AnimeCon Harem 1: Gijinka Training (Patreon)

Outta luck after all, huh. Raven locks of hair swept down over one of the scene girl’s eyes, and Kelly blew that fringe of her bangs up with an annoyed puff of her lip. Fuck.

She resentfully kicked at one of the discarded pamphlets littering the main lobby as she surveyed the aftermath of AnimeCon’s first day. The skylights had long since fallen dark and the tempestuous sea of convention attendees, once hundreds thick, had since dwindled down to bare dregs. Scattered groups still wandered about, and a handful of dedicated fans could be found in many of the panel rooms, but that unique, bustling and excited energy from before was gone. Voices that had earlier been lost in the harsh, discordant hum of innumerable conversations now echoed individually down the halls, giving the enormous open space that eerie after-hours quality.

S’gonna be a looong night, Kelly thought as she squeezed a little plush ball she’d found. It was a stuffed sphere stitched in bright fabric someone had left behind, fashioned to resemble one of the iconic capture traps from Monster Battlers. Seems like dumb high schoolers are the only ones left in the lobby... just a buncha little bitches all excited to be out late with their friends unsupervised, she thought, frowning.

Her plan had been to tease, flirt, and finagle her way into the hotel room of some agreeable convention chump, because otherwise - she didn’t have a place to stay. There should have been any number of dorks eager to play white knight and rescue her from her predicament, and finding and sweet-talking some naive nerd should’ve been all too easy for Kelly... but the rising temperatures of her own libido were their own source of consternation.

She was horny as hell, but lowering her standards that far just wasn’t something she was capable of without some substantial alcoholic assistance. After all, her mental representations of ‘weeaboo suckers I can fleece,’ and ‘attractive guys I wanna fuck,’ formed a venn diagram without much overlapping area, and it seemed like the last of her opportunities had slipped through her fingers.

It didn’t help that appearances weren’t her only criteria in a place like this. She needed a guy with some teeth; someone who could prove himself, set himself apart from the tepid herd of beta-male herbivores. And of course, as soon as she found a suitable one, wouldn’t raunchy sex be a great way to show her appreciation towards her chivalrous benefactor? To her dismay, the few decent-looking ones she’d spotted today in AnimeCon’s wilderness of horrors either hadn’t had the guts to approach her, or had surprisingly vigilant cosplayer girlfriends.

Shoulda stuck with Brian and the weird little weeb girl after all, Kelly realized in exasperation. If some of those other guys would’ve just put in a trifling, token amount of fuckin’ effort... Ugh. A quick fix, that’s all I need... a quick fuck to clear my mind a bit. Some rough, hard sex.

She’d been unbearably turned most of the day, squeezing her thighs together in a vain attempt to suppress an aching emptiness that demanded some serious attention. She’d caught her hands drifting south of their own accord a few times already, and only her own sense of righteous indignation had so far stopped her from retreating to a restroom stall and finger-banging some of that sexual tension right out of herself. I’m like a fuckin’ goddess here! Having to frig myself, here of all places, would be... pathetic.

There was definitely an alluring charm to the beautiful scene girl. Fluffy black hair flowed down her head in luxurious layers beside her lovely neck, choppy razored ends tracing along her collarbones. Thick black liner, long lashes, and red-hued eyeshadow emphasized her amber-brown eyes, and that slight, exquisite curve of her cheekbones seemed to naturally provoke her face into a sassy smile.

The smooth, pale skin of her bare shoulders and neck was inviting, and the soft line of her cleavage simply captivating, disappearing deep into the low cut of her tank top between the indulgent bulges of her breasts. Unfettered by the likes of a bra, these full, rounded shapes subtly nodded and swayed as she walked. Even her stride was erotic, an unhurried, languid rolling of her hips and clap of her skate shoes across the convention center’s carpeting.

...On the other hand, can I really blame them? They’re convention nerds, and well, I guess they know their place. I’m way outta their league, she decided, her self-assured smile seeming positively villainous. After all, everyone knows most geeks are like, awkward primitives when it comes to social interaction, let alone with someone stellar like me.

So... what now? She wondered in vexation. Time seemed to have slowed to a crawl as Kelly explored the nearly deserted halls. She’d tried sitting in on one of the animes playing all night in the viewing room, but the shrill cries of a blushing Japanese schoolgirl scolding her faceless older brother were too creepy. Who gets into this kind of stuff? Apparently the dozen viewers did, as they were positively riveted in their seats, watching the projection with rapt attention as she ducked back out.

There was also a late-night cabal of tabletop gamers, a suspiciously quiet bunch hunched over the remains of a miniature city dotted with miniature plastic soldiers. The alarmed, somehow desperate look in their beady eyes when she’d stepped in the door was almost threatening, and their silence devolved into a flurry of conspiratorial whispers as she backed right back out of the room with a blank face.

She finally curtailed her wanderings and hunkered down alone, slumping her back against the wall in one of the corridors off the main lobby, and wiled away the minutes tossing the stuffed capture sphere lightly in the air and turning it over in her bored fingertips.

I shoulda been gettin’ laid right now. The convention center isn’t far from downtown, Kelly thought in annoyance. There were bars nearby, even some of them that she knew well. I could get a DRINK, I could get picked up. She scowled, suppressing the rebellious thoughts. If she hit up a bar now and inevitably wound up bedding some handsome guy, she probably wouldn’t find a reason to come back to the convention.

Focus. Remember why you’re even fucking here at the convention in the first place, Kelly chided herself. It’d be so easy, though... A hazy red corona of arousal had been enveloping her mind all day for some untraceable reason, making it difficult for her to think clearly. There so many randy nerds around the convention today that I soaked up their pent-up pheromones or something?

I just really need fucked, she thought in exasperation. Some vacant corner of the convention center, up against car out beneath the dim overhead lights of the parking lots, a restroom stall; anywhere would do, she just needed to get some. Some easy-on-the-eyes stranger could be bending her over right now. She could be standing atop her own discarded skinny jeans, panties twisted around one thigh, as some guy she’d never met plowed her. She could be moaning with pleasure, jaw hanging slack as he pumped her cunt with savage, vicious strokes, their bodies moving in heated rhythm. Fuck.

She was still casually lounging on the carpeted convention floor beside her purse, debating the merit of letting a restless hand wander down into her pants, when she caught a flash of pink in her peripheral vision. Can’t be...

A mottled-blonde cosplayer was trudging past, a familiar-looking girl in tall red boots, long gloves, and a bright pink-and-red sundress that just barely concealed the delightful hemispheres of an incredible butt. It is, it’s that Flamituff, the weird little weeb girl! With more pink shit in her hair, too!

In a flash of inspiration, Kelly gauged the distance between them, leaned forward, and hurled the stuffed plush at the girl. The capture sphere sailed in a high arc before smacking beautifully into back of Stephanie’s head and eliciting a sudden flinch of surprise. Nice, caught’cha!

“Uwah...!?” Stephanie let out a breath, glancing around as the ball rolled to a stop several feet away.

“Hey there, Flammy-fluff,” Kelly gave a small, innocent wave. “Whatever happened with the pink in your hair, it happened again. Or happened harder...? Have you seen yourself?” Where’s the guy you were with, slut?

“... It’s Flamituff. I, uh. Yeah,” Stephanie said weakly, having momentarily forgotten about her hair. “Hi.”

“Sorry, what was your actual name again? Stacy? Something like Stacy?”

“It’s... I’m Stephanie,” the blond-and-pink-haired girl answered in a detached tone, lurching to an awkward halt and not bothering to pick up the plush ball.

And what’s YOUR problem? Kelly thought snidely, eyeing the weary-looking cosplayer for a moment before reconsidering. Stephanie didn’t just look tired, she looked totally defeated. Her expression was empty and fatigued, her posture bent beneath the weight of the heavy travel bag hanging on her shoulder, and even the rabbit ears attached to her headband were dejectedly dropping. Something’s off... something’s wrong?

“You okay, hun?” Kelly finally asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

“...Yeah. I, uhm,” Stephanie mumbled, looking dispirited. “Can I ask a... uh, do I... smell? I mean, do I smell badly?”

“Well then, c’mere,” Kelly replied, unperturbed by the unusual question, and beckoned the girl forward. Awkwardly, Stephanie stepped into the hallway Kelly was sitting in and leaned down while the dark-haired beauty propped herself up and sniffed around her neck.

“Nope, you’re good, can’t smell a thing,” Kelly approved, quirking her lip and flashing a slightly sarcastic thumbs-up. And just what am I supposed to smell? Booze breath? Sweat and sex? Kelly idly wondered. “What’s up? Somethin’ goin’ on?”

“No, it’s, uh,” Stephanie said nervously, “I mean, I’d hate to bother you...”

“Fuck that, bother away,” Kelly pleaded, eyes dancing up and down Stephanie’s figure. She’s distracting enough. “Bored outta my mind. I heard the con went on all night, but soon as the sun went down and the vendor’s room closed seems like everyone took off. It’s all just little panels and shit now and I don’t know anyone here this time.”

“But, ah, why... why stay here at the con this late, then?” Stephanie asked, perplexed.

“Hah... well I shoulda found someone to shack up with, but...” Kelly trailed off listlessly and shrugged. “Haven’t had any luck. I was thinking about just chillin’ overnight in the viewing room across the hall, ‘cause they’ve got chairs at least, but the creepy little high-pitched Japanese voices got super obnoxious. Why, you got space in your room?”

Stephanie sighed, shifting uncomfortably on tired feet. “Aha. Hah. Well, I, uh. I had a room with my friend, but...”

“Ah. Well here, siddown then,” Kelly interrupted, a little disappointed, and casually slapped the carpeted floor beside her. “Seems like you’ve gotta story to tell.”

“Oh, uh, thank you,” Stephanie replied reflexively, blinking. The blond-and-pink-haired girl took a seat on the hard carpeted floor next to Kelly, awkwardly sliding her legs beside her, and exhaled slowly in relief.

“So’d your friend lock you out?” Kelly inquired, Sock on the doorknob? Some kind of interesting drama in the weird little weeb world you folk live in? Anything to do with that Brian guy?

“Not... quite,” Stephanie laughed sadly, “I... ran away. When I got to the room, she was, uh, Megan, my friend was already there, and it, uh, well... she smelled. She smelled so badly. The whole room smelled.”

“Con funk, huh.” Kelly guessed, amused. “That’s hilarious.”

“Con... funk?” Stephanie echoed dismally.

“You know,” Kelly laughed, lifting an arm and pantomimed wriggling fingers at the hollow of her armpit. “Con funk, s’what my friend called it a couple years back. Conventions attract all these... social misfit types, and some of ‘em have like, no hygiene. A lotta the time when you’re passin’ by the crowds you can get a whiff of it, of these like... creepy, sweaty motherfuckers who don’t do the whole washing or deodorant thing, you know? Uh, no offense to your friend, I guess?"

“I-I suppose so. I just never realized how bad it could... I mean I’ve never smelled anything that... well... atrocious in my whole life. I don’t understand how she doesn’t realize...”

“Lost cause, trust me, they’re always a lost cause - and you made the right call bailin’ on her. And hey, that makes us roomless buddies now!” Kelly decided. “Unless you’ve got somewhere else to be...?”

“Is that... is that okay?” Stephanie asked. “Spending the whole night at the convention, I mean? Do they just let attendees sprawl out in the hallways, like... um, vagrants?”

“Okay? S’way better than okay,” Kelly retorted, “It’s great, safety in numbers and all that. You’re on your own here and drift off to sleep, who knows what some convention creep could do to you, right?”

“Ah, uh, yeah,” Stephanie agreed, swallowing and fidgeting closer to the wall. “Right.” The wide hallways were sparsely populated, but somehow that was a far cry from a sense of security right now.

“We can keep an eye out for each other,” Kelly said, nudging Stephanie with her shoulder. “You catch some guy pawing at me or taking weird pictures, you’ll yell or scream or somethin’, wouldn’tcha?”

“W-would it be safer in the, i-in one of the viewing rooms?” Stephanie stammered, stiffening.

“Chill, I’m just fuckin’ with ya,” Kelly said, chuckling. “We’ll be fine.”

Sudden shrieks and peals of laughter from a flock of girls playing around out in the main lobby echoed down the corridor with enough volume to spook Stephanie, and Kelly examined her new companion.

She hadn’t really been able to look past the weeb girl’s silly outfit in her first impression earlier today, but now that she looked closer, she was cute. In fact, this girl was really cute, enough that Kelly was struck by the disparity between the aesthetic attractiveness of this girl and the apparent utter vacuum of self-confidence.

The timid way the girl struggled to maintain eye-contact when she spoke, the slightly stiff rise of her shoulders, ready to flinch at a moment’s notice, and of course, her stuttering, uncertain way of speaking. Disregarding the outlandish nerd costume, the only thing that actually seemed geeky about this girl was her mousy demeanor.

“So can I ask you something?” Kelly stated, giving Stephanie a trepidatious look.

“Ah, uhm, w-what is it?” Stephanie asked, blinking cutely in surprise.

“Why are you a weeaboo? And I don’t mean like, why you’re into whatever you’ve gotten all into,” Kelly clarified, “What I mean is like, why are you a weeaboo?”

“Uhh...?” Stephanie uttered, at a loss and unsure of what to say.

“You don’t have the looks of a geek,” Kelly pointed out, sizing the pink-and-blond-haired girl up once again, “Wouldn’t even say you’re average-looking, either. You’re actually pretty hot. I’ve made out with girls nowhere near as good-looking as you.” Her eyes began to wander in a way that made Stephanie implicitly uncomfortable.

“I’m not... um, you what?” Stephanie denied as she struggled to follow the incomprehensible statements thrown her way. “I'm not hot. You, you’re just, you’re making fun of me...”

“Yeah uh, okay?” Kelly snorted, sneaking a furtive glance at the soft thighs peeking out of those tall costume boots... “That wouldn’t be hard, ‘cause you’ve dressed yourself up as an animal from a children’s game. Why do you think you’re not hot?”

“Oh, ah... well, I’m just... not.” Stephanie explained, as though stating common sense. “My looks. My weight. My everything. My face. You know.”

“Bullshit,” Kelly argued. “You’re thin, have a great ass, and you’ve got a real cute face.”

“I, I do not. I... don’t have a cute face,” Stephanie protested meekly.

“Uh, I’m staring at it right now?” Kelly retorted, inching herself closer. Red flecks of starlight were careening through the back of her thoughts, and Kelly blinked, feeling lightheaded and spacy. Sure looks cute enough to me, Kelly thought, feeling a silly smile waft across her face. Wonder what she’d do if I just started kissing her? Hah, I could go a lot further than that. Maybe if she’s down for makin’ out I can try gettin’ my fingers under that dress and into her panties- ...whoa, where’d that come from?

“You uh... well, you have a clear complexion and a small nose,” Kelly continued, “Your features are symmetrical and well-proportioned. Your eyebrows are blond enough that people won’t notice you haven’t been contouring them. I can tell you aren’t using eyeliner or shadow, but your glasses kinda like, help frame your face and bring your eyes out a bit. Christ. You’re not wearing any makeup, are you?”

“I’m not very good with makeup...” Stephanie explained, embarrassed. “Last time I tried to-”

“Ugghh!” Aghast, Kelly dramatically yanked her purse from where it leaned against the wall and plopped it between them, opening it wide and beginning to dig for appropriate beauty products.

“Uh... you’re not going to...?”

“Shhh,” Kelly huffed dismissively, raising a palette of foundation to match shades against Stephanie’s pale skin. “So you’re telling me guys aren’t hitting on you like, all the time?”

“N-no. I’m not around them o-often and when I am, well, sometimes they say things.” Stephanie protested, “But it’s more like they’re... like they’re making fun of me.”

“So you’ve somehow totally misread obvious signals your whole life?” Kelly asked incredulously, abruptly removing Stephanie’s glasses and waggling them up to the light, “Can you see without these?”

“Hey...! Uh, y-yes,” Stephanie explained, blinking rapidly and looking even more vulnerable, “I’ll just, uh, yes I can see, but I’ll get headaches if I go without them for very long.”

“Okay, well, close your eyes then. What about that guy you were with, whats-his-name,” Kelly asked, feigning indifference. “Didja get any vibes from him?”

“Th-that’s was, uh,” Stephanie choked, “That is, um, has been, different. It’s never like this. Like that. Like that has been with him. Today. Was.” The girl cutely clamped her mouth shut to curb the flood of words spilling out of her.

“Christ, you’re a mess,” Kelly paused, a dab of foundation already smeared onto a cosmetics sponge. “Calm down already. Are you like, autistic or something, ‘cause when you get all flustered you can like, barely talk, you know? That how you wound up like a weeaboo? Stay still.”

The soft strokes of her cosmetics sponge began to canvas Stephanie’s face. Kelly was working roughly, more playing around than actually intent on transforming this cute geek girl, but she possessed quite a bit of skill, and her well-practiced ministrations blended a lovely foundation in no time at all. The real problem’s concealer. She’s got those slight circles under her eyes, makes her look all tired.

“It’s... it’s social anxiety,” Stephanie confessed, trying to speak slowly. “It’s not, well, it isn’t all the time. I’m fine in normal situations, ones that I’m... used to, and it isn’t bad then. But outside of my, uh, my comfort zone, ah, it’s... uh...”

“Well, chill out, I’m playin’ nice here,” Kelly rebuked, shoving the errata within her purse around in frustration. She’d packed light for the convention, and the only concealer she had with her was a touch too dark for Stephanie’s face.

“Somethin’ happen to like, make you like that, or have you always been this way?” Kelly asked offhandedly.

“...Something happened. A long time ago,” Stephanie answered quietly, staring off towards the corridor entrance where the forgotten plush capture ball sat.

“Huh,” Kelly paused, and something in Stephanie’s tone made her decide not to press further. “Must’ve been funny earlier with that guy, though. Were you this awkward around him, like, how bad were you?”

“I don’t even know,” Stephanie realized. “Probably bad. He... he didn’t seem like he was getting annoyed with me, though. He was teasing me, uh, a little, but it actually seemed like... flirting-teasing?”

“And so you’re hot after all like I said, congratulations.” Kelly said, making a frustrated face. Okay, time to improvise, I guess. She hadn’t had to lighten a concealer since high school, but she expertly squeezed a droplet of her concealer next to a bead of moisturizer on the back of her hand and swirled them together with a fingertip until she had some better shades to work with.

“So what’s the deal between you and him?” Kelly asked innocuously. “You’re not his girl, I gather? You making out with him and getting yourself all pink like, an audition for the role, or what?”

“Oh no,” Stephanie said quickly, waving her hands. “We uh, just met today, earlier today I mean, for the first time.”

“Quit moving. But he was the one you were making out with, right? Didja ever solve the mysterious case of the pink-ening hair? You definitely went from just the one little streak to a whole mess here since I saw you, ya know.”

“I... um. He and I kissed, yes... it was my first kiss.” Stephanie confided in a small voice. “And then, when we kissed again, uh, it...”

“Hooold up.” Kelly cut in, dumbfounded. “Your first kiss? That was your first kiss? Today?”

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