Please see end note for important announcement.

Vol 3 Act 15

~…~

"And for our next guest, we have the mysterious king of sharpshooting," came the almost giggled announcement. "Let's give it up for Cowboy Cain!"

There was a roar of laugher from the crowd more than any applause as the girl on stage gasped in fright, ducking with her arms over her head, then peeked up nervously. Her legs were visibly shaking as she said to the empty space to her right, "I'm sorry, so sorry, so very sorry…"

Sawara winced, feeling much more uncomfortable than amused. The President sat next to him, swirling a glass in slow circles, his face unusually serious. Occasionally, as the girl on stage continued to interact with the invisible –and apparently horrifying and potentially violent Cowboy Cain– the President's other hand would come up to stroke his moustache or chin thoughtfully. It was the quietest Sawara had ever seen his boss, especially when someone was making pathetic fake shooting noises and throwing around haphazard finger guns.

"Let's give it up for Mr. Cain," the Miss Pink No Heart sing-songed after several minutes, gesturing with one hand and an exaggerated wink, and a half back kick of her leg to the empty space to her behind the microphone to her right. "He sure does have some fine skills, doesn't he ladies and gentlemen?"

There was a general chuckle from the crowd as she suddenly squeaked again, hands bunched in tight fists close to her chin, her eyes never straying to the onlookers as Mr. Cain apparently berated her for something and she apologized again in an even more exaggerated manner, ending in a full dogeza. The laughter was more sporadic now, had been fading the entire evening as the performance had gone on and on.

"Sir?" Sawara wasn't sure he could make it to the end of the act, but the President wasn't even looking at him. His entire focus was still riveted on the stage and the young woman prancing about, throwing winks, snapping her fingers, tossing her chestnut hair and making her gold earrings flash in the stage lights.

"And now," she said with sudden solemnity, "we have to say goodnight to all of our friends. Mr. Cain, Sho-chan, Natsu-chan, and especially," here her face softened just a touch as she glanced down and to her right, "Prince Corn, our very favorite guest."

And that was it. There was some sporadic applause, the scraping of dozens of chairs, and everyone filed out quickly without so much as a backward glance. The young woman stayed on the stage, standing strangely upright and formal for her fringed halter top, jean shorts, and white boots. She waved at anyone who caught her her eye, smiling very, very brightly. When she spotted Sawara watching her, she turned slightly to face him as she waved. He waved back on instinct, and blushed in embarrassment.

"Well," he asked President Takarada when they were back in the car, being driven carefully away. "What do you think sir?"

There was a long stretch of silence as the President just smiled, wider and wider as he glanced sideways at his employee. "I have to have her. She's perfect."

Sawara's jaw dropped. "Sir, she's terrible. She's the worst comedian I've ever seen. Everyone says so."

"Then why do they keep coming back?" was the cheerful reply.

Rubbing his forehead to fight the growing headache, Sawara answered, "I don't know, sir. I honestly have no idea."

"Hmmm," was followed shortly by, "What does Mr. Cowboy Cain look like?"

Unprepared for the question, it was a moment before Sawara managed, "Tall and… dark, I think. Very dark. His aura. He's probably petty pale though."

It didn't make any sense, he realized, but the President was just smiling at him. "Yes. Yes that's exactly what I think. Tell me," he added in an amused voice, "how many actresses do you know that see invisible people so clearly they always look at them at the same height."

"I- I hadn't noticed," Sawara admitted reluctantly. "I don't think I could spot that, sir."

An obnoxiously sage nod. "I did."

That could only be answered with a sigh. "Sir, she's still a terrible comedian. We couldn't do anything with her."

"Oh, not as a comedian. Just think, Sawara-san. If she can act that well with imaginary costars, what would happen if she were acting with someone else who knew what they were doing?"

For one moment Sawara could see the look on her face again, the half second glance at the small, cheerful, blonde-

There was no one there, it was all completely imaginary!

And yet, he could still see it, still imagine that small, fairy like form standing next to the girl.

"I'll see what I can do, sir."

Hello all, it's been quite a while. Just a short story this time around.

Please be aware that from this point forward I will no longer be posting new stories here on FanFiction. I will continue to post chapters for this collection as they are created, but I'm moving over to Archive of Our Own (AO3), under the username acuteneurosis. I'll be posting my old works a little at at time over to the new site, and any new stories will also be posted there, as well as updates for this collection of fic.

Thank you to everyone here that has given me so much support over the years. I hope you continue to enjoy my work.