I really should have written this back when I was fresh from the con and had some inkling of how IÆd spent my time. As it isà youÆll have to make do with my foggy recollections!

 The con is held in Raliegh NC and Tokio happens to live up by Philly, PA, which means I had the pleasure of an 8+ hour Amtrak train ride to VA, where Rei lives. Yes, this sounds like a lot of funà but itÆs not. ItÆs not the 1st time IÆve taken this trip, but the weekend before hand I had developed a nasty gum infection. It was so bad that I couldn't even close my mouthà or chewà or really sleep properly. I finally got to see my dentist and was given a hefty supply of penicillin. This was the day before I caught the train, so, I couldnÆt talk very well, I couldnÆt eat and I was all around messed up. Not the state to be in when you have to sit on a train for 8+ hours, going out of your skull. 

 To add to the pleasantness, we had an 1 ½ stop over in good olÆ D.C. because the Po-lice hopped on board to raid bags and look for drug dealers. Sure, sounds amusingà except I was going to be cosplaying as Shinsengumi at the con, which means I was traveling with daishoà convincing looking daisho, at that. They were in a cardboard boxà a highly suspicious looking cardboard box. I had to explain this box to the Po-lice 6 or 7 times, at least. They were ready to rip it open and I wasnÆt in the mood to try to explain why I was traveling with what looked like sharp deadly swords.

 Things got more amusing! They kept coming back to my area, until they ONCE AGAIN asked me to identify which luggage items were mine. I pointed out the single suitcase and the box and they start waving another black bag asking if that is mine too. Good thing it wasnÆt, because it happened to be filled with Crackà ~_~; And IÆm talking a @#$%load of crack at that!

 It was past midnight when I arrived in VA and had to once again explain my luggage to waiting police officers and get sniffed by drug sniffing dogs. Oh the fun of travelingà Considering I was insanely tired from being on drugs and from missing good chunks of rest from Fri.-Tues. youÆd think IÆd go to bed? Nah, not really. Caught a few hours before Rei and I went out to kill time before heading to the con.

 We had a day - pretty boring if you werenÆt us. I enjoyed it because I hadnÆt seen Rei since October. We, of course, got lost driving to the con, but it was a fun sort of lost since it was bright and cheery outside and we had anime music playing in the car. Daijoubu Kitto OK! *ahem*

 While we had our mid-day adventures, we picked up a birthday cake and some icing to use to write on it. Why, you might ask? Well, the con officially opened on Mar. 10th, which happens to be the birthday of Suzaku shichiseishi Nuriko! Since Rei is a Nuriko nut, we planned to celebrate his birthday at the con with a little party. Little did we know Watase Yuu would wind up coming to the party! But that was Fri. ^_^

 We were anxious to run into old friends and make some new ones. I was anxious to find Lady Amalthea (t.e.a.h.o.u.s.e.) and Tae-san (Akabeko) since they had invited me to partake in a Rurouni Kenshin fan panel with them. They were traveling with doujinshi û SAITOU doujinshi û so finding them was imperative. I donned a little self made name tag [Hi, my name is Tokio! www.miburo.com] and began mingling.

 I found Amalthea and Elizabeth and had the pleasure of showing off my Aku Soku Zan tattoo! It was great meeting them, let me tell you. Tae-san was still m.i.a. so we were keeping an eye open for her. I canÆt remember all that was said, but I enjoyed it, so there you go!

 They had the wonderful precon night stuff, with people hanging out at tables with the guests. The guests began to wander in and Watase Yuu was among them. Rei and I smiled in her direction and were surprised when her face lit up with recognition and she waved hello! [Back in 99 Rei and I held a Fushigi Yuugi fan panel, invited Watase-sama, she showed up and hung out û it ruled! We danced and did impersonations of FY characters for her amusement. I guess once you see demented fan girls pretending to be Ashitare (a mean impersonation, mind you) you donÆt forget them?] Anyway, it took us a year and a day before we were able to see Watase-sama since these other girls were monopolizing the table and asking her personal questions she was not answering. We lurked near the translator and after Watase-sama gave him the nod in our direction, he began translating for us, instead. Oh ho ho ho!

 Long story short, we asked if she was feeling better this year [she had felt ill last con, thanks to people refusing to turn off their flashes on the cameras] and if she had a nice birthday. We were sure to thank her again for coming to our FY panel last year and for coming back to the con. [she had to use her OWN personal vacation time in order to attend, this year? This woman is SO hardworking and wonderful, I canÆt even begin to explain. If youÆve been lucky enough to meet her, then youÆll know what IÆm talking about] We told her about the Nuriko BD party we were planning and she let us know she would try to attend. We also ran into Su, who had worked as a translator last year and had been so very kind as to send us videotaped footage of our fan panel and sort of acted as a go-between for us and Watase-sama. Su is so nice!

 I finally ran into Tae-san and Sae-san û she exists, take my word for it. More fun ensued, chatting with her in the now, as it were. She promised to bring doujinshi to the fan panel ^_^; *lucky* Things werenÆt quite interesting after this, unless you were there, so weÆll just move alongà

 Tired. Yes, very tired, still low on sleep. Mountain Dewà mmmà IÆll leave out all the other crap that went down with pathetic me running out of Asthma medication and having to go through the hassle of having a prescription filled out of state. ^_^;; My own fault û it was the 1st time I traveled without backup meds, and see what happens? Baka Tokio.

 Rei and I got in costume. Since we werenÆt planning on competing, we were going to just wear our gear wheneveÆ. Rei was, of course, cosplaying as Nuriko! I was going as generic Shinsengumi chap, as I already mentioned. My mom [^_^; I canÆt cut straight or machine sew, forgive me!] made my costume for me. I did any of the hand-sewing on it [lining stuff, mostly]. The swords were heavy, but pleasantly so. There was the fun of constantly adjusting them so they wouldnÆt shift around. IÆve never worn swords before, so cut me some slack, aÆight? I think I looked damn spiffy, but IÆm sure I am deluding myself terribly.

 The day was spent in the dealers room, looking for Sushi [not the food û sheÆs a person! We met last con and sheÆs our buddy, now], finding Sushi, meeting her palsà one of whom was dressed as Shinsengumi! I couldnÆt believe it! Needless to say, we hit it offà oh yes! Sushi is now a Saitou fan [maybe I infected her last year?] as were her pals James and Shinsengumi Dave [as I called him]. When I finally remembered to show them my tattoo, they did the ôIs that real?ö thing then glomped me! It was fun ^_^;

 There were misc. con shenanigans going on throughout the day, although I doubt theyÆd be interesting. I canÆt even remember half the crap that went downà we were in lines for things [like Watase-sama], flitting hither and thither, taking pics, having pics taken, blah blah blah. 

 Eventually we set up the birthday party. Purple balloons, someone else brought pineapple (?), had the cake and Nuriko UFO catcher dollsà We had forgotten all about forks, knives, plates, etc. We wound up using the cups provided by the conventionà cake in a cup! We had a few forks someone brought with them. It was VERY SAD looking, I can tell you.

 I had for some reason or other suggested to Rei that she pick up a notebook so people could leave ôbirthdayö messages in there for Nuriko, which she would later put up on her website. IÆm SO glad I thought of thatà Because despite extensive activities throughout the day and being tired, Watase-sama arrived at the party! She ate cake in a cup [people later fought over her fork and the cup she ate from] and thenà she signed and DREW in ReiÆs book! We were all in shock û Watase-sama doesnÆt give out sketches, but nevertheless here she was drawing chibi-Nuriko in ReiÆs book!

 Can you say elated? We were polite and waited until Watase-sama had left the party before we screamed in glee. ThatÆs when people began chasing each other down for her fork and cup and we all stared in wonder and jealousy at ReiÆs sketch. 

 We wound up running around the hotel showing the sketch off. ThatÆs how I wound up meeting a certain guy named Hex, who has since become a Tokio fanboy! ^_^; I canÆt believe I have a fanboy? HeÆs super sweet, though. Anytime we ran into him later during the con he would call out ôHi, Tokio!ö Apparently, he thinks IÆm cute? Sounds good to me!

 We made some new friends that night, like KireiSarah û who we dragged to the DennyÆs after knowing her about ten minutes. WeÆre like that, though. ^_^;;  We spent a great deal of time doingà things?! What damn night did they show the 4th Rurouni Kenshin OAV? I went to thatà oh gods, the nights have all blurred into one? This is what happens when you donÆt sleep and insist on surviving on Mt. Dew! 

 There was more dealersÆ room, more fun with KireiSarah and Sushi, ermà a very early morning Watase-sama panel, where we got to see clips of Ayashi no Ceres in animated form [wheee!]. At some point, I remembered I was supposed to be in the Rurouni Kenshin fan panel and staggered in the direction of that room.

 To anyone who saw me there, I think it was obvious that I was operating on little to no sleep and hadnÆt eaten. Most of my memories of the panel are ofà Saitou doujinshi! Oh, pathetic me! LOL!! Everyone at the panel was a hoot, though. I really wish I had that doujinshi, thoughà grrrà One of them had Hiko trying to kiss Hajime, man was it GREAT! [go ahead and run away now] Nice artwork, I swear. *^_^*

 There were some good questions asked and I think I even answered a few questions. I do remember going on about Saitou from time to timeà what do you expect. Once again, someone suggested I show the tattoo. I love this, because only at anime conventions can I show it off and have people actually know what the hell itÆs all about.

 You knowà this all has gone on FAR too long. IÆm not even going to bother with Sunday, or the rest of Saturday, because it would only bore you senseless. Unless you were at the con, none of this is really interesting, am I right? Basically, I had a TON of fun, hardly slept, met great people, spent a small fortune in the dealersÆ roomà just look at the pics, they are a little more interesting than my babbling, IÆd think.