In light of the unexpected ordeal that surrounded the prisoner hand off Hoshikita had been in charge of, his commanding officer Captain Maria had graced him with a week of leave; which the young Lieutenant had been extremely grateful for. He'd received some serious injuries during his recent service and some time to rest and heal his wounds, as well as partake of some fine liquor, was much appreciated. Hoshikita, having no home to return to in the South Blue, had decided to spend his time off in the Briss Kingdom which was known for it's beautiful landscapes and prosperity. The castle town was where the young marine had eventually ended up in after landing at the docks of the island, and he was roomed in a small inn on the outskirts of the city. The place was cozy but not overly extravagant, and Hoshikita had purposely picked the cheapest place he could find that wasn't entirely run down. His priorities were not to find luxurious lodging for himself, but to spend his money where it really mattered; the tavern.

Hoshikita arose from the slumber of his first day of leave at the crack of noon, and proceeded to lazily pull on a green Hawaiian shirt and the marine leggings that he had cut into shorts. Due to his long legs, he had really only had to cut the cuffs off to turn them into shorts, but they were cut just the same. He then pulled on his sandals and headed out the door of his room. From there, he only had to make his way down the stairs and outside to start his quest to find some good liquor. Hoshikita neglected to put on any of his Marine attire for fear he might do something foolish after getting sufficiently intoxicated, and he didn't want to tarnish the name of the Marines in any way during his time on leave. So with that in mind,he headed off in search of the best tavern in town. He pulled out his cigarettes and lit one with a match as he made his way up the street, and he got a few odd looks most likely because of his Long Leg heritage but he paid them no mind and continued off in search of a good place to start his "Drinking Quest".

Briss Kingdom was indeed a land with beautiful landscape, made up of hills, forests and of course different castles. This wasn't what our hero was used to, Kouhei was born on a small island that had mostly shacks and tropical trees. And even though the Briss Kingdom was warm right now, it wasn't the usual warm Kouhei was used to. Through the streets the man wandered with his hands in his white hoodie, with the word "Marine" on the chest in black print. His black skinny jeans perfectly matched his black high top gymshoes. He kinda looked like a skateboarder compared to an actual marine, kinda like a hoodlum. His short red hair was covered by a gray "Marine" snapback, he wore it forwards as to not appear even more of a douche.

Kouhei had landed on Briss Kingdom in search for a wanted pirate, nobody important, just some no-name looking to rile up trouble to raise his bounty. You see, the young lad wasn't a normal marine. He hadn't really been trained to just "protect and serve" like the average dog. He had a purpose, and for whatever reasons, the high-ups relied on the man enough to lead his own crew (though it's just him) and give him the freedom to travel the world trying to complete this purpose. Of course being in his "Military Uniform" he rose attention, people pointing or whispering. Being a Marine means you're either looked at as a hero or an oppressor. Koheui didn't really care, he understands how the world works, but the only way he can move is forward is to ignore anything that would hold him back.

With all of that said he continues to stride through the street, hands in pocket, looking kinda irritated. He ran out of smokes and was looking for someplace to buy some, though the architectural was different than what he was used to. He didn't feel like asking, so like a stubborn SOB he kept strolling, ignorant. A guy with weirdly shaped legs appeared 3 meters away, smoking, looking kinda chill. "Hey." Kouhei says, approaching Hoshi. "Can I bum a smoke from you man, I'm kinda lost and just ran out." he says with a warm voice, pulling his right hand from pocket to fix his cap.

(Equiped with "The Last Word" pistol on the back of his waist)

Hoshikita was still strolling along when he noticed a younger man dressed in some rather odd clothing that sported the Marine emblem in several places. Having only been stationed at Base 17 during his service, the young Lieutenant had only seen other Marines wearing regulation uniforms. He had been the one stand out in the branch, so seeing someone else with a unique sense of style who he could only assume to be a fellow Marine was somewhat surprising. Hoshikita had received quite a bit of grief for his choice of fashion himself, during his first months as a Marine, but he had been adamant and everyone had eventually gotten used to his strange attachment to Hawaiian shirts. He wondered what the story behind the guy was as he was walking by, and as the two drew closer to each other Hoshikita could see that the man was also observing him somewhat. The young Lieutenant was used to that though, as it was quite common for people to be intrigued by his extremely long legs, and he was about to continue walking before the younger man called out to him. He asked Hoshikita to bum a smoke, and the long legged man scolded himself internally for assuming that the man was only staring at his body proportions.

"Yeah, sure." He replied to the younger man, pulling his pack of rolled cigarettes from his shirt pocket and opening it up as he spoke. He then handed the cigarette to the younger man and decided to introduce himself, though not as a Marine. "Name's Hoshikita." He said, taking another drag off of his cigarette before tossing the last bits to the ground and stomping it out. "You from around here, Mr...?" He asked lazily, posing two questions at once, as to his location and his name. Hoshikita was wondering if the red haired man might be stationed at the local Marine Base, or if perhaps he just liked the Marines. If he was a local, he might even know where the good bars were, and he might be able to give some reliable directions. If not, it was always interesting to meet new people and Hoshikita was still pretty curious as to the reasons behind the younger man's peculiar Marine gear.

"Thanks man." Kouhei says accepting the free cigarette from the long legged marine. From his pocket the red head pulled out his own lighter. It was a simple metal zippo, no cool engravings or anything. After lighting the stick he inhales deeply, blows the smoke out and smiles. What a disgusting habit he picked up, it kept him from smoking anything illegal like in his younger days. Back then he'd been roaming around with his "head in the clouds", red eyes and big grins. The military gives out random drug test though, so unless he wants to be de ranked or fired, he'll stick to the tobacco. He holds out his right hand to shake Hoshi's. "I'm Kouhei. No last name, middle name omitted." He says jokingly, but actually serious. "No, not from around here, I'm from a small island somewhere on the east blue, just stationed nearby. I'm a marine if it wasn't shockingly obvious. They sent me to find some no named pirate trying to build up a reputation by stabbing random bartenders, he's a douche. Whats your occupation, if you don't mind me asking." He says, then taking another drag.

Hoshikita's eyes perked up when he heard the man mention that he was from the East Blue. It wasn't often that he met others from the same Blue as himself, and he wondered what island this Kouhei guy was referring to. The young lieutenant wasn't surprised when he introduced himself as a Marine, although hearing that he had been sent alone to the island to pursue a specific pirate made Hoshikita think that he might be a man of some importance. Keeping this in mind while he was asked his occupation, Hoshikita stood at attention and spoke a bit more formally than he had been up to this point, not sure whether this man was a superior officer or not. It was certainly better to be safe than sorry after all. "Marine Lieutenant, Seventeenth Branch. I'm on leave from the base at the moment." He explained, giving a salute and straightening his posture so that he stood several feet taller than the man he was conversing with. After gretting him though, he let the formalities slip once again and brought his cigarette up to his lips for another drag. He was off duty after all, and this man seemed rather lax about marine regulations considering his wardrobe. Even if he was a superior, he certainly wasn't Hoshikita's commanding officer and he doubted that the man would punish an on leave lieutenant for relaxing a bit, regardless of his rank.

"If it's not rude of me to ask, how's the search for this serial stabber going?" Hoshikita questioned with genuine curiosity, slumping down a bit and resuming his usual posture that brought him at least a bit closer to the ground. He might have been looking for a place to drink, but hearing about the exploits of a fellow, possibly high ranking, Marine was just as enticing as a good drink, and Hoshikita had all week to procure drinks for himself. If Kouhei weren't on duty at the moment, Hoshikita would offer him to drink as well, but the young lieutenant thought he better not offer up the temptation while he was still in pursuit.

Kouhei was a little thrown off by the immediate salute by the really tall guy, with him appearing to perk up and actually gain a little height. "Marine Lieutenant, Seventeenth Branch. I'm on leave from the base at the moment." Ah shit, this guy actually outranked Kou. He was super relaxed, the young marine didn't want to interrupt the Lt's time of rest with his job. With a quick heel snap, and straightening of posture, the man also stood at attention, fingers to temper for a salute. "You actually outrank me sir, I'm Ensign Kouhei." He says, straightening his face, but still with his cigarette in his mouth. At the moment the man hoped he wasn't in any sort of trouble for asking for a cig. You never know with these higher ranked guys. Some have really short tempers, and will explode over the smallest of things, others just like to make lower ranked marines do tedious and usually embarrassing things just to get off. It's insane really... but the military. Apparently Hoshi was wondering about the job, which was understandable. "The search is going good sir, I've tracked the man to this exact island and he should be at one of these bars, I just have to keep my eye out for a skinny guy yelling "I'M JACK!" before trying to shank a random bartender. We don't know why he's just stabbing bartenders, but hey, not my job to ask." Kouhei says, returning to his relaxed form. "If you like you can follow me, but I actually have to get back to looking for him, I really don't want another stab victim." he says bowing and beginning to pass up the long legged guy, in order to find a proper bar to set up his stake out.

-exit-

Hoshikita was rather surprised to hear the younger man state his rank as ensign, but was actually a bit relieved as well. He wasn't particularly keen on running into any Captains or Commodores on his way to go get smashed at the bar after all. It was still a little odd to see Kouhei straighten up and change his own mood so suddenly, and Hoshikita realized he was still getting used to his new promotion. To have others stand at attention for him was certainly something that he would need to become accustomed to, and he was sure that the awkwardness of it all would fade in time. "I'm on leave right now, so we can just forget about rank for the moment." Hoshikita said, wanting to lighten the mood a bit and not ruin his leave with formality. He took another drag of his cigarette and puffed out a couple of slightly wobbly smoke rings before moving to inquire about Kouhei's search as he was rather curious about this serial barman stabber. Kouhei explained that the man was in the habit of screaming that he was Jack and that his motives were rather unclear but that it wasn't his job to ask what they were in any case. Hoshikita chuckled a bit at that, having had relatable feelings towards his own work. "So true." He agreed, thinking that the motives of pirates was something that were often incomprehensible to normal folk.

After relaying the information to him, Kouhei offered to let Hoshikita follow him if he wanted to help out, but that he had to get going. The young lieutenant wasn't particularly motivated to go out on a personal assignment without orders and while he was on leave, so his face turned apologetic as he put up his hands and waved them gently to emphasize with body language his reluctance. "Oh no, I'll leave you to it. I wouldn't want to butt in on your mission or anything, but I promise if I hear anyone screaming about Jack, I'll let you know." Hoshikita said, feeling rather guilty about just denying him like that, but he was on leave after all. "Good luck out there!" He shouted as Kouhei ran off, wanting to give his encouragement if nothing else. Still, there were drinks to be had, and Hoshikita could only hope that there was at least one bartender left alive in the wake of these tragic serial stabbings.