The beach should’ve been relaxing.

That was probably the worst part.

The ocean rolled calmly against the shore, sparkling under the afternoon sun like something straight out of a travel brochure. Palm trees swayed overhead, tropical birds chirped somewhere in the distance, and scattered across the land were those stupid black-and-white Monopads—little reminders that this wasn’t a vacation anymore.

Kazuichi Soda kicked at the sand with the toe of his bright yellow sneaker, hands shoved deep into the pockets of his jumpsuit.

Seriously… what kind of tropical paradise had murder motives?

His sharp pink eyes drifted toward one of the Monopads hanging near a tree. Immediately, his mechanic instincts flared up. Man… if he could just take one apart for five minutes— No, bad idea. Probably.

“…Tch.”

The argument back at the hotel still echoed in his head. Everyone yelling over each other, accusing each other, getting all tense and suspicious again… He hated that atmosphere. The second voices started rising, his chest got tight.

So naturally, he bailed.

“Just taking a quick walk,” he’d said. Smooth. Totally believable. Except now he was overthinking that too.

What if leaving made him look suspicious? What if someone thought he was sneaking off to do something shady? What if they were talking about him right now?

His confidence dropped so fast it was almost impressive.

“…Ngh, seriously, why’s my luck always garbage?”

With a groan, Kazuichi crouched near the shoreline, resting his elbows on his knees while the waves stretched endlessly in front of him. The sea looked so huge up close… way too huge. It made him feel weirdly small. Then sand slipped into his sneaker. The mechanic immediately recoiled in offense.

“Gah—seriously!?” He yanked his foot up, shaking it violently. “Why is sand even everywhere!? It’s like the whole beach is made outta this crap!”

Kazuichi let out a long sigh through gritted shark-like teeth before flopping back onto the sand dramatically.

“Come on already… can’t this island throw a hot babe or a mermaid at me or somethin’?”