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Otaku fest… or Otafest for short. the best anime convention Hal’s city had to offer. He had been saving for months AND took the time off of work for this. Yes, he desperately needed the Thursday, Friday, and the whole weekend off for this.
It was 7:30am and Hal was currently getting ready, starting off with a shower. The excitement and the warm water sprinkling down on him were starting to wake him up more. He barely got any sleep, the anticipation just hitting him every minute of the night.
Once he was out and drying himself off, he mapped out the day. Since it was day one, he was planning on just checking out artist alley and the vendors that sold anime, manga, figures, and plushies. A few new figures never hurt anyone, he thought. All the good panels were on Saturday, so he wasn’t missing out on much today anyway.
As much as he’d like to cosplay, he was never THAT confident. So he got dressed in a normal outfit, his favourite white hoodie and some blue jeans. He didn’t want to seem like a complete normie though, so his messenger bag was covered in pins and keychains from all kinds of anime. He felt pretty proud of his collection.
He checked the time on his phone, realizing he was gonna be late for the train. He quickly gathered the essentials, his wallet, his apartment keys, his headphones, and an ibuprofen bottle (in case he got a headache). With that, he scurried out of his apartment and made his way to the train station.
He knew he didn’t have to go this early, but he wanted to. That meant he could come home earlier, and he liked that. The train wouldn’t be so busy on the way there AND on the way back. He felt like a genius for his plan.
He found a spot on the train to sit, luckily the space around him was completely empty. He smiled widely as he sat down, putting in his headphones to start listening to some music. He wasn’t worried about missing his stop, he’d done this almost every year. He was a pro. And of course it was anime character songs that he had blasting, it hyped him up for the day ahead.
Thankfully the train ride wasn’t that long, just an hour and a bit. He just stared out the window, glancing over at the occasional person hopping on. Some would be in cosplay, some weren’t, but he just knew they were heading to the convention too. He couldn’t help but imagine how amazing the day would go. He was just so excited! Every year is better than the last, and he loved experiencing the fun of it all.
Although he kept mostly to himself, fandom spaces like these were still extremely fun for him. It was fun to be around people who felt the same as him, who liked the same stuff as him, it was comforting. He didn’t really try to hide his otaku side in his professional life, everyone at work knew he was a big nerd. And maybe that’s why he wasn’t close with anyone there. But he didn’t mind, they just didn’t get it anyway.
He watched as the scene outside turned more urban, seeing more crowds of people and big city buildings. He got up from his spot, along with a few others, and all together they made their way to the convention centre. It was hard to get lost, all you really had to do was follow the big crowds and they’d guide you.
After navigating through the large groups, he found his way inside. He made his way to the information booths, scanning his ticket for the day and receiving his pass. He quickly put it on one of his many anime lanyards, placed it over his head, letting it rest carefully as he wore it on his chest with pride.
He took a deep breath before entering the hall.
He was actually quite surprised, seeing how busy it was already. He noticed it got busier over the years, but no matter, he was just there to do what he needed to. He pulled up the map on his phone, seeing where exactly he needed to be. The convention centre was actually quite big and had four floors, all hosting different themes and events. Sometimes it felt overwhelming, since he felt like there was no way he had enough time to check everything out. But every year he surprised himself.
His main goal for today was to find a cute figure to place on his desk, next to his PC at home. He searched the map again, seeing he had to be on the first floor. The first floor included artist alley, so he was actually pretty satisfied.
“Well it looks like you and I will be quite familiar with each other, first floor… heh…” he said out loud, pushing his glasses up further on his face. Then he realized how cringe that sounded, especially out loud. He glanced around for a second, making sure no one was actually paying attention to him before officially entering the first floor.
He decided to start with artist alley, since he’d be spending the most time around the actual shops. He made sure to spend a few minutes at every vendor, scanning every piece of merch they had to sell. He internally debated on what he needed most… like genuinely, what does he even need? He has way too many keychains. But stickers? Who has enough stickers? He also knew he had a soft spot for prints and posters, so he’d have to be very cautious on how much he was actually going to buy this year. And in the previous years he already decided pins basically didn’t count. So with this mindset, he actually got quite a few things just in the first hour of being there. Also he felt bad whenever the sellers complimented his bag, so he felt like he had to buy something. He got prints mostly, but that’s what he expected. I mean, is he supposed to ignore every Hatsune Miku print there is? They are all just so cute.
After spending a few hours just doing laps around the tables, and after getting way more than he expected, it was finally time to check out the rest of the floor. He took his stuff and made his way to the main event, the manga and figures.
He pulled out his phone, starting to tweet about his day at the convention and how awesome it already was. As he was typing, he glanced up and suddenly saw he was about to walk straight into some stranger. He paused for a second, letting out an uncomfortable noise before moving slightly over. “Sorry!” He called out timidly.
The guy just narrowed his eyebrows, looking over at him. “Watch where you’re going!” He scoffed, folding his arms. He turned around and Hal just rolled his eyes.
Hal walked away, mumbling to himself. “Oh, I’m definitely tweeting about this…” he pulled out his phone again, starting to tweet about annoying people at conventions. “Watch where you’re going? Maybe watch where you’re standing…” Hal spat out quietly. But whatever. This is just barely a minor inconvenience. This will not ruin his day!
He made his way over to a small shop that sold manga. He skimmed the spines of the books before spotting something mildly interesting. It was some random yaoi he hadn’t heard of. He checked the price, and seeing it was a better price than in store, he decided to get it. It wasn’t so awkward for him to buy yaoi, he got over that nervousness a long time ago. Once he checked out, he made his way over to the small plush shop. Not like he needed any new plushies, he just liked to look. Plus sometimes they had really cute plush keychains and he couldn’t pass them up, they’d look so cute on his bag!
But sadly, nothing had caught his eye this time. He shrugged it off, finally making his way to the small figure shops. Of course there were multiple, way too many people trying to either give you a good deal or scam you. Hal had enough of being scammed and over the years he’s learned what to look for and what not. He knows the worth of what he wants.
He ignored the body pillowcases and 3D mouse pads vendor, heading straight to a figure shop beside it. He glanced around before stopping suddenly. His eyes widened as he saw it, the perfect figure for him.
A Bandai Snow Miku figure.
He couldn’t believe he was actually seeing one in person! And for only sixty five dollars? What a steal! He had only seen her for over one hundred online. He had to have it. He immediately brought it up to the seller and purchased it.
He walked away from the pop up, holding the figure box out and snapping a pic. With a big smile on his face, he took a few photos, already planning to brag online about having it. He put his phone back in his pocket and looked around. After all that shopping, he got pretty hungry. He thought about what to eat until he heard a sudden shout.
“Hey!” A stranger shouted, running up to Hal. Oh no, it was the annoying guy from before.
Hal looked around him, surprised to see he was trying to get Hal’s attention.
“You— yeah, you! What do you think you’re doing?”
Hal raised a brow. “Uh… what? Can I help you, sir?”
The stranger scoffed. “Don’t act all dumb, you were taking a photo of me! Just because I am in cosplay— doesn’t mean you can just take a pic without my consent!”
Hal was just completely confused. First of all, he didn’t even recognize the cosplay. This must've been one bad costume. Secondly, what photo? Hal grabbed his phone again, quickly checking his camera roll and— oh. Yeah okay the guy was just in the background of the photos he took of the snow Miku.
Hal let out a small chuckle. “Ohhh… I’m really sorry if you thought that. You see, I was just trying to take a pic of my new figure!” Hal tried to explain.
“Yeah, I’m not buying that!” The man interrupted. “You’re going to pay me for those photos, you know.”
“What?!” Hal spat. What was this dudes problem?!
“Yeah— yeah! Security! Security—!” The man called out. Hal waved his hands up in the air, begging for him to shut up.
And of course a security officer showed up.
Hal sighed, looking over at the man walking over. And— oh my god he was insanely attractive. He had dark brown hair, it was kind of longer in the back and shaggy, but touched up in the front. Small pieces fell on his forehead, bringing attention to his blueish gray eyes. He didn’t have a full beard, just some stubble. He wasn’t super muscular, but you could definitely tell he was fit under the security clothes.
The tall security guard walked over, looking in between the two. “What seems to be the problem?” He asked, his voice just as gruff as his appearance. His bushy brows furrowed.
Hal paused, looking up at him. “Uh— well, uh…” Hal stammered.
The angry stranger just rolled his eyes. “Yeah, okay so— this guy just took pictures of me! I want those photos deleted right now, for my safety.”
“What?! That is not what happened!” Hal spat. He was probably just gonna delete them anyway, so this whole thing could blow over, but this guy was just saying nonsense at this point! “I don’t even know what he’s cosplaying, okay? And I was just taking a picture of my figure, honest! I didn’t even see him.” Hal chuckled.
The security guy just nodded along, mostly focusing on Hal.
“Look—“ Hal said, showing the photo to the guard. “See? I just wanted to capture my new Snow Miku’s beauty! Who wouldn’t want to?”
He looked at the photos, and by the looks of it, he seemed like he was deciding what to do. Hal and the stranger waited patiently to see what he determined of the situation.
“Alright, sir, what’s your name?” The security officer asked the angry man.
“It’s James.”
The officer pulled out a little note pad and pen. “James— last name?”
He gave his full name and explained some unnecessary detail about how he comes to this convention every year.
Security guy nodded along, writing some notes down. “Alright… you—“ he pointed to Hal. “You come with me.”
“What?!” Hal couldn’t believe it. The hot security guard wasn’t taking his side?! He did nothing wrong! This was slowly turning into the worst day ever… “But— I—!” Hal added, following behind the security guy. Oh god.
Great. Just great! Hal was imagining the worst. What if he gets kicked out? What if they revoke his tickets for the rest of the days? He just sighed, letting his head hang as he followed the officer.
James just laughed evilly, watching Hal walk away.
Once they were far enough, the security guy turned to look at Hal. “You aren’t in any trouble, by the way. I just didn’t want to deal with him anymore. He had… a weird smell to him.” The officer said.
Hal was honestly a little surprised. “Oh— really? Okay… so… why am I following you?”
“Following me? Oh— yeah. I just wanted to let you know you did nothing wrong. He was actually causing quite a few problems earlier with some other guests here, so now that I have his full name, I’ll report him to the event staff and make sure he doesn’t come back.” Security guy explained.
Hal nodded along, feeling extremely relieved. “Really? Oh, thank god! People like that shouldn’t be at conventions. I mean, I didn’t even do anything, dude! And besides, nobody wants a picture of your stupid cosplay anyway.” Hal rambled.
Security guard let out a small exhale, almost sounding like a little laugh. Hal felt a little proud of himself for that.
“Cosplay? Is that what it’s called… is that why almost everyone is wearing a costume?” He asked.
Hal nodded. “Yeah. Cosplay is when you dress up.”
“Are you in cosplay?”
Hal wasn’t expecting him to make conversation, but honestly, he didn’t mind. This guy was super hot. “Uh, no. This is how I look everyday.”
“Everyday? But your hair— it’s gray.”
“That’s because I dye it. I kinda look like a cool anime character, right?” Hal smirked.
“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never seen an anime.”
Hal paused. “Wait, you’re here— guarding an anime convention— and you’ve never watched anime before?”
Security guard shook his head. “Nope. Never. I just took the job ‘cause it paid well, now I think I know why, though…”
Hal chuckled. “No way! I thought people who took these kind of jobs just kinda did it so they’d be in the convention without buying the tickets. I thought they were the ultimate fans.”
Security guy raised a brow. “Ultimate fans? That’s funny, I would’ve never thought about someone doing that.”
There was a small pause where they both gave a small chuckle.
“Uh, I’m Hal, by the way. Thanks for not getting me in trouble. I mean, I didn’t do anything wrong— and I know that! But, still.” Hal smiled.
“No need to thank me, Hal.” Security guy smiled. “My name is David. You can call me Dave.”
Hal nodded. “Okay, thank you, Dave.”
David smiled a bit more. “It’s no big deal, like said, that guy was already tormenting people. Thank you for helping me catch him. We’ll make sure he doesn’t come back.” David held out his notepad before putting it back into one of his many pockets. “If you need help with anything while you’re here, just ask for Dave. I’ll make sure to help you with whatever else, okay?”
“Really? That’d be awesome! Thanks, Dave.” Hal flashed a quick smile. “I better let you go now, huh?”
“Afraid so… Well, have a good rest of your day.” David nodded, turning around to walk away.
“You too!” Hal quickly called out, also turning around. He grabbed his phone again to document this exchange on Twitter, but he noticed his phone was at 20%. No need to panic though! He quickly searched into his bag for his portable charger and there it—! Wait, no— that’s not it. Hal kept rummaging in his bag before realizing, oh my god. It’s not in there. He let out a loud groan, pausing for a bit before getting a great or stupid idea. He didn’t know
He glanced over his shoulder, seeing David still kind of close by. He walked over quickly to him. “Hey— David, wait!” Hal called out.
David turned around quickly.
“I’m sorry to bother you so soon, but uh— my phone, it’s uh, it’s almost dead.” Hal held his phone up quickly. “Is there anywhere I can charge it?” Okay the question sounded more dumb when he actually asked it out loud.
“Do you have the cable for it?”
Hal shook his head.
David sighed. Hal could tell he was starting to think of what to do.
This was stupid. Hal could easily just not use his phone for the rest of the day. Or, he could just go to a convenience store and get a cord and plug it in literally anywhere. He just wanted the excuse to talk to David again.
“Okay, I’m not really supposed to do this. But— I’ll take you to my locker and you can use mine,” David said. “If that’s alright with you, of course.”
Hal paused again, genuinely not expecting his stupid little plan to work. “Yeah, that’d be great! You’d be a life saver, thank you!”
David just smiled, motioning for Hal to follow him. Hal quickly followed behind, feeling somewhat special. Maybe David just wanted the excuse to talk to him as well…
They walked around for a while, making it to the backrooms of the first floor. They navigated around until they got to the storage lockers for the employees. Hal looked around, definitely feeling the special treatment now. David waved to some coworkers that made their way out, nobody even questioning what Hal was doing there.
Once they reached David’s locker, he grabbed out a cord and a block from his backpack. He handed it to Hal, and Hal immediately brightened up.
“Seriously, thank you so much! Uh, I can return it tomorrow, if you want! I mean obviously if you’re working tomorrow, but if not, that’s okay! I have tickets for the whole weekend,” Hal started to ramble again.
David shook his head. “No, it’s alright. You can keep it. I have a ton. My dog likes to chew them up so I have to keep buying them.”
Hal chuckled. “That’s cute.”
“It is, until you’re left with a ton of chewed up cords everywhere.”
They both shared a laugh. There was no way this was casual, Hal thought.
“I feel bad just taking this though! If you’re seriously here tomorrow, can I buy you lunch? Or something? Do security guards even get breaks…?” Hal questioned. David laughed a bit.
“Tomorrow? Yeah, I’m here tomorrow. And yes, we do get breaks,” David smiled. “You really don’t have to pay me back. But… How about I give you my number? We can talk more about it when I get off tonight.”
Hal could feel his face get hot. Oh okay so David’s totally into him. This was awesome! “Seriously? Yeah! That’d be great! I can put my number in your phone,“ Hal smiled, holding his hand out.
David handed him his own phone, letting Hal make a contact for himself. He sent a quick text to himself, making the mental note of having to respond later. There was no way he was fumbling this.
“Great! I’ll text back when I get home. I should probably head back now, people are starting to leave, the trains are gonna be so busy.” Hal complained, rolling his eyes.
David gave a nod. “Right, yeah. I’m gonna go too, I got to report that guy to the event staff.”
Hal gave a small hum, flashing a big smile. “Well, see you tomorrow!”
“See you tomorrow.” David smiled back.
Hal quickly turned around and left, feeling completely over the world right now. This stuff doesn’t just happen, it was like straight out of one of Hal’s romance animes! His good mood stayed all the way throughout the journey home, imagining how the weekend would play out. He didn’t want to admit it, but this was better than anything he could’ve got at this convention.