...in which everyone wonders why Touya and Yukito have no girlfriends and we laugh our heads off

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The Seijou High basketball team looking impressive and intimidating. Not for long, though.

Yukito's lightning dribble. The little smile on his face is more than enough to make any defender lose all nerve.

Yukito dribbles past a forest of basketball jocks with hardly a sign of exertion. He does it all in a  rather adorable fashion.

3 plushies later, the basketball team is completely done in. But then of course, Yukito's not human. Amusingly enough, the basketball captain seems to have conceded defeat even before Yukito got started.

Them Seijou High students are twisted. Cross-dressing. Aieee. Oh well, at least they are enjoying their roles. Much less could be said for Touya.

Bit of irony there with Yukito being magical. I shall never view mackerel quite the same way again. He makes quite a cute can of mackerel though... and this shot shows off his eyes to full kawaii effect.

Touya with pink dangling earrings, puffed sleeves and huge billowing pink dress (and looking very put upon) is a sight to behold.

When the balcony gives way with Touya on it, Yukito does this rather hysterically, a marked departure from his usual tone of voice. He even attempts to fen4 bu4 gu4 sheng1 and rush up the crumbling prop to rescue Touya.

Youko's love confession fails, but she gives fangirls reason to hope.

Touya's silent acknowledgement gives fangirls reason to celebrate. (Well, who else can it be?)

Contrast the 3 very different expressions. Tomoyo is, as usual, ecstatic over filming Sakura's latest romantic encounter. Shaoran is exceedingly dismayed about losing Yukito to his rival. Touya just looks... strange. Contemplative? Definitely lost in thought.

The focus of everyone's attention, Yukito and Sakura. As usual, Yukito is not doing anything to lessen Sakura's crush on him. He tends to drag Sakura off with him a lot and shower her with dazzling smiles, giving her all sorts of wrong ideas. Tsk tsk.

Touya looking rather wistfully in Yukito's direction. One could only guess what he's thinking. All the same, it's something that we haven't seen before... up to this point, anyway.

Banscylla's Corner:

Right... so now, the question is: what stage is their relationship at right now?

At this point in time we only know about Touya's feelings for Yukito (well-nigh undeniable, they are). The relationship is still a little one-sided at the moment. (Though this holds more-or-less true for quite a long time, owing to Yukito's apparent obliviousness)

However, it seems to be a tough issue he's still wrestling with. Look at that scene with Youko. He is initially reluctant to tell her that he's in love with someone else; she guesses it first and even then he only closes his eyes and nods in acknowledgement. Almost as though he is reluctant to admit it to himself. Compare this awkwardness to the manga scene with him and Nakuru Akizuki. In that scene, he pushes her away and firmly tells her that he loves someone else, so back off. The difference between these 2 scenes may be that in the second he is much more definite about his feelings, while episode 14 is early times yet. (Of course it may also be that Akizuki doesn't deserve any soft-pedalling, while Youko is too nice to brush off roughly.)

Nevertheless, to continue with my little theory,  I think the conversation with Youko sets Touya off to seriously mull over the nature of his relationship with his best friend. Not to say that he has never given it any thought: he probably has, being the introspective person he is. But this is the first time he has openly admitted it to anyone, for I believe the squealing Seijou High girls who were also disappointed never merited something as frank as this. The frankness doesn't seem to come easily, he doesn't admit it readily (why a silent nod? why not a self-assured 'yes'?), so it strikes me as an inner decision just being reached. In an abstract way, telling an outsider about something like that is also a pledge of commitment to the relationship.

And after that conversation, Touya seems rather more introspective than usual. For this, refer to that unreadable look on his face in the closing scenes. I stared at the screen capture and couldn't decide on just what was going on in his head. (I'm certified lousy at empathy or face-reading) What I see there is not simple love or adoration (so familiar to observers of Sakura and Shaoran). The first shot has him staring at Yukito as though he were seeing him for the first time. The second shot is even more intriguing. Serious and thoughtful, certainly, and there's something wistful around his eyes. Slight sadness about the mouth. Very interesting.

It's what is broadly categorised as 'lost puppy eyes'. I wish I could be more specific than that, but I'm quite bad at interpretation. One thing is strongly implied: he has serious feelings for Yukito. See the contrast between him and Shaoran. While Shaoran is entertainingly frantic with dismay, Touya is quiet and contemplative. You know, that thing with true love vs silly infatuations? (argh, I promised myself never to think of R+J again!)

So, what is he thinking about? No definite answers (which, by the way, I hate), so take a guess...

Hmm. It's probably something I'll leave to the angst writers. 

Interesting observation about Yukito: when Sakura asks him where Touya has disappeared off to, Yukito smiles and tells her cheerfully that he is on some 'business', obviously very unbothered by the knowledge that Touya is at this very moment receiving a love confession from a girl. So, he doesn't perceive Youko as much of a threat? Very confident, isn't he? Or is he being oblivious again?