a/n: First line popped into my head and demanded to be written. This is Amepan and I don't even like Amepan. It's for Al's birthday (or, as I like to call it, National Blow Stuff Up Day). So, happy Independence Day Americans, happy normal day rest of the world. And England, happy "Nya nya so there" Day. ^_^ These lovelies aren't mine, neither are the characters they're cosplaying. Japan is Furude Rika from Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. Al is Naruto from the series of the same name. The anime they're watching at the end is called DNAngel.
Every time Alfred thought back to how it all began, he remembered the line. It was a long, slow line, the kind that makes you wish you'd brought a book or a video game or something. Alfred, being the newbie that he was, had brought none of those things, and so was forced to strike up a conversation with the short, blue-haired girl who was standing in line behind him, lest his brain implode from boredom.
"Hey," he began. It wasn't the most creative opener in the world, but it would do.
The girl looked up briefly from the manga she was reading. "Good morning desu."
"That's a nice costume," Alfred offered. It really was nice—mostly white, kimono-like, many-layered and complicated. Random splotches of red—Alfred guessed they were supposed to be blood or something like that—finished it off.
"Thank you desu. I worked very hard on it desu," the girl answered, not looking up from her manga.
"Heh, that's better than I did," Alfred chuckled. "I bought mine off the internet. I was damn glad I didn't need a wig—those things are expensive. I'm guessin' that's a wig, right?"
"That is correct desu," the girl replied. "And do not worry about buying your costume online desu. Many first-timers do the same desu."
"I'm guessin' you wouldn't be a first-timer, then," Alfred said.
"Yes, that is correct desu." The girl turned a page in her manga. "I have been to several conventions desu."
Alfred frowned, only just noticing something. "Hey, what's up with that weird speech tic?"
"It is part of my character's speech patterns desu," the girl answered. "And what of yourself desu? I know of your character, and I recall he also has a strange way of speaking desu."
"Oh, dude, I totally forgot about that, believe it!" Alfred laughed, tacking on the catchphrase at the last second. "Hey, what series're you from?"
"It is called Higurashi no Naku Koro ni desu." The girl turned another page.
"'Fraid I don't know it," Alfred said.
"That is a pity desu. It's good desu," the girl said. "It is a horror anime, manga, and visual novel about a small town with a strange festival and a dark secret desu. It is quite gory desu." She flashed him a tiny grin. "Nipaa~ I am Furude Rika desu. I die nearly every arc desu."
"That would explain the blood splotches." Alfred laughed nervously—horror movies and stuff like that were definitely not his forte. "I'll be sure to check it out some time, believe it!" The line moved forward and he was suddenly at the sign-in counter. "Hey, you wanna hang out some time?"
"That would be all right desu." The girl shrugged. "And now, please pay attention to what is in front of you desu. Your obliviousness and unawareness of your surroundings is quite in character, but you are holding up the line desu."
"Oh, right!" Alfred turned to the counter and began signing in, telling the person behind the counter that yes, he was over eighteen and thus allowed to hang around here without a parent, yes, he'd be here all three days, and no, he didn't really want to check out the special dinners and stuff. Once he got his shiny con badge, he waited until the girl got hers and sauntered off after her, chattering about everything and nothing. She didn't seem to mind his presence, so he hung around her for the rest of the con. He discovered fairly quickly that her name was Kiku and that she was, in fact, a he. This reveal froze him stock-still for a moment while he processed that this was a guy in the pretty dress with the pretty hair and the cute way of speaking, but he dismissed it with a loud "Believe it!"
During the three days of the convention, they discovered that they lived in the same city and that they both loved video games, although Alfred liked shoot-'em-up games and racing games like Mario Kart while Kiku preferred strategy- and story-based games like Portal and Kingdom Hearts. They exchanged emails and phone numbers and even ended up on the same train back home.
A year or two later, through many conventions, cosplays, and horror-anime-marathons, they arrived at this point—cuddling on the sofa in their shared apartment, watching a winged thief steal art on the TV in the corner, exchanging commentary (Alfred complaining that "I still don't get how the rabbit turns into a pair of wings" and Kiku replying that "It's because he's a magic rabbit") and soft kisses in the gentle afternoon sunlight.
And to think, it had all started because Alfred hadn't had the foresight to bring a book or a video game or something to stand in line with.