Rats. The Rat is the first of all zodiac animals.

He has grey-colored hair due to sharing similar traits with his animal, the Rat. In Chinese culture, Rats are clever, quick thinkers; successful, but content with living a quiet and peaceful life, which applies to Yuki rather well.

The Rat of the Zodiac is considered to be the closest to "God", and therefore seen as a sign of wealth and surplus. According to the Chinese Zodiac, the order would be decided by the order in which they arrived at his party. The Rat tricked the Ox into giving him a ride. Then, just as they arrived at the finish line, Rat jumped down and landed ahead of Ox, becoming first.

It is later revealed in the true Chinese Zodiac Legend that the Rat drank God's water willingly and first out of everyone. The water was a spell that would make all the Zodiacs and God's friendship last for all eternity, that they would be reborn again and again and no matter how many times they were reborn the bond of their friendship would remain.

Because of being born as the Rat, Yuki automatically became one of the highest members of the Zodiac. However, his parents took advantage of Yuki's position to earn the wealth for themselves, and they sold Yuki; the Rat, off to Akito; the God. Because of this, Yuki was abused by Akito for most of his childhood, and was not able to take part in any other activities, since he had to be bound with Akito at all times.

Yuki in his rat form from 2001 version.

Yuki in his rat form from 2019 version.

When Yuki's curse broke, he was subconsciously aware of it and broke down in tears. Although he was left with a bittersweet feeling, he was finally able to hug Machi and mentioned that doing so was more than enough. Yuki's curse was the last and overall thirteenth to break.

Creation and conception

According to Natsuki Takaya, when she was developing the series, Yuki was one of the first three characters she developed. To distinguish Yuki from Kyo and vice-versa, Takaya deliberately gave them different tastes in clothing. When Takaya first drew Yuki, she thought he would be Fruits Basket’s second main character. She has also stated that despite Tohru being the main protagonist of the story, Yuki “carried the shows' themes” and that Fruits Basket is a story that showed the initiatory story of his.

Trivia

• According to the Fruits Basket Character Book:
  • Yuki and Kyo are the only cursed Sohmas whose names aren't part of the poetic names for the months of the year. Natsuki Takaya states that the origin of his name was that: "The sound Yuki just popped into my head."
  • Takaya states that she believes Chinese-style clothing suit Yuki's androgynous nature, and that she deliberately gave Yuki and Kyo different styles to distinguish them farther.
  • Yuki hates accessories, and likes wearing things with a thin and light feel.
  • Yuki's hands are so clumsy that he can't even fold paper cranes.
  • After Yuki opened to Kakeru, he tended to keep his nails shorter.
• According to Natsuki Takaya’s Twitter:
  • She intentionally made Yuki consciously decide to change his own style.
  • Even though Yuki is horrible at cooking, he has gotten better at it.
  • Yuki’s alcohol tolerance is relatively strong.
  • Yuki’s father does exist, but he has abandoned everything and isn’t often present in family life.
  • After Chapter 72, (or Season 2, Episode 15), Tohru doesn’t wear the ribbon Yuki gifted her again. This is possibly due to Tohru realizing that Yuki has grown a lot and doesn’t need her support as much.
• Yuki has a secret vegetable garden near Shigure's house. He calls it his "secret base", and no one besides Tohru knows about it. Apparently, Yuki's reason for growing vegetables are similar to Ayame's reasons for making clothes.
  • In Fruits Basket Another, Yuki's son, Mutsuki, has revived the garden.
• Yuki is not a morning person. When he first wakes up, he is basically sleep-walking, though he is a far better fighter when he's half asleep. But if something pushes his buttons, he will snap awake.
• Yuki is known for his bad cooking; Shigure once begged him not to cook.
• Saki points out that Kyo and Yuki's great dislike for each other is similar to a cat and mouse (especially since they are the zodiacs of the cat and the rat).

Navigation

[v · e · ?] Fruits Basket Characters Main Characters Tohru Honda  •  Kyo Sohma  •  Shigure Sohma  •  Yuki Sohma Sohma Family Zodiacs Akito Sohma  •  Ayame Sohma  •  Hatsuharu Sohma  •  Hatori Sohma  •  Hiro Sohma  •  Isuzu Sohma  •  Kagura Sohma  •  Kazuma's Grandfather  •  Kisa Sohma  •  Kureno Sohma  •  Kyo Sohma  •  Momiji Sohma  •  Ritsu Sohma  •  Shigure Sohma  •  Yuki Sohma Others Akira Sohma  •  Ayame and Yuki's Mother  •  Hinata Sohma  •  Isuzu's Father  •  Isuzu's Mother  •  Kagura's Mother  •  Kana Sohma  •  Kazuma Sohma  •  Kisa's Mother  •  Kyo's Father  •  Kyo's Mother  •  Momo Sohma  •  Momiji's Mother  •  Momiji's Father  •  Okami Sohma  •  Ren Sohma  •  Satsuki Sohma  •  Tohru and Kyo's Son  •  Tohru and Kyo’s Daughter-in-law  •  Tohru and Kyo’s Granddaughter Secondary Characters Kaibara High School Arisa Uotani  •  Chie  •  Hiroshi and Yusuke  •  Kakeru Manabe  •  Kimi Toudou  •  Machi Kuragi  •  Makoto Takei  •  Mai Gotou  •  Mai Iwata  •  Mayuko Shiraki  •  Mio Yamagishi  •  Minami Kinoshita  •  Motoko Minagawa  •  Naohito Sakuragi  •  Rika Aida  •  Saki Hanajima Others Akimoto  •  Delinquent Trio  •  God of The Chinese Zodiac  •  Cat of The Chinese Zodiac  •  Katsuya Honda  •  Kyoko Honda  •  Komaki Nakao  •  Kunimitsu Tomoda  •  Megumi Hanajima  •  Mine Kuramae  •  Mitsuru  •  + Minor Characters Relatives Arisa's Father  •  Kyoko's Father  •  Kyoko's Mother  •  Machi's Mother  •  Mayuko's Mother  •  Saki's Father  •  Saki's Grandmother  •  Saki's Mother  •  Tohru's Aunt  •  Tohru's Female Cousin  •  Tohru's Male Cousin  •  Tohru's Grandfather Fruits Basket Another Main Characters Sawa Mitoma  •  Hajime Sohma  •  Mutsuki Sohma  •  Shiki Sohma Sohma Family Chizuru Sohma  •  Hibika Sohma  •  Kinu Sohma  •  Mina Sohma  •  Riku Sohma  •  Sora Sohma Students Amane  •  Chiaki Hasada  •  Michi Manabe  •  Mio Hasegawa  •  Mito  •  Rio Mosca  •  Ruriko Kageyama Others Sawa's Mother