Chapter 3:

Chapter 3:

'Hey Tenchi, hey Ryoko. Dinner'll be ready in a minute, take a seat.' Sasami said, taking a break from dinner preparations as Tenchi and Ryoko entered the house.

'Thanks Sasami, I'm just going to get changed.' Tenchi replied, heading for the stairs.

'In that case, can you help me set the table Ryoko?'

'Only if you don't tell anyone I helped, wouldn't want to give them the wrong idea about me.' Ryoko said, giving Sasami a wink. Sasami giggled and headed back to the kitchen 'She only helps me when she's in a good mood, she got a hug from Tenchi or something.' Half way through setting the table, Mihoshi and Kiyone walked in, back from another minor incident near Saturn, Ryoko teleported up to her rafter before they saw her.

'Hey Kiyone, hey Mihoshi. Could you finish setting the table for me, I have to go keep an eye on the rice.'

'No problem Sasami.' Kiyone said enthusiastically. 'Kiyone's normally really depressed when she comes back from a mission in space with Mihoshi, guess Ryoko's not the only one who had a good day.' Sasami thought to herself while stirring the rice.

Soon, the table was set and everyone was enjoying another one of Sasami's meals. Kiyone was talking to Ayeka, Washu and Nobuyuki about the incident in space, praising Mihoshi because she actually managed to do something right. Mihoshi was telling her own version of the story (which sounded suspiciously like the cop show she'd seen last night) to Sasami who listened in awe. Ryoko, Tenchi and Katsuhito were discussing various sword-fighting techniques.

As dinner was drawing to a close, Ryoko heard an all too familiar voice in her head:

'Little Ryoko, time to go turn on the TV.'

'Why?'

'Because there's a Soccer match on and I'm sure Tenchi will join you.'

'Well, if you're sure. You're normally right.'

'I'm always right! After all, I am…'

'The greatest scientific genius in the universe.' Ryoko finished for her.

'You're learning, now go.'

Ryoko got up and floated towards the TV.

'Hey Ryoko, where are you going?' Tenchi asked.

Ayeka was about to scold her for leaving the table early, but decided that she'd talk to Tenchi instead, they'd hardly said a word to each other since dinner began.

'There's something on TV I wanna watch.' She replied turning the TV on, then she froze realising what she'd forgotten to ask.

'Channel 4.' Came the reply to the question she was about to ask.

Turning to channel 4, she saw that it was the pre-match show that had just started, kick-off wasn't for another 15 minutes. Ryoko sat back on the couch and watched as the presenters discussed the possible tactics of the teams, trying not to think about how she could just leave Tenchi with Ayeka (who were now talking about how well her tree had grown in the unit Washu had provided).

After 10 minutes, dinner was officially over and the crowd started to disperse. Katsuhito called it a day and headed off to the shrine, Kiyone and Mihoshi headed out for their evening patrol (Kiyone praying that Mihoshi's competence would hold out until at least the end of the day), Ayeka decided to go and see how Ryu-oh was doing, following Washu into her lab. Sasami and Nobuyuki cleared the table and headed off to do the washing up. Tenchi declined Ayeka's offer and headed off to see if thee was anything good on TV.

He reached the TV and saw that it was already on 'I forgot that Ryoko was here, maybe I should go to my room…' He thought to himself 'Although, she hasn't tried anything on me today, so maybe I'm safe. I'll take the risk, if she tries anything I can always talk my way out of it.'

'Hey Ryoko, what're you watching?' He asked walking over to her.

'Just a Soccer match.' She replied not taking her eyes off the TV.

'Really, I love Soccer' He said sitting down next to her 'Who's playing?'

'France and England, it's a world cup qualifier and it's just about to start.'

'I didn't know you liked Soccer.'

'I didn't know either until recently.'

'So how much do you know about it?'

'I get most of the basics, but some of the more complex things I just don't understand.'

'Don't worry, I'll explain anything you don't understand.'

'Thanks.'

The players made their way onto the pitch and the match got underway. Less than a minute had gone and there was already a foul.

'Tenchi, why was that a foul? I thought that you were allowed to push people'

'You're only allowed shoulder barges, you're not allowed to push with your hands.'

'I see.'

The match continued that way for the rest of the first half, Ryoko asking Tenchi the odd question about the rules, talking about the game, who they thought was going to win etc. When half time came and England were Tenchi decided to get some drinks.

'Ryoko I'm going to make some tea, do you want anything to drink?'

'Tea sounds fine.'

'K, I'll be back in a minute.' He said as he walked off towards the kitchen. 'Looks like she hasn't tried anything thank god…not even a hug…to be honest, I feel almost disappointed that she hasn't, could I actually miss it? No, that's just stupid, I hated it when she did it… but then, if that's the case, then how come it doesn't seem so bad when I look back on it? I think I've been up too long today, this is just crazy talk.' He pushed the thought aside as he returned to the couch with the tea.

'Here you go Ryoko.' He said, handing her a cup of tea

'Thanks Tenchi.' She replied, taking a sip.

'What did I miss?' He said sitting next to her and taking a sip of his own.

'Nothing really, they're just talking about the goals.'

'Yeah, half time's always boring.'

'Fortunately, it's almost over.' Ryoko said as the view switched back to the pitch as the players made their way back out.

'Do you think England will be able to come back from being 2-nil down?' Tenchi asked.

'Not by the way they were playing in the first half.'

'I agree with you, after all France are the world cup champions.'

'I didn't know that. If England lose this are they out?'

'No this is the group stage, they can still qualify if they lose.'

'You're going to have to explain this group thing to me tomorrow.'

'Sure, it's not that hard to understand.' Tenchi said as the whistle blew for the second half to start.

The second half turned out to be a lot less interesting than the first and about 10 minutes into it, Ryoko found herself resting her head on Tenchi's shoulder. When she realised what she was doing she was surprised that Tenchi didn't object:

'That's odd, normally he would at least tense up, but I didn't notice anything. That means he probably hasn't noticed… Or maybe this is really starting to work.' She thought, smiling to herself. Tenchi had noticed, but he was also smiling to himself:

'I guess I did miss this after all. No that's not it, I like this because it's a lot subtler, and I don't even think she knows what she's doing. If she'd thrown herself at me, I would have hated it… wouldn't I?'

Tenchi's thoughts were interrupted as England scored a goal and the fans in the crowd went wild.

'Well that was unexpected.' Ryoko said sitting up and taking more of an interest in the TV.

'Yeah, I wasn't even really watching because it was so boring.' Tenchi replied, also taking more of an interest in the TV.

The match got more interesting and Ryoko and Tenchi watched intently as England desperately tried to equalise. All of England's efforts turned out to be in vain as the final score stayed at 2-1.

'Wow! That game just turned from being dull as hell to interesting in only a couple of minutes.' Said an excited Ryoko.

'Yep, that's one of the reasons I like soccer; you never know what's going to happen.' Replied Tenchi as he got up yawning and stretching. 'I think I'm going to call it an early night, you should stay and watch the after match programme, it'll tell you about the groups better than I can.'

'Alright, I'll see you in the morning then.' Said Ryoko, trying not letting disappointment show in her voice. Tenchi didn't seem to notice.

'Goodnight Ryoko.'

'Goodnight Tenchi.'

'Shame he goes to bed so early, that was really nice, just him and me. Hopefully this'll become a regular event.' Ryoko thought to herself and turned back to watch the TV.

'Much as I'd like to keep watching, I'm just too worn out. I need to get my rest for tomorrow.' Thought Tenchi as he plodded up the stairs to his room. Ryoko continued to watch the TV.

Well, that's chapter 3 done, bit short I know, hopefully the next one will be longer. Sorry for the delay, but exams are coming up and I'll only be able to work on this in my spare time, sorry.