Persisting Chaos

"Hurry hurry hurry hurry hurry!" Alfred honked on the car's horn.

"Calm down! I barely got my bag in the car!" I shouted at him as I swept through the front gates.

It was winter break now. Midterm finals were done and school transfer was ready to take place, although we didn't exactly know where we were moving yet.

While I was clearing my room, I found the tickets to Animecon that were from the unit delivery service. The convention was taking place this weekend so I decided to start off the break with this. I chose to take Alfred since he was the most "otaku" out of the rest, next to Francis.

"Nanaaaaa, hurry!" He kept honking the horn.

"Stop it before the neighbors start complaining..." I sat my butt into the passenger seat and secured on the seatbelt. Alfred rented a nice car with a pretty good deal thanks to his police chief.

I yawned. It was about five in the morning and Alfred had to literally drag me out of bed. Everyone else was still fast asleep but Francis and Ivan were seeing us off.

"Erm, be careful you two." Francis looked uneasily at Alfred.

"Don't let the hero get too excited, da?" said Ivan smilingly.

"Oh, what's the big deal?" Alfred started the engine. "You guys know I can drive safely, being in the law force and all."

I just shook my head. "I think they mean when we're at the convention..." I could imagine him spazzing out over the smallest of things and I would have to struggle just to keep up with him.

"Let's go!" Alfred pulled out of the driveway and we made our way out to Los Angeles.

"Hey... hey..."

I jolted awake and slammed my head against the window. "Oww..."

"We're here!" Alfred smacked my arm excitedly and got out of the car.

"Oh." I rubbed my sore forehead and got out as well. I stretched and looked around the parking lot. I saw a whole lot of people in cosplay, enough to feel weird that you're the only one without some costume.

"Catch!" Alfred threw my duffle bag at me and I caught it with a thud. Inside of it was my cosplay. Such a pain...

Alfred had basically forced me into choosing something to wear. First the guys suggested that I wear their uniforms to cosplay as them but they didn't fit well, size and just plain image. Alfred then went through the trouble of searching characters with heterochromia. In the end, it all came down to this person—Black Rock Shooter.

Alfred ran from the hotel nearby and told me he got us a room to stay in for the night. We grabbed our things, locked up the car, and made our way to our room. If it only went smoothly though...

"Oh my gosh! Is that America?"

"It is! That's a really good cosplay!"

"A genuine guy too! He looks exactly like him!"

"Talk about dedication."

I looked up at Alfred and he was just grinning happily, basking in the glory. I nudged him. "Enjoying yourself—"

"America! Say cheese!" A camera flash went off, leaving me blind for a split second.

I blinked as couple of other fangirls started to surround him. Now out of reach, I just shook my head and texted him that I would be going ahead.

The room was on the fourth floor with one bed, a side table, and a window facing the parking lot. The view wasn't so bad. I could see the colorful costumes that the people are wearing. Speaking of which... I stared at my duffle bag. Please kill me after this... metaphorically. I dragged it with me to the bathroom. Oh look, star shaped soaps.

About fifteen minutes of pondering, hesitating, and waiting, the room's door clicked open with familiar footsteps resounding soon after.

"The hero's finally here!" I heard Alfred heave himself onto the bed. He sounded exhausted but there was also a satisfied sigh coming from him.

"About time." I stared at the mirror, still locked in the bathroom. I ran my fingers through one of my pigtails. I felt ridiculous but at the same time surprised at how the character suited my look.

"Hey, come on out. I want to see how you look!"

I pulled down my black V-neck. I was not comfortable with the original character's wear so I decided to go with a tank top instead. I took a deep breath and walked out of the bathroom.

"Whoa," Alfred sat up on the bed, "It totally fits you!"

I avoided eye contact and blushed. I crossed my arms. "B-be quiet."

"Aw come on~ it was totally meant for you."

I turned to glare at him but realized that his clothes were half torn. "What the heck happened to you..?"

He just laughed. "It's not always easy being the hero."

"Right..." Violent fangirls… "Anyway, what is your cosplay? You never told me."

At that, he instantly jumped off the bed and grabbed his bag. He dashed to the bathroom and five minutes later, came out with his costume on.

I looked up from the messenger bag I was going to carry around. "Who are you and what have you done to Alfred F. Jones?"

The said unit presented a goofy smile and the "ILY" sign on both hands. "I'm Ronald Knox!"

I stifled a laugh. Ever since I saw Ronald, I always thought that he looked like Alfred. "It's perfect for you."

He wore different glasses and a black suit. His hair stuck out to the sides while the back part was dyed black.

I raised a hand. "How did you dye your hair so fast?"

"It was already black, dude." He ruffled my hair. "I did it last night, silly. Guess you were too sleepy to notice."

I stepped out of his reach. Is that so… "When are we going?"

He grabbed my arm. "Now!"

"Wait, wait, what—?"

After two hours of zipping from one stand to another and waiting in line for whatever goods, I was dead tired. I spotted an empty bench at the side. I tugged at Alfred's sleeve and pointed a wearily finger at the spot. "I'm going to wait over there…"

"Tired already?"

I nodded.

He dumped some of the stuff he was carrying onto me. "Could you hold onto these while you're waiting then? Thanks!"

I toppled over to the bench and placed the pile of things to the floor next to me. I gave out a heavy sigh and rested my head against the wall behind me. Finally… my legs… I went to see where "Ronald" was and he disappeared into some crowd. My attention next went to the small pile of free and not-so-free stuff we collected throughout the time. I only got a mere fraction of things while somehow Alfred was able to afford a bunch of other goods. Conventions are crazy and tiring…

"Hey, nice cosplay!" a passerby smiled at me and gave me a thumbs up.

"Thank you." I blushed. I-it's nothing compared to some other people I've seen… I pulled up my legs and hugged them because I was getting a little cold. The shorts and long boots did not help at all, especially since it was winter time.

"Hey," I looked up to find a small group of people gathered in front of me. They were also clad in Black Rock Shooter- related cosplay. "Can you join us in our picture?"

"Umm… sure." I got up and awkwardly stood at the end in the group shot.

A girl cosplaying as Dead Master smiled at me. "You look really cool. The tank top was a good idea." She giggled and nodded at her friend who was also Black Rock Shooter. She was wearing the actual top worn by the character and she looked cold.

I just shrugged. "Better safe than sorry, right?"

"Yep," she laughed. "Hey, if you're going to cosplay again, you should try Ruko Yokune. With those different colored eyes and blue highlight, you kind of look like her."

Ruko Yokune? Sounds like a Vocaloid or something… "Umm… thanks, I'll think about it."

"No prob!" The girl waved 'bye' at me and went to catch with her group.

Well that was interesting… I sat back down on the bench and picked up a random manga from Alfred's bag.

After about an hour, my stomach started to growl. I looked at my phone for the time. It was around one and I barely had any breakfast earlier. I had an apple danish in the car on the way here but I only ate half because I was more tired than hungry then. Why didn't I bring it with me? I returned the manga in the bag and stood up from the bench. I scanned the area to see if I could find Alfred. All I kept getting were false alarms because about five other people had also chose to be Ronald Knox.

I decided to call him instead. Two tries later, I realized that his phone was among the stuff that he piled on me. Oh, come on… I groaned and decided to wait for him since I did not want to leave the stuff behind, or bother carrying them while waiting in line for food. I lazily searched the crowd in front of me and spotted another Ronald cosplayer. Naturally blonde… blue eyes… laughing like America… Found him!

I asked the people sitting near me to watch our things for a bit and ran into the main room. I swam my way through people and stands and finally caught up with Alfred.

I took his gloved hand and pulled him back. "Come on, I waited forever and you forgot your phone. I want food…"

"Okay, dudette." He obediently followed. Dudette? That's new.

I thanked the people watching over the stuff and the two of us headed to the food court. We somehow ended up at a mini café and menus were placed in front of us. The names of the food were anime-related, which was cool and strange and interesting at the same time. I decided to go with the omelet since I haven't had one of those in ages and because it was the cheapest. Alfred went with hamburger and fries as expected.

He leaned forward and propped his elbows on the table after the waitress left with our orders. "So, come here often?"

I choked on my soda. "What do you mean? You know it's the first time I've been to any convention."

"Do I?" He raised a brow. "Sorry, then dudette. Your cosplay's pretty sweet though." He wiped my mouth with a napkin, making me blush.

I pushed his hand away. "You're the one who picked it out for me, remember..?" Okay, what's going on..? "Are you feeling ok—"

"Finally some grub!" he cheered as his dish was placed in front of him. He went onto stuffing his mouth.

"Hey—" My stomach growled. …I'll ask him later… When we were done eating, I pulled out my wallet to pay for my half.

Alfred held up a hand. "No man, I'll pay for it all."

"Are you sure? You bought a lot of things out there…" I picked out my bills. He shook his head and he ended up buying my part of lunch too. We walked out of the mini café with our things in hand.

I glanced up at him suspiciously. "Why did you do that?"

He just grinned at me. "I treated you for lunch since you were starving and seemed lonely."

"Lonely? You're the one who left me for over an hour," I protested.

He cocked his head to the side. "I know I left someone but this is the first time I've met you."

I stopped walking. "Wait, what?" I looked at him over and it was definitely the Alfred I was with earlier. Same cosplay, same suit, same hair, same glasses, same personality… I was totally confused. "W-what is my name?"

"Oh! I never asked for your name! What is it? You seem to know mine already." He smiled warmly at me.

I was in utter shock. I had somehow picked up the wrong Alfred. Was there another unit owner? "I-I'm Nana."

"Nana, huh? Nice name!" He grinned at me. "You're Japanese like Kiku then!"

I stiffly nodded. "So, umm… are you a Hetalia unit?"

"Yep."

"Is your owner here too?"

"Yep."

"Do you know where they are?"

"Nope."

I sighed. "Then let's look for your owner… What is their name?"

"Megan; she's cosplayed as SeeU and she's this tall." He set his hand about four inches below my height.

"Thank you for the details…" I walked forward. Let the search begin—

"Al!"

"Nana!"

I jumped at the voices and we swung around. A girl in SeeU cosplay came running to us and behind her followed a Japan and another Ronald Knox. When she came close enough, she tackled the Alfred that was with me to the side.

She made a fist. "Where the heck were you?"

He staggered back up, holding his hip. "Firstly, ow! And second, I took this cute girl out for lunch."

I blushed at 'cute' and scooted to my Alfred unit. I handed him his phone. "Don't ever leave without this again…"

He scratched his head. "Sorry, dude." He laughed nervously. "I got caught up talking with Kiku here and was somehow dragged along by that crazy chick."

The SeeU girl finished punishing her unit and turned to me. "Hola! Thanks for finding my unit."

I smiled timidly at her. "And thank you for finding mine."

She laughed. "No probs. Weird how they look exactly alike, huh?"

I nodded. It was a weird coincidence. "I'm just happy to find another unit owner like me. I thought I was the only one around here."

"You might have been since I'm from the east coast." The shorter girl shrugged. "I got free tickets and decided to pay a visit to LA."

"Hai, she was very excited for this day."

I turned to the Japanese unit. He was decked out in otaku gear like his owner, minus the cosplay. I turned back to Megan. "You're very lucky to have a Japan unit. All I have are the crazy Allies plus Italy and Korea…" I feel like I'm talking about action figures or something…

She hugged his arm. "I know~ I was only going to bring him but Alfred kept bugging me." She kicked the American one last time. My Alfred decided to stay behind me.

I guessed that he went through that torment earlier when he was with her. "W-well, this is my first convention so I brought Alfred to guide me through… but that was only tiring."

Her jaw dropped. "Primero {First}? Seriously? This is like my seventh one."

"Wow…" I rubbed the back of my neck. That's pretty amazing…

She waved her hand in front of my face. "Ello? Anyone home?"

I snapped out of my daze. "Sorry… I didn't have much sleep."

"No worries, I didn't either." Megan fixed her cat ears and wig in front of the window. When she was done, she grabbed her bag. "Well then! Since it's your first time, want to see what my personally favorite stands are?"

I turned to my Alfred unit. He shrugged. "Why not? It'll be fun!" He linked arms with his 'twin', who linked arms with Kiku.

I shrugged as well. "Why not? Lead the way then."

Megan smiled in triumph. "Let's go!"

So, after snaking through crowds, losing the Alfred units again, playing games, and attending panels, it was about seven o'clock. We all decided to call it a day and returned to the hotel. It turned out that they were staying at the same place and the same floor as us. We all gathered in my room and ordered pizza.

"That was pretty fun." Megan had taken off her large wig, revealing her medium length, wavy brown hair. She leaned against the bed and continued eating her slice of pizza.

I nodded as I ate some fries. "It was. Thank you for showing me around."

"You're welcome! Still can't believe that it was your first convention, ever." She smacked her Alfred's hand as he was trying to steal her pepperoni.

I leaned over to Kiku. "She's a bit… violent, huh..?"

He just nodded. "Hai, but that is her nature so we cannot blame her. You should see her when she has her baseball bat."

B-baseball bat? "Ah…" I wiped my hands on my napkin. I looked over at Alfred number two and he was already collapsed on the bed, sleeping happily after the long day.

Megan yawned. "I think I'm gonna call it a night. Me and the others are going to check out LA some more tomorrow and then go home."

I yawned as well. "I have to go straight home and prepare for…" I hung my head at the thought of it, "…something."

She threw her stuff away. "Something?"

"Yeah, just something." I laughed nervously. "It's nothing, sorry." I got up and dumped my stuff too. I opened the door for them. "It sounds like you guys have a long day tomorrow so you should all have a good night's rest."

She looked at me suspiciously but shrugged it off. "If you say so. Come on you two." Her units filed out of the room. Before she walked out, she smiled up at me. "It was fun, Nana. I wonder if we'll randomly meet again at some convention."

I blushed a little. "I doubt it…" Her face became discouraged so I cleared my throat. "I mean we'll see! It was great hanging out with you!"

She laughed and socked me in the arm playfully. "I kid, I kid." She stepped out with her wig in hand. "Bye and have a good night!"

"Good night."

I watched her run down the hall to her room. She gave me one last wave and shut the door. I closed mine too and let out a sigh that I did not know I was holding. I felt myself smiling as I turned around, facing the room. It was a really fun day.

I changed out of my outfit and into a tee-shirt and pajama pants, brushed my teeth, cleaned the room, and packed up all of our stuff. I slumped onto the bed in exhaustion. Then I remembered that Alfred was already there. I'm stuck on the floor then…

I gently crawled on the bed to reach for a pillow but a heavy arm swung over me. I was stuck between Alfred and the pillow. I madly blushed at the close contact but was too tired to fight out of it.

Oh well… My heavy eyelids closed.

He wasn't Francis after all.

Whoo animcon!... Yeah I know it was pretty boring, uneventful, and time skippy. Sorry OTL I never been to a convention but I had to use that ticket eventually… (and long chapter is long orz;;; )

I played around with Nana's appearance and debated over Black Rock Shooter and Ruko Yokune. While Ruko actually looked like Nana (I was really amazed), I decided to go with the more familiar Black Rock Shooter. Alfred's was pretty easy since Ronald Knox (from Black Butler to those who don't know) seriously looks like him; probably overused but hey, he's still a person himself so I don't think he would like going as himself.

This and the next one to two chapters will be fillers :) I need time to develop my next major plot orz;;;

So yeah, I hope you enjoyed this one way of another!

ps. Megan belongs to Swirly592! I'm sorry if Megan wasn't written out well. I will fix it at your request!

(No, LolliDictator did not make a Japan manual but she requested to be with Japan at the convention. I stuck Alfred in there just because...)

pps. EliteKessu and I are working on a collab story called "The Outgoing and the Shy" (my account). Check it out while it's still short :D

ppps. Thanks for the continuous faves, follows, and reviews! ^^

pppps. You all get cookies for putting up with this lengthy chapter~