"Great! Now what am I going to do?" the boy thought aloud. "Today was supposed to be the day I confessed to Rumi-chan. And I've already lost the others. Didn't they hear me say, 'wait up, I have to re-lace my shoe'? Or did they hear and just not care? And we pooled all our money -I've barely enough for a bottled water, let alone lunch! Why did I let them talk me into this? Maybe I should just go home. I can always study for Tuesday's mock exam at cram school. I mean, the day's already ruined, and it just started. It can't get much worse!"

His thoughts were interrupted -broken into rather- by the sound of another voice, one he recognized all too well. "Tadaki-kun! Thank goodness. At least someone waited."

'Oh no! Rumi-chan -no, she's simply Himewari-san- is here! I was wrong, the day just got worse, much worse. Now what do I do? I wasn't expecting Himewari to show up by herself!'

The owner of the voice known as Himewari Rumiko waded through the people between her and Tadaki Kazunori. and sighed in relief once she had reached him. "But, where are the others? Yoshi-kun, Ana-chan, Misuru, Yumi? Didn't they wait with you?" Himewari-san asked, scanning the crowds as they passed by.

'Ah, so she got left behind as well,' was Tadaki Kazunori's first thought, quickly followed by: 'No, that's not good! How can I be comfortable around her, as I am? I'm a nervous wreck! Yoshi must have done this on purpose, he must have' "Ah, Himewari-san, gomen. I had to tie my shoelaces and got separated from them, when I looked up they had gone on ahead." Kazunori admitted. "Oh," she said pursing her lips. "Ah, but you're here, so its not a total loss." she continued brightly. "Did you try calling?"

'Yes, but it won't do any good' he thought. Aloud he said. "I tried calling Ozawa on his cell but got no answer. I left a message, but he either left it at home or has it turned off" -'or is deliberately ignoring it' he added mentally.

"Or he can't hear it over the noise of the rides." Himewari-san said helpfully.

"Unless he has it on vibrate" Kazunori pointed out -'or _silent_' he grumbled mentally.

"True, but all the bumping could disguise it." Himewari countered, still trying to defend Ozawa, it seemed to Tadaki, which made him wonder how she felt about him. 'Pushing it a bit, aren't we, Rumi-chan?' he thought, slipping back to familiar form of address.

"At any rate, we won't accomplish anything just standing here. Shall we go then, Kazunori-kun, maybe we can still catch up." Kazunori looked at her funny.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to use your name, it just slipped out." Himewari apologized, noting his look and misinterpreting.

He continued to stare at her for a second before shaking himself loose. Hearing his name from her lips had sent him to the third heaven, or so it seemed to him. "Oh no, no. I don't mind, its just...its just this is the first time you've ever used my first name," he said.

"I kind of like it," he admitted, experiencing a warming sensation in his chest, which he attempted to shrug off. 'Not now!' he told himself.

"All right, Kazunori," she replied, saying his name again, perhaps resting a little longer on the last syllables, perhaps not. "But you must call me Rumiko, else I'll fear I'm taking advantage of you" she smiled.

Ah, permission to call her by name! What could this mean? "Rumiko...chan" he tried her name experimentally as well.

Rumiko smiled wider in encouragement. "Ha ha, its like we're just meeting for the first time. Well, Kazunori-kun, please take good care of me." The two looked at each other for a moment, then broke out laughing together, eliciting strange looks from the people walking around them.

"Well, then, what shall we do now? We're here, might as well go in." Rumiko said again, getting back to the subject at hand.

Kazunori tightened up at this, He looked wistfully toward the interior of the park. "But, we all pooled our money, and Ozawa has the wallet" -'And I will never let him live this down' he thought grimly.

Rumiko's eyes widened in surprise. "We were supposed to pool our money? But nobody told me. And I brought over 30,000 yen with me."

'30,000 yen! Wish I had that kind of pocket money' Kazunori thought glumly. 'But why would Yoshi or Ana not tell Rumi-chan?'

His thoughts were interrupted again, by Rumiko's sweet voice. "Oh, that reminds me," she said, rummaging around in her purse. "I was over at Yumi-chan's last night, and Yoshi-kun was there, and he handed me an envelope, asking me to deliver it to you. He said it was to repay a loan, and that he'd rather I give it because he thought I might see you first, or something like that." She trailed off hesitantly at the end, but perked right back up, as though shaking off an unexpected thought. Her smile really set off her green summer dress and eyes, Kazunori thought.

'Loan? What loan? Oh that's right, the 7500 yen Ozawa borrowed last week to make his cell payment, he said. Wow, Rumi-chan really makes that light green look good. I never noticed before, but wow' She handed over the envelope, which he accepted hesitantly.

"I guess he thought we'd meet up first and then join the group. How like him. I'll have to ask him when we see him. You thank him too, Nori-kun," she said, absentmindedly truncating his name. Neither one batted an eye as he thanked her and truncated her name. It was like they had been this way for ever, personal names coming so naturally off the tongue.

"Arigato, Rumi-chan. And I will." 'You bet I'll definitely have a few words for you, Yoshi' he added mentally.

"Now that we have the money situation settled, can we go in please? I've been waiting all week for this!" Rumi said, accompanied by a little twirl that almost took her hat off.

'Acting this way, looking like such a child, it makes her that much cuter, so cute it almost hurts' Kazunori thought.

He automatically reached out to steady it, but was stopped in mid-reach by Rumi-chan's hand, which caught and lowered it, without letting go. She grinned at him and explained "So we don't get separated one from another" with only the tiniest hesitation and flush at the end.

So saying she ran off, one hand holding on to her hat while her purse splayed out behind her, while the other hand kept a firm grip on Kazunori's as he followed with a bemused expression. His eyes glanced up a the sign as they went under a semi-circular arch, with rows of banner flags lying limply on poles to either side, and the park's name written in large characters inside giant strawberries: "Welcome to Strawberry Fields!" A smaller banner beneath proclaimed. "A Dreamland Park"

'Dreamland indeed!' he thought, then gave up and decided to enjoy the day together with Rumi; he might not get another chance. At the same time, surely Buddha was smiling down on him, today. This was his chance, he would find the right moment today and confess! But first, as it turned out, he would have to endure what he would later recall as The Three-Four and Five Strange Things.