Chapter 3

Akito and Tsuyoshi walked down the flat dirt road toward the town's Convenience Store. It was an average sized building,with two stories. The top being the owner's house. As they entered, a girl at the counter greeted them.

"Hello." She said,her voice a bit high-pitched. "Welcome. I hope you find something."

Tsuyoshi noticed her immediately. She was a sweet girl with a cute face. She looked about his age, with beautiful brown eyes and brown shoulder length hair. She wore a white dress shirt with three brown buttons. In her hair,she had a bright blue bow,which only added to her overall cuteness.

Akito walked down a few of the aisles grabbing what they needed here and there. Tsuyoshi walked up to the counter.

"Is there something I can do for you sir?" asked the counter girl.

"Hi." Tsuyoshi said. He looked at her intently. He had never seen a girl quite as lovely as the one in front of him. She started to blush as he kept staring.

"Um,h-hello?" She asked him. "A-anyone home?"

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Tsuyoshi said. "I wanted to ask if you sold hats here."

'I'm such a dork!' Tsuyoshi thought.

"Y-yeah. They're just over their." She pointed at a corner of the room that had several hat racks.

"Thank you very much." Tsuyoshi said as he walked away. He sighed with disappointment when he got to the hats.

"Like her,don't you?" said a voice to his right. Tsuyoshi screamed and jumped back to see Akito standing their.

"Akito,don't do that!" Tsuyoshi yelled through gritted teeth.

"What's her name?" Akito asked,ignoring his friends anger.

"W-who?" Tsuyoshi asked nervously.

"Who do you think? The shop girl."

"I-i don't know her name."

"Why didn't you ask?"

"I got a little nervous." Tsuyoshi said,as he tried on a black hat.

"You shouldn't be." Akito said.

The door to the shop swung open then,and Tsuyoshi saw that girl from the saloon,Sana.

"Hey,Aya!" Sana said as she greeted her friend.

"Hey Sana. Your as energetic as ever." The counter girl,Aya, said with a laugh.

"Excuse me." Akito said. He and Tsuyoshi had walked to the counter while the two girls talked.

"Ah,Yes!" Aya said. "How can I help you!" she asked in a rush.

Akito place their items on the counter for her to see. As Aya added them up, Tsuyoshi turned to Sana.

"Hey there,Sana. I loved your show at the saloon."

"Hey,thanks." Sana said with a smile. "Oh yeah. Akito,right? Why didn't you applaud at my show? Didn't you think I was good?"

"Well,you weren't bad." Akito said plainly.

Sana stared at him for a moment,before responding. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means what it means. You weren't bad." Akito then walked out of the shop. "Hurry it up,Tsuyoshi." He called back.

"R-right,Akito." Tsuyoshi said. He turned back to Aya,who had finished placing their items in a bag.

"Here you are." Aya said with a smile. 'When isn't she smiling?' thought Tsuyoshi.

"Thanks." Tsuyoshi said.

As he paid her,Aya asked "So your name's 'Tsuyoshi',right?"

"Uh,yeah."

"Nice to meet you,Tsuyoshi." The way she said his name almost made him pass out right there.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, Aya." Tsuyoshi bowed his head and left with his items to catch up with Akito.

Once he was gone,Aya let out a big sigh.

"Is something wrong?" Sana asked.

"Huh? N-no,nothing's w-wrong." Aya said with a blush forming on her cheeks. "Do you now when they got to town,Sana?"

"Me? No. I think they just got here." Sana said. "But you know what else? Mr. McCullum got robbed on his way into town today."

"Really?" Aya gasped. "Do they know by who?"

"I think he was robbed by 'The Silent Duo'." Sana said,putting emphasis on the last three words.

"You think so?"

"At least that's how he and Naozumi made it sound. On a different note,are you coming to my show tonight,Aya?"

"Oh Sana." Aya said. "You know I come to all of your night shows. I wouldn't miss any of them for the world."

"Great! I'll see you there!" And Sana rushed out the door.

Suddenly, Sana came running back in. "By the way, I think that guy in the glasses,Tsuyoshi,likes you." And ran out again,leaving Aya blushing a deep pink.

Sana decided she would go home for now,when she spotted Akito and Tsuyoshi outside the sheriff's office. 'Man,those two are everywhere.' she thought. As she walked closer,she saw them looking at some wanted posters. They were crudely drawn pictures of two guys with bandannas and one with glasses. At least she hoped they were glasses.

"Are you following us?" Akito asked her. His questions snapped her attention onto the two men.

"No,of course not. You two are just going where I'm going,but you get there first. That's all."

"That doesn't make sense." Akito pointed out.

"Whatever." Sana argued.

"Sana." Tsuyoshi said. "Can't wait to see you show tonight."

"Oh,you're coming,Tsuyoshi?" Sana asked.

"Yep." Tsuyoshi said with a thumbs up.

"Great. I'll see you there." Sana gave one last look at Akito before walking off.

Just from first impressions, Sana thought Akito to be quiet person who spoke what he thought whenever he did speak. He seemed to travel with Tsuyoshi a lot since they seemed to be such close friends.

'Seeing as they're new in town,maybe Aya and I could show them around before they leave.' Sana thought. 'I'm sure Tsuyoshi would like that. Yeah,I'll do that. What could happen?'