"HEEEEEY! GOOD MORNING, LADIES AND GENTLEMEEEEEEEEN!"
Like the other day, all fourteen zombies are gathered in the basement of the mansion where Kotaro Tatsumi didn't hesitate to greet them all in his usual boisterous tone. It's so loud it can be heard outside the confines of the mansion.
It appears yelling good morning out loud isn't enough for Kotaro as he walks to Lily and repeats the greeting to her face, much to her discomfort. "G'morning! G'morning! G'morning!"
"Nnngh..." Lily whimpered out of discomfort.
"Hey, knock that off! You're freakin' her out!" Saki chided.
Though he stops pestering Lily, he pesters Gyro next, and like what he did to Lily, repeats the greeting close to his face. "G'morning! G'morning! G'morning!"
"Grrrr..." He seems eager to shove a steel ball to his face to force him away.
"Stop it! Can't you see he's getting annoyed?" Johnny berated.
Seemingly satisfied, Kotaro returns to the center as he states, "In case you may have forgotten, we jumped into the event at Saga Castle yesterday. And I'm gonna be blunt with you..." He slams the chalkboard with his back turned, appearing dismayed over the girls' second performance and the mischief they have caused. "The fact is... You did a ｢great｣ job!" He changes tune to a jolly one when he turned around with an open smile.
"Huh?" Everyone is surprised over his sudden change of attitude as they did not expect to see coming it from him. "I'm amazed you were able to keep the lid on the whole zombie thing in spite of playing hot potato with a head. The kindness you used to help each other..." Clenching his fist first, Kotaro spreads his arms wide with a big smile, exclaiming, "ONE for zombies! ALL for zombies!"
He goes to clap his hands for every girl on their seats as he says, "So this applause goes out to you girls! That was some ｢nice zombie-ing｣! Now, applaud each other! Go on! That was some ｢nice zombie-ing｣! ｢Very nice zombie-ing｣! And as for you, Sakura!"
"Y-Yes!?" The redhead exclaims in response.
"Your raps? Yeah. Good vibes. Uh-huh. Good rhymes. Yeah." He gives a thumbs up with a smile.
Emitting a laugh in response to his compliment, Sakura gives a thumbs up as she says, "Well..."
"DON'T GO GETTING FULL OF YOURSELF, DUMBASS!"
Kotaro suddenly shouted to her face. Sakura can feel her left eye twitching out of surprise and irritation as the producer proceeds to rant to the stunned zombies. "YOU THINK THIS IS THE TIME FOR FUN TIME HAPPY GRINS NOW THAT THE EVENT'S OVER!? SEEMS TO ME LIKE YOU'VE LOST SIGHT OF THE REAL OBJECTIVE HERE! YOU'RE THE LITTLE LOST IDOLS!"
Grabbing a piece of chalk, Kotaro is about to write something on the chalkboard when Kakyoin speaks up. "Tatsumi-san, may I have a word with you?"
"What's the problem, Kakyoin?" He turns around only to be startled by the ｢menacing｣ glare Kakyoin has towards him.
ゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴ
His darkened eyes didn't hide his enmity directed to Kotaro and the others noticed it as well, with Junko and Lily reeling nervously, Avdol and Bucciarati planning to keep them in line if a quarrel erupts and the rest keeping themselves out of any potential skirmish. As for Sakura, she has expected Kakyoin wouldn't take Kotaro's sudden outburst kindly directed to her face.
"...Can you say something important by not shouting out of the blue? I swear I was gonna go deaf when you yelled close to me," Kakyoin informs with a scowl. "And I do hope you remember Sakura has a lot of her plate. Your outbursts could make your message muddled in a bad way."
"There's a possibility some of you may not hear what I have to say. Besides," Leaning forward, Kotaro says, "I won't hesitate to shout to your face, Kakyoin-kun!"
"I won't hesitate to elbow your face if you dare do it, Tatsumi-san..."
"..." Kotaro goes silent after hearing his threat, his passive look cracking a little from the thought of an elbow planted to his face with that ｢menacing｣ glare of his. "...Ahem! Let us continue, shall we?"
Having reprimanded Kotaro, Kakyoin lets out a sigh, satisfied in chewing out the producer. He's not the only one as Saki, Johnny and Narancia liked how he put the producer in his place, if only for a brief moment.
With a piece of chalk waiting to be used on the chalkboard, Kotaro announces, "As it stands, you zombies could keep at it for three billion years and still not become idols! And the task you pitiful idols should be focusing on next... is this."
Kotaro writes the letters G and E as he thinks up of an English word for the girls to read. Only problem? He doesn't know how to spell it.
Catching on what Kotaro is doing, Johnny, being the only American here and knows English better than him, says, "Are you trying to spell an English word? If so, how about I help you spe-"
In an instant, Kotaro crosses out the letters before writing the word in Japanese, specifically katakana that roughly spells out, ｢Gerira Raibu｣!, or more accurately, ｢Guerrilla Performance｣!
Blinking when he sees he's like "screw it" and write it his native language, Johnny shrugs, saying, "Oh. Never mind."
"A guerrilla performance?" Sakura reads the writing.
"He couldn't spell it out." Saki snickered.
"Sakura-han," Yugiri speaks up. "What exactly is a guerrilla performance?" She asked.
"Well... It's a kind of performance where you start singing and dancing in public without telling anyone." Sakura answers.
"Oh, like testing a sword who's passing by." Yugiri compares, taking her statement in her own perspective. Sakura sighs over her coming to a wrong conclusion.
"Huh... Wait, we are walking in the context of entertaining people, right?" Narancia chimes in, trying to make sure he's not interpreting it incorrectly. "It's not about guerilla warfare, is it?"
"No. This is all about idols, not an irregular armed conflict. Keep that in your head Narancia." Kotaro sharply told him.
"Hey, no need to get worked up!" Narancia seems offended of his rude response. "If you know so much about me, you should know I didn't bother finishing my education and isn't smart."
Everyone except Bucciarati, Tae and Kotaro look at him curiously when he mentioned that. A select few saw him as someone who isn't bright based on their first impressions of him so to hear him mention he dropped out of school is a new info for them.
"You didn't finish your education? Why?" Rai questions, feeling a bit curious enough for him to ask.
"Uhhhhh... It's for... personal reasons..." He looks down with a frown, feeling uncomfortable remembering the events that led to him getting betrayed and orphaned. "It's... also why I joined Passione under Bucciarati."
Their eyes instictively fell on Bucciarati, who tells the zombies to not bother him anymore. "Like he said, he's not gonna tell you all soon, so please drop the subject." Whether it's his commanding eyes or seeing a usually cheerful Narancia feeling gloomy from bad memories, they abide to his words. Whatever the reason, they believe that what he may have gone through is anything but pretty.
Returning to the topic of guerilla performance, Sakura expresses her concern to the producer, saying, "Kotaro-san, if we do that, won't the police come after us again?"
"Don't worry!" Kotaro exclaims. "As long as you have makeup on, no one will guess what's up. You'll get a slap on the wrist at most."
"Quit wussing out, Sakura! How are we gonna run a rally if we let the pigs scare us?" Saki chided playfully.
"You won't be able to freestyle your way out of this one, either." He turns around with an arm raised and fist clenched as he declares, "This time you're going to act like a real idol group and pull off this guerrilla show!"
"Um, excuse me..." A certain white-haired girl speaks up meekly.
"What's up Junko?" He asks in response.
"I've performed solo before, but never as part of a group."
"You're a loner!"
"L-Loner?" Junko parroted.
"That's right! Loner!" Kotaro repeated. Seemingly ignoring her concern, he reveals, "The guerrilla show is ｢tomorrow｣ morning, in the plaza over the Karatsu Station!"
"Tomorrow!?" Sakura shouted in surprise.
"We're not going to get a song and dance number down with only ｢one｣ day of practice." Ai folds her arms as she states this fact sternly.
"Then you're not getting any sleep then." Kotaro said. "Though considering you're zombies, you don't really need sleep, I guess." Even with this tidbit, Ai isn't convinced that a whole day of practicing is enough to pull off a guerrilla performance. Sakura thinks the same thing too, wondering if seven girls working together is enough to pull it off.
"Now then!" He suddenly exclaims. "Before I end this meeting, I would like to tell our rancid Stand Users something important. Something that needs to be addressed before I forget it."
"And what would that be, Tatsumi-san?" Kakyoin asks, him and the others being curious of what he wants to tell them.
Walking over them, Kotaro reveals what he forgot to say yesterday. "Your ｢nicknames｣."
"Nicknames?" The guys repeated in confusion.
"Just like how the girls are called Numbers Zero to One to conceal their identity, I came up with nicknames based on your appearances, former occupation, and even your Stand's abilities as a way to conceal your identities. All of you are not idols so it's not like I'm gonna call you all Numbers Seven to Thirteen."
"I see. That's a clever way to keep our identity secret." Bucciarati nods in agreement. "What are our nicknames then, Kotaro?"
"Starting from Kakyoin, I already gave him his nickname when he and Sakura woke up couple of days ago. You all didn't get a chance to learn his nickname because you're all busy," Kotaro remarked, reminding Kakyoin and Sakura of the codename and nickname he gave them. While Sakura is okay with being called Number One, Kakyoin remembers what he is called and, after thinking about it, isn't amused of the unflattering nickname he got.
But he didn't get to complain when Kotaro reveals his nickname to be ｢Cherry Boy｣.
Upon hearing his nickname, Saki and Gyro chuckled from the silly name, Narancia is unable to contain his laughter as he struggles to keep himself steady, Ai, Junko, Yugiri, Lily, Johnny and Rai are either confused or amused, and even a small grin is briefly seen on Bucciarati's face. The only ones who didn't chuckle at Kakyoin's expense is Sakura, Tae and Avdol.
"Hahahahahahaha! Cherry Boy!? Really? That's your nickname?!" Narancia exclaims before he continues laughing.
"Hey, come on now. Stop laughing Narancia," Sakura tells him with a pleading look, not wanting to see Kakyoin get embarrassed more. "I agree it's a childish name but you don't have to laugh at his expense."
"Okay... Okay... I'll stop..." Taking a breather, Narancia turns to Kakyoin and states, "Sorry for laughing at your expense. I didn't mean to embarrass you, as I find your nickname funny.
"It's alright Narancia. I don't take it against you." It's his reply to the kid.
"I don't get it... Why is Kakyoin-san called Cherry Boy? I don't see anything that relates to cherries." Lily pointed out, wanting to know why.
"Notice his earrings?" Kotaro pointed to the cherry-shaped earrings Kakyoin has. "They're shaped like cherries so that's one of the reasons why he's called that."
"And the other reason?" Saki questioned with a mischievous smile.
"He ｢likes｣ cherry so much..."
"...What?" Everyone questioningly looks at Kakyoin, who tries his best not to look embarrassed whilst glaring Kotaro for his choice of words for his nickname.
"It's what Kotaro-san says," Avdol speaks up, agreeing with Kakyoin liking cherry as he remembers the boy's...interesting way of licking a cherry in his mouth. "Kakyoin likes cherry because of a certain memory when me and Kakyoin are in a train with our friends. That's all I have to say so please don't think too hard about it." He quickly ends the statement to spare him from further humiliation.
"Uh... Okay...?" Johnny said, unsure of what to make of Avdol's statement.
"Can we move on? We would be sitting here all morning if we keep this for long." Kakyoin pleaded, obviously wanting his humiliation to be over.
"What Kakyoin said! Let's move on to Avdol's nickname!" Kotaro thankfully agrees, his eyes going over Avdol as he's next to have his nickname revealed. The fortune teller hopes he has a less than flattering nickname compared to Kakyoin. He would not like to feel embarrassed as it goes against his proud image he likes to see himself as.
"As for your nickname Muhammad Avdol, I decide to call you ｢Fire Lord｣!"
Everyone took an instant liking to Avdol's nickname as it not only sounds badass per Saki's words, but it also fits with his Stand's power. Naturally, Avdol nods in approval, stating, "Fire Lord sounds fitting for me, especially for Magician's Red. Good thing it isn't anything embarrassing."
"Glad you like it. Hope you're not planning to destroy an avatar with a name like that." He chuckled, earning confusion from Avdol.
Bucciarati is next and Kotaro didn't wait to tell him his nickname: ｢Zipper Man｣.
"Zipper Man?" Bucciarati repeats incredulously, finding the nickname too…on-the-nose and somewhat ridiculous.
"That's right. Zipper Man!" Kotaro restated. "Your Stand can produce zippers and there are zippers on your outfit. Therefore, it's an appropriate nickname for a man with a zipper motif like you, Bucciarati!"
"I see. While I understand why you came up with that nickname, it feels...inelegant in my humble opinion."
"Oh? Would you like to call your Stand Zipper Man then?" The producer seems ticked off Bucciarati isn't forthcoming with his fitting nickname.
"No! No! Please don't. I suppose I don't mind the nickname at all. Don't mistake my reservations as a form of any dislike against it." The former capo replied, raising his hands in defense while cringing at the thought of calling his Stand with his nickname. It's too dead-on to be a dignified name.
Coming after Bucciarati is Narancia, AKA, ｢Plane Kid｣ as per Kotaro's words.
"Hold on. Plane Kid? Plane KID?!" Unlike Bucciarati, Narancia dislikes his nickname from the start as he takes issue with a certain word, to the point of standing up to protest.
"Yes. Plane Kid. Take it or leave it." Kotaro repeated, not paying heed to his reaction.
"Hell no! There's no way I'll have a nickname with the word "kid" in it! It's not fitting to me!"
"Huh? You're against the nickname because it has kid in it?" Ai asks, bewildered he takes a dislike against that specific word.
"Duh! I'm 17, and as such, I'm no longer a kid!" Narancia discloses. With one finger pointed towards Kotaro, he exclaims, "And you! Why the heck did you think calling me Plane Kid is a good idea?"
"You're clearly the youngest among your group, alongside Kakyoin who is also 17." Kotaro states.
"Are you blind? Lily's clearly the youngest here!"
"I said among your group! I didn't say that you're the youngest overall!"
"Still! Change it! Change my nickname that doesn't have kid in it!"
"I would like to see mine changed as well." Kakyoin concurs. "Calling me Cherry Boy is too unflattering for my taste.
"Sorry, but I can't change your nicknames. It's already etched in my head and I have no intention of doing it." A switchblade is pointed to him and Hierophant Green appears to initiate an Emerald Splash. "Pointing your knife and summoning your Stand will not deter me from changing my mind!" He insisted.
Seeing he's not changing his stance, the two gave up, with Narancia whining over his nickname having kid in it.
Phew. That could have gone worse… Sakura thought. While he agrees with Kakyoin wanting to change his nickname, she doesn't want any bloodshed to occur over the issue of not changing their nicknames.
Johnny is next and Kotaro seems eager to tell him his nickname, which is ｢Nail Jockey｣.
"Hmm... It sounds...okay, I guess?" Johnny is accepting of his nickname, seeing it fits him like Fire Lord and Zipper Man.
"Glad to hear it from you." Kotaro nods with a smile.
"Nail Jockey? What does nails have to do with Johnny-han's nickname?"
That was Yugiri, who alongside the others except Gyro are wondering why nails is in his nickname and what does that have to do with Johnny. The jockey himself stated, "If you want to know, it's because my Stand, ｢Tusk｣, allows me to shoot nails as bullets."
"Oh? Your Stand, you say?" Yugiri seems interested of his abilities, along with Avdol, Bucciarati and Saki.
"Yeah," Johnny nodded. "There's more to my Stand's ability because Gyro taught me about the Golden Spin, which is tied to Tusk ｢evolving｣ to its three forms but for now, I'll stop there..." Some curious members, like Sakura, Saki, Yugiri, Kakyoin, Avdol, Narancia and Rai, seem disappointed when he chose not to tell them more but decide to respect his privacy lest they want to catch a glimpse of his glaring eyes. Johnny appears to be slightly cordial, if a little distant to anyone not named Gyro, but there is something in that attitude and appearance of his that masks a hidden side that likely appears if certain conditions are met. Whatever it is, they decide to overlook it for now.
"...In any case," Johnny continued. "I have no further opinions of the chosen nickname, so I'm done running my mouth."
"That was quick. But acceptable nonetheless, Johnny." Kotaro seems disappointed he has no more comments regarding his nickname but he lets it slide.
Gyro is anticipating to hear his nickname and when he gets to hear Kotaro's nickname to him, he nods in approval.
"｢Spin Cowboy｣ huh? I like it. I got the meaning from the get-go. Nyoho!" Gyro grins with his mouth open, revealing golden teeth and letters written on it that says, ｢GO! GO! ZEPPELI｣. Predictably, everyone have questioning looks over his dental fashion.
"Why do you have gold teeth and words inscribed on it?" Lily asks incredulously.
"So everyone knows who I am when I open my mouth with a smile!" Gyro replies, still showing his teeth.
"Still, to make it golden and your name etched on it? It looks gaudy." She says with an unimpressed look.
"Eh, differing opinions. Can you believe her Johnny? She doesn't find my gold teeth appealing. It certainly looks good on me, right?" He pointed to his still open mouth. His teeth seemingly gleam to Johnny's unimpressed face.
"...Yeah, sure. It certainly looks impressive. I really want it on my teeth as well." Johnny's sarcasm didn't fail to come out in response, like usual.
"Hah! See? He agrees with me!" Gyro exclaims, completely blind to his sarcasm.
"He was being sarcastic..." Saki tries to tell him but it falls on deaf ears as Gyro agrees with the nickname Kotaro gave him. "He's not listening..."
"And last but not the least! Mamezuku-san! Your nickname will be… ｢Peel Gardener｣!" He reveals the last nickname with his usual volume. He then waits for Rai to comment on his nickname.
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…Are you done?"
"Huh?"
"You're done, right?" Rai said, waiting for Kotaro to move away. "You told me my own nickname, so that means you're finished."
"...Well, before I do that, what do you think of your nickname first?" He asked, believing he must be thinking on what to make of his nickname.
"It's fine."
"…"
"…That's it?"
"Yes. That's what I think of my nickname. Satisfied?"
"Uhh, sure…"
Awkwardly walking back, everyone agrees that Rai's reaction is anti-climactic. It's as if he doesn't like to engage himself in a social situation and prefers to be by his lonesome, only speaking if it's relevant to the situation in hand. Not to mention, they hoped to learn why he's called Peel Gardener. While him being a gardener is self-explanatory, having the word "peel" in his nickname raises questions. It could refer to peeling fruits but that's only a guess.
"And with that, our zombie bodyguards are officially nicknamed!" Kotaro announces eagerly with his hands on his hips. "Cherry Boy, Fire Lord, Zipper Man, Plane Kid, Nail Jockey, Spin Cowboy and Peel Gardener. All of you better memorize them all, girls! It is crucial in protecting the identities of your bizarre bodyguards! And with that, this morning meeting is adjourned!"
Leaving the basement, it is time for the girls to practice their guerilla performance in just ｢one｣ day. Sakura wonders if they can really do it, especially when they don't really need any sleep due to being zombies and only doing it out of habit. As Kotaro stated, they're gonna have to act like idols from now on if Saga needs to be recognized by a local idol group.
If they do that, she may hopefully recover some of her lost memories.
"So, Cherry Boy," Saki addresses Kakyoin with a mischievous grin, much to his chagrin. "Can you elaborate to Fire Lord's statement on why you like cherries so much?"
"Can that wait? You still need to practice for your guerrilla performance." Kakyoin reminds her, hoping she drops the subject and spare him from more humiliation.
"Nuh-uh! I'm not practicing until you tell us!"
"I concur. Your nickname is peculiar enough to warrant my curiosity." Yugiri said.
"Lily agrees!"
"Do you know how to plant a cherry seed then? If not, I can teach you how to do it if you want cherries." Rai offered.
"Bet I can learn a thing or two from you, Cherry Boy!" Narancia snickered.
"Uhhhh... Sakura? Avdol? A little help here?"
As she and Avdol goes to stop the five from pestering Kakyoin, Sakura hopes this day will go well.
"Is this for real? Man, you have to remember a buncha crap when you're an idol."
"It's nothing but learning new things, Saki-chan."
"Hey, me, me, me!"
"What's all the noise about, shrimpy?"
"My name's not shrimpy! I'm the shining star of the stage, Lily Hoshikawa!"
"You wanna die?"
As per Kotaro's words, the seven zombie girls are currently in the shed outside the mansion to practice for tomorrow's guerilla performance. They're not the only ones as Kakyoin and the boys accompany them. Though it is suggested three would go outside to guard the shed, it was dropped because they're in the safe zone so it doesn't seem like a Stand attack would happen within the confines of the mansion. Still, as much as being in the mansion means they are safe, you'll never know when and where a Stand attack will happen.
Adding to that, Johnny opts not to use a wheelchair because he wants a change of pace by crawling on the floor. He insists that he's fine doing this when everyone is baffled over his act and tells Gyro to assist him when he wants to be put back on a wheelchair.
After Lily did a little pirouette and ending with a cute pose, Sakura asks, "What is it, Lily-chan?"
"Before we start practicing, shouldn't we pick a leader?" Lily suggested.
"Leader?" The redhead repeated.
"Yeah! Every idol group needs one, right? That way, they can make decisions and keep things moving!" She elaborated.
"In that case..." Sakura turns to Ai, considering she's a former member and leader of Iron Frill. She may have the skills required to lead an idol group. "We should let Ai-chan take the lead-"
"That is not happening." Ai curtly rejected.
"...Oh." Sakura is disheartened to hear it, seeing she's still not onboard of continuing being an idol.
Just then, Saki stands next to the mirror. With everyone's eyes on her quizzically, they wonder what she is doing standing beside the mirror.
"Um..." Clearing her throat and taking a deep breath, Saki proceeds to shout her former occupation in a rambunctious way. "I'M THE FIRST CAPTAIN OF ｢DORAMI｣, A LADIES' BIKER GANG FROM SAGA! ｢SAKI NIKAIDO｣! GOOD TO MEET YAAAAAA!"
Everyone is startled of Saki's yell, with Lily, Kakyoin and Rai covering their ears due to how loud she is.
"I THINK THAT THE FIRST CAPTAIN OF THIS TEAM IS OUGHTA BE ME, SAKI NIKAIDOOOOOO! GOOD TO HAVE YA ABOOOOOOARD!"
"Geez, we heard you..." Lily winced.
"And here I thought Kotaro is too loud for my own good..." Kakyoin sighed, hoping his eardrums are still okay, regardless if they are not gonna be damaged as an undead.
"Anyone else wanna step up?" Saki questioned, wanting to see who wants to take the leadership role. When no one else did as confirmed by Sakura, she continues with a smile and thumbs up. "Then I've got this captain thing down! So what, are we gonna take over Kyushu first?"
"The term is leader, not captain signora Saki." Bucciarati corrected, seeing she has some skills required to be a leader of a dance group even though she came from a gang.
With Saki taking the role of being a leader, Lily suggested next, "Next, I think we should settle on a name for the group!"
"A name for the group?" Saki repeated.
"Stuff like ｢Death Musume｣ and ｢Green Face｣..." The kid reminded everyone of Kotaro's atrocious names for the idol group. "None of Tatsumi's ideas are idol-ish at all!"
"That's true..." Sakura concurred.
"Then how about this?"
With their imagination kicking into overdrive, Lily does a flashy transformation dance similar to how girls in a magical girl anime transform into their magical forms. "｢Lily With Cutie Lily Magic｣!" She declares, ending with six other Lilies posing like a magical girl.
"Where's the rest of us?" Sakura asked.
"Damn it, shrimpy. Even your ideas are kiddy as hell." Saki shakes her head in disapproval. "A team's gotta have a name like this!" Holding a whiteboard marker, she writes her suggested name for the group, which reads ｢Wicked Rage Void Slackers｣.
"How do you pronounce that?" Johnny asked, sitting on a chair while leaning on the backrest.
"Jeanne d'Arc!" Saki proclaimed with a smile.
Unimpressed, Lily says, "Lame."
"It sounds fitting for any kind of group...except cute idols." Kakyoin pointed out.
"I think it has an impressive ring to it." Yugiri seemingly likes Saki's name suggestion, surprising Sakura, Lily and Kakyoin. The blonde in question feels proud when she heard her opinion, stating, "You got an impressive eye, neechan!"
"Why not something along these lines, then?"
Yugiri writes the third proposed name for the group, which is...
"｢The Mibu Wolves｣?" Saki read. "Hey, that might work!" She approved with a smile.
"No it won't." Lily disagreed.
Imagination kicks into their minds again as Yugiri, holding an umbrella with a moonlit sky as the backdrop, reveals some of her past to the group. "When I was alive, they'd visit me all the time when I was in Shimabara..."
"If I may," Everyone turns to Kakyoin, who has his hand on his chin as he thought up of a name for the idol group. He may not be well-versed with the idol business yet but that doesn't mean he's gonna sit here and not help them. "I may have come up with a name for your group, Saki-chan. Would you like to see it?"
"Sure! Any contribution helps!"
With Saki's approval, Kakyoin writes the fourth proposed name, which is...
"｢Stardust｣?" Sakura reads out loud.
"Since you girls are needed to be famous in order to bring recognition to Saga, I think Stardust fit you seven, as you will be the ｢stars｣ of Saga."
Sakura sees where Kakyoin is getting at, stating, "I think that sounds nice."
"Eh... I don't know. It sounds like something shrimpy will write." Saki, on the other hand, seems unimpressed.
"Hey!" The offended kid exclaimed.
Narancia stands up, wishing to suggest a name. He's been thinking on this name for a while and now, it's a perfect time to write it down. "Well, if you don't like that name, how about this? I came up with it and I believe you all like it!"
The fifth name of the day is revealed to be ｢Intrattenitrice｣.
Since everyone except Bucciarati and Narancia knows Italian, they're wondering what the word means. "Um... What does that word mean, Narancia-han?" Yugiri asks.
"It means ｢entertainer｣ in Italian!" He answered. With his hands on his hips, he then asks, "Well? What do you think of the name? Sounds cool, right?"
"No, it isn't." Lily deadpanned.
"What...?" Narancia is taken aback over her answer.
"That doesn't sound cutesy at all! Besides...!" She stated. Wanting something different, she hops in place like she's throwing a tantrum as she cried, "Lily wants something cuter, so come on!"
"Well, it is idol group, after all..." Sakura reminded, standing next to Saki who's holding the marker with her upper lip. Suddenly, Tae snatches the marker from her, surprising her and Sakura. "Oi, what are you doin'!?"
As Tae tries to imitate what Saki is doing to the marker, Sakura tells the mindless zombie they need the marker to write proposed names for the idol group. The zombie didn't listen, who then stares the tip of the marker next after failing to hold it with her upper lip twice. Everyone looks at her confusingly, wondering why is she staring it. Is she curious?
A few seconds pass and before everyone knew it, Tae bites the tip and sucks on it.
Predictably, everyone is surprised, and disgusted, from Tae's action. Sakura reacted quickly, running to her as she shouts, "You can't suck on that! It's really bad for you!"
"Tae-san, please exercise caution!" Avdol follows.
We're already zombies, though. Some of them thought, seeing Tae wouldn't have any problem getting sick if she sucks an unpleasant substance like a marker. Speaking of the marker, in the midst of the struggle, it flew in the air and landed on Junko's hands. When Tae saw her holding it, she didn't hesitate to chase after it, and in turn, Junko. The poor girl could only scream in panic as she attempts to get away from the feral zombie.
Sighing, Kakyoin has Hierophant Green wrap its tentacles around Tae's ankles, causing her to trip...
...and her head detaching when she hit the floor hard.
"Whoops! Didn't mean that to happen!" Kakyoin exclaims in surprise.
Tae yells in the air before her head lands on Rai's hand, who looks up to him with a passive look. "Ungh?" She lets out. Observing her expression closely, Rai mumbles, "I see. Being a head doesn't do much to faze her, huh? It is like what happened yesterday. And her body..." Looking up, he sees Tae's headless body saunter around, seemingly not paying heed that it's lacking a head. "...It's still moving and acting without her head, like yesterday."
"If you're done talking to yourself, can you put her head back?" Kakyoin, weirded out by his odd way of pointing what he observed, pulls Tae's body to Rai so he attaches her head back.
"I-Is she going to chase me again…?" Junko meekly asks.
"I'll make sure she won't. Besides, you should drop the marker as it's the reason why she chased after you in the first place." Kakyoin pointed out. The white-haired zombie promptly drops it so she can't be chased by Tae again.
As all of this happens, Sakura, Saki, Yugiri and Lily try to come up with a proper name and fast, because every precious seconds are wasted that should be used for practice. Sakura thinks of a name starting with the letter F and found one, which is "Framboise". While Lily thinks it's cute, Saki write the name in kanji that roughly reads "Rotten Chaos", causing the kid to reverse her opinion, commenting that it sounds stinky due to Saki's attempt in writing it.
Then Yugiri says, "It wouldn't surprise me if we stink because we're zombies."
Her statement acts as a wake-up call for every zombie as they all have a look of surprise. They realize they haven't taken a bath for days, and barring that, the fact they were most likely buried after they died means they're gonna smell bad.
Fortunately, after sniffing themselves and their clothes, they don't smell bad, prompting Sakura, Saki, Lily, Kakyoin, Narancia and Gyro to laugh. At least they don't have to worry about smelling so bad.
Continuing coming up with a name, Sakura stammers to find an appealing name, such as "Franchise", "French Bread" and "French...Cream Puffs".
"FURANSHUSHU!"
Alarmed by a sudden noise, they turn around to find ink on Tae's hand and splotches her mouth. "Ew! The ink from before!" Lily squirmed.
"Was Tae-san sneezing just now?" Avdol asked.
Tae sneezes again. "FURANSHUSHU!"
"Is she gonna be okay? She may be a zombie but..." Kakyoin inquired out of worry.
Lily's eyes widen in realization after discerning Tae's sneeze. "Oh? Hang on a sec!"
"Huh? What is it, Lily-chan?" Sakura queried, wondering why is she brightening up.
"You know what? I don't think she was sneezing," Lily starts explaining. When everyone expresses confusion of what she meant, she continues, "It was, but not just that."
Bucciarati guesses where Lily is getting at. "Is it the sound she was making when she sneezed?"
"FURANSHUSHU!" The mindless zombie sneezes again to prove his guess.
"Yes! That's right, Bucciarati-san!" Lily confirms. "That's our new name now that we're reborn! ｢Franchouchou｣! That's the name of our group!"
Hearing the suggested name, everyone repeats it to get the feel of what Lily is going after. Tae stares them while sniffing an ink hanging from her nose as Sakura exclaims, "That might actually work."
"Well now. That sounds lovely." Yugiri contends with a smile.
"I know! It sounds super cute!" Lily added. "It's way better than Kotaro's!"
"Franchouchou..." Repeating the name, Sakura sees the appeal of it, stating, "The more you say it, the cuter it sounds! That's amazing, Tae-chan!" She praises her, who offers a grunt and a dull stare in return.
"Fran...chouchou..." Saki writes the name on the whiteboard...in kanji. As such, the combined kanji word reads, ｢Rotten Chaos Stank Gang｣.
"No kanji." Sakura told her. One rewrite later, the name is in katakana, which now reads the same as it is pronounced.
"I guess we're doing this." With the group's name decided, Saki is ready to announce the following statement with valor. "Starting today, seven of us are going by team ｢Franchouchou｣!"
"With that, we will be able to get the dance and song number down!"
"Alright then! Let's go and practice our asses off for the performance tomorrow, girls! Let's do this!"
"YEEEEAAAAAHHHH!" Sakura, Yugiri, Lily and Tae shouted in unison, eager to start practicing. The sight of them didn't fail to bring smiles on Kakyoin, Avdol and Gyro's faces, wanting to see if the girls have what it takes to perform the guerilla show tomorrow. Even Johnny and Rai feel like wanting to smile at the thought of witnessing the girls- no. ｢Franchouchou｣'s proper performance as full-fledged idols.
Not all of them are in the same page as the ten zombies however, as Ai and Junko are hesitant of the thought of participating as an idol, something that is noticed by Bucciarati and Narancia.
"I don't think we can pull this off..."
"I guess we need more guts, huh."
"I thought I understood, but... dancing and singing are so hard."
Despite being determined to come up with dance moves and a song number, Franchouchou hasn't done any practice at all. It is nighttime and Sakura, Saki, Yugiri, Lily, Tae, Kakyoin, Avdol, Johnny, Gyro and Rai are outside the mansion, specifically in the park, minding their own business. Knowing how the Black Sabbath fight started by appearing in the park, Gyro, Kakyoin and Avdol are wary of a potential Stand attack that may occur. As such, the five stood guard for the girls, with Hierophant Green deployed to search their vicinity and making sure they're safe.
While Yugiri inhales her kiseru with Johnny and Gyro on her side, Sakura, Saki and Lily are sitting on a carousel being spun by Tae as they lament the fact they're not doing progress on their practice. At this rate, they won't be able to make it in time even if they spent practicing the entire night.
Kakyoin isn't blind to their worries and as much as he likes to help, he doesn't know where to start. Sure he knows idols sing and dance for the audience but the inner workings on how exactly they do it is something he's not used to yet. This includes Avdol and Rai, the former sharing Kakyoin's thoughts and the latter inspecting Tae as she continues spinning the carousel.
In fact, Rai is doing this the whole day, observing Tae's actions the entire time. When asked why is he so fixated on her, he says it's for research on how different being a living human and a walking corpse are. He explains that he's an analytic type of person, which is how he's able to go step one ahead of appraising plants and dealing potential threats to himself and his job, be it an enemy Stand or something mundane.
No one has any experience other than Ai-chan and Junko-chan. Sakura thought with a frowning look.
The speed is increasing courtesy of Tae, something Saki and Lily noticed except Sakura. "Tae-chan?" Lily uttered in puzzlement.
We've never been able to pull it off in practice, and tomorrow, we have to do it in front of people? She continues in her head, not paying attention that her world is spinning faster.
"Whoa, hold up there! This is getting dangerous!" Saki exclaimed, getting off the carousel
"Yada, yada, yada, yada, yada!" Lily blurted out as she gets off too.
Noticing Sakura is too occupied to notice the carousel is spinning faster, Avdol says, "Sakura?"
If you think about it logically, there's no way it'll work. I mean, the idea of zombies being idols in itself is...
The carousel is reaching max speed as Saki, Yugiri, Lily, Avdol, Johnny, Gyro and Rai see Sakura is still busy thinking to pay heed. Similarly, Kakyoin is not seeing this because he's controlling Hierophant Green and by the time he's done sweeping the area and conclude there's nothing amiss, Avdol gets his attention. "Kakyoin! Hey, Kakyoin!"
"Huh? What is it, Avdol?" After dispersing his Stand, he turns to the fortune teller in curiosity.
But I need to know... I need to know what I felt when I went up on the stage for the first time!
Tae continues spinning the carousel with enthusiasm, getting hooked up on doing it. That is, until she sneezes, of which in the process, abruptly stops the carousel with one hand...
...which sends Sakura flying in the air due to speed and force.
"W-What the...?!" Kakyoin exclaims, now realizing what's going on and surprised to see Sakura shoot up in the air from a carousel.
As they worry over Sakura getting flown in the air, they didn't see Sakura's smiling face as she remembers the way she jumped to the audience at the climax of her first performance. She lets out a laugh, happily feeling the adrenaline of remembering it the same way she did during the performance.
ドッゴォォン
"GAH!"
She cried out when she landed on the ground face first, her legs hanging up in the air.
"Sakura!"
"Sakura-chan!"
"Sakura! Are you alright!?"
Saki, Lily and Kakyoin called out, running to the redhead. They watch Sakura pull her head out off the ground before making a declaration to everyone present. "I'm going back and practice some more!"
"Hey..." Saki started only for Sakura to interrupt her as she says, "Saki-chan! Lily-chan! Tae-chan! Even us... Even zombies... If we work hard... If we don't give up, we can-!"
パァン
Sakura whirls around to face her friends with a merry look only for Yugiri to suddenly slap Sakura hard. As everyone are surprised to see Yugiri slap Sakura hard enough to send her skidding on the ground, the courtesan takes a few steps forward before saying, "Sakura-han! What happened to practicing? Even us... Even zombies... If we work hard... If we don't give up, I'm sure we can manage!"
Blinking in confusion, especially since Sakura is about to say the same thing as what Yugiri said, she stands up, stating, "That's... That's what I was about to-"
"No Sakura. Yugiri-neechan is right." Saki concedes Yugiri's statement.
"Eh?" Sakura lets out.
"I think Yugirin snapped me out of the funk, too!" Lily joins. Sakura looks at the three sporting determined looks, intending to see their practice to the end. The redhead isn't feeling the same thing as them, though that's because she was slapped when she's about to say the same thing as Yugiri said.
As the boys look on, Kakyoin, after Avdol told him what just happened, wonders why didn't Sakura get off the carousel when Tae starts spinning it faster. And why hasn't she screamed in fright when she was launched out of the carousel. It's as if she's not good in paying attention to what is happening in her surroundings.
"Not gonna lie," Johnny speaks up, somewhat impressed Yugiri has that kind of slapping power. "I felt Yugiri slapped me out of my thoughts when she slapped Sakura..."
"I agree. I hope I don't make her angry if she can slap like that." Gyro reminded, rubbing his cheek as if wanting to protect it from getting slapped.
Back in the training room, Ai, Junko, Bucciarati and Narancia are lounging around a piano waiting for the others to come back. When Sakura, Saki, Yugiri, Lily and Tae left after a failed practice session, Kakyoin, Avdol, Johnny, Gyro and Rai followed after them to make sure they're not harmed by an enemy Stand and not seen by anyone. With the two not leaving, the former gangster members opt to stay and look after them.
Holding her knees while sitting, Junko stares on the floor forlornly. She's not too keen on working with others due to her shyness and having worked alone when she was alive many years ago. As if sensing her despondent aura, Narancia sneak some glances to her every second or so out of worry. He wanted to cheer her up as he doesn't like seeing her frowning face. If only Kotaro would come and, somehow, motivate her and Ai to start taking this gig seriously.
But seeing how the producer have called Junko a loner after expressing her concern, an act he felt was unnecessary, Narancia believes it's not a good idea.
"They're taking a while," Junko noted. The three stayed silent as the girl continues speaking. "Yugiri-san went to get them and hasn't come back, either... Did they give up?"
"I believe they didn't," Bucciarati replied. Turning to Junko, he states, "Perhaps the difficulty in coming up with a song and dance number in one day is getting onto them. They must have gone outside to get some breather and think clearly on what to do."
"Well, even if they did, I think that might be for the best," Ai's eyes turn to Junko as she continues, "An idol act isn't something that can be pulled off overnight. Also, I don't think a hastily put together show is what an audience want to see..."
"Even if it's a rush job," Ai remarks, stepping forward to the mirror. "I think a crowd will appreciate it if it's sincere. But that's only an if."
As much as Bucciarati and Narancia want to comment, they cannot think up of any words that could sway the two from their doubts. As stated by Bucciarati, the girls didn't give up practicing, just overwhelmed. If much effort and cooperation are put on practicing, they could get it done.
"All right! Let's get crackin'!"
Saki's voice ring near the door, indicating they have returned. They turn their heads to see Sakura kneeling on the floor for some reason and Gyro carrying Johnny in his arms. "We're gonna get this done by tomorrow!" Saki declared, eagerness present in her voice. That eagerness prompted her, Sakura, Yugiri, Lily and Tae to cheer in anticipation.
Not wanting to bother them, Kakyoin and the boys stand in the sidelines, awaiting their practice.
"One, two, three, four! One, two, three, four! One, two, three, four!"
With Ai and Junko taking the lead after some convincing, the girls copy their moves as they follow the rhythm and beat of the music coming from the boombox. So far, they're doing the dance fine though it's not without any difficulty. Still, they press on as they follow the duo's moves, not letting the thought of failure get to their heads.
When the next step involves moving their bodies, Lily tripped. "Ow!"
"One, two- Ah, Lily-chan!"
Sakura rushed towards her out of worry while Narancia stops the player when he saw her trip. Groaning, Lily says, "The movement in this part is way too hard!"
"You gotta put more guts into it!" Saki reminded.
"I tried that already!" She retorted.
"No fighting, please." Yugiri reprimanded. Sakura lets out a chuckle nervously.
As if responding to their apparent failure to keep up and having enough, Ai takes her leave, not even speaking up and only letting her act show what she's feeling.
"...I'm sorry." Junko soon followed, taking her leave as well.
As the girls look to the door in dismay, Narancia is seen walking to the door, prompting Sakura to ask, "Narancia-kun?"
Holding the grip, Narancia turns to address everyone why he's leaving as well. "I'm gonna go and accompany them. Just...try to rouse them up...somehow. I don't like seeing them so doubtful and hopeless."
"Then I'm going as well," Bucciarati states, walking to the door too. "The two needs some counseling and some reproaching if they're gonna continue be their skeptic selves."
Happy Bucciarati is on board, they left the room.
As everyone continue staring at the door, Saki says, "Sakura, even if we're the only ones who wanna try, we should keep at it." Smiling optimistically, she affirms, "Let's start from the beginning! I'm gonna roll the music!"
Outside, Narancia and Bucciarati didn't have to find the two for long because they saw Junko leaning against the wall and Ai walking away. Carrying on his intention, Narancia makes his presence known to the two. "Hey! Junko, Ai!"
"Oh? Narancia?" Junko lets out, apparently not expecting the two would go outside. Wondering why they followed, Ai asks, "What is it?"
"Err, well..." Rubbing his head, Narancia takes a deep breath before saying, "Are you gonna leave the girls in the dust like that? I believe they are doing fine moving their bodies as they follow the rhythm. I mean sure, Lily messed up one move but given enough tries, they may do it flawlessly."
"And based from my brief observation, they are working together with no issue," Bucciarati added, stepping forward to Ai. "Perhaps you and Junko's contribution can be a big help to make them be the better idols."
Tilting her head down, Junko sighs, replying, "I see what you're getting at, Bucciarati-san, but I don't think I can work with someone or a group together."
Remembering her words this morning, Bucciarati asks, "Is it because you performed solo before and not as part of a group?" Junko nodded.
"You think I'm gonna accept being an idol as a zombie?" Ai's stern words rang for the two to understand her skepticism towards being a zombie idol. "Kotaro's plan of saving Saga by reviving seven girls to act as idols is hysterical enough that it's not gonna work. Also, the girls are not gonna do the performance with only one day of practice, especially when they're all inexperienced."
"Not only that, but there's a chance an enemy Stand could ambush and attack some of us. The thought of it makes me scared over the possibility that I get killed..." She quivers in fear, remembering almost getting killed by Black Sabbath and its cold, tight grip it had when it captured her briefly.
"Hey, hey! It's okay. You're safe as long as you have me, Bucciarati and the guys with you," Narancia assured, coming closer to her as if he wants to shield her from any enemies out to harm her. "And if any enemy Stands do appear and lay a finger on you, I'm gonna make sure they regret crossing the paths with us!"
"...You will?" She inquired with a hopeful look.
"Obviously! I mean, that's the reason why Bucciarati, the guys and I are revived as a zombie, right?" He reaffirmed. Hearing his words seem to have an effect on Junko as she felt comforted, even if a little bit.
At the same time, Ai tries to take her leave after saying her reason but she stops when Kotaro is blocking the door with a frown and arms folded. Feeling exasperated, Ai asked, "What do you want?"
"...A zombie that doesn't dance is just a regular zombie." He replies. The three noticed his presence when he said it.
"Being an idol isn't as simple as you're thinking." Ai retorts, still holding on to her belief zombies and idols don't gel well for Kotaro's crazy plan.
"What difference does that make?"
Getting a little frustrated, she exclaims, "I'm saying this can't possibly work!"
"...Do you seriously think that?"
Averting her eyes, she scoffs, "Of course I do..."
"Then why were you two idols?"
Ai and Junko seem to be taken aback when Kotaro reminds them of their profession through a question. Narancia wants to say something but Bucciarati stops him, looking at him and silently telling him this is something between the two that they need to understand.
Not skipping a beat, Kotaro continues telling Ai and Junko that, "The others are zombies but they're trying to live. That includes the Stand Users, Bucciarati and Narancia over there." The two look at them, none of them saying anything as they seemingly want the two to be reminded that, like Kotaro said, they want to live and take advantage of this second chance in life. Having reprimanded them a little, Kotaro takes his leave, but not before asking the two how long do they intend to rot as the zombies they are.
Watching him leave, Narancia took a glance to the two and sees the words must have got to their heads. He cannot deny Kotaro is being a little harsh to the two but there are no hints of animosity in his voice. He wanted the two to not agonize over their status as zombies and doubt being an idol is going to fail. After all, they used to be idols when they're alive.
In fact, Kotaro asking the two if they're gonna rot as zombies they are or continue their occupation when they're alive reminds Narancia of the time Fugo found him scavenging garbage after getting an eye infection and his so-called "friends" left him in the dust after letting him take the blame over something he didn't do. After Bucciarati fed him spaghetti and took him to hospital, curing his eye infection three weeks later, he stated his intention to join Passione after discerning Bucciarati's motives of saving him only to be angrily scolded by Bucciarati to go back to school and live an honest life. When he did like he told him to, Narancia eventually realizes that he acted that way not only for his own good but also, refusing a young man like him to join a dangerous mafia.
Having found someone who cared for him, even if they have to be angry for their own good, Narancia chose to join Passione half a year later under Bucciarati, never regretting how his life turned out even if it ended up killing him.
For now, he and Bucciarati take their leave by returning to the shed, leaving Ai and Junko alone to comprehend Kotaro's words.
Eyecatch features Sakura holding two ice cream bars in chocolate and milk flavors. Saki and Lily are seen eating it in chocolate and milk flavors respectively.
Eyecatch features Yugiri holding a strawberry wrapping with an elegant smile. Johnny is behind her eating a piece of strawberry while Rai is impressed of the quality of the fruit
Hierophant Green slithers back to its user after doing a sweep of Karatsu Station. Dispersing it, Kakyoin looks up and confirms, "I don't see any threats here and around the station. Guess that means we and the girls are safe for the time being."
"That's good enough." Avdol replied, looking at the Life Detector hovering above them. "And judging from how it's not glowing, I can definitely say no enemy Stands are present."
"I'm impressed you created a "heat radar" using your flames alone. I mean sure, I already know Magician's Red are versatile in its use of fire but this is a really nifty way to detect breathing, movements and Stand energy in a 15-meter radius." He remarks on Avdol's versatility, rubbing his chin as he inspects the cruciform-shaped radar.
Avdol chuckles, liking Kakyoin's praise for his move. "You haven't seen everything what Magician's Red can do, Kakyoin. I would be happy to show it to you and the others."
Currently, the seven bodyguards are near the statue situated outside Karatsu Station, where green hedges border it from the back. When they first see it, Narancia and Gyro's eyes sparkle in awe, clearly impressed. Having lived in Italy throughout their life, being in another country is a nice change of pace and as such, that means they get to see and experience a different country as if they are tourists. They have seen what a Japanese castle looks like and now, they get to see statues made and designed in Japan. It took Bucciarati and Johnny to remind them about doing a sweep of the area do they snap out of their delighted state.
Recalling Kotaro's order to make sure everything is safe for Franchouchou to perform, the boys scour the place for any signs of enemy. If there is a potential Stand attack, they must dispose it. So far, there doesn't seem anything strange around the station as confirmed by Kakyoin and Avdol thanks to their Stands. Narancia once volunteered to utilize his Stand but after seeing Hierophant is a long-ranged type Stand, he decided not to summon it for the time being.
Everyone then regroups just in time for Kakyoin to finish scouring with Hierophant Green and confirms nothing is amiss. "Alright. Looks like we're in the clear. Good job everyone." Bucciarati applauded.
"Should we tell Tatsumi-san that it's safe for the girls to perform here?" Rai asks.
"I don't think we should," Johnny responded, looking at Franchouchou setting up speakers. The boys turn to them as Johnny, squinting his eyes to the speakers, asks, "What are they setting up? Are those things needed for their guerilla performance?"
"Yes. They are speakers, which is what they need to gather a crowd for their performance. You heard the music they used for practice last night, right?" Avdol explains, looking at the approaching group.
"Yeah... I'm still getting used living in the future so..." He rubs his head, not hiding his curiosity and incredulity of the devices made over a century.
"Man, the future sure is something..." Gyro whispered, unable to hide a look of surprise when he sees something not from his era. Though the question of how different his, Johnny and Rai's world are up in the air, they assume everything is the same while something might be different.
Noticing Franchouchou are two members short, Kakyoin asks, "Where's Ai and Junko. Are they staying in the van?"
Sakura nods with a frown, clearly unhappy the two are seemingly not joining. "Sakura..." She turns to Saki, giving her a look that they have to make do with what they have. That, and the two weren't present while the girls practiced their moves.
Guess we'll have to this without Ai-chan and Junko-chan...
"Come on everyone. We must not trouble the girls with our presence," Bucciarati ordered, walking away from Franchouchou.
"Alright then! Time to see what Furanchowchow is made of!" Gyro's enthusiasm carries on to his gait, with Johnny following while stating, "It's Franchouchou Gyro, not Furanchowchow."
Avdol, Narancia and Rai follow soon after, with Kakyoin coming in last after wishing Sakura and the girls good luck.
With the stage set, the five girls get in the positions and Saki, holding a megaphone, announces, "Uh, we're Franchouchou! We're gonna give this song our all, so thanks for listening!" Her words manage to gather a small crowd, curious of the girls that appeared out of the blue.
With Saki turning on the music player and Sakura taking a deep breath as the girls take their stance, the guerilla performance of Franchouchou begins.
BGM: Mezame RETURNER
Mezame RETURNER
negae ba iin da
kiseki, kanjite mitai n da
Mezame RETURNER
nozome ba iin da
shigeki, girigiri de hora
Chodai daidai daidai daidai...
Akogareta no wa itsu no koro no yume?
Mune no oku ni kakushita sutori
iro koku shita tegowai riaru e to
kiechai so de
I awake in the light!
Bopping his head to the beat, Narancia took an instant liking to the song as he watches Franchouchou dance with an open smile. He's not the only one as everyone standing near the statue is indulging themselves to the song and the girls' moves. In Avdol's, Bucciarati's, Johnny's and Rai's case, their expressions are subtle and hard to make out if they like what they're hearing, but the fact is that they're enjoying what they're seeing and hearing. This is in contrast to the crowd, who are murmuring to themselves who these girls are and one woman pointed out that Tae has a piece of squid in her mouth.
Meanwhile, Ai and Junko are mouthing the lyrics as they listen to the song in the van.
Bashito kimetai kono Succeed!
Tomatcha ikenai kono Proceed!
Isshinfuran de iku dochu!
Yara kaimirai e maishin-chu!
Aa mo kore ijo arukenai...
Son'na koto naideshou hora ne!
Furikaette mite guru guruguru...
"AH!"
When the girls hop around, Lily accidentally tripped herself when Sakura passed her by. "Lily-chan!" Sakura stopped dancing for a moment to tend to Lily. This did not go unnoticed.
Watching Sakura checking to see if Lily is okay together with Junko, Ai looks surprised as she exclaims, "Idiot! Keep singing!"
"Oh no! Why did she have to trip in the middle of the performance?" Avdol cried out.
"It's a mistake, right? A mistake that can be easily fixed or swept under the rug!" Narancia replied, dreading if the performance can continue.
"Guess a whole night of practice isn't enough." Rai said.
The crowd starts clearing out, predicting Franchouchou's performance is going to be a disaster after seeing Lily trip. "Hey! Where are they going? The performance hasn't ended yet!" Gyro exclaimed.
"I think they're not watching a dance number that can potentially fail." Bucciarati reasoned.
Despite the blunder, the performance continued on, with Sakura resuming dancing with her fellow idols. They may have lost their audience due to her mistake but the show must go on. Besides, Kakyoin and the others are watching them with hopeful faces so she needs to try harder. Just like we practiced... Just like we practiced... She thought, hoping Lily tripping is the last mistake they will make...
Sakura's world is colored gray for a moment to signify her second mistake: she forgot the rest of the lyrics.
No way! I forgot the lyrics!
Panic starts seeping into her mind as she attempted to memorize the lyrics but to no avail. Franchouchou continues through the second verse while Sakura is getting left on the dust over her second mistake. W-What now...? What do I do now...!? Lyrics, come back! Please come back!
Seeing Sakura is standing still while the others dance, Kakyoin is getting concerned when she's not dancing. He takes a second guess and see what made her stop singing and take on an anxious look that can crack any second now. "Sakura... Don't tell me you forgot the lyrics..."
Just when he and Sakura thought the worst could happen...
Aa demo sukoshi kowai no...
Sakura turns to the who sing just now. To her surprise, it's Ai, having decided to steer the performance through her presence after seeing Sakura frozen in panic. Compared to the dull appearance everyone has, her appearance shines through normally.
Ai's not the only one as Junko joins as well, singing the next lines with a deep but wondrous voice to match.
Son'na koto naikara, hora ne!
Daijobudayo!
Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!
As if it's some sort of miracle, Ai and Junko's presence serves as a beacon of light in order to steer the performance to the right track. Empowered by their appearance, Sakura confidently sing the rest of the lyrics with gusto.
Mezame RETURNER mezamete inda!
Muteki yumemiru kimochi
cho, cho, cho cho, dai, dai, dai, dai!
Mezame RETURNER negaeba inda
kiseki kanjite mitainda
Mezame RETURNER nozomeba inda
suteki wakuwakuna hodo cho dai dai, dai!
Negae! Negae! Saijo! Sairyo!
Kanawanai mono wa... nai! Nai! Nai!
Todoke! Todoke! Atsui kimochi!
Setsuna no Soru ni... Cut in!
Franchouchou takes the stance they did in the beginning after singing the last lines of the song. After that, they stand next to each other in a line before bowing to a little girl who enthusiastically mimicked their dance moves and singing.
Are we done...? Sakura wondered.
"...How about we sign off?" Ai told Saki. Taking her little advice, everyone stood up straight as Saki exclaims, "Uh, we're Franchouchou! Good to have ya!"
Kneeling to the girl that watched them dance, Saki gives her a thumbs up and a sheepish smile, saying, "Next time, we're gonna pull that off better. Glad to have ya!"
The girl nods with a smile, just as her mother pull her to the station. "Glad to have ya!" She exclaimed, turning around and waving Saki goodbye.
"Well, that didn't work out too good." Saki lamented.
"It sure didn't, but still, you girls were great there." Kakyoin commended, walking to Saki and Sakura along with the others.
"Great? They are not just great..." Narancia chimes in. "They were AWESOME! I got to see just how an idol sing and dance. And to say it succeeded my expectations would be an understatement!"
"Ehehehe... You're too generous, Narancia-san... But still, thanks for watching us, you guys." Sakura giggled.
"Come on now, girls and boys!"
Turning to who has spoken just now, they see that it's the policeman, the same policeman Sakura, Ai, Junko, Kakyoin and Gyro know. Predictably, they pulled a face of surprise when they see him.
Striding to the girls while ignoring Kakyoin and Narancia, he says, "What're you doing? You can't just put on a show without asking! Where are your permits, huh? You wanna get arrested? I can arrest you, y'know!"
Annoyed by his threat, Saki seems ready to attack the policeman until Yugiri and Lily pulls her away, reminding her that she's the leader. Narancia soon followed while Kakyoin stayed by Sakura's side as he states, "I would like to apologize on her behalf. We will be gone in a second."
"Yeah! We will take our leave soon, officer!" Sakura agreed, being her anxious self in contrast to Kakyoin's coolly demeanor.
The policeman squints his eyes on the two, as if he's scrutinizing them. "Do I know you two?"
"Huh!? W-Well..."
As Sakura backs away from him while getting more nervous, the van driven by Kotaro appear braking to a stop. The two turn around when they hear the brakes as the producer shouted, "HEY! WE'RE PULLING OFF!"
As the policeman is taken by surprise, everyone run to the van as they don't want to deal with someone on the law, especially one who recognizes some of them and could possibly expose their identities. Once everyone and everything is onboard, the van drives away, leaving the policeman to think his charm might have gotten onto Sakura, considering she took a step backward when he wonders if he has seen her and Kakyoin before.
As the van disappear in the horizon, a lone figure watches them drive away, having watched their performance from afar.
"Fran...chouchou..."
Later that night, Junko and Ai are in the living room resting after the guerilla performance. Junko takes a sip from a cup of tea and Ai dries her hair with a towel. "We ended up joining in, didn't we?" Ai remarked, seemingly amused of how things turn out. Junko nods in acknowledgement.
A door opening is heard followed by Sakura's voice speaking up. "Ai-chan. Junko-chan."
The two look at Sakura, who is accompanied by Bucciarati and Narancia. The latter two gives them a smile and a wave respectively as Sakura says, "Thank you for your help earlier." She bows in appreciation for stepping in when the performance is turning bad. Ai and Junko stayed silent as Sakura continues speaking. "If it hadn't for you two, no one other than Kakyoin and the guys would've watched us finished, and..."
"And?" Ai pressed.
"You two were really amazing," The redhead continued. "The rest of us might not be able to become idols yet," Ai and Junko avert their gaze to her as if agreeing with her not being idols yet but she reveals, "But! That just makes me want to practice more! It might just be pretending for now. And we're zombies so that doesn't help, but I'm going to work hard, and together, I want to make sure Franchouchou can be a real idol group! I'm sure they all think the same, including our bodyguards."
Having thanked the two and said her piece, Sakura bids Ai, Junko, Bucciarati and Narancia good night and leaves the room.
"...That really was a mess of a concert today." Ai said.
"It was," Bucciarati didn't dare to disagree with that fact. "It only took you two stepping in to salvage it somewhat."
"Well, regardless of the outcome, I'm happy to see you two joining at the last minute despite your reservations." Narancia lauded. He turns to Junko as he says, "This is especially the case to you Junko! You were able to perform well for your first group performance. You didn't let your shyness get to you. And your voice? Oh man. It sounds heavenly!"
Blushing slightly as she averts her gaze from Narancia, Junko states, "I cannot deny you there, Narancia. In fact, not performing alone felt better than I imagined."
"...Franchouchou, huh?" They heard Ai mumble. When they look at her, they see a small smile on her face, indicating she's willing to start over from scratch as an idol. In fact, she remembers how she used to be the leader of Iron Frill, performing the songs for her adoring fans. It felt great being an idol now that she recalls her former role as Iron Frill's leader.
There is just one last thing she needs to addressed before she considers continuing her idol ways through Franchouchou.
"Hey, Bucciarati."
"What is it, Ai?"
Bucciarati looks at her eyes as she asks, "Do you intend to protect me and the others from enemy Stands? I... I'm not looking forward in dying a second time."
Seeing she's afraid of the potential enemy Stand attacking her, Bucciarati kneels to her with his eyes being on the same level as her. He then affirms, "Don't worry. As long as you have me, Narancia, Kakyoin and the other four on your side, we will protect you and the girls. No enemy Stand shall lay any finger on your skin, and if they did, we'll dispose of them until you are safe."
"Okay. Thank you for staying by our sides, Bucciarati-san." She expresses her gratitude. She's still scared of an enemy Stand killing her but with Bucciarati and the six Stand Users, it is guaranteed they will be safe under their watch.
"No need to thank me. Just doing my role as a bodyguard." He nonetheless smiles, wanting nothing more than to see those under his watch unharmed.
Smiling that the guys are determined to protect them as affirmed by Narancia last night, Junko decides to turn in for the night. Narancia soon followed, bidding the two good night before taking their leave.
At the same time, Sakura walks away from the door, satisfied in thanking Ai and Junko. Hoping she and the girls can do better next time, she hums the song with a smile as she walks through the corridor. It just so happens that another zombie is walking in the same corridor as Sakura in the opposite direction. They ended up bumping each other.
"Oh. Sakura, hello." Kakyoin greeted, sounding surprised but pleased to see her.
"Hello Kakyoin," Sakura greeted back, clearly happy to see him. "Seems like we came across each other."
"We sure did," He chuckled. Stretching his limbs, Kakyoin asks, "So, are you going to turn in for the night? I know we're zombies and don't need sleep but a whole night has passed without us sleeping, you know? I wanted to catch up with my sleep schedule after that."
"You and me, Kakyoin." She yawned. Even as undead, she's starting to feel sleepy. They're going to act the same as when they're alive, so other than being zombies, nothing has changed between being human and zombie. "Should we tell the others?"
"Hmm. Let's not," He shakes his head. "I believe it's best to wait until all of us are about to sleep. For all I know, they are occupied somewhere and don't want to be disturbed."
"Alright. Let's us wait then," She nods. "So, shall we proceed, Cherry Boy?"
The man frowns when Sakura called him with his nickname. Correspondingly, Kakyoin responds, "Sure thing, Egghead."
"…"
"…"
"…"
"Hahahahahaha!"
Sakura and Kakyoin shared a laugh after a moment of silence has passed. The two walk with each other down the corridor as Kakyoin requests, "Seriously though. Don't call me Cherry Boy except when we're outside, please? I would be relieved if you keep it that way while we're inside."
"Sounds to me you accept your nickname even if you don't like it." Sakura insinuated, letting out a giggle in amusement.
"That I am, unfortunately…" Despite sighing in embarrassment, Kakyoin still cracks a smile.
Up in the balcony, Saki leans on the railing as she gazes upon the sea. Reflecting on the group's performance this morning, the leader of Franchouchou intends on carrying her claim for a dedicated fan to do better next time. Even if the concert didn't go well, that doesn't mean she's backing down as she sees it as motivation to keep on improving as a leader and idol singer. She wouldn't take Kyushu by storm if she's going to give up. It's not like her at all.
At this moment, Avdol stands next to Saki and watch the calm waves rolling on the surface of the sea. The former biker turns to him and asks, "You're lookin' at the sea, Fire Lord?"
"Just wanted to calm my mind after a long day," Avdol replied. "So, how are you getting on, Miss Saki? Are you getting used to being a zombie and idol?"
Saki shrugs her shoulders, stating, "Eh, I'll manage. As long as we don't expose ourselves as zombies, we'll be fine."
"Well, even if we keep up the façade, we will be exposed as zombies to the world in the future," Avdol notified. "I do not know when the day will come but the outcome is never in doubt."
"...Did you come here just to tell me that and be a killjoy?" She squinted her eyes.
"I'm not. I don't want you and any of the girls be troubled," He claimed. "I apologize if I made you anxious of the day our identities and undead status will be known, Saki."
"Heh, apology accepted. Besides, I don't want you worryin' over me as well since I can handle myself just fine."
"But when it comes to enemy Stands, leave the work to bodyguards like me, Saki. I guarantee you will put yourself in danger if you ever try to fight against them."
"...Eh, alright. But don't be surprised if I try to fight back. I will not stand still and let any Stands kill any of us in the chance you and your friends were incapacitated somehow."
"...If it come to that, I advise you to be careful."
After the conversation, Saki and Avdol look at the sea and night sky for a while before they decide to turn in for the night.
In the shed, Lily is sitting on the floor stretching her arms and torso. Remembering her mistake during the performance, she wants to improve her dance moves and flexibility so she won't do the same mistake for the next performance. While having just one day of practice contributed to the guerilla performance mostly failing, it was her tripping during the concert that it almost crumbled until Ai and Junko stepped in.
As she continues stretching her body, Gyro enters the room and sees her sitting on the floor. "Hey Lily. Doing some stretches, I see." He greeted her.
She finished stretching herself as she replies, "Yup. Just preparing my little body to practice dancing and getting it right without fail."
"I guess this is because of your literal trip up this morning, right?" He grabs a chair and sit on it with one leg crossed and arms folded.
"Uh huh. I'm embarrassed to have it happen twice... During practice and in the middle of performance." She sighs, standing up straight while stretching her arms and raising her calves. "So what are you doing here, Gyro-san?"
"To accompany and watch you," Gyro lets out.
"Accompany me?" Lily repeated.
"In case you forgot, I'm a bodyguard and from my understanding of the profession, I must stand guard. In this case, it's you and the girls. I can't afford you to be by your lonesome, especially when you're a kid." He reminded her of his position as a zombie.
"You sure are taking your bodyguard duty seriously." She remarked, not really hiding her amusement and gratitude.
"Well, when you're revived after you died a hundred years ago in a different country and the world changed from what you knew as a zombie who must maintain it a secret to the world, what do you think is my role here if I'm not designated as a bodyguard?"
Lily didn't have to think for long when she blurts out. "Just a rotting, living corpse…"
"That's right. While it is quite a shock for me to be revived as a zombie after a century have passed in a different world, I can't help but be happy I get to live again. I'm still getting used being a zombie and resurrected in the future, just to remind you, but with Kotaro keeping a close eye on us, I have a feeling we're gonna be okay."
"I agree with you there, Gyro-san!" Lily smiled brightly. "While you do your role to protect me, Yugirin and the others, Franchouchou will let the voice of love take Saga higher as we work hard to bring joy to people's faces!"
"Heh, yeah... We're gonna ｢save｣ Saga if fourteen of us are working in tandem." Gyro flashes his gold teeth in delight, feeling optimistic of the future believing being a zombie wouldn't hampered their attempt to live their lives.
Her bright expression changed to a frowned and unimpressed one when she sees his gold teeth again. "...Ugh, that gold teeth of yours still looks gaudy as ever."
"That's your opinion. As for me, I'll continue having gold teeth with my family' name engraved on it!" Gyro isn't unfazed of Lily's criticism as he stands before the mirror and admire his square-shaped beard and teeth, smiling proudly of his fashion choice. Lily, for her part, choose to ignore him as she starts swerving her body carefully and intently, muttering something about Gyro being hard-headed.
In a different room of the mansion, Yugiri sits on the floor inhaling her kiseru. She exhales the smoke through her mouth, being mindful to a second occupant sitting on the opposite side of a sofa he and she are leaning on.
Hearing a buzzing noise to her right, Yugiri glances to Johnny sitting on a wheelchair and sees he's brushing his teeth using his spinning nails. Intrigued, she says, "My, my. That's not something you see every day."
"Hm? What is?" Curious, Johnny asked, moving his finger away from his mouth and turn to Yugiri.
"You brushing your teeth with your finger," She clarified. "Or is it your nails doing the brushing?"
Learning what she's curious of, Johnny states, "It's my nails doing it, empowered by the Spin. It's a neat way of brushing my teeth, I'll have you know."
"It sure is." Looking at the jockey, Yugiri wonder something about him. Since she has lived her life in Japan, she's curious of what other countries are like, especially during her time. She is sure every country has different but unique culture and way of living back then. She can take the fact she's revived many years in the future where everything is different compared to her time in a stride but learning there are five foreigners (and three guys from an alternate world) surely surprised her. Also, she's really curious of what Johnny is considering he's unable to walk.
"Johnny-han."
"Yes?"
"You're from a different country, right?"
"...Yeah. I'm from United States while Gyro came from Naples. Why do you ask that?"
After inhaling her kiseru, Yugiri says, "Would you mind tell me what's it like to live in United States? You and I are from the same era but in a different country. Since I lived in Japan until my death, would you care to enlighten me about it, Johnny-han?"
Seeing Gyro is gonna take a while before he returns, Johnny shrugs, replying, "Sure. I have nothing better to do than staying by your side so..."
"Alright. In return, I am inclined to tell what's life in Japan when I was alive." Yugiri said with a smile.
"While that is unnecessary, considering I married a Japanese woman and knew what Japan is like back then, I'm not stopping you if that's what you want."
"Oh? What's that? You married a Japanese woman?"
"Yeah, but I'm not telling you that now. Next time, perhaps I can reveal what I'm like to you. Is that clear?"
"Acknowledged..."
Reminding to tell Johnny who she is and what she's like when the jockey revealed who he is in return, Yugiri and Johnny have a pleasant conversation about their country of origin.
On the doorsteps of the mansion, Tae and Romero lie on the ground, guarding the door. While this is fine if it's a (zombie) dog like Romero, the same can't be said when it comes to an unawakened zombie like Tae. Said zombie proceeds to touch the dog out of curiosity, much to Romero's displeasure.
"Hey. You're coming inside?"
"Unngh?"
Turning around, Tae sees it's Rai standing in the doorway, looking at her with a calm expression. When she continues staring him blankly, Rai says, "Come on. It's time to sleep. You don't want to sleep outside, don't you? You'll catch a cold."
Seemingly nodding, Tae picks herself up and walks inside. She stops by Rai's side, as if she waits for Rai to move. He notices her behavior, which he didn't mind as he turns to Romero and asks, "You're coming too, Romero?"
"Bark..." That's Romero's response before lying his head on his paws, content to act as a guard dog and that Tae isn't annoying him anymore.
"Alright. Suit yourself then."
Closing the door, Rai turns to Tae and asks, "Now then, shall we proceed?"
"Mmmnnppphhhh..."
"...I'll take that as a yes."
As the unlikely duo of a nonchalant plant appraiser and a mindless so-called "legendary" zombie proceed forward, night continues without incident. With Franchouchou making their start through a guerilla performance and their bodyguards' Stand powers already used to protect the group, the zombies have a long way to go before they bring attention to Saga Prefecture.
In the meantime, a well-deserved sleep is needed for tomorrow and the day after that.
To be continued
With the publishing of the third chapter of Living Things as the last chapter I published for the year 2021, I'm glad to see I managed to finish the third chapter at the end of the year.
Hello everyone. Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year as 2021 draws to a close. With Christmas right in the corner, what better way to celebrate Christmas than making the third chapter be an early Christmas gift to you all. After having a good time relaxing and doing things I want, I have to publish the new chapter before 2021 ends.
Now then, as you have read from above, I gave Franchouchou's Stand-using bodyguards their nicknames, courtesy of Kotaro. His remark about telling the boys about their chosen nicknames after forgetting to tell them yesterday or a day before it stems from me having forgot to reveal the nicknames in the second chapter. Now that I keep in mind to let all of you know what nicknames they have, I managed to add them in. I must say, I'm quite amused of the nicknames I came up for the seven guys, especially to Kakyoin, Avdol, Bucciarati and Narancia. I mean, their nicknames fit to some quirk they have, so yeah, they're called Cherry Boy, Fire Lord, Zipper Man and Plane Kid.
In fact, I originally want Narancia to be called Li'l Bomber but I decided not to.
One more thing before I sign off. I was thinking on having the girls and boys paired up with each other, similar to Sakura and Saki, Ai and Junko, Kakyoin and Avdol and Johnny and Gyro. Now, don't think I want them to be paired up like I want them to be shipped. I don't see it that way, especially when Avdol, Bucciarati, Johnny, Gyro and Rai are quite older than Kakyoin, Narancia and Franchouchou. In case you're wondering if there is romance involved, it...could be but...it's not the main focus of this fanfic. However, I think romance is a possibility in this fanfic, especially between Kakyoin and Sakura from the first chapter. At this point though, romance is undecided yet. As for who are paired up with, take the last section of the chapter for hints aside from Sakura and Kakyoin. They're already decided, and possibly Narancia and Junko.
Alright, now that I have said my piece, I'm gonna sign off. Hope you stay tuned for the next chapter as 2022 dawns upon us. See you all next time!