Hi! As promised this is my epilogue of Triangle Hearts. Before anything else, let me have this opportunity of saying my words of thank you. I know that you fed up with me saying those two words but I just don't know how to thank you enough. Words were not definitely enough to express my gratitude. So I just make it a way through my stories. Please enjoy my final installment of Triangle Hearts… this time it's for real.

Since the title is just an 's' away from the original OVA (which is zero related from my story) I feel like including the Japanese and English translations of a song coming from the said OVA sung by Mitsuki Saiga. The English translations were given by my two trusted friends namely; Juu-ni Kanata and Katherine Mosuta. (I edited the words so sorry if there were some mistakes on the translations.)

music4life1791 - thank you for reminding me... I am aware of that. I'll keep reviewing my chapters as I couldn't stop reading them... ^_^

a - thank you for the inspiring review and the quote... ^_^

Echizaki - thank you for the review. I really appreciate it. And yes, there is an epilogue and this is it. See how my Triangle Hearts ends... ^_^

Guests - Thank you very much for reading till the end. I hope you will love this final Chapter... ^_^

DISCLAIMER: I do not own POT, The Prince of Tennis, TeniPuri, Ang Prinsipe ng Tennis. That is crystal clear. Just pure imaginations and fantasies are the only exception. I also do not own the song from the OVA as well as the OVA itself. Have mercy on me…

Epilogue: Shizuku Hitohira (Petal Drop)

Summary: She missed him a lot, as time passed by everything might change. And that change… is she ready for it? Find out as the story ends.

Think years of snow and the feelings of flowers fall

Into the reflection of the moon's shadow falling in to the moment of silence.

A soft yet beyond distant,

The puzzled feelings scattered in the shadow without even disappearing.

Light grows seriously for years even when the ends of the distant past still unchanged,

Some day, a petal drops, flows and washes away to change the passage of time.

When the shadow of snow arrived several thousand years ago,

Do not forget even for the moment that love is not changing over.

I think of indelible warmth beyond that

Worn out and puzzled thoughts of the end of scattered snow.

A light smile is wrapped in the night, the warmth is depriving now quietly in my arms.

Someday, a petal drop will unaware wrap me and will become a soft but not an irreplaceable light.

~ Mitsuki Saiga – Triangle Heart

One year later, November 21, 20XX:

"6 games to 3, Game set and Match, Ann Tachibana!" the umpire announced the winner of the regional competition.

Sakuno was panting as she realized losing the competition against Ann Tachibana of Fudomine High. Ann smiled as she was predicting that this would happen. Sakuno wryly smiled and congratulated her, "N-Nice game."

Ann smiled back at her, "Thank you for the game," She walked closer to the net as she shook her hand.

She accepted her friend's hand as she said, "Too bad Momo-senpai couldn't see our match."

Ann blushed after she said her boyfriend's name, "Y-you have the courage to tease me that huh, we are the same because your beloved boyfriend isn't here as well."

It was her turned to blush and looked at a little lower, "M-mou, you are a teaser as well." She smiled as she thought something. I think I got the teasing skills because onii-chan kept teasing me.

She waved goodbye to Ann as she was leaving separately with her and to her teammates as well. The girl gestured to call her when she got home and she nodded.

They exited the court after distributing the prices. It was a bit sad that they didn't make it to the Nationals. She accepted her sensei's offer of being a regular and now she was competing with her senpais and participating in the Regionals was her biggest achievement so far.

He will definitely utter 'Mada Mada Da Ne' to me when he hears about this. She thought as she smiled but at the same time saddened her. She missed him a lot… really a lot. She touched the hairpin on her hair while thinking of him. She hasn't seen him for over a year now and there were no sign of him coming back to Japan. It was typical of him not showing any signs like he just called her four times and all of that when he was about to compete to the major tournaments. He always says 'It's for my charm' phrase to her whenever they talk. She signed after thinking about lacking of his attention that he was giving her.

She waved goodbye to her teammates for she was taking a different route a few minutes after the competition. Her teammates insisted her to come along for a small party even though they didn't win but she rejected them and promised that she would come next time.

At the Train Station:

She rode on the train and sat on a comfortable seat which she could relax. She called her grandmother just to inform her that she would be coming home soon. She told her about the sad news but she cheered her up all the same. Her grandmother together with her team was competing for the nationals for the boy's tennis club. That's why they couldn't come to see her match. They won the nationals last year but Tezuka was not with them anymore because he's focusing with his career. But he sees to the court sometimes as he misses tennis despite of not showing it to anyone.

She called her best friend afterwards. Tomoka was supposed to join with her as she just became a regular as well but due to some circumstances she couldn't come. 'There's always a next time, don't worry.' Tomoka cheered her up. It upset her a bit but it was her greatest achievement so far.

The ride will be a bit long so she took out her ipod from her bag which her grandmother gave her on her 14th birthday. (Approximately January this year) with that she composed herself as she listened to a song:

kasanete yuku toshitsuki ni, furitsumoru omoi no hana no

iro wo utsusu tsuki no kage, setsuna no shijima ni ochiru

The train stopped at a certain station. A group of people rushed in to enter the train. A certain person sat just across her. Her eyes were closed that she didn't notice that the person was staring at her. She was absorbed by the music that she was listening that she tapped her foot slowly on the floor and nodded at the same time.

shizuru hikari wa, ikutose haruka kanata no

tooi toki no hate sugite mo, kawarazu ni ima mo

shizuku hitohira, nagarete ochite itsushika

subete wo arainagashi yuku, toki no nagare he to kaete

The person smirked while watching her. Not long before the train stopped at another station and loaded more people. A group of boys entered the train and stood in front of her, blocking the person's sight of her. One guy noticed her and he whispered with the others who's with him. Sakuno wasn't aware of their stare.

ano kanata no, kesenai nukumori omou

chiri madou omoi yuki no hate, kiete hateru totemo

"Hey, miss. May I know your name?" the guy asked her but she didn't hear him as she was still absorbed by the music.

"What's this? She's ignoring me?" the guy retorted.

"Baka!" the other guy whacked him on the head, "How can she hear you if she was listening to her music?"

The guy then looked at her and he noticed that she was indeed listening.

shizuru hikari ni, tsutsumare hohoemu yoru no

nukumori ima ude no naka ni, shizuka ni nets-

"W-wha-" Sakuno was startled when someone painfully grabbed her earpiece from her ear. She opened her eyes and a bit nervous to see a bunch of guys in front of her.

"You were pretty busy, listening to your music milady, while I was trying to make friends with you." The guy in front of him said as he played her earpiece.

"U-uhm… p-please give me my earpiece back." Sakuno tried to lean back as she was feeling nervous already.

"Not until you introduce yourself to us." The guy smirked devilishly while the guys behind him did the same.

Sakuno couldn't speak. She needed help… visibly. Why can't anyone see the situation they were in? She shrieked a little when the guy suddenly grabbed her wrist.

"Well a name wasn't that bad."

"N-no… please let go." She tried to protest but she was getting scared already.

"Ow, come on dude… You are scaring her. Don't be so rude." The other guy said.

"Shut up! She's the one who's rude here. I was asking for her name." he started to shout.

"You're annoying."

Everyone reacted when someone spoke behind them. They looked at the person from their back. Sakuno peeked as well. She saw a boy just around her age who was sitting across her. She couldn't see his face because he was looking down and he was wearing a hat.

Wait?

That hat seems familiar… She thought. She didn't know but her heart was starting to beat so fast. Not only that, she noticed the sparkling thing that wrapped around his neck. She tried to peek a little closer when the boy suddenly talked;

"Can't make your noise a little lower? You are disturbing the other passengers." The boy was still looking down at them.

The guy who was holding her wrist released her and went over to the boy. He gripped his collar and said, "What squirt? Do you have a problem with us?"

From looking down, the boy looked up at him. With the signature glaring look, he smirked at him and said, "I don't have a problem with you but this thing has." He pointed the cctv camera just above them.

Sakuno covered her mouth when she saw the face of the boy. There was no doubt, it was him.

The guy just gritted his teeth as he looked at the camera and he rudely released the boy who was sat back from the impact, "Lucky for you that we are in this area." The guy said as they left to transfer to another part of the train.

The timing was it was her stop. The train stopped at her station. She flinched when he stood up.

"Ah, I need to get out." The boy said as he started to walk away from the train.

Sakuno stood up as she followed the boy. I-it's him… didn't he see me there? And then she suddenly remembered something.

Déjà vu

She felt that this happened before. It was the first time they met years ago. She ran to his direction but he was nowhere to be found.

"M-mou, w-why does he walk so fast?" she said as she catch her breath and stood on one of the posts there.

"Hey"

She flinched when he suddenly appeared in front of her and spoke. She looked straight at him. Her heart was beating so fast, as she tried to speak, "R-ryom-"

"Do you know the Kaginogizaka Tennis Garden?" He asked her just like before.

"E-eh!" she rambled.

"So where is it? Tell me, quick." He retorted.

"I-if you go t-through the south gate, and head straight… " Sakuno said as she lowered her head. She was blushing already.

"The south gate, eh? Thanks." He said as he walked towards the direction she gave him.

Sakuno looked up to him as she walked a few steps forward, "Y-you know that I g-gave you the wrong direction."

He stopped as he looked halfway, "…I know," She flinched when she saw him looking at her way with his cat-like eyes and smirked, "and you are supposed to follow me."

Sakuno was shocked on his words. She almost cried when the boy started to walk. She decided to follow him. After a few miles, she couldn't take it anymore. She ran to him and held his shirt with her hand making the boy to stop from walking and she said;

"I-I am sorry," she said looking down at him, "I promised you that I won't go off alone b-but it was our team's competition today and I told them that I wanted to go home as early as I can."

He didn't say anything nor looking at her.

Sakuno looked up trying to comfort him, "A-are you mad?"

"Of course I am. You broke your promise." He said still not looking at her.

Oh how she missed his voice despite that his tone never changed, "I-I said I am sorry, didn't it?"

When the boy didn't budge, she pleaded much to his arrogance, "R-ryoma-kun… "

That hit him. He sighed as he turned around to face her. He looked at her worried face as she was still blushing. The girl couldn't look at him because of her thought—embarrassment.

"Don't do this again, you hear me." he said bluntly.

"H-hai," she said bashfully, "uhmm, R-ryoma-kun… "

"Un." He replied still looking at her.

Sakuno fidgeted from her position as she tried to utter her words, "C-can I, can I… hug… you?"

He was a bit shocked when she said that to him. He stared at her for a while before walking towards her and gave her a hug instead. The girl was a bit surprise on his actions. He did it slowly but for her it was just seconds fast.

"Silly girl," he said as he hugged her tightly, "You can hug me anytime you want. No need for permission."

Her eyes were watery already when she heard him say that, "Ryoma-kun." she hugged him back as she continued to talk, "I-I missed you… "

Ryoma closed his eyes and said, "I know… "

xxx

They were still walking on their way back and Ryoma learned a lot of things from her. It was not his nature to mind other people's business.

"Momo-senpai has a girlfriend?"

"Yeah, well they just started going out so you didn't hear it. He's Ann-chan's boyfriend, remember her?"

He just nodded. I can tease senpai for this one. He thought.

"You knew thatTezuka-buchou was focusing on his studies now and Oishi-senpai was doing well on his too. Fuji-onii-chan was actually courting someone but he just gave us hints about the girl. I think it is his seatmate that I saw one time." She giggled on her words.

So Fuji-senpai is courting a girl. Good for him. He thought. The girl was not finished talking yet;

"Oh! Tomoka-chan and Horio-kun became a couple as well, would you believe that?"

Ryoma couldn't believe that, but he was starting to notice something, "Hey, Sakuno…"

Sakuno stopped talking, "H-hai?" she looked at him.

"How come you talk a lot now?"

Sakuno pouted, "M-mou, I wanted to share what was happening here when you were not around."

He smirked, "Ok, I get it. You said about a competition, was it the regionals?" He saw her nodded. He knew that she was a regular now and reaching regionals was so impressive for her. He couldn't believe that she made it that far, "So how was it?"

"E-eh?" Sakuno looked down as she said, "W-we… lost."

He somewhat predicted that and he gave her that smirk again and said, "Mada mada da ne."

Sakuno sweat dropped while still looking down. I knew it.

"H-how about you? H-how's the competition?" she asked the obvious after that.

Ryoma closed his eyes as he pinned his hat down, "You should know the answer to that."

Sakuno nodded. She shouldn't ask something as trivial as that. She is definitely a girlfriend of THE tennis prodigy after all.

"But I want to see your skills." The boy later said.

"W-what?"

"Let me see how you improved." Without warning, he grabbed her hand and dragged her to a court which was rarely seen by people.

"R-ryoma-kun… but I-"

"Good thing that you have your racket," he said as he placed his bag to the bench and he grabbed hers as well. He took off both of their rackets and gave hers. Sakuno was just standing as he positioned himself to the other side of the court, "Come on, give me your best shot." He allowed her to serve first.

Sakuno didn't move from her position. Why is he asking her now? "B-but Ryoma-kun… I'm still not-"

"I know." He said straightforwardly.

She pouted. He knew it already so why did he ask for a match?

"I told you I want to see how you improved these previous months. I knew that there were improvements. I want to see."

Sakuno blushed on his words. She was still nervous because it was him who was observing her. She was about to serve the ball when Ryoma spoke;

"If you win, I'll let you do anything to me?" He thought that he needed to do that for her motivation.

Sakuno was a bit shocked, "A-anything?"

"Anything." He repeated.

She was somewhat challenged but she knew that he was plotting something, "A-and if you win… "

"You will know later," he said before drawing a smirk back on his face and he continued, "…after I win."

"M-mou, Ryoma-kun. Y-you teaser." She blushed all the while.

"Let's start." He said as he positioned himself.

I-it's now or never. I hope this goes well in the end. She thought as she served the ball. As she predicted, she was no match for him. She managed to hit the ball several times. But what surprised her was she did improve a lot. Just to think that she managed to win a set against him.

"che," he retorted, "I made ways for you but I'm impressed that you did improve."

She was overwhelmed with his praise. But the boy was not finished talking yet and said;

"But the game is not over, get ready for my punishment." He said.

"I-If you are going to say something… b-be it a praise or… or a threat." She blushed.

"It's not a threat." He said as he served the ball this time. He saw her panicked much to his fun. He admitted that her improvement was indeed impressive. He had this instinct that she would reach big in the future… well not as great as him… as he thought.

And soon the game ended. There were both panting and catching for their breaths.

"Well, announce the winner, now." Ryoma smirked.

"Y-you planned all of this." Sakuno replied instead.

"Miss Server… "

"O-ok, ok," she said as she beginning to blush once again, "G-game set and match, R-ryoma E-echizen."

"che," Ryoma closed his eyes as he placed his racket to his shoulder, "You lost, you still have a long ways to go."

"I-I know," Sakuno's heart was beating so fast as she looked at him, "W-what is your… p-punishment?" she almost gulped the last word. Thinking about the word punishment felt shivering already.

"Your punishment is… " Ryoma made her in suspense as he cut his words. She flinched when he brought his racket in front of her as he opened his eyes and said, "You need to stay by my side forever, for the rest of your life."

Her eyes became widened… slowly. Her lips were slightly opened as she felt blushing all over again. It was actually a delayed reaction for it took her for a while before she understood what he just said;

"S-s-stay—b-by-your—side-f-for life!" she stuttered as she was still blushing.

Ryoma was serious saying that although his reaction didn't change from being prickly and stoic.

Sakuno panicked when he walked over to reach her, "I-I, fo-forever, s-stay… R-ryoma-kun I-I-"

He caught her chin with his hand to make her looked at him, "Give it up already. You can not escape my punishment."

Sakuno couldn't stop panicking. She was blushing, nervous and she could feel her heart was pounding so fast. He made her stare at him, the stare that she couldn't take. She ended up closing her eyes shut as she was embarrassed already.

He took that chance while she was not paying attention. He crossed the space between them. She snapped her eyes opened as she felt his lips touching hers. He was kissing her again… but this time she didn't know when it will end. Her eyes became softened as she beginning to close them again slowly. That lasted for how long, they didn't know. He released her slowly as he watched her innocent face. The girl was blushing alright.

"I told you that I would give you a proper one when I came back."

Sakuno looked away as the color of her face didn't leave her. She flinched when he suddenly touched her hair particularly on the hairpin's location.

"It suits you."

"T-thank you… " She didn't know what to say and then she noticed, the necklace on his neck, "I guess that IS really your charm." Ryoma just nodded and smiled. She just enjoyed that moment together with him.

"Ochibi?"

They looked at the person who spoke. Ryoma flinched when they see all the regulars gathered in that area.

"Hey, it's Echizen!" Momo said. Fuji and Oishi looked at them while Inui just took out his notebook as he was about to write another data.

"E? N-nande koko ni iru no?" Ryoma asked but flinched when Eiji jumped on him.

"OCHIBI! We missed you!" Eiji said, "Why didn't you say that you arrived already?"

"Yeah, we should have met you at the airport." Fuji said as he looked at Sakuno who was a bit shocked and embarrassed.

"L-let go, Kikumaru-senpai." He tried to struggle but Eiji just wouldn't let him.

"You are unfair. You spent time with your girlfriend but not with us?" Eiji pouted.

"Don't be silly. Let go I said."

"Let him go Eiji, you are choking him." The mother hen said. Eiji forced to release as the tennis prodigy distanced himself to him. Kaidoh and Tezuka were just standing at the corner but they were glad to see their youngest member of the club. It was like a reunion.

"Hey, let's call it a celebration." Eiji suggested.

"That sounds great. For Echizen's return." Momo agreed.

"But I don't think he would like it." Fuji said contrasting on their words.

"What? Why?" Eiji asked. They looked at the young tennis prodigy as the boy was pinning down his hat and said;

"Gomen, Senpai-tachi. You can save the party later," he said as he looked up to Momo and Fuji, "YOU celebrate them with your girlfriends first."

Momoshiro blushed while Fuji was a bit shocked. The later looked at the blushing girl, "Y-you told him?"

Sakuno was uneasy to look but she honestly nodded, "G-gomenasai," she clasped her hands in from of them.

To everyone's surprise, Ryoma grabbed her hand and dragged her away from the crowd. He shouted;

"I told you not today, Senpai I will definitely steal your 'spot.' Wait for it." He was saying those words to Momoshiro. He was actually talking about his position in the club. Since Tezuka graduated, Momoshiro was the acting captain for the club and he heard it from Sakuno. The regulars were stiffed. Momo was shocked about his kouhai's words. Fuji and Eiji aren't any different.

"W-what was that all about? Eiji wondered.

"Wait till I get that shorty." Momo said as swear that he would get revenge on him someday.

"Well, let's give them the time they needed. And when they were satisfied, let's ask for a payback." Fuji said as he was scheming something in his brain.

Everyone agreed as they looked at the runaway couple.

Be happy with him… Sakuno. He thought as he watched them run.

xxx

"A-re you, are you going to steal his position, Ryoma-kun?" she said as they continued running.

Ryoma smirked, "I just teased him."

"Y-you meanie. Y-you tricked Momo-senpai." She pouted a bit.

"Hey, we're always like that. Now stop whining and let's get out of here." Ryoma retorted keeping his non-changeable look. "I'll have to introduce you to my parents yet."

"W-what?" She blushed as he said that.

"I promised them that I'll take you to them once I returned."

She blushed a lot. Thinking about meeting his parents made her nervous already.

He introduced her to his parents that day and as expected from his father, tons of teases were awarded for both of them. They were a bit surprised when they learned that his girlfriend was actually his coach's granddaughter. It's not like they didn't know about her, they just couldn't believe that it was THE coach's granddaughter that he ended up with. She even met his himalayan cat, Karupin, which took a liking towards her. They welcomed her with open arms. She was definitely happy about the result and she couldn't wish for more than this.

They did spend the time together after that, with no nosy senpais, no hindrances and no pictures. It was a miracle that nothing happened today. Though he had a bad feeling about that they would ask for a pay back but he was not bothered by it.

I love facing obstacles now since I am not hiding anything from them anymore. He thought as he looked at the girl next to her who was enjoying the view from a certain area.

11:45pm

"Umm, Ryoma-kun. D-don't you think it's time for me to go home?" Sakuno asked him.

"Why?" he just asked her that while drinking his ponta.

Sakuno reacted, "W-why? R-ryoma-kun it's 11:45 in the evening. It is not appropriate for a girl to stay late at this time and besides… I am worried that Obaa-chan-"

"I told you, its okay," Ryoma interrupted her words, "Sensei knows that you are with me and she also knows that we are just here at the court so don't worry."

"B-but-"

"Don't you want to be with me?"

Sakuno was surprised on his words, "O-of course… I-I do."

"Then shut up and stay here," He ordered as he touched her hand that made her flinch, "…with me."

Sakuno didn't answer back. She was indeed happy at that time. She responded from the hand that was holding hers. They could easily understand each other by doing just that.

12:00Am, November 22, 20xx:

They both felt the cold chill. The night was really dark and as the moon shadowed from the clouds but the eerie was calm and relaxing. The light from the moon was still peaking from the clouds. They could spend the whole night there if they like.

Suddenly Sakuno was a bit surprise to see something white in front of her. She touched it with her other hand. It felt cold the moment it touched her hand;

"Y-yuki?"

Ryoma noticed that as well and then they saw several white spots falling from above, "it's the first snow of the year."

"Y-yeah," Sakuno caught another snowflake on her palm but the one that landed formed a different shape, "R-yoma-kun look, this snowflake is different… it looks like a… petal."

Ryoma looked at the snowflake as well. "Un."

Sakuno looked above as she met those snowflakes from her face. The petal-shaped snow melted on her palm. "A petal drops… huh?" she smiled afterwards as she looked at him… secretly. She will definitely have a wonderful 'Christmas' this year. Unlike last year, she was able to celebrate the two different yet important events in her life… with him.

~The End~

PLEASE READ FOR THE ANNOUNCEMENT BELOW… (Stand, bow and greet… arigatou guzaimasu!)

This concluded Triangle Hearts… for real. Thank you minna-san for being with me and with my story until the very end. I hope you liked this story. Please review for the very last time. You can leave a review anytime you want, be it a day, a week, a month or even years. I will definitely wait and reply to you. Just be sure to log in so that I can pm you. You will know if the author is still active from her/her latest activity.

Let me have one last acknowledgement for my reviewers who stayed with me until the end;

AkainoHotaru … RikuDai … Enma20 … Shiina Yuki … readingISfunXD … Ryosaku12 … music4life1791 … GamerELF … Sakuno Echizen … echizaki … Benny Powell … mysweetkat … guests

And for the ones who started but stopped halfway or I didn't know if they did finish this. (I don't see them in my review that's why) I would like to thank you still.

If you noticed that I mentioned dates here it's because I have two reasons (probably 3)… November 21 is my birthday and November 22 is my favorite seiyuu and singer's birthday Junko Minagawa and also the birthday of my favorite local band leader Yael Yuzon. Just sharing… tee hee hee.

Vocabulary:

Nande koko ni iru no? – What are you (guys) doing here?

Yuki – snow

I kind of inserted some scenes from the anime but I hope it turned our fine.

My Next Story will be the sequel of Absolute Kiss and a new fic of RyoSaku. I will make two stories at the same time. I will post two different chapters for a week on my different stories. (One for the sequel and one for my new fic every week so updates will be once a week for each story.)

Thank you very much. I hope to see you soon with my other stories. *Bows very big* MitsukiJunko. ^_^