Event Year: 1986

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

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

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, 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,