I mashed the buttons on my controller in rapid succession, before leaning back, "dang it, good game man," I spoke into the headset. The chat on the side monitor kept buzzing. Two thousand people were watching me play against subscribers.

"Alright, just remember that once you've fought me please leave the arena so we can get the most people in here as possible and DrunkFrankenstein, thank you for the twenty dollar donation! He says 'hey Tae, been a fan since before the news broke about you being a zombie, any chance you are going to visit Hawaii for a convention? I'm in the U.S. Navy and transferred to Pearl Harbor from Yokuska a few months ago'," I shook my head, "unfortunately, I'm not sure. I'd love to but I'm still in the process of trying to get my dual citizenship back because technically, I am on record as deceased but if I could I'd love too. I'm really surprised though, that long? Thank you for the support my guy!"

I fought a few more people before I yawned as another super chat came though, "can I sing something from Franchouchou? Haha, sorry. I don't really remember anything cause I wasn't uh, awakened, as they put it," a few seconds later, another message came up, "take off your head? Tell you what, I'll do a headless stream another day, okay?"

The chat exploded. It was hard to keep up with the messages. It wasn't much longer before I ended stream. I sighed. It was hard, getting back into the swing of things. Posting a video confirming I was undead after what happened. Accepting the reality that my family disowned my was harder.

"Not our daughter!" My mother had said in English rather than her native Japanese. My father would try to reach out in short bursts but was eventually cut off by either deployment in the Navy or my mother.

People trying to kill me also became an issue. Zombie movies usually dictated people's opinions on me. Granted, a few things made it softer. That TV show IZombie, the movie Warm Bodies, people were accepting my existence more and more online.

Locally though, it was a bit different of a story. Apparently I was a member of a local idol group before awakening. Then the secret broke, the manager was arrested, the group split and I somehow wound up waking up after a Yuugiri slap in public.

not long after I somehow ended up helping a Police Officer with translating a lost pair of fearful tourists. He was actually pretty helpful, practically security for Yuugiri and I. I stood up, the chair behind me sliding back.

Food. I needed it. I pulled out my phone and textured Yugiri and Police Officer Ken, "going to the grocery store, either of you need anything?"

I grabbed my coat and shoes before checking for the replies.

Yuugiri wanted tea and coffee for Ken. I put it away before leaving the house...mansion...place. The Japanese Government left it in the care of the group after the manager was arrested as a sort of pity gift to his "victims".

Yuugiri stayed with me until I awoke. She was from long ago so her knowledge of the current world was small. The streets of Saga were empty as I made my way to the small store. The store itself was nearly empty as I walked in. The cashier bowed as I entered before stiffening, "ah! Miss Yamada! What brings you out so late?"

I struggled with my Japanese in reply, "hungry. Not much food at home."

"I see miss, well I'm afraid we don't have any brains out for..."

I walked down the aisle, grabbing a few frozen items before heading back to the counter and pulling out my debit card. I got a nervous smile as the silent transaction went through. I didn't bother wearing makeup most days. So my Zombie face usually was an in real life social deterrent. Online, people loved it. A fascination. I looked at the sky. Maybe I would take a walk later. The rest of the night went uneventfuly. Matter of fact, that was the whole week. It wasn't until I was in the game store a week and a half later that something broke my normal routine.

I was browsing the games to play when the bell went off. An excited amount of footsteps came in as I kept my hood up on my sweatshirt. I didn't need some kid obsessed with Call of Duty trying to think he was somehow still playing the game and knock my head off again. I picked up an older Xbox game before walking to the front counter when a young girl ran right in front of me. I tripped over my own feet, slamming down on my tail bone, "ow!"

"HEY! Watch where you're going!" an bossy voice called out. I got up to see a blonde run over, "you should look where you're going next...wait a sec..."

The red and green in her otherwise blonde hair swayed as she placed her fists on her hips and bent over, looking me in the eye. I gulped nervously.

"Oh great. Yuugiri must have lost track of you. Geez, even after the group breaks up I still have the responsibilities as leader. Who am I kidding, you probably can't even understand a word I'm saying, huh Tae?"

I tilted my head, "uh, do I know you?"

She blinked. Realization slowly dawned on her face until she scrambled back almost knocking a display over, "HOLY CRAP, YOU AWAKENED!?"

I got up on my feet, "uh, yeah, and who are you again?"

The woman blinked, "wait, you don't remember anything from Franchouchou, do you?"

"Were you a fan or something?" I scratched my head.

"NO DUMBASS, I WAS IN THE GROUP WITH YOU!" she yelled. A few people turned towards us and I instinctively pulled my hood tighter.

I scooped up the game I had been carrying, "oh. Uh, nice to formally meet you when I'm not a brainless mess then?"

She came up and slugged me in the shoulder, knocking my arm to the floor, "so what have you been up to huh? I haven't seen any of my idol girls since the split!"

This girl was a hassle. I sighed, "well, I live with Yuugiri at the house that that Kotoro guy housed us in. She's going to college and works part time and I'm a video game streamer on the internet."

"Wait, you? An internet person? BWAHAHAHAHA!" Saki busted up laughing, "oh man! That's rich!"

My face remained the same, unenthused. This girl was Franchouchou's leader? I sighed again, "look, it was nice meeting you but I gotta get going."

"Ah, come on, now that you're awakened you aren't trying be as clingy or something? Tell you what," she dug into her pocket and pulled out a small businesses card, "I run a motorcycle shop a few kilometers south of here. You and Yuugiri should come by sometime. I kinda miss Franchouchou. I thought I was the only one left in Saga."

I flipped the card over and took a few seconds, "Franvroomvroom? Really?"

She waved a hand, "kinda genius don't ya think? Gotta cash in on the name somehow!"

I laughed nervously. Yuugiri may be surprised a little but it wasn't gonna be anything life changing. Saki eventually took off with a trio of girls as I heard the motorcycles rev up and drive off before I finished my purchases and headed home.

Author's note: So this is a story I've been playing with for about six months now and I finally decided to try and hastily write and post it before I could talk myself out of it. This is set about two years after the Zombie secret is leaked and goes public. I decided to choose Tae as the main character because well...She is not awakened in the show and her legend isn't revealed so it's kinda able to play with at the moment. Anyways, I hope you got to enjoy it a little and the next chapter will be longer. See ya! -Jay