The fights... These were sort of interesting to me. Yes, very violent as usual, and equally painful to watch, but they got me thinking. First I'll start with Ruka's fight (even though it came second).
Ruka is the only one that's actually fought back against Sosuke in a physical manner. And I'm very happy that she managed to get some good hits in there herself. Sosuke deserved that and more, so I'm hoping she gets to add to it in the next episode. He so needs his butt kicked, and I'm hoping she'll be the one to do it. Though by this point, I'd even settle to Ogurin kicking his butt if that's who it's got to be, just because I want to see it done.
And needless to say, I'm really hoping that Sosuke doesn't do anything worse to her in the next episode, though I'm kind of scared, considering it was pretty much implied that he raped Michiru in that earlier episode. So, if the cliff-hanger is leading to where it looks like, I can see it coming, but I hope he gets his ass handed to him by Ruka before he can actually make it happen.
Now for Takeru's fight... I found it kind of interesting to see that Sosuke had to basically pull a cheap shot and hit Takeru when he wasn't expecting it at the top of the stairs. It kind of makes me think that Sosuke feels inferior to Takeru (that scene with Takeru telling off Sosuke in front of the sharehouse is coming to mind - the one where he got all super cool and tall looking next to Sosuke ;) ) and that he figures in a fair fight, one on one with Takeru, that he would lose.
I get the impression that Takeru is the "Alpha-male" for lack of a better term (at least in Sosuke's mind), seeing as how in that other encounter, Sosuke basically left with his metaphorical tail between his legs. I'd be curious to see what kind of damage Takeru could have done back, if he hadn't just fallen down a flight of stairs. Cheap move Sosuke, but it just proves how much of a coward he really is.
Now, Ruka on the other hand, is attacked without the element of surprise and she is able to fight back. It's like even though Sosuke does see her as a male, and fights her as if she were one, she is a 'lesser' male and less of a physical threat to him. That or he just wants to make Ruka's fight more personal, because he has a larger grievance against her. I don't know what his motives for making this fight a more fair one would be... but I'm really starting to feel for his neighbors that must have had to listen to many so fights in that apartment by now. Perhaps their walls aren't as paper-thin as mine seem to be.
Either way, it's clear to see that both attacks were planned out (the first because Sosuke was waiting for Takeru to come by) and the second because Sosuke called the sharehouse, and said something to make Ruka come to his apartment. It's just strange that Sosuke would plan to deal with two people in such different physical manners, and it makes me want to know the 'whys' for Sosuke's actions.
Oh, and I loved the breaking of the cup handle at the end of the episode. It's like forshadowing, but more like at-the-same-time-shadowing. Made me think of the other time when Sosuke was beating Michiru while the others were playing cards. The two ideas mixed in together add a nice touch to a very powerful scene.