"HEEEEEY! GOOD MORNING, LADIES AND GENTLEMEEEEEEEEN!"

Like the other day, all fourteen zombies are gathered in the basement of the mansion where Kotaro Tatsumi didn't hesitate to greet them all in a loud, boisterous tone. His greeting is so loud it can be heard outside the confines of the mansion.

It appears yelling good morning out loud isn't enough for Kotaro as he walks to Lily and repeats the greeting to her face, much to her discomfort. "G'morning! G'morning! G'morning!"

"Nnngh..." Lily whimpered out of discomfort.

"Hey, knock that off! You're freakin' her out!" Saki chided.

Though he stops pestering Lily, he pesters Gyro next, and like what he did to Lily, repeats the greeting close to his face. "G'morning! G'morning! G'morning!"

"Grrrr..." He seems eager to shove a steel ball to his face to force him away.

"Stop it! Can't you see he's getting annoyed?" Johnny berated.

Seemingly satisfied, Kotaro returns to the center as he states, "In case you may have forgotten, we jumped into the event at Saga Castle yesterday. And I'm gonna be blunt with you..." He slams the chalkboard with his back turned, appearing dismayed over the girls' second performance and the mischief they have caused. "What I am about to say is... You did a ｢great｣ job!" He changes tune to a jolly one when he turns around with an open smile.

"Huh?" Everyone is surprised over his sudden change of attitude as they did not expect to see it coming from him. "I'm amazed you were able to keep the lid on the whole zombie thing in spite of playing hot potato with a head. The kindness you used to help each other..." Clenching his fist first, Kotaro spreads his arms wide with a big smile, exclaiming, "ONE for zombies! ALL for zombies!"

He goes to clap his hands for every girl on their seats as he says, "So this applause goes out to you girls! That was some ｢nice zombie-ing｣! Now, applaud each other! Go on! That was some ｢nice zombie-ing｣! ｢Very nice zombie-ing｣! And as for you, Sakura!"

"Y-Yes!?" The redhead exclaims in response.

"Your raps? Yeah. Good vibes. Uh-huh. Good rhymes. Yeah." He gives a thumbs up with a smile.

Emitting a laugh in response to his compliment, Sakura gives a thumbs up as she says, "Well..."

"DON'T GO GETTING FULL OF YOURSELF, DUMBASS!"

Kotaro suddenly shouted to her face. Sakura can feel her left eye twitching out of surprise and irritation as the producer proceeds to rant to the stunned zombies. "YOU THINK THIS IS THE TIME FOR FUN TIME HAPPY GRINS NOW THAT THE EVENT'S OVER!? SEEMS TO ME LIKE YOU'VE LOST SIGHT OF THE REAL OBJECTIVE HERE! YOU'RE THE LITTLE LOST IDOOOOOOOLS!"

Grabbing a piece of chalk, Kotaro is about to write something on the chalkboard when Kakyoin speaks up. "Tatsumi-san, may I have a word with you?"

He turns around only to be startled by the ｢menacing｣ glare Kakyoin has towards him.

ゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴ

His darkened eyes didn't hide his enmity directed to Kotaro and the others noticed it as well, with Junko and Lily reeling nervously, Avdol and Bucciarati planning to keep him in line if a quarrel erupts and the rest keeping themselves out of any potential skirmish. As for Sakura, she expected Kakyoin wouldn't take Kotaro's sudden outburst kindly directed to her face.

"...Can you say something important by not shouting out of the blue? I swear I was gonna go deaf when you yelled close to me," Kakyoin informs with a scowl. "And I do hope you remember Sakura has a lot of her plate. Your outbursts could make your message be sent and muddled the wrong way."

"There's a possibility some of you may not hear what I have to say. Besides," Leaning forward, Kotaro says, "I won't hesitate to shout to your face, Kakyoin-kun!"

"I won't hesitate to elbow your face if you dare do it, Tatsumi-san..."

"..." Kotaro goes silent after hearing his threat, his passive look cracking a little from the thought of an elbow planted to his face with that ｢menacing｣ glare of his. "...Ahem! Let us...continue, shall we?"

Having reprimanded Kotaro, Kakyoin lets out a sigh, satisfied in chewing out the producer. He's not the only one, as Saki, Johnny and Narancia liked how he put the producer in his place, if only for a moment.

With a piece of chalk waiting to be used on the chalkboard, Kotaro announces, "As it stands, you zombie girls could keep at it for three billion years and still not become idols! And the task you pitiful idols should be focusing on next... is this."

Kotaro writes the letters G and E as he thinks up of an English word for the girls to read. Only problem? He doesn't know how to spell it.

Catching on what Kotaro is doing, Johnny, being the only American here and knows English better than him, says, "Are you trying to spell an English word? If so, how about I help you spe-"

In an instant, Kotaro crosses out the letters before writing the word in Japanese, specifically katakana that roughly spells out, ｢Gerira Raibu｣!, or more accurately, ｢Guerrilla Performance｣!

Blinking when he sees he's like "screw it" and write it his native language, Johnny shrugs, saying, "Oh. Never mind."

"A guerrilla performance?" Sakura reads the writing.

"He couldn't spell it out." Saki snickered.

"Sakura-han," Yugiri speaks up to learn what the new word means to her. "What exactly is a guerrilla performance?" She asked.

"Well... It's a kind of performance where you start singing and dancing in public without telling anyone." Sakura answers.

"Oh, so it's like testing a sword on someone who's passing by." Yugiri compared, taking Sakura's answer in her own perspective. Sakura sighs over her coming to a wrong conclusion.

"Huh... Wait, we are talking in the context of entertaining people, right?" Narancia chimes in, trying to make sure he's not interpreting it incorrectly. "It's not about guerilla warfare, is it?"

"No. This is all about idols, not an irregular armed conflict. Keep that in your head Narancia." Kotaro sharply told him.

"Alright, alright. No need to get worked up." Narancia seems offended by his rude response. "If you know so much about me, you should know I didn't bother finishing my education and isn't smart."

Everyone except Bucciarati, Tae and Kotaro looked at him curiously when he mentioned that. A select few saw him as someone who isn't bright based on their first impressions of him so to hear him mention he dropped out of school is new info for them.

"You didn't finish your education? Why?" Mamezuku questions, feeling a bit curious enough for him to ask.

The boy flinched from hearing his question. Not wanting to remind himself of his awful past, he tries getting everyone back on Kotaro's topic for the morning. "Uhhhhh... W-Well, it's...nothing to… worry about. Really! I swear! Hahaha..." He tries laughing it off with a nervous smile, but he looks down as if he doesn't want to tell the reason why.

Kakyoin sees him feeling down and believes it's a painful memory to remember. "Do you...not want to tell us Narancia?"

"Yes! I insist!" He shouted, standing up abruptly with pleading eyes directed at all of them. Seeing he lost his cool, he quickly apologizes for his small outburst. "Uh, sorry if I was too harsh. It's just... It's...a terrible memory. If anything, joining Bucciarati and his line of work is better than what I used to suffer back then..."

"Narancia..." Sakura muttered his name, feeling a bit of sympathy for whatever memory that landed him to work in a mafia at such a young age. Her eyes instinctively fell on Bucciarati along with the others, who come up with a reply so that they do not bother him anymore.

"Like he said, he's not gonna tell you all soon, so please drop the subject for his sake." Whether it's his commanding eyes or seeing a usually cheerful Narancia feeling gloomy suddenly, they abide by his words. They may not know yet, but they believe that what he may have gone through is anything but pretty.

Returning to the topic of guerilla performance, Sakura expresses her concern to the producer, saying, "Kotaro-san, if we do that, won't the police come after us again?"

"Don't worry!" Kotaro exclaims. "As long as you have makeup on, no one will guess what's up. You'll get a slap on the wrist at most."

"Quit wussing out, Sakura! How are we gonna run a rally if we let the pigs scare us?" Saki chided playfully.

"You won't be able to freestyle your way out of this one, either." He turns around with an arm raised and fist clenched as he declares, "This time, you're going to act like a real idol group and pull off this guerrilla show!"

"Um, excuse me..." A certain white-haired girl speaks up meekly.

"What's up Junko?" He asks in response.

"I've performed solo before, but never as part of a group."

"Well you're a loner!"

"L-Loner?" Junko parroted.

"That's right! Loner!" Kotaro repeated. Seemingly ignoring her concern, he reveals, "The guerrilla show is ｢tomorrow｣ morning, in the plaza over the Karatsu Station!"

"Tomorrow!?" Sakura shouted in surprise.

"We're not going to get a song and dance number down with only ｢one｣ day of practice." Ai folds her arms as she states this fact sternly.

"Then you're not getting any sleep then." Kotaro said. "Though considering you're zombies, you don't really need sleep, I guess." Even with this tidbit, Ai isn't convinced that a whole day of practicing is enough to pull off a guerrilla performance. Sakura thinks the same thing too, wondering if seven girls working together is enough to pull it off.

"Now then!" He suddenly exclaims. "Before I end this meeting, I would like to tell our rancid Stand Users something important. Something that needs to be addressed before I forget it."

"And what would that be, Tatsumi-san?" Kakyoin asks, him and the others being curious of what he wants to tell them.

Walking over them, Kotaro reveals what he forgot to say yesterday. "Your ｢nicknames｣."

"Nicknames?" The guys repeated in confusion.

"Just like how the girls are called Numbers Zero to Six to conceal their identity, I came up with nicknames based on your appearances, former occupation, and even your Stand's abilities as a way to conceal your identities. All of you are not idols so it's not like I'm gonna call you all Numbers Seven to Thirteen."

"I see. That's a clever way to keep our identity secret." Bucciarati nods in agreement. "What are our nicknames then, Kotaro?"

"Starting from Kakyoin, I already gave him his nickname when he and Sakura woke up couple of days ago. You all didn't get a chance to learn his nickname because you're all busy shambling around as mindless zombies," Kotaro remarked, reminding Kakyoin and Sakura of the codename and nickname he gave them. While Sakura is okay with being called Number One, Kakyoin remembers what he is called and, after thinking about it, isn't amused by the unflattering nickname he got.

But he didn't get to complain when Kotaro revealed his nickname to be ｢Cherry Boy｣.

Upon hearing his nickname, Saki and Gyro chuckled from the silly name, Narancia is unable to contain his laughter as he struggles to keep himself steady, Ai, Junko, Yugiri, Lily, Johnny and Mamezuku are either confused or amused, and even a small grin is briefly seen on Bucciarati's face. The only ones who didn't chuckle at Kakyoin's expense are Sakura, Tae and Avdol.

"Hahahahahahaha! Cherry Boy!? Really? That's your nickname?!" Narancia exclaims before he continues laughing.

"Hey, come on now. Stop laughing Narancia," Sakura tells him with a pleading look, not wanting to see Kakyoin get embarrassed more. "I agree it's a childish name, but you don't have to laugh at his expense."

"Okay... Okay... I'll stop..." Taking a breather, Narancia turns to Kakyoin and states, "Sorry for laughing at your expense. I didn't mean to embarrass you, as I find your nickname funny.

"It's alright Narancia. I don't take it against you." It's his reply to the kid.

"I don't get it... Why is Kakyoin-san called Cherry Boy? I don't see anything that relates to cherries." Lily pointed out, wanting to know why.

"Notice his earrings?" Kotaro pointed to the cherry-shaped earrings Kakyoin has. "They're shaped like cherries so that's one of the reasons why he's called that."

"And the other reason?" Saki questioned with a mischievous smile.

"He ｢likes｣ cherry so much..."

"...What?" Everyone questioningly looks at Kakyoin, who tries his best not to look embarrassed whilst glaring Kotaro for his choice of words for his nickname.

"It's what Kotaro-san says," Avdol speaks up, agreeing with Kakyoin liking cherry as he remembers the boy's...interesting way of licking a cherry in his mouth at one point. "Kakyoin likes cherry because of a certain time when me and Kakyoin are in a train with our friends. That's all I have to say so please don't think too hard about it." He quickly ends the statement to spare him from further humiliation.

"Uh... Okay...?" Johnny said, unsure of what to make of Avdol's statement.

"Can we move on? We would be sitting here all morning if we keep this for long." Kakyoin pleaded, who really want his humiliation to be over.

"What Kakyoin said! Let's move on to Avdol's nickname!" Kotaro thankfully agrees, his eyes going over Avdol as he's next to have his nickname revealed. The fortune teller hopes he has a less than flattering nickname compared to Kakyoin. He would not like to feel embarrassed as it goes against the proud image he likes to see himself as.

"As for your nickname Muhammad Avdol, I decide to call you ｢Fire Lord｣!"

Everyone took an instant liking to Avdol's nickname as it not only sounds badass per Saki's words, but it also fits with his Stand's power. Naturally, Avdol nods in approval, stating, "Fire Lord sounds fitting for me, especially to Magician's Red. Good thing it isn't anything embarrassing."

"Glad you like it. Hope you're not planning to destroy an avatar with a name like that." He chuckled, earning confusion from Avdol.

Bucciarati is next and Kotaro didn't wait to tell him his nickname: ｢Zipper Man｣.

"…Zipper Man?" Bucciarati repeats incredulously, finding the nickname too…on-the-nose and somewhat ridiculous.

"That's right. Zipper Man!" Kotaro restated. "Your Stand can produce zippers and there are zippers on your outfit. Therefore, it's an appropriate nickname for a man with a zipper motif like you, Bucciarati!"

"I see. While I understand why you came up with that nickname, it feels...inelegant in my humble opinion."

"Well, it's better than calling your Stand Zipper Man, right?" The producer added.

"What? No! Goodness no! My nickname should not be used for my Stand!" The former capo replied, offended at the thought of calling his Stand with his nickname "I suppose I...don't mind the nickname at all. Don't mistake my reservations as a form of any dislike against it."

Coming after Bucciarati is Narancia, AKA, ｢Li'l Bomber｣ as per Kotaro's words.

"Hold on. Li'l Bomber? LI'L BOMBER?!" Unlike Bucciarati, Narancia dislikes his nickname from the start as he takes issue with a certain word, to the point of standing up to protest.

"Yes. You're Li'l Bomber. Take it or leave it." Kotaro repeated, not paying heed to his reaction.

"Hell no! There's no way I'll have a nickname with the word "li'l" or "little" in it! It's not fitting to me!"

"Huh? You're against the nickname because it has little in it?" Ai asks, bewildered he takes a dislike against that specific word.

"Duh! I'm 17, and as such, I'm no longer little, or even a kid!" Narancia discloses. With one finger pointed towards Kotaro, he exclaims, "And you! Why the heck did you think calling me that is a good idea? You're terrible in naming things or what?"

"You're clearly the youngest among your group, alongside Kakyoin who is also 17." Kotaro states.

"Are you blind?! Lily's clearly the youngest here!"

"I said among your group! I didn't say that you're the youngest overall!"

"Still! Change it! Change my nickname that doesn't have kid in it!"

"I would like to see mine changed as well." Kakyoin concurs. "Calling me Cherry Boy is too unflattering for my taste.

"Sorry, but I can't change your nicknames. It's already etched in my head and I have no intention of doing it." A switchblade is pointed to him and Hierophant Green appears to initiate an Emerald Splash. "Pointing your knife and summoning your Stand will not deter me from changing my mind!" He insisted.

Seeing he's not changing his stance, the two gave up, with Narancia whining over his nickname having kid in it.

Phew. That could have gone worse… Sakura thought. While he agrees with Kakyoin wanting to change his nickname, she doesn't want any bloodshed to occur over the issue of not changing their nicknames.

Johnny is next and Kotaro seems eager to tell him his nickname, which is ｢Nail Jockey｣.

"Hmm... It sounds...okay, I guess?" Johnny is accepting of his nickname, seeing it fits him like Fire Lord and Zipper Man.

"Great! Glad to hear it from you." Kotaro nods with a smile.

"Nail Jockey? What does nails have to do with Johnny-han's nickname?"

That was Yugiri, who alongside the others except Gyro are wondering why nails are in his nickname and what does that have to do with Johnny. The jockey himself stated, "If you want to know, it's because my Stand, ｢Tusk｣, allows me to shoot nails as bullets."

"Oh? Your Stand, you say?" Yugiri seems interested in his abilities, along with Avdol, Bucciarati and Saki.

"Yeah," Johnny nodded. "There's more to my Stand's ability because Gyro taught me about the Golden Spin, which is tied to Tusk ｢evolving｣ to its three forms but for now, I'll stop there..." Some curious members, like Sakura, Saki, Yugiri, Kakyoin, Avdol, Narancia and even Mamezuku, seem disappointed when he chose not to tell them more but decide to respect his privacy lest they want to catch a glimpse of his glaring eyes. Johnny appears to be slightly cordial, if a little distant to anyone not named Gyro, but there is something in that attitude and appearance of his that masks a hidden side that likely appears if certain conditions are met. Whatever it is, they decide to overlook it for now.

"...In any case," Johnny continued. "I have no further opinions of the chosen nickname, so I'm done running my mouth."

"That was quick. But acceptable nonetheless, Johnny." Kotaro seems disappointed he has no more comments regarding his nickname, but he lets it slide.

Gyro is anticipating hearing his nickname next and when he gets to hear Kotaro's nickname to him, he nods in approval.

"｢Spin Cowboy｣ huh? I like it. I got the meaning when you first said it. Nyoho!" Gyro grins with his mouth open, revealing golden teeth and letters written on it that says, ｢GO! GO! ZEPPELI｣. Predictably, everyone has their eyes on him who are questioning over his dental fashion.

"Why do you have gold teeth and words inscribed on it?" Lily asks incredulously.

"So everyone knows who I am when I open my mouth with a smile!" Gyro replies, still showing his teeth.

"Still, to make it golden and your name etched on it? It looks gaudy." She says with an unimpressed look.

"Eh, differing opinions. Can you believe her Johnny? She doesn't find my gold teeth appealing. It certainly looks good on me, right?" He pointed to his still open mouth. His teeth seemingly gleam to Johnny's unimpressed face.

"...Yeah, sure. It certainly looks impressive. I really want it on my teeth as well." Johnny's sarcasm didn't fail to come out in response, like usual.

"Hah! See? He agrees with me!" Gyro exclaims, completely blind to his sarcasm.

"He was being sarcastic..." Saki tries to tell him but it falls on deaf ears as Gyro agrees with the nickname Kotaro gave him. "He's not listening..."

"And last but not least! Mamezuku-san! Your nickname will beeeeeee… ｢Peel Planter｣!" He reveals the last nickname with his usual volume. He then waits for Mamezuku to comment on his nickname.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…Are you done?"

"Huh?"

"You're done, right?" Mamezuku said, waiting for Kotaro to move away. "You told me my own nickname, so that means you're finished."

"...Well, before I do that, what do you think of your nickname first?" He asked, believing he must be thinking about what to make of his nickname.

"It's fine."

"…"

"…That's it?"

"Yes. That's what I think of my nickname. Satisfied?"

"Uhhhhhhh… Sure…"

Awkwardly walking back, everyone agrees that Mamezuku's reaction is anti-climactic. It's as if he doesn't like to engage himself in a social situation and prefers to be by his lonesome, only speaking if it's relevant to the situation at hand. Not to mention, they hoped to learn why he's called Peel Planter. While planter is self-explanatory, having the word "peel" in his nickname raises questions. It could refer to peeling fruits but that's only a guess.

"And with that, our zombie bodyguards are officially nicknamed!" Kotaro announces eagerly with his hands on his hips. "Cherry Boy, Fire Lord, Zipper Man, Li'l Bomber, Nail Jockey, Spin Cowboy and Peel Planter. All of you better memorize them all, girls! It is crucial in protecting the identities of your bizarre bodyguards! And with that, this morning meeting is adjourned!"

Leaving the basement, it is time for the girls to practice their guerilla performance in just ｢one｣ day. Sakura wonders if they can really do it, especially when they don't really need any sleep due to being zombies and only doing it out of habit. As Kotaro stated, they're gonna have to act like idols from now on if Saga needs to be recognized by a local idol group.

If they do that, she may hopefully recover some of her lost memories.

"So, Cherry Boy," Saki addresses Kakyoin with a mischievous grin, much to his chagrin. "Can you elaborate to Fire Lord's statement on why you like cherries so much?"

"Can that wait? You still need to practice for your guerrilla performance." Kakyoin reminds her, hoping she drops the subject and spares him from more humiliation.

"Nuh-uh! I'm not practicing until you tell us!"

"I concur. Your nickname is peculiar enough to warrant my curiosity." Yugiri said.

"Lily agrees!"

"Do you know how to plant a cherry seed then? If not, I can teach you how to do it if you want cherries." Mamezuku offered.

"Bet I can learn a thing or two from you, Cherry Boy!" Narancia snickered.

"Uhhhh... Sakura? Avdol? A little help here?"

As she and Avdol go to stop the five from pestering Kakyoin, Sakura hopes this day will go well.

"Is this for real? Man, you have to remember a buncha crap when you're an idol."

"It's nothing but learning new things, Saki-chan."

"Hey, me, me, me!"

"What's all the noise about, shrimpy?"

"My name's not shrimpy! I'm the shining star of the stage, Lily Hoshikawa!"

"…You wanna die?"

As per Kotaro's words, the seven zombie girls are currently in the shed outside the mansion to practice for tomorrow's guerilla performance. They're not the only ones because Kakyoin and the boys are in the shed too. Though it is suggested three would go outside to guard the shed, it was dropped because they're in the safe zone so it doesn't seem like a Stand attack would happen within the confines of the mansion. Still, as much as being in the mansion means they are safe, you'll never know when and where a Stand attack will happen.

After Lily did a little pirouette and ending with a cute pose, Sakura asks, "What is it, Lily-chan?"

"Before we start practicing, shouldn't we pick a leader?" Lily suggested.

"Leader?" The redhead repeated.

"Yeah! Every idol group needs one, right? That way, they can make decisions and keep things moving!" She elaborated.

"In that case..." Sakura turns to Ai, considering she's a former member and leader of Iron Frill. She may have the skills required to lead an idol group. "We should let Ai-chan take the lead-"

"That is not happening." Ai curtly refused.

"...Oh." Sakura is disheartened to hear it, seeing she's still not onboard of continuing being an idol.

Just then, Saki stands next to the mirror. With everyone's eyes on her quizzically, they wonder what she is doing standing beside the mirror.

"Um..." Clearing her throat and taking a deep breath, Saki proceeds to shout her former occupation in a rambunctious way. "I'M THE FIRST CAPTAIN OF ｢DORAMI｣, A LADIES' BIKER GANG FROM SAGA! ｢SAKI NIKAIDOOOOOOO｣! GOOD TO MEET YAAAAAA!"

Everyone is startled by Saki's yell, with Lily, Kakyoin and Mamezuku covering their ears due to how loud she is.

"I THINK THAT THE FIRST CAPTAIN OF THIS TEAM IS OUGHTA BE ME! SAKI NIKAIDOOOOOO! GOOD TO HAVE YA ABOOOOOOOOOARD!"

"Geez, we heard you..." Lily winced.

"And here I thought Kotaro is too loud for my own good..." Kakyoin sighed, hoping his eardrums are still okay, regardless if they are not gonna be damaged as an undead.

"Anyone else wanna step up?" Saki questioned, wanting to see who wants to take the leadership role. When no one else did as confirmed by Sakura, she continues with a smile and thumbs up. "Then I've got this captain thing down! So what, are we gonna take over Kyushu first?"

"I can see you being a captain or leader of a group, signora Saki." Bucciarati looks interested in the biker gang leader, seeing she has some skills required to be a leader of a dance group despite coming from a gang.

With Saki taking the role of being a leader, Lily suggested next, "Next, I think we should settle on a name for the group!"

"A name for the group?" Saki repeated.

"Stuff like ｢Death Musume｣ and ｢Green Face｣..." The kid reminded everyone of Kotaro's atrocious names for the idol group. "None of Tatsumi ideas are idol-ish at all!"

"That's true..." Sakura concurred.

"Then how about this?"

With their imagination kicking into overdrive, Lily does a flashy transformation dance similar to how girls in a magical girl anime transform into their magical forms. "｢Lily With Cutie Lily Magic｣!" She declares, ending with six other Lilies posing like a magical girl.

"Where's the rest of us?" Sakura asked.

"Damn it, shrimpy. Even your ideas are kiddy as hell." Saki shakes her head in disapproval. "A team's gotta have a name like this!" Holding a whiteboard marker, she writes her suggested name in kanji for the group, which reads ｢Wicked Rage Void Slackers｣.

"How do you pronounce that?" Johnny asked, sitting on a chair while leaning on the backrest.

"Jeanne d'Arc!" Saki proclaimed with a smile.

Unimpressed, Lily says, "Lame."

"It sounds fitting for any kind of group...except cute idols." Kakyoin pointed out.

"I think it has an impressive ring to it." Yugiri seemingly likes Saki's name suggestion, surprising Sakura, Lily and Kakyoin. The blonde in question feels proud when she heard her opinion, stating, "You got an impressive eye, Sis!"

"Why not something along these lines, then?"

Yugiri writes the third proposed name for the group, which is...

"｢The Mibu Wolves｣?" Saki read. "Hey, that might work!" She approved with a smile.

"No it won't." Lily disagreed.

Imagination kicks into their minds again as Yugiri, holding an umbrella with a moonlit sky as the backdrop, reveals some of her past to the group. "When I was alive, they'd visit me all the time when I was in Shimabara..."

"If I may," Everyone turns to Kakyoin, who has his hand on his chin as he thought up a name for the idol group. He may not be well-versed with the idol business yet but that doesn't mean he's gonna sit here and not help them. "I may have come up with a name for your group, Saki-chan. Would you like to see it?"

"Sure! Any contribution helps!"

With Saki's approval, Kakyoin writes the fourth proposed name, which is...

"｢Stardust｣?" Sakura reads out loud.

"Since you girls are needed to be famous in order to bring recognition to Saga, I think Stardust fit you seven, as you will be the ｢stars｣ of Saga whose fame will spread beyond the prefecture like ｢dust｣."

Sakura sees where Kakyoin is getting at, stating, "I think that sounds nice."

"Eh... I don't know. It sounds like something shrimpy might come up with." Saki, on the other hand, seems unimpressed.

"Hey!" The offended kid exclaimed.

Narancia stands up, wishing to suggest a name. He's been thinking about this name for a while and now, it's a perfect time to write it down. "Well, if you don't like that name, how about this? I came up with it and I believe you will all like it!"

The fifth name of the day is revealed to be ｢Intrattenitrice｣.

Since everyone except Bucciarati and Narancia knows Italian, they're wondering what the word means. "Um... What does that word mean, Narancia-han?" Yugiri asks.

"It means ｢entertainer｣ in Italian!" He answered. With his hands on his hips, he then asks, "Well? What do you think of the name? Sounds cool, right?"

"No, it isn't." Lily deadpanned.

"What...?" Narancia is taken aback over her answer.

"That doesn't sound cutesy at all! Besides...!" She stated. Wanting something different, she hops in place like she's throwing a tantrum as she shouts, "Lily wants something cuter, so come on, let me have my turn again!"

"Well, we are an idol group, after all, so we need a proper fitting for the kind of entertainment we are working in..." Sakura said, standing next to Saki who's holding the marker with her upper lip. Suddenly, Tae snatches the marker from her, surprising her and Sakura. "Oi, what are you doin'!?"

As Tae tries to imitate what Saki is doing to the marker, Sakura tells the mindless zombie they need the marker to write proposed names for their idol group. The zombie didn't listen, who then stared at the tip of the marker next after failing to hold it with her upper lip twice. Everyone looks at her confusingly, wondering why she is staring at it. Is she curious?

A few seconds pass and before everyone knows it, Tae bites the tip and sucks on it.

Predictably, everyone is surprised, and disgusted, by Tae's action. Sakura reacted quickly, running to her as she shouted, "You can't suck on that! It's really bad for you!"

"Tae-san, please exercise caution!" Avdol follows.

We're already zombies, though. Some of them thought, seeing Tae wouldn't have any problem getting sick if she sucks an unpleasant substance like a marker. Speaking of the marker, amid the struggle, it flew in the air and landed on Junko's hands. When Tae saw her holding it, she didn't hesitate to chase after it, and in turn, Junko. The poor girl could only scream in panic as she attempted to get away from the feral zombie.

Sighing, Kakyoin has Hierophant Green wrap its tentacles around Tae's ankles, causing her to trip...

...and her head got detached when she hit the floor hard.

"Whoops! Didn't mean that to happen!" Kakyoin exclaims in surprise.

Tae yells in the air before her head lands on Mamezuku's hand, who looks up to him with a passive look. "Ungh?" She lets out.

Observing her expression closely, Mamezuku mumbled, "I see. Being a head doesn't do much to faze her, huh? It is like what happened yesterday. And her body..." Looking up, he sees Tae's headless body saunter around, seemingly not paying heed that it's lacking a head. "...It's still moving and acting without her head, like yesterday."

"If you're done talking to yourself, can you put her head back?" Kakyoin, weirded out by his odd way of pointing out what he observed, pulls Tae's body to Mamezuku so he attaches her head back.

"I-Is she going to chase me again…?" Junko meekly asks.

"I'll make sure she won't. Besides, you should drop the marker as it's the reason why she chased after you in the first place." Kakyoin pointed out. The white-haired zombie promptly drops it so she can't be chased by Tae again.

As all of this happens, Sakura, Saki, Yugiri and Lily try to come up with a proper name and fast, because every precious second is wasted that should be used for practice. Sakura thinks of a name starting with the letter F and found one, which is "Framboise". While Lily thinks it's cute, Saki writes the name in kanji that roughly reads "Rotten Chaos", causing the kid to reverse her opinion, commenting that it sounds stinky due to Saki's attempt in writing it.

Then Yugiri says, "It wouldn't surprise me if we stink because we're zombies."

Her statement acts as a wake-up call for every zombie as they all have a look of surprise. They realize they haven't taken a bath for days, and barring that, the fact they were most likely buried after they died means they're gonna smell bad.

Fortunately, after sniffing themselves and their clothes, they don't smell bad, prompting Sakura, Saki, Lily, Kakyoin, Narancia and Gyro to laugh. At least they don't have to worry about smelling so bad.

Continuing coming up with a name, Sakura stammers to find an appealing name, such as "Franchise", "French Bread" and "French...Cream Puffs".

"FURANSHUUSHUU!"

Alarmed by a sudden noise, they turn around to find ink on Tae's hand and splotches her mouth. "Ew! The ink from before!" Lily squirmed.

"Was Tae sneezing just now?" Johnny asked, similarly disgusted.

Tae sneezes again. "FURANSHUUSHUU!"

"Is she gonna be okay? She may be a zombie but..." Kakyoin inquired out of worry.

Lily's eyes widen in realization after discerning Tae's sneeze. "Oh? Hang on a sec!"

"Huh? What is it, Lily-chan?" Sakura queried, wondering why is she brightening up.

"You know what? I don't think she was just sneezing," Lily starts explaining. When everyone expresses confusion of what she meant, she continues, "She was, but it's not just her sneezing."

Bucciarati guesses where Lily is getting at. "Is it the sound she was making when she sneezed?"

"FURANSHUUSHUU!" The mindless zombie sneezes again to prove his guess.

"Yes! That's right, Bucciarati-san!" Lily confirms. "That's our group's new name now that we're reborn! ｢Franchouchou｣! That's the name of our group!"

Hearing the suggested name, everyone repeats it to get the feel of what Lily is going after. Tae stares at them while sniffing an ink hanging from her nose as Sakura exclaims, "That might actually work."

"Well now. That sounds lovely." Yugiri contends with a smile.

"I know! It sounds super cute!" Lily added. "It's way better than Kotaro's!"

"Franchouchou..." Repeating the name, Sakura sees the appeal of it, stating, "The more you say it, the cuter it sounds! That's amazing, Tae-chan!" She praises her, who offers a grunt and a dull stare in return.

"Fran...chouchou..." Saki writes the name on the whiteboard...in kanji. As such, the combined kanji word reads, ｢Rotten Chaos Stank Gang｣.

"No kanji." Sakura told her. One rewrite later, the name is in katakana, which now reads the same as it is pronounced.

"I guess we're doing this." With the group's name decided, Saki is ready to announce the following statement with valor. "Starting today, seven of us are going by this name, ｢Franchouchou｣!"

"With that, we will be able to get the dance and song number down!"

"Alright then! Let's go and practice our asses off for the performance tomorrow, girls! Let's do this!"

"YEEEEAAAAAHHHH!" Sakura, Yugiri, Lily and Tae shouted in unison, eager to start practicing. The sight of them didn't fail to bring smiles on Kakyoin, Avdol, Narancia and Gyro's faces, wanting to see if the girls have what it takes to perform the guerilla show tomorrow. Even Johnny and Rai feel like wanting to smile at the thought of witnessing the girls- no. ｢Franchouchou｣'s proper performance as full-fledged idols.

Franchouchou, huh? I wonder... Could my team have a name? Tatsumi didn't come up with a name for us, and I think I already come up with a name that is unique and fitting to our nature. Like we are reborn… I'll just have to tell the others of the chosen name…

Bucciarati's thought about his team's name doesn't detract him from noticing that not all zombies are on the same page in practicing, as Ai and Junko appear hesitant.

"I don't think we can pull this off..."

"I guess we need more guts, huh."

"I thought I understood, but... dancing and singing are so hard."

Despite being determined to come up with dance moves and a song number this morning, Franchouchou hasn't done any significant practice at all. It is nighttime and Sakura, Saki, Yugiri, Lily, Tae, Kakyoin, Avdol, Johnny, Gyro and Mamezuku are outside the mansion, specifically in the park, minding their own business. Knowing how the Black Sabbath started, Gyro, Kakyoin and Avdol are wary of a potential Stand attack that may occur. As such, the five stood guard for the girls, with Hierophant Green deployed to search their vicinity and make sure they are safe and no sign of ambushes is present.

While Yugiri inhales her kiseru with Johnny and Gyro on her side, Sakura, Saki and Lily are sitting on a carousel being spun by Tae as they lament the fact they're not making progress in their practice. At this rate, they won't be able to make it in time even if they spent practicing the entire night.

Kakyoin isn't blind to their worries and as much as he likes to help, he doesn't know where to start. Sure he knows idols sing and dance for the audience but the inner workings on how exactly they do it is something he's not used to yet. This includes Avdol and Mamezuku, the former sharing Kakyoin's thoughts and the latter inspecting Tae as she continues spinning the carousel.

In fact, Mamezuku is watching and observing Tae's actions the entire day. When asked why he is so fixated on her, he says it's for research on how different being a living human and a walking corpse are. He explains that he's an analytic type of person, which is how he's able to et one step ahead of appraising plants and dealing potential threats to himself and his job, be it an enemy Stand or something mundane.

No one has any experience other than Ai-chan and Junko-chan. Sakura thought with a frowning look.

The speed is increasing courtesy of Tae, something Saki and Lily noticed except Sakura. "Tae-chan?" Lily uttered in puzzlement.

We have never been able to pull it off in practice, and tomorrow, we have to do it in front of people? She continues in her head, not paying attention to the fact that her world is spinning faster.

"Whoa, hold up there! This is getting dangerous!" Saki exclaimed, getting off the carousel

"Yada, yada, yada, yada, yada!" Lily blurted out as she got off too.

Noticing Sakura is too occupied to notice the carousel is spinning faster, Avdol says, "Sakura?"

If you think about it logically, there's no way it'll work. I mean, the idea of zombies being idols in itself is...

The carousel is reaching max speed as Saki, Yugiri, Lily, Avdol, Johnny, Gyro and Mamezuku see Sakura is still busy thinking to pay heed. Similarly, Kakyoin is not seeing this because he's controlling Hierophant Green and by the time he's done sweeping the area and concludes there's nothing amiss, Avdol gets his attention. "Kakyoin! Hey, Kakyoin!"

"Huh? What is it, Avdol?" After dispersing his Stand, he turns to the fortune teller in curiosity.

But I need to know... I need to know what I felt when I went up on the stage for the first time!

Tae continues spinning the carousel with enthusiasm, getting hooked up on doing it. That is, until she sneezes, of which in the process, abruptly stops the carousel with one hand...

...which sends Sakura flying in the air due to the speed and force.

"W-What the...?!" Kakyoin exclaims, now realizing what's going on and surprised to see Sakura shoot up in the air from a carousel.

As they worry over Sakura getting flown in the air, they didn't see Sakura's smiling face as she remembers the way she jumped to the audience at the climax of her first performance. She lets out a laugh, happily feeling the adrenaline of remembering it the same way she did during the performance.

ドッゴォォン

"GAH!"

She cried out when she landed on the ground face first, her legs hanging up in the air.

"Sakura!"

"Sakura-chan!"

"Sakura! Are you alright!?"

Saki, Lily and Kakyoin called out, running to the redhead. They watch Sakura pull her head off the ground before making a declaration to everyone present. "...I'm going back and practice some more!"

"Hey..." Saki started only for Sakura to interrupt her as she says, "Saki-chan! Lily-chan! Tae-chan! Even us... Even zombies... If we work hard... If we don't give up, we can-!"

パァン

Sakura whirls around to face her friends with a merry look only for Yugiri to suddenly slap Sakura hard. As everyone is surprised to see Yugiri slap Sakura hard enough to send her skidding on the ground, the courtesan takes a few steps forward before saying, "Sakura-han! What happened to practicing? Even us... Even zombies... If we work hard... If we don't give up, I'm sure we can manage!"

Blinking in confusion, especially since Sakura is about to say the same thing as what Yugiri said, she stands up, stating, "That's... That's what I was about to-"

"No Sakura. Big sis is right." Saki concedes Yugiri's statement.

"Eh...?" Sakura lets out.

"I think Yugirin snapped me out of the funk, too!" Lily joins. Sakura looks at the three sporting determined looks, intending to see their practice to the end. The redhead isn't feeling the same thing as them, though that's because she was slapped when she's about to say the same thing as Yugiri said.

As the boys look on, Kakyoin, after Avdol told him what just happened, wonders why Sakura didn't get off the carousel when Tae starts spinning it faster. And why hasn't she screamed in fright when she was launched out of the carousel? It's as if she's not good in paying attention to what is happening in her surroundings.

"Not gonna lie," Johnny speaks up, somewhat impressed Yugiri has that kind of slapping power. "I felt Yugiri slapped me out of my thoughts when she slapped Sakura..."

"I agree. Remind me not to make her angry." Gyro stated warily, rubbing his cheek as if wanting to protect it from getting slapped.

Back in the practice room, Ai, Junko, Bucciarati and Narancia are lounging around a piano waiting for the others to come back. When Sakura, Saki, Yugiri, Lily and Tae left after a failed practice session, Kakyoin, Avdol, Johnny, Gyro and Mamezuku followed them to make sure they're not harmed by an enemy Stand and not seen by anyone. With the two not leaving, the former gangster members opt to stay and look after them.

Holding her knees while sitting, Junko stares on the floor forlornly. She's not too keen on working with others due to her shyness and having worked alone when she was alive many years ago. As if sensing her despondent aura, Narancia sneaks some glances at her every second or so out of worry. He wanted to cheer her up as he doesn't like seeing her frowning face. If only Kotaro would come and, somehow, motivate her and Ai to start taking this gig seriously.

But seeing how the producer called Junko a loner after expressing her concern, an act he felt was unnecessary, Narancia believes it's not a good idea.

"They're taking a while," Junko noted. The three stayed silent as the girl continued speaking. "Yugiri-san went to get them and hasn't come back, either... Did they give up?"

"I believe they didn't," Bucciarati replied. Turning to Junko, he states, "Perhaps the difficulty in coming up with a song and dance number in one day is getting onto them. They must have gone outside to get some breather and think clearly on what to do."

"Well, even if they did, I think that might be for the best," Ai's eyes turn to Junko as she continues, "An idol act isn't something that can be pulled off overnight. Also, I don't think a hastily put together show is what an audience wants to see..."

"Even if it's a rush job," Ai remarks, stepping forward to the mirror. "I think a crowd will appreciate it if it's sincere. But that's only an if."

As much as Bucciarati and Narancia want to comment, they cannot think of any words that could sway the two from their doubts. They know what it's like being a mafia gangster but being an idol is understandably out of their league. As stated by Bucciarati, the girls didn't give up practicing, just overwhelmed. If much effort and cooperation are put into practicing, they could get it done.

"All right! Let's get crackin'!"

Saki's voice rang near the door, indicating they had returned. They turn their heads to see Sakura kneeling on the floor for some reason. "We're gonna get this done by tomorrow!" Saki declared, eagerness present in her voice. That eagerness prompted her, Sakura, Yugiri, Lily and Tae to cheer in anticipation.

Not wanting to bother them, Kakyoin and the boys stand on the sidelines, awaiting their practice.

"One, two, three, four! One, two, three, four! One, two, three, four!"

With Ai and Junko taking the lead after some convincing, the girls copy their moves as they follow the rhythm and beat of the music coming from the boombox. So far, they're doing the dance fine though it's not without any difficulty. Still, they press on as they follow the duo's moves, not letting the thought of failure get to their heads.

When the next step involves moving their bodies, Lily tripped. "Ow!"

"One, two- Ah, Lily-chan!"

Sakura rushed towards her out of worry while Narancia stopped the player when he saw her trip. Groaning, Lily says, "The movement in this part is way too hard!"

"You gotta put more guts into it!" Saki reminded.

"I tried that already!" She retorted.

"No fighting, please." Yugiri reprimanded. Sakura lets out a chuckle nervously.

As if responding to their apparent failure to keep up and having enough, Ai takes her leave, not even speaking up and only letting her act show what she's feeling.

"...I'm sorry." Junko soon followed, taking her leave as well.

As the girls look to the door in dismay, Narancia is seen walking to the door, prompting Sakura to ask, "Narancia-kun?"

Holding the grip, Narancia turns to address everyone why he's leaving as well. "I'm gonna go and accompany them. Just...try to rouse them up...somehow. I don't like seeing them so doubtful and hopeless."

"I'm going as well," Bucciarati states, walking to the door too. "The two need some counseling and some reproaching if they're gonna continue be their skeptic selves."

Happy Bucciarati is on board, they left the room.

As everyone continues staring at the door, Saki says, "Sakura, even if we're the only ones who wanna try, we should keep at it." Smiling optimistically, she affirms, "Let's start from the beginning! I'm gonna roll the music!"

Outside, Narancia and Bucciarati didn't have to find the two for long because they saw Junko leaning against the wall and Ai walking away. Carrying on his intention, Narancia makes his presence known to the two. "Hey! Junko, Ai!"

"Oh? Narancia?" Junko lets out, apparently not expecting the two would go outside. Wondering why they followed, Ai asks, "What is it?"

"Err, well..." Rubbing his head, Narancia takes a deep breath before saying, "Are you gonna leave the girls in the dust like that? I believe they are doing fine moving their bodies as they follow the rhythm. I mean sure, Lily messed up one move but given enough tries, they may do it flawlessly."

"And based on my brief observation, they are working together with no issue," Bucciarati added, stepping forward. "Perhaps you and Junko's contribution can be a big help to make them be better idols."

Tilting her head down, Junko sighs, replying, "I see what you're getting at, Bucciarati-san, but I don't think I can work with someone or a group together."

Remembering her words this morning, Bucciarati asks, "Is it because you performed solo before and not as part of a group?" Junko nodded.

"You think I'm gonna accept being an idol as a zombie?" Ai's stern words rang for the two to understand her skepticism towards being a zombie idol. "Kotaro's plan of saving Saga by reviving seven girls to act as idols is hysterical enough that it's not gonna work. Also, the girls are not gonna do the performance with only one day of practice, especially when they're all inexperienced."

"Not only that, but there's a chance an enemy Stand could ambush and attack some of us. The thought of it makes me scared over the possibility that I get killed..." She quivers in fear, remembering almost getting killed by Black Sabbath and its cold, tight grip it had when it captured her briefly.

"Hey, hey! It's okay. You two are safe as long as you have me, Bucciarati and the guys with you," Narancia assured them. "And if any enemy Stands do appear and lay a finger on you, I'm gonna make sure they regret crossing the paths with us!"

"...You will?" Junko inquired with a hopeful look.

"Obviously! I mean, that's the reason why Bucciarati, the guys and I are revived as a zombie, right?" He reaffirmed. Hearing his words seemed to influence Junko as she felt comforted, even if a little bit.

At the same time, Ai tries to take her leave after saying her reason but she stops when Kotaro is blocking the door with a frown and arms folded. Feeling exasperated and annoyed at the sight of him, Ai asked, "What do you want now?"

"...A zombie that doesn't dance is just a regular zombie." He replies. The three noticed his presence when he said it.

"Being an idol isn't as simple as you're thinking." Ai retorts, still holding on to her belief zombies and idols don't gel well for Kotaro's crazy plan.

"What difference does that make?"

Getting a little frustrated, she exclaims, "I'm saying this can't possibly work!"

"...Do you seriously think that?"

Averting her eyes, she scoffs, "Of course I do..."

"Then why were you two idols?"

Ai and Junko seem to be taken aback when Kotaro reminds them of their profession through a question. Narancia wants to say something, but Bucciarati stops him, looking at him and silently telling him this is between the two that they hopefully need to understand.

Not skipping a beat, Kotaro continues telling Ai and Junko that, "The others are zombies but they're trying to ｢live｣. That includes the Stand Users, Bucciarati and Narancia over there." The two look at them, none of them saying anything as they seemingly want the two to be reminded that, like Kotaro said, they want to live and take advantage of this second chance in life. Having reprimanded them a little, Kotaro takes his leave, but not before asking the two how long do they intend to rot as the zombies they are.

Watching him leave, Narancia took a glance at the two and saw the words must have got to their heads. He cannot deny Kotaro is being a little harsh to the two but there are no hints of animosity in his voice. He wanted the two to not agonize over their status as zombies and doubt being an idol is going to fail. After all, they used to be idols when they're alive.

In fact, Kotaro asking the two if they're gonna rot as zombies they are or continue their occupation when they're alive reminds Narancia of the time Fugo found him scavenging garbage after getting an eye infection and his so-called "friends" left him in the dust after letting him take the blame over something he didn't do. After Bucciarati fed him spaghetti and took him to hospital, curing his eye infection three weeks later, he stated his intention to join Passione after discerning Bucciarati's motives of saving him only to be angrily scolded by Bucciarati to go back to school and live an honest life. When he did like he told him to, Narancia eventually realizes that he acted that way not only for his own good but also, refusing a young man like him to join a dangerous mafia.

Having found someone who cared for him, even if they have to be angry for their own good, Narancia chose to join Passione half a year later under Bucciarati, never regretting how his life turned out even if it ended up killing him.

For now, he and Bucciarati take their leave by returning to the shed, leaving Ai and Junko alone to comprehend Kotaro's words.

To be continued