Smart writers wait for the anime, but I am impatient.
Kanan Matsuura sits on the street curve in front of the beach. She is looking out at the wide blue sea and thinking about going for a dive later. The day is absolutely stunning; though, to Kanan, everyday is always stunning in some way. Suddenly, she hears laughter and looks down. Her friend, Mari Ohara, who has had her head rested on Kanan's lap for the past thirty minutes, is now giggling uncontrollably and clutching her phone to her chest.
"What is it?" asks Kanan.
"Look! Look!" says Mari as she waves her phone in Kanan's face.
Mari's laughter causes erratic motions that make looking at the phone impossible.
"Hold still if you want me to see," chides Kanan patiently.
Mari hands the phone to her friend, still giggling.
April 25, 2:30 pm
Dia: Someone tell Mari I am aware that she was the one who hung up Illuminati posters in the student council room.
April 25, 2:33 pm
Mari: Shhh~ Dia, don't give away my secret! 3
April 25, 2:34 pm
Dia: Mari, it's a secret to exactly no one.
April 25, 2:40 pm
Mari: no Dia, I meant about my affiliation to "them", you can't tell people about that!
April 25, 2:41 pm
Dia: One, the Illuminati do not exist. Two, if they did, they would not let someone as frivolous as you into their midst.
April 25, 2:42 pm
Yoshiko: DIIIIIIIAAAAAAA! Only a fool doubts the existence OF THAT which is TRUE! AND MARI you should not speak of them so frequently lest you wish to vanish from our MIDST!
April 25, 2:42 pm
Mari: Oh! Roger!
April 25, 2:43 pm
Dia: Mari, conspiracies are going to be the least of your worries, if I come into the student council room tomorrow motioning and see Illuminati posters.
April 25, 2:43 pm
Mari: Oh, were they not amusing? I was hoping I could make you laugh. I rarely ever see you smile...
April 25, 2:45 pm
Dia: Mari, the Student Council Room is not to be used for such purposes, but that was a nice gesture. Thank you. However, next time, please think about your method before you execute it.
April 25, 2:46 pm
Mari: Of course~~~ I'll use some other kind of poster next time. One that's SURE to make you laugh!
April 25, 2:47 pm
Dia: WHY YOU! This is unacceptable!
April 25, 2:48 pm
You: What did I do?
April 25, 2:48 pm
Mari: Yes, what did You do? We weren't even talking about her~
Dia has left the conversation
Dia has joined the conversation
April 25, 2:49 pm
Dia: The Student Council Room better be free of posters of all kinds when I come in tomorrow and, if it's not, I will have a word with you.
April 25, 2:49 pm
Dia: By you, I mean Mari.
April 25, 2:50 pm
Mari: oh, Dia~ I think you forgot a comma in that second to last sentence 3
Dia has left the conversation
Kanan finishes reading and sighs.
"You shouldn't tease her so much."
"I can't help it, I can't," says Mari between giggles, "it's too easy, and she's too cute!"
Kanan smiles, "it was pretty funny."
"Wasn't it?" Mari has finally recovered from her fit. She sits up and positions herself next to Kanan.
"Yes, but promise me you'll take the posters down, okay? Dia has a lot of work to do, and I don't think she can accomplish it in a room full of Illuminati posters."
"Oh, you're right. Hmm, maybe I shouldn't have put up so many..."
"How many did you put up?"
Mari presses her lips together in a slight pout.
"Tell me," prides Kanan playfully.
"Exactly 321..."
Now Kanan is the one caught it a fit of laughter.
"W-why 321?"
"B-because I wanted it to be like: 3! 2! 1! LAUGHTER~" says Mari, exclaiming the last word in loud English, "h-hey, Kanan, are you alright?"
"N-no," Kanan is gasping for air between laughs.
Mari waits a full minute before Kanan finally recovers.
"You're ridiculous, Mari."
"Why thank you," says Mari, giving a small bow.
"I'll help you take down the posters."
"Oh, you don't have to do that. I'm the one who-"
"I want to help. Don't try to stop me, but I think I'm going to go for a swim first. After that, we can head back and take down your posters."
"Thank you, Kanan. That's very kind of you," says Mari softly. Kanan notices a slight rosy glow on her cheeks.
"So you do have a soft side? How sweet." The glow gets brighter.
"You're a really nice person, Kanan."
"Thank you Mari, that's very kind of you," says Kanan with a smile, "it's not a big deal though, I like helping people. Don't worry about it!"
Kanan stands up, stretches, and grabs her bag.
"Alright, time to jump in the waves. You want to come with me?"
"Yes!" Mari's energy suddenly returns, and the glow disappears as quick as it came.
"Alright, there's a bathroom in that shop over there that we can change in."
Kanan changes into a her bikini and exits the store. She finds Mari waiting for her outside and walks up to her.
"Because it's only Tuesday, the beach should be empty. It'll be nice to-" Kanan notices something, "Mari! Are you only wearing your-"
Mari's index finger swiftly presses against Kanan's lips.
"Shhh~" she murmurs with a coy smile.
"Mari," Kanan whispers, "why are you wearing ONLY your underwear?"
"I'd didn't have a swimsuit, and, it's like you said, no one is here plus you can't tell from a distance~"
"S-still!"
"Besides swimsuits and underwear are almost the same, design wise. The material is the only real difference. Anyway, come on. Let's go for a swim!"
The blonde drags Kanan behind her and runs them both toward the ocean. Kanan takes another look at Mari's "swimsuit". She had always imagined that the girl would wear something expensive and lacey, but the "swimsuit" is a plain white with the only decoration being a delicate purple stitching on the straps. Kanan abrutly realizes she should not be eye-balling Mari's underwear.
The two girls come the water's edge, and Kanan pulls them to a stop.
"Mari, it's white. You probably want to keep it that way."
"But, you wear these things UNDER you clothes, so what does it matter if it gets a little gray?"
"Yes, but the salt water will down horrors to the condition of the fabric."
"Kanan, don't worry so much! Let's just enjoy ourselves!"
Mari takes one steps forward and allows some water to touch her bare feet. She immediately let's out a loud yelp.
"It's freezing!"
Kanan laughs and steps in as well.
"You should just dive in then. Dive in and move around, it'll warm up fast that way. Follow me!"
Kanan runs forward and dives into the sea. The feeling of water around her instantly gives her a blissful rush. She opens her eyes under the water, ignoring the salty sting. The beach they are on doesn't have much to offer by way of reefs or fish, but Kanan still finds the crystal clear water and fine sand beautiful in their own right. She is so submersed in the underwater world that she almost forgets the girl, standing with barely her ankles in the water. Kanan comes back to the surface.
"Mari! Come on, just dive in!"
The blonde girl takes a deep breath then dives into the water after Kanan. She reemerges next to Kanan and grabs onto her.
"It's a sunny day, but the water is very cold," she stutters out between shivers.
"Because you have to keep moving," says Kanan as she supports the girl her by waist, "here, kick with me."
"Eh Kanan! Something touched my foot."
"That was my foot."
"Oh! I thought it was a sea monster."
"Calm down."
"W-what? I'm very relaxed? Oh! Please tell me that just your foot again?!"
"I don't think it was..."
"What?!"
"I'm kidding, calm down. You're clinging so tightly to me. It reminds me of Ruby. Hehe~ I should tell Dia about this," Kanan holds onto Mari's shoulders to steady her.
"W-well... It's because... I'm not a very good swimmer and I've never swam in the ocean..."
Kanan's eyes go wide, and she becomes aware of how far they have drifted away from the shore. For her, of course, the distance is nothing, but for someone who is a poor swimmer...
"Mari. You should have told me, let's go back to shore."
"N-no. We're not that far out. Besides its beautiful, and I like being out here...with you," Mari says with a small yet confident smile.
"I don't see You anywhere," Kanan weakly jokes.
"Oh no! You've stolen Mari's joke!" Mari exclaims, "also, I know I'm wonderful, but there's no need to hold my waist so tightly."
Kanan can't help it. She feels as if it her duty to keep Mari anchored to her.
"M-mari! Let's go back to shore! We should go back soon to take down your posters..."
"But I'm just starting to warm up, and I can just feel the ground when I stretch my feet down. Also the waves aren't that big. Besides, you wouldn't let anything bad happen to me."
"Okay..."
Kanan and Mari play in the water for about a half and hour. Mari spends most of the time dipping her head under the water and looking for penguins. Kanan notices that the longer her friend spends in the ocean, the more accustomed she seems to get to swimming with the steady rock of the waves, which somewhat eases Kanan's nerves. Yet the blue haired girl's worry begins to build again when she notices the waves are getting bigger.
"The tide is coming in. We should head back to shore."
"What? A little bit longer!"
The blonde is swimming on her own now, and it's making Kanan uneasy.
"Five minutes," Kanan says firmly.
"Roger!"
Mari dives back in the water, and Kanan shifts her attention back to the waves. When the waves begin to make even Kanan feel uncertain of her own strength in the ocean, she decides it is time to go back. She looks around, hoping to find Mari, then freezes. She doesn't see her anywhere.
"Mari?! Mari?!"
"Kanan! Over here! I found a turtle!" calls a voice cheerfully back.
Kanan looks in the direction. She sees Mari a good fifty feet away from her.
"You're really close to the breaking zone! Move back! The tide is coming in!"
While Mari doesn't seem to hear her clearly, she seems to understand the existence of danger, but her actions are only more cause for panic in Kanan. Instead of moving back to a point before the waves break, Mari moves forward, into the breaking zone. Kanan yells a warning, but it falls on deaf ears as a huge wave breaks on top of Mari. The blonde vanishes into the water.
Kanan dives under the water and begins swim towards Mari. The clear water makes it easy to see her shape. Her body is as limp as seaweed. The waves violently toss the weak frame back and forth. Kanan feels her heart leap as she sees Mari's head connect with the ocean floor.
When she finally reaches Mari, and she sees that the girl is unconscious. Kanan begins to pull her to the shore, praying everything will be alright. The waves want Kanan to fail; the tides try to tug her and her friend out to sea, but not even Poseidon himself could have stunted her determination in this moment.
Kanan drags Mari onto the sand, presses her own fists together, and pumps them against the blonde's chest in a practiced rhythm. After eighteen pumps she places her fingers over Mari nose and tilts her chin up; then, she presses her mouth to Mari's, giving the girl three shaky breathes. Despite her best efforts, Mari remains unconscious, yet Kanan's continues the rhythmic pumps and gifts of breath.
After five minutes have yielded not so much as a cough from Mari, idea that she might be doing it wrong dawns on Kanan. Her friend's breath has not recovered, and it is hard to tell if her heart is still beating, but Kanan can't bear the thought of losing her, so she continues the fruitless repetition.
This is her fault. There are a hundred things she could've done to stop this, and she did none of them. What if Mari is gone forever? How can she tell the others? How will Dia react when she learns the last conversation she with Mari was a pointless banter? Can their group even continue without their composer? Kanan pushes the thoughts from her head. She has no time for them. She presses her mouth hard against Mari's and gives her a long breath.
She feels the cough before she hears it.
Color returns to Mari's face as she coughs up water.
"K-Kanan... d-don't b-be so rough...f-for m-my f-first-"
Kanan cuts Mari off mid-sentence. She nearly chokes the girl back into unconsciousness with a tight hug.
"H-hey...I said don't be so rough..."
"Mari! I thought, I thought-" Kanan's voice breaks into a sob.
For once, Mari has no words.
"I'm sorry, Kanan. I shouldn't have insisted we stay out, but I just wanted to spend more time with you... Because I love-" Mari stops, a look of pain on her face, she brings her arms around her friend, "because I really love spending time with you."
Kanan shakes her head and pulls the blonde closer.
"I'm sorry... I should have been watching.. I should have been..."
"Shhh... It's alright now. You saved me, Kanan. That makes you my hero."
Mari hesitates, then tilts her head slightly down, brushing her lips against the top of Kanan's blue hair. The motion is light and quick; it goes unnoticed by the other girl. The look of longing in Mari's eyes is hidden once she shuts them.
"Kanan, it's okay now. Everything is alright."
"Mari, I, I... I don't want to lose you!"
"Look at me."
Kanan tilts her head up to look at Mari. The soft smile on the girl's face hints of hidden sadness. When Kanan's eyes meet Mari's, the smile and the sadness grow, simultaneously. Mari leans her forehead against Kanan's. Wet strands of blonde hair clumsily frame the girl's lovely face. Kanan can see deep into her golden eyes. They are pools of perfect warmth. Kanan feels the Mari's hand reach out and gently hold her's. Her fingers are cold, but her grip is strong.
"Kanan, you're not going to lose me. I'm right here, okay? I promise. I'll be your friend, forever."
The words cause emotions that hit Kanan like waves. So strong are they that, she can almost ignore the strange disappointment that tugs at her heart. Almost.