A/N: Okay, IT WAS SO STUPID OF ME TO FORGET THAT I HAVE THIS FANFIC CHAPTER TO UPDATE. I would really like to rant again about stuffs in this chapter but that's not what you came for here, right?

So before we go on with the story, I would like to give credit to me friend Chloe-chan for writing a news report for this chapter and A-chan(because I dunno if she'd be happy if I mention her name in an M-rated fic XD) for editing the news.

Also, to you guys who have waited for such a long time and for not giving-up hope on me (_ _). Thank you so much!~ _

Note: As for some of you guys are probably wondering why so fast or why marriage already or stuffs like that…well, they're not actually getting married right after. Ryoma loves Sakuno so it's kind of understandable that he wanted to marry her someday.

For better explanation, just read this chapter and tell me what you think afterwards^_^

You can give me cookies later 3


"Sakuno Ryuzaki..." Ryoma spoke several minutes after.

"Hai?"

He pulled out a box from out of nowhere and opened it in front of her.

"I know this is not yet the perfect time but I'm willing to wait..." he took a deep breath. "I love you and I'll take responsibility... Will you marry me?"

It was a beautiful diamond ring.

"H—hai!" Sakuno practically cried with joy and gave Ryoma a tight embrace, "I love you so much! Of course I will marry you!"

They both lay there in a tight embrace until they fell asleep. Looks like Ryoma is going to stay the night but I'm sure his father could more than understand.


CHAPTER 7

WHAT LIES ON AHEAD

3 years later...

"Well then, I'll be leaving Oba-chan!"

"Be careful on your way!"

"Hai... wait, forgot my purse," she ran back inside to retrieve the purse that was lying at the tabletop beside the mirror. Before picking it up, she took one final glance at her reflection on the mirror.

A woman of twenty-one— with waist-long hair no longer in pig-tails, face not anymore the clueless naiveté of a little girl but with maturity of a woman appropriate for her age and a smile that could enchant any man— stared back at her with chocolate-brown gave one final smile to her own reflection then picked up her purse and headed towards the door.

Just as soon as she opened the door, she stopped dead in her tracks as flashes of lights temporarily blinded her.

She blinked.

"Miss Ryuuzaki. Is it really true that you, and the famous international tennis prodigy Ryoma Echizen, are engaged?"

Before Sakuno could even make it towards the gate, she was suddenly surrounded by tons of reporters and TV crews all swarming around her with microphones set and eager for her much awaited statement.

"Miss Ryuuzaki, is the rumor true?"

"Eh?" Sakuno blinked, surprised. "What rumor?"

"...you and Ryoma Echizen are engaged."

"..."

"When are you planning to get married?"

"How long have you been engaged?"

"You two attended the same school, right?"

"Ah, yes."

"Miss Ryuuzaki..."

"W-wait..." poor Sakuno Ryuuzaki just can't get through, "I...let me through please."

"What are your plans from now on, Miss Ryuuzaki?"

"Miss Ryuuzaki..."

"Miss Ryuuzaki..."

"Mi—"

Beep!

...

There was an abrupt silence as a red sports car parked itself in front of the Ryuzaki household, diverting the reporters' attention.

The commotion went even crazier as the reporters all rushed towards the waiting car, expecting to hear anything from the Prince of Tennis himself that can make the headlines of tomorrow's Sport's World News.

It had already been three years since Sakuno Ryuuzaki accepted Ryoma's proposal to marry him and the years that had passed since then had been altogether good albeit quite crazy every now and then. Although they had been much in love with each other, they had kept their relationship in secrecy to avoid publicity and trouble as well— with Ryoma being a famous international tennis player and all. They even disguised their dates from trips to racket stringers, a visit to a local sports shop to a so called tennis tutorials by Ryoma to Sakuno.

Even though Ryoma was serious about marrying Sakuno that he even proposed at the so-called 'spur of the moment', the both of them are not in a hurry to take their relationship into that level. They wanted to take their time and savor every moment that they have together as a teenage couple. They also have their own dreams to chase, there's college for Sakuno and the tennis world for Ryoma.

After three years, Sakuno graduated as a fashion designer in Tokyo University of the Arts, already working as a designer in a well-known fashion firm. As for Ryoma, well, he just arrived from overseas after grabbing another victorious win, adding another winning streak to his already mile-long record.

"Hey all of you!" it was Sumire Ryuuzaki to the rescue. She heard the commotion from inside the house so she opened the front door to see what was going on only to find a red sports car buried by tons of reporters and a few left also bugging her granddaughter. "What are you doing in my front yard? This is trespassing! Leave now if you don't want me to call the police." Even the angry look of Sumire Ryuzaki that made every Seigaku regulars tremble didn't work as the reporters just stopped and stare for a while before continuing to pest the couple. A job is a job after all— as exactly what you expect from reporters.

The former Seigaku Tennis Club's coach just sighed and grabbed her still shocked granddaughter. She had to fight tooth and nail to get past the stubborn reporters and unto Ryoma's awaiting car. Understanding the situation outside, Ryoma didn't even bother to go out of his car even though he was worried about his beloved fiancée. He was a hundred percent sure that he'll be drowned by reporters if he did that.

It had been that morning when he saw the news headline on the newspaper his father was reading while he was eating breakfast that had him choking on his early morning orange juice:

/*headline goes here*/

(A/N: feel free to suggest^_^ I'll choose the best one after a week – [07-18-16] and update this chapter… because I crap at headlines XD)

Though lacking a formal announcement, word is out that renowned international tennis player "E-san" is in fact, ENGAGED! The mysterious fiancée reportedly works at a prestigious fashion firm. A reliable source reveals that the two have already been engaged for some time but have kept it secret from the prying eyes of the public. The couple went to the same high school and was in the same tennis club. The woman is said to be the granddaughter of their middle and high school tennis club coach…

Ryoma just heaved a deep sigh at the thought just as Sakuno went inside his car, with much difficulty. He could even hear Sumire Ryuuzaki's shout of outrage outside as Sakuno was finally seated safely right adjacent to him.

Ryoma rolled out a tiny fraction of the car's window to utter a word of thanks to his would-be grandmother but before he could say it, his view was already blocked by tons of paparazzi all squishing their cameras or microphones in what little space the window of Ryoma's car had allowed.

His former coach just gave him a smile knowing that she understands his situation and he gave a slight nod to her back.

"That was quite a frenzy." Ryoma asked her as she safely closed and locked the car's door. He waited until she can fully recompose herself before restarting the car and driving as far away as possible from the raving reporters,

"Everything all right?" He asked after a few minutes of driving in silence,

"H-hai," Sakuno gave Ryoma a weak smile, "but I was wondering..."

"That old man's too full of himself."

"Eh?" Sakuno was snapped out of her reverie, "what about your father?"

"My old man 'accidentally'-" Ryoma emphasized the word to indicate its sarcasm, "-let slip to his drinking buddies about my relationship with you. And it just so happens that one of them works at the Pro-tennis monthly."

"Don't tell me…" Sakuno shifted in her seat to face her lover, "I-Inoue-san?"

"That old man really pisses me off," Ryoma grimaced as he recalled the smug expression on his father's face, "and we're supposed to have a wonderful day today…"

Even for three years that they have been together, Sakuno never gets tired of looking at Ryoma's childish expressions. The way his annoyed face seems to give way to a slight puffing of his cheeks, kawaii... Sakuno gave a small giggle at this.

"What?" Ryoma, of course, noticed this and arched an eyebrow at his girlfriend who was still giving him an odd smile.

"It's just that… it's always a wonderful day with you, Ryoma-kun."

There it was again, that charming smile that never fails to take his breath away and Ryoma halted the car just to look again at the beautiful face of Sakuno Ryuuzaki.

"Eh?" Sakuno blinked, "why did you stop, Ryoma-kun?"

"Hold on a second." Ryoma had on a serious face as he restarted again his car and drove at a nearby deserted parking lot and parked his car at secluded corner before turning off the engine.

"What happened? Is there something wrong with the car engi-eh?"

Before Sakuno could even finish what she was saying, Ryoma had already moved from his seat and shifted his body so the he was directly in front of Sakuno. He pressed a switch somewhere inside the car and the seat inclined, lowering Sakuno even more and Ryoma smirked as he towered on top of Sakuno.

"Wait…wha- Ryoma-kun?"

"You should stop inadvertently seducing me like that, Sakuno-chan…"

"Eh…what? No-"

"Your smile… you should only show it to me, my beloved Sakuno." Ryoma lowered his body and engulfed Sakuno in a tight embrace.

It was uncomfortably tight but it was also full of love and possessiveness that Sakuno can't help but smile. She can't help but adore this childish behavior of Ryoma Echizen.

"To me only and not to anyone else…" Ryoma snuggled even more.

"Yes, only to you Ryoma-kun and not to anybody else…"

Ryoma lifted his head and came face to face with his beloved Sakuno who smiled and mouthed 'I love you' before giving the man on top of her a chaste kiss on the lips.

Ryoma smiled and they kissed again, open mouthed and deeper, more passionate this time. Ryoma's tongue found its way inside of Sakuno's warm mouth and their tongues met in a wild dance of passion. Ryoma leaned in deeper and Sakuno moaned into the kiss before they finally pulled out in search of air.

"It's been a long time, isn't it?" Ryoma smirked before shifting lower and started attacking Sakuno's smooth neck with his skilled tongue.

"Hnn… nah, ah…" Sakuno just can't help it, Ryoma's too good with his tongue, "Ryoma-kun…"

Rrrrriiiiiiiing…

Ryoma kept on attacking Sakuno's neck.

Rrrrriiiiiiiing…

"Ah…the— the phone Ryoma-k-kun."

Rrrrriiiiiiiing…

"Never mind that, leave it alone and they'll probably give up."

Rrrrriiiiiiiing…

"Nnn… what if it's important?"

Rrrrriiiiiiiing…

More kisses and moans

Rrrrriiiiiiiing… Rrrrriiiiiiiing… Rrrrriiiiiiiing… Rrrrriiiiiiiing…

"What?" after about several rings, Ryoma finally answered out of annoyance and clearly emphasizing the irritation in his voice.

"O-chiiiiiiiibiiiiiiiii-kuuuuuuuuuuuun!~" it was Kikumaru who, after three years, still couldn't get rid of the habit of calling a full grown man 'chibi'.

"Kikumaru-senpai?"

"Hey, hey Ryoma!" but it looks like Momoshiro grabbed the phone from Eiji, "what's this news we heard about?"

"Hey Momo I wasn't done talking yet!"

"Wait a minute senpai…"

"That's unfair. Give me the phone back!"

Ryoma could hear the two of his senpais in the background arguing over who should take hold of the phone and he could also hear a low 'fshhhhhhhhh…' in the background. Looks like Kaidoh is with them too.

"ano…senpa—" Ryoma really doesn't want to talk to his senpai as of this moment.

"So o-chibi are you really engaged to Sakuno-chan?"

"You sly fox, why are you keeping it a secret from u— wait a minute senpai!"

"Why didn't you tell us?" Eiji succesfully grabbed the phone from Momo, "Hey, o-chibi?"

"Oiiiii….Ryoma?"

No answer.

"Ah, darn. Now he hung up."

"Ryoma-kun, was that…"

"Kikumaru-senpai and Momo-senpai. Now then," Ryoma placed his phone back in his pocket and proceeded to retackle Sakuno down, "let's continue where we left off Sakuno-chan~"

"Wai—"

Rrrrriiiiiiiing…

Ryoma looks like he could annihilate the whole world as he lifted himself off of Sakuno and grabbed the ringing phone from his pocket once again and flipped it open. He grimaced as he looked at the caller's ID.

"It's just the old man." He explained, seeing Sakuno's worried face, "probably called just to laugh at me for my current predicament."

"I think, he's just happy for you."

They stared at each other for a short moment, letting the phone's ring cover the silence between them until Ryoma heaved a deep sigh.

"You know what, never mind." Ryoma threw his ringing phone in the back seat of his car where it continued its ringing.

"Eh?" Sakuno stared at it for a while before reverting back his attention to Ryoma.

"Today's our date and we're going to spend this day together no matter what." Abandoning his earlier plans of attacking Sakuno, he restarted his car and drove out of the deserted parking lot. "Who cares about those reporters anyway?"

"Ryoma-kun…"

The phone finally stopped ringing and the only sound that they can hear was the soft roar of the car's engine as it slithers along the hi-way.

"At least I can show the whole world that you belong to me, Sakuno Ryuuzaki."


A/N: Finally, that's the end. =_=

I'm so sorry if you aren't so satisfied with what I've written but even though I know this is a crap, I've really put my whole heart and effort into it and I had fun writing the last part XD.
BUT this fic is not over yet. I will be uploading one more chapter for the epilogue.

Okay, about that… the epilogue will probably contain stuffs that happened during the three years after Ryoma proposed to Sakuno ^^ since you see, I jumped to three years later. I skipped the timeline because I

The epilogue is just some sort of an extra chapter wherein you, beloved readers, can suggest me some stuffs on what you like would happen on that time. Feel free to suggest me anything…although I may not include all of it. But if I happen to like your idea, then I'm sure to include it^_^

I'll also be updating my previous chapters soon so if you ever see any typos and grammatical errors, feel free to point it out to me so that I could correct it. XD

Anyways, I have finally updated my social life so if you are interested on how crappy my life is or if you just want to bug me down to the pits of hell to update my fics(that will probably motivate me more to write faster XD) or if you just want to poke me, just check:

= aishi05-dot-livejournal-dot-com

= doodleonpaper-dot-tumblr-dot-com

= twitter-dot-com/#!/doodle_me_blue

(just replace the word 'dot' with a real dot and remove the dashes XD)

and you might find out few reasons on why it takes me so long to update *trollollollol*

And feel free to drop by at my dA page: aishi05-dot-deviantart-dot-com if you have time! 3~

I love you all!