Crisis! Mei Loses Her Memory!? (Part 1)

On the dusk-lit streets, gunfire echoed through the empty stairwells. Swarms of Zombies, groaning low, staggered toward the source of the shots.

“Why are there so many Zombies?! Is there no end to them?!”

Kiana's arms, gripping her weapon, ached terribly after the long, drawn-out battle.

Standing beside Kiana, Mei calmly watched the shifting tide of the battlefield. Still directing the others, she ejected her rifle's magazine and pulled a fresh one from her waist, slotting it in.

“Let's hurry and pull out of this area! At this rate we'll burn through all our ammo!” Mei shouted toward Bronya, who wasn't far off, waving to signal her to fall back from the front line.

“You go first, Mei — I'll cover the rear.”

Bronya didn't turn around; instead she charged alone into the horde of Zombies!

Behind her, a kendo girl suddenly lunged out.

“Bronya! Look out!” Seeing this, Mei rushed after her and shoved Bronya out of the way.

Thwack — the bamboo sword struck the back of Mei's head!

“Mei!” “Mei!” Those were the last two words Mei heard before she lost consciousness.

“Let's rest here for now…”

Bronya spread a blanket on the ground, and Kiana carefully laid Mei down on it.

“I'm sorry… Mei got hurt because she was protecting me…” Bronya murmured.

Kiana, meanwhile, watched over Mei without blinking — nearly four hours had passed since she'd been injured…

“Mmn…”

Suddenly Mei let out a soft groan and slowly opened her eyes. The first thing to greet her was Kiana's anxious face.

“Where am I…”

“Meiiiiiiiii~~~~~~~~~~”

Seeing Mei awake, Kiana pounced on her in excitement. Mei, who had just tried to sit up, was shoved right back down.

“Wah!! Who are you?! Why are you hugging me out of nowhere?!”

Panicking, Mei hurriedly pushed Kiana away, her face full of shock and confusion.

“Huh—?! Mei, quit joking around~ It's me, Kiana~”

Ignoring Mei's resistance, Kiana clung to her tightly, rubbing her cheek against Mei's over and over.

“Who's Kiana?! And let go already! You're strangling me!”

“Aw, come on~ Mei, don't tell me the Zombies knocked your head loose~ How could you forget even me…”

Suddenly, as if realizing something, Kiana sprang up off of Mei!

“Don't tell me your head really did get knocked loose?!”

“What the heck are you talking about…” Mei looked utterly lost, as if her life-or-death fight with the Zombies had been wiped clean from her memory. “You mean like the ones in The Walking Dead?”

“Why do you remember a TV show's zombies but not the Zombies^[1]?! …Well, they are pretty much the same thing!”

“It seems Mei suffered memory damage from the head injury.”

Bronya recalled the scene from earlier. Though her face stayed expressionless, the subtle shift in her tone betrayed the worry in her heart.

“So you're saying she doesn't remember who any of us are now?”

Kiana plopped down onto the ground, as if a bolt of lightning had struck through her mind!

“Yes.” However reluctantly, Bronya could only answer truthfully.

“…This is just…”

Kiana's face darkened. She hung her head, her body trembling from emotion…

“This is perfect!”

Like a volcano erupting, Kiana's expression did a complete 360° turnaround! She grabbed hold of Mei, her eyes brimming with excitement and undisguised glee! The suddenness of it left even Bronya frozen in place.

“Mei, I have something extremely important to tell you! The truth is, we're married!”

“…Don't think I'm uneducated. We're both girls — how could we be married?”

Damn it! Didn't she lose her memory?! Why is her common sense still intact?! Kiana thought, but there was no backing down now! This was the best chance she'd ever get to seal the deal with Mei!

“Actually, Japan legalized same-sex marriage a few years back. And look — this is our daughter!”

Kiana pointed at Bronya. By this point she was past caring about anything; her head was already full of thoughts of taking Mei by storm!

“I am not—”

Bronya clearly couldn't keep up with Kiana's pace and was slowly sinking into confusion. Just as she tried to deny it, Kiana's rapid-fire offensive forced her right back down.

“Bronya! Don't you want to leap into your mama's embrace?!”

The utterly nonsensical question stumped Bronya. Just as she was about to say something, she looked at Mei's chest and, for the first time, felt a stirring emotion called hesitation…

“…I do.”

In the end, she quietly climbed aboard the pirate ship…

“Hold on! I'll let everything else slide! But why am I the mama?!”

Mei was clearly stunned by the chaotic scene too. Having only just woken from unconsciousness, her still-groggy head only grew more muddled.

“Bronya, who would you rather have as your mama — me or Mei~”

“Mei… Mama Mei.”

“See?! I wasn't making it up!”

Kiana's relentless, gapless offensive gradually brought the whole situation under her control. If not for Mei's everyday knowledge still being intact, she'd have been conquered long ago!

Watching Mei fall into confusion with an “I'm at a total loss for words” look on her face, Kiana silently clenched her fist.

Mei was quiet for a long while. She glanced at Kiana's expectant face, then turned to look at Bronya's little face peeking out from behind Homu, and finally let out a sigh, putting on a look of surrender.

“Well, since the child says so, let's just go with it…”

Perfect!

Kiana nearly shouted it out loud, but she managed to suppress the impulse in her heart, straightening her posture and putting on a perfectly serious face.

“In that case, let's have a little smooch to make up! Mwah~ Ow, that hurts!”

Mei shoved away Kiana's puckering face as it leaned in and chopped a hand-knife down onto her head.

“I only admitted that Bronya is my child. Your case still needs further deliberation!”

“In that case… heh heh heh…”

Kiana let out an eerie laugh, her eyes clouded over with desire, casting a dark shadow across her face. Sensing the shift in the atmosphere at once, Mei nimbly got to her feet.

Kiana slowly closed in on Mei. Her posture now was exactly like a Zombie's, and Mei suddenly seemed to remember just what a “Zombie” was — instinctively snatching up the weapon propped against the wall!

With a rapid burst of gunfire, the world abruptly fell silent…

Crisis! Mei Loses Her Memory!? (Part 2)

“Bronya, say ahh—”

“Ahh—”

Mei slipped a bite of food into Bronya's mouth and smiled at Bronya's blissful expression.

“Is it good~”

“Mm.”

In the glow of the nighttime campfire, the peaceful scene shimmered with warmth, as if they truly were mother and daughter… And yet, over in another corner, an entirely different aura of dark resentment was radiating out!

“Why am I the one shut out of this cozy, harmonious picture?! Aren't I the papa?!”

Kiana, tied up in the corner, wore her grudge plainly on her face.

“About that — I already confirmed it with Bronya. Bronya says she has no papa; she was raised by her mama alone ever since she was little. What a pitiful child…”

Paying no mind whatsoever to Kiana's protests, Mei gazed at Bronya with loving eyes. And just then, Bronya, basking in the halo of Mei's motherly love, curled up in Mei's arms like a little rabbit and soaked it all in.

“Bronya doesn't need a papa. Having a mama is enough.”

“Why you little…”

Kiana glared at Bronya through gritted teeth, the flames of jealousy piling up in her heart like a volcano, ready to erupt at any moment!

“It's getting late. Bronya, let's go to sleep~”

“Okay.”

Mei took Bronya's hand and stood up.

“Mm-hm~ Untie me too~ Let's all sleep together, mwah~”

The moment she heard “sleep,” Kiana perked up again, as if a shot of adrenaline had hit her, instantly bouncing back to life.

“Kiana, you stay and keep watch. Didn't you say this world has zombies and such? It'd be dangerous with no one on watch, wouldn't it?”

“Me keeping watch is even more dangerous! And why are you making me keep watch again?!”

Kiana protested with all her might, but her earlier antics had already made Mei's trust irrecoverable.

“You're the papa, right~ A papa has to shoulder that responsibility.”

Tossing out those words, Mei walked into the tent with Bronya, leaving Kiana all alone outside the campsite.

“Untie me already! Mei! I want to sleep too!”

Kiana made a huge fuss alone outside the tent, but not a single reply came from within.

Kiana puffed out her cheeks. Then, as if struck by an idea, she took a deep breath…

“Eeeek~~~ It's the zombies!!! Help!!!!!!”

Sure enough, hearing Kiana's cry, Mei and Bronya rushed out of the tent — but the moment they saw it was just Kiana yelling by the campfire all alone, they instantly understood, turned around, and went back inside.

“Hey! Wait a sec! Untie me!”

No matter how much Kiana shouted, Mei and the others never reappeared. At last Kiana gave up. She sat quietly before the campfire, as if waiting for something…

The night grew deeper, and the campfire slowly dimmed. At that, Kiana smiled knowingly, as if she'd seen through it all.

“Hmph hmph! How naive! Did you really think I'd give up that easily…”

Twisting her body, Kiana wriggled like a caterpillar over to the campfire and stretched her rope-bound wrists over a glowing ember. She nearly set her own clothes on fire, but in the end she succeeded.

Having freed herself from the ropes, Kiana flexed her stiff wrists, the look on her face growing more fiendish by the second…

“In the dead of night — now's the perfect time to sneak in and share a bed with Mei!”

By now the light inside the tent had gone out; the silent night carried not a single sound. It seemed Mei and Bronya had already drifted off to dreamland.

Kiana seized the moment, tiptoeing toward the tent.

“Quietly~ quietly~”

Crack!

“Hm? What was that sound?”

A crisp snapping sound reached Kiana's ears, yet there was nothing beneath her feet. Kiana tensed every nerve, scanning her surroundings.

Suddenly, she felt a stir of air against her neck — as if something were breathing right behind her!

Kiana instantly realized what was happening, but she still feigned calm, taking a few steps forward at the same pace as before — then abruptly sped up, dashing toward where the weapons lay!

“Grooooar!!!!”

A roar came from behind Kiana, and as if answering a comrade's call, a huge swarm of zombies suddenly poured out from all around!

“Why are there so many zombies?! Mei! Bronya! Wake up!”

“Honestly! Kiana, can't you settle down for one night?!”

“I'm not joking! This time it really is zombies!!”

No matter how Kiana shouted, the two inside the tent didn't budge an inch… until the zombies gradually closed in, and, sensing that the commotion outside was somehow different, Mei finally poked her head out of the tent, bleary-eyed.

“Oh my~ It really is zombies~”

“So hurry up and help already!!”

“Phew… finally wiped them all out. What a clingy bunch.”

After the brief battle, the attacking zombies were at last repelled. Mei wiped the sweat from her brow and let out a long breath.

“Mei, the way you fought just now — could it be your memory has returned?” Bronya asked.

From the fight just now, it was clear that Mei's responses and combat movements held not a trace of confusion or hesitation, showing the same composure as always.

“Well… the truth is it came back a while ago. It just felt kind of fun, so I kept pretending to have amnesia~ By the way, where's Kiana?”

“Kiana took a tumble during the fight just now. She's lying over there.”

“Ahh… what a careless one she is.”

Mei walked over to Kiana and lifted her onto her lap.

“Hey, Kiana, wake up~”

“Ow ow… it hurts…”

“Well… that earlier bit was my fault… so I'll make it up to you with a lap pillow. Sorry~”

Blushing, Mei looked down at the dazed, glassy-eyed Kiana. At a moment like this she should have been bouncing up in excitement, yet she was unexpectedly quiet…

“Where is this… and who are you?”

Kiana looked up at Mei, utterly lost, a flicker of fear even showing in her eyes.

“Come on, Kiana, quit messing around~”

“It seems Kiana has also suffered memory damage from a head injury.”

“Ehh?!”

“Waaah~~ Why are there so many bodies on the ground? I'm so scared… Miss, I'm hungry~ Got any candy?”

Mei lowered her head and looked at Kiana lying on her lap with tears glistening in her eyes, curled up in her arms like a child. Seeing Kiana like this, Mei couldn't help but swallow hard…

“You've got to be kidding me…”