Zuku nervously examined her surroundings. Okay, I should be fine..., she thought as she looked at the large gates reading "MARINES", complete with the familiar blue seagull underneath the name. She had wanted to become a Marine ever since she was a child, and the day was finally here.

"If I seem nervous, they won't accept me though."

Zuku slowly knocked on the large iron gate.

Clunk, clunk, clunk.

Zuku waited a few seconds. Nothing happened.

Clunk, clunk, clunk.

The gates opened to reveal a man in a yellow suit. He was hella tall, and not just by Zuku's perspective. Zuku stepped back a few feet at the sight of him. The man leaned down a bit towards her.

"H-Hello sir! I'm here to apply for th-"

The man chuckled a bit. "Wrong place, squirt."

Zuku began sweating a little bit. "O-Oh...where do I go, s-sir?"

The man pointed to a nearby tavern. "See over there? There's someone in there to talk to. Go." He then closed the gates quickly. Zuku looked over to the tavern, shrugged, and walked towards it. She opened the tavern door, and ducked a flying bottle of sake as she looked for the person. She saw a white-capped man sitting at a bar, eating some soup. Maybe I talk to him...?

Zuku took a nearby seat, watching the man eat. His lavender hair fell into his face, hiding his eyes, and he looked very muscular. His toffee-colored skin matched his navy shirt pretty well, and he actually looked kind of cute. Zuku watched the man for a few more seconds, and ordered some food herself. She waited for the man to finish eating, as she recieved some stew herself. The olive-skinned girl quickly finished her 'lunch' for the day, quickly paid the tavern owner, and ran to catch up to the man, who had already left.

"E-Excuse me, sir?"

The man turned around to see who had gotten his attention, and Zuku waved to him from the tavern entrance.

"Hi there! Someone told me you could help me join the Marines!"

The man motioned for Zuku to come closer, and Zuku noticed something. He had screws on his knuckles. Upon seeing this, Zuku became slightly more reluctant, but she stepped closer to the man anyway.

"What'd you say? My hearing sucks, sorry." The man leaned in a bit, his hazel eyes piercing straight through her. The redhead grinned in spite of her nervousness.

"I-I heard that you could help me get into the Marines!"

The man shrugged a bit, and Zuku had to duck away from the screws.

"I guess so? Eh, you've gotta get noticed first. Like, maybe stop a few street thugs, and if you do well, I might consider asking them."

Zuku grinned again. The redhead gave a thumbs-up, and then ran off to find a few thugs. The man chuckled a bit at her excitement, and followed her.

"Let's see how the squirt does..."