Can You Say It's Okay?

"Ah—!" Crack. A sound. When Rin turned around, the little house was crushed. The blue glass bead rolled, rolled… away. Taku stood frozen, his hand still out. "I—I'm sorry…!" Kuri flinched.

That house was something Rin had spent many days making. Gathering twigs, laying moss, one treasure at a time. The blue glass bead. The shiny button. A pressed yellow flower. A secret house, just for Kuri. Kuri's most favorite place.

Taku was Rin's dear friend. Always running over. Always bumping into something. But always laughing together with her. Today too, he'd only come running, "Rin, look, look!" He didn't do it on purpose. Rin knew that, too.

But—. On the ground, the broken house. Scattered moss. The cracked acorn roof. Taku's face crumpled. "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry, Rin." Kuri sniffed at the broken house. Rin's chest went tight.

She could just say "it's okay." Taku was her friend. He didn't mean it. — But. The house she'd made over so many, many days. The treasures she'd gathered. The sad feeling was real, too. If she said "it's okay" right away, where would this sadness go? Two feelings collided.

Kuri pattered over and nudged the blue glass bead, tn, back toward Rin. Taku was waiting. Tears welling in his eyes. "Rin… are you mad?" The words had come right up to her throat. "It's okay"? Or—. Just a little more.

Taku said, in a small voice. "If you say it's okay, Rin… I feel like I could laugh again." Rin drew in a breath. Say "it's okay"? Or tell him her real feeling? …What will Rin do?