~Nanako and the Strawberry Patch~

Kazunori was interrupted by the sound of a child crying. The two looked around to see a little girl wandering to and fro amid the crowds. A yellow sun-dress and hat with blue-ribbon adorned red curly hair. A white purse with pink bunny ears peeping out was gripped in front by both hands. She was bobbing her head back and forth among the crowds, looking for someone -probably her parents, Nori-kun decided.

"Oniichan, oneechan!" the girl cried upon seeing the two on the bench, as though coming across beloved family members, and made a bee-line for them. "Help! Nanako has been separate from okasan and otosan and doesn't know where to find them!"

She wrapped her arms around a startled Rumiko's waist and began to wail, dropping her pocketbook as she fell to her knees. Kazunori leaned down and picked up the pocket book, holding it in his hands with a slightly puzzled look on his face, a look echoed by Rumiko.

"There, there, we'll find them" Rumiko said, stroking the girl's curly head. She looked over the girl to Kazunori as if to say "Now what do we do?". He shrugged his shoulders as if to say "I don't know, but we have to do something."

"Come on, Nanako-chan was it?" Rumiko asked, looking at the girl. Her sobbing over, the girl nodded, "why don't we go to lost-and-found, I'm sure the nice people there will have you reunited with your parents right away."

The girl shook her head vigorously. "No no no. Nanako doesn't want to go there. Those people are scary. Not like oneechan and oniichan." She began to cry again.

"Nori-kun what do we do, she won't stop crying!" Rumiko wailed. 'Ne, are you thirsty? Do you want to get a drink with oniichan and oneechan?" Rumiko asked, turning back to the girl. "And then maybe we can go ask a park attendant, if they've seen your parents?"

"No...no attendants. Nanako won't go with them. Strange men are scary."

"But Nanako-chan.." Rumiko began. "No no no no!" Nanako broke in. She began to pout.

Rumiko began to wring her hands. "Now what?"

"Relax, Rumi-chan. My little sister does this frequently. When she pouts the only thing you can do is wait her out, or distract her." Kazunori said, unexpectedly.

"You have an imouto, Nori-kun?" Rumiko asked.

"Yeah, about the same age as Nanako as well. Don't you?"

"No, I'm an only child."

"Ah, that explains your worry."

" You're okay with her crying, then?"

"Well, no, but I'm not alarmed by it. It happens."

Rumiko visibly relaxed. "Then, I'll go get her drink, and you stay here with her." She said, disengaging Nanako's hands from her waist, and bringing them to Kazunori, where they wrapped around his leg.

"Oneechan?" Nanako said breaking off her tantrum, as Rumiko walked away.

"Yosh, yosh, its okay, Nana-chan, oneechan's just going to get some refreshments. She'll be back" Kazunori said. "Now, why don't we sit down and wait," he said, giving force to his words by sitting on the bench. Behind him, a fountain of colored water started up and began spurting water in a variety of patterns into a number of varying lengths of pipe.

"Hey look, Nana-chan, watch the different colors jumping around. Its magic." Kazunori said, pointing to a stream of water arcing out of a hole and jumping to another hole a few feet away, before disappearing and coming out on the other side.

Nanako looked up as the water shot overhead. By the time Rumiko returned with the drink, Nanako had calmed down. "Do you really not know where your parents are?" Kazunori asked, after a couple moments of watching the water.

"No, Nanako has no idea where they are."

"Did you not have an agreed place to go to if you got separated, then?"

"um mm. Should we?"

"Oh yes, its very important to have such a place. It helped when my own imouto was separated from us a while back. We went to where we had agreed, and there she was, all curled in a ball."

Nanako looked gravely at Kazunori. 'Will you help Nanako find them, oniichan?"

"Of course we will, Nana-chan." he said, patting her head, as Rumiko had done earlier.

"Don't you worry now, we'll find them just like that." he said, snapping his fingers.

"Gomen, Nori-kun, I know its strange, but I don't know how to handle young children." she said as she came up with a drink and a cookie.

"There's no need to apologize, not everyone's a natural pre-school teacher." He looked over at the girl munching on the cookie, despite her tears before continuing. "It looks like she really is scared of the park attendants though. She shies away every time someone approaches, even the grounds-keepers." Rumiko nodded.

"There's no choice in the end, we can't just leave her alone." Kazunori said. "Well have to take her with us until we find her mom and dad." "Sorry to put you through this, Nori-kun." Rumiko said."

"Again, there's no need to apologize. Look at it this way. we get to see parts of the park we might not otherwise have gone to."

"You always have a good outlook, Nori-kun, that's great!"

"Not always." He said soberly. But Rumiko had turned her head to listen to something Nanako remarked on and didn't hear his reply. Truthfully, Nanako's presence was an unwelcome intrusion for him, but he couldn't really blame her for being lost. And yet as they proceeded from place to place in the park, he kept giving more and more sidewise glances at Rumiko's profile over the head of their little charge. How could he make a confession, shackled as he was with this little girl? This day was certainly not turning out the way he had hoped or planned. He was beginning to think the whole 'confessing at the amusement park' idea was 'dead on arrival' He hoped her parents hurried up and showed themselves. On the other hand, Rumi-looked like she was enjoying herself, now that the pressure of caring for Nanako was shared between them.

They walked through the park hand-in-hand with Nanako in the middle. Soon she even stopped crying, as she took in all the sights, even though her parents never seemed to materialize; she would spin around occasionally to wave at someone behind them. Nori even wondered if the three of them looked like a family from a distance to other park guests. They traversed the park over and over, retracing Nanako's route with her parents as best she remembered. This included the merry-go-round, the flying swings, and other kid-sized rides, festival-style games booths, even the lake. The Petting Zoo, especially seemed to distract her from worrying about her parents. They had to stop occasionally and allow Nanako to try a game, or ride one attraction or other on the pretext that her parents might be in line, or see her in line and come to claim her. Finally, they found her parents.

The three of them had just stepped around a line leading to the log flume, when seemingly out of nowhere, there they were standing by a sign pointing to various locations in the park.

"Okasan! Otosan!" Nanako yelled, and wriggling out of Nori and Rumiko's hands, she ran to her parents, and jumping into a great hug. After their reunion, the trio turned to Nori and Rumi and bowed.

"Thank you, you two for caring for our wayward daughter. We had no idea where she was. Why, we went about the whole park looking, and had just about given up hope," The mother said.

"Please, let us do something for you, for your trouble," the father said, reaching for his wallet.

"iiya you don't need to do anything for us." Kazunori shook his head. "We're just glad that Nanako could be reunited with her parents."

The two adults looked at each other, and nodded. "Well, in that case... But still, you had to go out of your way, and I'm sure there were plenty of things you would have rather been doing, than babysitting a crying little girl. So, please accept these tickets. They're no use to us now, because we have to get home," he said taking out a pair of tickets that read "Pick Your Own Strawberry Patch, Admit One. 2:30p "but its a shame to let them go to waste."

Kazunori was stunned. The Strawberry Patch was the park's most famous attraction with a price over and above general park admission. The ability to pick one's own berries at the park was a coveted opportunity. Ozawa and the others would certainly be jealous of his and Rumi's good fortune when they heard this.

"Are you sure this is all right? These are costly tickets, and all we did was befriend Nanako-chan and take her around the park looking for you." Nori said, politely trying to refuse the tickets."

"Nonsense, this is the least we could do for you because of all the trouble our daughter caused you." The mother said.

"Sumimasen" Nanako said, contritely. "Why you had to interrupt your date to look after our wayward daughter." Nanako's father said, pressing the tickets back into Nori's hand. It was a measure of how shaken Kazunori was that he didn't protest at the father's description of their outing.

"I think its far too generous of you, but I shall accept your gift." Nori said.

"Thank you, that makes us very happy." Nanako's mother said. Nori bowed in acknowledgment (and defeat), accompanied by Rumiko, one hand on her hat. "So, please enjoy the strawberry patch."

"We will, ma'am." Kazunori assured the couple. The parents bowed again, and the two groups parted. As they walked off, Kazunori mused "Still,if they were that worried about their daughter, you'd think they would have contacted park authorities for a lost-child search."

Rumiko shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe they were so concerned, that they didn't stop to think about contacting park security. It can happen."

"Oh well, what matters is that they've been reunited. And, we can enjoy a special treat." Kazunori said, as if having the last word.

# # #

Nanako waved as they watched the two go off. "Bye oniichan! Bye oneechan. Enjoy the rest of your date!"

As the reunited family walked away, Nanako's parents praised the little girl."You were such a help to okasan and otosan with oniichan and oneechan today, Nanako." her mother said, her hand resting on the little girl's shoulders. "Cousin Yoshi will be so proud of you. As a reward, you can have whatever you want for dinner!" "Wahh. Yippee. Then Nanako wants..."

# # #

According to the tickets (and the map) the entrance to the Strawberry Patch was in the Great Berry, situated at the middle of the park. The Great Berry rose to fill the horizon the closer they got to it. Rumiko craned her neck to see as much of it as she could. "Woah, I didn't know it was so big" she commented, craning her neck to try and see the top."I wonder how they fit the strawberry patch inside?"

He felt like teasing her, so he replied "It's one of the mysteries of the Great Berry."

"Really? Do you think they use hydroponics, Two way solar panels for the greenhouses? Maybe they grow them on trestles like grapes or roses, or..." Listening to Rumiko ramble on about all the different ways the strawberry patch could be hidden within the Berry, each one becoming more improbable than the other was finally too much for Kazunori. He laughed.

"Silly, this is just the entrance. The actual field is on the other side of the highway. We have to walk underneath the Berry to get there." she punched him playfully.

"Hidoi!" she said.

"It is true that the path to the strawberry patch is lined with presentations about the future of agriculture, like what you mentioned, though." She looked at him with disbelief, until he pointed to a brochure at a kiosk that confirmed everything he said, and a little of what she had proposed.

"Ha, see. I was right, after all." After a pause, she amended herself, "Well I could be right, probably I'll be right. Anyway, let's go see the strawberries."

Now it was her turn to drag him by the hand to the break in the Sunflower moat that surrounded the Great Berry that represented the entrance to the Strawberry Patch. People were going ahead of them all the time, and Kazunori decided it was probably a good time to go down, otherwise the juiciest berries might be taken, if they hadn't already been.

He willingly followed her lead. They followed the smaller crowds that entered the Strawberry Patch entrance and walked down a wide flight of steps. At the bottom they turned left and came to a wide corridor. On each side were lighted panels showing the past, present, and probable future of strawberry growing. Rumiko wanted to stop and read each one, but as they were on a people- mover, settled for reading each one as it went by.

At the end of the people mover, they were ushered into a small auditorium where they watched a brief film about the history of the Strawberry Fields strawberry patch, what they could expect once they got to the fields, and behavior and safety instructions. Exiting the auditorium they were guided by an attendant to the door that lead to the Patch. Coming out back into the sunlight, they blinked to clear their eyes, and then stared at what lay before them. The Strawberry Patch filled scores of acres of cultivated fields on a series of plateaus, much like a traditional rice-paddy farm. There were windmills placed at various points dressed to look like giant sunflowers. Still following the people that had come before them, they lined up at the entrance to the fields and presented their tickets in turn to the attendant. She exchanged them for two white wicker-work baskets with green linings.

"Please be sure to return to the counter when you're baskets are full. Everyone here at the Best Strawberry Patch wishes you two well on your date"

Kazunori couldn't help blurting as they stepped out into the fields "Why do you think everybody says we're on a date?"

"Perhaps because we look like a couple?" Rumiko asked rhetorically.

Kazunori blushed.

"Heh, heh, Nori-kun you're so silly. But really, does talk like that bother you that much?"

"I..iiya. Its just that...why would they see someone as pretty as you hanging out with the likes of me?"

"I think you short-change yourself too much" was all Rumiko said in reply, before turning her attention to the strawberry patch in front of her. For a moment, Kazunori had the impression that she was actually angry with him. But the moment passed, and he shrugged and crouched down beside her, and began reaching his hands out to pick berries.

They spent some time before each patch, carefully choosing which berries to leave, and which to pick, only taking a few from each bush. They worked in silence, or at least without words -the sound of their breathing mingled with the chatter -music and mechanical noises of the outer park forming a white noise in the background leading Kazunori posit their being in a dreamland, just like the park entrance invited. Their hands touched numerous times reaching for the same berries, and Nori felt his heart pounding each time -he wondered if Rumiko felt the same.

'It's as if the berries present themselves in such a manner that we can't help but brush against each other,' he thought to himself. 'The berries are cheering me on, What better place to tell her than here in the heart of a berry patch?' But could he really do it here?

A sneeze from the next row over brought Nori-kun back to the present. Of course he couldn't do it here, there were so many others around. And it would be rude to force his confession on her here. He needed a secluded place to compose himself. All he could do for now was to pick the berries. He went back to the patch before him bending to reach a particularly large and ripe berry nestled in the leaves.

Finally, Rumiko brushed her forehead locks with the back of her hand, and stretched. "If we stay here any longer, we'll get sunburned," he remarked, likewise taking the opportunity to stretch.

"I agree, its fun, but picking berries is hard work. Shall we eat now?" She asked.

"Eh, you're still hungry?" 'Nori exclaimed. "Didn't you eat enough berries?"

"How mean. I ate hardly any of my basket. Unlike you, Nori-kun!" she said primly.

"Huh? I didn't even touch what was in the basket!" he protested.

"Heh heh, that's because most of them didn't make it into your basket in the first place." Rumiko laughed.

"Heh heh, you got me" Kazunori said, feigning being shot. "But yeah, it is time for a meal. I just wish I had thought to bring an obento. Is that strange?" he asked, seeing Rumiko covering a smile with her free hand.

"Nonsense, it shows your sensible side. To be honest, Nori-kun, I always thought you were a bit shy and withdrawn, but I'm glad to find out that you're not."

"Eh, what's that supposed to mean?" Kazunori asked, trying to wrap his head around the apparent non sequitor.

"Nothing. Its a se-cre-t" she said with a smile. Nori just shook his head in amazement.

'Girls.' he said in exasperation.

"You got that right." a passerby said in commiseration, startling Kazunori, who hadn't realized he had spoken the last aloud.

"But what do we do with the berries we picked? We can't carry them around with us all day!" Rumiko asked as they headed toward the exit.

"Oh, we hand the baskets to the attendants. They'll hold them for us and we can pick them up at the park entrance when we leave for the day"

"Wow, Nori-kun, you're so smart -knowing so much" Rumiko said with admiration walking back into the sunshine. "Saa..not really, I'm only about average for our class."

"I'd hardly call being in the top third for our grade 'average', Nori-kun."

"Eh? How do you know that?"

"Oh everyone knows who's in the top third" she said quickly, as though recovering from an unintended slip-up ... "Oh look sunflowers!" she said, pointing out a ring of bright yellow flowers waving in the wind like a stand of trees, almost as if trying to change the subject.

"Did you know in flower language, the sunflower means 'I'm always watching over you'? I think that's romantic. Even more romantic than roses." Kazunori took notice of her words, despite himself, filing it away for future reference. Maybe he could get her a sunflower pin to wear...But he didn't have overly long to dwell, as with the approaching meal came the Third Strange Thing.