The First Annual Kurei Fanclub Convention: Thursday Night, Part 1.0 by Bottou-chan Her Page

"Wait! Hold the elevator!"

A girl with long brown hair and glasses just barely made it into the elevator. "Arigatou.... 50th floor, please." She turned and faced the doors as they shut.

The girl looked stressed out, and would have taken the stairs (it would have been faster) if she had not been burdened by a thick binder full of papers. She forced herself to patiently wait for the elevator to reach her floor of the Anime Towers Hotel, as it began its slow vertical ascent. Snippets of conversation floated through the small, crowded elevator.

"...It looks like Tasuki's workshop will be really interesting tomorrow. 'Playing With Fire: How to do it and Not Get Burned'...."

"Ooo, look at this. We've got Usagi and Miaka doing a joint panel on 'What to do When Your Significant Other Gets Brainwashed' during the 2 PM time slot..."

"...Hey, did you see the session Miki is doing? 'Boyfriends: When People Can't Comprehend the Difference Between 'Yours' and 'Theirs''..."

"Bottou-chan," came a voice from the back of the elevator. It belonged to a 15-year-old Chinese boy.

"JiaXian!" she answered, raising her hand in greeting. She maneuvered her way to stand by him. "Are you ready for the ordeal?" Bottou-chan inquired, nervously shifting the weight of her binder from one arm to the other.

"The convention should go just fine," answered JiaXian calmly.

"I hope so," sighed Bottou-chan. "It's the First Annual Convention of the Kurei Fanclub, and I want it to go well." She was the Head Organizer of the convention, and if things weren't perfect, it was her neck at stake...

JiaXian, the Chairman of the Kurei Fanclub, didn't seem quite as worried. If he was nervous, he was much better at hiding the fact. "After it's all over, why don't we go bowling," he suggested.

Bottou-chan eyed him warily. "As long as you don't give me one of your doctored bowling balls," she warned him.

JiaXian's face was a mask of pure innocence. "You're too stressed out, Bottou-chan," he replied placidly. "You really ought to relax more."

"'Hot tub' sounds like a good idea right about now," she answered, glancing at her watch.The two lapsed into silence, each alone with their thoughts.

"It's very nice to be here. Kurei-sama was quite pleased to hear the fanclub's plans of having a convention here."

"Raiha. You talk too much," said Kurei emotionlessly, coming from one of the rooms of the suite. Kurei was the guest of honor, and would be the keynote speaker at Saturday's closing luncheon. He had brought along his entourage, consisting of Joker, Raiha, and Neon. One of the hotel's best suites had been booked for the four.

"Please meet JiaXian," said Bottou-chan, stepping aside to introduce the Chairman, who was waiting patiently in the background. "He's the founder of your fanclub, and its chairman, and also the owner of the SJX Chocolate Corp."

"You make chocolates shaped like me, don't you?" inquired Kurei, still in his emotionless voice.

JiaXian nodded. In an equally impassive tone, he replied, "With and without the bits of charred flesh inside."

The two stared at each other for several moments, until Joker came up behind JiaXian and steered him away from Kurei. "Have you ever considered making a line of Joker-shaped chocolates?" he suggested.

JiaXian looked at him. "You're not as popular as Kurei," he said. "I doubt you'd sell as well."

Joker persisted. "But if you made a whole line of us... little chocolate Kurei's, little chocolate Neon's, little chocolate Raiha's, little chocolate Jokers! And then you could have chocolate Kurenai's, Fukyo Waon's, Raijin's, and Taishaku Kaiten's! I'm sure it would be popular!"

JiaXian shook his head. "The twisted people will buy the Kurei's. The adolescent boys will buy the Neon's. The drooling fangirls will buy the Raiha's. But there's no market for Joker's."

"I'd buy the chocolate Joker's," piped up Bottou-chan.

"Shh," reprimanded Neon, standing next to the coordinator. "His ego's big enough already."

"Too late," said Raiha.

"See?" proclaimed Joker proudly. "You need a chocolate Uruha to expand your line. It'll be successful, I promise!"

"I'll think about it," answered JiaXian cautiously. It wouldn't do to offend Kurei's Uruha before the convention was over. Especially when it hadn't even started yet.

"It looks like the right spot," said Natsumi, setting her luggage down. "Hey, after we get checked in, do you want to go to the hot tub? Perhaps we can meet some bishonen!"

"This hotel is the most likely spot," agreed Lynn-chan, smiling happily at the thought. "This place is teeming with anime guys." A worried look crossed her face. "You didn't bring your Unholy Cattle Prod with you this weekend, did you?"

Natsumi looked guilty. "It fit in my suitcase," she said humbly.

Lynn-chan hissed, "Those kinds of things are banned from these premises. Well, except for the Hentai Convention, and even then, they're restricted to specific areas," she added, as an afterthought. "But that's not for another five months. If they catch you with it, that could be big trouble for you."

Natsumi heaved a sigh. "It'll stay it my suitcase. I promise," she assured the other girl.

The door was opened a crack by the purple-haired ninja.

"I'm Shuusai," said the girl. "We needed to discuss the technical arrangements for the sessions?"

"Ah! Come in, Shuusai-san," said Raiha, opening the door wider. "I'm Raiha... nice to meet you."

"Yes, I recognize you from your pictures," smiled Shuusai, entering the room. Bottou-chan and JiaXian were sitting on a couch, deep in conversation with Joker, Kurei, and Neon. A half-eaten box of Kurei-shaped chocolates was sitting on a low table. The half containing the chocolates with charred flesh was the intact side.

"Shuusai! Nice to see you could make it," said JiaXian, raising his hand in greeting."Always nice to help," she answered. "I've been looking forward to the convention for a while now."

"About the setup," said Neon. "I'll need an overhead projector for my session. Do you think you can arrange that?"

"Taken care of," answered Shuusai, trying to examine the box for an orphaned normal chocolate which had somehow been missed.No luck.

She seated herself in an armchair which Raiha indicated. "I read over the handouts," Shuusai said. "It sounds like it will be an interesting session. 'The Pro's and Con's to Loving The Villain.'"

"It was difficult, at first," admitted Neon, overjoyed at the interest shown in her topic. "I mean, really! I couldn't think of many con's to loving Kurei. Then I remembered how everyone's trying to kill him... that's certainly a damper on any potential relationship."

Kurei reached into the chocolate box, removed one, and chewed silently. Shuusai consulted her notes. "Joker, you're doing 'Anime Physics- Living and Fighting Under a New Set of Rules.'" She glanced up. "You needed the VCR and tv, right?"Joker nodded. "I've got a good hour of clips from various fights."

"It was amusing, when Joker was preparing for this. He'd follow the members of the Uruha around with a Camcorder," smiled Neon.

"He annoyed a lot of people during the UBS III," agreed Raiha.

"Oi, it was difficult, working with that lighting!" protested Joker. "It turned out very well. And," he added, smirking in Neon's direction, "You might notice that the clips of my fight with Koganei-han are a bit jerky and unfocussed. That's because Someone doesn't know how to properly operate a Camcorder herself."

Neon glared, but a subtle movement from Kurei kept her from retorting. Shuusai hurriedly moved on to the next. "Raiha, you'll need the slide projector, right? 'For Who Is That Guy?- A Guide to Being a Mysterious, Bishonen Supporting Cast Member and Still Get Noticed.'"

Raiha nodded. "Yes. I've got various slides depicting scenes of myself and others who are in similar situations. I'm trying to explain to people how to successfully overcome the difficulty of not having many lines in a series, yet still be able to have a respectably-sized fan-base. It should be very informative."

"It sounds interesting," agreed Shuusai. "Now, Kurei, you will be doing 'Psychology of a Villain: How a Warped Childhood Can Excuse Crimes Againt Humanity.' You will be needing an overhead projector, a slide projector, a tv, and a vcr? That's a pretty heavy-duty order."

"It will be very graphics-intensive," Kurei answered calmly.

"Ahhhhh..." agreed Shuusai, and quickly bent back over her notes. "Now, everyone understands that these sessions will be tape-recorded, and the tapes made available for sale. So be sure to speak into the microphone. I'll be sitting in on all of the sessions, to make sure everything goes properly." The four guest speakers nodded agreement.

JiaXian stood. "It sounds like all's well, then. We can all get some rest and relax before tomorrow's events, then."

"We're hitting the hot tub," whispered Bottou-chan to Shuusai. "You want to join us?"

"That sounds like a good idea," said Kurei, who had sharp ears. "Neon, you packed my swimsuit, right?"

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