16 / Another Bucketful of Rain

Sakura pulled unto her brother's arm, trying, in vain, to get him away from Kotaro. Genji, taller, older, stronger, kept his hold firm on Kotaro's collar, barely feeling as his sister tried to push him back. That strength that Sakura had summoned to keep the girls at bay was failing her. Kotaro, held in place by Genji's rough grip, stared at the young man, face passive. There was no mocking voice, no screaming, no silly gestures. There was only cold acceptance of the beating that was to come.

The rest of Franchouchou watched the scene with strange fascination. Saki had tried to push Yugiri back once or twice but the courtesan had held firm. Ai, too, had tried to circle around the older woman but Junko, worried for her partner's safety, held her back. Tae kept on growling but she didn't move. Lily hid behind Junko, holding unto the older girl's shirt, flinching slightly at the red in Kotaro's cheek.

Genji was raising his arm again. He was glaring, he was angry and for what, he didn't know. He just knew that this guy was responsible and he was going to break his nose.

Sakura tried to pull him back again but the arm was already raising, it was up, it was about to fall any second now...so, in a moment of panic and worry, Sakura bit unto her little brother's arm. Hard.

Her brother let out a loud yelp, unable to comprehend what had just happened. While he was distracted, Sakura moved quickly, using her hands to untangle Genji's finger's from Kotaro's collar, forcing her brother to let go of the older man. Sakura moved back, a hand over her mouth.

Genji doesn't bother trying to grab Kotaro as he quickly massages his arm. That bite had hurt! The young man turned to stare at his sister, a bewildered look on his face. "Did...did you just bite me?" He flinches slightly at the stare Sakura gives him; her pretty blue eyes were suddenly lifeless and cold. Don't argue with me, the eyes seemed to tell him.

Sakura muttered an apology to Kotaro, who was just lying there, and pulled Genji away, as far away as she could from her friends and her crazy manager. She had glanced back once, expression firm, and then shook her head before turning her attention towards her younger brother, who was still rubbing his arm.

"What the heck was that!?" Sakura asked him, hands on her hips. "Why did you hit him?"

And Genji can't really respond. The moment that guy had showed up with his hysterics, Genji hadn't really thought things through. He just knew he was involved somehow and he deserved to be punched in his pretty little face.

"Well?"

Sakura's still there, waiting, eyes cold, frown on her face.

It's almost like Genji's talking to a ghost.

Sakura looks exactly the same; dark pink hair, blue eyes, same ribbon.

That polka-dot ribbon had always been her favorite. The old man had given it to her on her seventh birthday, back when their parents were still together. He had been three and Sakura, smiling brightly, had let him tug on that strange little thing that their mother had tied neatly to her hair. Sakura had worn it every day since.

She wore it to school, she wore it in the house…

...she wore it that day when the truck had cracked her head open, too.

"I...you…" Genji bit his lip but that didn't stop the few tears from falling. Sakura's expression softened. Her cold, dead stare was gone.

"Genji…"

"You're dead…" he says weakly, as he places a hand over his face, hiding his tears. "...you're dead." He shakes his head and he pulls his hand away from his face so his swollen red, blue eyes are staring at Sakura's own. "He...did he do this…? Is this why…?"

Sakura sighs. "He did...at least, that's what he says…" Genji dries his tears, sniffing. "Genji...look…I…" Sakura takes a deep breath. "...Tomorrow…" Her brother sniffs again, a few tears fall down his cheeks. Sakura smiles sadly. Genji wants to cry out but he doesn't dare. He doesn't want his weakness to show in front of those strangers (probably dead girls, too). "...tomorrow..as early as you can...uhm, here…" Sakura whispers a few words to him. It's an address. He's not familiar with the place but he nods.

"Okay, alright...I'll...see you, then..."

The young man wipes away his tears, nods to Sakura once more and then, turns away. He glances at Kotaro, who's still on the floor. He's sitting there, just staring. Genji glares at him one more time and disappears into the night.

No one talks as Kotaro drives them all home.

Everyone's shaken in certain ways.

Saki's grumbling in the back seat. Ai is frowning, staring at Sakura once or twice before shaking her head. Junko, nervous, leans against the younger idol and holds her arm for comfort. Lily, for her part, is quiet. She's been trying to sleep for a while now but can't. Tae is fast asleep, snoring, leaning against a quiet Sakura. Yugiri seats beside the two girls, eyes glancing at Sakura once or twice.

Sakura had not spoken a word ever since that young man, Genji, as she called him, left. When Saki and Ai had demanded an explanation, Sakura had just shrugged and in a tone that left no room for argument she had whispered, "I'll tell you later." Saki, of course, had been annoyed. Their leader had bothered her for ten minutes straight but Sakura had just repeated the same thing over and over again, "I'll tell you later" and that had been it. Ai was a bit more understanding. It's almost as if she had expected something like this to happen. It had already happened to Lily and to a lesser extent, Saki, and it was just a matter of time before it happened again. Yugiri figured, however, that Ai was more disappointed in the fact that Sakura had just revealed herself so carelessly.

The courtesan didn't really know what to think.

Things were certainly going to change after today.

/…..

A few hours later, as they are getting ready for bed, Sakura disappears.

No one is really surprised.

Yugiri finds her a few minutes later sitting out in the balcony, looking at the stars. Romero sits by her feet, snoozing softly. It takes a bit but Sakura finally notices Yugiri and nods her head. "Hey, Yugiri…"

"Hello, Sakura...are you well?"

Sakura seems to think about her answer before nodding again. "A little, I guess...is Saki still upset?"

"Lady Saki has been upset for a quite a while now. I fear it might not end until you give her a definite answer." The other young woman just shakes her head.

"Not today…"

"I figured as much..."

Both zombies are quiet for a bit before Sakura turns Yugiri's way and smiles. "...I forgot to thank you...you know...for making sure that Tae didn't bite anyone…" Yugiri giggles, sending a mischievous look Sakura's way.

"It is too bad I could not stop you." Sakura blinks before laughing.

"Heh! I suppose that's fair…" the young woman suddenly sighs and turns away, staring at something in the distance. "Genji...Genji always had a bit of a temper...he was usually more composed but well...it's been a while…" It was obvious that Sakura wanted to say more but couldn't.

The last time Sakura Minamoto had seen her brother had been eleven years ago. He had changed, she had not. Sakura was still seventeen and dead and Genji, to Yugiri's eyes, was over twenty. There was more to the story of the two siblings, of course, but it was obvious that the Genji Sakura was familiar with and the Genji that had punched Kotaro Tatsumi in the face were different. And Sakura knew this.

Yugiri only hoped that whatever Sakura had planned to do, it did not go poorly.

/…..

Back in their shared bedroom, Saki, frustrated beyond belief grabs her pillow puts it over her face and groans loudly with annoyance. "I can't believe this fucking happened…" Tae is wandering nearby but watches, curious, as Saki lets out another groan, her voice muffled by the pillow over her face.

Sitting next to her, Ai frowns. She's been doing that alot for the past few hours. "This was bound to happen eventually…" she comments. Her answer causes Saki to groan even louder.

"AGH! THAT STUPID EGGHEAD!"

"From what I could gather...that guy doesn't know we are zombies…"

"But…" Junko began, shaking her head. "He obviously knows who Sakura is...and if that is true, then he must know she's dead...It's obvious he knows that something is going on...and that we are part of it."

Lily tilted her head, crossing her arms. "He called her his sister, didn't he? Sakura never mentioned she had an older brother…" Tae groaned in the distance.

"He's probably younger, given the time frame…" Ai sighed, passing a bandaged hand over her hair. "But...Sakura isn't talking…"

"Maybe Yugi might get her to talk!" Lily replied hopefully but Ai was already shaking her head.

"Fucking idiot…" Saki grumbled, pillow thrown to the side.

"W-well...didn't she say she'll tell us later?"

"It better be freakin' soon!" Saki said, glaring at the door. "What the hell is she trying to pull?" The others were quiet after that, even Tae, who had been so carefree moments ago, turned to stare at the others in silence.

Things had already changed and they didn't know what to do.

Sakura tried to be as quiet as possible as she changed clothes and applied the makeup. The pink haired zombie knew that the others were awake but that didn't stop her from taking it slow, making as little noise as possible as she moved about. It was just common courtesy, even if the others were awake. She was genuinely surprised that they didn't try to stop her.

Her futon had been made, her ribbon, had been left behind on the top of the pillow and in her hands a photograph. That photograph was one of the many copies that had not been sold in the last concert. It would do.

Sakura moved through the halls quickly before finally reaching the door. She quickly put on her shoes, glancing behind her once or twice, wondering if Kotaro would show up but he never came. Little Romero watched her, sitting nearby. The dog seemed to smile at her, letting out a few yelps as he wagged his tail. Sakura smiled, scratching his ears before standing up and going to the door. Romero followed after her but Sakura shook her head. "Sorry, Romero...I'm not going on my morning run today…" she told him. The little pup, understanding he was going be left behind, whined. "Oh, Romero...I'm sorry! I promise I'll take you next time but now…" Sakura kneeled before the little dog and tapped his head. "Stay...I'll be right back, okay…?" Romero let out another small whine as Sakura opened the door, walked out, and closed the door as gently behind her.

Kotaro Tatsumi appeared from the shadows, he removed his glasses and sighed.

/…..

Sakura found Genji waiting for her right outside, standing right in front of the gate.

He had his arms crossed over his chest, staring at the old mansion with a raised eyebrow, face mildly confused as if he couldn't believe it. He had examined the windows, the walls, the roof, everything. To his eyes, it might have looked like an old abandoned house, with the vines growing all over the place and it's weathered appearance.

(it might as well have been abandoned a long time ago but Sakura never asked so Kotaro had never answered)

When Genji saw her coming, he seemed to smile but he quickly hid it with a small frown. Sakura just waved his way with her free hand, clutching the photograph with the other as she closed the gate behind her. She approached him, glancing one more time at the old mansion, before nodding his way. They stood side by side for a bit before they started walking, to where, Sakura couldn't be too sure. Genji had absentmindedly mentioned that there was a cafe a few ways back, they could go there, they opened early.

They walked a bit more before Sakura stopped suddenly. Genji stopped with her. Both siblings were quiet for a while before Genji asked, "So…?"

"You want to know what's going on," Sakura said. Her brother just nodded as an answer. Sakura took a deep breath and showed him the photo she had crumpled on her hand. Genji recognized it almost immediately; it was one of the photos from that calendar, the photo for October. The photo had been a rather creepy addition to the calendar but back then it had just been that, a photo, but now as Genji examined it and looked at a Sakura, who was staring sadly back, he gulped slowly. "That's how I...how we...that's how we normally look without the makeup."

"Like corpses…"

Genji really can't believe it. He stares at his sister. Sakura is nodding, staring to the side, lifting up her shirt sleeve. Genji almost chokes on his spit. The skin above her arm was a putrid blue, exactly like in the photo, looking lifeless and dry. Then, she was raising her arm and Genji heard it...odd snapping and cracking sounds, as if her bones were twisting, moving in place, almost breaking. It was surreal.

Everything hit him at once, his eyes widened.

"You...you're a corpse…" he whispers and Sakura, lowering her arm, letting her sleeve cover her rotten skin, nods. Genji, involuntarily, takes a step back. Sakura doesn't notice it, she's staring to the side, clutching the photo firmly in her hand.

"I...I know this is a lot to take in...I…" Sakura lets out a shaky breath. The tears are about to fall, to ruin her makeup and then, her brother would know and he would run away screaming. "I...I understand if you...if you don't want…" And then, she stops, she feels arms around her and looks up.

Genji is holding her close, his blue eyes shining with tears. "I...I missed you, sis…"

Sakura can't help but let out a quiet sob as she hugs him back.