That Isn't What I Want!

As the school throws itself into preparing for the culture festival, Yuki puts words to a private truth he has never shared with anyone. The episode threads his long conversation with Kakeru against the mounting stress of a class production that both boys have been pulled into.

Yuki traces back why he once urged Tohru to move into Shigure's home, an act rooted partly in defiance of the family and its curse, and explains to Kakeru that she accepts him with all his flaws and lets him taste what being loved feels like. He admits the shift came after watching her chase Kyo in his true form, when he started seeing her as a woman rather than a girl and grew embarrassed, even flirting in a way that felt false. Kakeru counters that Yuki clings to a maternal image only because he cannot bear having lost her to Kyo. When Kakeru hurls a soccer ball at his face, the two trade heated blows with it, and Kimi arrives worried the paint fumes have sickened Yuki. Yuki notices his nausea has lifted, crediting the relief of finally speaking his mind, and resolves to tell Tohru someday.

At home, Tohru frets to Shigure about memorizing her lines, and Shigure delights at learning Kyo will play the prince, much to Kyo's irritation. Rehearsals go poorly, with Tohru floundering as the wicked stepsister and pushing for Kyo's part to be reworked so he might actually show up. Yuki scolds Kyo for skipping practice, and Kyo snaps that Yuki sails through life while he barely stays afloat, then punches a window and cuts his hand. Later Kyo finds Tohru waiting with the revised script, and unable to speak he simply rests his head on her shoulder, leaving her flushed as they head home together.

The title comes from a line of Yuki's, and the handshake shared between him and Tohru is actually pulled from Chapter 136 of the manga. Adapting Chapters 86 and 87, the anime lengthens Yuki's reflection on his feelings with extra dialogue, shortens Tohru's anxious rambling about her stepsister role, and drops small manga beats such as Kyo muttering about being spotted and Mine eyeing nervous girls out of her dress-up habit.