A/N: I hope the title doesn't spoil things too much...well...what can you do?

43 / The Menagerie of the Dead

Kotaro sincerely thought his day couldn't get worse.

He had come home, half-drunk, to a very angry courtesan and a slap to the face, even Tae, the legend! had growled at him in annoyance as Yugiri berated the man for running off without warning, how Sakura, Genji and Renoir were wasting time trying to find him, how foolish it was to just leave, how worried they all were, etc.

But what did the stupid zombie know?

Franchouchou was dead, dead like the dead, dead like it's members.

Four legends out of the six were gone, and now, Franchouchou was left with a legendary courtesan, a legendary woman, and the not-so-legendary schoolgirl. What a mess, what a mess, why couldn't this stupid zombies leave him be!? He was an adult!

(he was an idiot)

He could do what he wanted and if he wanted to go out drinking, he was sure as heck going out, thank you very much andーthat's when that scream surprised them all, Yugiri losing her composure for a few minutes before she quickly ordered Kotaro to the van, Tae growling and following after her.

To think they'll find Sakura in pieces and that bear, oh, god, what a monster.

(Kotaro didn't hesitate...Sakura was in pieces, and that bear could go to hell)

Once back in the mansion, as soon as Yugiri and Tae left to stitch Sakura as best as they could, Genji had punched him, demanding to know where the hell he had gone and nothing more. Kotaro knew that had the younger man felt like it, he would have punched him again for the whole fiasco with the bear, and sincerely, a part of Kotaro wished he had. If only he hadn't gone out for those drinks wanting to feel sorry for himself, perhaps Sakura wouldn't have…

...but Sakura is dead.

She's been dead for eleven years and counting.

(that truck had killed her in an instant and the bear had torn her apart)

He had fixed Sakura some medicine from whatever he could find; there's a part of him that wants to call that doctor, that Mizuno woman, but he stops himself. There's no point, and there's a chance that woman might just slam the door on his face, wanting nothing to do with him, wanting him as far away from her little (dead) girl.

And now, someone had broken a window and left this ominous note behind and Kotaro doesn't know what's worse; the fact that Sakura was torn up, or that someone had seen everything.

Renoir is the first to break the silence, outside the growling zombie dog. "W-what's happening now?" He sounds as nervous as ever, as he should be. Kotaro envies him. If only he could just lose his mind once in a while, he'll probably be a little more sane than he was yesterday.

"Someone saw us...and the bear," Genji noted, expression as crude as ever. "They know something's up…" He stares at Sakura who flinches with pain but he says nothing.

Kotaro wants to say something but stops himself.

(they saw them and they didn't do anything, they saw Sakura get torn apart, they...they…)

"There's an address on the back," Genji goes on, annoyed. "Can't recognize it off the bat...but it's in Karatsu." Local. Great, great. Kotaro's got a bad feeling about all this. "It's close to Uomidai Park...huh...if whoever broke the window is still around, they're probably long gone and heading to this address." The young man sighs. "...what a freaking nightmare." That's an understatement. "You think you can move?" Kotaro blinks.

What?

Sakura nods as she lets out a small yawn. "I...I think I could manage…"

"Wait, wait, wait…" That's Renoir. "What do you mean by that?"

"We can't stay here...not with that bear wandering around," Genji says. "That bear's already proved dangerous, unless we risk calling animal control and getting even more attention our way, we can't risk it."

"Sakura is hurt, Lord Genji," Yugiri tells him, expression darkening. It's rare to see Yugiri so incense, and Kotaro actually anticipates the slap Sakura's brother is about to receive but Sakura's holding Yugiri back. She seems to be doing better, if a little drowsy.

"I'm okay, I'm okay…" Sakura smiles. "I...I think the medicine is working...it doesn't hurt that much…"

"But…"

Sakura is all smiles.

"I'm going to be okay, Yugiri...besides, Genji has a point...if that bear comes back, there's bound to be trouble and we would have no way of defending ourselves…"

"We're dealing with a very nasty bear," Genji says, shaking his head. "If it wasn't around, I wouldn't even suggest this...even if you're dead, that bear will still tear you apart."

Damn it.

Kurosawa had a point.

Kotaro knew it. Yugiri knew it. Renoir knew it. Heck, even the legendary Tae Yamada pretended to know it.

The bear was still out there and Romero wouldn't be enough to fight it off. Sakura was proof of that.

Kotaro Tatsumi, truly defeated, sighs. "...let's just go and get this over with."

/…..

Sakura was smiling brightly as they all entered the van; there's a few dents on the vehicle due to Kotaro running over the bear, but it's not too noticeable, what is too noticeable is Sakura's over the top friendliness.

"Sakura...are you okay?" Renoir asks her, as he takes his seat behind Genji. Sakura hums with a smile and nods.

"I'm okay~!"

Genji looks at his sister from the rear view mirror, before glancing at Kotaro who's trying to ignore the look. Sakura just goes on humming on the back seat with a very concerned Yugiri and a very confused Tae, who's growling along with Sakura's little song. Romero's busy howling on the back.

Ten minutes later, Renoir gives Kotaro's back a look and asks him, "...what exactly did you give her? She's as high as a kite."

Kotaro shrugs as he drives.

He can hear Sakura complimenting Yugiri in the background, calling her pretty, all the whole nine yards, being her cute, bubbly-self, all the while Yugiri responds in kind with professional courtesy, or so, Kotaro thinks, before the younger girl is eventually distracted by a passing car, a tree, and even the legend that is Tae Yamada, who's confused by her friend's erratic behavior. It's a good thing Sakura is still too kind-hearted even while drugged out of her mind. Kotaro figures it could have been worse.

/…..

The address leads Kotaro and the others to a rather modern-looking building, an office, probably by it's square design and the parking lot that's been left unfinished on the front. There are some construction vehicles scattered among the lot but they've seem to have been abandoned as well, if the flat tires on those trucks and the broken down excavator are anything to go by.

It's all very suspicious.

"...are you sure this is the right address?" Renoir asks, as he helps Yugiri get the happy-go-lucky Sakura out of the van with Tae following behind. Romero is taking a nap on one of the seats as they all leave him behind to rest.

Kotaro is already out and about, examining the place, trying to get a feel for it. He shakes his head. "This is the address, alright…but…"

"What a pretty place!" Sakura comments, all smiles, clinging to Yugiri. "It looks old and scary, but it's fine!" Genji actually smirks.

"Yeah, sure…" He taps Kotaro on the shoulder. "We need to knock. No use standing around here." The older man nods and walks up towards the door. He knocks once, twice, and waits.

Behind him, Sakura is humming again. He immediately recognizes the "Fantastic Lovers" tune and says nothing. Tae is trying to keep up, adding "gahs" and "grrs" to the music. Suddenly, Sakura is complimenting Yugiri again and even suggesting a date which Yugiri gently declines, but assures her they can have a date later. Kotaro almost imagines Sakura's pout as she whines, and tells Yugiri that she's a very pretty girl that deserves to be treated right. Yugiri giggles and whispers something he doesn't quite catch but whatever it is, it makes the other girl laugh too.

"That's...really not how painkillers work, right?" Renoir asks on the side as Kotaro knocks on the door again. Genji glances at Kotaro's back, and says nothing. Sakura's suddenly distracted by her surroundings and begins to entertain Yugiri and Tae by telling them what the vehicles are for, before asking Yugiri if she wants to sing a song with her.

Kotaro knocks again.

And finally, there's a voice.

"Coming!"

There's a few noises coming from the door, as Kotaro stays on alert, and then, it's opened.

The man is old and gray. He's a short fellow, with a simple suit whose professionalism is ruined by an apron, gloves, and the beaver he's holding in his free hand as he answers the door. The beaver makes no sound, nor movements as the man grins Kotaro's way. "Ah, you came! Wonderful, wonderful! Please don't mind the mess, the lot's been like this for a few years now ever since the last owner ran out of money! Please, please! Come in, come in!" The man quickly turns around and starts walking, and Kotaro only glances a bit at the others before he follows after, the two humans and the trio of zombies following behind.

The long corridor they walk is dark and gloomy but the well-dressed man with the beaver is cheery. "There's still too much work to be done!" he says, as he leads them into the darkness. "I'm planning to open a rather special place, you see," he goes on, passing door after door, walking straight ahead. The visitors all keep their wits about them, except by Sakura who is humming along, showing interest in the doors they keep passing by. "Ah, yes, yes...office building, what a waste," the man says, answering Sakura's questions as they walk about not really caring if she makes sense or not. "Owners ran into such bad luck. Too many accidents and costs were added, not to mention that snowstorm months back, phew! It was quite a bargain when I managed to buy it out!"

"Why?" Genji asks.

"Because the weather in Okinawa was bad for my animals," the man tells him, nodding his head.

"...you have pets?" Kotaro asks him and the little man nods again.

"Yes! Yes! So many animals! It's like menagerie! My family's been collecting them for generations, you see...used to be in the circus business but that didn't quite work out...not many fans of circuses these days…"

"That's too bad," Sakura laments and the little man agrees with a nod.

"Yes, yes...too bad...could have made the millions, but oh well!"

"...so...about that bear," Kotaro begins only for the old man to laugh.

"Oh, I know about that bear but wait until you see my pets, then I'll tell you about that bear. Nasty piece of work that one turned out to be…"

They finally arrived at the end of the hall, a pair of doors at the end. He nodded once and opened one of the doors, before inviting everyone in. "Come in, come in! Let me just turn on the lights...now, where's that switch? Where...where...ah! Here it is!"

Upon turning on the lights, the visitors were surprised by a whole collection of animals, all like statues, all in odd poses, there's a tank full of sand, and an empty tank with a pair of sharks, some clownfish, some koi, and even a manta ray, all held afloat by a very noticeable string. Up above, there's birds held by string; the common pigeon, an eagle, and a group of vultures going about in circles. Sitting still upon a short pillar, paw raised, mouth opened, is a large, fearsome lion with blue eyes. There's no breathing, no movement, no nothing.

All the animals are silent and unmoving, as the old man sets the frozen beaver to the side, removes his gloves and throws them aside and grins. "Here we are! My beautiful collection!"

"It's a zoo!" Sakura cries out excitedly, stars in her eyes. "What a nice zoo!"

"A zoo, indeed!" the man agrees, still smiling. "The name is Sora Akiyama, at your service!" He extends his hand to Kotaro, who, begrudgingly shakes it as Sakura begins to drag Yugiri and Tae to see the "exhibits", commenting on the animals, and being just utterly out of her mind.

"Tatsumi...Kotaro Tatsumi," the man says, nodding.

Sora turns to Genji who waves. "Genji Kurosawa…"

"Ryu S-suzuhara," Renoir mutters, glancing at the fearsome beasts that circle all over the place.

"Now...you came here about a bear…" Sora begins, nodding. "Well, he was to be a new addition to my collection, you see...didn't quite work out as I expected…"

Kotaro and Genji exchanged looks.

"...So…"

"Ah, but don't think I didn't try! Paddington was quite the troublemaker after I got him moving again!"

"What?"

Sora blinks for a bit. "Oh...I thought you already knew about the undead, considering how she was torn apart," the old man said, staring at Sakura for a bit. "I'm impressed. You managed to make her almost human again...quite impressive!" Sora smiled. "My animals, too, you see, they're all stuffed, all dead, so very few can move as well as Paddington does...but then again, Paddington was quite the unusual specimen and…" And the old man goes on and on, as Kotaro's heart freezes and Genji clenches his jaw.

"...oh god," Renoir mutters. "There's another crazy bastard reviving the dead in Saga…"