Chapter 2

Sana walked off stage as the curtains closed. Her heart was aflutter as she entered her dressing room. She took a few deep breathes to calm herself again. She had gotten used to the performing months ago. But she still felt so...giddy after performing.

She sat down at her mirror to reapply her make-up. She still had one more song to perform and then she's done for the day. She finished her face and went back to the stage.

At the end of her second song, the crowd's cheers were louder than before. But Sana noticed a young man sitting at the bar who watched her,but didn't applaud. 'How rude of him.' thought Sana.

Sana looked up at the clock in her dressing room as it struck two-thirty. Luckily she didn't spend all day singing. She had one more show that night at ten, so now she had a whole seven-and-a-half hours to do whatever she wanted.

After saying bye to Rei, Sana left out the back door. People said hi to her as she walked up the street. She was beginning to plan the rest of her day as she passed the sheriff's office. She saw and heard a man yelling. Sana thought the voice was familiar.

Two people came outside. One was a young man the same age as Sana. He had mesmerizing blue eyes. Even though he was so young,he had silver hair. On his black vest he wore a gold sheriff badge. The other was an older man with a black mustache and salt and pepper hair. He was yelling at the sheriff.

"You have to do something, Naozumi!" yelled the older man. "They took my casino winnings! That was all I had!"

"First of all, Mr. McCullum," said Naozumi. "We both know you've got more money elsewhere. Second, every sheriff from here to Canada has been after those two for months. There is nothing I can do unless they walked up to me and confessed."

Mr. McCullum's face grew red with anger. Then he let out a sigh. "Your right Naozumi. Sorry for yelling."

McCullum walked away and Naozumi turned to walk back inside when he spotted Sana. With a smile,he called to her.

"Hey, Sana! Finished with your singing already?"

"Hey Naozumi." Sana said as she walked up to him. "Yeah. I just finished."

"I really need to get over there to hear you sometime." Naozumi laughed.

"Maybe you could come over tonight. You can take one night off of being the sheriff,right?" Sana said with a smile.

Naozumi felt his face start to blush as he watched her smile. He had liked Sana since they were little kids running around playing in her mother's house.

"Right." He said. "I'll be there tonight."

"Great!" Sana exclaimed. "Now I can't wait! See you tonight!"

Sana ran off then,excited as ever. Her best childhood friend was coming to her show. She couldn't possibly be any happier.

Bump!

Sana wasn't paying any attention to where she was walking,that she walked right smack into somebody. With a tiny yelp,she fell to the ground. Looking up,she saw the young man from the saloon.

"Are you alright?" Akito asked with a hint of concern in his voice.

"Uggh!" Sana grunted as she tried to stand up. "Other then landing on my butt,I'm fine."

"Let me help you." Akito said,offering his hand.

"Thanks." She took his hand and pulled herself up.

"I know you." Akito said. "You're that showgirl at the saloon."

"I'm not a 'showgirl'. I'm a musical performer." Sana corrected him. "Who are you anyway? I haven't seen you around town. Are you new?"

"Yeah. I just got here. I have to go." Akito turned and walked away.

"Hey wait!" Sana called after him. "What's your name? You didn't tell me!"

"No need to yell. My name's Akito."

"' Akito' huh? My name's Sana! Welcome to town!"

Akito walked away from the loud girl he had just met.

"Oh man!" Sana said to herself when Akito was gone. "I should have asked him why he didn't clap at my show. Oh well!"

Akito walked into the town's hotel where Tsuyoshi was waiting. After the saloon, Tsuyoshi volunteered to get them a couple rooms. While he did that, Akito decided to observe the town. That was when he bumped into that showgirl,Sana.

"There you are,Akito." Tsuyoshi said,waving him over. "We got ourselves some rooms."

"Great." Akito said.

After a minute of silence between the two, Tsuyoshi asked, "What did you do,huh?"

"I ran into that girl from the saloon." Akito answered.

"You did?" Tsuyoshi asked. "You met a celebrity?"

"Celebrity?" Akito raised his eyebrow.

"Yeah. Her name is Sana. She's been performing at the saloon for a couple months now,and she was an instant hit! I wish I could have met her." Tsuyoshi moaned.

"Get over it." Akito said. "What room am I in?"

"Uh." Tsuyoshi dug out a small brass key from his pocket. "This one." He said,tossing the key to Akito. He caught it with one hand and walked upstairs.

After finding his room, looking it over, and locking his door again, he walked back downstairs.

"Come on,Tsuyoshi." Akito said as he walked out the door. "Let's go buying."