"Tenchi, who did better?" Ryoko slurred as they went searching for lunch.  "Me or Ayeka?"

            "It doesn't matter, Ryoko." Tenchi sighed.

            "It was me, I just know it!" The pirate finished the sentence with a few exaggerated 'la la las' to prove her point.

            "You were great." Trowa caught her as she wobbled with intoxication.  "You should come with me and get something to eat."

            "I don't know what's gotten into you allasudden." She hiccupped, and tried to balance herself, but her heel slipped out from beneath her.

            Trowa managed to keep her upright, both arms around the girl's waist.  "And some coffee."

            She looked up.

            "You need coffee." He insisted.  "And lunch.  We could go together.  Understand?"

            Ryoko peeled his arms off of her.  "I wanna go with Tenchi, though!  You've got sumthin up your sleeve, I know it."

            This was harder than it looked.  "I guess I could ask Ayeka…"

            "Don't do that!" She spat out quickly.  "You're too cute for her!  People would stare."

            "So you're coming?"

            Ryoko bit her lip, but nodded.

            In the end, Trowa and Ryoko left for lunch, Heero, Quatre, Ayeka, Sasami, and Mihoshi went for pizza and a game of bowling, Duo and Kiyone disappeared mysteriously, and Washu led Wufei off by the ear, muttering something about 'damn slackers.'

            "Eep!" Ayeka exclaimed as the bowling ball went crashing down the lane into the gutter.  "I'm sorry, Heero."

            Heero checked the scoreboard with irritation.  Ayeka hadn't knocked down a single pin the entire game, and they were losing to Quatre and Mihoshi.  Sasami had wandered into the arcade and was busy playing.

            "Good try, Ayeka." Mihoshi smiled warmly.  "Try not to throw the ball up in the air like that, okay?" She went to the ball return and picked up the bright orange one she was using.  "Wish me luck, again!"

            "Luck again!" Quatre cheered.  "But you don't need it, you're a natural!"

            She huffed happily.  "Thanks, but I'm not actually an environmentalist.  Woo!  Another strike!"

            The leading team celebrated another score, much to Heero's displeasure.  After all, he shouldn't be losing to them!

            "Now watch." He instructed Ayeka grimly.  "Do not throw the ball straight up.  Do not aim for the gutters.  Do not shut your eyes before throwing the ball, because the noise is too loud.  Don't freak out, because there is nothing scary in the finger holes.  Don't complain because the bowling shoes are ugly.  Am I forgetting anything?"

            Ayeka sniffled.  "Your manners?"

            'Mission compromised.' Heero chided himself.  'I guess I have to forfeit victory to achieve the bigger goal.'  "Sor… sorr… sorry." He shook his head at the pathetic word.  "I get caught up in the competition.  Now watch." He knocked down seven of the pins and turned around.  "Did you see how I did it?"

            "Hm?" She snuffled behind a tissue.  "I blinked.  I missed it."

            'Patience… patience…' He clenched his fists.  "Oka~y… I'll do it again." He managed to knock down two more pins with the second ball.  "Did you see that?"

            Ayeka nodded.  "That's amazing!  How did you get the ball to go all the way down the alley like that?"

            "Haven't you listened to anything I've said?!"

            "No… it's your fault for being boring!  When you take a princess out, you should really have some poetry prepared."

            Heero raged.  "How's this: horses are brown, mud is too, knock down the damn pins, or I'll knock down you!"

            Quatre grabbed his friend's shoulder.  "Chill out!  Chill out!  It's just a game."

            "That was a neat poem, Heero!" Mihoshi clapped.

            "Mihoshi!" Ayeka was full out crying now.  "Can't you see he's making fun of me because I can't play the stupid game right?  Boo hoo!"

            "Sorry, sorry, sorry…" Heero wondered why the word wasn't working… it took so much effort to say it, it should bring about some results.

            Quatre and Mihoshi won the game.

That evening:

            The pilots were retiring to bed after an exhausting day of… ugh dating.  Well that was one point of view being shared, anyway.

            "She likes me less now than she did yesterday." Heero grumbled, setting up camp on the floor again.  "It's useless… she's too… girly."

            "That's the point, I think." Trowa had his arms folded behind his head just like the night before.

            Quatre was studying the ceiling intently… anything to take his mind off the lumpy bed.  "I was trying not to complete the assignment… but Mihoshi had different ideas.  It was actually a lot of fun today."

            "Speak for yourself." Wufei was pretending to be asleep again.  "This was the most miserable day of my life.  I got totally chewed out by that maniac woman for not being chivalrous or something."

            "So what happened to you?" Trowa didn't specify, but everybody knew he was talking to Duo.  "Complete the assignment yet?"

            "Actually," Duo looked stunned.  "She didn't say it.  I did everything right, but she didn't say it."

            "Neither did Ryoko…" Trowa flashed a concerned expression.  "Strange thing is, she's said it to me in the past.'

            "Women… don't try to figure them out, your brain will explode.  Or worse, you'll figure them out and be obsessed with flowers and candy for the rest of your life." Wufei pretended to snore.

            "Well, bowling doesn't work." Heero advised.  "I think the competition was too much for her."

            Quatre shook his head, smirking.  "She was handling the competition just fine.  I think it was the poem that pushed her over the edge."

            "Poem?" Duo leapt up expectantly.  "Heero made a poem?"

            "I don't want to talk about it." The poet replied.

            "Aw, come on!  This is a once in a lifetime event!  I can't believe you made a poem!  Did you hold your hand over your heart while you recited it?"

            Heero momentarily appeared from his low-profile sleeping arrangement to slug Duo.  "Forget it."

            "Ow, oww!" The god of death retreated.  "Okay, I'll ask Quatre… what was it?"

            "Not really worth repeating.  Something about horses, mud, and pins.  I think there was some mild profanity, too." The blonde tried not to laugh.

            "Mud… how romantic." Trowa muttered.  "Leave it to Heero to use all the best lines before we can think of them."

            "Speaking of which, did you pick up any good tips from Washu, Wufei?" Quatre asked.

            "Let's see." Wufei was still pretending to sleep.  "Oh I remember: talk to a girl.  Valuable advice, isn't it?"

            "So what did you do, Trowa?" Duo returned the question.  "If she didn't say 'it,' what did she do?"

            Trowa thought about it before answering.  "Well, after all the coffee, she got a splitting headache and became very irritable."

            "Ouch." Duo sympathized.  "Not the headache treatment."

            "You should have told her a mud poem.  That would have cheered her up." Quatre snickered.

            "Stop bringing that up!" Heero warned.

            "Anyway," Trowa smiled at the mention of the poem.  "She insisted that there was only one thing that would make her happier, and I thought I might know what she meant…"

            "You scored?!" Duo gaped.  Four pillows buffeted him in the face.

            "She told me to take her right that instant-"

            "You did!" Duo felt confident now that he was holding all the pillows in the room.  "I'm really surprised!"

            Trowa glared at him dangerously.  "Shopping.  She told me to take her shopping."

            "You didn't do her?"

            Quatre turned bright red and threw a pager at Duo's head.  "Be quiet and listen!  Trowa is obviously saying that he didn't…" The red deepened.

            "No, that came later." Trowa smiled at the four blank stares.  "Just kidding."

            "Trowa!" Quatre was gradually turning pink.  "You're doing that on purpose!"

            "So we went shopping… for shoes, and jewelry, and makeup.  Oh the horror.  It simply would not end."

            "How did you survive?" Wufei sat forward in anticipation.

            "I don't even know.  After the third hat, I really thought I'd just die on the spot.  But then, miraculously, her headache really did go away, and she was ready to go home."

            "And then you did her." Duo nodded knowingly.

            "If I had something else to throw…" Quatre shook his fist.  "It'd be crashing into your head right about now."

            "Yeah, thanks for the pager!"

            "Give that back!"

            "But when we got back, she ran over to Tenchi and started showing him all the things she bought." Trowa shrugged.

            "You endured shopping for nothing?" Wufei was moved.

            "Well not nothing."

            "See!?" Duo pointed.  "I told you he-"

            Quatre interrupted the comment by strangling the unsuspecting pilot viciously.  "No more!  Stop acting so PG-13!"

            Heero raised his eyebrows.  "That random act of violence is also PG-13, Quatre.  So what, then, Trowa?  She slap you for groping her in the street this afternoon?"

            "I was 'catching' her.  There's a difference… at least I didn't-"

            "Don't mention the poem, or you'll see an R rated violent moment." Heero looked dead serious.

            "Okay." Trowa complied.  "Stop killing Duo so I can finish my story."

            Quatre stopped choking his victim and looked at his hands in disbelief.  "Wow… didn't know I had it in me.  Okay go on… what happened?"

            "So then," Trowa waited for Duo to stop coughing.  "She told me 'thanks for being such a good sport,' and gave me this." He held up an envelope.

            "What is it?" The other four asked in unison.

            "I don't know… haven't opened it yet."

            Everybody groaned.  "Open it!"

            Trowa looked unimpressed with their interest, but opened the envelope.  He took out a letter and read it with a strange look on his face.  "Hm."

            "WELL?!" Duo was practically jumping up and down.  "Did you complete the assignment?  Did she say it?"

            "Are you going home already?  You deserve it after that shopping trip!" Wufei also looked very excited.

            "It says: Let's go shopping again tomorrow.  Only, no groping my in the street this time." Trowa blanched.  "Maybe there's still time for me to self destruct?"

            "More shopping?!" Quatre burst out laughing.  "How're you getting out of it?"

            "It also says: PS Maybe I'll look for some exciting sleepwear while we're out." The color in his cheeks returned.  "Well that sounds more like her…"

            "Haha!" Duo looked triumphant.  "You know what that means!"

            "Don't tell us." Quatre snapped.  "You've already said enough."

            Duo ignored the short-tempered demand.  "Trowa's getting lucky!"

            "Oh my god!" The blonde looked infinitely angry.  He started wringing Duo's neck again.  "Shut up!"

            "It doesn't mean anything." Trowa tossed the letter aside and relaxed again.  "It's in Ryoko's nature to be suggestive.  Doubtless, I'll just go shopping again.  Now stop murdering Duo so we can hear what he did today."

            "Quatre… stop it." Heero ordered.  "This is ridiculous."

            Quatre discontinued his out of character outbreak and narrowed his eyes seriously.  "Fine.  But you better clean up your attitude, Duo, or I'll tell Washu how disrespectful you've been acting."

            "Hmph." Duo snorted and rubbed his sore neck.  "No wonder you're failing this class, Quatre… you've got a real short fuse, don't you?"

            "Actually, he does." Trowa said.  "Remember that time in Wing Zero?"

            "Oh… like you've never created destruction on a massive scale." The sensitive pilot abandoned all hope of sleeping on the 'torture bed' and retired to the floor.

            "So what did you do?" Wufei looked tiredly in Duo's direction, ignoring Quatre's complaining.

            "Er… well, we got arrested a little bit."

            Apparently, Heero found that funny.  "Figures.  What for?"

            Duo shrugged innocently.  "We were walking around town, and Kiyone pointed out an apartment building she used to live in.  It was abandoned and everything, so we weren't doing any harm… or anything… I guess."

            "You broke in?" Trowa concluded quietly.

            "Well, she didn't really want to, but I thought it was a great idea!"

            Wufei collapsed back into a sleeping position, obviously disgusted with this story.  "Breaking and entering… yeah, great idea."

            The storyteller deflected the sarcasm.  "What was I supposed to do?  It was for the assignment of course.  And the perfect setup, too!  I mean really perfect… after I convinced her to come up through the window, she went into this completely different mode!"

            "Different mode?" Heero wondered out loud.  "There's more than one mode?"

            "Yeah!  She got all nostalgic like, and was touching the walls and remembering stuff… you know, the way girls get?"

            "Is this… 'nostalgia mode' constructive towards the assignment?" Heero probed for more information, doubtlessly planning to use it on his 'target.'

            Duo nodded in thought.  "Sure… she opened up and wanted to talk about all kinds of stuff all of the sudden.  That's a good thing, right?"

            Quatre's hand appeared from his position on the floor, giving the 'OK' signal.

            "That's what I thought.  Okay, so she was telling me about her detective work and things like that, and I was like 'uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh,' and I was trying to be a good listener but geeze!" He caught his breath.  "They can go on forever!  Just talking and talking and talking and… well I thought I held the record for the longest run-on sentence, but as of today, I have to admit that title doesn't belong to me anymore!"

            Trowa frowned at this information.  "I've noticed that.  Very talkative."

            "Argh." Wufei moaned.

            "And then, a cop just happened to be passing by just then, and noticed the broken window, and he decided to check it out.  Kiyone spent the whole rest of the day explaining things at the office."

            "Was she angry after that?" Quatre was fading into sleep.

            Duo grinned.  "Nope.  Apparently, she's used to bad luck and major disappointments.  And she mentioned some disturbing things about your girlfriend, Quatre."

            "Like what?  Do I even want to know?"

            "Well, Kiyone says that Mihoshi is a really lucky person-"

            "That's not bad…"

            "And she also says that everybody around Mihoshi automatically become the least lucky people alive."

            Quatre gulped.  "Yeah… I believe it."