Chapter 1: Welcome to the Band
A Stormy Night in Saga
"You won't get away from me!" a woman screamed as she chased down an evil spirit.
"But I already have, Alice Shigeru" the evil spirit laughed as it swerved through the alleyways.
"Tch" she clicked. Alice Shigeru, owner of a mahjong parlor and part-time spirit medium for the Japanese Government, was frustrated allowing a routine exorcism turn into a chase. Suddenly, the spirit was out of sight.
"Danm, I lost him" Alice said under her breath. She rested her hands on her knees to catch her breath, cursing her fragile body and heart.
"Hey Missy, what's a girl you doing up so late?" a male voice said.
"Hrmm?" Alice turned around, "Oh, nothing officer."
"Good" the policeman said, "Perfect time to die."
"What?" Alice shouted before feeling pain in her chest. The last thing she saw was blood gushing from where her heart was supposed to be.
Thud
"Ah, another medium down" the possessed policeman said, "She was so close too-AHHH!"
"Exorcism complete" another male voice said, "Though it's a shame Miss Shigeru had to die tonight, 3 months before her natural death date. I guess she will be working with Franchouchou for a few months now." And with that, the man teleported himself and the body of Alice Shigeru back to the Franchouchou mansion.
Franchouchou Mansion, Some Months later
"Uggggh" a female voice groaned as she blinked her eyes.
"Morning Living Zombie" another voice teased, "Or is just zombie, given you're dead now."
"Saki?" Alice groaned, "What am I doing here?"
"Don't you remember? You're supposed to join our idol group if you failed to pay off your debts before dying."
"I remember that, but that debt should've been paid off two weeks before my death" Alice frowned.
"You were shot and killed while in pursuit of an evil spirit 3 months before your natural timeline" Saki explained, "Open your jacket, you will see it." Slowly, Alice raised her greenish/blue hands to her trench coat to reveal bandages wrapped around her cleavage. They were blood stained in the center, where her heart was.
"I see" Alice sighed, "So, I have two and half months of being the 8th member until my debt is clear?"
"Yes" Saki answered, "Of course, you're welcome to stay beyond that if you wish."
"..." Alice frowned, "I really want to move on, undeath isn't something I desire. Surely you can understand, right?"
"Initially, yeah" Saki shrugged, "But I have a dream to achieve before I call it quits and that's to dominate Japan. We're not there yet, so I continue on with this existence."
"I see" Alice mumbled, "God, I really can nimble on something right now."
"Yo! Catch!" another female voice said, "This is for waking me awhile ago."
"Thanks and you're welcome, Tae!" Alice said, "Ah, my favorite brand of jerky. I wonder how she knew that."
"Tae was a chef in life" the voice of Sakura answered, "She has this keen ability to correctly predict a person's favorite foods."
"Huh" Alice mumbled.
"It's good to see you, Alice" a soften spoken voice said.
"Ah, Junko right?" Alice said while standing up, "In life, you're were the Japanese Queen of Pop if I recall."
"Postmortem, but yes" Junko bowed.
"Good Evening" Yugiri said, "I see you're adjusting well."
"As a spirit medium, being undead isn't unexpected" Alice shrugged.
"Is there really a high possibility for spirit mediums to become undead?" Ai skeptically asked.
"Well, I am currently a zombie. If I had regrets in life I would become a wandering spirit and finally, turning a medium into a bloodsucker is a feat of power in vampire culture" Alice listed off.
"Sheesh, and I thought I had it rough" Saki mused.
"I would never become a wandering spirit, I had no regrets in life. Being a zombie would only work if I allowed it, since my body would have been cremated otherwise. So only becoming a vampire was a real risk" Alice countered.
"Ah, so Zombie 8 is awake!" Kotaro exclaimed.
"Zombie 8? It's not a secret that we are zombies" Alice nonchalantly pointed out.
"And who's fault is that, hmm?" Kotaro said while getting into her face, "The amount of damage you caused was huge, you know."
"I'm here, of course I know my mistake" Alice brushed off.
"Hrmmph" Kotaro turned around, "Well, we need to get you up to date. All I got on you was that you won a few karaoke contests, so you will need to show me your limits. Okay, chop chop and head to the studio."
"Alright, you don't need to be so pushy" Alice waved before heading to the studio. As everyone walked in, Alice separated herself on the dance floor.
"Altight, Go, Go, GO!" Kotaro pushed.
"Eh?" Alice nearly face-vaulted, "No instructions first?"
"I want to see everything at once. Just let your instincts guide you" Kotaro encouraged.
"Sigh, here goes nothing" Alice said while closing her eyes. There was brief moment of silence before she started moving...in an odd way.
"Huh? What is she doing?" Sakura pondered.
"I'm not sure, but it looks rather...zombie like" Saki said.
"An odd form of dancing" Yugiri interjected.
"Wait...I recognize these movements" Ai snapped, "This is a routine from a hit 80's song."
"Yes...the-" Kotaro began to say before Alice turned around and began to sing.
"'Cause this is Thriller, thriller night" Alice sang.
"No way..." Tae muttered.
"Why this does she sound like an American Pop idol?" Junko tilted her head.
"Because she's singing Thriller from Micheal Jackson" Ai answered, "And really well too, even with the obvious female vocal chords."
"Thriller?" Lily asked.
"It's the title song of his most legendary album" Kotaro answered, "Now I know why she was good at karaoke..."
The group watched in awe as Alice performed the song wonderfully. However, she immediately collapsed once she was finish.
"Alice!" Sakura screamed as she made her way to the fallen dead girl.
"She's fine, naive gal" Saki said while putting her hand on Sakura's shoulder, "She's just asleep."
"Exhaustion?" Junko and Ai said in unison.
"But how does a zombie get exhausted that easily?" Lily asked.
"From what she told us, she had low stamina due to her heart problems" Yugiri explained, "It's why she ultimately was shot and killed with such ease."
"That's rough" Tae said.
"...Well, it looks like I need to invent zombie cardiac exercises for her" Kotaro said with a smile, "Can't have her collapsing on stage."
"Zombie cardiac exercises?" everyone asked in unison. Kotaro was already gone before he could answer.
"Even with a setback such as that, I'm really impressed" Ai admitted.
"Her voice is amazing" Junko stated.
"She will fit right in" Saki answered.
"Lily is a bit jealous" Lily said.
"She brings the needed deep tones we lack" Sakura noted, "Our production will be more dynamic."
"Yet she's only here until her debt is paid" Yugiri reminded.
"Yeah" Tae nodded, "I can't blame her. But maybe she will change her mind the future."
"Well, we mustn't push her" Yugiri said, "Anyway, we should probably practice as well. We got a concert next week."
"Yes" everyone else agreed.
And thus began the legend of Franchouchou's newest member.
A/N: Gosh, I keep writing new stuff.