Kata—er, Yamada Tae hummed happily as she as she got ready to bed, laying out her futon on the floor of the big room she and the girls shared. She didn't know why they didn't have their own rooms, since this house seemed big enough, but she didn't mind. It was fun! Like having a sleepover!

"This is fun!" Tae said. "It's just like having a sleepover!"

"I suppose it is," Sakura-san said, still feeling a bit awkward. "Though we've kind of gotten used to it, since we sleep like this every night."

"But… that's like having a sleepover with your friends every night!" Tae exclaimed, eyes wide and fists clenched in excitement. "That's awesome!"

"Can you really call us your friends so easily?" Ai asked, bemused as she sat cross-legged on her futon. "I mean, you said you didn't remember us. Shouldn't we seem like strangers to you?"

Tae tilted her head, her long dark hair sweeping with the motion. "Eh? Why wouldn't I trust you? If you say we're friends, then we're friends, right?"

"Well, yeah, but shouldn't you be at least a little suspicious?" Ai said. "I mean, for all you know, we're shady people who kidnapped you and are just brainwashing you to get you to do what we want so we can exploit you for our own gain! We ARE in the idol business, you know!"

"Are you?" Tae said, tilting her head even further.

"Well, no, we ARE you're friends, but you should still be a little suspicious!" Ai said. "When Sakura lost her memories, she yelled about us being zombies, ran around the house, and then you—well, the you before you woke up—tried to bite her for not being friends with us anymore!"

"Eh?" Tae said, turning to look at Sakura, only to have her head pop off and fall on the futon. "Ah! By dose! I hurb by dose!" A beat as Tae's arms waved around ineffectually. "Heyb! Bhat habbed?"

"Your head just fell off, Tae-chan," Junko said, crawling towards her and carefully picking up Tae's head. "It does that. Come to think of it, your head is really prone to falling off. You should be more careful with it."

"Wah… that was weird…" Tae said. "How does that work?"

"It's because we're zombies," Junko explained.

"Oh, okay!" Tae said cheerfully. "Hey, Saki-san, do you have a bokken I can borrow?"

"Huh?" Saki said, looking up from some papers she was reading. "Why do you think I have a bokken?"

"Well, you look like a biker gang delinquent onee-sama, so I thought you might have one," Tae said cheerfully.

"Nah, I was more of a baseball bat girl," Saki said. "I think Sakura has one, though?"

"Oh, yes!" Sakura said. "It's around here somewhere, I got it when we did that commercial… ah, there it is!" She bent down and started fishing under a chair. "Why do you want it, Tae-chan?"

"Ah, I need to do my sword practice tomorrow," Tae said cheerfully. "If I don't, Maria-sensei will get mad at me, stop teaching me, kick me out, and then I'll become a NEET who gets a bad end." She swung the sword around experimentally.

""…"" everyone chorused.

"But you're a zombie though…?" Junko said, confused.

"I don't want to risk it! Sensei's are scary!"

"Something is terribly wrong with Katarina!" The Third Prince declared.

"You're imagining things," Mary said with a wide, happy smile, blood dripping from her nose.

"Mary, she keeps biting your… chest," the Third Prince said, remembering to be delicate at the last moment. "You can't tell me you think that's normal behavior."

"YOU'RE JUST JEALOUS!"

"That has nothing to do with anything!" the blond prince said, trying not to stare enviously at the spit-covered front of Mary's dress. "Even Katarina isn't so dumb as to mistake your… chest… for something to eat!"

"Jealousy, that's all it is," Mary declared. She winced. "Besides, it's not all sunshine and rainbows, you know. Lady Katarina bites hard… and likes to chew… and can be really rough… and not just my chest, she likes nibbling on my arms too…"

"We get it, stop bragging about it like that!" Keith snapped.

The door to the room in Maria's manor they'd borrowed for their little meeting slammed open, admitting the lady of the house. "Something is terribly wrong with my squire!" she declared, sounding very troubled.

"That's what he says," Alan said.

Maria paused, as if unsure if she wanted to be of the same opinion as the Third Prince. "Nevertheless!" Maria declared. "Something is terribly wrong! My squire… doesn't want to farm! It's like she's completely forgotten how!"

There was dead silence.

"Wow, that IS serious," Keith said, horrified.

"Really? That's what you're all concerned about?" the Third Prince said, exasperated. "Not the fact Katarina has been biting at Mary's chest like she wants to eat them?"

Maria looked at Mary intently and shrugged. "To be honest, I see the appeal. They seem very soft and enjoyable."

"You've ruined it," Mary said flatly. "The best thing that's ever happened to me, and you've ruined it. Your lewd gaze has made me feel used. ONLY LADY KATARINA SHOULD MAKE ME FEEL USED!"

That night, the zombies all went to sleep hoping everything would be better in the morning or, in Ai and Saki's case as the most experienced (modern) idol and the most experienced leader, wondering how they would have to cope if it didn't. There was never any question about kicking Tae off the team. They were family. More importantly, they were zombies. You don't just turn a zombie loose. Sure, she couldn't turn anyone into a zombie by biting them, otherwise they'd be in the middle of a zombie apocalypse by now from the number of people Tae had bitten, but still! It seemed… irresponsible… somehow.

Worse came to worse, she might have to 'graduate' and become their full-time roadie or something. No matter what happened, though, they wouldn't just abandon her. Memories or not, the LEGENDARY YAMADA TAE was one of them!

"Heigh-ho! Heave-ho!"

The Legendary Courtesan known as Yugiri opened her eyes, waking a little earlier than she was used to. While she usually woke first to cook breakfast for everyone, this was usually of her own volition. This time, however, she had been awakened by a sound on the wind.

Figuratively, of course. This western-styled house was completely still, and the windows were closed.

Gently disentangling herself from Lily, she got up, securing her sleeping robe around herself and followed the sound.

She found Tae outside, wearing the so-called 'sweats' that she usually wore on errands around town, when she needed something less obtrusive and revealing than her black dress. She was swinging the bokken she had borrowed from Sakura, letting out a cry with every swing.

For a moment, Yugiri was entranced. "Ara, ara…"

She found herself breathing with a curious heaviness as she watched Tae practice with the wooden sword . The younger-looking zombie moved with precise, practiced moves, each repetition smooth and sure. Her footwork never wavered, stepping just so and keeping her herself properly centered at all times. There was no wild flailing of a complete amateur, no pointless energetics of a beginner, only the dull, repetitive movements of someone who actually knew what they were doing and had at least mastered the basics. Her crimson eyes were dull and empty in the way only completely losing yourself to the boring repetition of what you were doing could achieve, making seem more alive somehow, despite the lack of sweat of flush of blood on her dead, gray face.

Yugiri tapped her lips thoughtfully…

"You want to take over teaching Tae-chan the choreography?" Saki said after Yugiri had announced her intensions in their practice studio.

Yugiri nodded. "I believe I might have gained insight into a way to help Tae-sama remember the steps and movements," she said.

"Really, Yugiri-san?" Tae said brightly. "Because these dances are really complicated."

Yugiri nodded. "It will be a bit harsh though. However, I believe this has the best chance of instilling the proper steps and gestures to Tae-sama. If it works, we can modify the training to teach her other choreography. If you are willing, Tae-sama?"

"Sure!" Tae said. "After all, what's he worse that can happen?"

"Very well. I shall get what I need and meet you in the dance studio, where we can learn the steps to the music…"

"Step! Step! Twist! Reverse! Step back, bend! Raise arm— don't parry! What have I told you about parrying? AGAIN!"

"Sorry Dame Yugi— I mean, sorry, Yugiri-sensei!"

Sakura stared in slack-jawed horror as Yugiri swung at Tae with an actual—if dulled—Made in China piece of garbage sword. Tae, meanwhile, tried to evade, her microphone in one hand, moving jerkily to, admitted, the steps of the routine they were meant to be learning. "Shouldn'twe do something about this?!" she cried.

Ai looked at the proceedings with a jaundiced eye. "Eh, it's letting her learn," said the professional Heisei-era idol. "Yugiri's really going easy on her."

"EH?!"

Lily hummed. "Tae-chan! Your right leg isn't bending enough when you lean back!" advised the professional TV child star. "Lean farther back! You don't need muscle extension surgery since you're a zombie, you can take it! Embrace the sexual objectification of your young form!"

"EH?!"

SCARY! The idol and TV industry were scary!

"Remember Tae-sama, fear is absolute! There is no shame in losing one battle. But you must take revenge by any means necessary! Now, learn these steps! Learn and surpass your former self!"

"HAI, SENSEI!"

Courtesans were scary!

"Ha… Ha…" Tae panted. "I'm alive… I'm alive…"

"You're a zombie, though?" Junko said. "So you're technically not…?"

Tae lay on the ground, arms and legs spread, having collapsed on the spot after Yugiri had declared herself satisfied.

"So… she can dance now?" Saki asked while Sakura knelt next to Tae and fed her dried squid.

Yugiri nodded. "I have taught her all I can," Yugiri said.

Tae sighed.

"…for now…"

Tae twitched so hard her head popped off and rolled away.

"Well, you might have to do it again," Saki said. "Hey Tae! You said you're not good at memorizing lines, right?"

"I'm… not good," Tae admitted as Sakura helpfully picked up her head and put it back in place, then resumed feeding her squid. "Why…?"

For a moment, Saki felt guilt. Tae was still so innocent, asking that question without fear, only trust…

Ruthlessly, the leader of Franchouchou held up some papers. "Well, shades just wrote a song for you for our next concert. You need to memorize the song AND the choreography that goes with it, since you're going to be the center."

"Ah?"

Solemnly, Saki handed Yugiri the papers. "I entrust this to you."

"I will not fail," Yugiri said. "Tae-sama shall learn or die trying."

"Eh?"

"We're zombies though, so she's already dead…" Junko said.

"So that means Tae-chan can only learn!" Lily said.

"Eh?-!"

"Sister, you recognize this, right?" Keith said, holding up the farming implement. "This is your favorite hoe. You love this hoe. You use it all the time, since you say it's the best hoe ever."

"Rar ragh!" Katarina declared, turning away and pouncing on Mary.

"Ah! L-Lady Katarina!"

"Sounds like she's got a new favorite hoe," Maria said blandly.

Everyone looked at Alan.

He blinked. "Huh? Whu… oh, right! Katarina! Stop molesting my fiancée!"

"K-keep out of this Alan!"

"Margh margs! Margh margs!"

"I think she thinks they're meatballs," Dame Matthew translated.

"Very understandable," Maria nodded.