The Meadow Just for Us

Behind the school there is a little meadow — a place no one else knows, Mina's place alone. Part the clover, and — pop. A white rabbit, Koyuki, with a small mouse-grey patch over one eye: Mina's very best friend. "Koyuki, I'm back." Koyuki pressed close against Mina's knee. Here, it's just the two of them.

Every day, when school ends, Mina comes here. The things that happened today, the secret feelings she can't tell anyone — she tells them all, only to Koyuki. Koyuki twitches both ears and listens, so still. "Koyuki, you know everything about me." The wind set the clover whispering. A quiet time, just the two of them.

One day, across the meadow, someone was there. Rin — who had just come to the class next door, always alone, always watching the outside from the window. Rin spotted Koyuki and went round-eyed. And then Koyuki went hop, hop, toward Rin, and touched a nose to Rin's open palm. Rin's whole face lit up bright.

Something deep in her chest gave a sharp little sting. — But Koyuki is MY friend. Before she knew it, Mina pulled Koyuki tight against her. "No. Koyuki is mine." Rin's bright face wilted, fading away. Koyuki looked back and forth between Mina and Rin, troubled. A feeling she'd never felt before. Her chest went cloudy and tight, and it hurt.

The next day. From the classroom window, Rin gazed and gazed toward the meadow — the back of a child with no friends, waiting for no one. That back… she knew it. Mina, too, had been alone at first, with only Koyuki for a friend. On her lap, Koyuki glanced over toward Rin — as if to say, "That child is lonely too."

That night, under the covers, Mina thought and thought. If she shares Koyuki, it won't be "just the two of us" anymore. It would feel as if the place where she tells her secret feelings just… vanished. But — Rin's wilted face. That lonely back at the window. Her love for Koyuki and her can't-leave-Rin-alone feeling collided, right there in her chest.

The next day, at dusk. At the very edge of the meadow, Rin stood, ever so quietly — not coming in, but not leaving either. On her lap, Koyuki looked up at Mina, then looked at Rin. Keep "just the two of us," and the secret place stays Mina's, always. Call Rin in, and it won't be "two" anymore — but maybe Rin's loneliness would melt away. The sunset was staining the clover red. What will Mina do?