15 / Zombies Ate My Sister!

Sakura had gotten used to being a zombie a while back; she's not exactly sure when she just accepted the fact that she was a rotting, living corpse. It wasn't that night when she first woke up and ran away. It wasn't when she had run into that police officer and got shot for her troubles. It wasn't during that first performance, when the others were still brain dead. It also wasn't in the performances that came after. Sakura's not really sure when she came to accept the fact that this was normal.

She was an undead idol and that was that.

She was just an undead idol with a stab wound on her chest.

The last few days had been a real hassle for Sakura despite not being alive. Sure, had Sakura actually been alive, the situation would have been a lot worse but that didn't explain the pain, didn't explain the exhaustion her body was exhibiting despite being dead.

Sakura had been exhausted the first few days after the attack.

The first day, she had woken up at noon, Yugiri massaging her back gently as the courtesan leaned against Lily, who munched on some cereal, listening intently at a show in the radio. The others too, were seated nearby, surrounding her in a circle, eating their own snacks. Tae was surprisingly well-behaved as she ate but all that came to an end when she noticed that Sakura had woken up. After cleaning up the scattered cereal, snacks and dried squid later, the girls had told Sakura that she had slept all morning and most had been worried due to the fact that Sakura wasn't waking up.

Ai had figured it was something to do with her stab wound and how her body was reacting to it. The Heisei idol thought it would be better if she slept it off and maybe she would get better by tomorrow.

The next day, Sakura had just wanted to sleep the whole day away.

Their manager had approached them as Sakura slept and told them that due to unforeseen circumstances (Sakura getting stabbed), they'll be taking the week off. He had already made some calls and rescheduled other events.

Kotaro had made a lie up about one of the idols catching a cold and spreading it to the rest.

On the plus side, no one had come calling their way. It appeared that Kotaro and Saki's plan to make it looked like that weirdo had been mugged had worked. With any luck, he wouldn't remember stabbing Sakura...not that he wouldn't try to do something worse in the future but at least, this time, everyone knew who to avoid.

Sakura eventually did recover but the others, Yugiri especially, insisted that she take it easy for a few days.

By the end of the week, Sakura was fine and was practicing with the others to make up for lost time. They did take a lot of breaks, however but Sakura didn't really mind. Her friends were worried and Sakura would rather not worry them if her body decided to act up again. At least she was no longer as exhausted as before and the pain she had felt from her stab wound was but a memory.

They had a concert in just a couple of days and Sakura was feeling great.

Genji was not feeling so great.

He was outside, in the cold, a half finished cigarette dangling from his lips, tapping his foot on the pavement with irritation. Behind him, illuminated by the moon and streetlights was the local convention center. Franchouchou's concert was already underway inside.

Genji let out a breath, smoke escaping his nostrils, as he took out his cellphone and checked the time. 7:30 p.m. Heh. So much for being prepared. And he had been so determined to get in and get this all over with...only to run outside and start smoking.

He's already smoking his second cigarette and watching time slowly pass by.

What the hell was he doing?

Genji wasn't so sure anymore.

He had been determined when he got here, he had made the long line and was almost inside when he suddenly got cold feet and left. He hid behind a streetlight and after a while, took out his first cigarette and smoked it away.

Genji was just wasting time at this point and even after days of mulling it over, going over through different scenarios in his head, he still didn't know what he'll do.

(dead was dead, Sakura was dead)

The young man sighed; more smoke, more time wasted.

7:35.

Genji put his phone away and threw his cigarette to the ground, quickly stepping on it to put the embers out. He let out a bit of smoke and glared at the building. He sighed and took out the flyer of the girl with the frozen smile. That same girl was also inside the building, singing, smiling, living…not dead.

He passed a hand over his hair, smoothing it over. He looked at the smiling girl on the flyer. Her smile wasn't all there now. The paper had wrinkles all over, white lines crossing over every face, even hers. Colors were already fading and soon enough, that smiling girl's eyes wouldn't look the same.

Genji kept staring at the flyer, glancing a few times at the building, taking out his phone with his other hand and checking the time.

7:45.

His eyes stared at the smiling girl on the flyer. Blue eyes like his, smile like hers. She was so close...why was he taking so long?

7:50.

...what did he want?

Genji took a deep breath, crumpled the flyer slowly, making sure to form it into a neat ball and he began walking towards the building. He uncrumpled the flyer once and crumpled it up again once he got in.

He heard the crowd and their cries...and then, he heard her voice. It was mixed up with the others but he could clearly hear it. It was familiar, it was...hers.

Genji threw the flyer to the nearest trash can and kept walking.

/…..

Sakura had spotted the stranger right as they were finishing their last song. She had almost messed up her part when she took notice of the young man hiding in the crowd.

Luckily, the crowd had not caught up to her mistake but the others had, with Yugiri sending her a worried look as the music stopped behind them.

The young man had disappeared into the crowd as the cheering began.

Sakura had tried looking for him, glancing around, trying to find the stranger that looked so familiar but he was gone.

Once backstage, Saki and Yugiri took her aside and asked her, worried, if her wound was acting up and if she needed to rest. Sakura had just shaken her head, smiled and told them that she was fine.

"Are you sure, Egghead?"

"Yes! I'm fine! I just thought…but...nevermind...I'm fine."

"Alright, then...if there's trouble you let me or big sis know, okay?"

Sakura nodded again, assuring them that she was fine before going to help the others get the merchandise ready for the meet-and-greet.

Saki and Yugiri watched her go, both frowning. "...she doesn't look sick to ya?"

The courtesan shook her head. "That was not it, Lady Saki."

"You think she thought she saw that creeper around…?"

"Perhaps."

Saki sighed. "Well, let's just keep ourselves on alert...in case it's another one…"

/…..

Genji stood as far away as possible, hiding behind the crowd as the girls and a few of the organizers prepared the tables and placed the merchandise neatly on top. That man with the sunglasses was speaking into a microphone, telling people this and that and the line starts here and over there. Genji didn't really care. He wasn't paying attention.

The young man was looking at the girl with the dark pink hair and blue eyes; the girl that looked so much like Sakura, the sister who was dead.

One was her name. That's what everyone called her.

(what kind of name was that, anyway?)

Genji hadn't bothered to learn which girl was which. He only knew that One looked like Sakura and that the others were numbered zero to six.

At first, he had thought the the nicknames were weird, thought in the spur of the moment and suddenly they were idols. His second thought was that they were stupid. Well, Genji had heard worse.

One's line was already crowded, as with the other girls (minus Four, who was the shy one); her line had schoolgirls and boys, older men and a few older women and a few grandpas here and there. He also noticed the oddly dressed pair right in the front. Those two looked more at home in a metal concert than in an idol one. Both were talking excitedly as they made the line, making gestures here and there. Genji looked away for a moment to stare at One.

One was shaking hands and smiling, a few fans taking selfies with her as they moved to the other lines and began the process again and again.

Genji watch this repeat a few times. Smile, picture. Picture, autograph, smile. He closed his eyes. Damn it.

(her smile was the same even so far away)

How long had it been since the two siblings had taken a picture together? Had it been more than a decade? Maybe longer?

(it hurt)

Genji opened his eyes again and stared. The two men with the odd clothes were now talking with One, shaking hands and smiling. That chubby fellow was making a lot of gestures, laughing along with a blushing One as the tall one just shook his head with a strange sort of exasperation. Eventually, they left, waving to One as they did so. The two went their separate ways, the chubby one joining Two's line while the tall one went to Three's.

One already had a big smile in place to greet the next person.

(same smile, same face, dead girl)

/…..

Sakura's been trying to find the familiar man for almost half an hour but she just can't seem to find him.

She meets fan after fan, glances around the room once, and smiles but she can't find him. It's as if he has disappeared into thin air. Sakura almost wonders if it's her mind that's playing tricks on her.

Still, she tries to keep herself composed and happy for the fans. She smiles, she listens to their stories, listens to their compliments, takes some pictures. But she's looking around, looking and not finding.

Was he there? Or was he nowhere?

Yugiri's been staring at her once or twice; she's as busy as the others but she still manages to make time to worry.

Sakura knows she's looking her way, knows she's still worried. Heck, she probably thinks the others are worried, too, but for other reasons. Their leader is also trying to be discreet of her looking about. She probably thinks that Sakura saw that crazy stalker fellow again and is keeping an eye out.

But it's a ghost that Sakura sees. Well, he's not dead...at least, Sakura hopes not.

She still can't see him and after an hour and a half of looking around, she gives up.

A new pair of fans show up. Sakura recognizes them. They are the schoolgirls that complimented her smile during that time when her memories had messed up and the past came back to haunt her.

One of them passed her a piece of paper, telling her that a fan of hers at the end of the line was super shy and asked them to give her a message.

Sakura smiles as she takes the folded paper, thanking them as she unfolds it and takes a look. Her eyes widen, her smile freezes in place. She reads the message once, twice, in her head, wondering if her brain's playing tricks on her again. Then, she's looking up, away from the two girls, away from everyone.

There, on the very back, waving shyly, she sees her ghost.

/…..

Half an hour later, the line's still as long as ever.

Genji hides.

He's noticed that One has been glancing around the room, as if looking for someone. The young man is not sure why he's suddenly feeling nervous again. One's probably looking for a friend. A fan, maybe? Boyfriend? That's happened before, right?

A part of him thinks that One's probably looking for him but that's just stupid. They've never met. Maybe she can tell he's hiding and is just keeping an eye out just in case he's dangerous. Genji wouldn't blame her for that last one. Being idols, they might already have one or two obsessive fans of their own.

Even so, he knows he can't stay hidden forever. Eventually, the crowd will get smaller and he won't be able to hide any longer.

Genji's suddenly twitching.

This was a bad idea.

Bad, bad.

What the hell was he going to do?

He just couldn't keep hiding. It was now or never. Hadn't he told himself he'll have that talk? Hadn't he told himself he wouldn't run away?

Sakura was dead and he just wanted answers.

Genji didn't know what he was running away from.

He already had run away from that talk with his father, running away again wouldn't matter much in the end.

But Genji couldn't get his feet moving. They were stuck. Stuck in place, stuck with this questions.

Genji took a deep breath and moved. He kept to the corner, watching as One and the others greeted and talked to their fans and took pictures and smiled. He watched One for a bit before turning away. Genji took out his phone and looked at the time. It was almost nine. The meet-and-greet was set to end at 9:30 and then, she'll be gone.

He didn't know what to do.

The line was getting smaller, the crowd was dispersing, fans were leaving.

He took a deep breath and took out a piece of paper and a pen. He looked back at One and at the line of people.

It was now or never.

/…..

Sakura didn't even wait as Kotaro informed the reminding crowd that the meet-and-greet was over before leaving her place, ignoring the worried stares that the rest of the girls were sending her. Junko met her backstage but Sakura just mumbled that she'll be back and was gone before the Showa idol could ask her more.

By the time the others were backstage, Sakura was nowhere to be found. It didn't take long to find her, however.

The girls and Kotaro found her outside, in the parking lot, sitting side by side with an unfamiliar young man with a cigarette in his mouth.

Sakura spots him outside, in the parking lot, sitting on a bench. He's alone, smoking a cigarette and looking to the side. He hasn't noticed her yet.

Sakura, for her part, stays in place and watches him.

He's so tall. If he had been just a bit taller, he would be almost the same height as the old man. His hair is the same shade of brown, neatly combed back like always. His eyes, blue like hers, stared into the darkness of the parking lot, the only light surrounding him being his lit cigarette and that streetlight hiding behind the bench.

Sakura made a face as she took notice of the cigarette and shook her head before walking towards the bench. She stopped, once, glancing behind her, wondering if any of the girls would try to stop her. Wondering if Kotaro was going to show up out of nowhere and pull her away. When no one did, she kept on walking.

The young man didn't acknowledge her as she took a seat next to him. They stayed there, sitting together quietly, as the young man took a quick breath, smoke surrounding him like a cloud on a rainy day. Sakura glanced his way and her frown deepened.

"Smoking's bad for you…"

He stares at her now, cigarette between his fingers, smoke scattering with the wind. They stare at each other for a bit before the young man turns to stare at the parking lot again. Sakura notices the slight twitch in his cheeks, the way the cigarette shakes as he holds it. Sakura's hands are shaking too, her breathing is a little too fast. She's nervous but she's already here.

"Heh…" the young man says in a voice she can no longer recognize. "You wouldn't be the first to tell me that…" He moves his shaking fingers towards his mouth and he breaths in and then out. More smoke.

"It really is bad for you…" she tells him, worry itching her throat.

"It's calming," he answers.

Sakura's seen Yugiri smoking a few times but the courtesan was born during a time where that wasn't such a bad thing. She had been smoking a lot the first few days after she woke up along with the others.

(had she been nervous, too?)

"What are you doing here?" he asks her, blue eyes staring at her own, cigarette hanging by shaky fingers.

Sakura stares at him once before she looks down, unsure of what to say but it only lasts a second. "...that was your note, wasn't it?" The young man looks away. After a while, Sakura asks, "Who did you think I was?"

"Who do you think I am?" he counters, smirking slightly despite the pleading look in his eyes. Sakura gives him a glare in return and his smile widens. "Who are you?"

Sakura's stare softens and she turns away. She stares at the empty parking lot. There's few cars and even fewer people on this side. The van is parked on the other side, close to the entrance of the convention center. There's more cars parked in the front. Kotaro figured they would be safe if something were to happen again.

Sakura sighs and stares back at the boy whose too tall for her now. "...Sherry."

"Ah…"

"And you're Genji...Kurosawa Genji."

The young man, Genji, suddenly nods, as if pleased by something despite his still shaking fingers and twitching cheeks. His blue eyes shine as if he wants to cry but instead he puts the cigarette back in his mouth and lets out a bit of smoke from his nostrils. He turns to stare at the parking lot.

"Sherry's dead, you know…been dead for a while now," he tells her, shaking his head. Sakura wants to cry, to hold him but she can't afford the makeup to wash out, not here, not in front of him. "And yet, here she is...so, the question is...what's she doing talking to me?"

"Genji…"

"No. I'm serious...I was the jerk and still she came here to talk." A small tear manages to escape him and he wipes it away but it's too late. Sakura's already seen it. "She's dead and she's talking to me." Sakura moves closer, a hand already moving to grab his shoulder...he's so young, she's younger and dead and he…

"...Genji...Iー"

"Hey! You little punk!"

Sakura jumps when she hears the familiar scream. Genji barely reacts, still smoking as he glances at Kotaro and the rest of Franchouchou. Kotaro has his arms crossed over his chest and the other girls are staring at Sakura, unsure of what to think. Yugiri seems to be the only one that truly sees what's going. She's staring at Genji with a stern look, trying to gauge him, trying to figure him out.

Genji stands up from the bench, throws his cigarette to the ground before he stomps it out. He and Sakura stand side by side as Kotaro approaches them. The man's trying to be intimidating but he's failing miserably.

Genji wasn't one to get scared so easily and Sakura knew it.

(but she hadn't seen him in years...who knows how he'll react now?)

"What's your game, eh!?" Kotaro cries, shaking his head at Sakura before turning to the young man. "Trying to spoil a sweet young girl with your seductive ways, eh!? EH!?" Sakura gives Kotaro an exasperated look while Genji just raises an eyebrow at him, confused for a minute before pointing a finger and turning to Sakura.

"Who the hell is he?"

"He's...he's myー"

"Hey! Hey!" Kotaro interrupts, getting closer. Behind him, the girls are still with Saki and Ai holding Tae back. The older woman is growling at the young man, probably being reminded of the guy that hurt Sakura a week back and figuring that new stranger was planning to hurt her again, too. "Talking to the idols is strictly forbidden!"

Sakura just gives him another exasperated look while Genji's face turns into a scowl. "I wasn't talking to you."

"So what, you idiot!? You can't talk to her! It's notー" Before anyone has a chance to react, Genji's fist meets Kotaro's face, surprising the man and sending him to the ground.

"Genji!"

But Genji isn't listening. He's grabbing Kotaro and pulling him up by the collar so they're face to face. Saki tries to help their manager but Sakura gets in her way, shaking her head. She turns to the young man and pleads, "Genji! Please! Please! Don't hurt him!"

"Hurt him!? I'm not going to hurt him! I'm gonna kill him! Big difference!"

The other girls immediately try to jump him but Sakura gets in their way, stopping them before they can get close with surprising strength.

"Egghead! What the fuck!?"

"What are you doing!? He's going to kill the idiot!" Ai cries, glaring. Junko and Lily, for their part, try to push Sakura back to no avail.

"He's not! Genji! Please, please! Let him go! Now!"

"Why should I!?"

"Because I'm asking you, please! Do this for me!"

Tae escapes Sakura's grip but she's held back by Yugiri. The woman growls at the courtesan to let go but she doesn't budge. Saki groans when she notices that Yugiri has taken Sakura's side on this weird situation. "Sis! Really!?"

"Yugirin! What are you doing!?"

But Yugiri doesn't budge, she just stares at Sakura and mouths, 'Stop him'.

"Genji!"

"Okay, you bastard!" Genji cries out, glaring, face to face with Kotaro. Kotaro doesn't even flinch. He seems to have realized the same thing that Yugiri has and is more than willing to accept his punishment. Sakura's suddenly by Genji's side, she's holding one of his arms back, trying to get him to stop.

"Genji, Genji! Please let go of him!"

"Not until he explains what's going on!"

Kotaro is silent for a bit, his cheeks already red and sore. He's sighing. He's figured it out. "I'm sorry."

"You better fucking be! What the hell did you do to my sister!?"

That stops the other girls cold, even the ravenous Tae is frozen. They all stare at Genji.

It takes them a bit to process what has just happened and even longer to realize what this all means. But they already know. They've been found out and there was no going back now.