Volume 13 - ComicMon, Chapter 94 - The Fan Connection

The first day of ComicMon started out calm enough. It was a cool, clear Saturday morning in Tokyo, which was fortunate considering it was the rainy season. The convention doors didn't open until 9AM, but a handful of dedicated con-goers had lined up early outside the first-floor entrance.

Like the volunteers, this group of fans was mostly comprised of humans that were into both pop culture and liminals, or more specifically, 'monstergirls' or 'monsterguys'. However, there were also a few Interspecies Exchange Program hosts and their liminal homestays in the line.

At 8:45, Mara, Chione, and Tsuen walked past the line wearing their staff t-shirts. It was a great feeling, seeing all those smiling, excited fans. If there had been any doubt in their minds, it was gone now: ComicMon was really happening.

After flashing their badges at the volunteer watching the door, they slipped through the front entrance. Inside, the wide-open halls of the first floor had been divided into organized pathways that guided people to common destinations. Colored tape on the floor and laminated signs made everything obvious and easy to understand.

One path lead to the same reception hall the staff meeting had been in, where the Operations Team was now set up to answer questions and solve issues. It also served as a hub for all the volunteers to meet up and collaborate.

Another path lead to the escalator up to the rest of the tower, but it had prominent signs explaining the size limitations of that route. Larger liminals like Tsuen and especially Iormu couldn't fit on the escalator and would need to use one of the two heavy-duty elevators that served all five floors of the tower.

Each elevator had its own queue and a dedicated volunteer to ensure everything went smoothly. The volunteers would to recommend the escalator to anyone that could use it, and make sure the elevator was never loaded over capacity.

Chione peeled off from the others to visit the Ops room, saying, "I'm going to grab some coffee and check in on the Celebrity Guest Team." Despite her tired eyes that weren't used to daylight, she was clearly happy and excited. After all, her dream of making a convention and meeting the cast of her favorite show was becoming a reality.

Mara and Tsuen nodded, then continued toward an elevator. The volunteer stationed there, a young man with spiked hair and thick glasses that didn't go together at all, waved them in. Then he said, "The elevators are skipping floor two until the convention actually opens. I can override that if you need." The second floor was the outdoor plaza area, and it was set up as a public area that didn't require a badge to enter. Outreach booths like the Exchange Program's were set up there where any curious passerby could visit.

Tsuen shook her head, sending her magenta hair swishing. She was wearing a yellow skirt, and that was swishing too, thanks to her excitedly flicking tail. Tsuen may not have been as involved in creating this convention as Mara or Chione, but she was looking forward to it all the same. "Thanks, but we're headed up to the upper tower."

They got in the elevator and Mara hopped up to hit the button for the seventh floor. That was where the biggest amphitheater was, and where opening ceremonies would be held in just over an hour. Mara was going to be the master of ceremonies for that, and she'd dressed to the nines for it, though perhaps 'to the eights' was more fitting. The little arachne was wearing adorable kitty-themed leggings on her pedipalps and she had a black gothic lolita dress on underneath her Director t-shirt.

Mara and Tsuen made their way backstage and then Tsuen helped Mara get ready. Her pink pigtails needed fixing after she took off the shirt, and she insisted on having high contrast makeup around each of her six eyes.

"We gotta make 'em really pop, Tsuen! Even the people in the back need to know that I'm an arachne and proud of it!" Mara proclaimed.

They'll know that from the obvious eight legs, Tsuen thought, but she didn't say anything. After Mara's makeup, Tsuen helped affix an adorable little top hat on Mara's head. It completed her gothic lolita look while also making her look the part of master of ceremonies.

With Tsuen's help, Mara got ready with time to spare, so when 10AM rolled around, she was bouncing and raring to go. Mid-bounce, she turned to Tsuen and asked, "Do you think Yuisu and them are gonna be in the audience?"

"Of course they will," Tsuen assured her. "They were going to walk over from the hotel at nine, so they had plenty of time to get up here."

Mara grinned. "Great! I want Yuisu to see what I've accomplished." Then she looked downward and shuffled several of her feet. She looked much younger than her age then, like a shy little girl. "I want her to see that I'm no longer that pest that barged into her house and tackled Haru last year."

Tsuen crouched down to put her hands on Mara's shoulders and gave a reassuring squeeze. "I think she already knows that, Mara." Then she pushed Mara forward. "Now get out there and knock 'em dead!"

The amphitheater was massive and made the attendance seem small, but the audience was actually a respectable 500 people. Mara easily spotted Iormu from the stage, but the jormungand wasn't the only giant liminal there. Large sections of seats had been removed to make room for bigger liminals and that room was getting put to use by ogres, centaurs, and even a huge reptilian man of a species Mara didn't know.

Maybe he's a dragon? she wondered as she waited for her cue to begin the ceremony.

It wasn't every day that there was a celebration of liminal-kind, so it seemed like most of the homestays in Tokyo were in attendance. Most were paired off with their human hosts, but some hosts like Yuisu had several liminals with them. There were also large groups of humans in matching t-shirts that seemed to be clubs from high schools or universities.

When the lights dimmed, Mara stepped out onto the stage. Then a spotlight focused on her, she stood up proud on her toes, and she turned on the microphone in her right hand.

"Hello, ComicMon!" she cheered in her youthful, girly voice. Thanks to the microphone and the room's top-notch sound system, it carried clearly to the entire room.

A few voices cheered back, but it was tiny compared to the size of the audience.

"What kind of greeting was that?!" she said in her snarkiest tone. "Aren't you excited? Aren't you thrilled that you're here, at the first ever ComicMon convention?" With each question, she jumped to another part of the stage. Her agility and jumping height were impressive, but the act gave the front row a clear shot of her pink and white striped panties. Perhaps that was intentional.

She hopped back to the center of the stage and said, "Maybe you just needed some direction, so let's try that again. When I say 'Hello, ComicMon', you say it back. But don't just say it to me. Say it to the other humans and liminals all around you. These are your people. You've all got shared interests. You're all friends, but you just don't know it yet."

She scanned the audience for a moment, then she took a deep breath and shouted, "Hello, ComicMon!"

"HELLO, COMICMON!" the crowd roared. The reply was so loud and so passionate that Mara stumbled back a couple steps.

She hopped forward, whipped the microphone to her lips, and grinned so wide that everyone in the audience could see her sharp carnivore's teeth. "That's more like it! Now that you're fired up, I'm gonna lay some introductions on you."

She waved a hand at the audience, then pressed it to her chest. "My name's Mara and I'm a 'small-breed' arachne. With the help of my dear friend Chione, we organized this whole shebang. She's a bit shy, so I volunteered to do the talking, but if you see a gargoyle with multi-colored wings around, be sure to say hi."

Somewhere out in the audience there was a faint EEP as Chione tried to hide her wings. For such a cheerful girl, she sure was shy in big groups.

Mara continued on, "Last year, Chione and I had a crazy idea for a pop culture convention, but with a focus on liminals and how they've been portrayed both before and after we revealed ourselves to humanity."

Then she gestured to the front-left area of the audience, where most of the volunteers were gathered in their bright green shirts. "Well, thanks to the help of these wonderful volunteers, and financial support from Japan's Interspecies Exchange Program, our dream is now a reality."

She looked back to the main audience and said, "But it's also thanks to all of you. We wouldn't be here without attendees, after all. Thanks for making ComicMon a success in its first year."

The audience clapped and cheered. For liminals and fans of monster-people fiction, this con really was a dream come true.

"But enough about that. I bet you want to know what's in store for the next two days!" Mara twirled a pigtail around her finger as she said, "You're in for an exciting weekend. We've got panels discussing liminals in pop culture, vendor and artist booths, outreach programs, and even exclusive previews of upcoming anime and manga!"

"Oh, but that isn't all," Mara said, then she gestured toward the edge of the stage. "We brought in celebrity guests from all over the world to meet their fans and sign autographs."

With that cue, nearly a dozen people stepped out onto the stage. They stood in a line across the stage and smiled and waved at the crowd. There were human men and women, some clearly foreign, as well as a couple liminals.

Mara skittered back and forth across the stage, putting her high energy to good use. "Now, I'm sure you recognize some of these badass celebrities by sight, but I think for some of them you'll recognize their voices more." She zipped up to the first guest, said, "Please introduce yourself," and handed off her microphone.

Each guest gave a brief introduction, some through a Japanese translator. There were a few voice actresses from various popular 'monstergirl' animes, two voice actors from the 'Gargoyles' TV show, and an anime director. There was also a tall blue-skinned man, apparently an oni, who was an up-and-coming drama actor. The last guest, however, was the most surprising.

The woman's hair was various shades of brown and she wore a simple blue and orange hoodie over a white t-shirt and a short blue skirt. Her cat-like ears and the big furry paws she had for hands and feet identified her as a werecat, but that wasn't the exciting part.

She spoke into the microphone with a wavering, shy voice, "I've always kept my identity a secret. I've never done autographs or appeared in public. My fans assumed I wanted privacy, or even that I was embarrassed by my work."

The werecat smiled and looked out at the audience with her wide green eyes. "The truth is that I've been a manga author since before the Exchange Act, since before I could safely reveal myself to humanity." She fidgeted and pawed at her ear for a moment, then said, "But now seemed like a good time to come out and be a positive role model for other liminals."

There was a heavy pause, then she finally continued, "I work under the pen name Katrina-chan and my most famous work is a manga called 'Cat and Mouse Game'."

A collective murmur ran through the crowd, whispering things like, "Katrina-chan's a liminal?" and "Oh, that explains why she writes about animal-ear people." The 'Cat and Mouse Game' series had become pretty famous lately, at least among fans of either yuri or monstergirls. Also, any secretive author appearing in public for the first time was a very big deal indeed.

Mara stepped up to Katrina-chan and took the microphone, then said, "Thank you, Katrina-chan, for making our convention your first ever public appearance." She turned to the audience and cheerfully proclaimed, "Check your schedules to see when all of our amazing guests will be doing autographs. Yes, that's right! Katrina-chan will be giving autographs for the first time ever!"

Mara wrapped up the ceremony quickly after that, since everyone was excited to get out into the convention. She thanked everyone again for attending and asked them to tell their friends, since tickets for both days were still available. Then with a final wave to the crowd, she slipped backstage where she found Tsuen waiting for her.

"Oh, hey, Tsuen. How'd I do?" Mara asked, feeling a little winded and dazed.

Tsuen bent down and scooped up Mara in both arms, holding the surprised arachne to her chest. "You did great! Better than great! You were amazing!" she cheered. Tsuen was so excited she started prancing around in a circle, clutching Mara.

Mara blushed, smiled, and snuggled up against Tsuen's chest. Then she mumbled, "Yeah, I guess I did."

After opening ceremonies, the con-goers dispersed throughout the tower. Yuisu's group split up as well. Yuisu and Haru went to check out the merchant area, Quess took Pwess to see a kid-centric panel, and Chione, Mara, and Tsuen had staff duties to attend to. This left Iormu free to wander around and just take in the exciting atmosphere.

Of course, she had thought about attending the panel with Pwess, but she didn't want to distract the children from the panelist. Iormu had long ago learned that her mere presence could be quite the distraction, even with the unusually conservative purple dress she was wearing.

She took the elevator to the second floor and she was browsing the community outreach booths when she overheard an odd conversation.

"Oh my god! A real jormungand! I didn't know there were any left!" It was a young woman's voice and she was excessively excited, practically yelling.

Another woman's voice said, "A yormunwhat? Uh, she just looks like a lamia to me."

"No, a jormungand! See her horns, that dorsal ridge, and the scales on her arms? Not to mention her length: forty feet at least!" the first girl explained.

"If you say so," her friend said dismissively. Then she lowered her voice and said, "Uh, is being a jormungand why she has such huge boobs? Those aren't even fair."

Iormu glanced over then and she saw that the excited girl was a lamia. Or, she appeared to be at first. Upon closer inspection, it was a human girl cosplaying a lamia, complete with a long green tail instead of legs. She wore a matching green wig, as well as fake ears and scales painted on her face.

Her friend wasn't in any cosplay, but she had a t-shirt with a picture of some sort of magical catgirl on it. She had her long black hair pulled back in a ponytail. Both girls looked to be college age.

Iormu slithered up to the pair of girls and casually said, "Hello! I love your costume. I really thought you were a lamia at first."

The cosplaying girl straight-up freaked out. She started babbling, "Oh em gee, OMG, OMGOMG!" as her hands flailed and fluttered. Then she went limp and promptly collapsed to the ground.

Rather than panicking, her friend simply looked up at Iormu and said, "Uh, sorry about that. Hana's really excitable, and she faints sometimes. Can you help me carry her to the nurses' station? I don't know if I could do it on my own without damaging her costume."

"Um, sure," Iormu said once she'd processed the strange situation. She bent down and carefully placed her arms under the girl's knees and shoulders. She lifted the unconscious girl in a princess carry while her friend wrangled the long cloth tail.

The crowd parted before Iormu's imposing horns and height, so they made good time toward the first aid station on the far side of the plaza. On the way there, the friend asked, "So, what's your name? Mine's Kokoro, and she's Hana."

As Iormu effortlessly carried Hana, she answered, "Iormu. It's nice to meet you."

Before they could talk more, they'd arrived at the spacious first aid tent. A volunteer ran out to figure out the situation, then got a cot ready for Hana. Iormu set the girl down, then waited for her to recover. She didn't have to wait long

It had been barely a minute when Hana blinked groggily and mumbled, "Kokoro? Wha happen?"

Kokoro was at her side and gently patting Hana's hand. "You freaked out and fainted, remember? When you saw that jormungand."

Hana blushed and sat upright. "Oh, sorry about that." She gazed around the first aid tent, not fully taking it in. She focused on her costume, scanning to make sure it wasn't harmed. Then she scratched her chin and said, "Wait… how'd I get here?"

"I carried you," Iormu answered, "with Kokoro's help, of course. She kept your costume from dragging and getting damaged."

Hana actually noticed Iormu for the first time since she awoke and her eyes went wide. For a second it looked like she was going to faint again, but she started rambling instead , "Oh wow, you didn't have to do that, but thank you because I'd be so sad if the costume that I spent the last month making got hurt because I still want to show it off and maybe get a photoshoot done and—"

Kokoro put a hand over Hana's mouth. "How about you start with introductions instead of your life story?" Then Kokoro removed her hand and patted Hana on the back. The two girls seemed to know each other very well, and were quite willing to tease each other.

"Oh, right," Hana said with an embarrassed smile. She stuck out a hand that was shaking with excitement. "I'm Hana, and I'm really into liminal history."

Iormu shook her hand and said, "I'm Iormu." Then she grinned and added, "And if you want to talk history, I've got millennia of it."

After Hana thanked the first aid volunteer, the three women left the first aid tent. They wandered around the convention together for a while, chatting casually. Iormu talked about some of the liminals she'd met in the distant past and Hana excitedly rambled about the liminal research she'd done recently. Kokoro mostly just listened, something she was quite used to doing, at least when Hana was involved.

Eventually, Hana and Kokoro had a panel they wanted to see, so they said their goodbyes. The friendly contact with Iormu had really helped Hana calm down, and it prepared her to have more normal interactions with liminals throughout the rest of the con.

"Oh man, I never knew Katrina-chan was a liminal!" Yuisu said as she and Haru made their way to merchant hall on the sixth floor. "That's so cool that she was able to get published even before the Interspecies Exchange Bill." She was walking quickly and talking even faster. As a fan of Cat and Mouse Game, she was quite excited by Katrina-chan's reveal.

Then Yuisu suddenly stopped dead, right in the center of the hallway.

"Uh, Yuisu, are you alright?" Haru said. "You're blocking traffic."

Yuisu stepped to the side of the hallway to get out of the way, then she grabbed Haru's shoulders and stared at her with intense eyes. "I need to get Katrina-chan's autograph!" Then she wilted in defeat. "I wish I could get my Cat and Mouse Game boxed set signed, but it's back at home."

"Maybe I could fly home and bring it?" Haru offered.

Yuisu raised an eyebrow incredulously. "No. There's no way you could do that. It's too far away."

"I bet I could. It can't be that far," Haru replied.

"It's like 150 miles! I'll show you on a map," Yuisu said. She was more concerned about Haru's well-being than winning the argument. She pulled out her phone to open a map, but she noticed a text message notification. "Hang on a sec," she said, then started to read it.

Yuisu blinked a few times, scrunched up her face in frustration, then sighed, then finally giggled.

"What? What's the text about?" Haru asked, her head tilted in curiosity.

Yuisu put the phone back in her pocket. With a smile, she answered, "Well, you don't have to fly home for my manga."

"Huh?"

"Because Mara already brought them. She knew Katrina-chan would be here, but she couldn't tell me, so she snuck into our room and brought the whole boxed set in her luggage." Yuisu still had a bemused expression on her face. She could never predict just what Mara would do.

Haru's face went through a similar cycle of expressions, then settled on a smile. "Well, I guess that was nice of her."

With a full-on grin, Yuisu added, "And she scheduled me a few minutes before Katrina-chan's signing tomorrow to go meet her and get the whole set signed!"

"That's great, Yuisu!" Haru said as she grabbed Yuisu in a tight hug, lifting her feet from the ground. She almost pulled Yuisu into a kiss before she remembered that they weren't supposed to show that kind of affection in public because of the Interspecies Protection Act.

Blushing, she set Yuisu back down and said, "Uh, so let's go see the merchant hall."

When they got to the merchant hall, they were both surprised at how large and busy it was. There were pop culture shops, official anime merchandise booths, and fan booths selling prints and handmade crafts. Humans and liminals swarmed through the isles, which were thankfully wide enough to accommodate even the largest liminals.

Haru and Yuisu browsed for a little while, just seeing what kinds of things were available. Haru's sensitive predator's senses were a bit overwhelmed by all the noise and chaos, so she had to try hard to block it out and focus on following Yuisu. That's why she wasn't very surprised when she lost track of Yuisu in the crowd.

Rather than wander aimlessly, Haru decided to stand at the edge of the room, look down an aisle, and watch for Yuisu. With her bright white feathers, she also hoped Yuisu could spot her.

A few minutes later, a girl with black dog-like ears and straight black hair approached Haru. Haru noticed her, but because of the ears, her gaze moved on and she continued watching out for Yuisu.

"Sorry about that, Haru. I saw these ears and just had to go back and buy 'em," the girl said in a familiar voice.

Haru did a doubletake and realized the girl was Yuisu, just wearing a set of black ears on a headband. "Oh, it's okay," Haru said, still a little surprised and ashamed that she hadn't recognized her own girlfriend. "I didn't know you liked furry ears."

Yuisu's cheeks reddened slightly. "Well, all that Katrina-chan stuff got me thinking about Cat and Mouse Game and I really like the girls with ears and tails in it, and I saw booths selling handmade ones and…" She trailed off, turning redder by the second.

Haru's keen senses weren't so overwhelmed that they could miss those blatant signals: Yuisu seemed to have a thing for girls with animal ears. Haru tilted her head and teasingly asked, "Is this part of why you became an exchange program host?"

Yuisu somehow blushed even harder and she gave a shy smile that said, 'I've been found out'. "Maybe…" she said in a cute whisper.

Haru and Yuisu both laughed at that, but Haru's laughter faded into a slight frown. "I guess my ears are a letdown then…"

Yuisu's green eyes went wide and she put a hand on Haru's wing. "No, I love your ears! They're so pointy and cute."

Then Yuisu glanced side to side to make sure no one was listening in, leaned in close, and whispered, "Actually, I want to be the one with animal ears, maybe during sexy times too…"

Haru was instantly supportive. She smiled and said, "Oh, okay then. You do look quite cute in them." Then she grabbed Yuisu's hand and started tugging her toward the booth that sold ears and tails. "Would you like a matching tail? I'll buy it for you."

Yuisu turned pure red and started stuttering, "Uh, um, Haru! I don't think they'd sell those here."

Haru turned her head nearly 180 degrees to look back at Yuisu and blinked her big golden eyes. "Huh? What do you mean?"

Then the pieces started to click together in Haru's mind. A tail… sexy times… A sex toy tail? "Ohh! Oh, I didn't mean like that!" Haru said, shaking her head frantically. "I meant a belt-clip-on one to wear around the con!"

Yuisu hid her beet-red face with her hands. "Oh, of course. I guess I'd like a matching tail then," she said. She followed Haru back to the booth selling ears and tails, trying to push thoughts of the other kind of tail out of her head.