A/N: Here you go! Sorry for the late update! Had trouble with this chapter in a few places, but here it is. I'll try to see if I can get a few updates going before the new season premiers, see how far I can get this story ahead...not making promises, though.

For now, I hope you enjoy this update, stay safe, and see you next update!

edit 4/6/21: Fixed a few things, added a bit more, etc.

47 / Zombies and Friends

Saki Nikaido felt she was prepared for anything at this point; being a zombie does that to a person, or rather, undead.

But the moment Genji opened the door, she knew something was up and she didn't like it. He looked moodier than usual, and before she could say anything, he had glanced at Maria quickly, and with a raised eyebrow asked, "Who the hell are you?" Maria blinked, confused, struggling with a response before Saki intervened and told him that she was Reiko's kid. Genji nodded in understanding before muttering, "That moron's going to scream when he finds out." But Saki didn't care. She just grinned, crossed her arms and shrugged.

"So?"

Genji shook his head, before saying, "You gotta go see Sakura and Yugiri. Now." Saki was concerned, as was Lily.

"Somethin' happen?"

"Better you go see it for yourself," he said, as Renoir and Romero, who barked affectionately upon seeing the two zombie girls, appeared behind him. Saki and Lily exchanged a look, with Maria murmuring that she'll wait for them here if whatever they had to check was serious. Nodding at the human girl, the two zombies quickly moved towards their old room, expecting the worst.

What greeted them was Sakura, sitting up in her futon, holding her arm, looking rather frazzled and stressed, flinching every few seconds. Tae was standing nearby, biting into her hand, looking nervous. Yugiri knelt besides Sakura, rubbing her back, trying to comfort her as best as she could. And finally, there was the lion, who nestled behind Sakura, using his body as a pillow, glancing at the newcomers once, before settling in his place.

Saki and Lily stared, all the while Sakura, grinning rather nervously, and flinching, tried to wave before giving up and saying, "H-hi, guys…"

/….

"Let me see if I got this straight," Saki began, as she, Lily, Yugiri and Tae, knelt around Sakura, with the lion sleeping behind her. "You got mauled by a fuckin' bear, then some weirdo threw a rock at the window, and after that, you went to his place where he told you he had brought that fuckin' bear back to life, and to say he was sorry, he gave you that lion." Sakura nodded, wincing as Yugiri tried soothing her by rubbing her back. "What in the actual fuck…?" Saki sighed. "Okay...so...did Shades know? About that weirdo?"

Sakura shakes her head, flinches, but it's Yugiri that answers. "No. He seemed just as surprised as we were when he found out. That...man...he said he focuses on animals rather than humans, or so he said…"

"And you believed him?" Saki asked, and the courtesan just shrugged.

"We had no reason to believe he was lying. He did go out of his way to reveal himself, however, whether he was a fool or playing the part, I cannot tell you."

"Fuck," Saki sighed, suddenly tired, before turning to Sakura, who seemed to be feeling worse by the minute. "You hanging okay there, girl?" Sakura tried to smile, and flinched.

"I'm trying…"

Lily rubbed Sakura's arm, trying to make her comfortable. "Did they give you some medicine?"

Yugiri shook her head. "No...not yet...she did drink something that helped but…"

"Didn't work in the long run?" Saki finished and the other woman nodded sadly.

"Lord Genji thinks the best course of action is to call Lady Ai's mother," the courtesan explained.

"But," Lily began, unsure. "Would she even want to help?"

"Her problem's with Shades, not the Egghead, squirt," Saki reminded her. "I mean, we could give them a call...she wouldn't say 'no' to Ai, would she?"

"...I'll rather...not...take advantage…" Sakura whimpered, trying her best to mask her pain and failing miserably. "...maybe the pain will go away on its own…" Saki and the others stared at her, incredulous. Yugiri was giving her a look.

"Sakura…"

"I...I...maybe it will...ouch!" Sakura almost toppled over, shaking. Yugiri, eyes wide, tried to get her to lie down, but Sakura just curled up, ignoring her. Lily tried to help, too, as did Tae, but the older woman didn't know what to do, but growl, and copy Yugiri, trying to get Sakura to just lie down.

Saki didn't waste any time; she stood up, and walked out the door.

/….

Half an hour later, Ai and Junko burst into the room, agitated, followed closely by Dr. Mizuno and Saki; the girls and the doctor had already been warned about the lion, but that didn't stop them from freezing in place upon noticing the great beast, before a groan caught their attention and they forgot, momentarily, about the lion.

Sakura was lying on her futon, breathing in and out, as if she was running out of air she desperately needed, trying and failing to find a comfortable position to stop the pain. Poor girl was trying to keep it together, but the pain was making her miserable.

"Sakura," Junko whispered, worried. Ai, standing just behind her, glared at nothing in particular while her mother walked past the two girls, keeping an eye on the lion. The lion yawned, showing sharp teeth, and the doctor couldn't help but flinch. Yugiri, noticed, and quickly patted the lion's mane and shooed him to a corner, and the lion, surprisingly, just growled in annoyance, picked himself up, and padded towards the other side of the room where he curled up, yawned once more, and fell asleep in an instant. Romero, little dead dog, who had followed after Saki and the others, marched towards the lion, placing his tiny body between them and the beast, not realizing he would never stand a chance against a snoring lion.

Aoi, a bit reassured, glanced at Sakura, murmured something to herself and said, "You girls...could you give us a minute?"

"...You sure?" Ai asked, staring at the lion, and Romero bravely standing nearby.

The doctor nodded. "Yes. Give me a few minutes with her alone...it's rather crowded here." Aoi walked slowly, eyes glancing once or twice at the lion, before kneeling near Sakura's futon, nodding at Lily and Yugiri once, and placing a small black bag on the side.

Yugiri glanced at Sakura, and nodded slowly, squeezing Sakura's hand reassuringly, before getting up, followed closely by Lily, who dragged Tae with her, the older woman feeling rather insistent on staying behind but soon, she too, understood. The girls left, Ai and Yugiri glancing at the doctor and Sakura one more time, before they left the room.

They stood outside the closed doors, before Ai angrily asked no one in particular, "Where's Tatsumi?"

"In his office," Yugiri answered absentmindedly, staring at the closed door.

"Don't bother with him, girl...he's being a major ass," Saki told the younger girl, stopping Ai from stomping towards Kotaro's office. She didn't bother telling Ai that she already had gone to complain, only to be yelled at and ignored.

"But…" Ai trailed off, but Junko held her hand, and shook her head.

Arguing with Kotaro wasn't going to make anything better, and they knew it.

For now, all they could do was wait.

/….

Dr. Mizuno worked slowly, going through the motions, trying and failing to forget that Sakura was not a corpse, a zombie, but the bluish skin, the decay, the bandages, and scars made it very difficult to ignore that simple fact.

Sakura's heart was beating, erratically, but was beating nonetheless. Her temperature was below normal, rather cold, sometimes warm, sometimes senseless. Beyond the cracking of bones, as Sakura moved and Aoi examined her, Sakura might as well have been a living girl with a very rare skin condition, but the doctor couldn't kid herself. She didn't know what was worse; Sakura being dead, or being dead and feeling like you wanted to die.

The doctor wasn't so sure on how to proceed from here, even as she removed the bandages from Sakura's injured arm to inspect the damage. It was healing, slowly, the skin mending itself as if like magic.

Ai had explained, or at least, tried to the best of her ability, how her body worked, being dead and all that. Hunger, pain, exhaustion, she could feel it, could feel alive but she was dead.

"Ugh…" Sakura whimpered, and Aoi, quickly, got to work, digging into her bag and pulling out a small vial, a syringe, plus some new bandages and a needle and some thread.

Ai, too, had told her how their bodies could regenerate, as Sakura's was trying to do now. As the doctor worked, she recalled her daughter saying that wounds, rather impossible looking, small, big, would simply repair themselves rather quickly in a day or two. They had learned to stitch their little wounds or use bandaids over cuts and the sort under some sort of belief that the healing would finish faster. It never left a scar, never replacing the scars they already carried.

(Aoi had almost had a heart attack, when upon being pressed on how she knew this, Ai had sheepishly confessed that she, as well as the other girls, had been struck by lighting that one time, and the only thing they had to show for it was a glow that disappeared after a day, autotune voices for some reason, and itchy, burning fingertips, oh, and that time one when...well, her mother didn't need to know about the fireplace poker that went right through her head, nope, nope)

"Alright, kiddo," Aoi said, trying to distract Sakura as she finished her stitching and moved to grab the syringe, filling it up with medicine. "I'm gonna give you something to numb the pain...you'll be taking a nap soon, are you…" Aoi trailed off, wondering if she should ask the zombie girl if she was allergic to any medication, as she usually did, before remembering it probably wouldn't matter, but she'd rather not give the poor girl anything else to worry about. Besides, Ai didn't mention anything about allergies not affecting them, so she asked anyway. "Are you allergic to…?"

Sakura smiled, or rather tried to, and shook her head. "Don't know…"

"I see," Aoi grabbed the syringe, and gently, buried the needle unto dead skin. Sakura flinched a bit, but seemed to calm down, rather quickly, as the medicine disappeared into her body. The girl's discomfort seemed to have left her in an instant, as if she had never been in any pain in the first place. Aoi removed the needle, and Sakura began to sit up, the doctor coming to her aid. The zombie girl stretched her recently stitched and bandaged left arm, made a fist, and dropped it over her lap, blinking.

"That's...very fast," the girl murmured and Aoi couldn't help but agree.

"How are you feeling?" Aoi knew that the medicine she gave the girl was the strongest painkiller she had, and even that usually took a few minutes to work, not mere seconds.

"Better…"

"That medicine should take care of the pain for twenty-four hours, maybe more, but just in case it comes back I will prescribe you some strong painkillers to help out," Aoi told her, and Sakura nodded. The pain was bound to come back, maybe, Aoi couldn't be too sure, unless of course, the issue was a mental one, and not just a physical one. Dead or not, Sakura had been mauled, and she had definitely felt it.

A yawn distracted her thoughts, and Aoi looked up to see Sakura already struggling against the effects of the painkillers, shaking her head from side to side, unconsciously trying to fight off the drowsiness, but Aoi knew it was inevitable. The doctor helped the girl lie down, and watched as the girl slowly closed her eyes, murmuring her thanks before finally losing consciousness.

Aoi let out a small sigh, put away her needle, thread, syringe, and empty vial, eyed the lion and dog, and made her way to the door.

She was met by the girls; all but two, hiding their death behind makeup and glamour. They were silent, and before they could bombard her with questions, Aoi answered quickly, "She's fine."

(she remembers her days in the old clinic, assuring the family that their loved one will make it, trying to forget how they couldn't do the same for her when Ai got hit by lightning)

The tall girl, the courtesan, Aoi remembered, Yugiri, let out a sigh of relief. "Is...is it alright if…?"

Aoi understood.

"Of course, but she's not going to be much for conversation as she's out cold," the doctor told her, and Yugiri, smiling a bit, nodded her thanks, and disappeared into the room, quickly followed by the little girl, Lily, that older woman, Tae, and Junko, leaving Ai and the biker girl, Saki, behind.

"She's going to just sleep it off?" Saki asked, and the doctor nodded.

"That's the idea, yes, but I'll have a talk with that brother of hers. Might need to prescribe her some medicine, just in case."

"You don't think the pain's going to come back, do you?" Ai asked her, and her mother shrugged.

"Well, this is...certainly a special situation," the doctor began. " That man would probably know more about...your...situation." Aoi didn't mention how much she wanted to slap that man silly, but decided to keep it cool for daughter's sake. Both Ai and Saki seemed rather incensed in some way, wondering if them leaving the mansion had caused this mess in the first place. Aoi was silent for a bit, before mentally sighing and saying, "If you want, you can stay."

"Huh?" Ai was caught off guard. "What do you…?"

"It's not that long of a drive from the apartment," Aoi said, trying to smile. "And I'm sure you'll rather stay…" The doctor didn't like the idea of any of the girls staying here with that man, and now, that lion, but she realized her daughter and her girlfriend would rather stay here, with their friends, see that Sakura got better again.

Ai just gave her a look, unsure. "Are you sure?"

"Hey, you don't have to stay if you don't feel like it," Saki said, noticing the mood. "Me and Lily are staying here, anyhow, so maybe you and Junko don't have to…" But Ai was already shaking her head.

"No, no, it's fine, I…" Ai smiled shyly at her mother. "We still need to talk about Franchouchou anyway...so…"

"Ah," Aoi murmurs. The doctor's a little unhappy, but understands. There's still that issue about...Franchouchou, and what would be happening going forward.

(she almost wishes they'll just disband and, and…)

"I guess I should get Maria home, then...we're obviously not going anywhere, as it is," Saki muttered, scratching the back of her head. "Might as well, maybe we can hang out later when the Egghead's feeling better. Thanks, doc." Saki turned and walked away, lazily waving as she left to go find Maria, who was in the main hall, keeping Sakura's brother and that other boy company.

"Mom…" Ai began, once Saki was gone. "Are you sure you're fine with me...and Junko, staying here?"

"I'm not," Aoi admitted with a shrug. "Minamoto is your friend, and you're probably too upset to just leave."

"Me staying doesn't really help her much," Ai said, before letting out a chuckle. "Although, she might need help to keep Tatsumi and her brother from killing each other…" Ai sighed. "Are you absolutely sure about this?"

"Positive," the doctor answered, before thinking about something. "Besides, it might be better in the long run for you to...stay...wouldn't want a repeat of what happened back in the apartments if you stayed…"

Aoi hadn't realized just how noisy some of her next door neighbors were until three days ago, when that old geezer came knocking on her door. Ai and Junko had been without her makeup, and Aoi had gone to get some paperwork down and wasn't home. Ai had explained to the man, numerous times, through the door, that he had the wrong place, but the old man just kept on knocking and knocking, until an old shrew of a lady, from two doors down, had commented that the two doors that had moved in with that "young lady" were so disrespectful. How that old lady had found out about Ai and Junko, considering she hardly got out of her apartment, had worried the doctor. Once Aoi arrived, and the old man complained to the doctor until he complained no more, Aoi told him that he was in the wrong building. The old man left complaining about rude kids, and kids these days, and such, and Aoi glanced at the door of that old lady, opened just a bit, eyes shining somewhere in the darkness, before shaking her head and heading inside the apartment, Ai greeting her with a shake of her head, and muttering about rude old men.

But Ai knows her mother would let her stay anywhere but here; for Aoi, staying in here meant going back on stage, pretending that nothing was wrong, pretending that everything's as it should be.

It's a different kind of worry now, and the danger is very real, and Ai is no longer alive, and so many other things.

Ai just smiled at her mother, held her hand, gave it a squeeze, and told she'll call her once she got home, before letting go, opening the door and joining her friends on the other side.

/….

Aoi spots Sakura Minamoto's brother, Genji, standing with that strange boy, and Mris. Amabuki's daughter, Maria. Saki and Maria are talking, saying that she's sorry but they have to cut the visit short, and Maria, looking disappointed (and a little relieved, Aoi understands) just nods along the way and tells her not to worry about it. The other boy offers to give them a ride in the van, as it's a long walk back to the Amabuki's. Saki agrees, waves good-bye, notices Aoi coming their way, waves and thanks her, and disappears, telling Genji she'll be back in an hour or so.

Once they're gone, Genji turned to the doctor, nodded and asked, "So...is she going to be okay…?"

"I'm not sure," Aoi says after thinking about her answer a bit. "...the cause is obvious, but it's a difficult diagnosis all the same. Being, uh, dead, doesn't really help matters, you understand." Genji sighed.

"What's your advice?"

"I'll give you a prescription, hopefully, the pain is not permanent, but considering what happened, it's hard to say if she'll need it in the future. For now, the painkiller I gave her should do for now." Aoi hummed. "Acted a little too fast though...but I'm not sure if that's a bad thing."

Genji snorted. "Seeing as she's not acting crazy, that's already a win."

Aoi raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"That guy," Genji shook his head. "We...well, we all didn't know what to do...he panicked, gave her anything he could find to numb the pain. Sakura had the time of her life, that's for sure, but it got rid of the pain...and well, it knocked her out but it didn't really last long, as you noticed."

"I think I understand," Aoi murmured, wondering what exactly that man had given that poor girl to make her lose it for a few hours.

(but Minamoto wouldn't be suffering if she had been dead, so why, why, had he brought them back, why hadn't he let them rest? Why hadn't she let...Ai rest?)

The young man nodded, glanced at her, and said, "Saki was telling me that Ai and Junko are staying."

"I figured they'll want to stay with your sister," Aoi said with a shrug. "Although, that's not the only reason...turns out I have a noisy neighbor in my apartment complex, and I've only been there a few months, they might not buy the lie that Ai was...is my niece, and Junko her girlfriend that are visiting out of town...they...it might be safer for them to stay here." The doctor sighed.

(she hated lying about her daughter but she had no choice)

"I see," Genji nodded, understanding. "Saki was telling me that Mr. Go is planning on moving to a new house soon, he had already had plans going already, wanted to get a bigger place and whatnot, and now with Lily, it just makes things...easier, I guess. From what the kid tells me, he didn't mind her coming back here, if only to keep her safe, he will be visiting soon, too." Aoi nods; poor Takeo, he's too noticeable for his own good, and people are bound to talk, hell, they might already be talking, and so, he figured that sending Lily here to keep her safe wasn't such a bad thing.

"He's a good man," Aoi said, and Genji nods before he turns to stare at the doctor.

"What's your opinion about...Franchouchou?"

Aoi blinked.

(what's this all of the sudden?)

"What about Franchouchou?"

"I just want your take on all this idol business," he said.

"Why? You seem to know what I think about all this," the doctor told him, visibly confused. "I thought you had already made up your mind, seeing as you were helping them out with whatever this was supposed to be." Genji gave her a sad smile, and shook his head.

"My sister...she...was a fan of your kid, Ai Mizuno and Iron Frill, had even bought tickets for a concert she never got to see." Aoi was silent for a bit; she knew what he was talking about. Saga Rock. The beginning of everything, the beginning of the end. "Sakura wanted to be an idol...be like Ai Mizuno but…"

"..she died," Aoi finished, sadly.

"Yeah...it's kinda dumb, not her wish, but the way we found out. She had an application with her before...before, and well, that envelope went flying out of her hands and landed on a neighbor's yard, behind some bushes…" He let out a choked laugh. "Pretty dumb, right? Finding out your sister wanted to try her hand at being an idol, her paperwork hiding behind some freaking bushes, and she was already dead." Genji shook his head. "Mom knew about it...what Sakura wanted to do...she told me some time after...everything…" He crossed his arms, and let out a breath through his nose. "Wanna know why I stuck around? Played around with whatever this...this was? Because I don't know how much time I have. I don't know whether they'll be gone in a year, maybe two, maybe they're immortal now, but who the hell knows, I don't know that. Hell, that idiot doesn't know that either. All I know is, my sister wants to be an idol, and if that makes her happy, who am I to try to stop her? She's dead, and no matter how much I wish it, she'll still be dead."

Aoi mulls over what he tells her; she thinks about Ai, about everything, about the past, the lightning, those vultures, Iron Frill, about, about…

"...Is that why she didn't...she didn't want to tell your parents…? About...her?" Aoi finally asks.

(she has a guess, but she's not sure...not sure about everything)

"Nah," Genji answers, and with a small smile, as if he was laughing at himself, he said, "She didn't want to tell them because they moved on...I didn't."

Reiko drank her can of beer in silence, as Susan, half drunk, announced she had finished most of the bottle of wine, complaining to her old boss, and calling her story "bullshit". Luckily for everyone, Susan had decided to close up shop, as she figured she was probably not going to work the rest of the day.

"Alright," Susan slurred. "Let's say for a moment that I believed that bullshit you're spouting, I mean...Reiko, really...the fuck…?"

"It is."

"What is!? The fuckin' living dead!? Where's my bat when I freaking need it?"

"Susan...I know it's hard to believe…"

"Reiko, I'm fucking drunk...I'm suppose to believe everything at this point."

"And yet, you don't believe what I'm telling you."

"You're spewing shit," Susan cried back, already angry and drunk. Reiko didn't mind. Susan could be worse than Rita once she hit the alcohol. "I know you miss Nikaido, hell, I do too...but come on...if this is a prank, I hate it…"

"I know it's a little hard to believe…"

"A LITTLE!?"

"It's the truth! Who do you think destroyed my bike pulling that same little stunt, eh!?"

"You're crazy!" Susan says.

"Susan."

"Reiko...I'm drunk, and it's the worst mistake I have made today...I just...there's no freaking way! The dead don't just come back to life...especially not Saki Nikaido...she, she...ugh!"

"Susan...I already told you what that reporter found...every oddity, every coincidence, you found those, too, didn't you? You even noticed Konno's likeness, right? That wasn't a fluke. Ai Mizuno, Lily Hoshikawa, Junko Konno...I would think you out of the two of us would think that was odd." Reiko heard a few clicking sounds, as if Susan was working on the computer. A few seconds pass, she hears her friend gasp, before finally she hears a glass being filled, probably the rest of the wine.

"I'm gonna get a hangover for this...and it will be your fault, Reiko."

"What did you find?"

"...That I'm all out of wine and fucks to give!" Susan cheers. Reiko assumes she drank the glass in one go, as she can hear a click of the glass against a wooden desk. There's a bit of silence from the other side, before Susan's suddenly groaning like a petulant child. "...okay...let's say...let's just say, I buy into your bullshit...how you plan to prove it?"

"Come tomorrow. Not today. You're drunk."

"And whose fault is that?"

"Susan."

"Whatever...this fucking bullshit better be worth my wine and sanity…"

"Take care."

"Fuck off…" There's a pause. "Say 'hi' to Maria for me…"

"Will do."

CLICK!

Reiko sighed, finishing the last of the beer.

In retrospect, everything could have gone worse, but Reiko knows Susan. Unless she truly thought Reiko was out of her mind, in danger, or anything else, her old friend would keep what they talked about to herself, no matter how stupid and crazy it sounded. But Reiko knew that the hard part wasn't over. She didn't know how Saki would react once she knew, but she figures her old friend wouldn't have minded that it was Susan that knew.

(how everyone else would take it was another story altogether)

A sudden knocking interrupts Reiko's musings, forcing a frown upon her face before going to open the door.

She's rather surprised to see her daughter and Saki outside. "Huh? What are you two doing here so early?"

"Somethin' happen back the mansion," Saki explained. "I'm gonna be staying there for a few days...need to get a few things in order and talk about the idol group thing…"

"Ah, I see…" Reiko replied, nodding a bit, before sighing and saying, "Hey, Saki, you think you could do me a favor?"

Saki stared at her, confused, as did her daughter. "Umm...why?"

"Susan."

It took a few minutes for the name to click, and Saki made a face. "Reiko, really!?"