3 / So Metal World

Another day, another concert.

So much not death metal.

For a pair of metalheads, coming to these girly concerts would have been a sin but not when Franchouchou was involved. Sure, they had pulled the wool over their eyes but it had all been worth it. That rap battle had all been worth it and they hadn't been disappointed since.

"I can't believe Zero went all crazy on that chicken man, man," came chubby Sato, grinning from ear to ear as he looked at the video he had taken of the event on his phone. "Is it like some inside joke because of that commercial?"

Kanuka, tall and skinny, shrugged with a grin. "Probably. Gotta hand it to them, though. Number One's reaction was the best! Did you see how quickly she moved!? Damn! That was so metal!"

Sato nodded with a big laugh.

Of course he had seen it all. As soon as the chicken man appeared, Zero's eyes seemed to glow before she jumped on him and the chase began. One was the only girl that reacted fast enough, literally jumping over the table with the merchandise to give chase with Two hot on her heels.

He had taken video of the whole event, had even heard some cheering from the fans as the chase was on.

"Man, when Zero goes all out, she goes all out!"

Kanuka nodded. "Well, she is kinda brutal...maybe that's her schtick."

That made sense. Zero almost seemed to act standoffish whenever there was meet-and-greets and photo ops. Maybe it was an idol thing?

"Heh, it's a damn weird one, though...but I'm not complaining! She's amazing...right after Two, of course!" Sato's eyes seemed to sparkle as he said that, making Kanuka roll his eyes.

"She's probably not interested, man. And besides, she's too young for you."

"You can admire someone without it being love, man!" Sato replied smiling. "Besides, I know she's out of anyone's league, anyway…" Kanuka sighed.

"Whatever, man."

"Anyway, when you think they're releasing their CD, eh? I'm itching to hear some good songs in my car," Sato said, scratching his head. "Or at least in the comfort of my home."

"Probably next year...I'm itching to hear that rap battle again."

Sato nodded, grinning from ear to ear.

How could they forget that second performance? The one where they did the magic tricks and One and Two duked it out in a rap. They still couldn't make heads or tails of the zombie storyline they were using before, but it didn't matter. That rap had been epic. It was too bad no one had recorded that one. Sato blamed himself the most, though. He knew the old folks wouldn't have bothered and by the time it got good, Sato had been too late to record. Even Kanuka had been disappointed.

Well, they'll just have to be patient.

Franchouchou had surprised them before after all. Now, all they had to do was wait and see.

/…..

Reiko had never really been a fan of idols.

Growing up, she thought they were a waste of time. She preferred the open roads and wind blowing through her hair as she rode with her gang, Dorami.

The gang had been her life, her family. And then, stupid Saki Nikaido had to fly off of a cliff and die. That's when Dorami truly broke apart. Reiko supposed that she should have seen it coming. Saki had had charisma and guts and that was all it took to keep the group from eating each other when it got rough to run their territory, not unlike that other gang they dragged out of Kyushu during their early years as Dorami. But now, Dorami was gone. Korosuke was one of the few biker gangs that still operated in the area and if her daughter had actually gone through with it all, Dorami would still be around. Well, Dorami was still around, in name only at least, because of the crazy stunt pulled by an idol. An idol of all people.

Reiko still couldn't understand it all.

Needless to say, she had become a fan. It was weird, really.

Two had saved her daughter's life by risking her own and that had been enough for Reiko.

Franchouchou were an odd group of girls. Numbered zero to six, the girls had just appeared out of nowhere to take Saga by storm. That had been what Maria had told her once, after reading that article by some Shinta Okoba.

Now, the two of them were coming home from a small concert that had been held near Drive-In Tori of all places.

It wasn't like Reiko had not seen the commercial. Her husband had tried not to laugh during the whole Kokko-kun scene were one of the girls bit the costumed man's behind. Reiko had just given her husband a look despite the growing smile forming on her face.

Seeing the commercial a second time, however, had brought back a bit of bittersweet memories.

It reminded her of the old days, how she and her girls would go to Drive-In Tori to catch a meal. Saki always had a big grin on her face as she sat down to eat. Reiko was sure she would have laughed her head off had she seen that silly commercial.

(but Saki was gone and only her memories remained)

"...that girl's brutal as always," Maria muttered as she and Reiko stepped inside their modest home.

Reiko chuckled. "I suppose so."

"Keh! I didn't even get to meet up with Two again…"

Maria had been looking forward to talking to Two again; she had missed the last meet-and-greet a few weeks ago and she figured the Drive-In Tori concert will be a perfect opportunity to meet up with her and just talk.

Unfortunately, the stunt with Kokko-kun had put an end to that.

One, Two and Zero had to, quite literally, put everything on hold. That girl, One, had even jumped over the table when Zero began chasing the guy in the chicken suit, followed closely by Two, who had just run after them, no jumping necessary.

What had ensued was the most humorous thing Reiko had seen in awhile, even the few girls from Korosuke she had seen in the crowd had been laughing and cheering them on. Misa had been there as well, nodding respectfully Reiko's way before laughing at the antics of the three girls and the chicken.

After a while, as the other girls (minus Four, who was the shy one of the group), continued on with greeting their fans, the other two girls had managed to catch up to Zero and while One held her down and said a few words, Two had let out a sigh and grinned at the crowd as she waved to their cheers. Kokko-kun had fled towards the Drive-In Tori, trailing behind a few feathers as the crowd cheered and laughed. At that time, however, the man in sunglasses, their manager Reiko presumed, had explained that the girls had to leave in fifteen minutes and so, Reiko and Maria had missed their chance to talk to Two, despite making the line.

"There's always next time," Reiko told her.

"I guess…"

Reiko patted her daughter's shoulder and told her that she'll get started on dinner.

She was itching for some chicken herself.

/…..

Takeo Go was home alone, smiling at the video that played on the laptop in his lap.

His job had kept him from attending Franchouchou's latest mini concert but he was thankful that fans had recorded the show for those that couldn't attend.

The concert had taken place in Imari, right there in the local Drive-In Tori.

Drive-In Tori's parking lot had been used during the event; the girls singing and dancing on top of a makeshift stage overlooking the trees behind them.

Takeo recognized most of the songs the girls were singing. He had heard them many times before during the previous concerts he had managed to attend. The girls had even sang one of the songs they had sang in Arpino.

(a few comments expressed relief that the stage hadn't fallen down this time)

It was too bad they didn't sing his favorite song, the one that had Six in the center. He guessed with such a small event, the girls had to prioritise which songs they would sing before moving to the meet-and-greet. Such a shame really.

Even if they didn't sing his favorite song, he still enjoyed their music.

He laughed when the scene at the meet-and-greet started. The chicken man, Drive-In Tori's mascot, Takeo guessed, appeared and the chase began. One of the girls almost jumped at him, while two members of the group ran after her. The chase was at least five minutes long, the cheers and laughs of the crowd the only music he could hear. But then, his smile vanished, a sob forming on his lips as the camera panned towards the remaining girls near the tables; Five had a hand on her cheek and was smiling, Three was shaking her head in exasperation, Four was hiding behind the stage blinking and Six...oh, Six.

He knew Six was someone else. A girl that shared his daughter's face.

Takeo placed a hand on his face as he closed the computer, not even bothering to continue the video.

Would he always feel like this, he wondered.

Lily was dead and gone. And Six...and Six…

Takeo let out a laugh, tears spilling from his eyes as he turned to the shrine that held the photos of his wife and child. "Oh, Lily...Lily...forgive your foolish father…"

/…..

Aoi Mizuno was a successful woman.

There was no denying it.

At seven, she had decided to become a doctor, like her father and grandfather before her. Eleven years later, she had graduated with honors from high school before moving to medical school, where six years later, she'll officially graduated and achieved her lifelong dream. And in between it all, she had given birth to a beautiful daughter, who had dreams of her own.

But that daughter had been dead for almost eleven years now, burnt to a crisp by a freak bolt of lightning.

They called her the Legendary Ai Mizuno after that.

But Aoi had vehemently disagreed. That's not the kind of thing she had wanted for her daughter. Ai was more than the girl that died in the middle of a concert.

Her daughter had been a leader, had been determined, had achieved her dream of being an idol. Iron Frill had been at the forefront during the late 2000s and then Ai died and the only thing anyone would talk about was her death.

Aoi hated it all.

Ai's death had killed that spark in Aoi's heart.

For months, she lost herself in memories, lost herself in the past where fights and dreams had taken place: Ai's career, Aoi's disagreement, their stubborness, their arguments, making up and the storm. Eventually, Aoi picked herself again and continued on, trying to move forward while the world was stuck with it's legend.

They had stopped asking her about Ai years ago. Everyone remembered Ai but they forgot about Aoi.

Aoi had been living decently for the past eleven years; she still worked at the old clinic, still visited family during the holidays. Her life was stable.

But then, one day, right after New Year's, Aoi had come to the clinic and announced she would be leaving to open her own private practice in Saga. The decision had surprised her coworkers and bosses, but at the end of the day they had wished her good luck.

In truth, opening a clinic of her own had been a cover. She was too ashamed to admit the real reason she had been planning to move to Saga.

Aoi didn't want to admit she was chasing a ghost, a memory, a dream.

But the moment she had seen that article, she had wept.

She saw Ai. Ai happy. Ai smiling. Ai singing. Ai dancing.

Aoi knew it wasn't Ai, knew that girl wasn't her little girl but her face...

It wasn't Ai, it wasn't Ai, no matter how hard her heart wanted her to be. Ai was dead and forgotten. Ai was a legend.

But knowing that did not stop Aoi. Perhaps it was her curiosity, perhaps it was her broken heart, whatever it was, the woman had made her decision. By the end of the week she had finished packing, had said her goodbyes to former patients and coworkers, before taking the long drive to Saga.

Karatsu seemed like a good place for a clinic.

/…..

Franchouchou.

Originally called Death Musume and Green Face.

(seriously, who came up with those names anyway?)

The man eyed the old flyer on his hands, a cigar hanging on his lips; the flyer was an announcement for last year's Arpino show. According to the stories, Franchouchou had literally brought the house down, so to speak.

His blue eyes moved away from the flyer and scanned the other papers scattered on the desk before him.

They were printed articles of Franchouchou's shows. Articles about the haunting in a hot springs hotel. Some ripped pages from sensational newspapers and magazines detailing the so-called monster sightings of Karatsu, the walking dead, they called it. Beside the ripped pages was a printed page from a death metal blog, detailing Franchouchou's original appearance. This last one had part of the text circled with a red pen, a few question marks written beside it.

"Zombie storyline…?"

"...weird magic tricks…?"

The man's eyes turned back to the flyer in his hand. His eyes soften as he stares at the girl known as Number One, her smile frozen in place. After a while, the stranger shakes his head.

"...what the hell am I doing…?"