Anime Convention Harem Ch. 02

"Sooo glad we pre-ordered our convention passes," a heavy-set girl in her twenties said, a pair of plush panda ears bobbing excitedly where they were affixed in her dirty-blonde hair. "That line is just nuts."

"Oh, yes," her companion said quietly, a pair of similar rabbit ears poking up from her long blonde hair. "It's so crowded..." Her blue eyes fluttered behind her glasses. "I can't believe you talked me into this."

Megan had become Stephanie's boisterous big sister ever since they met in class, always intent on trying to include the reclusive, introverted Stephanie in on things and get her to open up and have fun. Convincing the girl to attend AnimeCon with her had been her greatest success so far.

The AnimeCon pavilion was spacious and bright, lit by an enormous array of skylights. The convention proper centered around a large vendors room with hallways then branching into adjoining conference rooms where the panels, workshops, anime screenings, and events were held. Crowds of attendees, intermittently sprinkled with cosplayers, had begun to fill the area with the indecipherable blur of many individual conversations. Directly before them, a staggered and untidy line for the ticket booths stretched, several hundred people long. Excitement tingled in the air.

"Talked you into a costume, you mean?" Megan laughed heartily and cuffed the slimmer girl on the shoulder, actually staggering her for a moment. Sometimes, the overly physical mannerisms of her big friend really bothered Stephanie. "Truuust me, as cosplay go, gijinka costumes are about as tame as they get. You'll see, Steph."

Gijinka was a term associated with the trend of making outfits as a personification of something, such as Japanese battleships illustrated in the form of cute young girls, or the conflicts of nations presented in the allegory of handsome young men squabbling with one another. Today the pair of girls wore costumes loosely representing monsters from the titular Monster Battlers, a game where trainers battled their pet monsters against one another for glory and prestige.

Megan had somewhat clumsily sewn a black and white traditional chinese dress based on Pandape, the part ape, part panda monster that Megan somewhat resembled with her short legs and stocky, round figure. Stephanie's outfit was patterned on Flamituff, a fast flame-element rabbit. She'd whipped up a pink and red scheme for a sleeveless sundress on her sewing machine and glued rabbit-like ears onto a hidden headband. Matching pink elbow-length gloves and thigh-high costume boots completed her ensemble.

Shy to a fault, Stephanie fidgeted with her Flamituff dress and did her best to hide in the wide shadow her friend cast. And as usual, Megan's toothy grin had an indecent feeling to it. Though Stephanie was a thin college girl with an unremarkable A-cup bust, her hips flared out to a rather generous behind, which was to her shame, quite a bit more than a handful. The "freshman fifteen" was her mother's favorite phrase for the pounds of derriere that had crept up on her. Determined to shed the weight, Steph had spent the whole summer break bicycling up and down the back roads of her home town.

Her tummy had become trim and her thighs were taut muscle, but to her dismay and frustration her backside hadn't reduced in size much at all. When she had returned to college, she hid her rear by wearing sweaters tied by their sleeves around her waist to class, long shirts, and a low-hanging backpack. She was oblivious to the fact that while her butt was the same size, the fatty flab of last semester had become the tight curvature of a perfectly-shaped ass.

"C'mon, aren't you excited?" Megan said, leafing through the AnimeCon schedule.

"Oh yes. Maybe this is all too much, in fact," Steph replied with a timid smile, tugging her dress down in the back again and smoothing it against her legs.

"Those guys would probably come up and ask for your picture if you weren't pretending to be so shy, you know."

"Yes. Pretending to be shy," Stephanie echoed weakly. She fidgeted with her outfit in embarrassment. Surely she'd made a mistake measuring the sizes of her dress, the swell of her bottom kept making her hemline ride up dangerously. She imagined she was attracting stares, and as usual any attention felt humiliating.

"Lesse here... I really wanna explore the vendor's room but the first voice acting panel starts soon, ughhh," Megan grumbled, completely engrossed in the convention booklet.

"Which actor is the first panel for?"

"It doesn't say, that's how they getcha. They have like, three A-listers and then a bunch of chumps in their voice acting guests. So they don't list who's gonna be where or when so that you havta attend them all. Tricky bastards."

Stephanie nodded silently, only a little interested, and planted herself against a wall clear of the constant traffic flow of anime fans and cosplayers. There were otaku and geeks of all shapes, sizes, genders, and ethnicities streaming by. Some dressed casually, others wore fedoras and trenchcoats. Several were pudgy-faced manchildren, while some others looked like they'd walked off the stage of a celebrity fashion show. There were small knots of friends who clung together and there were loners, lovers walking in pairs and stalkers trailing behind. Altogether, it was certainly interesting so far.

Her eyes were drawn to a guy who had paused in the hallway across from them to fix his costume. He wore a tasteful dress uniform from a space fantasy military, one she vaguely recognized from one of those Fantasy Wars titles. The young man's brown hair was styled in artful disarray, and overall... he was pretty cute. He had his own pre-registration badge dangling from his necklace. No wait, two badges dangled from his single cord, along with something smaller, she realized as he lifted them up over his head. Odd.

Tugging the right sleeve of his jacket back, he drew the lanyard around his wrist, doubled it around, and then slipped the badges through the loops and pulled the excess snug. Clever, Stephanie decided, watching the sleeve slide down to conceal the passes. It was a convenient trick cosplayers used to have an easily accessible badge to show the con staff while not being noticeable for impromptu picture-taking.

She was just letting her attention wander away from him when she noticed it, the small trinket that had been attached with his badges fall out of his sleeve and onto the carpeted floor. Not noticing what he'd lost, Brian stepped away and continued onward through the hall, straightening his collar.

"Uhm, hey," Stephanie called quietly, glancing around to see if anyone else had noticed. The murmur of voices in the convention hall was too loud for him to hear her. She quickly ducked between a pair of passerby and snatched the item off the ground. A little carved and wrapped omamori charm, a Japanese amulet for luck or protection, and she felt pleased with herself for recognizing what it was.

"Ah! Excuse me," she said, stepping after him and doing her best to raise her voice.

"You dropped... your, Ahh!" A tiny, unseen bolt of energy arced from the charm into her palm, almost causing her to drop it. She examined it closely as the stinging sensation in her hand began to subside.

What in the world? For a moment her head spun with dizziness, pink motes of light swimming through her vision. She felt a little giddy... or maybe light-headed? Whoa. I really shouldn't have skipped breakfast.

"Steph! What'd ya run off for," Megan huffed. "What's that?"

"It's a... he dropped it," Steph replied, her head clearing. The cute guy was just ahead, he'd been stopped for a photo. I need to catch up to him, she thought. And then something's going to happen? But what? In the pit of her stomach she was uneasy at the thought of showing Megan the omamori, almost as if it wasn't meant for her. Megan wasn't shy, she'd return the charm to the boy without a second thought, while Stephanie stood helpless on the sidelines.

She couldn't let that happen. This was her chance. This amulet sitting in her palm was her ticket to... well, something. Pink powder drifted throughout her thoughts, obscuring what that something might be. Something big.

"Well, ya gonna give it back to him?" Megan asked.

"Uhm, well... yeah," she answered distractedly, clutching the charm to her chest protectively. The guy struck a dynamic pose for the next photo, drawing a pistol from a holster inside his jacket and leveling it at some unseen target far in the distance in one smooth movement. His steely eyes narrowed, and he clenched his teeth, looking like he'd stepped out of action film. Totally badass, Stephanie thought, selectively ignoring the fussy young mother ushering a pair of superhero-costumed toddlers around the guy's pose.

Wow. It was mildly warm in the convention center, but she felt a wave of goosebumps travel down her body. Damn, he looks... delicious. She looked him up and down and every detail she took in lit a new fire inside of her. What's gotten into me? His shoulders were broad but not bulky, and though he wasn't particularly muscled, she could see the tone in his arms. Bright pink traces of light deep inside of her were becoming sparks and a warm feeling spread through her. Already in a daze again, her attention wandered down to his...

Stephanie's face flushed and she studiously turned her head back towards Megan. A tingle trickled down from her chest to her stomach, almost like an electric current... A thrumming and excited energy that made her shift her legs uncomfortably.

"You know how I told you I wasn't really all that interested in guys?"

"Yeah...?" Megan prompted, raising an eyebrow.

Stephanie squirmed, scuffing her costume boots against the carpet. "It just hit. It just hit all at once," she breathed, hiding her face.

"Stephanie? You're droolin', hun." her friend laughed.

Surprised and ashamed at herself, Stephanie wiped her chin with the back of her glove. She hadn't actually been drooling... although her mouth had certainly watered at the sight. Neon pink sparks popped and fizzled in her head. So that's what this feels like.

"You gonna return that thing, or what?" Megan asked, staring pointedly.

"Yes, I am," Stephanie confirmed, still vacantly nodding.

"Right... now...?" Megan wondered, prodding Stephanie's bare shoulder with her finger.

"Right now." Stephanie echoed, her feet firmly planted and not budging.

"Right now," Megan cooed huskily, wrapping the girl in her meaty arms and smothering her in a motherly embrace. "Go on! Go on, you hussy. Give it to him."

"Not funny!" Stephanie awkwardly squirmed and pawed her way free, blushing brightly in embarrassment and not daring to check and see if the boy had noticed the commotion.

"Ready? Steady... annnnnd go!" Megan shoved, pushing Stephanie forward suddenly. Flabbergasted and off-balance, Stephanie backpedaled and twisted, colliding into Brian spectacularly. For a moment pink bursts swam across her vision, and Stephanie toppled over in surprise, taking him with her to the ground.

"Ahh!" She exclaimed sharply as something pressed up against her mons. She arched her back in surprise, the inside of her head swimming with small gouts of fluttering pink flames. Looking down in growing horror, she realized she was sitting atop him, no, straddling him, right in the middle of the convention hallway. Her creamy thighs enveloped his head and his face was snugly buried into her panties. Oh no. Oh no no no. This isn't happening.

"Whoaaa damn," someone said. Everyone nearby had stopped what they were doing to look.

"Stephanie are you okay?" Megan exclaimed, trying to contain her laughter. "I really didn't mean to, I'm sorry Steph!"

"Oh man, hot," The nearest of a trio of teenage boys was already scrambling for his phone.

Glasses askew and blushing furiously, she planted her hands on the ground above his head and lifted her unexpectedly sensitive bundle of nerves off of his face, not daring to peek at his expression. Her mind was so awash with bright pink flashes of light that she nearly lost hold of the charm.

"Hey hold up, lemme get a shot of this first," someone behind her said, snapping a shot of her compromising position. Stephanie's dress had ridden up, and her gray striped panties strained to cover the curves of her plump bottom.

"Niiiice," a passing girl in a schoolgirl uniform said, her digital camera playing its shutter sound effect repeatedly. "Happens in like, every single anime ever."

"Classic," her friend agreed, "Anime cliché number one, haha."

"I'm so sorry," Stephanie stammered, "I'm so sorry, I just--" Completely red-faced in embarrassment, she shakily pushed off her knees and stood, trying to pretend everyone wasn't staring at her. Her eyes locked on Brian, too terrified to register what was going on outside of the horrifically intimate situation she'd entangled herself in. "Are you okay?" she squeaked.

Working his jaw tenderly, he looked at her with a bemused smile. "I'm alright, you okay?" His eyes flicked down for a split-second to glance at her panties.

"I'm fine," she blurted, simultaneously mortified and strangely... flattered with the quick look he had stolen. She struggled to pull her dress back over her exposed thighs as Megan pulled her back out of the way of people passing through.

"Awesome man, wicked." one of the teens interjected, offering Brian a hand and tugging him to his feet.

"That was staged, right...?" an overweight neckbeard asked dubiously.

"Uh, duh," one of his peers retorted as traffic began to resume through the hallway.

Brian took a moment to clear his head, standing out of the way across from Megan and Stephanie and straightening his costume.

"Soooo, nice tackle Flamituff! We'll make it to the championship yet!" Megan yelled, pointing her rolled-up schedule into the air dramatically.

"It was an accident! You--you pushed me, I only meant to g--," she sputtered in exasperation.

"Okay, well at least he's cute," Megan wasn't able to suppress a grin at seeing her friend flustered and blushing. "Next time, you do the pushing and I'll climb on top of him," she said, giving Steph a playful shove.

Stephanie gaped at her large friend, trying not to imagine the result.

"C'mon, don't look at me like that. Pssh, fine. Go give him back his whatever it was he dropped so we can get going to the panel."

Oh no. Oh no no no I can't face him after that.

"I can't. I really can't, not now," Stephanie said, hanging her head. "I'm too shy for this."

Megan frowned, putting her hands on her hips. "I thought you really meant it when you said you're interested in this guy? Were you being serious?"

Stephanie gulped. "Yes? I think so, I think I am."

"Then forget the panel, there's like, another three voice acting panels later anyways. Go to talk to this guy. Chat him up about anime, eat lunch with him, rub your ladybits on his face again, whatever. You're adorable, he's cute, life's short and you only live once. You gotta buck up and be my brave little shounen hero, this is the summertime of your youth," Megan recited, racking her brain for more advice clichés but coming up dry. She loved pretending to be wise.

"Aren't I more of a tragic shoujo heroine?" Stephanie asked with a grim smile.

"No way, that's me. Hence my starry eyes and impossibly slender legs," Megan said sarcastically, flicking her hands out dramatically enough to shake her panda ears. "Now get moving before I throw you into him again."

"I-I am kind of hungry. You want to just go get some lunch?" Stephanie found herself saying.

"Okay then! But ask him, not me. I'm on my way to a panel." Megan said, speaking loudly and winking. "Remember, summertime of your youth."

"In Japan I'd already be considered an old lady," Stephanie said numbly.

"Better hurry then, go and eat him up," Megan said lecherously as she walked away. "I'll meet up with you in the vendor's room after this voice acting panel's over, mmkay? For all the delicious details."

I'm not ready for this, Stephanie thought as she watched her friend disappear into the throng of convention attendees filling the halls. I'll never be ready for this. But she composed herself as best she could and crossed the hall to him, fighting down her fear and embarrassment. Megan was right. She was in college now, it was ridiculous for her to still be afraid of talking to boys. She was nearly jostled by people passing by, and because of how crowded it was getting she ended up stopping rather closer to this boy than she'd planned on daring; well within arms reach of him.

He looked up at her.

And Stephanie's mind went blank, proper line of thought swept away like driftwood in the surf and spray of a surging wave of attraction. His eyes, a mottled green, seemed to smolder, and she felt a lifetime of her hasty preconceptions about the silliness of sappy romances melt away beneath the heat of his gaze. There was a deep, haunting beauty about his gaze, a hidden pain etched within that captivated her completely. Oh whoa. Oh no.

Distracting pink bursts of sparks seemed to be colliding in her head and traveling down her body in jittery, electrifying currents and pulses, and it felt like parts of her body she'd never known about were warming up and turning on in response.

"Hi," she squeaked, terror and excitement grappling her senses.

"You dropped you, uh, your omamori fell, and..." she held it out to him.

"My what...?" He yanked back his sleeve, checking where his badges dangled from the lanyard around his wrist and surprised to see that it was indeed missing.

"Thanks, coulda lost it for good." He rewarded her with an endearing smile that sent a tingle of pink energy twitching down into her abdomen, and as she passed it to him her hand lingered a moment longer than necessary.

She wanted him. Wanted to know him, possess him, to run her fingers through the downy softness of his hair, to hold him in her arms and be embraced in turn by him. She'd always been socially self-conscious and tried not to stare at people before, but with lips parted wordlessly, she was thinking only that she could examine and adore him forever. The strong line of his chin, the lines of his neck, the breadth of his shoulders...

"Uhm, we got off on the wrong feet. Wrong foot, we got off on the wrong foot, so maybe we could... start over? Fresh start? I'm Stephanie."

"Brian," he offered, smiling. "Would you want to have lunch? The convention center has a little cafe down the hall, little less crowded than the concessions stands in the main lobby..."

Did he read my mind?! Stephanie thought, eyes wide, not realizing that Megan had been speaking loudly enough for everyone in the vicinity to hear earlier. "That'd be great! I actually didn't have breakfast, so I'm pretty famished," she said with a nervous laugh.

"Uhm...!" she managed as a tall nerd in a camouflage jacket backed into her side as he vied for a better angle of a nearby ninja cosplayer with his camera-phone. Stephanie rebounded off of him and into the back of an enormous hairy girl who had a fox-tail accessory dangling from the back of her spats.

"Here," Brian said, taking Stephanie's hand and tugging her along as the hambeast wearing the fox-tail turned around. Stephanie was brimming with excitement, in more ways than one. Flickers and flashes of pink light became spurts of pink flame in her head and she realized in alarm that she was... wet.

For Stephanie, it was a new feeling. Sexuality had always frightened her. To her, fornicating was something that would probably feel uncomfortable and most likely hurt. She'd thought getting wet would feel gross, make her want to excuse herself to wipe clean. Now, in the moment, nothing could be further from the truth.