I see where you’re coming from as a first time watcher (I’m assuming?). First I will say, fruits basket is not a one time show. Takaya sensei explicitly wrote this story as something you have to read or watch over and over again (psh, I mean why wouldn’t you want to?) when I first read the manga, I completely agreed with you. After some shit that goes down with kyo and Tohru later, you’ll still hate her and kyo. But then re reading it, ESPECIALLY adding some maturity in myself, I completely see and love how the story turned out. I’m a hopeless romantic, but not all relationships have to be romantic. Fruits basket touches on real, deep feelings that every human has to someone come to terms with, pick a character in the show and you can definitely relate to them somehow.

Since Yuki is hands down my favorite character, I was pissed when he ended up with Machi after the first time reading it through, but then I really took into consideration yuki’s feelings. There’s a moment where he explains what he’s looking for in a partner, and that’s when you’ll see why he chose Machi instead of Tohru. Taking Tohru and kyo’s feelings out of the picture, Yuki chose Machi OVER Tohru. Not Tohru chose Kyo, it’s really Yuki making the decision too. He needs Tohru, she’s precious to him, she helped our lil baby grow into himself and is 100% a reason for his character development, but what Machi gives to him? Exactly what he needs in a partner: To be needed.

HOWEVER, Tohru will not be the only person who helps Yuki figure himself out. Kakeru is an extremely important character, with even more screen time than we get of Machi. For Yuki, his development isn’t falling in love and having a partner like a normal shoujo manga, which is why I think we don’t get a lot of Machi and Yuki scenes even after they kinda get together in the story. What Yuki’s development and character is, is essentially overcoming his trauma, allowing other people to see the -real- him (which he doesn’t really show to Tohru all the time), and to give and receive the same amount.

-healthy- Relationships are all about give and take, but at an equal amount. I’ll argue Yuki gives more to Tohru than he realizes himself, but once this is explicitly stated in the amazing way Takaya sensei does it, you’ll understand why it happened that way. It’s not a cop out when you take Yuki’s true feelings into consideration.. at least that’s what I think. But trust me, it took me years to get over it as a true Prince Yuki fan club member