Endless Summer

I Won't Run Away

 "Mom—" Marianna wakes up panting, as if it was just another nightmare. The phone screen on the bedside table shows June 9th, 7:00 a.m.. "Of course, I'm back in the past again. If I had gotten to the cliffs earlier... No, even if I could get mom away from there, how could we survive a tsunami like that?"

The words from the strange girl echoed in her mind. "The giant Anomaly will bring disaster, but it will also give you strength."

"The Anomaly will give me strength... is that cube rising from the sea an Anomaly? Last time the tsunami came, I did feel something growing inside me." Marianna touches her own back without really thinking, but there's nothing there. "If i can use this power, properly use it, maybe I can save mom." Marianna leaps out of bed, and runs down the stairs.

Nori is, of course, quietly arguing with Marianna's father on the phone. Marianna puts on her shoes, grabs her backpack, and heads out. "Mom, I'm going to be late for my tutoring! Gotta dash!"

"You're not going to eat? It's only 7:30." Nori sighs. "Ah, this kid..."

Marianna went over to the swimming pool building at school. She stands on the diving platform, staring at the pool's still surface. "I remember feeling that power surge. It was like the feeling I get each time I dive." She inhales deeply. "Come on, Mari, you can do this!" Counting down from three, Marianna, back to the platform, dives, drawing a perfect arc through the air. Splash! The water looms as Marianna plunges into the pool.

Vita was walking by the pool, whistling. "Practicing a 207B this early in the morning? No-one can fault your work ethic!"

"I failed."

"Failed? That was a pretty good dive, wasn't it?"

"Not talking about diving..."

"What then? Surely your grades haven't gotten you this messed up, have they?"

"I'm fine."

Vita half believes her, half doesn't. She touches Marianna's forehead, finding her temperature to be normal.

"I want to try again." Marianna steps back onto the platform and dives into the water again.

An hour later, Marianna was still doing it over and over again, and Vita was worried. "Mari, aren't you tired?"

"Huff... huff... One more time."

Another hour passed. "Still haven't managed it... Again, again..."

"Stop this, Mari! You'll drown if you keep this up!"

As this was happening, Coach May had appeared. "You guys didn't slack off while I was on vacation, huh! Not bad!"

"Coach, please talk some sense into Mari."

"What exactly is happening here?"

"She's been training non-stop for hours, mumbling something about 'failure' and 'one more time.' Could it be because of her mom...?"

"You go practice; I'll take care of Marianna." Coach May pats Vita's shoulder and climbs onto the platform. "Marianna, take a break."

"No, I... can't rest. It'll be... too late."

"If you injure yourself, I won't be able to explain it to your mother... your future coach." Hearing Coach May's slip of the tongue, Marianna stops what she's doing.

"Coach, my mom knows I've been training, right? The participation fees and travel expenses for the competition in Gyrate, she paid for them, didn't she?"

"How did you find out...?"

"I saw a bit of your chat history."

"Ah... Couldn't keep it from you after all."

"Coach, can I ask you some questions?"

"Of course, what do you want to ask?"

"Why do you think my mom doesn't want me to go to Hazlitt to train?"

"So many possible reasons..."

"I looked at the chat history. It seems like mom is against me making diving into a career. Our family doesn't have enough money for me to study abroad."

"If that was true, why would your mother have allowed you to train in secret, paying for you to go to Gyrate for that competition?"

"...You're right."

"I think you're mom just can't bear to let you go."

"But I'm just going to Hazlitt across the bay, going there for school. It's not like I won't come back later."

"'Children eventually grow up and leave their parents'--- It's nearly always true, but it's difficult for any mother to immediately accept her child leaving, to hear them suddenly say they want to go away... You're her whole world, Mari."

Marianna lowers her head, lost in thought. "What kind of person does my mom seem to be, to you?"

"To first impressions, your mom can seem overly serious, difficult to talk to. After getting to know her more, I realized your mother's really quite gentle, very diligent and capable."

"Oh..."

"Mari, I'm not sure if I should say this, but your mother has to deal with a lot of really difficult stuff. She's not as strong as you think she is. Just after you guys moved to the new town, there were a few times when I was picking up my son from school. I saw your mother arguing with some of the other parents. I didn't hear everything clearly, but when they left, her eyes were red, like she was trying to hide that she'd been crying. Maybe I was misunderstanding, I don't know. Mari, I know you've argued with your mother about going to Hazlitt for school, but she does love you. It's just that sometimes her words come out a bit harsh."

"I know. Should I... go to Hazlitt to study diving?"

"Why would you ask that?"

"If I don't go to Hazlitt, give up diving, then mom and I won't..."

"Mari, there's no right or wrong here, not in wanting to go to Hazlitt, not in your mother not wanting you to go. You two just see things from different perspectives. You've seen the messages, you know that your mother isn't totally against you diving; she's struggling... There's time before the application deadline, it's too early to give up on your dream just yet, no?"

Encouraged by Coach May, Marianna regains her spirits a little.

"Talk to her, when you have time, try to understand her a little more."

"Okay, I will." Marianna looks at the clock on the wall. Evening already. "Coach, I have somethingI have to do..."

"Go. It's okay."

"Thank you, Coach!" Marianna walks off the platform, and leaves the pool. Not bothering to go home or look for her mother, she heads straight for the cliff.