Alexis:

    Greyforce was trying damned hard to keep up with Amano, but the crowd was making things
    extremely difficult. Nevertheless, he was doing a pretty good job of keeping up with him until
    he ran into the Nurse Ling-Ling look-alike. I have to admit, I was lagging behind a little --
    something about affairs like these always bring out the kid in me, and I kept getting
    distracted by all the little knick-knacks on sale. But I did see the collision, and it looked
    like it hurt.

    "Ouch! Watch where you're going!" exclaimed Ling-Ling.

    "Sorry, sorry, my fault." Greyforce stood up and looked around. "Dammit, I lost him."

    "Lost who?" she asked as she got to her feet with Greyforce's assistance.

    "Some guy I was asked to tail," he responded absently. "The head honchos of the Con
    asked me to keep an eye on him to make sure he didn't get into any trouble."

    I caught up with them at this point. "Greyforce, are you okay? Has the place suddenly turned into
    a twin convention?"

    "I'm fine, Alexis. But the guy got away."

    "Um, maybe I can help you guys out. I'm in this kind of field myself," offered the
    Ling-Ling clone.

    "I'm... not sure if I really oughta give out too much information..." Greyforce began.
 
    "Too late, I'd say," I interrupted. "Look, Greyforce, it's not going to hurt our fee
    any to ask for a little assistance. She's willing and able, and I say let her help out."
    I turned to the Nurse. "Have you seen the guy? Buzz-cut hair, glasses, wears a cap with
    a backwards Canadian flag on it?"

    She suddenly got a strange look in her eyes. "Denim shirt, Eddie Bauer backpack?"

    "Yeah, that's the guy! I think his name was --"
 
    "Kintaro Amano, right?"

    I was surprised. "Uh yeah!"

    "He's here? Really?" Ling Ling seemed excited.

    "Well, yeah," Greyforce replied, scratching the back of his head. "Can you help?"
    Ling Ling went from excited to nervous. "Um, well, I'd like to help, but... I gotta
    go! Really!" She dashed off.

    "Er... gee, and she seemed so willing..." I was confused.
 
    "Well, I suppose we shouldn't have expected any less than that from an ex-lover,"
    replied Greyforce.

    "Wha...? Oh yeah, I forgot, you're the one with a minor in profiling around here. So what's
    your take on the situation?"

    "You really want to know? I think that the pair of them had a relationship at some
    point in the past. A real close one, from her reactions. But something forced them apart --
    probably on her side. It might've been work-related, or something to do with some event in
    their lives that made things difficult. Either way, she wants to see him, but is afraid of
    what his response to seeing her will be."

    We continued down the hall. "Ah, love. What a sadistic little creature it is," I commented.

    Near one of the viewing rooms, a trio of Japanese people were discussing something.
    "Huh. Who'd've thunk a little ol' event like this would attract tourists?" I pondered.
 
    Greyforce shrugged. "People like their anime. Especially the Japanese."
 
    "I would think that'd go without saying, Greyforce."

    A guy suddenly dashed into the viewing room. "Wasn't that him?" I pointed out.
 
    "I think so. Well, I guess I'm in the mood for a little show. How about you?"

    "Oh, I love a good show, darling!" I replied wryly.

    "Well then, what are we waiting for? But... can you try to keep the comments to
    yourself this time? This isn't Mystery Science Theater, you know."

    "Oh, bite me. You should try it sometime -- it's stress relieving." We walked into
    the viewing room.

Freon:

    "Freon's Log... I can't believe that I ran into the same Bishounen Guy two years in a
    row. What really pisses me off is that now the girls probably think I'm some kind of wuss
    or something. He has this real talent for ruining the atmosphere...

    I'm in a viewing room now, but the flic they're showing is something I've seen already.
    Just my luck. Well, I'm just hiding out until I'm sure Bish Guy isn't gonna come follow.
    A couple of kids have just walked in dressed as Keiichi and Belldandy... it's kinda cute, I
    guess. What REALLY catches my attention is the babe in the Ryoko outfit just behind them.
    She looks like the type who enjoys the rough stuff. Really pale, though, and none of them
    appear to be from around. I don't mind -- the less I have to worry about the aftermath, the
    better.

    That red-head has just come in too, along with that guy she was with. She's actually
    quite babelicious in a way, although that eyepatch kind of ruins the effect a bit. I wonder
    if that's part of the costume? (I don't remember any character like that though...)

    Well, let's see if Ryoko is up for a little bit of space piracy... heh heh."

    [Nekita and the others sit down next to him, with Nekita closest to Freon. Alexis and
    Greyforce sit one row up and further to the right.]

    "Ho-ho, just my luck. Now to lay on the charm."

    Freon: I've seen this. It's really good, you know.

    Nekita: (Lightly accented English) Yeah, in a shoujo kind of way. I should have pressed
    for something a bit more action-packed, I guess.

    "Hmm, sounds like she's Japanese. How about that -- a Japanese woman going to an American
    anime convention. Let's try closing the language barrier."

    Freon: (Japanese) <You're not from around here, huh?>

    Nekita: (Japanese) <Pretty damn astute, Sherlock.>

    "Whoops, guess she's a bit touchy. Oh well, easily taken care of."

    Freon: <Sorry, didn't mean to offend you.>

    Nekita: <No problem. I've seen guys who were a hell of a lot ruder than you. Course, I
    licked them pretty easily.>

    "Don't misinterpret, don't misinterpret..."

    Freon: <Could you lick me?>

    Nekita: (Smiling wryly) <Depends how much ya wanna be licked.>

    "Yeeow! She's a hot one, all right!"

    Tomiko: <NEKITA! Could you be quiet, please?>

    Nekita: <Whoop! Sorry, Tomiko-chan.>

    "Hmm, she seems pretty attached to that blond girl. Maybe I can kinda move her away..."

    Freon: <You know, there's a lot more private places than this...>

    Nekita: <Love to, but can't. We kinda got to stick together.>

    "Damn."

    Nekita: <Later tonight, though...>

    "Whoo-hoo!"

    Nekita: <Don't sleep much, either.>

    "And it's a triple seven, ladies and gentlemen! The coins are just pouring out of the
    machine!"

    [At a particularly dramatic moment, a bright flash suddenly fills the room. When it dies down,
    a figure pushes his way past Freon and the others and out the door.]

    "Geez, what was HIS major malfunction?"

    Alexis: Huh? Hey mister, you all right? Speak to me! Greyforce, there's a bunch of people
    unconscious here!

    Greyforce: Huh? Where'd they come from?

    Alexis: Who gives a damn, just get a doctor in here!

    Greyforce: Oh! Right! [He dashes out.]

    [Nekita and the others get up and walk towards the unconscious figures. Freon joins them.
    There's a lot of muttered conversations taking place.]

    "... the hell?"
 

Coming up!!!

- Big trouble in Little Sakura-Con!
- Big HEADACHES in Little Sakura-Con!
- And Kirin is NOT impressed by Freon...