Kotohime followed after the two, looking beyond amused.
“Ufufufu, how precious,” she muttered to herself.
***
Wearing a thoughtful frown, Christine studied the two items that had grabbed her attention.
She and Lindsay had wandered around the convention for what felt like an hour, checking the stalls and engaging in conversation. Christine had secretly wanted to look at some of the shojo manga that were being sold, but unlike Kevin and Lilian, she didn’t want to be labeled as an anime freak, so she kept the desire in check.
That being said, she’d finally found a booth that no one would criticize her for, though it was that same booth that caused her current dilemma. The booth sold Lolita clothing and a variety of accoutrements for Lolita clothing. Being a paramour of Lolita fashion, no one would give her strange looks for being there.
I wanted to pick up the latest volume of Kamisama Kiss, but this is good too.
She looked at the item to her left, then at the item on her right. The frown that she’d been wearing grew more prominent.
“Hey, Christine!”
Lindsay came up to her, wearing the largest grin she’d seen on the girl yet. She paid minimal attention to her friend, however, as her current dilemma consumed most of her focus.
“Lindsay…”
“Don’t tell Kevin or Lilian I told you this, but this Comic-Con isn’t half bad,” the blonde admitted. “I thought this place would be filled with geeks and nerds like, well, like Kevin and Lilian, but they’ve actually got a lot of cool stuff here. Check it out! They’ve got Meow Meow Kitty keychains!” After saying this, Lindsay dangled a keychain of a white cat with an abnormally large head in front of Christine.
Meow Meow Kitty was a popular item from Japan. It had picked up massive popularity in America for whatever reason. Christine didn’t really get it, but she had her own cat to deal with, so she didn’t feel like having another one.
That’s nyot very nyice.
Quiet you.
“That’s nice,” Christine said absently, eyes still locked on her dilemma.
Lindsay pouted. “You’re not even paying attention to me, are you?”
In response to her words, Christine grabbed the two items sitting on the table and held them up for Lindsay to see. “Which one of these do you think would look better with my clothes?”
Lindsay deadpanned. “You’re totally not paying attention to me.”
“Just answer the question.”
Lindsay looked from one item to the other. Held within Christine’s left hand was what appeared to be a top hat, except it was smaller and thinner. Its heart-shaped rim also denoted it as something other than a top hat. The other object appeared to be a bonnet, the kind that wouldn’t have looked out of place on someone like Little Bo Peep, but it was black and covered in lace.
“Uh…” Lindsay, clearly out of her element, tried to help her friend out. “Um, I don’t really think either of them would go with your outfit.” She didn’t do a very good job. “Sorry.”
“You’re not sorry at all,” Christine said with a sigh, though she put both objects back on their racks.
“So, do you want to check out those comics you were looking at next?” Lindsay asked as they walked off.
“They’re manga,” Christine replied automatically—and then she paused. “I-I mean… what are you talking about?! Why would I—”
“But you were looking at those… manga, right?” Lindsay asked, the word “manga” sounding foreign on her tongue. “I saw you looking at that romance com—manga, the one with the fox-man.”
“W-w-wha—you don’t know what you’re talking about! Why would I want to read a story about a stupid fox—kya!”
Lindsay apparently decided to not listen to Christine. She grabbed the girl’s hand and dragged her off.
“Come on, let’s go check out that mainga that you were so interested in.”
“It’s manga—I mean, no! Unhand me! I’m not interested in them! I’m not!”
Christine’s protests went ignored by her friend. Naturally.
***
Kevin and Lilian continued to stand in line, which had grown since they’d joined the queue. He was very glad they’d decided to sign up when they did, or they’d have been waiting in line even longer.
“Mou… how long does it take for people to sign up for this thing?”
Lilian did not look terribly pleased to have been stuck in the same spot for several minutes. Her pouting face would have normally looked adorable—except she currently had some of the bushiest eyebrows known to man. Kevin thought their costumes were well-made, and they were having fun wearing them, but at that moment, Lilian didn’t look all that cute. Goofy might have been a better word to describe her appearance.
“Don’t know,” Kevin said, shrugging. “This is the first time I’ve ever done something like this. I do know that the contest starts in about an hour, so I imagine it won’t take more than half an hour for us to register, I think.”
“You have no idea how long it’s going to take, do you?” Lilian asked.
Kevin’s shoulders slumped. “No.”
Lilian’s frown made Kevin sigh. His mate was the kind of person who was always on the move. She loved doing things. Standing still was anathema to her. Kevin didn’t blame Lilian. As much as he loved spending time with her, even he would grow bored if all they did was stand in line for half an hour. They needed to think of a way to kill time while the line crawled forward.
“I’ve got it!”
Lilian’s loud exclamation caused several people to look her way. They sent an appreciative glance towards her spandex-clad bottom and breasts. Unfortunately, when they got to her face, their own faces turned green upon seeing how bushy her eyebrows were.
“Beloved! —I mean, Sensei!”
Lilian gave him a dead serious look, one that forced Kevin to pay attention to her.
“Yes?”
“Let’s have sex.”
Whatever Kevin had been expecting, it wasn’t that.
“We’re not having sex. And we’re definitely not doing it in public. We’ve been over this already, and you promised you’d stop bringing it up, remember?”
“Ha… right, right. I remember.”
Kevin rubbed his forehead. While he understood Lilian’s desire to have sex, and he would even admit that he wanted to do it too, he still wasn’t sure if they should. It was odd, but despite how far he and Lilian had gone, he feared taking that final step.
Although if that kappa hadn’t interrupted us when we were bathing in the hot spring, I might have entered adulthood right then.
“Lilian,” Kevin said to get the girl’s attention, “do you want to maybe…”
He trailed off when he looked over at Lilian. He deadpanned.
“Lilian… you’re drooling.”
Startled out of what must have been X-rated thoughts about them doing the nasty, the redhead quickly wiped the drool from her mouth and looked back at her mate.
“Okay, so no sex,” Lilian said, feeling just a little bit disappointed. She perked up a second later. “How about we make out?”
“Nope.”
“What? Come on. You know you want to.”
“Not in public.”
“We’ve done it in public before,” she pointed out, giving him a look that made him turn his head, lest he be taken in by those beautiful big eyes and gorgeous lips.
“We have,” he confessed. “And every time we have, I’ve been thoroughly embarrassed afterward.”
“That’s not my fault. You’re too focused on what other people think.”
“And you’re not? Who’s the one who started hiding behind me whenever we walk through the mall? Or even while we’re at school?”
Lilian blushed. It was true. Where before, Lilian had been completely oblivious to anyone whose name wasn’t Kevin Swift, recently, she’d become a lot more conscious of the effect that she had on people. Whenever she re
alized people were ogling her, Lilian would use him as a human shield. Thankfully, she still tended to remain oblivious until someone pointed it out.
“W-what? I do not.”
Kevin stared at her. Lilian looked away.
“Oh, look,” she said, changing the subject. “The line is moving! Come on, Be… Sensei!”
Kevin shared an amused grin with Kotohime before allowing Lilian to drag him off.
***
Christine and Lindsay walked through the crowd, wondering where to go next.
Thus far they’d visited several booths, and Christine had even abandoned her denial about liking manga. She now had several volumes of Kamisama Kiss, which swung by her side in a plastic bag.
“So, we got your… manga,” Lindsay said. “Where do you want to go next?”
Christine blushed at the mention of her manga. There was no need for her friend to bring that up. It wasn’t like she was a big fan of the stuff. She just liked this particular series.
“I… maybe we could check out some of the clothing?” Christine suggested. “I saw a few places that had some really nice accessories.”
Lindsay appeared to think about it for a moment. “Sure, we can do that.”
As the two went off in search of one of the booths selling clothing, a voice behind them said, “E-excuse me…”
Christine and Lindsay turned around to see a young man. Long greasy hair framed an acne-covered face. Large spectacles hid muddy brown eyes. His loose clothing hung from his lanky frame, and an expensive-looking camera with a large lens and a scope was attached to a strap. He stared at them with an eager expression that made Christine wrinkle her nose.
“Can I take a picture of you?” he asked.
Christine reeled. Lindsay blinked. “You wanna take a picture of us?”
“Not you.” The nerd scowled at Lindsay, then turned back to Christine. Hearts appeared in his eyes. “You! Please let me take a picture of you!”
Christine stared at the boy in shock… and horror, but mostly shock. This nerdy, gross-looking person wanted to take a picture of her?
“Come on, let me take a picture of you!”
The man took a step forward. Christine took a step back.
“Please. I must have your picture.”
Another step forward. Another step back.
“That lustrous dark hair. Those feminine curves. Your amazing outfit!” The nerdy boy held up his camera. “I must immortalize your form with my camera! Please… ha… let me… take… your picture…”
By this point, the young man was practically salivating. His breathing had become heavy, and his cheeks were stained red. Christine felt sick and terrified. She shuddered and took several steps away from the boy, but he followed her without skipping a beat. Panic began to set in.
This boy… he’s even creepier than Eric!!
Eric was annoying but mostly harmless. This boy actually freaked her out. She couldn’t even attack him because she was afraid of what would happen if she got too close.
Fortunately for her peace of mind, she just so happened to be with someone who didn’t have the same fear that she did.
“I do not believe Ms. Christine is interested in having her photo taken,” Kirihime stated from behind the boy, her voice surprisingly cold.
Everyone present stared in shock at the normally demure and unassuming woman. They hadn’t even seen her move! Christine had to blink several times, just to make sure she wasn’t hallucinating. It was only after taking nearly ten whole seconds to gawk that she noticed something shocking.
Kirihime was holding two knives. The one in her left hand was almost tenderly caressing the nerd’s jugular. The one in her right was next to his baby-maker.
“Wha-what…” The nerdy-boy who wanted to take Christine’s picture was even more confused, not to mention frightened out of his wits. His legs shook—in fact, his entire body was shaking worse than a leaf caught in a hurricane. The kid looked like he was about to piss his pants.
“Did you not hear what I said?” Kirihime whispered, her voice so unlike what Christine had grown used to. Where before her voice possessed a kind and compassionate demeanor, now it contained darkness, madness, lust, and a desire to kill. It honestly freaked Christine out.
Holy shit! She might be scarier than Kotohime!
“I-I didn’t—”
“I don’t care about that,” Kirihime interrupted. The boy shuddered. “What you did and did not mean to do has little bearing on the harm that your actions have caused. You made Ms. Christine uncomfortable. As she is one of Lady Iris’s friends, I cannot let this go unpunished.”
While the boy could not see it, Christine could—the sickening grin on Kirihime’s face. It made her insides churn.
“I wonder… what do you think I should do first? Should I slit your throat?” The boy whimpered. “Or maybe I should start with dismemberment.”
“P-please don’t,” the boy squeaked. “I’m sorry.”
“No. No, you’re not, but don’t worry,” Kirihime stated with certainty, “you will be soon enough. Now, then, what should I start chopping off first? An ear? No, that’s much too clichéd, and not important enough to get my point across. Your dick?” The boy squeaked. “Maybe not. That threat is done too often in anime. Hum. I know! Why don’t I start by delegging you?”
“Delegging?” Lindsay made a face. Christine shook her head. She didn’t want to know.
By this point, the kid was bawling. Tears ran from his eyes and snot dripped from his nose. He looked seconds away from releasing his bowels. Christine was actually beginning to feel sorry for him.
“Oh, God! Please stop! I’m sorry! Let me go! Please!”
“Hey, um, Christine?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you think we should, like, stop her or something?”
Despite her fear and nausea, Christine still managed to give her friend a flat look. “Do you really want to get between that?”
Lindsay looked at Kirihime as she continued whispering her torture plan to the nerdy-looking kid. She looked back at Christine.
“No, I don’t. It’s just—”
“Just what?”
“Well, security is coming. I think they might try to arrest Kirihime if we don’t stop her.”
Christine looked at where Lindsay’s head was turned. She was right. There were indeed two security guards pushing their way through the crowd. Damn. It looked like she’d actually have to intervene. Fortunately, she had a plan.
“Oi! Kirihime!”
“Oro?” Kirihime stopped spouting death threats.
“Camellia’s run off again.”
“Eh?” Kirihime looked around to notice that, indeed, Camellia was nowhere in sight. “Ah! M-My Lady? My Lady?! Where did you go?!”
The nerdy-looking kid slumped to his knees in relief. He was so relieved, in fact, that a large puddle of not-water expanded from underneath him. Christine wrinkled her nose as the smell of urine invaded her nostrils.
“Ugh, gross.”
“You can’t really blame him,” Lindsay pointed out.
“I know that. It doesn’t make it any less disgusting.”
“True. So, what should we do now? I mean, we’re sort of on our own since Kirihime ran off.”
Christine looked around, frowning. What could they do? They’d already checked out a lot of the booths, and there wasn’t much else to do outside of admiring the artwork. While Christine wouldn’t mind looking at some Kamisama fanart, she didn’t think Lindsay would be as interested.
“WAAAAHHHH!”
Upon hearing a loud, obnoxious, and familiar scream, the two turned their heads to see Eric running from a horde of malicious women. Tears streamed from his eyes as he screamed his head off. Several unfortunate people who were in the way ended up being flung into the air when The Horde crashed into them.
“Oh, boy. I wonder what Eric did this time?” Lindsay pondered out loud.
Christine clicked her tongue. “Do
you even have to ask?”
“Guess not.”
Eric spotted them and suddenly changed directions, making a beeline for them.
“GOTHIC HOTTIE! HELP ME—BUAG!!”
Before the boy even had time to blink, Christine was upon him. She stuck out her left arm, and Eric, his forward momentum too great to stop, could do nothing as he crashed neck-first into the arm. It was a picture-perfect clothesline.
Everyone watched in mute awe as Eric spun through the air. He made an almost perfect parabolic arc before landing headfirst on the ground. Several people winced at the sickening crack! that echoed across the area. His neck was bent at an awkward angle, though he was still alive and kicking, obvious by the fact that he was still breathing.
Christine glared down at the boy, her cheeks blue and her eyes furious.
“Gothic hottie that, asshole!”
“Guu—GYYYAAA!”
As if the act of getting clotheslined wasn’t bad enough, The Horde chose that moment to descend upon Eric with all the wrathful fury of a pantheon of angry goddesses.
His cries of pain echoed across the convention for all to hear.
***
After being ditched by Kevin and Lilian, Iris had decided to slip away from the others.
She’d taken to wandering around the many booths, seeing what the place had to offer. While she wasn’t an anime and manga fanatic like her sister, she could appreciate the artwork being put on display. Seriously. Half-naked elf-girls? Nekomimi maids? These humans knew how to create some seriously sexy drawings.
As she walked around, heads swiveled and eyes tracked her. No one actually had the courage to speak to her, though, and they all seemed content with simple ogling. While she adored attention and loved having people recognize and admire her beauty, the fact that none of these people had the guts to even walk up to her was annoying. It was boring if she didn’t even have to put any effort into becoming everybody’s wet dream.
“Maybe I should have stuck with the stud and my sister,” Iris sighed to herself, absently gazing at the people around her. One man caught her eye. She tossed him a wink, and the man was suddenly propelled backwards by a geyser of blood erupting from his nostrils. He bowled over several people before slamming into a booth, knocking over the table and scattering artwork everywhere.
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