Here I am with a new chapter after almost two years. For the disclaimer, see Chapter 1.

Tae stood out on the deck, staring out toward Saga, trying to wrap her head around her current circumstances. She had... passed on and had been brought back to life some 30-odd years later. When was the point of death? Was it when she had hugged Magatsuhi? The only way to know for sure would've been to ask one of the others. But... where were they? If it had indeed been 30 years, they may have all moved on with their lives. Who knew if they were even in Saga anymore? Hell, for all she knew, they could have also...

Tae shook her head. She could not think of her friends as lost. Tae decided to turn her thoughts toward a different topic: Who were those girls, and why were they all brought back?

Well, she knew Konno-san, certainly. And Sachika's daughter, as well, though the little girl had obviously been born after Tae's passing. The rest were a mystery. Although now that Tae thought about it, the rude blonde and the brunette seemed familiar. Tae didn't know why, but it felt like she'd seen the two somewhere before. That left Sakura and... Ai? That was what Sakura called her, wasn't it?

As for why these girls were brought back, the one with the answer was probably that Kotaro character. Of course, the man seemed tight-lipped based on what Sakura said before. Maybe Tae will have to loosen those lips somehow.

Tae's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of barking. Turning toward the sound, Tae found a familiar face coming toward her. One that she was actually glad to see.

"Romero?!" Tae said, "Here, boy!"

Romero barked again and bounded toward his old friend, who seemed to be her old self again. He soon licked her face as Tae smiled. She was happy that Romero was still around, not that he could go anywhere, what with being a zombie dog.

"Oh! You know Romero, Tae-chan?!" said a voice.

Tae looked to see Sakura standing there.

"Yeah," Tae answered, "I knew him before. It was actually my dad that brought him back."

"Your dad?" Sakura asked.

"Well, my adoptive dad," Tae clarified, "My real parents died when I was 9."

"Oh no," Sakura said, "I'm so sorry."

Tae shrugged.

"I appreciate the sentiment," she said, "But they brought it on themselves. Messing with things they should not have."

"That's... kinda harsh, isn't it?" Sakura said eyebrows furrowed, "I mean if my parents died, I'd definitely be sad."

"I am sad that they died," Tae replied, "But they spent so much time with that... thing... it was like they'd forgotten that they already had a daughter."

"Umm...," Sakura uttered, "What thing?"

"A demon, to put it simply," Tae answered, "There's a long story behind that, and I don't like repeating myself. So, shall we?" she finished, gesturing inside.

Sakura was shocked by what Tae-chan had said. A demon? Those weren't real... right? But, then again, zombies weren't supposed to be real, yet here she was, undying with them every day. Though Sakura was sure that undying was not the right word. Regardless, she wanted to know more about this "demon", so she nodded, and she and Tae went back inside.

They found the others discussing the recent happenings. The conversation stopped, however, as the two zombies approached.

"Is all well, Sakura-han?" Yugiri asked after blowing out some smoke.

"Yeah," Sakura answered, "Tae-chan seems to be okay. Wait, you are okay, right?"

"Not really, but I'm focused on finding answers right now," Tae said, "Like who you all are."

"Ah! That's right! We still haven't introduced ourselves! Though you seem to know some of us already!" Sakura said.

Tae shook her head as she sat down, Sakura following suit.

"Only Konno-san, really," she said, "Though there are two of you who seem familiar, like I've seen you before but can't remember where."

"K-Konno-san?" Junko muttered.

"Which two?" Ai asked.

"The blonde and the brunette," Tae answered.

"Us?" Saki asked in shock, while Yugiri looked intrigued.

"Yes, you two," Tae replied, "Let's start with you. Now, I remember seeing a little blonde girl riding around Saga on her bicycle from time to time. Would that have been you?"

"That sure as hell sounds like me," Saki said.

Tae grit her teeth a bit. Had the girl been raised in a barn? No one needs to insert a swear word in almost every sentence.

Tae shook her head. She can deal with that later. On to the brunette.

"As for you," she said, turning to the brunette, "I know I've seen you somewhere. Maybe a photograph?"

Yugiri furrowed her brow and took her pipe out of her mouth to speak.

"There is only one photograph of myself, and I am acquainted with the man who has it," she said, "If you have seen the photograph, then you must have met him at some point in time, doubtlessly after my execution."

Tae put a fist into the palm of her other hand.

"That's it," she said, "That's where I know you from. You're Yugiri."

Yugiri raised her eyebrows.

"Have you indeed met Jofuku?" she asked.

"Jofuku?" Ai asked.

The other zombies were just as lost.

"Yes, he's my adoptive father," Tae answered.

"I see," Yugiri said before taking in some tobacco from her pipe.

After exhaling smoke, she asked, "I suppose he also enlisted you in maintaining Saga's welfare?"

Tae's expression turned serious.

"Yes, he did," she said.

Saki facepalmed.

Tae turned toward her.

"Is there a problem?" Tae asked.

"It's just that Shades keeps going on about 'Saga' this and 'Saga' that. It's fuckin' annoying!" Saki explained.

"It sounds more like he has the right attitude," Tae replied, "Saga's welfare should be our priority."

"Oh great," Saki groaned, "Another one. Look, I'm not against protecting my home turf, but you guys act like the world's gonna fuckin' end if Saga doesn't do well."

"It probably will end if nothing is done!" Tae yelled, "Saga's curse would see to that!"

"Eh? What now?" Saki said, blinking in confusion.

The other zombies followed suit.

All except Yugiri.

"Saga's curse is a malevolent force that has consistently brought about misfortune and even death over the centuries," Yugiri explained, "Some of us being cases in point."

"Misfortune?" Sakura breathed wide-eyed.

"Death?" Ai asked.

They both looked at each other.

"You don't think..." they both said.

"C-come to think of it," Junko stuttered, "the p-plane only started m-malfunctioning once it was o-over Saga."

"But that's just a coincidence!" Saki retorted, "It wasn't some curse that killed me! It was my own frickin' stupidity!"

"Saki-chan's right!" Lily added, "Lily's heart attack didn't come out of the blue! Pappy hadn't been taking good care of Lily for a while at that point, not to mention getting Lily's name wrong over and over again! Lily might have lived if she hadn't found that bit of stubble on her chin!"

Ai wasn't so sure.

"But the odds of being struck by lightning once are pretty slim, yet I've been struck twice," Ai pointed out, "And both times were in Saga, of course."

"And you all know by now how nothing went right for me," Sakura added, "Not to mention, I was hit by a truck not once but twice. Granted, I was careless both times, but you can't deny the possibility that something has it out for me."

"Well, what about Yugiri!?" Saki asked, "She was frickin' executed!"

"I do not deny that my death was by human hands," Yugiri responded, "And I never will. However, I also lived in an age that still believed in gods and other such entities. And, it may have escaped your notice, but both Tae-han and myself have met the same individual, despite our eras being at least a century apart. Such an occurrence could only have a supernatural explanation. What say you now, Saki-han?"

"Oh yeah! That's right!" Saki said, "Who is this bastard, anyway!?"

"Watch what you call my father, you little miscreant!" Tae yelled.

"The fuck you just call me!?" Saki yelled back, shaking her fist angrily, "You wanna die!?"

"I've stared down demons! Ones that you would have nightmares about! A delinquent like you doesn't scare me!" Tae responded, unfazed by Saki's threat.

Saki was sufficiently cowed by this response. She'd thought that Yugiri would be the only person she couldn't intimidate. Looks like she would be adding Tae to that list.

"Could one of you please explain who this 'Jofuku' guy is?" Ai asked, trying to bring the conversation back to topic.

Tae sighed.

"As I said before, Jofuku is my adoptive father," Tae began, "He took me in after my parents died. He is the owner of this mansion, or at least he was back when I was alive. He was also the leader of the Saga Sagako Busters, which was made up of me and some friends. I'll explain more about that later. Now, Jofuku is not an ordinary man, though you might have figured that out already."

Tae took a deep breath before continuing.

"It all started over a millennium ago in China. The emperor was so frightened of his own demise that he appointed his court sorcerer to seek out the elixir of life so that he may become immortal. His travels eventually took him to what is now Saga, where he did indeed find the elixir, though it had its consequences. The sorcerer was bound to Saga from then on, growing older and feebler when it suffered and growing younger and stronger when it prospered. His achieving immortality also brought on the curse that plagues Saga to this day. In his homeland, he was known as Fu Xu (Xu Fu in eastern order), but here in Japan, we know him as Jofuku," Tae finished.

No one said anything for a while.

"Okay. First the zombie thing, then this huge curse hovering over Saga, and now we've got a 1000-year-old dude running around? I don't know if I can take any more weird shit," Saki commented.

"Oh, there's more," Tae replied, "Because the story doesn't end there."

"Of course not," Saki groaned.

"We eventually come to more recent times, namely the 1980s. Then, Saga's curse decided to take a different approach, manifesting in the nightmarish demons I mentioned before. They terrorized various parts of the prefecture, causing mayhem. We called them 'Sagako'," Tae continued.

"Who's 'we'?" Ai asked.

"Some friends and I," Tae explained, "We called ourselves the 'Saga Sagako Busters'. And, before you ask, yes, we did take our name from that American movie."

"W-What movie?" Junko asked, shuttering at the thought of demons running around Saga.

"I think she's talking about Ghostbusters," Ai answered.

"Oh yeah," Sakura said, "I've heard of that one. Don't they go around New York City capturing ghosts?"

"That's the one," Tae confirmed, "That's basically what we did. Only, we sealed the Sagako in onions instead of mechanical traps."

"Onions?" Saki asked in disbelief, "You shitting us?"

"No," Tae said, "I am not 'kidding'. It was an attempt at purifying them."

"Really, though," Saki continued, "Onions?!"

"They weren't just any onions," Tae replied, "They were onions grown at the Hyodo family's farm."

"How did you get the Sagako into the onions?" Ai asked.

Tae took a deep breath before answering.

"That was where Yuko came in," she began, "She, and her twin brother Eikichi (though not to the same extent), had the power to seal the Sagako in the onions. It was rather effective, believe it or not."

"Yuko?" Junko asked, recognizing the name, "You mentioned her before, didn't you? You both mourned my... crash."

"Yes," Tae confirmed, "She was my best friend. Hanako and Anna were my friends, too, but Yuko was special."

"Hanako?" Sakura asked, the name sounding familiar.

"She was our Weapons Specialist," Tae explained, "She made all sorts of contraptions that aided us in our mission."

Sakura gasped. All the zombies turned to look at her.

"What's wrong, Sakura?" Ai asked.

"Tae-chan," Sakura began, "That wouldn't be Hanako Hakase, would it?"

Tae's eyes widened.

"Yes, it would be," she answered, "How do you know her?"

"I met her yesterday," Sakura explained, "At our Meet-and-Greet. She said she had been a fan of yours for a while, but I'd never seen her at any of our performances. Looks like she knew you when you were alive."

"Oh great," Saki groaned, "Another one to add to our fuckin' list."

"Wait a minute," Junko said, "That same woman went into my line, too. Is it possible she also recognized me?"

"If I recognized you, Konno-san," Tae answered, "She probably did, too."

"Oh dear," Junko said.

"If this keeps up," Ai said, "Our secret will be out before long."

"What secret?" Tae asked.

"The fact that we're real zombies and not just people in costume," Ai answered.

"Oh, yes," Tae said, "That makes sense. Well, I doubt you have anything to fear from Hanako. I trust her with my life. Well, I suppose it'd be my undeath in this case."

Tae then recalled what Saki and Ai had said earlier.

"Hanako's not the first individual to recognize us, is she?" she asked.

"No, that would be Lily's dad," Ai answered.

"This man's name wouldn't be Takeo Go, would it?" Tae asked.

"You knew Lily's Pappy, too?" Lily responded, gazing at Tae in anticipation.

"Only once and not for very long," Tae answered, "There had been reports of strange things going on at the high school your parents went to, and, well, we thought Takeo was the cause," she admitted, abashed.

"But he wasn't, right?!" Lily asked, "I know Pappy's big and scary-looking, but he's a nice man!"

"Oh, we found that out soon enough," Tae reassured, "The real culprit made itself known to us before long. It helped that Sachika saw Takeo for the gentle giant he really was."

"That sounds like Mama," Lily sighed, "Lily wishes she could've met her."

Tae looked at Lily sadly.

"When did she pass?" she asked.

"Not long after Lily was born," Lily answered, "Lily wonders if she would've loved Lily."

Ai gave a reassuring smile.

"Tae said that your mom accepted your father," she said, "Why wouldn't she have accepted you?"

Tae furrowed her eyebrows at the way Ai said that.

"Why would Lily not be accepted?" she asked, "Is there something I should know about?"

"Ah, well..." Ai replied, "It's not something we talk about all that much, if at all. It might explain why Lily reacts a certain way in certain situations, but that's about it."

Tae raised an eyebrow.

"Well, what is it?" she asked.

Ai sighed.

"Lily's transgender," she said.

"Transgender?" Tae asked, "Does that mean that Lily's actually a boy who cross-dresses for fun?"

"No!" Lily yelled, "Lily is Lily!"

"What did I say?" Tae asked, taken aback by Lily's outburst.

"Lily-chan may be biologically male," Junko explained, "But she's a girl in her mind. I still barely understand it myself. Just think of Lily-chan as a girl and nothing else."

"So, the same thing I've been doing since before this conversation started," Tae clarified.

"Basically, yeah," Ai said, "Lily's still a girl in the end, so it doesn't really matter."

"No, I suppose it doesn't," Tae replied, "Going back to Sachika, it wouldn't matter if Lily had one eye and three arms. Sachika would love her all the same."

Lily smiled at that.

"Before we move on, however," Tae said, "I have one last question. And, I mean no offense when I ask this, but what's your real name?"

"Lily Hoshikawa," Lily answered automatically.

"Masao Go," Sakura clarified, knowing what Tae had meant by "real name".

Lily glared at Sakura.

"She doesn't use it, and neither do the rest of us," Sakura continued.

"Thank you, Sakura," Tae said.

Tae took a deep breath.

"Right," she said, "I think you've all learned enough about me. It's my turn to ask questions."