36 / The Living, the Dead and the Beginning of the End

Getting caught had been the last thing on Saki's mind until recently.

For the ex-biker, it had never been a matter of how but of when they'll get caught. Sure, she had been a little bit concerned when Lily's old man had showed up, and when Reiko's kid showed up...well, she had stopped worrying about discovery days ago. Hell, Saki figured, why should she be worried? Hadn't Reiko bought her little lie? Hadn't Takeo been willing to believe Lily was just a look-alike despite being the real deal?

But now, Reiko's here and so is Lily's old man and Ai's mom is hanging around here, too. It's surreal. Saki wants to pinch herself and check if this isn't some sort of convoluted dream, like the kinds you'll get when you were kind of dying or falling off of a cliff like a fearless idiot.

(and Maria had almost played the fearless idiot...and Saki...thinking back on it now, it certainly had put things in perspective…)

It wasn't fair, really.

They had gotten caught so easily too.

Months back, Saki had played dumb and had gotten away with it and Lily's identity had been kept under wraps, so no problems there but now there was a new person they couldn't account for that had destroyed their little lie and shattered the illusion of the living like a brick to a house of glass.

Ai didn't really talk much about her mother.

It was a sort of silent agreement between them all. The girls didn't talk about the past. At least, not much. A few snippets here and there but that was it. Nothing about where they grew up, their school, their friends, nothing. The past was something they couldn't go back to anymore and the girls were fine with that.

But the past was hard to avoid when you were always running away from it.

Now, Reiko was here, along with Takeo and Ai's mom and this rando that seemed to have come out of the woodwork for some reason or the other.

Yugiri had whispered on the ride back home as she held Lily close that she could have sworn she had seen the man in one of their events. He was always with another young man who kept taking pictures.

Sakura immediately realized that guy was a reporter but…

"What does he want…?"

"...he probably noticed our similarities...or rather...noticed the truth about our appearance…" Ai had whispered back, tears shining in her eyes. "He...he probably told them…"

Made sense.

It would explain why Reiko was with Takeo and Ai's mom. That bastard's probably the one that ties all this nonsense together.

"Fuck."

Pretty much.

Saki's stuck. Lily's stuck. Ai's stuck.

They can't hide anymore.

But Saki's worried.

She's not like Lily and Ai. Not like Sakura. She's a bit like the unknown Tae, disco Junko and majestic Yugiri. She's got no one. Besides Reiko, Saki's pretty sure her old folks are either too old to care or dead. The ex-biker certainly wouldn't care if Reiko rejects herー

ーbut that's a lie. Saki would care. Saki would...fuck it all.

This wasn't supposed to happen.

/…..

Sakura's the one that's staying behind to meet with the adults; she's probably the only one with a clear head at the moment, not counting Yugiri, and Junko, and maybe Saki...maybe even Tae at this point if Ai is being honest.

But Yugiri's busy with Lily and Junko is busy with her, Tae is Tae, and Saki's just too rough around the edges to be seen as comforting.

Ai knows it's rather unfair to give Sakura quite the responsibility but Ai knows that if she goes out there and sees her mother again, she might just break. And she knows Lily's probably the same as her. As for Saki, well, she didn't really put her foot down when Sakura suggested the idea.

Sakura is friendlier than Ai, calmer than Saki, not as shy as Junko, not as childish as Lily, and a little bit more understanding than Yugiri (but only because the courtesan is from an entirely different era with different values and beliefs). And Sakura's not scared at all. She's not scared of the rejection that looms over Ai, Lily and Saki; she's not scared of the future, not scared of the consequences that this truth might bring.

Ai can't help but feel a little jealous.

Genji was willing, no, he had accepted Sakura almost immediately, no questions asked.

The girl is jealous of that kind of understanding. She may not really know much about Sakura's relationship with her brother when she was alive but she knows enough to see that Genji doesn't care that she's a rotting corpse. He may hate Tatsumi but he cares about his sister.

Ai doesn't want the future to pass, she's scared, she'sーJunko's holding her hand, there's tears shining in her eyes, and she's nodding her head as she stares at Ai's own.

(everyone's scared, everyone's scared…)

/…..

Okoba stops that scream that's stuck in his throat; besides him, Aoi seems about to faint (Three's eyes widen a bit and she almost moves to catch her but stops herself upon noticing Reiko's firm grip on the doctor's arm, Minamoto is standing next to her, anxious, but doesn't move), Reiko's eyes are firm but she's breathing in and out fast, and Takeo looks about ready to explode. The reporter can barely make out Genji Kurosawa behind them, head shaking calmly as if he had expected their reaction.

(what had been his reaction, Okoba wonders)

Ai (because that's Ai, not Three, but the real, dead Ai Mizuno) walks in front of the group, eyes glued to the floor, fists clenched to the side, bandages all over, hiding the rotting, burning flesh, speaks up, "T-this is...the truth…" Behind her, Nikaido is crossing her arms, the scars and bandages, Okoba sees them well. There's also Konno, looking rather sad, her body looking like a crudely put together jigsaw puzzle. Hoshikawa, her heart too big for her chest, is looking at everything else but her father. And Yugiri, the beautiful corpse whose head seemed stitched to her body (she's calm, constantly exchanging glances with Minamoto, who's hiding nearby). Finally, Zero looks like the odd one out, her bandages never hidden, now for all the world to see.

The silence is deafening but no one is making a move.

Okoba's already letting his mind do the work.

Zombies, death...idols, everything seems to be doing circles in his head, breaking apart reality.

He can see his nightmares vividly; there's Minamoto with her broken head, Saki with her broken bike, Ai with the lightning, Junko with the plane, Lily with her heart, Yugiri out of time, Zero the unknown.

Everything's breaking apart around them, everything'sー

And then, Aoi just rushes towards her daughter, and hugs her tight, not willing to let go.

It's been a couple of hours since their friends left.

Lily, Ai, Junko and Saki are gone but not permanently, of course. Saki's probably going to come back in a day or two, after having her talk with Reiko. Ai and Junko are sticking together, and Lily's with her father.

Only Sakura, Tae and herself remain; Kotaro, for his part, has hidden himself in his room, not willing to come out, even as the girls left.

He had hidden himself as Aoi and Reiko and Takeo demanded explanations; the girls told them the best they could, about being idols to save Saga from obscurity, not bothering to mention Kotaro's outrageous behavior and weird expectations.

After that, everything felt like a blur; Aoi and takeo wanted to take their daughters home, death be damned, and Reiko wanting to talk with Saki, and Junko, well, Ai wasn't willing to leave Junko behind and likewise, neither was Junko. Ai's mother was kind enough to take her in, too. And now, they were gone, with a promise of coming back at a later date.

Sakura and her brother had seen them off, with Okoba staying behind as the adults left, Lily's father taking a ride with Reiko and Saki.

From a distance, Yugiri had seen Sakura shake her head at Okoba, words so distant the courtesan could barely make out.

The reporter was telling her something, something about her father, telling her where he worked and if she'll want toーbut Sakura's already shaking her head, begging him not to tell her father.

Yugiri, at first, was a little surprised at that.

Perhaps that fear that had been eating at Lily and the other girls had begun to bother Sakura as well, but Yugiri knew that wasn't really true.

Sakura had revealed herself to her brother almost immediately, had taken the initiative and just acted. No, this was different.

Her friend is obviously worried about something only she knows, and if her brother had told her anything about how their parents were doing, there was a slight possibility that her revealing their undead status might break that calm. But Yugiri knows that's one reason, the other, is hiding somewhere in this house, alone in the darkness.

Renoir himself has been keeping an eye on him, but he's been locked out, but he's pretty sure he got rid of all the bottles the older man had hidden inside.

Everyone just hopes he won't do anything stupid.

In her line of work, Yugiri was meant to please the world around her with her body or alcohol. Many good men (and women) had left this world too soon due to the joys of drinking.

But Yugiri understands why the alcohol would be so appealing to Kotaro right now. As it stands, Franchouchou is finished. His Zombieland Saga Project has hit the rocks and there's no telling if things will go the way they were before. He was too passionate for his own good, and now, that passion has hit a wall and taken him with it.

Yugiri knows that Franchouchou is far from done, but she's not so sure about what the future might bring, she only hopes it won't come crashing down upon those that remain in this house.

A/N: Finally...but it's not over yet! There's gonna be a lot of flashback chapters for a bit until we hit the next problem or two...there's definitely two or three problems coming, but that's all you guys are getting as a spoiler for now.

Hope everyone's taking care of themselves out there! See you next chapter! (hopefully I won't take too long with that one)