Somehow managing to shake off Itsuki, Haruto, and Nayuta, the group took a moment to catch their breath.
“Haah, haah, haah… We got away from them…but what’s going on here…?!” Miyako was already teary-eyed.
“It’s little-sister zombieeeeeees!”
“Agggh!”
Miyako screamed as an old man appeared out of the shadows. “Little-sister zombieeeees,” he continued in his raspy voice. “The sister zombies have come back to liiiiiiife…!”
“Wh-who’s this guy?”
“Um, what do you mean by little-sister zombies?”
“Little-sister zombies… Little-sister zombieeeeeeees…”
The old man ignored Chihiro’s question, disappearing into the darkness as he repeated the phrase little-sister zombieeeees.
“Whoa…?!”
“He’s gone…”
“So he shows up, says weird stuff, and leaves? What’s with that old man?” Miyako was even more bewildered now.
“I’ve heard of this,” Ashley said, face deadly serious.
“Huh?”
“It’s a local legend passed down over generations… Once, there was a girl who fell in love with her own big brother, but he was forced into marrying another woman. Out of despair, the girl took her own life, but instead of going to heaven, she became a living zombie—and now, when everyone with the big-brother attribute comes near, she appears and starts attacking people. It’s said that anyone who gets a deep enough kiss from her will become a little sister as well…”
Miyako, being an editor, was about to reject this as too far-fetched, but Chihiro spoke up before she could.
“The big-brother attribute… So when Itsuki and Fuwa came here, they inadvertently resurrected the little-sister zombie?”
“It sounds so unrealistic, but you saw how zombielike they were…”
Miyako sighed. But just then:
“Big Brooooooooooo…”
“Big Brooooooooooo…”
With heavy groaning, Itsuki, Haruto, and Nayuta emerged from the darkness. And not just them. They were joined by a crowd of more than twenty little-sister zombies.
“Big Brooooooooooo… I looooooove youuuuu… Big Brooooooooooo…”
“L-look at them all!” Miyako screamed.
“Oh dear, looks like everyone at the izakaya has been turned into little-sister zombies…!”
“Why do you sound like you’re enjoying this?!” Chihiro asked Ashley.
“Well, now we can shoot a realistic zombie-horde scene without having to hire extras! Isn’t that wonderful? Makina, don’t you dare stop the camera!”
“Yeah, yeah.” Kaizu nodded, sounding indifferent, although he was sweating profusely.
In the midst of all this, Nayuta caught up with Ui and gave her a deep kiss.
“…! Why am I treated so roughly in this story?! …Big Brooooooo… I loooooove you…”
“Not Ui, too…!”
Miyako ran off again, a pained expression on her face.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Big Brooooooooooo… I loooooooooove youuuuuuu…”
Miyako, Chihiro, Ashley, and Kaizu ran as fast as they could, relentlessly pursued by the horde of zombies. But after all that exertion, their stamina was running out.
“Haah, haah, haah… Th-they’re still after us… At this rate, we’re gonna be joining them soon…!”
“Ashley, is there any way to turn the little-sister zombies back into people?!”
“According to the legend,” Ashley told Chihiro, “the zombies will be purified if you show them true love between brother and sister.”
“True love…?”
“Yes. The little sister needs to kiss her big brother.”
“What?!”
“And the only little sister here…”
Miyako, Ashley, and Kaizu all looked at Chihiro.
“M-me?!”
“You need to kiss Itsuki, Chihiro. If you can prove to the little-sister zombies that love triumphs over all, even if you’re brother and sister, they’ll all be purified.”
“I—I can’t! I could never kiss my brother! He’s already taken, besides…”
Chihiro tried to fight it…but just then, the zombie Itsuki caught up with her.
“Big Broooooooo…”
“Please, Chihiro! You’re the only one who can save them all!”
“Come on, Chi. I’m sure Nayu would understand.”
Ashley and Miyako pleaded with Chihiro.
“Big Broooooooo… Big Broooooooooooo…”
Zombie Itsuki was soon joined by zombie Haruto, zombie Nayuta, and a bunch of others.
“Itsuki… Kani… Fuwa…”
Chihiro somberly looked at the transformation that had befallen her close friends. Then a determined look came to her face.
“All… All right. I’ll kiss my brother!”
“Chi… I’m sorry.”
Chihiro just smiled at Miyako’s apology. “It’s for all of them and all of you. Here I go…!”
The next moment, she ran for the approaching zombies. Zombie Itsuki and zombie Haruto came up to her.
“Big Broooooooo…”
“Big Broooooooo…”
“…! Ha!”
Chihiro made a flying leap, arms outstretched, and made the kiss.
“Mmgh…!”
But it wasn’t zombie Itsuki’s lips she touched. It was zombie Haruto’s next to him.
“Huhhh?!”
Ashley’s eyes shot out.
“Wh-whoa, Chi! Why’re you kissing Fuwa?!”
Miyako’s shouting fell on deaf ears as Chihiro continued to passionately kiss him. Struggling for breath, she pulled away, only to be horrified when she recognized the face of her partner.
“Huh?! Oh, whoa! I-I’m sorry! I kinda gave in to temptation!”
“Chi…”
Miyako gave her a chiding “get your act together” kind of look.
Just then:
“Ohhhhhhhh…!”
“Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
“Wooooooooo…!”
“Oooooooooooooh!”
All at once, the zombies let out bloodcurdling cries that seemed to echo from the deepest underground abyss.
“Huh? Wha—?!”
Miyako panicked as Ashley broke out in a cold sweat.
“The little sister kissed a man besides her big brother, and that made the little-sister zombies angry! Now they won’t stop until they make everybody in the world their little sister…”
“No… The human race is doomed because of me…?”
“Not to kick you when you’re down,” Miyako shouted back, “but yes, it’s one hundred percent your fault!”
“I suppose love would drive any girl crazy… Tee-hee! ” Chihiro grinned and stuck out her tongue.
“You don’t regret it one bit, do you?! Look, Chi, as a professional editor, if you’re a little sister starring in a novel with a title that makes it sound like a little-sister thing, and you fall in love with the hero’s best friend, that’s gonna cause some seriously negative feedback!”
“Get ahold of yourself, Miyako. This is reality. It’s not a light novel.”
Chihiro pouted at them. “…Well, if you debut in the cast like you’re part of the hero’s harem, only to run to another man after the hero dumps you, wouldn’t that lead to even harsher feedback?”
“I—I don’t know who you’re talking about…”
“Never mind. Just muttering to myself.”
Miyako’s face tightened at Chihiro’s taunts.
“Hee-hee! I think I need to sit down and have a nice, long talk with you someday, Chi—”
“Right, right,” interrupted Ashley, “you girls go through that torture session over in the main story!”
Just then:
“Big Brooooooooooo! Smoooooooch!”
Zombie Nayuta, who had creeped up on them unawares, gave Miyako a deep kiss.
“Mmmmph…!”
“Miyako!” shouted Chihiro as zombie Nayuta removed her lips…
“…Big Broooo… I loooove youuu…”
The zombified Miyako sounded all cutesy.
Chihiro was shocked. “Not Miyako, too…! W-wait, my body feels all weird…itchy…tasty…”
“Even if you started it,” Ashley nonchalantly stated as Chihiro went all zombie before her eyes, “you know kissing Haruto earlier infected you, right?”
“…Big Broooooo… ”
But Ashley’s words no longer reached Chihiro’s ears.
Ashley, resigned to her fate, stepped back as she turned to face the advancing zombie Chihiro.
“Well…looks like we’re done for, Makina. Don’t stop the camera. Whether it means anything or not, we’re recording the beginning of the end of the world here.”
“Right… Getting to spend such a momentous occasion together with you doesn’t feel too bad, actually.” Kaizu forced a smile.
Ashley joined him. “Hee-hee! You’re right.”
“Big Brooooooo… I looooooove youuuu, smooch!”
And with that, the zombie Chihiro took Ashley’s lips.
“Mmph… Chi… Chihiro…!”
Their lips parted…and Ashley slowly turned toward Kaizu, who was still filming.
“…Big Bro, I love ya! ”
With that final cutesy love call, Ashley lunged at Kaizu—and with a crash, the camera fell to the ground.