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! - The Promise of Four — The Morning After Tears, Searching for a Miracle
Marin wiped the floor alone, covered in mud and sand.
Morning light streamed through the gaps in the broken roof. The interior of the beach house Naminone was a wreck from the storm's aftermath. Tide marks stained the walls. Broken tree branches lay across the counter. Trash carried in by the sea was scattered across the floor.
Marin silently wrung out the rag.
Black water dripped into the bucket.
(*I won't try to handle everything by myself anymore.*)
The letter Ren had sent her last night was tucked in her chest pocket. That letter had only one line written on it.
*"Wait for me."*
Marin set the rag down on the floor.
"……I'm going to say it. Help me."
She said it out loud, facing the sea.
"I'm going to ask everyone for help. I won't try to protect it alone. I'll say it properly."
Only the sound of the waves answered her.
The sunrise dyed the horizon orange.
—At that moment.
"Hey, Marin!"
The sound of feet kicking through sand. She turned to see Aoi running toward her, out of breath. Still in his school uniform, his necktie crooked.
"Aoi-kun…… why are you—"
"I skipped school to come. I bowed my head to my dad and mom."
Aoi stopped right in front of Marin.
"They said, 'Walk your own path.' ……I want to be by your side. I want to protect the beach house."
Aoi's face turned bright red.
"……Eh"
The rag fell from Marin's hands.
"I want to protect it. You, this shop, everything."
Aoi looked straight at Marin.
Marin desperately fought the urge to bury her face in the sand.
(*What is this. Why is my heart pounding so hard. I can smell the sea. From Aoi-kun, I can smell the tide.*)
"Me too…… I couldn't do it without you, Aoi."
Her voice was barely audible.
Aoi's eyes went wide.
Facing the sunrise sea, the two of them silently held hands.
Aoi's hand was warm.
—At that moment.
"……Sorry, did I interrupt?"
A cold voice rang out, and the two of them sprang apart, releasing their hands.
Ren was walking over from the fishing port. His black hair swayed in the sea breeze, his pale skin translucent in the morning light.
"Ren-kun……!"
"You were completely wrecked yesterday, and you're already up and moving?"
Ren stared at Marin, covered in mud.
"Ren-kun, your eyes are red…… were you crying?"
"……I wasn't crying."
Ren turned his face away.
But his voice was trembling.
"Marin. There's something I need to apologize to you for."
"Apologize……?"
"All the harassment I did to you…… it was because I was scared of losing you to him."
Ren's voice was wet with tears.
"In the previous world, I lived next door to you. But the night you vanished into the sea in that accident, I couldn't do anything. ……I came here carrying nothing but the regret of losing you."
Marin held her breath.
"When I saw you smiling in this world, I was happy. But when I saw you smiling next to him, it burned in my chest so much I couldn't stand it. That's why I did those things……"
Ren's shoulders were trembling faintly.
Marin took a step closer.
And then, she took Ren's hand.
"Ren-kun. I'm right here."
Marin smiled.
"I still don't fully understand what happened in the previous world. But I'm here now. Right in front of you, Ren-kun."
Tears spilled from Ren's eyes.
"……U, ah……"
Ren cried loudly, like a child.
Aoi silently patted Ren on the back.
*Thump. Thump.*
"Cry. Cry first, then lift your head."
"……Shut up. Don't want to hear that from you."
"Yeah, I know. I hated you too."
Aoi laughed.
"But if it's to protect Marin, I'll even team up with you."
"……Do whatever you want."
Ren said, wiping his tears.
Marin looked back and forth between the two of them and let out a soft laugh.
—.
Meanwhile, Sango was alone in her dark house, hugging her knees.
The curtains were fully closed. On her bed, she had pulled a blanket over her head.
(*I can't just keep running away.*)
Sango gripped the blanket tightly.
(*Grandma's keepsake, the beach house—I was about to give up on all of it. ……Even Grandma's words, I'd forgotten them.*)
Tears soaked into the blanket.
—At that moment, a voice came from outside the window.
"Alright, heave-ho!"
"That board, a little more to the right!"
"If you're an amateur, don't give orders."
Sango lifted her head.
Outside the window. On the beach, there were three figures.
Marin, Aoi, and Ren had started repairing the broken beach house.
Marin held a board in place while Aoi hammered nails. Ren was gathering the scattered fragments of the roof that had blown off.
Sango threw off the blanket.
"……I have to go too."
Sango wiped her tears and rushed out of the house.
Barefoot, she ran across the sand.
"Marin—!"
Marin turned around.
"Sango-chan!"
Sango collapsed to her knees in front of Marin.
"I'm sorry, Marin. When that necklace disappeared, I was about to give up on the beach house too. I forgot everything Grandma said……"
Sango clutched the sand and cried.
"Grandma used to say, 'The sea shows miracles when everyone's feelings come together.' But I just ran away by myself……"
Marin hugged Sango tightly.
"Sango-chan. I was able to come here because you were here."
"……Marin"
"From now on, we'll always be together. The four of us will protect the beach house."
Sango buried her face in Marin's shoulder and nodded over and over.
—.
The four of them stood in a line on the beach.
"Alright, let's go find a miracle!"
Marin started walking across the sand, still barefoot.
"A miracle…… are you serious?"
"I'm serious. Sango-chan's grandma said it, right? When everyone's feelings come together, the sea shows a miracle."
"That's so like you, Marin."
Aoi laughed and lined up beside Marin.
"……Well, I'll go along with it."
Ren also started walking, keeping a slight distance.
"I'll search too. Grandma's necklace—I'm sure the sea will give it back."
Sango smiled, rubbing her eyes.
The four of them walked, leaving footprints in the sand.
The morning beach was still rough with debris from the storm. Driftwood, seaweed, broken shells.
"Found one! This is a pretty shell!"
"Marin, we're looking for a miracle. Not collecting seashells."
"Umya!? B-But it's pretty……"
Marin put the shell in her pocket.
"You really do love the sea, don't you."
Sango giggled.
—At that moment.
"Woof! Woof woof!"
A dog's bark rang out, and the four of them looked up.
A small white dog was running across the beach. No collar. A stray.
"Ah, that dog—I saw it in the shopping district the other day!"
"Wait, it's getting away!"
When Marin chased after it, the dog ran even faster.
Behind it, an old fisherman was chasing after.
"Hey, catch that dog for me!"
"Leave it to me!"
Aoi sprinted at full speed.
Ren circled around from the opposite side.
"You chase from the left."
"Got it!"
The two of them tried to corner the dog.
But the dog slipped right between them and kept running across the sand.
"Damn, it's fast!"
"Wait, let me try calling it!"
Marin crouched down and clapped her hands.
"Come here. It's okay. You can smell the sea, can't you?"
The dog stopped dead.
It turned around and looked at Marin.
"Come here. I'm not scary."
The dog slowly approached Marin.
And then, it licked her hand.
"Hehe, good boy."
Marin picked up the dog.
"……You're amazing."
"Marin is loved by sea creatures. The other day, a seagull landed on her shoulder too."
"Umya!? I-I told you to keep that a secret!"
Marin turned bright red.
—At that moment.
"Whoa!?"
The old fisherman tripped over something and fell.
He face-planted into the sand.
"Are you okay!?"
Marin ran over, still holding the dog.
"Ouch…… what the hell is this. Something's buried under the sand."
The fisherman started digging in the sand.
"……Huh?"
A silver chain emerged from the sand.
"That's……!"
Sango gasped.
"Sango-chan, that…… no way"
The fisherman pulled the chain up.
A silver chain. At the end, a small metal fitting was attached.
"……Grandma's necklace chain……"
Sango received the chain with trembling hands.
"There's no mistake. This is the fitting Grandma attached when she fixed it for me……"
Tears spilled from Sango's eyes.
"I'm so glad, Sango-chan."
Marin put her arm around Sango's shoulders.
"But the coral bead is missing…… it's just the chain……"
"Then let's search. It has to be somewhere nearby."
Ren scanned the beach.
"Even if it was washed away by the waves, on the same shore, it would have caught somewhere."
"Then let's all dig!"
Aoi started digging in the sand with his bare hands.
"Aoi, you're like a dog."
"Shut up! You dig too!"
"……Fine."
Ren also crouched down and dug in the sand.
The four of them dug up the beach.
—.
"……Wait."
Ren's hand stopped.
A bundle of white paper emerged from the sand.
"What's this…… business cards?"
Marin picked up the bundle of paper.
A stack of business cards buried in the wet sand.
*"Kaigara Development Co. — Development Department — Kurose Takumi"*
"Kurose's…… business cards, this many of them"
"And look at this."
Ren pointed at the back of one of the cards.
A company seal was stamped on the back.
"The date on this company seal…… it's from before the day the beach house demolition notice arrived."
"Eh…… what does that mean?"
"It means Kurose came to this beach and did something before the official notice. These business cards are proof of that."
Ren checked the cards one by one.
"And look over there."
Ren pointed.
Tire tracks remained in the sand.
"Car…… tire tracks"
"Those are tracks from driving a car onto the beach. No local would do something like that. It was Kurose's car."
"Kurose must have submitted forged documents to the town office. This date discrepancy is evidence of that."
Ren dug the bundle of business cards out of the sand.
"So if we take these to the town office……"
"Yeah. But it's not enough yet. We need direct evidence that Kurose submitted forged documents."
"Do we need a key to get into the town office storage room?"
Marin tilted her head.
"Right. The documents should be stored in a cabinet at the back of the storage room."
"Then my big sister works as a clerk at the town office! If I talk to her, she might lend us the key!"
Aoi raised his hand.
"Aoi-kun, you have an older sister?"
"Yeah, she's five years older than me, a real reliable type. She works at the town office."
"Then let's investigate the town office documents tonight. We don't have time if we want to stop tomorrow's demolition."
"Alright, strategy meeting!"
The four of them returned to the beach house.
—.
Evening. The beach house had temporarily settled down.
Under the broken roof, the four of them were preparing dinner.
"Today, I'm making clam butter rice bowls!"
Marin started washing the clams efficiently behind the counter.
"Marin's clam butter rice bowls, it's been a while."
"I wonder how many bowls I've eaten in these two weeks."
"……This is my first time."
"Eh, Ren-kun, you haven't had it yet?"
"……I couldn't bring myself to honestly eat something you made."
Ren said, looking slightly awkward.
"Then today's your first time. Look forward to it!"
Marin smiled.
—.
"Done!"
Marin lined up four bowls on the counter.
Steam rose. The aroma of butter and soy sauce filled the beach house.
"Let's eat!"
Aoi reached for a bowl.
—But.
"……Hm? What's this black stuff?"
Aoi picked up a small bottle on the table.
"Ah, that's coffee! Aoi-kun, that's not soy sauce!"
"Eh, seriously?"
Aoi had already poured it over his bowl.
"Ahahaha! Aoi, what are you doing!"
Ren doubled over laughing.
"Shut up! I was in a hurry!"
"You really are careless, aren't you."
"Umya!? My clam butter rice bowl turned into coffee flavor……"
Marin stared at the bowl with teary eyes.
"But it's not inedible. Look."
Aoi took a bite of the coffee-covered bowl.
"……Huh, it's actually not bad."
"Eh, really?"
"Your clam butter rice bowls are good no matter what you put on them."
"Umya!? E-Even if you say that, I'm not happy about it!"
Marin turned bright red and looked down.
"Marin, your face is red."
"Even you, Sango-chan…
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