Helloooooooo my good readers! I wish you all a Merry Christmas as I give you chapter! This, along with the next chapter I'm hoping to publish tomorrow, will be the last chapters I've written for this year. Looking forward to taking a break for the New Years so I wrote two chapters adapting episode 11 and add it before I can fully relax.
Please enjoy!
Splashing rain and rumbling thunder are the first things Sakura hear after waking up.
"Mmmph… Nnnuuuggghhhh…"
With her eyes already open, Sakura groggily got up and see she's in a dark room with a dimly lit window. She could barely make out the standing light stand and chandelier in the darkness, both of which were turned off. Common sense would dictate her turning either one on to illuminate the room, but right now, she was confused. Mostly confused.
"Ugh… What was I… doing?" Sakura asked herself, her mind drawing a blank.
Getting full attention of her eyes, Sakura exits the room and next sees she's at the end of a hallway near the window on her left and it is as dark here as it was in the room she had woken up in. Checking the window first, she sees a long balcony or terrace outside being splashed by the rain currently coloring the night sky with its clear, gray color. Judging from the height, she must be on the second floor.
"…What is this place?" She asked herself again, utterly perplexed and at unease. She knows this isn't her home, so she has no idea what was she doing here or how, and why, is she here. Wanting to either find out where she was or just get out of here, Sakura turns around…
"RAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHH! ! ! !"
…only to be faced with a raven-haired woman with creepy eye shadows and bluish green skin raising her arched arms forward and her mouth opened as she let out an inhuman scream.
"WAAAAAHHHHH! !"
Screaming in response too, Sakura is paralyzed in fear as Tae pushes her against the wall with her cold hands holding her shoulder in place. She bares her gaping mouth close to Sakura's face, as if she's going to bite her. In reality, Tae doesn't have the intent because she appears to be trying to say something to the scared teenager who has been looking after her like a caretaker. Given her unawakened status however, all Tae can say is incoherent gibberish and groaning befitting a zombie.
For Sakura though, one wouldn't fault her for believing Tae's planning to bite her after she restrained her against the wall. Not wanting to be her meal, she puts her hand against her left cheek, and before Tae can react, Sakura puts all her might into her arm to push her away. In the process, her head spins in a 180 degrees, causing her to face in the opposite direction while it remains intact on as she falls down to the floor with a groan.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH! ! ! !" Freaked out of the zombie and what she did to her head, Sakura quickly stands up and dashes towards the left corridor to get away from the creepy zombie. Said zombie rises up from her lying position to twist her head back with her left hand.
Finding the nearest door with her frantic eyes, Sakura enters the room and spun around to close the door shut. The poor girl is panting from immense fear and energy exerted from having to run even for a short time in search of a safe room. Warily walking backwards as she stared at the door fearfully, Sakura spins around on her feet to continue moving.
"Aaaagghhh!"
However, she accidentally stepped on a kid who cried out in pain, causing Sakura to start losing her balance and fumble her steps over many futons before falling on to the leftmost futon face down, rudely awakening the occupied sleeper. She, too, screamed but not in pain like the kid.
"Ahhh, I-I'm so sorry!" Sakura turned to her right to have the courtesy of apologizing the disturbed person, having no idea there were someone in this room while sleeping.
"…What… in the hell…?" The rough voice of Saki Nikaido came out from her mouth as she rises up with an angry look, of which her glowing red eyes emphasize to great effect.
"Heeeeey! Pipe down, whoever you are!" Someone chimed in irritatingly and languidly, their voice sounding like an adult male with a subtle accent. "I'm trying to get some shut eye!"
It didn't take long for everyone to rise up from their interrupted sleep to see who dared woke them up. Much to Sakura's fright however, elevenpairs of glowing red eyes are seemingly staring daggers at her, their haunting silhouettes not doing much to assuage her mounting fear. She stutters, already scooting away from them.
Someone turned the light switch on, revealing Sakura's familiar friends and acquaintances. For some reason, she's freaking out more when she sees, much to her dismay, they are like the raven-haired woman she unfortunately encountered not so soon after waking up in the middle of the night: zombies.
Motivated by her life being at stake under the zombies' supposed hungry gazes, Sakura crawled away from them, putting her back against a wooden furniture before shielding her face with her arms, stuttering fearfully. As for the zombies, they immediately recognized her and saw she has finally awakened from her day-long sleep. "Sakura?" Saki called out.
"Thank goodness you're awake!" Avdol exclaimed to his and everyone's relief as they surrounded her.
"That's good." reciprocated Junko.
Sakura doesn't shared their enthusiasm though, not helped that she's the only who's in a makeup making her look human compared to the shambling moving corpses the eleven zombies are. So she continues crying in terror, daring not to look into their eyes under the though they may lunge at her upon eye contact.
Catching on to her unprovoked panic, Saki, being the closest to her, raises her left arm with a concerned expression. "Easy there…"
"H-Hey," Narancia moves a little closer, also concerned of her. "What's wrong Sakura? You're… freaking out than usual."
"WAAAAHHHHHHH! ! ! !"
Sensing the two are going near her, she bolted around the assembled zombies and puts her back against the wall between the fire place and a door. A fire poker is lying against the fire place which she saw on her way, so as she faced the zombies with bated breath, her right hand grabs the handle and raises it with both her hands with the clear intent of using it to smack any of them who gets too close to her.
"Sakura, please calm down!" Bucciarati exclaimed, becoming alarmed of her after she grabs an impromptu weapon. "Put that fire poker down! We do not wish to harm you! We're your friends, remember?"
"Y-Yeah! We're not planning to attack you just because we're zombies, so put the fire poker down!" Ai agreed, feeling herself sweating as she looks at the fire poker. She's getting a bad vibe from that object for some reason.
"Haaah… Haaah… Haaah…"
Sakura's panting becomes hyperventilation as her fearful eyes starts to droop, making her look grief-stricken. Everyone took note of her change of expression. Even for someone who they know tends to freak out a little easily, they collectively agree that her slow breathing and languishing eyes must is not normal.
"…Are you… okay?" Lily asked worriedly.
"Stop panting and try to maintain a steady rhythm of your breathing," Mamezuku suggested. "You won't relax if you keep breathing in an irregularly pace."
"It's… kinda too late for that," Gyro said. "I think she's losing herself." His assertion invites the looks of confusion and more concern as they take a good, hard look on Sakura and sees that he might be on to something.
Sakura's weary expression becomes more prominent as her panting slows down to a crawl. After what felt like an eternity over the span of five seconds, she bends her legs, making her slide down against the wall as her arms lower, releasing the fire poker from her grip which clatters to the floor. "I can't…" She began, looking tired so instantly.
"Sakura?" Junko takes a step forward.
"It doesn't matter what I do, it won't all 「work」…" Her legs give out on her own accord until she's sitting on the floor. She then force herself to hide her face down, putting her arms below it as she lies down. "…There's 「no point」 in trying."
The eleven zombies look on Sakura with a mix of concern and puzzlement, trying to rattle their head over what made Sakura to be this… frazzled, and the reason why. "I'm all out of guesses here," admitted Saki with folded arms.
"She's still… not afraid of us, right?" Avdol hoped that's not the reason why Sakura become so gloomy.
"Perhaps a slap to the face will help," Yugiri considered her usual option again, not seeing how insensitive it is.
"No! Don't Yugiri!" Johnny lowers her arm back down while rebuking her with an irate look. "Kotaro told me about your slapping tendencies, so please! Stop thinking your slaps can solve someone's problems!"
"I think… I might know what's happening to her." Ai stated, believing she has a solution to pull Sakura out of her stupor. One that is decidedly not involving violence.
ドガーン
"AAAAARRRRGGGHHHHHH! ! ! ! !"
Tae's explosive entrance shattering the entire door out of its handles prevents what Ai is going to do, surprising them all aside Sakura. Having found Sakura at last after hearing her and her companions' voices, she slides across the floor upon landing before making a big leap towards the despondent girl sitting up straight with her legs and feet situated beneath her. "RAAAAAUUUUGGGHHHHH! ! !"
As everyone panics that Tae seems keen on giving Sakura a forceful bite to her head, Sakura just… sits there without thinking of getting away from the wild zombie. In fact, seeing Tae going for a bite has confirmed what she had said is true. One that she had come to accept when it happened when she was just young.
You see… I'm 「not capable」of doing anything.
What Sakura thought before closing her eyes out of tiredness, not seeing Sticky Fingers grabbing Tae's shirt to stop her from hurting her, not that it mattered in her eyes.
It was morning when Sakura woke up from her impromptu sleep. Her eyes were already open as she woke up for the third time, though she either doesn't care or may have forgotten that as she rises up with a gasp, becoming aware of the sunlight pouring through the windows.
And also aware that there are two people, a shorter one sitting with her and a taller one crouching on one knee. Both of their eyes are looking to her in concern and they are wearing makeup unlike Sakura, so her green skin and red eyes are exposed
"What just happened…?" Sakura asked in bewilderment, as if she forgotten she fell asleep from fatigue. She turns to Ai and her eyes lit in recognition, bringing her semi-clenched hand close to her chin. "Oh god!"
"You're up." Ai said.
"Ai… Mizuno? In the flesh?" Sakura looked surprised of her, acting like a big fan meeting her favorite idol up close personally. She then looked at Bucciarati and involuntarily flinched in his stone-cold gaze. "And, uhhh…"
"Calm down," he told her with a placating hand gesture, softening his gaze when he noticed her body flinched in eye contact. "It's only us, Sakura. Ai and Bucciarati."
"Errr…" Unsure of how to respond to a stern-eyed man accompanying the shorter girl, Sakura turns back to Ai after having realized someone famous and with a prestige like her seems to be casually hanging out in this room. "W-Wait, what are you doing here?"
Ai looks at Bucciarati's eye to silently ask him if they should try to get Sakura up to speed, which they and their friends closely discussed last night after she fell asleep. A nod from him is the answer she needs before she looks at Sakura again. "Look, do you remember what your name is?"
"Uh, my name? It's Sakura."
"Your address, your phone number and your family? All that?"
"Well… Yeah, of course."
"I see." Ai concluded, turning back to Bucciarati with comprehending eyes. Taking one more look to Sakura and hearing her answer to Ai's questions as if she's testing her, he and Ai now understand what happened to Sakura after the group who were scouting outside yesterday found Romero and a sleeping Sakura in front of the mansion's gate. They found out Sakura was struck by a truck when its driver arrived with some help and he explained what he did to her. They have to repeatedly assure him that in spite of her injury, she was definitely okay and that they appreciate his apology and concern for her before the driver left without more concern.
Seems like Sakura got her memories back by getting her head hit by the truck's windshield, thought Bucciarati. Never thought the likely cause of her death would be used to bring her memories back. She got off with only a scratch due to being a zombie, but still… the incredulous method astounds me. The next concern is… is Sakura okay?
"Hey, you're Ai from Iron Frill, right? I'm a big fan!" Sakura said to Ai with a smile, her adoration of the Heisei Idol as a sign she indeed got her memories back. Everyone was aware to a mild extent Sakura knew who Ai was since they were from the same era and even died in the same year, only months apart.
Ai doesn't plan to reciprocate her compliment coming from an eager fan, so she exclaims to get the topic back on track. "Sakura!"
"Ah! Y-Yeah?" She almost jumped out of her skin when she suddenly shouted.
"We can explain everything that had happened to you," Number Three began explaining. "But you will not gonna like what you hear, so please stay calm. You see…" Lowering her head slightly before looking to her eyes again, Ai reveals to the freshly-awakened Sakura with this bombshell. "You're kinda a… 「zombie」."
…
…
…
"What?" Sakura appeared confused and in disbelief over what Ai said. "Come on, isn't that-?"
"Ten years ago," Bucciarati continued where Ai left off. "You died from a possible truck collision, which you have no idea of how you died other than the massive scar on your head because it cost you your memory."
…
…
…
"No way."
Her skepticism didn't abated in spite of her response indicating she may have accepted his words. She died from a truck collision? A vehicular accident? Before she can ask for clarification, she notices her gray hands and moves it close to her face to see bandage wrappings around her wrist and small, thin but numerous veins scribbled across her clouded palms and fingers.
"HUUUUH?!" She shrieked in response upon seeing her dead hands, her eyes widening instantly and her irises shaking. Then the memories of her death play in her mind, recognizing the impact her head received as the truck collided with her so unexpectedly, getting flung up high in the air, and then falling back to the hard ground head first with a fleshy sound.
Now remembering her death and the proof of it laid out in her, Sakura finds herself unable to deny what Ai and Bucciarati told her. "We know it is the sad truth and you're in great shock," she hears Ai speak again, making her look up slowly with uneasy eyes. "But we don't want you to be discouraged further. Me, Bucciarati-san, and our friends know exactly what it feels like reliving our deaths and how it brought us trauma, so don't think you're alone Sakura."
"Please take deep breaths, but steadily this time," Bucciarati stands up and moves to the door to open it. "We will take you to the mansion's shed where your bandmates and my group are currently in waiting for us to arrive."
"M-My… bandmates?" Sakura repeated, sounding curious. "And your group? What… kind of group?"
"Bodyguards. You should know that already Sakura."
The look Sakura is giving to Bucciarati tells him she's really confused, striking her reaction as odd to him. He furrows his brows in thought before he says, "Hmm, perhaps you need a refresher. I bet the truck collision did messed up your head even if you finally remembered your past life as a result. You're listening, Ai?" He turns to the other short-haired person.
"I suppose there's no harm in reminding her," readily accepts Ai. "Please listen to us Sakura. Bucciarati-san and I are gonna give you the rundown of our groups and everything that happened in over eight months after we came back from the dead."
As the two begin recounting their purposes over their resurrection and everything that happened to them, they didn't pay attention to the look of despondency gradually taking over Sakura's face, over the fact she died when she was about to do her big accomplishment before her death. Her final big accomplishment she didn't get to see it start.
In the mansion's shed, Franchouchou and Rianima are gathered inside like Bucciarati said, with the idol group having finished one practice while the latter was situated on the sidelines watching them practice. Oddly, Tae isn't with them.
Lily looks at the mirror with eyes full of worry over Sakura's condition. Wanting some form of confirmation to erase her anxiousness, she asks, "What's gonna happen to her now?"
"I'm certain Ai-han and Bucciarati-han are doing everything they can." Yugiri hoped, wiping her cheek with a small towel. She was standing near a table together with Junko sitting on a chair while wiping the sweat off her body on her right while Saki stands in the corner with the white chalkboard with crossed arms. Lily whined nervously, not liking her statement coming out as being uncertain.
"Damn! Where the hell Shades is at a time like this?!" Saki inquired with gritted teeth, irritated of his absence.
"He's out," answered Junko. "He left this morning because he has a business errand he needed to run."
"Yeeeeeaaaaah… That sounds like an excuse to me," insinuated Narancia, sitting on the floor with his legs crossed. Avdol and Johnny is standing or leaning against the wall to his right while Gyro and Mamezuku takes his left. "I can understand him if it's really a business errand, but given the timing, it came across to me as suspicious."
"Mister Tatsumi is particularly close to Sakura," reminded Avdol. "It is quite odd he left this morning when Sakura is being troubled by something, causing her to act so different to her peppy self."
"Hnnnngh…" Gyro doesn't like what he said. "How would Kakyoin react if he saw Sakura becoming someone we don't know?"
"…More like Sakura is returning to what she 「used to be」."
The assembled zombies look at Johnny in curiosity, his left hand rubbing his chin in thought and appears to be mumbling something which Mamezuku catches few words but nothing noteworthy so he can draw a conclusion from. "Huh? What did you say, Johnny-san?" Lily asked.
Feeling everyone's attention, Johnny looks up and was about to clarify what he said when everyone hears the door open near Lily. Believing the one who will enter are Bucciarati, Ai and Sakura, they turn their attention to the doorway and see, just as they suspected, Ai and Bucciarati. As for Sakura, they can't see her, but they believe she's behind the door.
"…Well?" Saki urged them to say something, preferably good news.
"What's up? Is Sakura-san okay?" Lily interjected.
"Yeah…" Ai answered unsurely. "Here's the thing. Getting hit by that truck yesterday made all her 「real life memories」come back."
"Say what?" Narancia exclaimed in surprise and disbelief.
"…But that's not all," continued Bucciarati with a worried look. "Possibly as a consequence of her head getting hit by the truck for the second time, she doesn't remember「anything」 that had happened 「after」 she became a zombie."
Everyone gasps and cried out in worry, not believing their worst fear may have come true. "Not good!" Saki summed their feelings up the best.
"We know," Ai speaks again. "We tried to explain some things. I told her about us being the undead… and about Franchouchou and its bodyguard group, Rianima." Noticing the door is blocking Sakura from their view or, most likely, deliberately hiding behind it as if she doesn't want to be seen, Ai push the door out of Sakura's way, who is wearing a melancholic expression. "Hey, these are the other girls and guys me and Bucciarati-san were telling you about before.
"…Huh?"
Realizing she was zoning on, Sakura snaps out of her daze and moves her head from right to left to inspect the ten zombies standing two meters away. Even though she's here before them, they are all aghast and in disbelief over what happened to her after she got hit by the truck. The look Sakura is giving them was not the look of recognition spreading across her face. She's regarding them as 「strangers」 to her.
"You mean you don't remember our group, Sakura?!" Lily asked her, her voice becoming squeaky near the end due to her refusal to accept what became of her friend.
"And us, too!?" Avdol added, feeling dismayed along with his groupmates looking at her.
"Uh… I don't," she replied with averted eyes.
"Wait a sec! Does this mean she can't be in the show! ?!" Saki exclaimed.
Now it's Sakura's turn to appear confused. "A show…? Um, what show?"
"It's our group's first solo concert," Ai promptly answered as she faces her. "For 500 people. It's just only in few days, in a place called Arpino."
"Arpino?"
Ai turns her face forward with steely eyes. "Yeah, it's a big deal. A total turning point of our group…"
All of a sudden, Sakura experiences a second flash of memories in her head related to Arpino, one that she remembers very well. She looks at Ai, the same Ai of Iron Frill that performed in the same venue Franchouchou was slated to appear on and how she was cheering for them as member of the audience waving a glow stick with a big smile.
"…So you see. All of us have practiced really hard. And you too…" Ai faces Sakura once more as she gasps. "I'm sure you're really confused right now but when the times come, I know you'll be ready."
Sakura has put two and two together regarding Ai's presence, the six girls standing in this room and what Ai said to her about their first solo concert taking place in the same venue Iron Frill performed their own concert. Woooow! I did 「become an idol」!Though elated to lean she actually see her dream become reality, the memory of her death, taking place in the same day when she was going to apply for idol membership, brought her initial smile down to a frown.
Her next words came out without any hesitation in her. "No. You guys can go without me."
Predictably, everyone is astounded to hear it straight from her mouth. Saki begs to differ "Come on! You'll be fine! If you practice, I bet it'll all come right back! Cool?"
"I'm telling you I can't do it." Sakura doesn't plan to budge from her decision, looking at her with an annoyed face.
Saki also doesn't plan on budging on what she wants the best for her too. "You don't know until you try-"
"I don't wantto!" She shakes her head, becoming stringent in her choice. "'Cause working for something and… succeeding, well… I just… don't 「have what it takes」."
"Have what it takes?" Johnny perks up when he heard Sakura said that. Her words, sudden gloomy behavior and absolute refusal to practice with her bandmates… It's like… Sakura is going through something like he did when he was paraplegic for two years caused by his own hubris. This belief is becoming more evident when Sakura, with her eyes shaded by her bangs as she looks down, gives this declaration.
"No matter what I do, things always turn into a 「disaster」. It's like the world punishes me for even 「trying」. I'm sorry…"
Having made up her mind, Sakura turns and makes her leave against Saki's protest, slamming the door shut, then leaving out with a second sound of door closing. Everyone stares at where she left in trepidation, not believing this crisis is happening right near the big milestone Franchouchou must pass through.
"And just when she was finally coming back to her senses…" Junko lamented the timing.
"This is worse than our journey to the mountains." Yugiri agrees.
"Guys! Is it just me or did she just quitFranchouchou?!" Saki shouted in disbelief, not liking how Sakura deserted her bandmates just like that.
"Oh… Oh nooooo!" Lily doesn't like the sound of that. And though Ai didn't say anything, her chagrined expression should tell you what she's feeling and how she's not liking what Sakura did.
The girls are not the only who are worried over Sakura choosing to quit. "Hey, this is very bad guys!" That was Narancia, facing his groupmates. "Sakura wouldn't normally leave the girls in a dust, and we can obviously see they're not taking it well. What should we do?"
"Well… There's one simple thing we can do," Gyro said, kicking himself off the wall. "Convince Sakura that she would be wasting all her hard work that got Franchouchou this far. She's currently feeling so downbeat though, something that doesn't fit her at all…" His words draw the girls' attention to him which he noticed so he doubled down on his mini-speech. "So we must cheer her up if we ever have a chance of convincing her."
Saki and Lily like his suggestion as the blonde girl says, "Oh yeah… Why haven't I thought of that?"
"If we can convince her, then we must do it now!" Lily exclaimed. "Come on! Let's go find Sakura and-!"
"No! Leave Sakura alone for now! It's a bad idea to convince her when she's in a very bad mood!"
Surprised that someone actually decide against doing a simple suggestion, everyone turns and look at Johnny Joestar, who had expected they would turn to him after warning them not to be careless.
With their undivided attention at the Joestar, he takes a deep breath before he repeats his warning. "If you haven't heard me right, I advise you leave Sakura alone and let her recuperate. It would be a bad idea if you convince her so soon after she made her decision."
No one speak up for a moment until Junko protests, "But… But… How is cheering Sakura-san up a bad idea, Johnny-san?! We are all worried of her, so it feels cruel if we leave her alone to stew on her misery!"
"She has a point Johnny," Bucciarati stared at him with a disapproving look. "There's nothing wrong with what Gyro suggested aimed in consoling Sakura."
Gyro agrees with his leader instantly. "Yeah! I know you can be sometimes cold and even heartless to other people but you're not thinking being so cruel as to let Sakura suffer on her grief alone, right?"
The majority gives Johnny their own disparaging looks, telling him without words of what they're feeling. If Tae is around, she would growled at him if she understood what he said. Nail Jockey isn't fazed by their staring and knew they would react like this, so he gives out his reason related to his observation over Sakura's sudden downbeat behavior.
"I'm not planning on letting Sakura continue being miserable out of the blue. I only said she must be left alone for now so she can relax a little bit. I agree with Gyro that she needs some cheering up to get her back on her feet, but it's in my certain opinion that she's not in the mood for listening to our encouraging words this time."
He looks down to the floor with a sigh. "I should know… Her behavior just now… It was like the sorry state I was in for two years when I was paraplegic."
Everyone straightens their body up after hearing that last part. "The… sorry state?" Ai repeated curiously.
Johnny directs his eyes at them with a regretful expression. "Guys… I think, based on Sakura's behavior and what she said about "not having what it takes", she must be suffering on… 「melancholia」."
"…Melancholia?" Avdol parroted with a questioning look shared by the others.
"You mean… 「depression」, right?" Mamezuku assumed, following along on his logic.
"Is that the current term being used?" Johnny asked. Peel Planter nods. "I see. Well, either term all of you choose applies to Sakura quite possibly well. This is my belief over why Sakura chose to quit Franchouchou with a miserable face."
Thanks to his speculation, everyone might understand a little Sakura's current state that's been bugging them since last night when she just… gave up with a very tired face, so much so she doesn't react to Tae bursting through the door and jumping at her only for Sticky Fingers to subdue her to prevent any damage to her and fall unresponsive with her eyes open. Could what Johnny said is true? The plucky, sweet-natured girl with a clumsy streak who strives to do best for herself and her friends, even if it kills her, is inflicted with a case of depression? Truth be told, they always tend to judge each of them based on their external behaviors and appearances that conceals their respective internal quirks mostly not fitting their perceived opinions of each other. And now that they think about it, they still don't know Sakura's past life, of which it is unlikely she won't divulge soon considering her melancholic state.
In any case, taking Sakura's behavior and Johnny's opinion in mind, Franchouchou and Rianima have agreed what they're planning to do later. Making the Arpino concert successful is important, but pulling their central member of Franchouchou who had helped and looked after her friends out of her dispirited state is more vital.
For now, Franchouchou continues their break for few more minutes before they rehearse again while Rianima goes out the shed to monitor Sakura while keeping their distance from her respectfully. Since Sakura is not here however, it doesn't feel the same practicing their steps without her. Guess they come to understand that feeling well like what Rianima is feeling without Kakyoin around.
"How's things been going?"
Kotaro didn't look up to the old bartender as he sits on the bench of the dimly lit bar, staring down the strips of dried squid and small vase of sake he's drinking and paid for. After he's done with his "business errand" which is actually an excuse for him to take his leave for almost a whole day after learning Sakura restored her pre-mortem memories back at cost of her post-mortem memories since this morning, he visits a bar when night rolled around Saga named New Bar Jofuku to drink his sorrows over what happened to the zombie girl he was particularly close with. And talk with an acquaintance who knows Kotaro's plan.
"…Well, they're going." He doesn't want to be rude with the owner slash bartender after everything he did to kickstart his project so he makes this response.
Pouring the jug with more sake, the bartender replies. "When I heard about your plan, I thought your damned brains must have gotten rotten," he stops filling Kotaro's jug when it's full. "Uh, what did you called it again? The Original Zombie Village, Seasons Highway Dream project, or something like that?"
"It's called the Zombie Land Saga project."
The bartender chuckles with a smile as he moves away to put the bottle back. "That's the one… Have compassion. Act for the sake of man, right?"
"Hm yeah. Hagakure. Great book," Kotaro guessed, sipping from his cup. "But this isn't that noble."
"Just keep your hands off Yugiri. And also Emi," the mysterious bartender warned him, pointing his finger at him. "I owe a hell of a lot to that two women."
"Emi? You mean… the ghost woman?" Kotaro looked up in surprise to the bartender after he heard him mention her name. "You… know her?"
"Yup, you heard me," the bartender stated. "That woman came to me two days ago and informed me about the bodyguard group you and your unknown partner formed to provide the girls protection against the Stands. A remarkable bunch who are great in their roles, I have to say. Makes me wish I can meet with them soon. *chuckle* As for the woman and her found family, they kept me up to date with what's happening in Saga and like I said, I owe a lot to Emi-chan."
"…How old are you?" Kotaro wondered after processing the fact Emi is allied with the bartender and his agenda.
"Hmm, I sure have some interesting times back then."
"It isn't good to dwell on the old days."
"Hmph. You're one to talk." The bartender insinuated, taking a bite from a strips of dried squid on his plate.
The two men stays quiet after their conversation, which Kotaro likes so he can get his mind back in order as he thought over Sakura and the misfortune that struck her; the same misfortune that have claimed her life ten years ago. What are the odds the non-legendary zombie he ended up recruiting along with six legendary girls was hit by a truck for the second time. He doubts the driver who accidentally hit Sakura was the same man who killed her. He turned himself in out of guilt over killing a teenager without meaning to and is likely still serving time to this day. He can hope he's released from prison and restart from scratch.
Back to Sakura, it is true she was struck by two trucks ten years apart. Many people would chalk it up as an accident on their part and carry on with their lives, but what they didn't know was that the two separate and same accident were actually done by a malevolent force he, the bartender and most likely Emi are fighting against to ensure Saga Prefecture's continued existence. The current phase of the project is on a time limit which the bartender claimed it will be up when the next era of Japan's calendar begins. With this in mind, he must do something so Franchouchou succeeds on their first solo concert: talking with Sakura and cheering her up in the aftermath of her accident.
While he will be doing it so Franchouchou has a chance, Kotaro has a… personal reason behind his decision for this night concerning Number One…
"Maaaaan, this sucks… I can't even get into the music."
Saki bemoaned to the five girls as she lies on the floor with a sapped look. They have finished another round of practice after Tae came back and are now resting. With Sakura's deserting them still fresh in their minds however, all of them, even the studious Ai, felt like they didn't performed well during their practice, with Saki's comment being proof of that. Tae, Lily and Yugiri shared her feelings as Tae faced the wall while sitting in the corner while Lily does the same to a table sitting between Ai and Junko.
"How can we during a crisis like this?" Junko said, sitting on the same chair.
"Guys…" Lily mewled, sounding so dejected. "Do you think Sakura-san gonna forget about me forever?"
"Urrrrggghhhhh…" Tae seems to agree judging from her unhappy grunt.
"Look, I know this is upsetting," Ai interjects, stopping wiping her face to remove drips of sweat. "But if the rest of us don't stay strong then, the whole thing falls apart. The show 「must go on」. It's not like the audience knows our problems."
"…Yeah, but still…"
"It'll be okay!" Ai continues giving out reassurances, interrupting Saki as a result. "We've got to trust Sakura-chan and Johnny-san! We have left her alone for the whole day, so she must have calmed down now. We will then cheer her up!"
Hearing her clear and remembering Johnny and Gyro's suggestion this morning, Lily hopes, or at least forces herself to be hopeful, they can help Sakura get back on her feet soon. "Yeah…" She said uncertainly, sounding like a whisper.
Wrapping up their rehearsal, Franchouchou returns to the living room where their bodyguards are waiting. The men beams or nods at them when they entered, pleased to see them finish their practice and the girls return their nodding of their own, with Saki, Yugiri and Lily adding their smiles.
"Finished practicing?" Bucciarati questioned them just to be safe.
Saki nods. "Yeah. We got most of the choreography down even if it doesn't feel the same without Sakura dancing with us. Speaking of her… we're going through with what JoJo and Gyro suggested to us this morning, right?" She crossed her arms with a determined look, wanting nothing more than to cheer Sakura up.
"…Yes, we will," agreed Johnny before he gives Saki a dirty look. "And also, stop calling me JoJo. I already told you I don't like being called that."
"Right, right, sorry," sighed Saki. "Force of habit."
The sound of a door opening attracts their attention to see Mamezuku entering the room and then closing the door. He turns his head and faces his companions, quickly noting the girls are in the room after they were finished. As they wonder where he went off to, Avdol steps forward to him before he asks, "So? How is Sakura?"
Pointing his right thumb, Mamezuku answers his question. "She's in the attic, still looking glum as she did this morning."
A round of sighing and groaning are heard, mostly from Saki, Ai, Lily, Narancia, and Gyro. He has more to say so he continues, "She's letting her feelings override her mind so much she didn't look at me in the eye. I tried to spare some words of encouragement to her, but she predictably didn't budge, even telling me to get out."
"…How rude of her to brush off Mamezuku-han's kind words." Yugiri remarked, disapproving of what Sakura did.
"My thoughts exactly," he shakes his head and sighs. "…Guys, considering how she didn't listen to me and rebuffed me out of the room as if she's unfamiliar to me, convincing Sakura will be easier said than done."
"So you're telling us her somber mood didn't let up?" Junko said concerningly.
"If me being allowed in the same room as her for about twenty-two seconds before getting the boot is an indication… then yes."
Now the zombies are agreeing with Mamezuku's words. They never expected the amount of possible self-loathing and downbeat mood Sakura held it within her to run so deep.
"But…! But…! We have to 「try」!" Lily expressed in a desperate tone. "Maybe one of us will be successful in cheering Sakura-san up!"
"Well we won't know until we try. We agreed with our plan this morning, so we are doing it!" Narancia said. "So, aside Mamezuku… Who's gonna pay Sakura a visit first?"
Everyone looks at each other, silently inquiring the same question. With Rai having tried rousing Sakura only to fail, the Stand Users wonder who among them is going to go first. Despite living under the same roof as her, Rianima wasn't too close to her so they're hesitating on whether one of them choose to go to attic to share some words to the despondent girl. The other person who are close to Sakura, Kakyoin, is not with them, and because of this, they really felt his absence more, especially since they believe there's a high chance he may succeed.
"I'll go first."
Saki announces to the assembled zombies, bearing a fiercely determined look on her face and standing with her hands on her hips. "If Peel Planter ain't cut out for pullin' Sakura out of her funk, then I'll be the one to set her head straight! Any objections?"
When everyone went silent, Saki takes it as confirmation, moving to the door to exit "Good! Then I'm off to the attic!"
"Before you leave, I should tell you that Sakura has barricaded the stairs of the attic with eight signs telling us to stay away, many tables and even a police tape." Mamezuku informs her as she grabs the door's handle. "You might need to remove some table to pass through like I did."
Saki gives him a thumbs up and a smile. "Thanks for the advice!"
After making her way through the barricade and ascending up the spiral staircase, Saki comes face to face with her close friend who proved to her that she does has guts in her when push came to shove. She's determined as hell to convince Sakura to revoke her statement about deserting her bandmates and she is telling this not as her friend, but also as her leader.
"I'm not gonna change my mind." Sakura insists, choosing to look down to the floor with half-lidded eyes. On the mirror behind her, Saki has her arms crossed in the reflection as she looks at her disapprovingly.
"But you were so worked up about it before and now!" Saki reminds her, leaning her body forward so her head is in the same height as Sakura.
"Well what can I say…? Guess I'm not being myself," Sakura still stood firm gloomily. "Just forget it."
"Stop being selfish! I'll kill ya!" Saki is getting angry at her stubbornness.
"…You're just wasting your breath at this point. Doesn't matter how much you stomp your feet and yell at me, I've already made my decision."
Groaning in frustration, Saki has had enough with her pessimism so she marches up to her with her left hand raised and slaps Sakura.
クルクル クルリン クルクル クルリン クルクル クルリン
As another quirk of being a zombie with detachable body parts, Saki's slap causes Sakura to spin counter-clockwise. The red-haired teenager isn't fazed or doesn't care that her head is spinning and her vision is following along the movement liable to make her dizzy. Seeing she's not even putting an effort to stop her spinning head, Saki says, "Stop it… I said QUIT IT!" She stops her spinning head out of irritation.
Gazing at her unfocused eyes makes her realize that Sakura is not gonna budge from her chair at any point. She could only growl in frustration before she leaves the attic and return to her friends. When asked how it went, they only need to look at her frustrated and dismal expression to know she failed before walking away and sit on the floor with gritting teeth.
"Damn…" Saki muttered under her breath.
Marking her as the second person to fail in cheering Sakura, everyone turn to each other again, silently asking themselves who is next.
"I'll go next." Junko raises her hand as if she's volunteering in a classroom. She didn't say more as she leaves as Narancia, Ai and Gyro wish her good luck.
Standing before Sakura with a hand over her chest once she enters the attic, Junko could only look at her in pity due to how miserable she looked. It saddens Junko on having to see Sakura like this, wondering what kind of past she have that made her feel so depressed.
Wanting to do anything she can to help her as long it's within her ability, Junko speaks up to get her attention so she's ignoring her. "Hey there."
"If you got something to say, just say it…" Unfortunately, Sakura isn't keen on acknowledging Junko's presence so she says this scathing statement.
"Um… W-Well…"
Feeling her courage drain out of her, Junko is unable to say what she wants to tell her, losing the words that was on the tip of her tongue. And even then, she sees Sakura won't listen to her if she did go through with it.
When she returns to the living room empty-handed, Junko is trying not to cry, which is enough of an answer for them to see she also failed.
As Yugiri and Ai comforts her, Johnny can only comment this. "Not even two minutes and Sakura pushed her away." For the third time, everyone turn to each other and see who is next.
"Sounds like the stars are calling out for me! I'm up next!"
Lily exclaims excitedly, telling them that she's the fourth person to go after Sakura. Since Saki and Junko were so dejected over being unable to cheer Sakura up, they are wary and nervous the kid would get scolded, but they also hope Sakura wouldn't be so rude as to tell Lily off even after coldly dismissing Saki and Junko's efforts. With everyone giving her blessings, Lily skips out of the room and up the spiral staircase into the attic.
Facing her second honorary big sister in worry while holding a yellow decorating star in her small hands, Lily says, "Sakura… I can't believe you don't remember me."
"You're so young…" Sakura pointed out in a lamenting tone.
"That's right! I'm twelve-years-old forever! It's magic!" Lily spins it in a positive tone, hoping it would rub on her.
"That's good. So you'll stay cute… like that star thing you're holding."
"Uh huh! You told me my star was cute before too, and you said you'd liked my smile!" She reminded her before she starts walking up to her. "I have lots of fun doing idol stuff together. And I think you're cute too!" She hands out the star object to Sakura so she would hold it and put it on her hair. This is to cheer her up like she did when Sakura praised her cuteness and smile, so she's returning the favor to her honorary big sis.
Like Lily gladly expected, Sakura do grab the object and puts it over her forehead…
…except the star is upside-down.
"Really? What if I were the star? Does it look good then?" Sakura scoffs at herself, not needing to look at the mirror behind her to know what she looks like with the star on her forehead. Lily tells her she's putting it wrong, but Sakura isn't sure. "If you're cute, those details don't matter. The harder I try to be cute, the dumber and uglier I end up looking. Because… I'm a 「failure」!"
グサッ
Having enough of the star making her ugly than she liked to, Sakura vexatiously throws the star to the floor so hard the pointed part sinks into the wood, rendering it slightly stuck. Lily flinched from her action, staring at the object before she warily looks up to Sakura. "U-Um…"
"For the last time," Sakura growled after getting sick of someone going into the attic to convince her, looking up to the staggered kid with glaring eyes and furrowed brows. "I'm not going to be an idol."
Her nasty glare and words undercutting the tone of sorrow contained in her voice easily puts the sensitive Lily to a sobbing fit, feeling let down for unable to persuade her while scared of her absolute change in behavior to something decidedly not the Sakura she recognized.
With a broken heart, she runs out the attic and returns to the room, surprising the occupants when hearing her crying as she goes after Yugiri, who instinctively wraps the youngest zombie in her arms as she sinks her face to her clothes. "Lily-han?"
"Uwaaaaaaahhhhhh!" Lily wails, wanting nothing more than to be held within the arms of her closest maternal figure. Sensing she needs her more than ever, Yugiri didn't hesitate to throw her arms around her petite body, crouching down so she's matching her height and letting her sobbing face sit over her right shoulder. "There, there. It will be alright, Lily-han. I'm here. Everyone is here…" She says soothing words to her ears, hoping to calm her down.
Few minutes later, Yugiri's comforting words and hug managed to calm Lily down so she's not crying loudly. She's still sobbing with eyes full of tears but she's starting to feel her chest lighten. "Oi, shri- uh, Lily-chan," Saki caught the nickname in her throat because she doesn't want to look like an insensitive prick. "Feelin' better?"
"Mmhmm…" Lily nods while sniffling.
"Did Sakura made you cry?" Ai asked her in concern.
"S-She… She did…" Lily stutters her answer.
As everyone stares at the sobbing kid in pity, rapid footsteps are heard going towards the door, which it opens. Quickly turning to it lets them see Gyro about to leave. "Gyro? Hey Gyro! Where are you going?" Bucciarati asked, moving up close to him.
"Isn't it obvious?" Spin Cowboy raises his eyes at them in anger. "Going to reprimand Sakura for making Lily cry."
"…You know what? Count me in!" Narancia runs up to him. "Rejecting Saki and Junko's persuasion harshly is one thing, but making a kid cry? She's really close in crossing the line!"
Before anyone can stop them, Narancia and Gyro leave the room and march up straight to the attic with the intent of giving Sakura a piece of their mind. Whether she's suffering from depression or not, that doesn't justify her for rudely brushing off Saki, Junko and especially Lily's attempts to cheer her up.
Rising up the spiral stairs, the two made it to the attic as Gyro exclaims, "Hey Sakura! You got hell of an attitude to make a kid cry! Don't think you will get away from… your… action?" His angry voice trails off near the end into puzzlement when he sees an empty chair where Sakura is most likely sitting on all alone. Narancia also noticed she is gone when he came up last, mirroring Gyro's surprise as well.
"…Sakura?"
Unbeknownst to the two and everyone else, Sakura closes the entrance door before walking away from the mansion.
To be continued