Title: "Lost and Found"

Author: tentsubasa

Summary: A long-forgotten memory of being lost, strawberry pudding, and frogs is found.

Genre: Friendship/Romance

Rating: K

Pairing: Kazuki Hihara x Kahoko Hino

Prompts: Satsuki (incorporate a food into the story), Children's Day (story must involve children)

If you asked Kazuki Hihara when he had met his true love, he would tell you it was in his senior year of high school through a school-wide music competition.

But that was false. He had met her on a swelteringly hot day in the dead of August when he was six.

If you asked him where they had met, he'd tell you it was in the staff room not too far from his classroom, good old 3-B.

But actually, it was at a park not too far from where he and his family were visiting his grandparents for the weekend.

And if you asked him how they had met, he would tell you it was while talking to Kanayan, the teacher who was the point-of-contact for the competition.

Again, he was wrong. He just happened to stumble upon her crying alone by the pond.

"Why are you crying?"

Five-year-old Kahoko Hino sniffled and lifted her pale golden eyes to meet a pair of concerned amber ones. Her tears welled up again. "I-I'm l-l-lost," she blubbered.

Kazuki nodded vigorously in understanding, his grass-green hair bobbing in time. "That's scary. I got lost in the really, really big department store yesterday. It was cool for a while, like a big game of hide-and-seek, but then I got hungry." He looked quite mournful. "It wasn't so fun after that."

Kahoko's stomach growled in response.

Kazuki giggled. "Looks like you're hungry too."

"I missed my snack," Kahoko explained. She looked really sad as she tugged on a cherry-red pigtail. "Daddy was going to buy ice cream, but then I got lost."

"Mmmm…" Kazuki scratched his head uncertainly before brightening up and pulling something out of his bag. "Here!" he thrust a cup and small spoon into her hands.

She took it in surprise.

"It's a strawberry pudding cup." As she continued to look at him in wide-eyed amazement, his eyes took on a cautious look. "Do you not like sweets?"

That snapped her out of it. "I love sweets," she replied honestly. "Is it really okay for me to eat your snack though?"

"Yup," he grinned. "My grandparents live close to here, so I'll just get another one later."

She didn't need to be told twice. "Thank you!" she bowed slightly at him and dug in. "Yummy!" she beamed happily as she devoured the confection. "Strawberry's my favorite!"

"You finally smiled."

She looked at him in surprise, pudding remnants stuck to her face.

His grin was a mile wide. "You have a nice smile."

She returned the friendly look. "You have a nice smile too."

"You must've really been hungry; your face is all dirty," he laughed.

Her cheeks turning the color of the pudding, she quickly pulled a handkerchief out of her play purse and swiped her mouth. "Better?"

"Yeah," he nodded as she continued to eat, more daintily now. "So how'd you get lost anyway?"

"I'm not really sure," she answered with her mouth partially full. "One moment I was with my Daddy and my older sister and brother, and the next, I was alone." She cocked her head thoughtfully. "Maybe I shouldn't have chased that really pretty butterfly."

"What did it look like?"

She scrunched up her face in that adorable way young children do. "It had kind of sliver, sky blue, and orangey wings. It started off blue toward the body, then as it spread out, there was silver, and finally there was some orange on the edge."

"Oh yeah. I've seen those," Kazuki nodded with an easy grin. "They're pretty cool, aren't they? My older brother and I have one in our bug collection."

"You have a bug collection?"

"Yup!" He gestured grandly. "It's really big! We've got like…" he mentally counted, "twenty different bugs in it!"

"Neat!" She finished the pudding and smiled at him. "Thank you for the pudding. It was really good!"

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," he answered kindly.

"Is there a trashcan around?" she asked with a toss of her pigtails as she looked around.

"Not really," he shrugged, "just give it to me. I'll toss it in my bag."

"Okay. Thank you."

As soon as the trash had been stowed away, Kazuki eagerly turned to his new playmate. "You wanna catch frogs with me?"

"Ewww!" she made a face.

His mouth pulled down. "But frogs are fun!"

"Nuh uh! Frogs are gross! And slimy!"

Kazuki's laugh was loud and uninhibited. "That's part of what makes them fun." He grinned with relish. "When you catch them, sometimes they slip out of your hands!"

"Nope," Kahoko shook her head adamantly, not convinced in the least. "No way."

"You sure?"

She felt her resolve crumble when she saw how crestfallen he looked. "Well…" she bit her lip uncertainly, "why don't I just watch? I'll sit with your stuff while you catch frogs."

He perked right up. "Really?"

"Sure…" she answered hesitantly. As long as she stayed back here, it would be safe, right?

"O-kay!" Kazuki yanked off his shoes and socks into a small heap in no time flat and charged the pond.

Despite how icky frogs were, Kahoko found herself having fun watching the boy run around chasing after them. He was so thoroughly absorbed in enjoying himself that he didn't let anything deter him from his goal as he pounced on amphibian after amphibian (often without success). If he fell, which he did quite often with a gigantic splash that sent her into gales of laughter that made her sides hurt, he just got right back up again and tore after his leaping prey. It was fascinating.

"Got one!" he finally crowed in triumph. As she clapped at his victory, he bowed, playing it up as if he had just won some kind of great award. "Thank you! Thank you! You're too kind!"

She cracked up even harder.

"Hey, can you bring the box in my bag over?"

"What?!"

His face was all proud smiles. "I want to take it home to show my Grandpa. This is the biggest one I've ever caught, I think!"

She stood hesitantly. "O-okay…." She gingerly plucked the clear cage from his bag and began to inch her way over to him, dread written all over her face.

Understanding flashing through his eyes, Kazuki quickly plunged the frog back into the water.

Kahoko looked at him with a weird expression on her face. "What are you doing?"

"You're scared of frogs, right?" He smiled winsomely at her from where he was crouching. "This way you can still give me the box without getting near the frog."

The smile she gave him almost made him lose hold of his prize. "Thank you. You're a very nice person."

He felt a little embarrassed, so he changed the subject. "Just put it in front of me and I'll stick 'im right in."

"Okay!"

As he stood again, she scampered back to a safe distance.

"There you are!" another boy's voice called loudly.

Kahoko whirled around with a large smile. "Older brother!" she cried happily as she ran toward the rust-haired boy.

"Man are you gonna catch it!" Shou Hino scolded his little sister. "Everyone's really worried!"

Tears sprang up again. "I-I'm s-s-sorry!" the little girl whimpered. "I-I d-d-don't know how it h-h-happened."

"Don't cry; it'll all be okay," a voice called out.

Both Hinos turned to look over at the green-haired boy who was coming up to them with his froggy catch displayed proudly in its clear plastic holder. His sunny smile made her feel a little better. "I got scolded pretty badly for getting lost yesterday, but I didn't mind that much." He beamed happily. "After all, being found again is a really good feeling!"

"Who's this?"

"A new friend I made." Kahoko smiled warmly at the boy in question. "He found me and gave me his strawberry pudding; we've been playing together ever since."

Shou nodded gratefully at the boy. "Thanks for watching out for my sister." He looked down at Kahoko and added, "But we'd better go. It'll be dinnertime soon."

"Okay," Kahoko replied obediently. Turning back to her savior, she waved, "Bye-bye! Thank you for everything! I had a lot of fun!"

Kazuki grinned and waved back. "I had a lot of fun too! We should do it again sometime!"

"Okay!"

And with a final wave, they parted ways.

It was only after Kazuki and Kahoko returned to their respective families that they realized they had never learned the name of their new friend, and perhaps, that was part of why the fun afternoon faded all too soon into hazy, then forgotten memory. For when they met again in high school, not even the faintest inkling of their previous encounter came to mind. But in spite of that, if you now asked twenty-seven-year-old Kahoko Hino when she met her true love, she'd correctly tell you that she him met at the age of five and found him again when she was sixteen.

And now, as she stands facing him at the front of a church in a white dress, she repeats the vows that promise neither of them will ever be lost again.

The End

A/N : Hmm…it's been a really, really long time since I've done a wedding scene. Now that I have a bit more experience with that having gone through my own, I realize that I did things in the wrong order in "Saved the Best for Last." (^^; ) Whoops!

I had a lot of fun writing this, although it was a little tricky trying to figure out what parts of their personalities should be kept while trying to frame them in the context of a five- and six-year-old.