On the porch of the mansion, Romero is sleeping peacefully in front of the mansion's rear door. It is near the end of autumn season, indicated by the autumn leaves swaying with the wind. A grasshopper stands beside the zombie dog, chirping audibly. Hopefully Romero doesn't eat the insect that was only hanging around out of desire.

In the mansion's training room, the new song composed by Kotaro reaches the end just as Franchouchou finished rehearsing the dance moves, steps and choreography, ending with each of their left hands and index finger raising and pointing.

"…Sweet! We did it!" exclaimed Ai joyously.

"That was killer!" agreed Saki, turning to face the group's idol expert. "I can already see us taking over!"

"Don't get carried away."

"I'm just sayin'…"

As the usual conversation between the girls start, Sakura watches their interactions with a smile. It's been 8 months since they and Rianima woke up from their eternal sleep. A lot have happened across the span of the timeframe that involved disagreements, confusions, and objections to Kotaro's insane and, still is, ridiculous plan to make Saga Prefecture popular. Back then, having a unified group seemed impossible due to the circumstances of their resurrection and the girls' opposition toward Kotaro's plan and each other, but as if by some miracle and undergoing through trials and tribulations, Franchouchou have formed and maintained a stable working relationship and companionship that allowed them to become Saga's rising idol group that could turn the nation's eyes to Saga.

To recap what Franchouchou accomplished to have a favorable and steady relationship between each other in spite of their differences and early disputes: Saki is smiling proudly than ever after she reconnected with her old friend and partner and gained many fans from Dorami and Korosuke, Lily is bursting with energy after indirectly reconciling with her father, and Ai and Junko are a lot more relaxed after the events before and during Saga Rock festival. The only girls who didn't have problems and/or their past revealed are Yugiri and Tae. Even then, Tae's feral behavior aside, they have no problems with being in an idol group so far, having held a stable behavior in themselves and their fellow bandmates.

That leaves Sakura who, while having regained few of her memories, is still wondering just exactly what her life is before she died. There is still the matter of her potential of gaining a Stand, and the mystery behind such potential and why she had it when she feels unremarkable compared to the 'legendary' girls. It must be related to her amnesia that is concealing the reason why, so she believes if she regained more of her memories, possibly curing her amnesia in the process, she might see what Stand she will have once she has the willpower to summon it.

Well, Kakyoin certainly appeared normal compared to his teammates, some of whom used to be in a mafia, entered a trans-continental horse race, a fortune teller and a plant appraiser, pondered Sakura, turning to the mirror to look at her reflection. And like me, he doesn't have a 「legendary」 title given by Kotaro-san. I wonder… how are you faring with your Stand-using friends, Kakyoin?

Meanwhile, in a forest two kilometers away from the mansion, a friendly spar between Kakyoin and Mamezuku reaches the climax after the former tricked the latter thanks to Hierophant Green's tendrils deceiving the position Kakyoin was in which, despite analyzing and speculating what he will do next, ended up falling within Kakyoin's trap. A point-blank Emerald Splash marked Mamezuku's defeat that he couldn't unravel himself in time thanks to having expended his entire Spin energy used to fuel Doggy Style.

"EMERALD SPLASH!"

"Ugh!"

Sitting on the ground in defeat and feeling his body ache from the emeralds hitting him hard, Mamezuku could only shake his head over the oversight he didn't consider because he went on the offensive the whole time, leaving him with few precious moments to defend himself when Kakyoin have the upper hand. It makes him wonder if him overanalyzing their surroundings and what Kakyoin would do or his overreliance and testing out his Spin cause his defeat. However, he doesn't take the lost hard because he's able to witness Kakyoin's strength and weakness and his own, which is the purpose of why they are taking this practice match outside proposed by Bucciarati and Avdol.

Walking toward Mamezuku, Kakyoin rubs his head timidly over having bested an expert Stand User. "Guess I win this match. Sorry if I overwhelmed you thanks to my Hierophant Green, Mamezuku-san." He extends his hand to him, gesturing him to grab it for support as he stands up from the ground. "Are you hurt? I hope the emeralds didn't strike you too hard at point-blank range. I tried lessen the amount of emeralds, so…"

"Don't worry Kakyoin. I'm fine," Mamezuku assures him, politely insisting he doesn't have to offer his hand to support him because he can stand up, though with a grunt. "You did your best in cornering me until you emerged as the winner. You should be proud."

"Really? Well, if you're serious, then I won't prod any further," Smiling gratefully at him, Kakyoin bowed in respect, and saying, "Thank you for the match."

"Heh, likewise," Mamezuku returned with his own smile, bowing in return as well.

"Heeeeeey you two! Are you done fighting? You seem to be, and your match is the last fight for the day, soooo… let's all take a break before we return!"

Hearing Narancia's voice, they turn to him and the rest of Rianima approaching them, with Avdol and Johnny carrying packets of dried squid given by Kotaro. Earlier, the first match was set between Johnny and Bucciarati, where Rianima's leader constantly put the jockey on edge thanks to Sticky Fingers providing him quick transport and maneuver required to pressure him. But ultimately, he lost because Johnny utilized Tusk and Slow Dancer to the best of his ability in their surroundings, and in between bouts of advantage and disadvantage each have, Johnny got within Tusk ACT4's range and laid the beat down on Bucciarati.

The next match is Avdol against Narancia and Gyro, which the latter side came to be because Gyro will fight against either the two, Bucciarati or Johnny and the group decided not to have the same members join the second match again (Kakyoin and Mamezuku have already decided they would face each other as the last match for the day). While fighting against two prove to be a challenge for Avdol, his mastery over the flames eventually earned him victory after Narancia dropped a bomb on him when he got too overexcited. Despite Gyro attempting to salvage it with Valkyrie and his steel balls, Avdol handed them their defeat, much to their chagrin.

Seeing they have to rest first before they returned home, the two didn't complain as they approach the van parked in a parking lot after walking out of the forest. Once they settled in or around the van and eat the dried squids, Rianima has a lively talk over how their matches went, with Narancia still upset over their failed attempt to double team Avdol and Gyro telling them about a joke he made, much to their discomfort (except perhaps for Johnny, if he's not being serious about his sarcastic remark to his (un)funny punchlines).

Deciding to linger near them, Kakyoin chews the dried squid passively before swallowing as he watches his friends try not to look like they are not finding Gyro's jokes funny except for him, who laughs rambunctiously at the punchline he thought is funny. Off to their side, Johnny writes something on a notepad, which Gyro noticed and asked him if he found it too funny and clever that he's writing it down.

Everyone is in high spirits and getting along well. I have feared that their different personalities, professions and having been revived without their consent could led to a divided group where the only similarities we have is having a Stand. But after 8 months of living together, it seems we are taking our presence so well that any first bad impressions and skepticism about our role as Franchouchou's bodyguards vanished. Well, I'm not complaining if we are getting along fine. Either our Stands are the reason why we can hang out without some problems or our personal problems were solved quickly before it becomes a bigger problem due to understanding what's troubling us.

Kakyoin believes the latter part is the reason Rianima didn't implode. To wit: Avdol is comfortable being a zombie and doesn't see himself as a monster, Bucciarati and most likely Narancia proved themselves to be noble and virtuous in spite of being former Mafiosi who were involved with crimes, Johnny's self-esteem didn't reached too low thanks to everyone's constant support, especially after regaining his legs' mobility, and lastly, Mamezuku had eased up being with them after his antisocial tendencies forbade him from getting along with them except for Johnny, Gyro and Tae. Or perhaps interacting with them helped in giving him a sense of comfort and belonging leading him to eventually willing to socialize or at least tolerate them without problem. As for Gyro, he takes everything in a stride as the only one who wasn't feeling inconvenienced with his new role after being revived.

Seeing a tight-knit group he's glad to be in has Kakyoin hope that it continues like this for many years to come. He doesn't want to see his friends die for the second time or depart due to new differences and disagreements they may not be aware of and see eye-to-eye on. The last thing he wants is being alone in the world, where the only companion he has is Hierophant Green. Or maybe it's accurate to say that the only companion is 「himself」.

However, Kakyoin takes comfort in the fact he's not the only Stand User in the world. While meeting with Jotaro is a hard confirmation of this fact, he's the 「third」 Stand User he met. Aside from DIO, Kakyoin knew for sure that he actually met someone else in his childhood that helped brighten his mood during his stay somewhere in Japan where his parents and relatives went to for a vacation. At this point, he can't quite remember, nor can he recall the memory yet. It exists only as a nagging feeling throbbing in his head painlessly.

Well, I hope it will come to me eventually. I wonder though… is this what it feels like to not remember some part of your life, Sakura? If so, then I can confidently say that it is frustrating to have it happen. But I will not claim that I have it hard compared to you Sakura. I hope you will got your memory back sooner than later, for your sake.

Sakura had never felt so excited about Franchouchou's upcoming concert. So much so that she's the only one who's awake during this night.

What reason Sakura is not sleeping yet due to excitement? As implied by them rehearsing in the shed, Franchouchou will host an upcoming concert for Saga's populace/fans in an indoor venue. But this is not any ordinary venue they will be hosting. In testament to their increasing popularity and acquriing enough funds for their producer to host their own concert without outside assistance, Kotaro announced in the impromptu meeting, with Rianima in attendance, that they will be performing in a large venue named 「Arpino」 where Kotaro expects 「500 people」 will attend the group's major breakthrough in the idol industry. Having to perform in such a large venue in front of many audiences is nothing to sneeze at, so the girls are worried if they are able to do it. With Kotaro's absolute confidence and Rianima's support though, they have their spirits lifted, and they are now looking forward for the Arpino concert if this will what complete the 「first step」 in stepping out of Saga and gain Japan's attention.

Speaking of Arpino, Ai is familiar with the venue because she performed with her previous group as the first concert for their Saga tour. Hearing her, Sakura mentioned that she finds it familiar too, much to her curiosity.

This is such an important milestone for Franchouchou that Kotaro reminds Rianima of their main target they must eliminate to cleanse their presence off Saga's face. All twelve enemy Stands were defeated, so it will not be long before the 「mastermind」 behind the enemy's constant but hidden presence targeting them will come out of hiding to directly engage the zombie Stand Users. This is their ultimate goal given to them for their efforts in protecting Franchouchou and Saga, so Kotaro has high expectations for them. Even without hearing it from him, Rianima knew that it's now or never to confront the 「mastermind」 and bring them to their knees for attempting to attack Saga and themselves. Failure is not an option in their eyes.

As they anxiously wait for the day Rianima will inevitably face the villain, the mansion's residents are sleeping to replenish their energy. Except for, as shown earlier, Sakura.

That feeling! Excitedly contemplated Sakura, thinking back to her looking at a tall curtain where a memory appeared before her containing the same curtain shined by colorful stage lights, possibly for Iron Frills' first Saga concert. For some reason, I'm super excited now! Maybe there's something about that place that has to do with my old life. And when we perform there, I bet the memories will come rushing back!

Hopeful her memories will come back to her after 8 months of enduring amnesia, Sakura decides to do additional practice after she sees she will not be sleeping until her excitement abates. There's a chance she may practice for the entire night, but she won't complain. Better polish her moves for maximum performance and appeal to make Arpino's concert the best Franchouchou can be.

Days Until the Arpino Show: 18

"Sakura… Sakura!"

The girl stopped dancing when her name is called and turns around to Ai. "Huh? Yeah…?"

Looking at her with both Junko and Lily as they panted, Ai tells her, "You're getting too far ahead. Try to keep pace with us."

"Oh, I'm sorry!" she apologized.

"…Do you think you need a break?" asked Junko.

"Of course I won't take a break!" she replied with an ardent smile. "I feel like I can keep on practicing forever! This is our big solo show! We got to make sure it's perfect, you know?"

Saki doesn't like how she replied like that, before responding with this. "Damn, you're becoming a bigger nerd than usual."

"Don't be silly!" she chastised Saki a little, still with a big smile. "Oh and by the way, I had an idea while I was up doing late-night rehearsing! I was thinking during a hook, it might be cool to add an extra step!"

Ai is iffy of her idea, as well as her having done a late-night rehearsal last night. "Shouldn't we learn first the basic pattern?"

"I get where you're coming from, but please let me show you real quick!" she keeps on rambling. "I promise you will love it!"

"I'm not so sure…"

"Ohhhhh wait! The weather is really beautiful today. It might be fun to practice outside for a change! Let's go to the roof!"

"You can't do that! There's no roof access!"

As Saki chided her for her increasingly outlandish ideas to spice up their rehearsal that is proving to be too much for the girls to follow, Kotaro silently watches Sakura through the indoor window getting overexcited that she's outpacing her bandmates.

Hmm, this will not do. Sakura is getting way ahead of herself. Better do something about it or else the rest will flounder behind her like a pack of slow-moving zombies during the apocalypse. Before I can do that, I think someone Sakura is close to will need to hear this…

"Huh? You called me here so we can talk about… Sakura?" Kakyoin pointed to himself with a look of surprise.

"Uh huh. That's the reason why I called you to my office," added Kotaro, tenting his hand on his desk while slouching his body to create a hand behind the tented hand effect seen from every media. "Hope that's easy for you to comprehend. And before you think this will be a casual conversation, no. It's a serious talk we're having."

Kakyoin blinks, unsure how to respond to that. Recomposing himself on the seat provided by Kotaro, he admits internally that of all the topics he expected to discuss with Kotaro when he called him to go to his office for a talk (and making him miss Mamezuku's story about him living in a ski lift when it's not winter), he did not expect Sakura to be brought up as the reason after he asked what he wants to talk with him about. He's sure Kotaro will discuss about Rianima's strategy to lure out the 「mastermind」, how their bodyguard business is doing, or if Tae is behaving properly…as far as being a zombie can be.

That last part shall be left for either Sakura or Mamezuku since she's close to them and likes them tending to her.

Scratching his head, Kakyoin wants to know the reason why Kotaro chose Sakura to be the topic of this discussion, so after clearing his throat, he starts speaking. "Well, uh… I need to know the context behind our subject matter Tatsumi-san. I'm afraid I am quite lost here. …You're willing to give me context, right?"

"Of course I will," he quickly stated, pushing his hands on the desk while standing up straight. "For every zombie still possessing motor functions and senses needed to move to endlessly pursue a grotesque goal, few zombies may only want to stay in one place, rare as it is, thus leaving itself behind their fellow brethren having the same goal in their rotten mind."

"…I'll pretend I understand your weird metaphor," deadpanned Kakyoin. "Please get to the point."

"Alright. So here's the reason…"

After explaining what he saw from Sakura and her conversation with the girls, Kakyoin adopts a contemplative look with his hand on his chin. "So basically, Sakura is getting way ahead of the girls out of excitement for the upcoming Arpino concert…"

"Yup," Kotaro nodded.

"…And thanks to her unrestrained elation, she's willing to push herself far so she can reach an ideal dancing style, which the girls are not agreeing with it or overwhelmed by her energy."

"Correct."

"…And you're worried that if she keeps this up, she will leave her friends in the dust, all because she got blinded by her intense and excessive passion for the Arpino concert."

"You got it."

Taking a moment of silence, Kakyoin lowers his hand as he stares at Kotaro. His expressionless face and sunglasses obscuring his eyes make it hard to tell what he's feeling currently that his loud, raucous voice provides the tell in its place, but hearing the reason alone tells the teenager what he's feeling about the problem for Sakura. He hoped, and already knew, that the rude manager is capable of showing compassion, appreciation, and worry not only for Franchouchou, but also for Rianima. It's really rare to see it from him, but when it shows, the unexpected wisdom coming from a boisterous man makes the impact more effective.

Now that he thinks about it, Kotaro is like Jotaro, in that both act so rude and demeaning to others, but do possess virtues and standards hidden behind the blunt and gruff exterior. Also, funnily enough, their names are almost pronounced the same.

That said, Kakyoin preferred Jotaro's presence compared to Kotaro, though given enough time, maybe he will come to appreciate his presence…not that he will say it to his face.

Guessing a possible outcome if Sakura doesn't restrain herself, Kakyoin wants to know if it is needed that they worry about her showing signs of outpacing her friends out of unheeding what they need the most. "Hmm, having one member of a group not working in unison, and them not seeing that they are the problem… After understanding the issue from your point-of-view… I guess you may have a point in being concerned for Sakura not synergizing even a little with the girls. Like if one gear is missing or worse, inserted wrongly in one part and the machine goes haywire because one gear is not working well with the other components."

"Hm hm hm! Now you're getting it!" Kotaro clapped approvingly of his quick thinking and metaphor that may not be better than his own. No really, it's not.

"Yeah… I think, for once, I agree with you, Tatsumi-san," chuckled Kakyoin, having never thought there comes the day he would say that. "So uh… since you're the kind of guy who prepares everything unexpectedly, I believe you're working with a solution right now?"

"Yup! In fact, I would like it if you discuss it with me!" he exclaimed, pointing to him.

"Really? Do you think…? I can provide assistance?" he asks, unsure.

"…Well, who can I discuss with other than you? Not Saki, not Ai, not Tae, not Avdol, not Narancia… and obviously since she's the one being talked about here, not Sakura."

"Oh yeah, I was wondering why you didn't talk with Sakura. Though you will yell at her and hurl insults, I believe all she has to do is listen to your problem with her current attitude, and-"

"And told her that she's the problem when she's having too much excitement in her veins? I'm afraid that won't fly because she might take it hard or understand my issue the wrong way. I mean, you wouldn't want to talk with someone who's so angry they need to cool off, right?"

"Well… yes."

"Exactly! So! Can we discuss what should we do to make Sakura see that she's outpacing her bandmates without directly telling it to her egg-shaped faced?"

"…Before we can do that, there's one more question… 「why me?」"

"Hm? Why you?"

"Why did you choose to tell me instead of others?" Kakyoin pats his chest to emphasize while taking it off the chest that has been bugging him from the start of their talk. "Surely Saki, Ai, or Yugiri-san knows Sakura the best. But you did not chose them. Tatsumi-san, please tell me… 「why you chose me over them?」"

"…"

"…"

"…To keep my answer short, it's because you're the only one who's close to Sakura. You can infer from it after we're done."

"W-What?" Kakyoin is confused at his response. "Me? Being so close to Sakura? What… What are you…?" But it didn't take long before he realizes Kotaro's reason for having him be the one to share the knowledge. Now that he think about it, out of all the girls, Sakura is the girl he feel comforted the most just by being near her. It might be because she's the first zombie and friend he met in the mansion, so the first impression have stuck on to him, but for the past 8 months, he can count the few times he's not hanging out with Sakura during each groups' free time. Whenever they get a chance, they would talk about different topics, take a walk together, and even listened to songs by Franchouchou and Sting, his favorite singer.

Thinking back on the times he and Sakura spend together, their friendship has been the most stable, and interesting, among the zombies. In fact, unbeknownst to them, their relationship is a frequent topic, which they wonder if there is something happening between them. They believe it's not a matter of if their friendship may be something more. It's a matter of when…

"In any caaaaaase, time'sawasting! Let's debate what solution I needed to not only put Sakura back on track, but improve Franchouchou's and Rianima's performance for their respective jobs!"

It isn't after the two are done in about an hour that Kakyoin left, pledging to keep it a secret from the girls and guys, including Sakura.

Days until the Arpino Show: 17

"~Gooooooooooood morning Franchouchou and Rianima ya yeehee!~"

Kotaro wearing a green bowler hat and adding a yodeling tone in his morning greeting for the two zombie groups… It's certainly not so weird seeing it from the producer after witnessing his outlandish morning acts many times than they like to count.

They expect more yodeling from Kotaro, but in what seemed to be a change of pace for his greeting style, he cuts straight to the point as he announces the meeting's topic. "Well straight to business then. In light of your biiiig concert, you get a 「speciiiiaaal training regime」."

Ever so confused and curious, Sakura asks, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're goiiiiiiing… to the mountaaaaaiiiiins!" he answered pointing his hand to his side like he's pointing to the direction of a mountain.

"…You can't be serious. Like, right now?"

"It has to be NOW! You can't pull off something amazing like this without a training montage in the mountains! You'll get your butts kicked! You'll grow! And you'll retuuuuuurrrrn!"

"…You've watched many movies that inspired you to copy the training montages and apply it to Franchouchou?" Mamezuku guessed.

"Why shouldn't I beeeee!?" Kotaro looks offended of his claim. "Well anyway! You and your bizarre bodyguards will be stuck there until I rescue you allleeee yaayaaayaaa hooooooohoooooooooooooo!"

As everyone ruminate over his yet another plan for improving Franchouchou, Kakyoin subtly sneaks a gaze to a concerned Sakura. She has no idea how Kotaro's plan is centered on her in order to sync her back with her groupmates. Granted, he's not so sure if his plan will be successful due to his eccentric way of announcing his plans and the likelihood it will succeed, but he doesn't deny that there is merit of sending him and everyone to the mountains to fend for themselves through teamwork. He can only hope Sakura somehow pulls through and realize what the 'harsh training regime' is all about.

This is for your own good, Sakura. Other than Yugiri-san and Tae-san, you're the remaining member who must improve, or else you may compromise the girls… Kakyoin thought, his eyes returning to its position as Kotaro reveals the location the fourteen zombies will spent many days in.

Snow are falling heavily on Mount Tenzan, the tallest mountain in Saga. Located southeast from Karatsu, it stands above 1,046.2 meters above sea level, which encourages daring hikers or mountaineers to venture in it and reach near its peak.

In the same location, around 800 meters, Franchouchou and Rianima, accompanied by their pet dog Romero, walk across the snowy path laid out by the snow-covered bushes and trees. Since the weather spews out snow and cold winds, especially with winter barely one month away (which makes it odd the snow came in so early), every zombie is wearing warm clothes for this weather:

Sakura wears a long-sleeved pink shirt with two white stripes lining vertically and encompassing almost her back and flowery embroideries on the pink surface, magenta short skirt, white and gray striped leggings, cyan ankle covers and white shoes with red soles.

Saki has a light green jacket with red inner rims and pocket edges, dark green buttons, beige sweater, dark blue overalls and suspenders, and light green shoes with beige soles.

Ai interestingly has a shoal over her shoulders covering her blue-green puffer jacket with snow patterns printed on it. Aside from that, she has teal green shorts, red stockings and turquoise shoes.

Junko wears a black, square-patterned vest over her long-sleeved shirt, dark blue pencil skirt, gray stockings, violet leg warmers and dark blue shoes.

Yugiri have on a dark red jacket with a skirt end covering her red long-sleeved kimono-like shirt with frilled beige hemlines and gold-colored flowery or circular patterns over her inner teal shirt, violet pleated skirt, olive stockings and black geta sandals.

Lily wears a pink kigurumi with yellow placket and pocket edges, yellow, orange and dull purple circles, teal shoes with yellow knots and soles and a ear flap hat with a fuschia star printed on the left side.

Tae's outfit looks similar to her purrple tracksuit used for Franchouchou's workout, except her winter outfit has a folded collar and additionally wears a black thin garment which can be seen reaching to the middle of her hands, handmade straw leggings and brown shoes.

Kakyoin's outfit is unchanged aside from a light green scarf wrapped around his neck and its tailend hanging over his chest, red wool gloves and dark red boots.

Avdol trades his robe for a beige overcoat reaching below his knees, wearing it over his tan turtle-necked sweater and trousers. His orange scarf and brown boots, on the other hand, remained while his metallic accessories were discarded.

Bucciarati wears a trench coat, sweatshirt, trousers, and wool gloves, all of which are white with black patterns, similar to his normal outfit. His dark gray shoes remained.

Narancia wears arm warmers, poncho over his dark purple turtleneck sleeveless shirt, black jeans and leather boots. Also, he's wearing orange ear mufflers while his orange head band.

Johnny and Gyro wear their outfits used during the Steel Ball Run race when crossing over snowy landscapes, which are basically look like their normal outfits with some differences.

And lastly, Mamezuku wears a long dark purple scarf similar to Kakyoin, blue arm and leg warmers and boots, over his normal outfit, virtually similar including his bomber hat.

As they continue walking, Sakura is having doubts about Kotaro's plan from the start. With this thought, she asks Saki. "Do you think there's any real benefit to this?"

"Hell if I know, but if he's messin' with us, I'm gonna punch the shades right out of his face!" Saki clenches her fists to make her know she's serious.

The two groups continued along until Bucciarati stopped everyone from moving. He brings out a paper and unfolds it, revealing a hand-drawn map made by Kotaro showing their position relative in the mountain. To the right of Tenzan is Nanamagari Pass whereas south of it is Saga City. Nodding to himself, Bucciarati announces, "Bene. We're here in the spot marked by signor Tatsumi."

"…Goodness," speaks up Yugiri after looking at their surroundings where bluish white snow covered the ground few feet thick and more trees and bushes littering the ground. "He's chosen such a barren spot, isn't he?"

"Haaaah…" Junko drops to the ground exhaustingly. She hasn't done so much exercising in her life, so having to trek the mountain takes so much energy compared to an average person. "If I haven't been dead, I've probably would have died here…"

"H-Hey, if you need someone to support you, I'll carry you up!" Narancia tells her, halting stepping on the snow with his leather shoes because he liked the sounds it made to come to her.

"…I'm gonna be zombie popsicle…" complained Lily as she lies on the ground with a huge rock for support. Romero, Saki, Sakura, Tae (who's lying face down), Kakyoin, Johnny and Gyro stand beside the kid, the latter two looking at her out of worry.

"...This sucks. I'm already bored." Saki speaks out what most zombies are thinking after not even a minute being here.

What do we do? We can't practice in a place like this. Sakura's thought goes over how they can practice while cooped up in the mountains.

With the girls feeling lost over what they should do, they huddle up in a circle to discuss it. Rianima is not left out as they stand around them similarly in a circle formation. Kakyoin and Narancia brought out their Stands to survey and monitor their surroundings for any possible signs of a threat, while Johnny and Gyro rub and pat Slow Dancer and Valkyrie after bringing them out. Since they're in an open space, the two decided to have their horses stationed outside their minds to give them freedom after they were mostly restrained inside. They even apologized for not having them stand around in an open place.

Trying not to let the cold get to her or wanting to stay tough even with temperatures deeply affecting her zombie body, Saki asks a question that seems trivial to them. "If we're dead, can we still freeze to death?"

"Not to death," shrugged Ai. "We would be fine if we're thawed, possibly by Avdol-san. If we don't get eaten."

"What, eaten!?" incredulously stated by Junko. "None of us can freeze! No one!"

Saki proceeds to prove her wrong by pointing at something, replying, "It's… kinda late for that."

ドーン

Who she's pointing to is a frozen Tae lying on her side with her hand reaching out as if grabbing something. Romero happily licks the frozen zombie, not caring or realizing his brethren was frozen.

"Tae!?" Mamezuku and Sakura turned to her in concern as Avdol and Magician's Red goes near her.

"I believe we shouldn't ask how did Tae got frozen like that. It stretches incredulity, even with our Stands," he stated, producing a small flame to carefully melt the ice without harming Tae. He also shooed Romero so he wouldn't get burned too.

Observing him, Saki believes that since Avdol can create fire, everyone should only search for many sticks, place it in one patch and have Avdol light the fire. "With Avdol's Magician's Red, bet we only need wood and let him light the sticks up without manually starting the spark by ourselves. Ya hear that Fire Lord? You wouldn't mind doing it, right?"

"I knew this would be brought up," sighed Avdol.

"What's with the sigh?" Gyro pointed out. "It's not hard to light a fire by yourself, right?"

"Well I don't want to be a glorified fire maker," he responded, having Magician's Red touch the rest of the thawed ice once most of it melted, freeing Tae from her icy prison. "And it would make part of our hurdles easy if you choose me to warm all of you and start a fire."

"That's true," agreed Kakyoin. "When Avdol's not with my group, we lit a fireplace by ourselves. It's not hard to start a fire everyone. You only need to have a lot of patience and precision to light the spark."

"Oh! I can make one for us!" Lily exclaimed, willing to take up Kakyoin's remake and prove him right.

"For real?" asked Saki.

"Well I can! Duh, I was a loveable star of the girl scout team!"

"Uuuuuh, what's that?" It's Gyro who asked, shaking his hat to rid the snow that had fallen on it.

"In the meantime," Yugiri chimes in as she stands up with Junko and Ai. "I suppose we should find something to eat."

Ai agrees. "You're right. We wouldn't be able to get things done if we're only sitting around."

"Yeah." Junko conceded.

"Let us accompany you," Bucciarati offered. "We can't let you all get out of our sights. It may sound unlikely considering our location, but the last enemy Stand could get all of you if you go somewhere by yourselves. We apologize if we're being intrusive."

"No, it's alright Bucciarati-san," assured Ai. "You are looking after our safety as our bodyguards."

The girls scatter to do their given tasks with one bodyguard each accompanying them, but Sakura is worried because they chose to prioritize searching for food or sticks and stones to be used for building a fire place over rehearsing. "B-But wait! Shouldn't we be practicing!? We have Arpino coming up!"

"Yeah, but figuring out how to survive is more important." What Saki said to her before almost everyone except Sakura, Yugiri, Tae and Kakyoin leave their temporary site, talking among themselves of the things they need to pick. Watching them go displeases Sakura, her mind being so focused on rehearsing for a very important concert that she doesn't see what's so important while they're out in the freezing wilderness.

"Now now… let's get settled," Yugiri tries cheering her up. "Then maybe we can practice a bit."

Though still displeased, Sakura relents in a defeated tone. "Okay…"

Watching her crestfallen face upsets Kakyoin. A whole day hasn't been passed after the start of Franchouchou's training regime in the mountains, but the idea of not getting to practice really affected her. He wants to cheer her up somehow, but he doesn't want to let her know and possibly compromise the plan. So as much it irks him, he must stay quiet for now.

Sorry Sakura, but this is for your own good.

Days Until the Arpino Show: 16

"Hm~ Hm~ Hm~"

Sitting on her feet with her knees to her chest, Lily hums happily as she keeps the bonfire burning by poking twigs or rocks with a fire poker stick. On her side, Narancia keeps himself comfortable before the bonfire, hovering his hands after removing the gloves with a pleased sigh.

"Even though Avdol only has to ignite fire to warm us up, there's something so natural and pleasant about warming your hands before the bonfire," Narancia said. "Feels like I'm a little kid huddling up to a fireplace to warm my body during cold days."

"Well… You do act like a little kid for the most part, Narancia-san." Lily replied. "Makes it hard to believe you're seventeen years old along with Sakura-san and Kakyoin-san."

"…Are you singling me out or something, Lily? 'Cause it feels like your words were referring to me."

The kid didn't get to reply when Saki and Mamezuku approach them holding a bundle of sticks and twigs to make the bonfire continue burning. "Yo! Nara, shrimpy! Here's more sticks you can shake a stick at!"

"Saki, whatever you do, don't-"

Rai's warning came too late when Saki dumped the sticks on the fire, covering it so little flames only came out from openings. "-throw the sticks… like that…" He shakes his head with a sigh, which Narancia and Lily shared, the latter chiding her for not having the sticks dried up before putting it in fire. Saki mutters an "Oops" over her mistake.

"Look what we found," happily announced Yugiri, holding a bundle of mushrooms with varying cap appearances, sizes and colors together with Avdol, who is carrying smaller amount of mushrooms but with a noticeable skeptical look. "These mushrooms all look delightfully tasty… though they might be poisonous."

"Unfortunately, these are the only food source Yugiri and I can find," added Avdol. "Lucky for us, Johnny, Gyro and Ai are hunting for wild animals for their meat, so we can have something to eat if you don't like mushrooms."

"Who cares? We're zombies!" Saki reminded, seeing no problem getting to eat only mushrooms regardless if they're poisonous or not.

As their conversation continue (some of them noticed Tae had finished building a spiraling snow structure with pinecones for decoration, much to their intrigue and surprise she did it all by herself), Sakura is not liking what she's seeing. Franchouchou hadn't done any practice yesterday and currently, it looks like they're not doing it again.

Needing a change of scenery, Sakura, accompanied and monitored by Kakyoin, takes a walk somewhere to clear her head off of any worries for not getting any rehearsing done. Sensing her inner dilemma, Kakyoin thought of saying something to cheer up even a little, but before he can do it, he and Sakura got pulled suddenly in the bush. Their mouths got covered by Ai, who's the one who pulled them out of sight.

"Huh? Ai?" Kakyoin's muffled voice came out in puzzlement.

"What are you doing?!" asks Sakura, similarly coming out muffled.

"We're hunting, obviously," Ai tells them. "Johnny-san, Gyro-san and I."

"Hunting?" "Shh!" Ai shushes Sakura when a rustling sound is heard from a small bush under a tree, which is shaking because of something hiding inside it. Kakyoin choose to keep quiet, gesturing Sakura to stay silent as well. "There's an animal hiding under that tree."

Readying her handmade bow and arrow, Ai steadies her aim and waits for her target to come out. That target is a baby brown-furred boar. Seeing Ai is about to kill a baby animal didn't seat well with Sakura, pleading to Ai not to shoot it. Her begging words causes Ai to miss her mark, which it ran away after the arrow struck the tree trunk, above the small bush.

"…Sorry." Sakura apologized.

"It's alright," Ai didn't take her mistake caused by Sakura hard. Retrieving the arrow, she continues, "I haven't got any prey compared to Johnny-san and Gyro-san. While I have sharper eyes compared to the girls, the two have better hunting experience compared to mine. At most, all I'm doing is providing a distraction for them."

"Are you dissatisfied with your role, Ai?" asks Kakyoin.

Ai shakes her head. "No, it's alright. I'm helping the two to catch their prey in the end, so it's not a big deal."

"Yup. What she said." They heard Gyro's voice as the crunching clops of Slow Dancer and Valkyrie are heard from their side.

The two jockeys enter the scene riding their horses, gripping the reins to stop Slow Dancer and Valkyrie from walking before the three. On the horses' backs are two dead grown hogs caught by the two. Judging by Gyro's prideful smile and Johnny's smirk, it seems like they are satisfied with their game and possibly want to flaunt their prize to the three.

"Ai's a big help. Johnny and I managed to catch two boars by distracting them with the bow and arrow," Gyro singed a praise to Ai. "With a steel ball to their bodies and Johnny shooting in their heads and voila! Two boars are tonight's menu!"

While Kakyoin and Ai is fine having boar for the night, Sakura feels queasy looking at the dead boars. Then she realized something. "Wait, these two boars… Do they… have a baby?"

"A baby? Oh, yeah," Gyro confirmed. "You were distracting a baby, right Ai?"

"I guess I did." Ai nodded.

"W-What? Then you killed the baby's parents!" Sakura exclaimed in an aghast tone.

"Just as I thought. I already knew what the two boar we caught are," Johnny sighed, seemingly displeased. "Look, I know it is cruel for us to kill the boar's parents, but that's nature for you Sakura and they ain't so forgiving. A wild baby animal may lose their parents some way or another. Right now, I'm trying not to think the moral ramifications of our actions after orphaning the baby boar."

"It is what it is." Gyro shrugged.

Wanting to divert the upsetting thought of a baby losing their parents, Sakura tells the three she and Kakyoin will take their leave. Moving away from the area, the two visit next the flowing, freezing river. Sitting on a rock near the river bank are Junko and Bucciarati, each holding two fishing rods. It should be obvious to see what they are doing sitting near the river closely watching the casted hooks for even a little twitch indicating a fish or two is nibbling the baits. Also, they removed their outer clothing so they wouldn't get wet from the splashing water and to lighten their body.

They approached the fishing duo, intrigued that they are fishing. It's more unexpected for Bucciarati because they really didn't see him as the kind of guy who wants to fish. Junko turns to them when she hears their footsteps. "Sakura, Kakyoin," she greeted them.

"Are you and Bucciarati-san trying to catch a fish?" Sakura asked.

"That's right," replied Bruno, keeping his eyes peeled on the rippling hook hidden under the surface. "I thought we try to vary what food we shall take, so I decided to catch a fish in this river. Junko heard me and asked if she can join me. I gave her the go-ahead."

"Um, do you have experience fishing, Bucciarati-san?" Kakyoin asked his leader.

"Only a little. I learned about fishing because my padre is a fisherman where we lived in a coastal town in the Naples' suburbs," he explained, thinking it's best that he reveals part of his past. "I assisted him by preparing the fishing equipments before he goes off to fish, and I wait for his safe return. Even though I haven't tried fishing myself when I was young, I missed helping him prepare fishing, especially when he…died."

"Eh? How… How did he die?" inquired Sakura.

"From complications of his wounds sustained because he was an unwilling witness to a drug deal," he answered with a sigh. "That event led me to a life of crime just to protect myself from enemies out for my life. In the end, I loved him so much I stayed by his side until he died."

Sakura and Kakyoin are saddened to hear his backstory, lamenting to themselves how cruel fate can be that turned Bucciarati into a hardened gangster. While Junko heard his story minutes ago, she still feels heartbroken over what he endured, to the point she cried a few tears earlier and now.

"…I'm sorry for your loss." Kakyoin simply said with closed eyes.

"It's alright. I've already moved past it," Bucciarati turns to the two with a smile. "I may look wistful when remembering it but I never let it bother me. In fact, fishing is like a cure for your mood, which is why I chose to do it with Junko here."

"Uh huh," she agreed. "I do like how we get to sit quietly, so it's kinda the perfect jobs for us."

"I see," remarked Sakura.

As the four go silent to enjoy the sound of flowing river (and ignore Romero, in his beastly form, hungrily eyeing the fish floating near the rock the dog is on), Junko mutters, "There's… so much chaos everywhere."

"Huh? Really, where?" Sakura looked around to pinpoint where it is.

"Oh it's 「inside your heart」, of course," she clarified. "Is there something bothering you?"

Believing she can persuade Junko, Sakura speaks up about her problem, "Well yeah… I guess I just wanted everyone to do the best they can… And I think we need to practice a lot more if we want the concert to be good."

"…I know you do, but panicking won't help," she replied with this wisdom she hopes would calm her heart down. "It's like when you're fishing and don't catch anything. You wonder how deep the fish are. Did you use the right bait? Or maybe you picked a bad spot? …If you're calm and think about it in different angles, you can usually find the answer, you know?"

Despite listening to her attentively, Sakura is lost to what she can make of her wisdom born from a metaphor about fishing. Compared to Kakyoin and Bucciarati, she can still feel a little panic within her heart.

"Oh? I never peg you as something of a philosopher, Signora Junko," Bruno sounds impressed of her words of wisdom. "Those are some splendid words you said just now, and it's related to fishing of all things. Not saying that I'm biased for it."

"Guess it just came naturally to me." Admitted Junko with a giggle.

Kakyoin ignores their conversation as he look at Sakura with a side-eye, sensing growing chaos within her. She's not understanding the purpose of this trip. Should I… Should I keep myself quiet even if it doesn't seem to solve her dilemma? No, don't panic… There's still more days, so there is a chance an improvement will be made. I hope…

Days Until the Arpino Show: 14

"We did it!" Franchouchou and Rianima cheered in accomplishment after they built a snow shelter large enough and has enough space to conceivably fit fourteen people inside. While everyone except Sakura helped in scooping up volumes of snow and modeling it on the hardened base of the shelter, it was Tae and Bucciarati through Sticky Fingers who did most of the job thanks to the former's snow-building skills and the latter putting zippers on the shelter to make it sturdy and less likely to break.

As stated above, Sakura did not help her bandmates and bodyguards build the shelter, instead choosing to do what she should have done for the past four days: practicing for the Arpino show.

I have to make sure I'm ready to perform at Arpino, thought Sakura as she did the dance moves and steps which she has her right hand under her chin as if she's holding a mic and her left arm raised above her. Even if I'm all alone!

Days Until the Arpino Show: 12

"…So here we are, holed up under a rock like we are doing in this shelter as we try finding where the user of the Sun Stand could be. But all we're seeing were desert and few rocks scattered here and there. What's worse, the blistering heat is beginning to impede our sanity and all seems lost…"

Kakyoin stops narrating briefly to see if everyone is following along to his story about him, Jotaro, Joseph and Polnareff fighting the Sun Stand and its user. Seeing they are anticipating the part about them defeating the enemy Stand (with Saki, Junko, Lily, Narancia and Johnny leaning their body forward to let him know they are listening closely), he continues, "Fortunately, Jotaro, Polnareff and I managed to found an obvious flaw to the enemy's otherwise perfect concealment…but not before we… hehehe… laughed our lungs out over the enemy's… hahahaha! Stupid… w-weakness."

Everyone looked at him when said he had laughed at the enemy's weak point. For some reason, the thought of them laughing possibly due to the heat affecting their minds sends chills up their spines. Even with Magician's Red sitting in the center generating a small flame to provide warmth for them while making sure not to melt the shelter they tirelessly built these past few days.

"You…laughed after you and your buddies found the enemy's weak spot?" asked Ai.

"And you said 'we', so does that mean Jotaro…laughed too?" Avdol reiterated in disbelief that the expressionless Jotaro somehow laughed. He expects Polnareff to not be excluded knowing his personality, but Jotaro laughing? It… sounds terrifying and jarring, he admits.

"Can you explain what's so funny about the enemy's obvious weak spot?" Lily inquired so she and her friends get the background for the Sun battle. "I think… I'm starting to get confused Kakyoin-san."

"Ha ha ha ha! D-Don't worry! I'll explain clearly so you all understand what I'm saying. I hope you get to laugh like what I, Jotaro and Polnareff did. Well, except for Joestar-san."

Outside the snow shelter, Sakura is still practicing by herself. She choose not to go inside with them even when night rolls around and snow falls from the clouded sky to hear Rianima's stories about the enemy Stands they encountered during their adventures and how they defeated them. She admits that they might sound interesting and was sorely tempted to join in and listen to them. But to her eyes, the Arpino show must take precedence above all, so she chose to decline them and practice her steps and swings for the upcoming concert, which is drawing ever so close.

Must keep practicing… Must keep practicing… Must keep practicing…! She repeated the phrase like it's a mantra of hers, ignoring the raucous laughter coming from the snow shelter and the chilly air passing her, sending chills down her spine.

Would be nice to have a fire warm her up, but she's not gonna be needing it for sure.

Days Until the Arpino Show: 10

"Awoooo!" Tae and Romero triumphantly barked after they built a perfect snow sculpture of the zombie dog, bigger and taller than them. Everyone pretty much want to know how the hell Number Zero had the skills to expertly create a snow sculpture despite her wild mind, but learning the answer to that question is not important right now.

Franchouchou formed a circle around a smoldering bonfire, black smoke rising from the burned wood used as natural fuel for the fire. Rianima surrounds the girls after Gyro, Narancia and Avdol returned from surveilling the surrounding area and concluding it is safe after they didn't detect any signs of an enemy Stand. If this continues, then they get to go home without the 「mastermind」 showing up, which will surely bring an ounce of relief for the girls.

Though it will be a disappointment for them too because they really want to stop the 「mastermind」before Franchouchou's big solo concert in Arpino takes place.

After she removed her jacket and shirt, revealing her black sports bra, Saki says, "We've been here for a few days and we haven't got our fill for this day, so I'd say we're killing it. But still, we've got one thing left that needs to be done. Something that's really 「important」."

Believing Saki is about to say what she expects to say after a week had gone by without the six girls practicing, Sakura exclaims with a smile, "I'm so glad! Thank you! I thought you guys have forgotten it!"

"No way! We need meat!"

"…Huuuh?" She let out after hearing her words that is anything but related to the Arpino.

"And not just fish either!" continued Saki. "We're zombies. We gotta have something worth catching!"

"Uh, the boar, Saki?" Johnny reminded her of the animal game they caught by him, Gyro and Ai. "We ate plenty of meat caught by us three. Don't you think you have enough meat for a week?"

"Yeah, yeah. I didn't forgot, JoJo," she replied with a dismissive wave of her hand. Ignoring his protest over calling him that nickname, she says, "I'm grateful for providing us enough food thanks to you, Ai and Gyro. Oh actually, Bucci and Junko brought us fish but uh… I did not ate them."

"Because you like red meat the most, Saki?" Bucciarati guessed.

"Guilty as charged." She put her hands up in the air with a cheeky smile.

"Well even with Johnny-san and Gyro-san's assistance, I've been trying my best but the baby boar is just so skittish," complained Ai.

"Don't beat yourself up about it. Other than the two jockeys, we're new to this. None of us really know how to mess with wild game."

With a plan decided on their minds, Franchouchou gets up and go to a different area in order to catch one more game to eat before they possibly embark from Mount Tenzan. Rianima, as always, accompanied them, but when Kakyoin noticed Sakura was left standing near the bonfire, reeling from disappointment again that Saki prioritized getting something eat over practice, he called out to her. She reluctantly joined with him and the others.

Eventually, the two groups found a perfect spot for the girls to set up a trap targeting any nearby animals to fall into. Since Saki insisted that this hunt shall be done by Franchouchou and Franchouchou only to prove they don't always have to rely on their bodyguards for any simple tasks and prove to them that they are willing to learn a new experience the guys were experts at, Bucciarati ordered his men to not interfere with the girls, including using their Stands. As such, they moved away from them and settled behind the trees or in the bushes, though there is a reluctance in Kakyoin's part after he saw Sakura displeased the girls seemingly forgot that Arpino is only ten days away. While he can't fault her for being disappointed, he inwardly sighed because it appears the purpose of this excursion is failing.

What would Tatsumi-san think of this when he meet us and sees Sakura so upset, I wonder? Maybe I should flat out tell her that she's the 「problem」. But… will she understand it so she can improve herself and learn not to be too passionate to her detriment?

As Rianima wait for them to hide after Junko finished setting up the trap, Ai announced that an animal is close, prompting everyone to move to nearby trees or bushes to hide.

"Huh? H-Hey, wait up!" Panicking once seeing the girls rushing to their hiding spots (with Saki pulling Tae and Romero), Sakura takes a step forward…

"AH!"

…and fell on the trap hole by mistake.

Everyone heard the sound of someone falling into a trap as Franchouchou and Rianima peek around the tree or bush to see Sakura stuck in the hole, her head visible. She's obviously not happy her clumsiness led her to be trapped in the pit.

"Sakura!?" Kakyoin looked at her in surprise and worry.

"Oh my word!" Yugiri exclaimed.

"She just ruined the trap!" complained Saki as she stands up to pull out Sakura and salvage the trap somewhat but is stopped by Ai. At this point, she believes the animal is really close, so she silently told her not to interfere, even if leaving poor Sakura in the trap.

The same thought crossed Kakyoin's, Avdol's and Narancia's mind as they try going to her to pull her out, only to be stopped by Bucciarati and Mamezuku because they must oblige to the leader's command not to interfere with the girls' attempt, regardless of what will happen. This obviously didn't sit well with them, as they try arguing with them only for Johnny and Gyro to shush them because they can sense animal is in their vicinity thanks to Gyro's spinning steel ball.

ワサワサ

As Sakura struggled to free herself from the tight hole, the sound of bushes and grass rustling halts her attempt.

Multiple rustlings, to be exact.

"RAAAAUUUUUGGGGHHHHHH! ! ! ! !"A pack of at least five boars all growled after they entered the area. On top of a boar in front of the pack, who have a darker fur and two tusks under their mouths and appears to be the leader, is the same baby boar that was being hunted by Ai these past few days. It apparently decided to call upon the pack of ferocious wild boars to take revenge against the fourteen zombies for slaughtering their kin, especially the baby boar's parents.

Naturally, seeing there is a pack of boars all along surprised the hell out of the zombies, with Yugiri, Ai, Bucciarati, Johnny and Mamezuku barely remaining stone-faced that masks their surprise. The only one who wasn't surprised is Tae, who is looking at them while drooling.

"There it is!" exclaimed Lily with wide eyes.

"What the hell!? There's a pack of boar!?" shouted Saki.

"Ooooooh boy. We certainly angered that pack by killing its kin, Johnny," Gyro whispered to him.

"Shh! Shut it!" shushed Johnny quickly.

"…I-I guess they had enough having their members being killed," guessed Junko fearfully.

As the leader and its kin approached the panicking Sakura menacingly, Yugiri comments while watching, "One thing's clear… We need a much bigger pit."

"You're worrying about the size of the pit over Sakura being at the boar pack's mercy!?" Narancia whispered chidingly to her, summoning Aerosmith to intercept the pack and prevent them from harming Sakura. Following his move, the rest of the guys summoned or activated their Stands.

"Oh no… this is about to get worse!" exclaimed Ai.

If there is an image of Death standing before someone, it's only depicted in various piece of media like arts or television shows. In Sakura's eyes however, facing the pack of angry-looking boars marching to her so ominously is like she's actually looking at Death's fearsome gaze who is here to reclaim her soul back from the living after being resurrected as a zombie.

Oh my god… What do I do, what do I do, what do I do, what do I do, what do I do, what do I do, WHAT DO I DO!? !?

"Hiiiii! N-Nice p-p-piggy…" She try placating the boar leader as it sniffed her, releasing strong wind blowing her hair and almost her head.

"Damn it! We have to save her!" Saki shouted the obvious. She expects Rianima to take action now or else the boars could attack Sakura.

"We're on it! Don't worry Sakura! We'll chase these boars out of here!" Kakyoin announced, coming out from behind the tree with his allies all primed and ready to send the boars packing with their Stands.

"Be careful, all of you!" Yugiri cupped her mouth and shouted to the Stand Users. "You must not let Sakura-han be eaten by the boars, or else she'll be dead!"

"But she's already dead!" Junko cut in.

The moment Rianima stepped behind Sakura, the pack growled threateningly. In response, Narancia has this to yell out, "HEY! You better get out of our sights if you know what's good for ya! I have Aerosmith aimed at you to blast your hides with so many bullets! Or maybe you like to be roasted on the spot after I drop the bomb on you all?"

"Hold on! I have Magician's Red, so shouldn't I be the one who will roast these boars, even if I want them to live?" reminded Avdol.

"No! Bullets are the way to go after Gyro paralyzed them all!" argued Johnny.

"But I have only two balls Johnny, and there are at least five boars!" pointed out Gyro.

"Well let me take care of the remaining three," Mamezuku speaks up. "I can do the Spin, so I can just wrap them all using Doggy Style."

Kakyoin and Bucciarati told them to stop arguing and focus on chasing the boar pack away. However, they've been taking so long arguing with each other that the leader opens its mouth to chomp on Sakura's head.

No no no no no no no no no!

Even more panicked, Sakura yelled out what she thought to be her last words before she closes her eyes and await being eaten by the boar.

"Don't eat me, please! Leave me and everyone ALONE!"

Shaking in panic, Sakura dreads being eaten by the boar. After five seconds of nothing happening to her however, she slowly and nervously open one eye.

To her disgust, the boar's mouth is open, revealing to her what's inside of the animal's mouth. It seems prepared to swallow her head whole, so seeing it stopping mid-bite makes her bewildered. "H-Huh?"

Before she can react, the leader retracts its mouth away from her before closing. In what seems to be an unprecedented act happening before everyone's eyes, the whole pack walk away, retreating through the bushes and trees. No fuss was made by them, as they seemingly lost interest and decided to leave them without any harm done to Sakura.

Huh, huh, huh? The boars… They… left? Just like that? Sakura blinked twice watching them all disappear within the trees or bushes. Wha… Why did they leave so suddenly?

She's not the only one who's confused over what happened, as the rest looked at the spot where the boar pack took their leave, their faces brimming with puzzlement. "Uuuuuuuh, what just… happened?" Lily broke the silence to ask a question everyone is thinking.

"The boars… left," Bucciarati answered simply. "For what reason, I do not know."

While everyone will be confused as to why the boar pack suddenly left without a fuss, they are all relieved that they didn't cause trouble against Sakura, who let out a sharp breath of relief she had held in the entire time she's face-to-face with the ferocious-looking leader. The only one who didn't like them leaving is Tae, who decides to try chasing them and chomp their thick hides. She was stopped by Saki and Yugiri.

In any case, the zombies help Sakura out of the pit, managing to free her thanks to Sticky Fingers. After they freed her from the trap meant for the baby boar, they go back to their temporary home base. While nobody spoke the entire time they went back, the amount of disappointment and relief can be felt from each other.

But none of them are more frustrated and outraged than Sakura herself, who had her eyes looking on the ground without so much doing eye contact with her groupmates.

"…This is wrong." She said, barely hiding her exasperated but annoyed tone.

"No joke. Those boars were really intimidating." Saki agreed, assuming she's talking about the pack of boar.

"Not the boar. I mean this," clarified Sakura. She decided to finally let out her frustration at the girls over not taking their practice seriously, leading them to waste a week's worth of time meant for practice. "We're supposed to be running our dance routines, not encountering wild animals. We should be showered in spotlight, not dirt or snow. There's not much time left, so why are we spending on pointless stuff like this?"

"Hmm, now that you said it…" Rubbing his chin in thought, Avdol turned to the girls and says, "You girls didn't get any practice for the upcoming Arpino concert for the entire week. Sakura is the only one who's taking rehearsing so seriously, even if she has to do it alone."

"Oh I see," Saki said.

"Well I can give Sakura points for being so dedicated to the upcoming concert," Gyro remarked. "But do you think you're so focused on having to practice so much that you get to miss what your groupmates were doing? It's like you're taking them apparently slacking off from practicing so seriously."

"In fact, the upcoming Arpino show has been on your mind the entire time we're stuck here in the wilderness," Bucciarati added, not noticing Sakura's shaking body brimming with irritation. "From that point, you choose to ignore us setting up shelter, looking for food and mingling with us and patiently wait for the girls to come join you and practice. But since it didn't happen-"

"Enough! You three didn't have to say it out loud so they understand!"

Sakura shouted, raising her head up to show them her angry eyes directed at them, especially Franchouchou.

Everyone was taken aback from her sudden shouting. In place of a normally sweet and polite, if a bit clumsy, girl, her blue eyes are filled with anger and irritation, her smile is changed to a deep frown to emphasize her burrowed eyes and lastly, her calm voice become outright harsh and agitated. This is unexpected coming from her, but they didn't get to try calm her down when she proceeds to lay it out on Franchouchou.

"I waited and waited and waited for you six to come together and rehearse, memorizing our steps and hopefully getting it all down to the last step! But NO! Instead of doing that, Saki searched for more sticks, Lily here sets up and keep the bonfire burning, Ai choose to hunt a wild animal she can't hope to catch, Junko decides to go fishing and listen to the flowing river, Yugiri went to gather mushrooms that could be poisonous even if we're already dead, and lastly, Tae built impressive snow sculptures that doesn't have anything to do with our practice at all!"

Not liking seeing her lose it, Saki tries calming her down. "Whoa, whoa, Sakura. Take it easy-"

"The only group I'm seeing that is doing their jobs well is Rianima! And even then, all of you seven didn't nudge the girls or remind them that they should practice instead of messing around and worrying for what food we must take and if we can be provided for shelter to protect us from harm while outside! That includes you, Kakyoin!"

Troubled by her pointed glare, Kakyoin reaches out to stop her tirade, "S-Sakura! You must say no more! Please stay calm and-!"

"And what!?" she growled. "Stay silent while mewling about how a week have passed without progress being made for the Arpino and relatedly, my memories!? I have enough of having it kept inside, so I'm spilling it out to all of you just to let you all know how infuriated and embittered I am from having spent such a waste of time out in this mountain where I and the girls should have stayed in our home rehearsing and came prepared for the Arpino show two weeks ahead! In fact, now that I think about it, it's all Kotaro's fault! Why the heck did he think having us out in the wilderness to help invigorate our spirits has anything to do with our idol needs!? I tolerated his antics because some way or another, it helped Franchouchou grow regardless of how much I thought it may not work."

"Sakura-chan, please settle down!" pleaded Junko as she's not liking watching her outburst. "This is not-!"

"You know what? Since we wasted a week and so much of our time, I will go rehearse all day and night once we get home, even if I have to do it by myself! At least I get to stay ahead unlike you six! I mean, honestly…! Did it never cross your minds? Did you forgot how many days are left when we're done standing on snow-covered ground and go home? Oh, of course you don't, because you're all so worried if we can survive out in the wild, even though we're zombies and likely don't need to hunt for food or water! Kotaro wants Franchouchou to become popular to save Saga, and you girls were on board with his ludicrous idea, so why…? Why did you all choose to not practice at all, huh!? Say something, all of you! That includes you Kakyoin and your teammates! I won't stop until I get a satisfying answer and make up to me by-!"

パァァン!

"Sakura-han, STOP! Your ranting has gone far enough!"

A slap by Yugiri ceases Sakura's long and angry criticism towards her groupmates and Rianima.

Blinking twice as her senses came back to her, Sakura steadies her head straight, feeling herself needing to breathe for some reason. "…Huh?" It didn't take long for her to see everyone is staring at her after she underwent a long tirade.

"…Wow girl. Never thought I saw you get so worked up that you ranted at us so angrily…" Saki said in a dull tone. Despite her words, she stared at her with a disapproving look, not helped that she's hugging a distraught Lily, who was scared by her explosive tirade.

"Sakura… Even if you want us to practice with you, you should have asked us nicely instead of bottling it up until it bursts out to us." Ai scolded her with folded arms. On her side, Junko nodded, ignoring Tae lightly nibbling her head in response to the Showa Idol's uneasy reaction to Sakura's tirade and wished to calm her down.

Seeing how her hurtful words affected Franchouchou, she turned to their guardians to see the same kind of reaction as the girls. Avdol shakes his head to express his disapproval, Bucciarati sternly looked at her, Narancia has his arms folded to make the point, Johnny does the same, but he has his eyebrows furrowed in anger, Gyro lets out a deep sigh and Mamezuku silently disapproves with her action with a wag of his finger.

As for Kakyoin, he averted his gaze with a look of… regret? It certainly looks like it with the way he averts his eyes, so he doesn't have to look to her own eyes and him rubbing his head self-consciously. But it is clear that he also disapproves with how she exploded in anger and berated all of them.

The silence feels awkward and suffocating as Sakura looked at her friends whom she criticized without so much of a thought. She felt ashamed over releasing her anger to her friends, getting triggered to do it thanks to Avdol's, Johnny's and Bucciarati's words. Not wanting to leave them hanging, saddened, and distressed, Sakura tries saying something to lighten the mood somehow. "E-Everyone… I… I… I didn't mean to blow up in fury like that. I… I'm sorry."

No one responded to her apology, which filled her heart with more shame and regret. It helps make her pounding guilt more pronounced.

Before she can say more in hopes of placating everyone, a voice rings out behind them in a singalong tone.

"Found youuuuuuuuuu~!"

The voice belongs to one Kotaro Tatsumi walking with a yodeling wide smile and one fingers each pointing to his side. Still wearing his bowler hat, he sings few more notes in a yodeling voice before he says something, "How did it go~? Did you learn anyooooanyoooo life lessons?"

Sakura's remorseful attitude changes back to an angry mindset after hearing his question. Finally, she's going to grill on him about his idea that has no apparent goal, no less having succeeded. "Are you kidding? Just look at us. Your idiotic games won't prepare anything. The big showis only 「days away」. I see no point in being here."

"…Don't you?" He replied, not noticing her inner turmoil she let out to her companions out of anger earlier. "Then you should close your eyes and listen… That way! Dear mother Gaia will speak, and then you'll know…! That even up here, you won't be ever alooooooone-"

"I JUST SAID I HAD HAD ENOUGH! ! !"

It's Kotaro's turn to be taken aback by her temper. "Oh my. You seem… angrier today. What on earth happened that led your blood boiling?"

"Oh, so you want me to spell it out for you in a tirade like I did to everyone here!?"

"Huh? Tirade?"

"You weren't with us earlier Tatsumi-san, but Sakura suddenly went livid and ranted at us over how this excursion to the mountain is a pointless waste of time, costing the girls precious time that should've been spent practicing for the show," sighed Kakyoin, his arms folded as he looked to his sunglasses with a dejected look. "She didn't stop giving us a mouthful for our perceive failure, so Yugiri-san has to slap her to make her stop. I thought she would be pacified after seeing our reactions but unfortunately, your arrival brought her intense feelings back."

Kotaro stares at him briefly, before he responds, "…Oh, so the loud shouting I heard on my way here was Sakura-chan? Guess that explains who I'm hearing."

"Well I don't care if you learn it was me or not!" Sakura steps away from the group, but not before giving Kotaro a pointed glare and exclaiming to his face, "I'm going home!"

Watching the grumpy idol walk away with a huff, Kakyoin bites his lips. He never thought there would come a day when Sakura got so angry and lay out her grievances to him and their friends. This is not the first time she blew her lid; it happened during Franchouchou's (then known as Green Face) second show taking place in Karatsu Castle. But her few showings of anger weren't so intense like her tirade against them when her clear anger is visible for all to see. It came almost out of nowhere, fueled by the thought Franchouchou is deliberately ignoring rehearsing for the big Arpino show to scavenge for resources during the week-long wilderness trip.

…So the plan Kotaro and I concocted to help improve Sakura didn't succeed like we hoped. She's so strung-up, worried and most of all, fixated on needing to make their show succeed with flying colors that she didn't get to learn anything valuable. I knew I should've goaded her to forget about the upcoming concert and have fun working and interacting with our friends… To be fair though, this is my fault…

However! The trip shouldn't end like this! I'm not sure if Sakura will forgive me that I agreed with Tatsumi-san about our plan to help her improve and impart an important lesson, but I must salvage this somehow! And there is only one way I must do it!

"Sakura, wait!"

Calling out to his close friend from day one, Kakyoin walks quickly to her. "Before we all left, there's something I must tell you!"

"…" Sakura didn't stop even after hearing him.

"Sakura please! Listen to me! Stop for a moment so we can talk!"

She picks up the pace, apparently not in the mood to talk with him.

Noticing this, he proceeds to reach out grab her shoulder to force her to stop. "Sakura, please stop walking!"

It works, but not without her turning around to face him annoyingly.

"What?" Sakura growled lowly, really not in the mood to talk.

Recoiling a little from her glare and little growl she let out, Kakyoin takes a breath to psych himself up for a talk and, inevitably, another tirade he feels due to be received. Manifesting a relieved smile, he says to her, "You stopped. Good. Sorry I made you stop because… I want to tell you something."

"…Tell me what?" She folded her arms, still glaring at him.

"Well, it's about… the reason behind our excursion here." He first reveals.

Her glare softened to confused staring, as if she heard something weird. "Huh? The… reason?"

Everyone watches him move towards Sakura in hopes of stopping her. Confused but also curious, they decide to follow them.

"Halt. Remain in your position." Kotaro however, stops them with an arm raised horizontally. "And Kakyoin, what do you think you're doing?"

The man turned his head to look at him with a frown. "I think you already know, Tatsumi-san. I had enough playing the waiting game to see if Sakura learned something from this trip."

"Then you would diminish the impact of the lesson it would have on Sakura-chan," he countered. "Remember, she must realize it by herself."

"But you see that it failed," pointed out Kakyoin. "And we will leave the mountain with Sakura on a bad mood. Do you think she may find out the reason why you sent us to this mountain? It's my belief she must be informed, even if it might make her angrier!"

"D'you think she would get it while she's having a foul mood if you tell her right this instant? Listen, stop thinking about directly telling it to her! You will only add to the problem!"

"But I can't! Not with her believing she and the girls may have run out of-!"

"Hey! What's with the conversation between you two?!"

Sakura's irate voice cuts through their back-and-forth argument. As if realizing she's overhearing their talk related to her, they look back to her.

Suspicious of their dispute and her patience dangerously running low, Sakura tells Kakyoin this, "Look, just tell me what you want to tell me, Kakyoin! No more talking with Kotaro, okay?"

He rubs his head with a sigh, replying to her, "I'm sorry. I did not intend to make your waiting too longer than necessary.

"Just get on with it."

The still wind becomes a gentle breeze, blowing pass or between them. They didn't paid heed to it.

Though heavily disgruntled, Kotaro did not stop Kakyoin further. He folds his arms, feeling like he can't do anything to set Sakura straight through an indirect method and Kakyoin is going to reveal the reason why he sent Franchouchou and Rianima to Mount Tenzan.

The wind picks up speed, enough to make the looser parts of their clothes sway. They shivered a little due to the coldness increasing.

"Uuuuh, what the heck is goin' on, Shades?" Saki's question reminds him the others are left in the dark over what's going on behind the scenes.

"The talk you had with Kakyoin… What's that all about?" Johnny inquired, he and pretty much everyone curious to see what Kakyoin is about to tell Sakura.

"…Just watch and listen."

The wind did not stop when it changed directions every second. Also, little bits of snow were picked up from the ground or in the air as it falls. Some of them take notice of the seemingly unnatural wind but they're focused on Sakura and Kakyoin foremost.

Staying silent with his eyes closed for many seconds to build up suspense, Kakyoin opens his eyes as he releases an intake of breath, looking directly to Sakura's impatient eyes. "Sakura, this trip Tatsumi-san arranged… It's to make-"

ゴォォォォォーッ！

! !

The gust of wind suddenly became a gale, picking large amount of snow swirling the area and its inhabitants around. The whirling snow proceeds to cover everything in its pure white color, rendering visibility low enough that everyone is unable to see anything.

"AAHHH!" Most of the group exclaimed in response to the sudden wind speed increase, closing their eyes to prevent dirt and snow from entering and irritating their eyes.

With the strength of the wind, it looks like any of them could stumble to the ground as they attempt to resist the gale by keeping their feet planted to the ground or holding on a tree bark, whose leaves and branches sway violently, causing some leaves or few twigs to fall off and be carried away.

After what felt like an eternity, the gale gradually dies down, and so the carried snow and dirt too as they returned to the land.

Lowering his arms off his face, Kakyoin opens his eyes to see Franchouchou and Rianima either standing up after they inevitably fell to the ground, pulling their members up, readjusting themselves after they managed to stood their ground, or pull away from the tree that they held on for dear life. All of them, himself included, were disoriented from the sudden gale as they shake off any clinging snow, dirt, or even twigs and leaves from their body or clothes,

Shaking his head, Narancia didn't hesitate to demand an answer over what had just happened. "What… the hell… has HAPPENED?!"

"Hell if I know!" Saki exclaimed, rubbing her bare upper body skin ignoring the shivering cold she got because she's only wearing a sports bra. "Maybe the weather ramped up the amount of snow and poured it out on us out of sheer amusement!"

Summoning Magician's Red, Avdol goes to work warming everyone up, the flames he's emitting from his hands or from his Stand melting the residual snow still sticking to their bodies and the snow they're standing on. "Here! I'm heating all of you so you don't get sick from the sudden cold!"

"But can we get ill even if we're zombies?" Bucciarati questioned, adjusting his composure back after quickly patting his body using Sticky Fingers. He also did it to Ai, Junko and Tae, the former two thanking him in return.

"I would like to say no, but given how our bodies may act weirdly, I'm not sure whether we can get ill or not," replied Lily, holding her hat after picking it up from the ground and removing the scooped up snow by turning it upside down.

"Maybe Kotaro-han knows," Yugiri added. "He must have some knowledge about our zombie bodies, so I believe he's the best person to talk to concerning our bodies." She turns to where Kotaro is likely standing or adjusting his sunglasses after the surprise gust of wind almost blow him off his feet. "You heard me, right Kotaro… Eh?"

Yugiri is not the first person to notice Kotaro Tatsumi is not standing with them. After doing a head count, Kakyoin realizes the producer is nowhere to be found.

"What…? Tatsumi-san? Where… Where is he?" Kakyoin's bewildered question is heard by everyone, and it didn't take long for them to realize Kotaro is somehow missing.

"Kotaro? Huh, wait a minute…" Johnny points to the spot where he's sure the yodeling man were standing. In fact, there is a footprint on the snow indicating his position. "Wasn't he standing in front of us earlier? How come he… disappeared?"

"Disappeared?" Ai repeated incredulously.

"I-I don't know what to say!" Johnny replied. "It's like he disappeared on the spot! Probably during the sudden gust of wind that covered our visions with so much white snow."

ゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴ

Staring at the footprints, Mamezuku puts his two cents to this matter, "It is unlikely he would be playing a prank on us. I believe the moment Sakura decides to go home out of exasperation, Kotaro will told us to go home as well, possibly in a loud voice he's so fond to make. Also, while the rushing wind was loud, it didn't mask the sound of footsteps we all made in our attempt to keep out footing from the strong wind. Going by that, I, or we for those with acute hearing, could hear Kotaro's footsteps as he tries hold his feet down and not get pushed around by the wind and snow."

"…And you're saying that Kotaro-san…?" Junko guesses his next words after seeing his expression.

"Yes," he nodded. "Kotaro 「didn't made any sound like footsteps」 or 「shouting out of surprise and frenzy」. In other words, he couldn't leave us in the dust like that…unless he disappeared."

!

Mamezuku's analysis of the situation concerning Kotaro's sudden disappearance naturally causes concern and rising panic from everyone, more so from Franchouchou. Their manager is nowhere to be found after the blizzard died down even though he was in front of them to stop them from advancing forward towards Sakura and Kakyoin, who was about to tell her something about the wilderness trip supposedly concocted as usual by Kotaro.

"Ah! That's right! Sakura…!" shouted Kakyoin, having almost forgotten her along with others. He turns around to face her, "Sakura! Are you alright!? You were silent and… not… panicking…?"

Kakyoin trails off at the end after seeing Sakura is not near him. Everyone followed soon after, and it didn't take long before they realize that Number One is also missing.

!?

"H-Huh? Sakura? Where… Where is she?" Kakyoin looks around in panic, worried and confused she suddenly disappeared under their sights.

"What the hell? She's gone too?" Gyro exclaimed upon seeing no signs of her.

"Ah! Romero! Romero too!" Lily shouted, getting everyone's attention that their zombie pet is the third being to disappear. "He's… He's not with us!"

"What!?" Practically everyone shout it out of disbelief.

"Waarhhh!?" Even Tae shared their disbelief.

ドドドドドドドド

The two groups proceed to look around to find where Sakura, Kotaro and Romero, confusion and concern etched on their faces upon finding out they suddenly vanished without them noticing. As to how they disappear like that, they do not know yet. But what do they know is that the three must have vanished during the sudden blizzard as theorized by Mamezuku. If this is true, then it's quite likely that in their attempt to stop getting carried away by the blizzard, they blindly moved around to find something or someone to hold onto, only they must have got lost. However, that scenario is unlikely because they would have made a number of footprints on their trail, of which only the ones showing they're standing up were present on the ground.

"Sakura! Sakura, where are you!?" Kakyoin shouted, his hands cupping his mouth while summoning Hierophant Green to assist him in finding her. "Answer me if you can hear me!"

"Romero! Where are you, Romero!?" Yugiri called out the dog's name. "Please come back to us if you can hear me!"

"Kotaro-saaaaaaaaaan! ! !" Junko imitates Kakyoin's act of cupping her mouth with her hands to further lengthen the distance of her voice. "Where could you have gone?! Don't leave us hanging here!"

As everyone calls out their names, Narancia opens his radar and expands the distance to cover almost the entire one part of the mountain to make it easier for him to detect their breathing. Avdol thought of sending out many Heat Radar for more support, but because Magician's Red is a close-ranged Stand, that option was thrown out the window.

Seeing they are not making progress, Johnny and Gyro suggested that they will go ahead of the group to find Sakura, Kotaro and Romero using Slow Dancer and Valkyrie, covering more ground as a result.

However, an unknown voice suddenly enters their ears, halting their actions.

"No need to search for them. They are safe in a different location… far from the area about to witness our battle for the fate of Saga…"

"Huh!?"

Rianima becomes alerted, all seven member turning to the snow-covered path where they heard the voice came from. Bucciarati and Johnny ordered Franchouchou to get behind them, which they didn't need to hear it twice as they obeyed.

With everyone assembled, Avdol, Bruno and Rai get in the front while Kakyoin, Narancia, Johnny and Gyro takes their place behind them covering Franchouchou, quickly summoning or beckoning their Stands back to them or activating their abilities.

"Sharp and quick to act, all of you," the voice complimented them. "That is what I expect to see from the group of bodyguards who swore to protect the idol group using their Stands. I'm impressed. Really, I am."

Irked by the casual tone the voice has, Bucciarati responds to the voice with a frown. "I'm afraid we do not like being applauded by our alertness to all conceivable danger that could threaten Franchouchou's lives. We will not ease up and let our guards down even a little even if you compliment us using a friendly tone."

"…I expect you won't," the voice admitted, to everyone's surprise. "You wouldn't be so forthcoming to a stranger like me when you had fought and defeated twelve enemy Stands targeting your group and Franchouchou."

The zombies perked up when they heard the voice mention twelve enemy Stands that attacked them. Not even few seconds had passed as they, to their surprise, dread, and most of all, apprehensiveness, comprehend that, after over eight months when Rianima eliminated twelve enemy Stands threatening Franchouchou and Saga, the 「mastermind」 behind the enemy Stands and attacks on the prefecture is about to show their face, once and for all.

Fueled by the thought, Saki asks the voice in a leery tone, "Hey! If it's not too much for you to answer, whoever you are… Are you the top dog who sent those enemy Stands to claim our lives for the second time?"

"…" The voice went silent.

"…I know you heard me, so quit the silent act!" she exclaimed when nine seconds passed without them answering her. "Let me ask again: Are you the one who's behind the attacks on our groups and Saga? Well? Answer me!"

Nine seconds had passed without them answering again, so Saki is about to angrily demand the answer of them when, like how they suddenly announced their presence earlier, the voice replies, surprising them again. "Very well. I have foreseen this in my head after I made the decision to personally confront all of you, giving you all few weeks to rest physically and mentally in your homes. It is my belief that this day will be the day when my inevitable defeat or possible victory decides Saga's fate, and also the entire world…"

They tense up in anticipation and anxiousness after hearing his reply. They wait for their answer over if they're the one who's behind sending enemy Stands to them and also, their identity.

…

…

…

バキッ

?!

They tense up more after hearing a cracking sound. "W-W-What was that?" meekly asked Junko, hiding further behind Johnny and Kakyoin and taking a peek through a small space between the two.

ボキボキ ボキボキ

Looking intently to where the cracking sound could be, Mamezuku squints his eyes to better see any minor details on their surroundings. This tactic works as he spots something in the air, widening his eyes. "Ah, everyone! Look over there!"

"Huh? What have you found, Mamezuku?" Avdol questioned, looking at the air in front of him where Rai is pointing at. The rest followed, curious and wary to know.

At the same time, the cracking sound chimes for the third time.

バキッ バキッ バキッ

"Huh?! A-Am I… Am I seeing that?" Lily recoiled in surprise upon seeing a vertical crack seemingly floating in the air two meters away from them.

"Wait, a crack? As in, a surface crack?" Narancia clarified, his mind puzzled over the sight.

"It looks like a crack you see on a mirror or glass after you strike it," noted Kakyoin, Hierophant Green floating beside him and ready to act or attack going by its hands hovering close.

バキッ バキッ バキッ バキッ バキッ バキッ

ボキボキ ボキボキ ボキボキ ボキボキ

The average-sized 'fissure' grows longer, causing tiny bits of 'air' to fall from it. Franchouchou and Rianima stay on high alert as the 'crack' continues rupturing and growing bigger and taller, until it reaches the heights of Tae and Narancia. The sounds stopped as a result, leaving the zombies to wait in silence. For a moment.

Then the 'crack' splits up wide.

ガシャァァァンッ!

Everyone freezes over it breaking apart at last, almost deafened by the sound it made. Ignoring the bizarre sight of an open fissure floating in the air where multiple and branching tiny cracks occupy the space around it, they look inside the wide open fissure-shaped hole, which has an empty black space inside. Nothing visible is inside other than the blank space.

Before anyone can comment over it, the voice returns, snapping their attention back to them.

ゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴ

"How I've waited for this day to come… 8 months I waited until I'm sure Rianima is ready to finally confront me after eliminating all twelve enemy Stands through teamwork, determination and tenacity…"

Their belief that the hole has nothing in it is shattered when a hand appears holding the very much solid edge.

"Huh!?" The zombies release a sharp intake of breath upon seeing someone's hand, as the voice continues their monologue.

"…I've been watching your progress from the shadows, closely inspecting all your skills, strengths and weaknesses that I hope complements each of you all. As I have said earlier, I'm truly impressed Rianima has come far enough that I deemed it's time for me to fully face you all…"

Next, a right leg comes out to take a step on the ground. Then their left hand follows.

"…Unfortunately, our first meeting will be anything but a pleasant one. And also, since Franchouchou except Sakura is present, I shouldn't ignore them since they're doing a good enough of a job to revitalize Saga's popularity. Even if I loathe to attack them and lay even a finger on their hair because I sincerely enjoyed their shows and performances, especially Sakura's, circumstances dictate that I must deem them as my enemy… all because they're threatening to make Saga 「prosper」…"

Supported by a left leg placing on the fissure's edge, the owner of the voice finally reveals himself to Franchouchou sans Sakura and Kotaro and Rianima, popping their head out of the hole first before their whole body follows.

The zombies carefully and cautiously stare the supposed 「mastermind」 standing, leaning and even dramatically posing in the fissure's edges supported by his hands and feet. Reaching to a slightly shorter height compared to Rianima, he has short messy gray hair with an asymmetrical hairline, gray eyes with prominent eye bags and tan skin wearing a black coat with a tailcoat covering his upper body and rear over a gray waistcoat with white buttons and long-sleeved white shirt with pinned cravat and cuffs, and gray trousers tucked into his black boots. Lastly, a chain necklace with a lapis lazuli gem anchored at the end hangs over his neck.

ドドン!

Having revealed himself to the zombies, the fashionable man finishes his monologue to get on with an intention that is obvious to them at this point. "…To that end, here I am in the flesh. Here stands before you… the man whose mere existence threatens Saga and your undead lives… And you must be wondering who am I? Well do not worry, for telling you my name is not out of the question."

!

Everyone remains on high alert as he steps out of the hole, and with a wave of his right hand, the fissure sews itself back before disappearing, including the cracks indicating its presence. Once that's done, the man, with a hand on his chest, bows before them out of respect. Then after that does he discloses his supposed name.

"You may call me… 「Xero」. Will you remember my name when our upcoming fight ends with all of you as the victor? Unfortunately, I know very well that it's all nothing but a wishful thinking on my part…"

To be continued

HEEEEELLOOOOOOOOOOOOO EVERYYYYBOOODYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! ! !

...

Hehehe, forgive my enthusiastic shout again. I'm just so excited to publish this chapter to kickstart the third act of Living Things! I last updated this back in August 4, and now before the month ends, I'm gonna update it today, on August 30 or 29 (depends on the time zone). I must do it so I can be relieved and assured I managed to publish one more chapter instead of just one over a month. Don't want to update my fics in a monthly basis.

Well then, as I said above, the 30th chapter, which wasn't changed from the title of Zombie Land Saga's episode 10 because I thought the title itself is fine, goes through the exact plot of the episode's first half: Kotaro announces Franchouchou will be partaking in a big concert taking place in Arpino, Sakura was so excited and determined to see it succeed that she's outpacing her groupmates, prompting Kotaro to send them to Mount Tenzan in order brush up their synergy skills as they help each other to survive in the cold wilderness. It didn't go as planned for Sakura because she's so worried and single-mindedly focused on practicing for Arpino that she neglected helping her companions, which she angrily blames them and Kotaro for wasting time that should have been used to practice, not realizing she's the problem.

As usual for this kind of crossover, I made changes to the plot, starting with Kotaro telling Kakyoin about Sakura's problem because they're close friends before they come up with a plan to made her fall back in sync with her groupmates, Rianima accompanying them, and certain scenes being changed or added like:

- Rianima engaging in a friendly spar to improve their skills, abilities and tactics.
- The aforementioned scene between Kotaro and Kakyoin.
- Johnny and Gyro helping Ai hunt wild animals for food and Bucciarati and Junko fishing in a nearby river.
- Rianima telling Franchouchou (except Sakura) stories about their encounters with enemy Stands, of which I find it hard not to include the Crusaders fight against The Sun.
- The boar pack quietly leaving the zombies without trouble after Sakura, while panicking and trapped in a pit, pleads for them to don't eat her and leave them alone.
- And lastly, Sakura launching into a long and angry rant to Franchouchou and Rianima when her anger and frustration reached its peak.

That last point is something that I'm nervous to add to the chapter, because I think I made Sakura OOC there. I thoguht to add it because it certainly fits to the disappointment and dismay she's feeling when Franchouchou is not rehearsing for the Arpino concert that she's bottling it up within herself. She then blew her lid after her latest mishap almost ends with her being eaten and covered in a boar's drool. Still, Sakura's long tirade is my favorite part to write in this chapter, along with the main antagonist's dramatic entrance (or I should accurately say 're-entrance' because he made cameos in the early chapters).

Speaking of which, like with my other OC Emi who was properly introduced last chapter, after taking over thirty chapters, my second OC for the fanfic is finally introduced! And wouldn't you know it? Xero is the main antagonist of Living Things!

I've been waiting for the day I can finally introduce my second OC to the story! As I stated in the closed parenthesis above, Xero technically made appearances in the early chapters as a cameo or through speaking. In fact, the description once he showed himself is almost written word for word from chapter 13! I wrote it like that so I made the connection clear to you all that the main antagonist has been there from the start. I want to establish his presence to Living Things from the start, even if he was a cameo or a voice back then. I don't want to create a similar scenario pertaining to JoJolion's main villain where he was only introduced near the end of the Part's third act, causing fans to deem him as villain who was introduced too late to the story and felt underwhelmed. (Just so you know, I like Toru and his calamity-inducing Stand Wonder of U, but I acknowledge his problems of being introduced late in Part 8.)

Now that I introduced Xero to you all, I'm... plenty nervous if I could do my OC and main antagonist of Living Things justice. I know the reputation OCs tend to get when they're handled badly, something I do not want to happen to Xero and Emi. To that end, I have to make sure they're integrated well into the lore of both JoJo and Zombie Land Saga, especially since I heavily based my OCs based on elements of both anime. Despite my nervousness however, I am determined to play their part well in the third act of Living Things. Whatever response I will got, I can hope it's not too vitriolic or mean. Heck, I will genuinely be surprised if my OCs were received well.

Alright. I believe that's everything I want to say for this chapter. The next chapter will have Rianima fight against Xero, who will soon reveal what his plan is leading him to confront them and Franchouchou sans Sakura. His Stand will be revealed along with its name, but as for its ability? You may have to wait for the next one after. I can confidently say that his ability is absolutely busted if not for his Stand's limitations. However, you already witnessed his ability in action when a blizzard suddenly fell upon them, where Kotaro, Sakura and Romero vanished to somewhere else far from them as Xero said, and him emerging from a breached hole that manifested in the air somehow. For now though, you'll have to wait and see his Stand in action come the 31st chapter.

Well then, time for me to close this longest chapter I've ever written to date! See you next chapter, everyone! Please leave a review and stay safe and healthy out there!

Have a good day/night!