The beach was a fairly large area. Surrounded by a forest, it was a huge patch of sand by the ocean. As they walked in, they could see that they were not alone, in the slightest way. Along the sands of this area were many students from the Academy, sporting their bathing suits and having the times of their lives. Most of them were, anyways. The snobby blonde-haired woman was making her rounds in a two-piece, just waiting for the right moment to tell someone off for even sneaking one peek at her form. A red-haired girl with a tail and cat ears was jumping around the edge of the waves. Another woman was resting on a beach towel, and the one male they saw was sitting in front of a fireplace, clearly checking out 'the view'.

Hitoshi didn't rush into the beach or anything, though, knowing full well how much Sei would likely start melting from the view of things. They stopped right at the entrance and took a look at a nearby sign, explaining a couple things about the beach and activities that were prohibited at this place. It read as follows:

STUDENTS WILL KEEP OUR BEACH CLEAN
No Fishing
No Littering
Always wear appropriate sun protection

The trio finally started to make their way through the beach, Hitoshi and Tarou keeping a close eye on Sei, making sure he didn't wander off to talk to any of the girls nearby. They knew, all too well, that Sei could easily just abandon them to spend his time, talking to a pretty girl in a bathing suit. It fit his MO perfectly, so they had to make sure he did not get distracted, in the slightest bit. They were here to see Old Man Houjo, and that's just what they were going to do.

As they walked further along the beach, they saw that there was a blue-haired girl, with pig-tails working on an enormous sandcaslte. It looked extremely well-built, and was nearly as tall as they were. It was an amazing sight, indeed. The sand looked so packed together that it almost seemed like small animals could live inside it. They passed it and the small 'dressing room' building by and made their way towards the other half of the beach, which consisted of a literal 'maze' of palm trees. As they entered it, they first saw a couple boxes to the side. Jumping over to them, Hitoshi quickly procured a pack of Smelling Salts and another Memory Ticket before they continued onward.

Moving around to the left, they moved around a corner and hugged the edge of the sand until they could move deeper into the maze. Going towards the right again, they came to the corner and suddenly came, face to face, with a colorful monster that looked like some sort of rainbow fish. Called a Gero, the fish-like monster jumped towards the trio. All three of them jumping out of the way, she looked back as it turned around and bounced off the ground, heading towards them again. Quickly drawing their weapons, they all combined their attacks and brought it down.

Moving through a few more corners, they came to another box as the maze turned from palm tree into a small maze of rock walls. Opening up the box, they pulled out a small Potion bottle, adding it to their inventory. Taking a path next to this box, they followed it up to a dead-end, containing a larger, metal box. Hitoshi opened it up and pulled out a small, leather helm-like hat. As they backtracked and went further to the right, he slipped it over his head as they continued navigating the maze. As they made their way up the right path, the path split in two again.

Looking far through the left path, they saw another large metal chest in the distance. Hitoshi and Sei turned around as soon as Tarou started heading towards the box, two Geros appearing next to them. Blocking the path, the two warriors fought off the monsters while Tarou sprinted the path and procured a small necklace-like charm from the box. As he came back to them, he hung it around his neck as soon as they had finished off the first of the two Geros. Taking the initiative, he called forth thunder clouds again and shot a lightning bolt into the remaining Gero, launching it out into the distance.

Making their way up the right path, once again, they saw a fork in the road. They eyed each other, wondering just how many different paths were in this maze. Taking the path to the right, they found yet another fork, leading to two boxers, one metal and one wooden. Tarou went for the wooden chest, procuring some medicine and Sei ran for the Metal one, while Hitoshi watched the area for more monsters. The two came back, Sei having wrapped a “Training” headbacnd around his head, behind his hair. Hitoshi nodded to his comrades as they backtracked and took the left path from the last fork.

After making a few more turns and having to take out a few more Geros, they made their way to the final part of the maze, which was Palm Trees again. They stopped at the entrance of this new part to catch their breath. This was turning into more of an adventure than a simple trip to the beach. Who knew there were a bunch of monsters running around, right next to where all of the students were frolicking and having the time of their life? As soon as they'd regained a little strength, they went to the left around a couple corners and finally made it up to a house by the beach.

They pushed the door open and wandered in, hoping this was where Old Man Houjo lived. They didn't see anyplace else for them to go around here, so they could only pray this was the right location. Otherwise, they'd be heading back into that maze, looking for paths they might have missed.