The week before ComiConclave was chaos, divided by a single wall.
On my side of the wall, it was the chaos of pure, unadulterated hype.
"Look! Look! The official floor map is out!" Kenji yelled, shoving his phone in my face during lunch. "Ectiqa's booth is right near the main stage! It's prime real estate! She's a true celebrity!"
"Of course she is," I said, trying to act cool, but my leg was bouncing uncontrollably under the table. "She's the best."
My evenings were a flurry of sacred preparation. I wasn't going to ComiConclave as a mere mortal. I was going as Starlight_Knight_01, her number one supporter. My mission: to deliver a gift. I had managed to track down a limited edition, signed artbook by the character designer of the Archon from 'Genesis Ender,' the character she was debuting. It had cost me nearly two months' worth of my part-time job savings, but it was worth it.
My biggest worry wasn't the cost, but the delivery. How do you hand a gift to a goddess without turning into a stammering, sweaty puddle of patheticness? I practiced in the mirror.
"Uh, hi, Ectiqa-sama, I'm a big fan." Too lame. "This is a small token of my infinite admiration for your craft." Too dramatic. "Yo." Definitely not.
On the other side of the wall, Rina was living in a completely different kind of chaos: the chaos of creation.
Her life was a frantic cycle. School, a quick shift at the cafe, and then straight to the studio, where she, Miki, and their third friend, a bubbly makeup and wig-styling genius named Hana Tanaka, were in the final stretch.
"The LEDs on the left pauldron are flickering!" Hana announced, her voice filled with panic. "I think the wiring is loose!"
"The primer on the spearhead isn't drying evenly," Miki reported grimly from the workbench, peering at the offending prop through her glasses. "At this rate, it'll be tacky to the touch tomorrow. It'll pick up every speck of dust in the convention hall."
Rina, who was halfway into the skintight bodysuit of the costume, took a deep, steadying breath. "Okay. No panicking. Miki, hit the spear with the heat gun on low, that should flash-cure it. Hana, give me the soldering iron. I'll re-do the connection on the pauldron."
She was the eye of the storm. While her friends buzzed with nervous energy, Rina became a focused, problem-solving machine. This was her battle, and she was the general. The pressure was immense. Her rival, Haruka "Hime-Hime" Ito, had been posting snide comments online all week. 'Can't wait to see if the hype is real, or if it's just cheap photo tricks.'
Every flicker, every tacky spot felt like a personal failure. But the thought of her fans-and especially the quiet, constant support of Starlight_Knight_01-kept her going. She was doing this for them.
The night before the convention, the two worlds were perfectly parallel.
In my room, I carefully placed the artbook in a protective bag, my heart thumping with a mix of anxiety and excitement. Tomorrow, I would meet my hero.
In the studio across town, Rina, with Miki and Hana's help, put on the final piece of the Archon armor. She stood before a full-length mirror, exhausted but triumphant. The costume was perfect. The lights glowed with an ethereal blue energy. She wasn't Rina anymore. She was Ectiqa. Tomorrow, she would show them all.
Separated by miles of city, but united by the same event, brother and sister went to sleep, each dreaming of the day to come, completely oblivious to the other's role in their shared destiny.