Maison Ikkoku

Godai decides that since its Kyoko's first Christmas at Maison Ikkoku, this would be a great opportunity to buy her a present and tell her how he feels. As will become the norm, he chickens out when the Ichinose's arrive. Meanwhile, he learns from Akemi that Kyoko is already seeing someone and these suspicions are confirmed when he finds a sleeping Kyoko mention someone named ""Soichiro"" on the roof.

With his entrance exams bearing down on him, Godai just can't seem to focus. Kyoko decides its up to her to stop the other tenants from interrupting his studies, but what she doesn't know is that Godai's thoughts slip everytime she's in the room. And just as things are about to settle down...the power goes out. Kyoko's determined to fix the problem and Godai offers his help, but is he really trying to be a good tenant, or does he want Kyoko all alone in the attic?

Test time has finally arrived for Godai. As he does all the last minute cramming he can get away with Yotsuya, Ichinose, and Akemi take bets on which school's will reject him. Kyoko does her best to keep them out of Godai's way, but it doesn't do any good. As Godai heads off to take his tests, he misinterprets Kyoko's words of encouragement as a sign of affection, and can't stop thinking about it long enough to do well on a single test. With only one school left, Godai faces another year as a ronin, or overcoming all his distractions to become a full-fleged college student.

Godai's grandmother arrives to inform Godai that if he doesn't get into a college, his family will no longer let him stay in Tokyo. Godai does his best to hide from her, but with Kyoko's help they finally track him down, just in time to realize he's going to get to go to college.

The secret sadness that Kyoko has kept hidden for so long is finally revealed as Godai realizes that Kyoko is a widow. Visiting Soichiro's grave, Godai asks for whom he is offering incense ad realizes that it is Kyoko's late husband. Afterwards, as the two of them walk home, Godai can't help but feel that he has no chance to win Kyoko's heart from a dead man.

Mr. Otonashi offers Godai a job tutoring Ikuko, who insists that if she is to have a tutor that it must be Godai. Seeing this as a way to endear himself to Kyoko and to earn a steady paycheck, Godai agrees. Kyoko begins to worry when the other tenants put the idea in her head that Godai might have a thing for Ikuko, and tries her best to resist the idea of Ikuko having a new tutor.

Celebrating their arrival into college life, Godai and Sakamoto go out drinking. Feeling depressed about his situation with Kyoko, Godai confides in Sakamoto, who recommends a bit of liquid courage to help Godai tell Kyoko how he feels. Once they arrive back at Maison Ikkoku, Godai not only tells Kyoko how he feels, but the entire neighborhood as well. After his announcement, he marches off to his room with Kyoko in his arms, seemingly ready for a night of passion!

Mrs. Ichinose decides that Kyoko's been much to glum lately with worrying about Godai's confession and her always looming regret over Soichiro's death, so she signs them both up for tennis lessons. The neighbors confide that the tennis coach is someone they'd have no problem leaving their husbands for. The tennis coach, Shun Mitaka, upon meeting Kyoko instantly becomes enamoured with her, and little does Kyoko know, but Mitaka will become the man she'll come to depend on quite a bit over the next few years, and after Godai's recent antics, she has no problem accepting his friendly overtones.

A depressed Kentaro confides to Godai that his family is too poor to ever take him on a vacation. This reminds Godai of his on youth, when he had to stay and work at his family's restaurant while all the other kids in his class went on their summer vacations. Godai happily agrees to take Kentaro to the beach so that he won't have to suffer the teasing of the kids in his class. Mrs. Ichinose is reluctant to leave Kentaro alone with Godai, so Kyoko offers to go along with them, which Godai decides to use as a chance to get close with the Manager. Soon his happiness fades when Ikuko decides to come as well, and Mitaka arrives at Maison Ikkoku to drive everyone there. Feeling extremely dejected at all the new company, Godai makes the discovery that the children have smuggled Soichiro, the Manager's dog, into the car with them. Pulling over to take a break, Godai learns that Mitaka is deathly afraid of dogs, and discovers his rival's one weakness.

Kentaro's time with Ikuko at the beach has developed into a crush on his part. Now everytime Ikuko comes over to study with Godai, he finds a reason to study alongside them. When Kyoko realizes this, she decides to cook them a dinner in hopes of helping Kentaro get to know Ikuko better, but once Godai is invited, the sparks between he and Kyoko seem to overtake those of the children.

Godai decides its finally time to ask Kyoko out for a movie date, but when he arrives at Maison Ikkoku, he finds Kyoko heading out for a night at the opera with Mitaka. Feeling extremely put out, Godai runs into a former co-worker named Kozue Nanao, who he ends up taking out in Kyoko's place. Things really heat up when Mitaka's car breaks down and Godai and Kozue run into Mitaka and Kyoko. The rest of Kyoko's evening is spent angrily thinking about Godai's supposed two-timing, while Mitaka tries to let Kyoko know how he feels about her.

As Godai attends his classes, he notices a mysterious dark-haired woman following him around campus. Letting his imagination run wild, he assumes she must be infatuated with him. Once she finally confronts him, Godai learns that her name is Sayoko Kuroki and that she wants him to join the Puppet Theater Club. When the (mostly female) club members start calling at all hours of the night asking for Godai, Kyoko gets the wrong idea about Godai's new female friends and has a payphone installed.

Godai finally gets the courage to ask Kyoko on a date, but with this being the anniversary of her moving to Maison Ikkoku, Kyoko considers it as only a friendly gesture. But things quickly fall apart as Godai and Kyoko go to different restaurants to wait for each other. Godai ends up in the proper place waiting hours for Kyoko to finally realize her mistake. Once they meet up with each other, she's very apologetic, and Godai is only too happy to take advantage of her feeling sorry for him. And even though Kyoko is willing to let him go a bit further than usual, Godai's luck runs out when he tries to steal a kiss.

A campus festival brings Kyoko to Godai's college, in tow are the rest of the tenants hoping to have a bit of fun at Godai's expense. When a sudden departure from Godai's Puppet Club brings Kyoko into a staring role, will Godai's feelings get the best of him and ruin the play?

Kyoko twists her ankle while playing tennis and both Mitaka and Godai blame themselves. The other tenants can't help but feel sorry for their injured Manager, and everyone seems to think the only thing that will make her feel better is food! But how many courses will it take before the Kyoko makes herself sick?

Godai gets depressed over the rain, remembering that some of the worst events of his life have occured on rainy days. Kozue visits Maison Ikkoku and her skirt gets stained so she and Kyoko have snacks together while they wait for the skirt to dry. Kozue asks about Godai and learns that Kyoko is a widow. Kyoko remembers trying to flirt with Soichiro when she was in high school . After Kozue leaves, Godai runs into Kyoko, and she invites him to share an umbrella with her as they head home.

With Christmas just around the corner, Godai has to decide what he's going to get for Kyoko this year. He spends all his money on a set of earrings for her, but Kozue spots the present over lunch and assumes its for her. Godai has no choice but to give it to her as he had totally forgotten to buy anything for Kozue. Seeing Kozue so happy cheers Godai up a bit, and she did give him a hat that he really liked, so he tries not to think about the fact that he now has nothing to give to Kyoko. After laying on the floor for a bit, Godai remembers that he never gave Kyoko the present he bought her last year and goes on an all night search of his room trying to find it. The next day, Godai gives Kyoko her brooch, and she gives him a scarf. Godai is completely surprised and overjoyed at this, until he finds out Kyoko gave everyone a scarf (including Mitaka) to thank them for helping her when she was sick.

When New Year's comes around almost everyone at Maison Ikkoku has vacation plans. Yotsuya is going to visit his family, and the Ichinose's are visting relatives. The only people staying behnd are Kyoko, Godai, and Akemi. Kyoko and Akemi decide to watch the New Year's festivities on TV in Kyoko's room, and Akemi invites Godai to join them. On New Year's Even though, Akemi gets a call from her friends asking if she wants to go skiing in Wajima. Akemi accepts, but then feels guilty about leaving Kyoko alone with Godai. Kyoko reassures her that she'll be fine, so Akemi leaves. When Godai arrives, Kyoko tries to keep the fact that Akemi isn't home from him for as long as possible. Once Godai finds out, he starts planning ways to force himself on Kyoko, which all backfire. By the end of the night, Kyoko thinks he was the perfect gentleman and asks him to go to make offerings at the shrine with her.

Godai takes a late vacation over Winter break to visit his family in Niigata. While he's there he plays rugby with his old high school team and gets a black eye. Since he's so embarrassed about his appearance, he delays coming back until his eye heals. Kyoko gets worried and starts wondering why Godai isn't coming home. While making a delivery for his parents restaurant, Godai crashes into a telephone poll and gets a second black eye. His family refuses to let him stay with them any longer and he heads back to Tokyo. Once he gets home, an angry Kyoko chastises him for not calling but can only laugh once she sees his face.

Godai and Sakamoto go out drinking with friends and Sakamoto gets Godai completely drunk. While he's in his druken stupor Sakamoto asks Godai to take care of his new pet cat while he goes out of town, and when Godai learns its name is Kyoko he happily agrees. The next morning, Godai wakes up in Sakamoto's apartment and doesn't remember a thing. After some convincing, Godai reluctantly agrees to take care of Sakamoto's cat, but is worried because he thinks Ikkoku has a no-pets policy. He manages to sneak the kitten into Maison Ikkoku, but his troubles begin right away when the cat uses the bathroom on his futon. As he screams her name in anger, the manager runs to his room to see why he was calling her. Before long the other tenants find out about Kyoko-chan. The kitten and Godai quickly bond and the other tenants manage to keep it a secret from the Manager while its staying with Godai, but once the cat goes missing Kyoko finds out and has to help him find her.

Godai walks home from the laundromat, wondering how he's going to dry his clothes on the dangerous clothesline at home when he notices a strange man walking behind him. As he gets closer to Maison Ikkoku he notices the man is still following him. Godai goes inside and sees the man peeking over the wall. He quickly tells Kyoko, and they both go outside to investigate. They find the man hiding behind a telephone pole and Godai yells at him, causing him to run away. After a few verbal insults from Godai, Kyoko nervously tells him that the man was her father. Back his apartment, Kyoko's father, Mr. Chigusa and his wife Ritsuko argue about how stupid he must be to get caught at Maison Ikkoku. Kyoko calls and argues with her mother, but agrees to visit them the following Sunday. When Kyoko arrives at their apartment, she and her parents get into a knock-down, drag-out fight, and they tell her they want her to leave the slum that she's working at, and change her name back to Otonashi. Kyoko l

The tenants are shocked as Kyoko's mother tells them that Kyoko will no longer be the Manager of Maison Ikkoku. As soon as she walks out the door the movers rush in to pack up her room. Mrs. Ichinose goes into a rage after Yotsuya mentions that the previous manager also left this way. She doesn't believe that Kyoko could be anything like him, and that she always thought they were like an extended family. She continues screaming about how betrayed she feels when Godai collapses to the floor and begins crying uncontrollably. Ichinose hauls Godai down to ChaChaMaru so they can get drunk and tell Akemi what happened. Yotsuya stays behind in Kyoko's room to reflect on the recent events. A few minutes later, Kyoko arrives, running late from grocery shopping and is shocked to find her room completely empty and Yotsuya standing in the middle. Yotsuya tells her that her mother came and quit for her, then had her furniture moved to their house. Kyoko becomes furious and rushes to find her mother

Godai and Kozue sit in a cafe and stare out the window. Suddenly, she asks him if he owns a tie. Later Godai is putting on his best outfit and getting ready to meet with Kozue. As he attempts to tie his necktie he has a fantasy about Kyoko doing it for him before work. As a result of his daydream, he crashes his face through his mirror. Going downstairs Godai spies Mr. Otonashi and the Chigusa's coming out of Kyoko's room. Kyoko herself then leaves and tells Godai and Mrs. Ichinose that she's going to Soichiro's grave today. Godai begins to worry and tells her to hurry home. As he waits for Kozue in the park, Godai can't help but think that he should cancel the date and go and try to offer support to Kyoko. Suddenly, Kozue jumps out and surprises him. She's thrilled that he found a tie to wear, and they both go to the market to pick out a cantelope. Godai is very confused as they arrive at a nice middle income house. Kozue announces that this is her house and that he is finally getting

As Godai watches Kyoko play tennis, Mrs. Ichinose tells him that things won't always stay the same. She mentions that Kyoko quit being their Manager this year and almost quit being an Otonashi altogether. Mitaka walks over and asks what the two are talking about, saying that he can tell just by looking at Kyoko that something is wrong with her. Soon, the entire Tennis Club is over at the fence talking about Kyoko, who finishes her workout and goes over to see what all the comotion is about. As the group covers up their discussion Godai is invited to play tennis with Kyoko in a mixed-doubles match against Mitaka and Ichinose. During the course of the match Mrs. Ichinose tells Mitaka about the recent goings-on at Maison Ikkoku and how Kyoko's family is pressuring her to remarry. Mitaka immediately takes this chance to tell Kyoko that he agree's with her family and that he would like her to be his partner for life, which Kyoko takes to mean his professional tennis partner. The next day, K

Kyoko visits an old high school friend and her new baby for lunch. The topic of conversation centers on how much Kyoko wishes she had had a baby with Soichiro before he died. Her friend tells her how much harder it would be for her to get remarried if that happened, and Kyoko says she isn't very interested in getting married. As she goes back to Ikkoku, Kyoko begins to weigh her options. She realizes that she would like to have a baby before she hits thirty, and that with Godai she would have to wait a few years, but Mitaka and she could get started right away. Ichinose visits her and tells her that Godai is cleaning his room for Kozue, who is making her first official visit today. Kyoko becomes jealous when she hears this, even though Mrs. Ichinose says Godai didn't brag about the visit, she just overheard him on the telephone. As Kozue arrives, Godai tries to sneak her in, but Mrs. Ichinose catches them, and makes sure she gets Godai to say how jealous Kyoko can be while Kyoko is lis

Kentaro offers to walk Soichiro for Kyoko, but ends up losing him. Kyoko tries her best to reassure Kentaro that Soichiro will find his way home, but in reality she is terrified of never seeing him again. She remembers the day that she and her husband first brought Soichiro home, and how he wouldn't answer to any other name. All the tenants do their best to find the missing dog, and after many false hopes, begin to give up. Finally, Godai finds him at the house of a family a few blocks away and returns him to a greatful and shocked Kyoko.

The tenants are shocked when they begin seeing a mystery man leaving Maison Ikkoku. Soon enough they realize that he is none other than Kentaro's father, Mr. Ichinose! After losing his job, Mr. Ichinose begins having trouble finding a new one, meanwhile Kentaro has a parent/child sports meet at his elementary school, but is too embarassed to ask his overweight, alcoholic mother, and recently unemployed father to come, so instead he asks Godai and Kyoko to come as his sister and her husband. Godai is all to happy to accept, but Kyoko feels guilty. Yotsuya finally tells Mr. Ichinose what Kentaro has planned, and the Ichinose's decide to not only compete, but win the three-legged race.

All the Maison Ikkoku tenants visit a local Fall Festival and Godai and Kyoko even decide to take part in it. A misunderstanding leads to Kyoko falling down a very deep well. Before long Godai realizes that Yotsuya was mainly responsible for the mishap, but when he goes to save her, he gets pulled in as well. Soon Yotsuya drops by but instead of helping, he uses the well in order to partake of his favorite hobby, voyeurism. After he leaves Yotsuya brings Mitaka to the well, but for reasons only known to him, he decides to push him in with Godai and Kyoko. Now a new problem has risen its ugly head...who will help Kyoko get out, and who will stay stuck at the bottom of the well? Soon enough a frightened Kozue climbs down into the well to hide from some locals dressed as monsters, Akemi jumps in to visit with Mitaka, Sakamoto hops in for a visit, Yotsuya returns to join in the fun, and Ichinose drunkenly dives in too! Can Kentaro save everyone else?

Rumors of a wedding between Mitaka and Kyoko are flying, leaving the tenants depressed that they've been kept in the dark. Godai finally decides to confront Kyoko, but a passing train leaves out a key detail, its Mitaka's Sister who is getting married, not Mitaka and Kyoko. A tearful Godai quickly packs up all his things and moves out of Maison Ikkoku before Kyoko can stop him. He finds a new apartment above Galaxy Pachinko and is shocked to find an incredibly sexy girl named Ayako already living there. He finally decides that it won't be too bad living with her until she can find a new place, that is until her Yakuza boyfriend shows up and makes this comfy couple into a terrible three-some. Kyoko is of course too proud to find Godai and tell him what's really going on, but even if she wanted to she couldn't, that is until the movers arrive for Godai's furniture. Getting the address from them, Kyoko visits Godai's new apartment to deliver a package, but instead finds only a half-dresse

Kyoko learns that Godai is living with a woman, and thinks that this is the real reason he left. Godai comes back to the apartment and learns that the Yakuza has pawned all his belongings so that he can have money to gamble. After they refuse to move out, Godai hits the streets in hopes of finding a friend he can stay with. He calls Maison Ikkoku, but a dejected Kyoko lies and tells him all the rooms are full. After walking around all night and not finding a place to sleep, he begins to get really sick. Finally stumbling his way back to Maison Ikkoku, the other tenants see him and chance after him, Kyoko finally grabs him and tells him to come home.

Yotsuya entrusts a mysterious egg to Godai in the middle of the night, before mysteriously leaving Maison Ikkoku. The next morning everyone rushes in to Room 5 as they hear Godai's screams of terror. He thought the whole meeting between he and Yotsuya had been nothing more than a strange dream. When he tells everyone what happened, Kyoko and Ichinose are instantly flummoxed about what Yotsuya could possibly want Godai to do with the egg. Should he eat it, or protect it? Akemi decides to steal the egg and feed it to Soichiro, but Kyoko manages to snatch it back just in time. Over the next few days, Kentaro and Akemi both try stealing the egg, Godai worries over what to do before Yotsuya returns, a strange habit of Mrs. Ichinose's is revealed, and Kyoko becomes obessesed with trying to find out how to tell a hard-boiled egg from a raw egg without breaking it open.

After finishing a tutoring session with Ikuko, Grandfather Otonashi asks Godai to return Soichiro's diary to Kyoko. On the trip home, Godai worries about it bringing back memories for Kyoko, and as soon as he gives it to her, it has the effect he was hoping it wouldn't. As Kyoko flips through the diary, she realizes that Soichiro's life was actually fairly boring. All he would write about was the food he was eating. Until one day when he received a mysterious postcard. But the postcard is missing, having fallen into Godai's bag. Kyoko becomes worried that the postcard was from another woman and searches everywhere for it. Godai notices how depressed she's become, but doesn't know why. He thinks the memory of Soichiro is too much for her to handle. A few days later, he finds the card, and returns it to Kyoko, when she realizes it was a simple postcard from her, she is overjoyed.

Godai wakes up to rustling noise in his room, when he demands Yotsuya stop it, he opens his eyes to see his Grandmother. To his surprise, he was supposed to pick her up, but totally forgot. She wastes no time in scolding him, and embarassing him in front of Kyoko. When she learns from the Manager that Godai has a girlfriend, she insists upon meeting her. Godai takes her to meet Kozue the next day, and they all make a nice day out of it. Grandma pressures him into asking Kozue to marry, much to Godai's horror, but he gets out of it. When they arrive back at Maison Ikkoku, she demands that Godai choose between Kozue or Kyoko. Godai refuses to discuss it with her, until the other tenants arrive and begin to party. The next day, Grandma Yukari learns about Kyoko's friendship with Mitaka and insists upon meeting him. And so, Yukari attends Kyoko and Mrs. Ichinose's regular tennis class and meets Shun. At first he thinks she must be Kyoko's grandmother, and quickly realizes his charms have n

Godai learns that his Grandma has set he and Kyoko up on a date. When he goes downstairs to apologize to Kyoko, she tells him that she's actually looking forward to it, which really gets Godai excited. As Godai and Kyoko head off on their date, Yuakari gives them their itinerary, and then they head off. The first stop is the movie theater, where they run into Yotsuya, after they escape from him, they go to a toy store, where Kyoko gets very excited and plays with everything. Suddenly Mrs. Ichinose and Kentaro walk up and talk to the two. Godai begins to get suspicious and pulls Kyoko out of the store. They hide for a second and then decide to go get lunch, at the restaurant they sit down next to Akemi and Master, and then they know something is really up. They run out of the restaurant and everyone gives chase. They finally catch a break, but it doesn't last for long as the tenants find them again. The rest of the day is spent escaping the Looney Gang. Godai apologizes for the ruined d

Akemi sits in her boyfriend Hiroshi's car as they watch the ships coming into the docks. Suddenly he tells her he's breaking up with her, and Akemi finds another womans earring on the seat. She keeps her cool, and simply walks away. When she arrives at Maison Ikkoku though, she is completely drunk. When she passes out in the entryway, Godai and Kyoko have to carry her up to her room. She wakes up in a daze and kisses Godai. Kyoko starts telling her to pull herself together, and Akemi kisses her! Then Akemi tosses them out. Godai and Kyoko nervously stand in the hall, wiping the lipstick off their lips. The next day, Godai asks Akemi if there is anything he can do for her, but Akemi can't remember why he would ask something like that. Later she does remember and goes downstairs to apologize to Kyoko. In town, Akemi and Godai pass each other on the street, and she gives him a lighter that Hiroshi had given her. Godai begins to think that maybe she likes him, and so he nervously wonders w

When a new mirror arrives at Ikkoku all hell breaks loose. Kyoko orders a floor length mirror for her room and decides to try on her old high school uniform. Before she can take it off, the other tenants bust into her room and try to get her to party with them. They whisk her off to Godai's room, and don costumes themselves. Ichinose and Godai get their old high school outfits, while Akemi dresses as a nurse and Yotsuya as a Buddist monk. They begin acting out little plays until Mitaka arrives. After seeing how much fun Kyoko seems to be having with Godai, he readily joins in, becoming a doctor. They continue to wrestle and get out of control until Kentaro comes home and tells Kyoko how dissapointed in her he is.

Kozue begins to notice that Godai isn't as affectionate with her as other couples in their dating situation seem to be. She begins worrying about why this is happening and turns to Mitaka for answers. He readily instructs her, in hopes that keeping Kozue together with Godai will open up his chances of winning Kyoko. Yotsuya spies on Mitaka and reports back to Godai. Yusaku had no idea that any of this was going on, but decides its time to break up with Kozue. He runs into her and Mitaka at a diner, and Mitaka tells him to say goodbye the right way. Godai thinks this must mean to break up with Kozue, so when he tries to he puts his arm around her, and Kozue gets excited, because all she wanted in the first place was a little more affection from Godai.

As Kyoko cleans out her room, she notices something stuck in the back of her closet. When she pulls it out to inspect it, she realizes its a rock that her late husband gave her. Its quite large and has mysterious green specks in it. Kyoko wonders if it had any special meaning, and asks Godai if he could help her learn something about it. He agrees to try his best and takes it to school with him. Godai meets Kozue at a bookstore later that day and they go window shopping for the upcoming Christmas holidays. Kozue points out an expensive cat brooch that she thinks is cute and so Godai decides to take on as many jobs as he can to buy Kozue, Kyoko and Ikuko presents. He and Sakamoto get a variety of odd jobs including a children's drama show, cashiers and sewer workers. He finally earns enough money and buys the brooch for Kozue, a bracelet for Kyoko and a Dappya doll for Ikuko. He also learns that Sakamoto knows someone in the Geology department that can identify the rock for Kyoko. Meanw

Godai rides the train to its destination, and meets Sakamoto at the appointed cafe. Sakamoto shows up late an sits down, very sullen. He tells Godai that he was able to figure out what the rock consisted of, but that he forgot the rock on the train. Godai panics and they run to the platform's lost and found and to see if anyone turned it in. Unfortunately, no one has, and so Godai and Sakamoto board the train to search themselves. They don't find it and have to come back to their original destination just to ask at lost and found again. When they arrive this time, the attendant says someone turned it in down the line, but when they check into it, they find a rocker, not a rock. Godai begins to lose all hope, and can't believe that he is responsible for losing the only present Soichiro ever got to give Kyoko. Sakamoto says that if he found it he would have just thrown it away. As soon as Godai hears this he leaps off the train and begins digging through the trash cans. Suddenly, he find

The Ikkoku residents decide to visit a hotsprings and Mitaka comes along. The trip starts off badly for Godai as he's forced to carry everyones bags. When they finally get to the hotsprings Godai begins to relax a little until Yotsuya attempts to find a way to peep at Kyoko, Akemi and Mrs. Ichinose on the other side. Godai and Mitaka try and stop him, but Godai gets stuck between the dividing wall and almost drowns. The night gets worse when they learn that Ichinose and Yotsuya spent all the money on booze instead of food. Everyone gets wasted and passes out, but Godai awakens in the middle of the night to find himself face to face with a sleeping Kyoko!

Godai's been feeling depressed about leading Kozue on lately. Kyoko isn't helping, by constantly telling Godai how much Kozue likes him. When he finally decides to end things between them, Kozue surprises him with a new sweater. Unable to do anything, Godai happily accepts the gift and returns to Maison Ikkoku, where he and Kyoko get into an argument, causing her to almost fall off the roof. Godai rescues her in the nick of time, but falls out of his second story window in the process, breaking his leg and taking quite a blow to the head. When he wakes up in the hospital, he finds out Kyoko's taken care of everything, but can't bring herself to visit out of shame. When she finally does arrive, Mitaka shows up and sees that Kyoko's sympathy for Godai might lead to trouble for him. Godai and Kyoko take a walk and embrace each other, almost kissing before an ambulance interrupts them. They're both shocked to see Mitaka in Godai's room, he apparently broke his leg in a skiing accident.

Mitaka and Godai begin to get on each others nerves at the hospital. Mitaka and Mrs. Ichinose notice that Kyoko and Godai seem to have a playfulness about them. Mitaka gets desperate and tries to hug Kyoko after Godai leaves the room, but only gets embarassed at trying so hard. Godai and Mitaka continue to battle for Kyoko's attention, and Kyoko is delighted that they both want her to help so much, but all that changes when Mitaka's group of college girls comes to take over his care. Right after that Kozue shows up and insists on helping Godai, leaving Kyoko with nothing to do. Mitaka and Godai both watch helplessly from their window as Kyoko leaves the hospital, taking just enough time to leave them a message in the snow.

After Kentaro tries to hide a bad grade from his mother, she gets angry with him and yells. He runs into the attic to get away for awhile and finds an old album. He's shocked to find that the album has pictures dating back almost 60 years and that they all have Yotsuya in them! Even stranger is that he looks exactly the same as he does today. Mrs. Ichinose begins to get worried about how on edge Kentaro becomes after finding the album and decides to do something about it. When she mentions it to Mitaka he agrees, and decides to formulate a plan in order to learn more about Yotsuya's past. Godai follows Yotsuya after he leaves for work, and watches him with a little girl on a playground. Godai is shocked when the girl calls him ""sempai"". Yotsuya then moves on to catch a bus. He misses his bus while watching a cat, but sees Godai and gets him to pay for a few games of Pachinko. After that Kyoko dons a disguise and follows him to an oversees refugee organization. While there, Yotsuya sits

Finals approach and Godai is playing catch-up. Because of his broken leg and extended hospital stay Yusaku has fallen behind in all his classes. Sakamoto helps him out though by providing a copy of all his notes and answers to old tests. Kyoko decides that its partially her fault that Godai is so far behind because she still feels that she was the one that caused him to fall and break his leg. So she sets out on a mission to make sure Mrs. Ichinose, Akemi and Yotsuya stay out of his room and don't do any loud partying until finals are over. As the days progress, Godai studies his hardest and finds that Kyoko is being more affectionate than ever, offering to cook all his meals for him and checking up on him from time to time to see how he is progressing. When the tests finally arrive, Godai does his best and manages to get through them all, with the exception of his last final of the semester, Adolescent Psychology. Godai really buckles down the night before for an all out cram session.

Kyoko, Mrs. Ichinose, Kentaro and Ikuko plan a trip to a skating rink with Godai and Mitaka tagging along. The problems begin almost instantly when the rental van seating arrangement leaves Mitaka and Godai sitting up front together with Mitaka driving and Godai in charge of the tape deck. On the way, Ikuko asks Godai to teach her how to skate once they arrive, but he modestly refuses, telling her that Mitaka would be a much better coach. Mitaka also refuses and passes the task back to Godai. Once they arrive everyone learns why. Neither Mitaka nor Godai have a clue about how to skate. They begin stumbling all over the rink, begging Kyoko to help them and refusing the help of Mrs. Ichinose. Kyoko reluctantly agrees to help, when suddenly Akemi and Yotsuya arrive to cause problems for Godai. Soon Godai is laid out on the ice with Yotsuya refusing to let anyone help him, in hopes of fostering a sense of independance in him. Ikuko finally offers Godai some comfort, which enrages Kentaro,

While Godai is out of school for one more week, he and Sakamoto decide they had better get a part time job. Things start off badly when Godai tells his prospective new boss, a tavern owner, that he will only be able to work for one week. Sakamoto scolds Godai for not lying about how long he would be able to work, then the two head off to the local supermarket to buy food. While shopping Sakamoto runs into Kyoko and tells her he'll be staying with Godai. When she notices the meager amount of food in Sakamoto's cart, she gets a bit worried. Mrs. Ichinose arrives and pulls Kyoko off to see something, when Godai arrives and notices Sakamoto staring lovingly where Kyoko was standing. Godai quizzes him on what exactly he was talking to the Manager about, when Sakamoto tells him not to get so defensive. When the two friends arrive at Maison Ikkoku, Kyoko invites Sakamoto to have dinner with her and tells Godai he can come too, causing Godai to feel a bit like a fifth wheel. Over dinner, Sakam

Kyoko finds out that her mother has been very sick lately and is unable to take care of her father, prompting her to go home and help out for two or three days. Godai gets worried that it could be another plot to trick Kyoko into quitting at Maison Ikkoku, but Mrs. Ichinose reassures him that Kyoko is too smart for that. Godai doesn't think much of it for the next few days, but after the alotted time passes he begins to think something may have happened. Trying to shake off his feelings of worry, Godai takes Soichiro for a walk and meets Mr. Ichinose, who is on his way home from work. Being the kind man he is, Mr. Ichinose invites Godai to have dinner with him and the two begin talking. Ichinose instantly guesses that Godai was walking around, hoping to run into Kyoko. He mentions to Godai that he reminds him of himself when he was younger and proceeds to tell him about a woman he used to be infatuated with at his first job out of college. She was a ""jewel in a dunghill"" he says, and h

As Mitaka sits with a nameless date watching a movie, he begins to become very bored with the entire situation. Suddenly, on the screen a dog appears, sending Mitaka running out into the lobby. Taking time to catch his breath, a woman notices him and walks over. It happens to be Akemi, and she notices how ill he looks. As the dog barks, Mitaka gets jumpy again, and Akemi finally learns his dreaded secret, that he is terrified of dogs. Akemi promises to help him overcome his fear. The next day, Akemi leaves Maison Ikkoku happier than anyone has seen her in a long time. She meets Mitaka at the Statue of Hachiko and they agree to go have lunch before they get started, but Akemi wants Shun to try and pet the statue, which he is unable to do. Seeing how traumatizing Mitaka's fear is, Akemi decides she'll need more help, and so she tells Yotsuya, Godai, and Mrs. Ichinose about the Coach's dilemma. When Yotsuya meets with Mitaka, he learns that as a boy Mitaka snuck into a large dog's doghous

As Kyoko returns home from walking Soichiro, the phone begins to ring. She rushes inside to answer it and learns that a new tenant will be arriving the next day. But when she asks for details, the voice on the other end hangs up abruptly. Kyoko goes to work cleaning the floors of Room 3 when Mrs. Ichinose asks if they're getting a new arrival. When Kyoko tells her the news she becomes very excited and asks Godai to go to the store and buy some party supplies while she calls Akemi and gets the party set up. That night, it begins to rain, and the mysterious guests luggage arrives, but he never shows up. The next day a kind older-looking man shows up on the front porch and says that he is the new tenant, Zenzaburo Mitsukoshi. Everyone seems to take to him instantly, and that night during the party Kyoko notices that his yukata doesn't fit him right. Yotsuya jokingly asks if that's because his dead wife made it and he only wears it to remember her. When Mitsukoshi says yes, Yotsuya actuall