Hullo guys! This is the final chapter of It All Started with a Bet. Thank you bearing with me all this time. For the readers who leave reviews on my fics, you don't know how much that moved me. I appreciate your words and that will never be turning in the past tense. Every word counts for me... even though it's only one word. So thank you once again. This is the last chapter. I hope you enjoy this.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Prince of Tennis and never will.

Final Chapter: And the bet has ended

Summary: They made another bet. A bet that would last forever.

Sakuno was trying not to panic as her roommate kept telling her to move faster. She had enough time to fix her hair. All of the people who knew her in London, Miho was the only person who was aware how long her hair was. She placed several pins as she tied her hair in a bun and loose strands of hair from the center of the bun was freely dangling at her back. Her hair appeared like she had a short ponytail at her back. Her silver cocktail dress was really accurate for a 19-year old girl like her. Sitting in front of her dressing table, she checked herself once again.

Miho put make up on her for she was an expert for that. She couldn't stop smiling as she looked at herself. Looking down to the make up kit, she found a card resting from a small jewelry box. She grabbed it and her smile expressed a natural fondness in it as she read the message;

'Wear this on your debut.'

There was no guarantee that the message was pertaining to her dress that she was wearing at that moment. She received the package a few days ago before she celebrated her 19th birthday. Her hand landed to the name of the sender. Her smile didn't leave her as she thought of the same person.

It had been four years since the last time they saw each other in person.

She had the long-distance relationship with the number one tennis player, Echizen Ryoma for four years and not even a single day they met each other again.

"Sakuno! Where are you?!"

She placed the card back on top of the jewelry box and stood up, collecting her dress from her hands to avoid from tripping them, "Hai, hai, coming." She chuckled as she went out of their room. The whole graduating students were going to have a graduation ball that night and a special guest would be entertaining them.

The only thing was, she was a part of that entertainment and never she expected that she would do a different thing other than painting.

xxx

The night was lively. There were lots of graduating students in the hall. Most of them were from the art field. She could see some of her friends wearing their best dresses. Miho was wearing her blue cocktail dress. She kept her hair in twin tails and she was wearing a make up of a model... and a singer.

Clary, Jocelyn and Shelby were also beautiful and pretty in their own gowns. Clary was standing out between the two. She was wearing a red velvet dress that fitted her small body. The boys seemed to look her way everytime she moved. They saw them and began talking the night out until the emcee called out their attention from the stage.

"Good Evening, graduates! Tonight's the last time you can call yourselves students. Tomorrow you are going to be a different individual. So enjoy and remember this night!"

The crowd rejoiced as they heard such person. Miho and Sakuno smiled for that.

"Now, may we call on for Ms. Sakuno Ryuzaki to accompany our special guest who is going to perform for us tonight."

Her friends and the crowd applauded as they turned their attention to her. Somehow, they got her embarrased. Miho pushed her towards the stage. Soon after, the guest of the night appeared, carrying two sets of violins. She blushed when she recognized the person.

The person had a brownish hair and a friendly smile was plastered to his face. This person was totally famous. The students applauded when they saw him coming on stage. Some even screamed. Some even whistled.

She timidly walked on the stage where the honorable guest was waiting for her. The guest smiled at her, giving the violin and bow to her hands.

"You'll be fine." He said as he tapped his own violin. He was taller than her and he had a nice stance. No wonder that he was a famous violinist. Winning the Eurovision was a big break for him. For her, graduating in this prestigious school was her starting point. He nodded at her and then walked in front of the stage. The guest was talking to the audience in English. The Londoners cheered for him. Sakuno was actually nervous inside.

It was her first time doing this. By majority nomination, the students chose her to be a representative to perform on stage with the famous violinist. Luckily for her, she was able to play the violin when she was a young girl, but stopped when she shifted her interest at arts and designs. She had to practice playing the violin with such limited time and hoped that it would go well. Not only she got nice performance on her paintings, she was also a promising tennis player.

Yeah, she continued playing tennis during her free time, with the persuasion of her boyfriend... that she was the girlfriend of the number one tennis player in Japan.

He looked at her a few minutes of conversation with the audience. He mouthed 'let's do it' to her as he held his microphone.

Her heart beat fast as her nervousness was rising. The students were looking at her. She never had the stage fright before. Her eyes found Miho's encouranging her to keep up. She smiled a little at her before she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She placed the violin between her shoulder and chin while her other hand was raising the bow, placing it on top of the violin.

Thus, she began to play.

The people looked at her playing the violin. She moved liked how the famous violinist had instructed her. Tapping her foot, she tried her best not making any mistakes. The second verse of the intro was joined by drums, guitar and clapping of the audience. She opened her eyes and saw the guest of honor, smiling back at her.

I can do this. Mr. Alexander is counting on me. I can do this.

The second part of intro was joined by the violinist before he started singing;

Years ago, when I was younger
I kinda liked, a girl I knew
She was mine, and we were sweethearts
That was then, but then it's true

I'm in love, with a fairytale
Even though it hurts
Coz I don't care if I lose my mind
I'm already cursed...

He played the violin this time. Sakuno realized the big difference between their performances. She would have expected that. Alexander Rybak was a professional and famous violinist. A celebrity in music industry. People admired his talent and Sakuno was one of them.

Everyday, we started fighting
Every night, we fell in love
No one else, could make me sadder
But no one else, could lift me high above

The violinist sang the second stanza as she accompanied him playing the violin. The background singers and musical instruments were also accompanying him. Then, the chorus entered as he continued playing his instrument. The audience started clapping their hands as to follow the beat of the song.

The intro came.

Do not panic. Do not panic. She kept chanting as she focused on her violin. The tune was not as good as what the guest of honor was doing but it was good enough for the audience to hear. They were clapping and smiling at her performance. They were cheering her up actually.

The violinist looked and gestured her to come closer. She blushed but she came closer still. He presented her his mic and to surprise the audience, they both sang the last part of the song.

She's a fairytale, yeah
Even though it hurts
Coz I don't care if I lose my mind
I'm already cursed...'

The last part was played by him and her with their violins. The audience clapped their hands at every beat. Sakuno began tapping her foot as he looked at her at every pause. They played until the last beat ended.

The audience clapped their hands without the harmony this time. It meant that they were being applauded. Sakuno couldn't believe it. It wasn't that much but they liked her performance. Even the violinist praised her. She gripped the bow for a few seconds before bowing in front of them... and not actually missing of thanking the guest of honor of that night.

Yep, that was totally a night.

Dorm:

"You did great out there!"

Miho attacked her with a bear hug as she entered the room. The praise was too much that she needed to calm down first. After a few minutes of entertaining her classmates and friends, and even Alexander himself, praising her for a job well done, much to her shyness, she went straight to her dorm, only to meet her roommate there.

Miho disappeared after she finished the song just to surprise her like that. She blushed for some reason. "I only followed what Mr. Alexander told me."

"That's why you did great there!"

"I never expected something like this."

"Oh, wait and see yourself on TV!"

"W-what?" Sakuno looked at her, looking confused at Miho's words.

"You didn't know of this, did you?" Miho said with excitement, "You were filmed. The entire performance!"

Sakuno's eyes slowly widened when she realized what she was talking about. Now, she was crimson red. "W-whaaaat!"

Miho chuckled as she saw her reaction, "That is to be expected. You were accompanying one of the celebrities. It's only natural to shoot a show like that."

"B-but..." She couldn't find her own words to speak.

"You are famous now."

Her heart was beating fast. She never expected that. Not really. She never noticed about the press around the hall. Or maybe she only missed them. Miho was right. He was famous. Ever since he won the contest, the violinist's career was getting high. It was expected after all. She had not recovered from the shock when a teacher suddenly barged in.

"Ms. Ryuzaki, you are so lucky. You got your first job this weekend."

"R-really?" Her eyes couldn't get bigger than they were now. The news was too much to handle.

"This person wanted to hire you to paint him. It seemed that he saw your art and your wwonderful performance tonight. He wanted you to paint for him."

She couldn't react. Miho hugged her and congratulated her as well. She was really surprised at the turn of events. "I am happy for you, Sakuno-chan!"

They looked at the teacher and thought of something. The teacher was actually thinking. Her expression appeared funny as she continued speaking,

"The thing is, he wants you to paint him, uh, naked."

"What!" Both of them said in unison.

"But of course, he would hide his private parts." The teacher blinked at them, "Don't worry a thing. He's decent."

"But..." Miho answered for her as she looked at her direction, "What about..."

"I-it's fine," She said as she knew who she was talking about, "This is an opportunity for me. Thank you very much, teacher."

"That's good. You are really lucky to have this person. He's really famous too."

"W-who is..my client?" She asked her, shocked that it was another famous person. The teacher grinned at her first before she replied;

"You definitely know this person my dear. He's..."

xxx

Ryoma Echizen, this is Sakuno Ryuzaki," The teacher intoduced him to her and vice versa, "Sakuno Ryuzaki, this is Ryoma Echizen."

The teacher looked at Sakuno smiling in the process, "He's going to be your model."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Ugh! Who am I kidding?" The teacher suddenly interrupted from their awkward silence. She both tapped their backs really hard and continued speaking, "You both know each other. You are a couple anyway." She turned around and walked to the door, "Just enjoy yourselves then."

"Thank you very much." Ryoma replied a bit low bowing in the process. The teacher winked at them before leaving the room. Sakuno remained still from her position. She never moved since the introduction.

More on she was shocked. The room was filled with colorful canvasses and the four corners of the wall smelled paintings and oil. But that wasn't the reason of shock.

Echizen Ryoma was standing in front of her... half naked. He was just only wearing his jeans but he was topless. It had been four years since the last time she saw him and this was surprisingly enough for them to meet after those years. They never had the chance to meet when she went home for short breaks and it was really disappointing enough for her boyfriend of not seeing her from those times.

"Cat caught your tongue?"

His voice cut her from her thoughts. He was already smirking at her as he walked closer to her. She was blushing but she willed herself not to get affected by his presence and she knew how hard it was to control it.

"What are you doing here?" It was the first thought that came to her mind. She already told him that she would be coming back to Japan after a month. She chose that date to make sure that they would meet when she came home. But him, seeing him in London was a total surprise for her.

"I am your model." He shrugged as if it was the obvious.

"But... how?" She stuttered for the first time. She was never given a chance to finish her question when he walked closer to her.

"Does it matter?" He said placing his arm to the door.

She didn't realize that her back was already leaning at the door. Her heart started to beat rapidly like it was the first time receiving reactions. They hadn't seen each other for a long time and not counting of hearing their voices would be the reason. Before she could completely give in to such reactions, she pushed him to his chest. She had to admit to herself that he was awfully gorgeous.

"L-let's start to work!" She said immediately as she pushed him to a couch. The couch was a bit wide at both angles so she could tell him whatever posts she wished for him to do. There was also a white blanket in it. She was also thinking of how to fit the blanket in his topless body.

It was actually her first time painting a naked body and she couldn't believe that her first costumer after graduating was her boyfriend.

"What are we doing?" He asked her as she fixed his position. She tried not looking at his bare chest.

It was actually distracting her from moving, "I am going to paint your image." She said not looking at him. She was leaning in front of him, fixing the blanket to his sides, "You hired me, remember?" She busied herself fixing the blanket until she satisfied herself. She almost shrieked when Ryoma suddenly grabbed her arm without warning and pulled her down. In an instant, she was lying on the couch with him looming over her.

"W-What are you doing?" She tried pushing him but to no avail. Their closeness was distracting her.

"You don't get it, do you?"

His words caught her attention. She looked at him curiously and saw him seriously looking back at her. Afterwards, his serious expression became a smirking one, "It was just a trap."

"What?" She almost whispered her word as she looked at him, "What do you mean?"

"There was never a job done." He said grabbing both her hands and placed them above her, "I used it just to get to you."

"Y-you..." She knew that she was blushing. She tried getting away from him, "You tricked me! You tricked the whole school!"

"The school was fine with it."

"What?" Her eyes widened. She realized one thing. The school set her up with him, "You are sly! I can't believe you!"

Ryoma moved closer to her face making her catch her breath, "Do you think I'll let anyone post naked in front of you?"

She was left speechless. Her heart was panicking inside. She couldn't calm herself down. Now that she thought about it, she didn't want to do it either. It was weird that she immediately agreed to it the first time it was offered to her. Something was telling her that she would... at least for once.

"But you are paid anyway" He smirked as he looked at her, "You are obliged to use it with me." With that he lowed his face to her and kissed her squarely on the lips.

Her eyes widened at the sudden contact. It had been four years since the last time they met. Except for talking. Four years since they touched and four years since they kissed. Ryoma kissed her chastely at first but later on he was doing it passionately.

She was shocked at everything. He surprised her at coming to London. Tricked her and trapped her. When he removed his hand to one of hers, she was able to push him a little with her free hand;

"W-wait! Ryoma-kun!" She said blushing. She never knew that she could blush like that after so many years. Not really forgetting that he was topless, his body was really close to her own, "What are you doing here exactly?"

He looked at her with a slight iritation showing from his face, "Is it bad to see my girlfriend after so many years?"

"I'm about to go home. You know."

"I can't wait. I've been waiting."

He was right as she realized it. He had been waiting for four years. As she looked at his body unintentionally, she knew how it had changed over the years.

He had built a muscle.

She found herself smiling and blushing at the same time, "I miss you too."

"Che.." Her hand was captured once again by his hand and intertwined them, "I don't want to wait forever." He fixed himself grabbing something from his pocket. Her eyes widened when she saw what it was.

A diamond ring.

Without saying a word, he grabbed her hand once again and inserted the ring to her ring finger, "I won't take no as an answer."

"But..."

"And buts." He brought her hand with the ring on to his lips and kissed it not tearing his stare away from her, "It's already decided."

"Ryoma-kun..." She was speechless. Ryoma was proposing to her at that moment and there was no way she could back out to it. His hand gently touched her cheek and gave her a smile that he often shown.

"Sakuno..."

It was nice to hear her name from his lips. He was carefully touching her, probably afraid of hurting her. She blushed really hard. She felt like she was twelve years old again. Sakuno gave him a smile as well, grabbing his hand that was on her cheek.

"I..." She started as her heart beat faster than the normal, "I love you."

His eyes widened. She knew that her confession surprised him. He expected much but he didn't expect that much.

"I love you, Ryoma-kun." She smiled eagerly closing her eyes in the process.

The next thing she knew that their lips met once again. He kissed her passionately, lovingly, making up the years that they were apart. A lot had changed and it incredibly made their love stronger since then.

They continued kissing until Sakuno felt his hand traveled down to her sides. Her shirt was thin so she could feel the warmth of his hand whatever it touched. When she felt that he was lifting her shirt, she became alert and grabbed it.

"Ryoma-kun, let's go out!" She immediately said as she had the chance to speak.

"What?" He asked, a bit disappointed of the interruption.

"I'll show you the places I've been to."

xxx

"How's everyone back at home?" Sakuno asked as they walked around the London area.

"Do you need to know that?" He looked at her and asked dejectedly.

"Of course!" She said peeking a bit in front of his face. She became firm after a few seconds, "And I want to know one by one."

"Che..."

They walked further and saw a wonderful place to stay. Ryoma went to a steel bar and leaned over. Just like Japan, they could see the view from their location. It was actually a nice place to spent time with couples.

"Tezuka-kun is aiming to become a pro in Germany."

"You know that I am well-informed of that." She pouted as she looked at him, "And he's in Germany."

"You said everyone."

"Ryoma-kun..."

"Hai, hai," He closed his eyes first before he started speaking, "Fuji-senpai studies photography."

"He pursues his goal to be one."

"He's going to take our photos," He said looking and smirking at her, "On our wedding day."

Sakuno blushed when he said that. It still felt awkard to talk serious things like that. "W-what about Momo-senpai? And Eiji-senpai? She asked changing the subject.

His smirk didn't change for a few seconds before he looked ahead, "Momo-senpai decides to become a tennis coach at Seigaku. Eiji-senpai is getting strong becoming doubles partner with Oishi-senpai."

"S-sugoi..." She smiled when she heard the news.

"Kawamura-senpai continued the business of his father, he still plays tennis sometimes." He continued and looked at her, "Kaidoh-senpai also decides to play doubles with Inui-senpai..."

"And..." Sakuno felt that there was more to it and she wasn't wrong about it.

"And Inui-senpai decides to become a pharmacist."

That shocked her and she couldn't hide it from him, "R-really?"

Ryoma nodded to confirm that. They became silent thinking what would it be like for him to be one. They couldn't imagine it... for now.

"Oh, Horio is dating Honoka."

"Oh." She only replied. The things happened between them were really awkward but it was long in the past. She could be happy for the both of them, "I wish for their relationship to grow stronger."

"Osakada is still bugging him," Ryoma said tugging his invisible hat, "making Honoka jealous."

"Tomo-chan," Her voice softened at the name of her best friend, "She's dating Kanata-kun, isn't she?"

"Un." He nodded, "It seems that you don't know that yet."

"She never told me but I can tell," She looked back at him, "She always talks about him these days."

"More like a chatterbox."

"Ryoma-kun!" He snickered when she reacted that way. She smiled afterwards. She felt glad that her friends worked out together. She felt happy for Tomoka and Kanata the most.

"Kanata is getting along with everyone now," He said afterwards, smiling in the process, "like he promised."

Her smile became wider and fonder. She was indeed happy for her friends. "I am so happy for them. I am glad Kanata-kun is socializing now."

"You are a bad influence after all." Ryoma suddenly said shocking her in the process.

"Wha-what do you mean-I am not!"

"Heh..." He looked at her smirking. He turned around and leaned his back on the bar, "But your words are convincing."

She stared at him for a couple of seconds before she turned ahead in front of her and closed her eyes. Her smile was visible on her face, "Just like how I beat you on that match?"

"You think so?" He asked not even looking at her. It felt like he was just shrugging the thought.

"Aren't I?" She looked at him who was not looking at her still, "It's memorable for me. The Echizen Ryoma was beaten by his girlfriend in tennis." She suddenly said the last sentence dreaming about the time. She almost missed his chuckle if he didn't move from his location.

"Mada mada dane, Sakuno."

"Hey, what do you mean by that?" She followed him wih her vision.

"Ne," He started hopping from the bar. He stood straight first before he looked behind to see her, "Let's make a bet."

"A bet?" Somehow, the issues between bets felt like typical for her. For the both of them.

"Un," He nodded and faced her completely, "Let's bet that we are going to be together. For the rest of our lives."

She stared at his eyes for a few seconds. Nothing else mattered to them at that moment. The wind welcomed the atmosphere making Sakuno lighter than she ever was. A smile was brought to her blushing face as she shared her thoughts, "...What if we don't?"

Ryoma stared back at her for a few seconds before he shrugged and answered casually, "Let's meet in our afterlives then."

That shocked her momentarily before she chuckled at his answer. Ryoma frowned at her reaction and was about to ask her. Before he could to that, she shared her feelings to him, "I'd like that."

Ryoma looked at her before he walked closer to her location. His arm slowly wrapped to her waist while his other hand went to the railing of the bar. He was smiling a rare one to her, "I knew you'd say that." He crossed the distance between them.

His actions surprised her still but she didn't mind them. She was forgiving and she was forgetting all the bad times they had before. Now she was open to another chance. Another chance of love. And she understand really well.

After all, everything started with a bet.

~ Owari ~

How was the last chapter? I tried including the proper scenes and words here. I hope I got them alright. For the last time, thank you for reading this. Give me your last thoughts for this last chapter.

By the way, I left a message on my FB page regarding my Cherry Valentines fic as I announced this update there. For those, who did not check my page upon updating this chapter, feel free to check it after this.

Thank you very much.

The song used here was called 'Fairytale' sang by the mentioned singer 'Alexander Rybak.' I do not own the song. The names used here are credited to the owner of the books I mentioned from the previous chapter. I own nothing here.

Thank you for the long patience that you have for me. I don't update the way I used to but you stayed and waited for the updates. Thank you once again.

~ MitsukiJunko, with her It All Started with a Bet, Signing off ~