In terms of otaku, Kagami saw the subculture divided into several groups. There were the total fanatics, who literally did not leave the house like the label suggested. One step down from that extreme were the obsessive people, like Konata, who spent way too much time and money on this lifestyle but very nearly were able to be part of normal society. Then there were the casual fans, people who liked anime and games but didn't devote their lives to it. Kagami and her sister were there.

Here they were now, going to Konata's little convention, surrounded by people in that first group of otaku. The obsessive kind, the kind that were almost frightening to be around. This was probably the only time some of them left the house. It seemed like with each stop the train made, more and more of the passengers getting on were in ridiculous costumes. They ranged from the jaw-droppingly amazing, with great attention to detail, to the much more common, not so impressive, you-gave-it-your-best-shot kind.

"I'm surprised you're not in costume, Konata," Kagami said, turning to look at her friend.

"Well, you know. I do that kind of thing all the time at work. And more importantly, I have a mission to complete here. I can't be distracted." Konata pulled out a map of the convention center. Notes, bullet points, and arrows were scribbled all over it, in four different colors of ink. "Here's the shopping list. And I did you the favor of making color copies for each of you."

She handed them out to each of them - Kagami, Tsukasa, and Jason had all come along, not entirely willingly but more out of a feeling that they were somehow obligated.

Tsukasa stared at it, her eyes blank. "Umm... what does it all mean?"

Konata pointed out some things on the map. "You're going for the blue items, Tsukasa. I recommend you start out over here, and work your way over." She gestured to some locations. "And try not to get lost. There's going to be a ton of people there. It's overwhelming when it's your first time."

Kagami had been here last year, and she could attest to that. Why exactly had she decided to get back into the fray for a second time? That question had been plaguing her mind the entire day.

"Tsukasa, just make sure you're careful. It really is easy to get lost," Kagami said. Turning to Jason, she said, "You too. Have you ever been to something like this before?"

"Can't say I have," he replied. "It shouldn't be too bad, though. So Konata, which ones am I going for?"

"I thought you could go for the red ones. Those are going to be difficult to get to, but I have faith in your abilities. Don't let me down," she said.

"Right."

"Oh, and Kagami - your assignments are in green. You know your way around, right? You've got some experience."

Glancing at the map, it seemed like most of the writing was in orange - Kagami guessed those were the ones Konata was going to find on her own. There were roughly equal amounts of red and green. Those were for her and Jason. And only a few places were in blue. At least she had some consideration for Tsukasa's tendency to get overwhelmed by these sorts of things. The whole plan seemed more like a covert military operation than just a shopping trip for some doujinshi. This girl was serious about her hobbies.

"Yeah, sounds good," Kagami said.

The train stopped again. Someone in a weird-looking Keroro outfit got on, followed by some girls in school uniforms with bright blue and purple wigs. The uniforms were so normal that Kagami almost wouldn't have known they were cosplayers except for the hair. There was only a handful of almost-normal people just wearing anime t-shirts or normal clothes.

In a way, with all these costumes around, it was like all the anime and game characters were gathering in one spot. It was an interesting idea - Oh god, Kagami thought. I'm starting to think like them.

Chapter 11

Don't Know How Or Why

Two uncomfortable hours later, Kagami was nearly finished with Konata's list.

There were a number of uncomfortable things about it. Handing over so much money for doujinshi, for one thing. It was strange spending so much of someone else's money, but she knew that Konata had entrusted her with it fully expecting to see it replaced with a sizable stack of books. She only ever saved her money for times like this, when she would blow it all at once.

Another part of it that was awkward - the things that she was buying with this money. Fans publish their own stories about their favorite characters, and at least three-fourths of it seemed to be weird sex fantasies. And naturally, Konata, being a proud part of the subculture, was also into this stuff. Not that Kagami hadn't taken a look herself, just once, but - that was unlikely to ever happen again.

Good luck out there, Tsukasa, Kagami thought. You'll need it.

"Hey!" It was an unfamiliar voice, followed by a hand on Kagami's shoulder. She jumped a little in shock.

Turning around, she saw a girl with short white hair wearing a school uniform - a tan sweater vest. Probably not a real school uniform, but a cosplay getup. The white hair seemed to be for real, though. It wasn't often you saw an albino, and come to think of it...

"I know you! Aren't you - " the girl started.

"Umm, look, I've never seen you in my life. You probably have me mistaken for someone else," Kagami said.

"I don't think so. Aren't you Konata's friend? Kagami, right?"

Kagami was surprised. "Huh? How do you know..." She stopped. This girl somehow knew Konata, probably had the same strange interests as her... Konata often praised Kagami as the very embodiment of the "tsundere" archetype. But Konata wouldn't go as low as to post pictures of her on the internet, on one of those weird fetish imageboards...

No, that was exactly the kind of thing Konata would do.

"So you're here with her, right?" the white-haired girl asked. "Konata, I mean."

"Who are you?" Kagami asked.

Ignoring her, the girl continued. "You know where she is?"

"Yeah, she was going to the East Hall, I think. But who are you?"

"East Hall?" The girl frowned. "But that's all the way over... Nevermind. I'll make it. Thanks!"

Just like that, she was gone, disappeared into the gigantic crowd. Such a lack of manners, like she didn't even know how to function in a normal human society. Maybe she was one of those people who didn't leave the house much. God knew there were a lot of them here today.

"What the hell..." Kagami muttered. She made a mental note to do an internet search for her name. It probably wouldn't be pretty, but she had to get some answers. While she was at it... Might as well look up Tsukasa and Miyuki, too. "Seriously, Konata, do you have any conscience at all?"

Tsukasa still had all of the money Konata had given her. She had looked over the list of vendors and books she was supposed to be looking for - in fact, she almost had it memorized at this point. Why couldn't she find any of them? It was starting to get really scary in here, alone, lost.

Whenever she managed to work her way through the thick mass of bodies up to a table, it would turn out to be the wrong one, yet again. This convention center was so big... How did anyone know where they were going?

"Tsukasa?" She turned around, recognizing the voice.

"Oh, hey, Jason! What are you doing here...?" Tsukasa said. "I thought you were supposed to be in the other part of this place..."

Jason was weighed down with plenty of dojinshi and merchandise. "No, this is where I was supposed to be... I already finished my list, actually." Tsukasa's mouth dropped open in shock. "Weren't you supposed to be over on the other side of the center?" he asked.

"You mean..." She suddenly realized why she hadn't found any of her items. "I can't believe I got so lost in here... How did you find your way around so easily?"

"I'm used to these kind of situations... Actually, this isn't as bad as some of the places I've been. Come on, let's see if we can get over there in time. I hope they're not sold out."

"Thanks..." Tsukasa said, looking down.

"Hey! Konata!"

Konata momentarily snapped out of her state of hyper focus at the sound of her name. No, she didn't recognize the voice... Actually, maybe it was familiar. But it certainly wasn't anyone she had come here with, or even saw on a regular basis. Where did she know it from?

She turned around to see an albino girl, wearing a school uniform. The girl had a wide grin on her face.

"Finally! I was beginning to think I'd never find you in here. So many people..." The new girl looked around.

"Yeah, isn't it great? This is the ultimate form of my lifestyle," Konata said. "But first... I don't think I've met you before. Who are you, exactly?"

"Oh, sorry. I'm Ayanami Rei. Great to meet you!" She grinned.

Konata started working through this situation in her mind. Did this have something to do with Eclipse? She had never had anyone visit this world before... This girl definitely looked like Rei, now that she thought about it. Neon Genesis Evangelion was such a classic anime she was surprised she hadn't noticed that at first. But there was something off about her.

"So that's who you're cosplaying as... Great job, by the way. But, I mean, there's no way you could actually be Rei," Konata said. "You don't act anything like her. So what's your real name?"

Rei glared at her. "How do you know what I'm supposed to act like? Shouldn't I know what my own name is?"

"Yeah, but... I always thought you'd be... less..." Konata searched for the right word. "Energetic. You have emotions and everything."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rei was confused. "Why wouldn't I...?"

"Well..." How exactly did you go about explaining to someone what their personality is supposed to be like? After some consideration, Konata realized... you just didn't. "Never mind, actually."

Konata started over to the next table. "I've still got plenty of things I'm trying to buy here. Just follow me for a while." Rei did as she was told, looking with some interest at all the piles of manga for sale. "So why did you come here?"

"I just started this whole thing with Eclipse... They're supporting NERV. It's been really great so far, we're making so much progress with their help. But just a few days ago they gave me a special request. They told me you could help me do it."

That confirmed it - Rei was in the organization. And she was with NERV, just like she was supposed to be, according to what Konata knew about that world, but... why the difference in personality? Namely, the fact that she had one? But right now, all she could ask about was that special request. Those were rare, and always important to complete.

"That's fine. What am I supposed to help you with?" Konata asked.

"It's kind of a long story... Looks like you're busy here. You don't need to stop, I'll just keep following you for a while. You're really spending a lot of money here."

"It's a fan's responsibility to help out the self-publishing industry," Konata explained. "I've been coming here for years."

Konata moved on to the next table. It was interesting, meeting someone like Rei here. Obviously everyone would think she was cosplaying, and anything they said about the assignment would just blend into the background conversations. She picked up a dojinshi from an artist she didn't recognize and looked through it idly. "Anyway, what were you going to tell me? I'm interested in hearing this," she said, barely looking up. "Tell it from the beginning."

"Okay..." Rei thought for a moment. "Well, I figure the whole thing started when..."

Tsukasa struggled to keep up with Jason, working against the current as they advanced through the convention center. She wasn't capable of fighting against a crowd like this - that was probably how she had ended up so lost in the first place.

"It's almost like you've been to these things as long as Kona-chan has... You're really good at it. I didn't know it would be so hard..." Tsukasa said.

"Actually, I didn't have much of an interest in anime or manga before I met Konata..." Jason said. "I guess she converted me. True, I knew a little bit about it before, I guess, but she really takes it to a whole new level."

Tsukasa laughed nervously. "Yeah... Did you know they had so much stuff people write themselves? I had no idea."

"It's pretty crazy, alright. All the writers seem to have their own interpretations of the characters and settings. It gives you some new perspectives, all the different ways things could happen between the same characters... I'm not sure I would spend so much money on it, though. By the way, how much did she give you to spend?"

Tsukasa looked at the folded bills, counting them. "There's about... 7500 yen here..."

"So that's, what? Almost 80 dollars, give or take a few? My God..." Jason shook his head in disbelief. "She's really going to spend that much? And that's only your part of it, not even counting what I spent."

They stopped to look at a directory map. Comparing it to their own maps, they figured they were about halfway across. And about an hour left before they were supposed to meet back up.

"Let's hurry up," Jason said.

"Yeah." Tsukasa followed after him. She didn't want to get left behind, or pushed away by the crowd.

Once Rei had finished her story, Konata was silent for a moment, trying to process everything.

"That's..." Konata tried to think of what to say. What would even be appropriate to describe it. "That's just about the most irresponsible thing I've ever heard! I can't believe they even trust you to pilot one of those."

"Yeah, I know I shouldn't have done that..." Rei was trying unsuccessfully to make light of her huge, glaring mistake that had put Unit 00 out of operation for at least a month, more likely two. "But there's an Angel coming in less than a week and I need to be able to fight it!"

"What do you suggest we do, then?" Konata asked. "And why'd they ask me to help, anyway?"

"I'm just supposed to have a more experienced member help me out. They said the operation was going to be risky. We have to steal an EVA from another universe."

Konata was absolutely dumbfounded. Stealing one of the most famous giant mecha in the history of anime... "You know what? Never mind what I said before, that's the most irresponsible thing I've ever heard. Let me guess, you came up with that on your own?"

"It's really what they told me to do! You have to help me! If you don't... Do you realize what an Angel is capable of if nobody stops it?"

"Actually, I do. But the whole plan... Not that I have any firsthand experience with giant robots... But you can't just slip in and take one without somebody noticing. Besides, NERV has like, what? Three? Four? They'd notice if one of them was gone."

"You're right about that," Rei said. "How do you know so much about it, anyway?"

"Anime. Especially my dad, he loves giant robots," Konata explained.

"There's an anime about me?" Rei asked. "I guess that would explain why everything looks so different back home now."

"Of course! It's pretty famous," Konata said. "But I guess it's not about you, specifically. More likely it's about one of these alternate worlds that's just similar to yours. Like I said, the Rei that I know about is nothing like you. Anway, I want to hear some more about this great plan that they came up with for us. How much do you know?"

"We're just supposed to go in and take it," Rei said. "They said that the NERV headquarters would be similar to the one where I come from, so I'd be able to find my way around. Oh, and nobody's supposed to see us."

"That's exactly the problem," Konata said. "How exactly are we supposed to take a giant robot without anybody noticing?"

"Once we get it, we're out of there, right?"

"Well, there is that... They won't be able to follow us."

"After that I don't really have it figured out." Rei didn't look terribly worried as she admitted this.

Konata sighed. "So how long until we have to pull this off?"

"The Angel's supposed to arrive in a week. We need to have the EVA by then. I'll come back to your world once I'm ready to go. By the way, they said that you were working with someone else... His name was - Jason Ellis? Where is he, anyway?"

"I almost forgot! I sent him on an errand. Picking up some other dojinshi. I can't go through the entire festival by myself, after all. I should probably tell him about this once we're done."

"Tsukasa, isn't that one of the tables you were looking for?"

She looked over to where Jason was pointing, then referred to the map again. "You're right! So... which one am I supposed to buy again?" She looked over the stacks of books, searching for the right title... "This one!" She picked it up. "I'd like to buy this one, please."

"Sure, that'll be 500 yen," the vendor said.

"Wait, it says here you're supposed to get three copies of that one," Jason said. "It's a new release."

"Um... three?" Tsukasa looked again. "Why does Konata want three of this one?"

"Beats me," Jason said. "Just one of her quirks."

"Okay, so your total comes to 1500 yen, now," the vendor replied. Tsukasa handed over the money and put the three copies into her bag.

"We don't have much time left... Where are we supposed to meet once this is all done?" Tsukasa asked.

"Back at the entrance in about..." Jason took out his phone to check the time. "Thirty minutes?" Tsukasa gasped. "We should probably hurry up."

The next fifteen minutes they worked their way through the crowd, getting to each table and wasting no time picking up no less than three of the newly published items, one each of those marked as previously published. Even the expert shoppers, burdened with huge bags full of their haul like Konata probably was by now, seemed to be in awe of their swift and methodical sweep of the entire hall.

As they reached the last table, they searched for the item Konata had listed on the map. Tsukasa spotted it first.

"Wow, only three copies left... We got here just in time," she said.

"This one's an old release, right? She says only to get one of this," Jason said. He took out his money (more accurately, his supply of Konata's money) and paid for it.

With the list complete, they were finally able to relax a bit while heading back to the entrance. Tsukasa looked like she could collapse at any moment.

"Hey, looks like we got everything she asked us for. Nice work," Jason said. "You okay...?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine..." Although she certainly didn't look like it. "Kagami told me it would be really busy like this, but... I had no idea. At least we got everything..."

"Doesn't it seem like Konata has this weird way of getting things to work for her? You ever notice that?"

"Come to think of it... Yeah, she does."

"So I'm not the only one who sees it," Jason said. "I just thought it was interesting. That's all."

Konata had been waiting at the entrance for a few minutes now. Rei had already left, after setting a time and place to meet once it was time for that mission. If it even worked... But Konata couldn't focus on that now. It was Comiket, one of her favorite days of the year. Her own expedition had yielded successful results. She was in a great mood. Now to see how everyone else had done.

Kagami arrived not too long after Konata had gotten here. She had an exhausted expression, and Konata was glad to see she was carrying a sizable load.

"So how'd it go?" Konata asked.

"Don't worry, I found everything you wanted," Kagami said. Her eyes looked dead. "Now if you don't mind, I'm probably just going to sleep for the rest of the day..."

"At least wait until you get on the train."

"How do you still have so much energy? You're not even human, are you?" Kagami set her bags down on the ground next to them. "Anyway, some girl was looking for you. I told her where you were, did she make it?"

"Huh?"

"She never mentioned her name... She had white hair, she was pretty pale - "

"Rei?" Konata was surprised. "You... talked to her?"

"So that's her name. She never told me that. But she did know who I was, which was really strange. Do you have any idea why that would be?"

Konata did have an idea, in fact. Kagami's purple hair wasn't exactly a common trait, anyone from a different world who was able to see that could easily pick her out in a crowd. Konata herself took advantage of that sometimes. But instead she replied, "No. Maybe she saw you in some of my pictures or something."

"How do you know her, anyway?"

"It's kind of hard to explain..." Konata didn't have what she was going to say next worked out. She looked around idly, then saw that familiar spot of purple in the crowd. "Hey, isn't that Tsukasa? She made it."

Tsukasa and Jason arrived together, and, like Kagami, they were also carrying full shopping bags. This had been a great festival. Tsukasa looked even more tired than Kagami did. Jason didn't look fazed.

"Hey, you're still alive," Kagami said, looking at them. "Good to see you made it. I was worried about you two."

"Everything's fine. Tsukasa got lost, but I helped her out," Jason said. "Was everything good for you guys?"

"Excellent," Konata said. "Now that we're all here, we should just head back and catch the train. Don't you have that thing at your shrine for New Years?" She looked at both of the twins.

"I almost forgot!" Tsukasa said. "I hope I'll still be able to do that."

"Why do they even have this thing on New Year's Eve?" Kagami said. "It's just so hectic, how is anyone able to deal with it?"

"Experience. I hope you'll both be coming back next year," Konata told them. Turning to Jason, she said, "It wouldn't be asking too much of you to come back, would it?"

"Yeah, it's just across an entire ocean. I should be able to manage," Jason said. He managed to keep a straight face.

"Oh, and there's something else I need to talk to you about. That'll have to wait until later."

As they boarded the train to go home, Konata still wondered what they were going to do about this new assignment. How was she going to explain it to Jason? The whole thing sounded like it couldn't possibly work. At the same time, she knew that Eclipse wouldn't give out an assignment that was impossible, either. This was putting a damper on what would have otherwise been a fairly carefree day.