This and the next chapter was supposed to be added as a single chapter, but the end result become too big. So I split it into two, short chapters that covers the first half of ZLS episode 7 well. Hope you enjoy!

"Look, look! There we are, Saki-chan! Saga Rock was so amazing! It's great that we participated in it!"

Sakura pointed at an article delightfully, her cheerful voice never failing to lift everyone's mood for the day. She, Franchouchou and Rianima are looking at an article in a Sagazine (a Saga-based magazine) Saki is holding detailing Franchouchou's concert in Saga Rock. The title of the article reads, "Angels Descend on Saga Rock!" and the featured picture shows Franchouchou in their idol outfits doing a group pose while their bodies glowed as a result of lightning hitting them.

While everyone is happy that they have been acknowledged enough to be featured in a main article, Junko sees the name of a journalist who wrote it, Arata Okoba,and brings attention to it. "Oh. This is the ｢same｣ reporter that did the story on the "haunting" at Ureshino Onsen."

"Over the last month, more videos and comments have been posted," remarked Ai, standing before the twelve holding a water bottle. Tae can be seen looking at the mirror while crouched as Ai continues, "I think we're about to start seeing some reactions. Both the good and the bad."

As everyone considered Ai's words and reread the article, Lily eagerly asked, "Hey, hey, Lily was the most dazzling member of our group, right?"

"What, are you in the pic? Oh there you are~!" Saki teases her. "You were so tiny I didn't see you~."

Lily pouted at her teasing before averting her closed eyes from her with a huff. "Hmph! I wasn't asking you, Saki-chan!" She retorted.

"I think you were dazzling." Sakura candidly told her to placate her, bringing her cute smile back.

"Really?"

"Yup!" Sakura nodded. "I love it when you smile! And your star is really cute!"

"Yay! Lily-chan is right! I am the most dazzling of our group!" She said cheerfully, thankful for Sakura proving Saki wrong. While she knows the blonde girl didn't mean that and was only teasing her as usual, she is bothered by it anyway. No matter what she says, she will continue to be the most dazzling among Franchouchou as many times as she wants.

"Hey girls! We're back! We brought some snacks!"

The zombie girls heard Gyro announce as the Italian and his groupmates entered and turned to their approaching bodyguards. He, Kakyoin and Bucciarati are carrying five plastic worth of snacks they bought from a convenience store. Earlier, while the girls were rehearsing the early steps for their next concert, they scouted the surrounding area around their home to see if there's traces of an enemy Stand. They ended up exceeding that by a kilometer, of which Kakyoin and Mamezuku suggested buying snacks for them and the girls. Good thing they borrowed money from Kotaro some time, when Bruno convinced him under the assumption they might want to buy refreshments.

So far, no signs of an enemy Stand were found, so they went home without worry.

The three who are carrying snacks approached the girls, as Sakura, Junko, and Lily greeted them. "Hey guys! You bought snacks for us?" Sakura inquired with a grin.

"Yeah. Thought you might need refreshments after all the hard work you girls did so far," replied Bucciarati, handing out sweet foods for Sakura, Junko, and Lily, onigiri or fried chicken for Saki, Ai and Yugiri, and dried squids for Tae. Lots of dried squids, readily provided by Kotaro when he saw them return home and noticed they bought snacks. "Again, great job back on your concert back in Saga Rock. I believe your popularity may have boosted after your unexpected stunt."

"We sure did! Ai said so!" Saki remarked, taking a bite of the chicken and savoring the taste. She picked up the magazine and showed it to the boys. "If you need proof, here! An article was written about us!"

"Ah, perfect timing. I was gonna ask you to give it to me so I can see what other articles written on it to keep my group up to date with the events not only in Saga, but outside it." He stated.

"Sure! Knock yourself out!"

As Bucciarati flips the pages and carefully reads the articles while Avdol and Narancia look over his shoulders, Yugiri notices Kakyoin spacing out, situated away from his groupmates and the girls. He must have something on his mind if he's staring at a wall with a frown, so she approaches him and asks, "Kakyoin-han, are you alright? You've been staring at a wall."

"Huh? Oh! Was I?" Kakyoin snapped out of his stupor, turning at Number Five. Feeling embarrassed, he rubs the back of his head before he replies, "Sorry if I was. It's just… I've been thinking about what I encountered after Saga Rock ended. About a cat and an owl… talking normally… and how they apparently knew my name… Did that really happen?"

Humming, Yugiri adopts a pensive look, saying, "All of us are wondering the same question. Though as much we want to deny it, we did witness those animals talk. Our ears were not being deceived, and the way they acted after outing themselves certainly isn't… animal-like at all."

"Hmm, it's definitely bizarre. I'm wondering if I made the right call not letting my group search and investigate them so we can get to the bottom of the mystery…" He admitted, recalling his companions informing Kotaro of their strange encounter with a cat and an owl and Rianima intending to search for them. That's when Kakyoin objected, telling and insisting them to let them be because, in his own opinion, they're harmless and not planning to do something bad to them judging by their last statement of how they "missed" Kakyoin.

He believed there must be a reason why they said that, as a weird feeling came over Kakyoin unlike the other zombies' apprehension and wariness. When asked why the animals mustn't be investigated however, he couldn't say. Not because he's reluctant, but he couldn't pinpoint a reason. He admitted his mind drew up a blank to support it. Seeing he may not budge from his decision, they reluctantly dropped it.

Yugiri opens her mouth to add more to their conversation, but then Number Five and Cherry Boy heard Bucciarati say in a curious tone, "Oh? What's this?"

"Bucciarati-san? What is it?" Kakyoin asked, setting that incident aside for now and shifting attention to his leader as he moved closer. Yugiri also joined along with her teammates crowding around his crouching form.

"Have you found something worthwhile to read in that book, Bucciarati-han?" Yugiri queried, looking at a page Zipper Man stopped at after doing a one-over with his fast reading skill. It seems he's reading almost at the end of the Sagazine and, aware everyone might need to read it, he kneeled down so some of the shorter members don't try to reach up uncomfortably. In fact, Bucciarati was noted to be the second tallest zombie barely surpassing Kotaro's height. He's just behind Avdol, making the Egyptian the tallest zombie and person overall.

"Yes. This article is what caught my attention…" He points to a blurred picture of a woman seemingly walking between pine trees taken in the dark, indicating it was night when the picture was taken. The woman wears white and red clothing that contrasts well with the darkness while two or three wisps-like fire, also blurred, are floating around her. Also, the other three photos show a different location like a street shrouded in darkness, an alleyway, and a blurry view of a building, and like the previous pictures, it shows the same woman in differing positions and lighting conditions. Four paragraphs detail what these pictures are about.

"What you're looking at is about an eerie sighting of a woman claimed to be seen roaming around Saga, mainly in the Niji no Matsubara Pine Grove. According to eyewitness accounts, this has been occurring for the past 132 years after her first sighting, where they say that this woman is believed to be a ｢ghost｣ due to her unnerving appearance and that they saw her ｢pass through｣ pine trees without stopping, and can walk faster than an average person's walking speed. As of recently, it's claimed she was sometimes accompanied by a girl or two, possibly her daughters who might be ghosts like her."

"A g-ghost…?" Junko stuttered. "Is… Is she really…?"

"Well, this article states it's only a speculation. An urban legend you might say, resembling a 'White Lady' legend commonly heard across the world."

"The 'White Lady'?" Johnny repeated skeptically. He looked at the photos again before saying, "This supposed ghost doesn't look all white though. There's a bit of red on her, and black. Probably her hair."

"Red? As in… blood…?" Lily squeaked in dread.

"It's… hard to tell, honestly," admitted Bruno, sounding unconvinced. "Well that being said, this woman was purported to not carry any malevolent intentions in spite of its looks because anyone who encountered her, whether from afar or up close, stated that she stared at them blankly before moving away. They also note her red eyes have white pupils instead of black, adding more to the air of eeriness she exudes. Though the few children who met her said that she simply escorted them back to their parents when they got lost and while they admit she and her 'daughters' are scary, that changed when she helped lead them to safety, holding their hands the whole time until they were safe."

"Huh? Wait, wait, wait," Gyro stops him from continuing so he can address something. "Didn't people say that she is a ｢ghost｣? How can children hold her hands if she is supposed to be ｢intangible｣?"

"Hmm, that's a good point…" Bucciarati conceded. "I'm not familiar with ghosts or spirits, but it is odd that she can interact with anyone as if she's alive."

"Maybe… is her being a ghost… ｢partially｣ accurate?" Kakyoin suggested. "What I may say sounds incredulous but… after thinking about it, I believe this woman might be… a ｢Stand User｣."

"Stand User?" Saki looked at him incredulously. "How can ya be sure of that, Kakyoin? How did ya arrive at that conclusion?"

"Hey, when you've been fending off enemy Stands that are not seen by ordinary people, it's simple logic for me to come up to that," he shrugged. "Anything strange at all can be a sign of Stand activity. If we can be revived as non-infectious undead, a possibility like that exists, even if it's just a theory for now."

"Well, whether this ghost woman is a Stand User or not, I think we must keep it in our minds," Ai stated to everyone. "Even if I would dismiss the notion that she is a Stand User, the supernatural phenomenon surrounding her is peculiar. I believe you want to discuss it with Kotaro, right Bucciarati-san?"

"Yes. If you will excuse me, I must meet with Tatsumi…"

Once the leader of Rianima leaves, the zombies resume their normal conversations revolving around Franchouchou's popularity. Any resemblance of a regular downtime between Franchouchou's practice is interrupted though, when Tae bites at Junko. Everyone tries pulling the zombie out of the poor girl, only to react by biting Narancia's arm next when he attempts to employ force in his pull. Shouts and strings of profanities followed as Li'l Bomber pushed hard against Number Zero with assistance from everyone.

Whether they admit it or not, moments like this serve to affirm that if it weren't for their zombie status and existence of Stands, their everyday lives would be anything but normal.

Meanwhile, in an office complex somewhere, the workers inside are starting their lunch break after finishing the remaining work for this morning. One worker with wild hair and two drooping bangs turns to his co-worker and asks, "Amamoto-san, what do you wanna do for lunch?"

"The Sicilian rice bowl." Amamoto answers, his eyes focused on the TV as he switches channels.

"That's, like, your fav!" He remarked, giving the impression that it's not the first time he heard what his lunch will be. A massive and muscular man with an intimidating face and a single scar lining his left eye stands up beside him, prompting him to ask him next. "What about you, Go-san?"

"I am fine," he simply answered. "I'm going out for lunch."

"All right…"

Once the muscular man leaves the office with faint tremors in his footsteps, the worker turns to his boss and asks, "Does Go-san always leave to eat?"

"The man hates TV." Amamoto tells him. The TV then shows a Drive-In Tori featuring Franchouchou and three of their bodyguards as (unwitting) guests.

"Oh yeah. You get a lot of people saying they don't watch TVs anymore." He replied, thinking Go is one of those people.

"That's not exactly why, but yeah." He implied at the end of his statement, making the man wonder.

Sitting on a bench in a park near the office, Takeo Go is eating his lunch he bought from the convenience store, which is stored in a plastic bag along with a small, opened carton of milk containing a straw. He is reading the latest Sagazine in his left hand, putting the whole food in his mouth and chewing it when he looks up and sees a little girl playing with a ball near a swing set. He appears to be in a trance as he continues looking at the girl, who then noticed his staring. She does not get a bad vibe from him and sees he must be so lonely, so trying to be nice, she smiles at him.

However, her mother comes along and brings her back home after noticing the massive man's stare at her daughter. Seeing them causes him to flinch, as if he was affected by their presence or the mother's action. He's not done yet watching someone's daughter around him as soon after they left, two girls step foot in the playground eagerly, both of them pulling their taller mother.

"Here! Let us play together in this small playground!" The green-eyed girl with blonde hair wearing an elaborately designed pink dress and mini cardigan insisted, pulling her mother with one hand because she's carrying a small doll in her other arm. The doll itself is also elaborately designed as it has a royal crown on its tiny, egg-shaped head. "Can we play here for a short time? Can we? Can we?"

In spite of her overbearing request, the hooded woman giggled at her youngest girl's pleading. The other girl, having a color theme between black, white and gold in her appearance and outfit, rolls her eyes though not without a smile. "Oh alright. You and Enjel can play here until you two are satisfied."

"Yaaay! You hear that Egliette? We're gonna play!" The shorter girl raises one arm up high with a victorious smile. Then she raises the ragdoll's arms up to mimic her owner's reaction.

"Will you play with us too, mom? It would be boring if me and Fleta were the only ones playing." The long-haired girl asked her mother hopefully. The hooded woman turns to Enjel before nodding once. This puts a smile on her face.

"I suppose I must."

As the two assumed daughters choose to swing on the swingset first with their mother assisting in maintaining the momentum, Takeo watches them having fun with a quivering expression. His heart is aching on watching a mother and her daughters having fun, so he diverts his attention off of them to the magazine. He flips the pages a few times until he comes across an article featuring Franchouchou. His eyes fixate on the photo of the idol group, especially Number Six. He has a look of recognition concerning the twin-tailed little girl, causing his body to shiver. It's as if he's trying not to let tears flow from his eyes as he continues staring at Number Six.

"U-Uhhh… Aaaahhhh…" He stuttered, the world around him fading away and getting lost in his memories.

Another day, another meeting between Franchouchou, Rianima and Kotaro begins. With all the crazy things they have seen from the still-mysterious producer like pitching a baseball, making an amateur French act complete with a beret and baguette, and doing a kabuki play acting like a magistrate, the zombies should pretty much expect anything Kotaro can do that will baffle even the quietest members.

Oh, and don't forget the shouting and verbal abuse he will throw at them. That is, if he is feeling brave, or stupid, if he wants to provoke the Stand Users.

ぶぅぅーぅぅぅぅ !

Kotaro blowing through a conch he must have likely kept in his possession adds to the list of bizarre deeds only he, and he alone, knows.

ぶぅぅーぅぅぅぅ !

He blows again, producing a sound that is actually his attempt to imitate the sound of a conch before the fourteen zombies. He next starts the meeting for real through a simple greeting as usual. "G'morning everyone!"

"Good morning!" Sakura returned with as much vigor as she could.

"Good morning." Junko does the same in a soft tone.

"…Good morning as well " Kakyoin decided to return his greeting, seeing no harm in it.

"Refreshed and awake as I'll always be!" Gyro said a different statement but carries the same intent.

"Well Franchouchou, good job getting that writeup and to Rianima as well for eliminating Weather Report out of Saga." Kotaro acknowledged their accomplishments during the Saga Rock festival, earning sounds of applause from some zombies.

With the conch hanging on his neck, he approaches Junko, having not forgotten their talk in the attic, asking, "How about it, Junko? Any thoughts looking back on Saga Rock?"

With a blush on her cheeks and nose, Junko states her honest response to Kotaro. "Well… I guess it…felt like a glimpse of some potential I have."

"Haha! It totally did, didn't it!? Didn't it!?" He nods enthusiastically, happy to hear Franchouchou is doing well enough that he is seeing them as real idols in his eyes. "You girls are riding a wave of interest right now."

"How about it, Sakura? Are you enjoying the ride?" He turns to Sakura, his usual zombie he likes to talk to aside from Kakyoin.

Not expecting to be picked by Kotaro again, Sakura tries answering him with a confused look. "Eh?! Uh… well… Aren't you gonna tell me not to get carried awa-"

"Get carried then, dumbass! You get in a magazine, you're allowed to get carried away! You get to stick that Pinocchio nose of yours high in the air, so it's the highest point on the big wave you have caught!"

After finishing his usual tirade to Sakura again, who has gotten used to his insults but still exasperated from his usual act of mocking her, everyone noticed that the tirade is different in terms of volume. More specifically, he did not shout Sakura's ears off. That being said, he never hesitated to press his elbow to her nose and make waving motions with his arm for emphasis as he spoke.

Quirking an eyebrow over this slight change, Kakyoin speaks up to him. "Huh… I expected you to raise your volume up when you mocked Sakura again. I would prefer it if you didn't but I can't help but notice it."

"Hehehe, well…" Kotaro lets out a nervous chuckle to Kakyoin, wearing a sheepish smile as he says, "I am already aware you do not want me to shout my lungs out to the point you are almost deafened by my voice. Not to mention, you and your buddies may retaliate against me if I did it once more. In fact, your Stand using buddies are glaring in my way."

Turning to his right, Kakyoin sees their glares directed at Kotaro in response to his mockery of Sakura. Even if he didn't shout, they felt his tirade was totally unneeded.

"…Well, at least you are showing restraint," Kakyoin shrugged. "If you continue being your obnoxious self, I would say enough is enough and personally restrain you until you know your place when we are here with you "

"Haaaaah? Me? Obnoxious?" Kotaro repeated the last word, cupping his ear as he appeared offended. "I have you know, I can be a respectable gentleman under the right circumstances!"

"Oh yeah? As if you carry that 'respectable gentleman' of yours to the girls and us!" Narancia insinuated with a glare.

Promptly ignoring him, Kotaro turns next to Lily and asks, "How about it, Lily? Are you enjoying the ride? Is that star of yours gonna start growing and glowing?"

"No!" Lily covered the star decoration with a frown.

"Huh~? Why not~? Huh~? Why for~?" Kotaro continues making fun of her, leaning his face close to her own. The kid has tears in her eyes as she averts her face from him. "It is not gonna get bigger~? How come~? It's going to be as big as the boulder in Kyoseki Park! Y'know~?"

"You're seriously freakin' her out, so give it a rest!" Saki exclaims to Kotaro, having not like him apparently insulting Lily for his own pleasure.

"The act of making a little girl uncomfortable should warrant a death penalty," Gyro darkly implied with a frown, hovering his hand over his holster. "You do not want me to do that to you so that I live up to the title you gave me, right Shades?"

…

…

…

"Teehee!"

Going back to the center of the basement, Kotaro has his hands on his hips as he begins announcing the topic of this meeting. "Listen up. Since you're zombies, you have to use anything you can to your advantage, including miracles. For you girls, the next step is to become a group that everyone in Saga, from elderly to little kids, knows about. That means community events, mini concerts, local TV… You're gonna be doing anything and everything."

"As for you boys, you will continue being the girls' bodyguards, accompanying them in every event I put them in. With Weather Report's passing, it appears the remaining enemy Stands will not be coming out to attack Franchouchou and Saga for now. My unknown friend sent me a letter earlier telling me what I said to you zombies. It's such a relief to hear it from him, I tell you that. We can all breathe easy that no enemy Stands will cause us trouble for at least a month."

"Of course, I haven't forgotten about the ghostly woman sighted in Niji no Matsubara Pine Grove located not very far from here Zipper Man talked to me about, as well as the mystery behind the talking cat and owl," he brings them up next. "The way I see this, she has not made a move against you fourteen so far, so I believe we must not bother with it until further notice. And if Kakyoin still insists, then we won't bother those animals for now."

"I still am." Kakyoin chimed in.

Everyone is pretty much happy and relieved to hear no enemy Stands will appear for a month. While they do have some reprieve between Stand fights, they are constantly worried and wondering when, not if, an enemy Stand appears to give them trouble. So to hear the remaining enemy Stands will not appear to attack them and Saga for maybe a month sounds like music to their ears. It is like someone's parents deciding to go easy on their children after seeing them being hardworking. While Franchouchou will work as hard as ever under Kotaro's orders and Rianima continue being the girls' bodyguards for every event they will tackle on, they should all relax for now after being in danger every time an enemy Stand appears.

"Okay, ladies and gentlemen!" Kotaro announced next. "It's time to go on the offensive!"

In the following days, Franchouchou joins in every event and concert Kotaro can get his hands on, capitalizing on the idol group's mounting popularity to make them household names in the entire prefecture. While mini concerts are pretty much standard for Franchouchou, Kotaro does not pass up any opportunities to have them appear in more events, such as Ureshino Onsen Summer festival where they use traditional Japanese instruments like shamisen and taiko drum to bring with them the spirit of tradition and their very style typical for such a bizarre idol group like them.

Their bizarreness will not leave them anytime soon when during one event, Franchouchou tries pulling Tae off the leg of someone wearing a kappa mascot suit. Kakyoin, Bucciarati and Narancia came in to assist them and succeeded, only for Tae to start biting Narancia's leg next. As the impending chaos continues, the rest of Rianima tries to assure the stunned audiences that it is just a quirk of Number Zero and they should not worry about her odd behavior. Thankfully, they don't seem to mind as it only added to Number Zero's reputation as a wild card.

Franchouchou and Rianima are so focused on placating the audiences and removing Tae off Narancia that they do not notice the massive man standing behind a pole, looking at Franchouchou with curious and hopeful eyes. Eyes that are directed at Number Six.

To be continued

Onomatopoeia:

ぶぅぅーぅぅぅぅ (Buuuuuuu!) - Sound of blowing a conch.