Marin Hayama, a 17-year-old girl born and raised in a seaside town, wakes up one morning to find herself in a classroom at an unfamiliar school. The building looks just like her old school, but every student is a stranger. She learns from Kai Aoi, a nosy boy in the next seat, that she has been reincarnated into another world. Panicking, Marin survives the day and goes to the beach, where she finds an old shack called a beach house. There, a classmate named Sango Shiozaki greets her: 'So you fina
Marine Scramble! - A world that smells of the sea
The air in the classroom was cold, and smelled unfamiliar.
"……"
Hayama Marin opened her eyes, still slumped over her desk.
Her vision was blurry. The wood grain of the desk looked much older than it had yesterday. The position of the blackboard, the height of the windows—everything felt slightly off.
*(Huh…… where did I fall asleep last night?)*
She was sure she'd fallen asleep in her own room, listening to the sound of the sea.
When Marin slowly lifted her head, a white sailor uniform came into view. A familiar shape. But the position of the sleeve buttons was subtly different.
*(What is this……)*
She looked around.
Unfamiliar faces. Unfamiliar voices. Unfamiliar laughter.
Every single student in the class had been replaced with people she'd never seen before.
"……Huh?"
Marin looked around once more.
She didn't recognize anyone. Boys and girls alike—every one of them faced forward as if they'd been in this classroom from the very beginning.
*(This is wrong. This is absolutely wrong.)*
It wasn't just her heart pounding. Deep in her chest, a coldness was tightening.
"Hey, you."
Suddenly, a voice came from beside her.
Marin nearly jumped out of her skin and turned toward the voice.
There sat a boy with sharp eyes and dark brown hair messily spiked up. His uniform shirt was worn sloppily, and a small fish pendant hung at his neck.
"……Um."
Marin forced her voice out.
Being spoken to by a boy she'd never met made her face flush instantly. She instinctively tried to hide under her desk.
"Ah, sorry. Did I startle you?"
The boy tilted his head and looked at her.
"N-no, um…… I-I'm fine."
Marin looked down. She started twirling her hair around her finger—an old habit from when she was nervous.
*(Who is this guy? He's way too close.)*
"What's your name?"
"Huh? Um…… Hayama Marin."
"Hayama Marin, huh. ……I thought so."
The boy nodded slightly, then leaned in close.
"You have memories of the previous world, don't you?"
……What?
Marin's mind went completely blank.
*(Previous world? Memories? What is he talking about?)*
"This is a different world. You're what's called a Yoribito…… chosen by the sea and brought here."
The boy's voice was calm, and didn't sound like he was lying.
But Marin couldn't understand any of it.
"I'm just a high schooler. Just a normal girl who likes the sea……"
Her voice trembled.
"Then that sea called you here."
"Called me…… what does that even mean?"
"There's an old legend in this town. About a shrine maiden who can commune with the sea…… called the Umimiko."
"Umi……miko……"
"Right. They say Yoribito often have the potential to become Umimiko. And there's also the Law of Nagi."
The boy continued, rapid-fire.
"If you destroy a building on the beach, you incur the sea's wrath. It's an unwritten rule that's been protected since ancient times. And lately, there are people trying to break that law."
Marin's head was on the verge of overload.
Umimiko. Yoribito. The Law of Nagi.
Unfamiliar words kept raining down on her.
*(No. I don't want to hear this. It doesn't make any sense.)*
"……Wait."
Marin stood up.
Her chair clattered loudly. Every gaze in the classroom turned to her at once.
*(Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no.)*
"Sorry, I…… I'm leaving!"
Marin threw open the classroom door and bolted out of the school building.
She ran.
She just ran.
Through the school gate and down a straight slope. The scent of the tide grew stronger, tickling her nose.
*(Ah, this smell……)*
Marin's feet naturally turned toward the source of the scent.
Footsteps chased after her from behind.
"Hey, wait! I'm not done talking!"
"Why are you chasing me?!"
She shouted without looking back.
"Because you ran off on your own!"
She sprinted through the shopping district.
An old arcade. Shops with shutters half-closed. Shop curtains fluttering in the wind.
"Kamome Street……"
The words slipped out of Marin's mouth on their own.
*(Huh? Do I know this street?)*
She'd never been here before, yet her feet remembered the way on their own.
"Impressive. You're heading straight for the beach."
A voice from behind, sounding genuinely impressed.
"Shut up! It's a coincidence!"
"Is it? It's because the sea is calling you."
"It's not calling me!"
Marin kicked hard against the asphalt.
She was out of breath. Her heart was pounding.
In an unknown world, chased by an unknown boy, running guided by the scent of the sea.
*(What is this? What's happened to me?)*
She emerged onto the beach.
A white sandy shore spread out before her.
"……Ah."
Marin's feet stopped.
A long inlet stretching east to west. Behind it, green hills rose in a row.
*(Beautiful……)*
The horizon glittered, and waves slowly rolled in and out.
"Finally stopped. Honestly, for a high school girl, you run way too fast."
Aoi caught up, breathing heavily.
"……Where is this?"
"Shione Beach. It's basically the heart of this town."
"Shione……"
Marin began walking along the water's edge.
The sand crunched beneath her feet. The sea breeze cooled her flushed cheeks.
"Hey."
Aoi fell into step beside her.
"This town has been waiting for you more than you realize."
"That can't be true. Until yesterday, I was at my own school, just normally……"
The words wouldn't come.
*(Right. Until yesterday, everything was normal.)*
*(So why am I here now?)*
Marin's chest began to sting again.
"You're a Yoribito. The sea called you to this world. I don't know the reason yet…… but I'm sure you're needed."
"Needed…… I can't do anything."
"It's fine. You'll understand eventually."
Aoi's voice softened just a little.
Marin glanced at him.
His dark brown hair swayed in the sea breeze. Behind those sharp eyes, she felt there was a hint of kindness.
*(What is it about him? He says nothing but weird things, but……)*
"……Aoi-kun."
"Hm?"
"I still don't understand. I can't believe any of this. ……But."
Marin looked at the western sky.
At the west end of the beach, on top of a rocky outcrop, she could see a small stone shrine.
"That's……"
As if drawn by something, her feet moved toward it.
The shrine was far older than she'd expected.
Just over a meter tall. Its surface was worn by the sea breeze, chipped in places.
"The Shiomi Shrine…… a place for making offerings to the Umimiko."
Aoi explained from behind her.
Marin stood before the shrine.
Deep in her chest, something stirred restlessly.
She wanted to touch it.
*(Why? Why do I feel this so strongly……)*
She reached out with her right hand.
Her fingertips touched the cold stone.
In that instant.
The sound of waves—*shhh, shhh*—flooded her mind.
"……?!"
Marin's eyes flew open.
A sound. The sound of the sea.
And then, a voice.
*'You've come back.'*
A woman's voice.
Gentle, quiet, resonating as if from the bottom of the sea.
"Who……"
A hoarse whisper escaped Marin's lips.
*'Thank you for coming back.'*
The voice echoed deep in her ears.
Tears welled up.
Overflowing for no reason at all.
"H-hey, what's wrong?"
Aoi rushed over in a panic.
"I don't know…… I don't know, but…… the tears……"
Marin collapsed weakly to the ground.
She crumbled onto the sand from her knees.
"No…… what is this…… why am I crying……"
She clutched the sand.
The tears wouldn't stop.
She wasn't sad. She wasn't in pain.
*(Ah, I see.)*
*(This is where I belong.)*
She couldn't explain the reason.
But her body, her heart—they remembered.
This sea. This scent. This voice.
"The sea is calling you."
Aoi crouched down beside her and spoke quietly.
"……Why am I crying?"
Marin wiped her tears and looked up at the sky.
Blue sky. Seagulls. Drifting clouds.
"It doesn't make sense. None of it makes any sense…… I'm just a normal high schooler who likes the sea, and that's…… that's all……"
"That's enough."
"Huh?"
"The sea chose you. The sea you love chose you. That's all there is to it."
Aoi stood up and pointed to the center of the beach.
In the distance, an old wooden building was visible.
"The beach house Naminone. That's the place being targeted right now."
"Targeted?"
"Yeah. A company called Kaigara Development is buying up this whole beach to turn it into a hotel."
"A hotel……"
"Those bastards are laughing at the Law of Nagi. They call the legend—'those who destroy buildings on the beach incur the sea's wrath'—a superstition."
Marin gazed at the old beach house.
A wooden building that looked at least forty-five years old. Terrace seats lined up, a blue shop curtain swaying in the wind.
"That beach house…… it looks so…… beautiful."
"Huh?"
"I mean, it's been next to the sea all this time, weathered by the salt breeze…… the color of that wood has so much character."
Marin narrowed her eyes.
The tears that had been overflowing just moments ago had stopped before she knew it.
"You stop crying way too fast."
"Oh, be quiet…… that's not true."
Marin turned away with a huff.
*(What am I saying? In front of a stranger. I don't even have any special powers.)*
But.
Deep in her heart, she felt a small light flicker to life.
*You've come back.*
The voice from before echoed gently in her mind once more.
"Hey, Hayama Marin. There's a girl who manages that beach house. Her name's Shiozaki Sango."
"Sango……-chan?"
"Yeah. She's a classmate, and it seems like she's been wanting to meet you."
"Me?"
"After all, you're the first Yoribito to appear in thirty years."
"Thirty years……"
Marin gave a wry smile.
She couldn't believe it.
But being here on this beach right now was reality.
"Tomorrow, let's go to that beach house together. Sango should be able to answer your questions properly."
At Aoi's words, Marin gave a small nod.
"……Okay. But I really don't understand anything. I'm so scared. I keep wondering why this is happening."
"It's natural not to understand. Honestly, I'd trust that a lot more than someone pretending to get it."
Aoi laughed lightly.
*(This guy…… he's weirdly kind sometimes.)*
Marin twirled her hair around her finger again.
The sun was beginning to set, dyeing the sea orange.
"……Well, shall we call it a day?"
"Yeah."
"Tomorrow, after school. In front of the main gate."
"Got it."
Aoi turned his back and started walking across the sand.
In the sunset glow, his tall shadow stretched long behind him.
"Um!"
Marin called out to his back.
"……Thank you."
Aoi glanced back over his shoulder.
"I haven't done anything worth thanking me for."
"That's not true. ……See you tomorrow."
Aoi waved lightly and left the beach.
Marin stood at the water's edge for a while.
The sun sank lower.
The sky shifted from purple to deep navy.
She had no place to go back to.
That anxiety remained, deep in her chest.
But.
The scent of the sea, the salt breeze, the sound of the waves—they wrapped around Marin.
"……It's like I'm being protected."
Marin murmured quietly.
At that moment.
"Ah…… achoo!"
A sneeze burst out.
"It suddenly got cold…… wait, where am I even supposed to stay tonight?!"
Marin finally realized the situation she was in, and stood alone on the beach, utterly at a loss.
And so, in a world wrapped in the fragrance of the sea, Marin's new first day was coming to an end.
Tomorrow, she would go to the beach house Naminone.
She would meet the girl named Sango.
She needed to learn more about Kaigara Development, too.
But for now.
On the shore where the sound of waves echoed gently, Marin looked up at the night sky one more time.
"What can I even do?"
The answer was still nowhere to be found.
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