It was the end of another day in Majijo, and Zombie was searching for her partner and closest friend, Kamisori, so they could walk home together. She then deducted that the girl was probably in the 2nd-year classroom with Team Hinabe and decided to check there. She saw the five were talking to her partner about something, she couldn’t hear what, but as soon as she walked in, she felt a heavy atmosphere as she saw Kamisori staring at her with empty eyes.

“Kamisori..? Guys..? What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong?!” Uonome spoke in an angered tone. “This!!! THIS is what’s wrong!!!”

She pulled out a Gekioko uniform, shocking Zombie. She remembered that terrible nightmare where she saw her best friend turned against her, as a Gekioko student, but she know it was just a dream and it could never be true… that is, until she saw Uonome pull out the uniform in front of her.

“We found THIS in Kamisori’s shoe locker,” Dodobusu said.

“Think you could hide this from us forever?! Haa?!” Kusogaki gained up on the girl, who didn’t even meet her gaze.

She simply answered. “It’s not mine…”

“LIES!” Kenpou approached her and grabbed her chin, making her look at them. “This crime can be charged as fraud! Do you have ANY idea who you’re up against?!”

“Guys, stop!” Zombie tried to stop them, but Jiseidai stood in front of her, blocking her path. “Let me through, I want to talk to Kamisori!”

“You can do that once we know she’s a traitor!”

As the five were yelling, Uonome approached Kamisori and grabbed her collar, ready to punch her. But all noise stopped when they heard the sound of a pin dropping. It bounced on the ground and landed at Zombie’s foot. The girl silently picked it up and was shocked when she saw what it was. It was a school badge, not for Majijo… for Gekioko.

“No…”

When Zombie saw this, her heart sank. She couldn’t deny anymore, that this was the truth. She met her partner’s gaze as she stood silent.

“Kamisori… please, tell me this is a lie...”

“Just give it up,” Uonome said. “You’re one of them! You’re Gekioko!”

Kamisori broke free from Uonome’s grasp and ran off. The Hinabe girls were about to chase after her, but Zombie stopped all of them.

“Stop!”

“Zombie, let us--”

“No! I’ll take care of this! I’ll prove Kamisori is still one of us!”

“Zombie…”

“Are you sure?”

“Kamisori is my best friend. I trust her.”

The team looked at each other, and they all agreed. In this situation, this was something Zombie had to face alone. Uonome faced the girl again.

“Alright, we won’t interfere.”

Zombie then ran off to look for her partner. She had searched the whole school, but couldn’t find her anywhere. She then saw Kamisori walking outside in the place they would usually spend time together. Zombie approached Kamisori, the other girl not dare looking back at her.

“Kamisori!” she called out to her. “Nee, Kamisori… just talk to me. Why did you have a Gekioko uniform..? And the pin…?”

“Leave me alone.”

“Please, just tell me all of it was a lie, and i’ll believe you! You can tell me, we’re friends, right?!”

“SHUT UP!!!” Kamisori yelled, still not turning to face her. She didn’t want Zombie to see, she was crying. Tears of frustration ran down her cheeks, a burning pain in her chest. Meanwhile, Zombie was crying as well, and she felt her heart breaking. Kamisori then confessed. “It’s true… I… I’m from Gekioko.”

Zombie shook her head, she didn’t want to accept the truth. She fell to her knees, holding the pin.

“No way… It can’t be true...”

“Zombie...”

“So then… why did you come here? Why did you come to Majijo in the first place?”

Kamisori gulped before answering. “To take the top. That was my first order… but, I didn’t want to… It was tiring, and boring.. so I just decided, I would get rid of everyone, until there was no one left. That I’d be the only one standing…”

Zombie cried more. Everything she knew about her partner, her best friend, it was all a lie. And she fell for it, the fool she was. She desperately wished for this to be another nightmare, that she would wake up and Kamisori would be beside her smiling, that she wouldn’t be a traitor, and the two could still be together. She wanted to wake up from this horrible dream, but this is reality, and she needed to accept, no matter how heartbreaking it was…

“Why is it like this…?”

“But…” Kamisori then started again, her voice cracking because of the tears. “After meeting you.. all of that changed.”

“Eh..?”

“After I met you and we started fighting as a pair.. something in me changed. At Gekioko, I was the most feared and had no friends. You were the first person I could ever call a friend… I didn’t feel lonely… Even though all of it was a lie.. you were my one, true friend…”

“Kamisori…”

“I betrayed you and lied all this time...” Kamisori turned to face Zombie, her eyes still red with tears. “I’m sorry…!”

She fell to her knees and hugged Zombie, still crying into her chest. Crying out in frustration, anger, pain… all of her emotions and stress where let out in her cries. Zombie could only hug her partner, crying along with her.

“I can’t go back there anymore… I’m no longer a Gekioko student...”

“That’s right, Kamisori. You don’t belong there anymore… You belong here, with me. We’re the strongest 1st-year combi, Kamisori and Zombie. And we have Hinabe and Sakura-san. You’re not alone anymore!”

As those words burned into her, Kamisori nodded and laid her head against Zombie’s shoulder. Zombie had never seen her like this, and Kamisori never felt like this. All the pain she suffered through silently was gone, and she felt like a heavy burden weighed on her had lifted off her shoulders. She felt whole again and letting out all that stress relieved her.

She eventually separated and faced Zombie. Her face was truly that of an angel’s, and with tears still streaming down her cheeks, she was painfully beautiful.

“You’re such a crybaby...” Kamisori said with a grin, wiping off Zombie’s tears.

Zombie laughed, returning the favor. “You too...”

“We’re both crybabies.”

“Un...”

As they were staring at each other, Kamisori felt herself being drawn closer. Zombie closed her eyes as their lips met, tasting the saltiness of both their tears mixed with the sweetness and passionate warmth of the kiss. Zombie’s eyes opened, shocked at what just happened, and she was first to part from this kiss.

“K-Kamisori..!”

“I’ve always loved you, Zombie… I never had the balls to say it, but since I’ve let my biggest secret out, I might as well lay everything bare. I seriously… seriously love you!”

“Kamisori…” Zombie was speechless. The other girl was afraid of what she would say, but then she saw Zombie’s lips curve in a smile and she hugged her, whispering in her ear. “I love you, too.”

Kamisori smiled and hugged her best friend back.

Up from above, the Hinabe girls watched the entire scene unfold, as the two finally got up and started walking together, holding hands.

“So… what’s going to happen now?” Kusogaki asked.

Uonome grinned as she saw Kamisori take the pin back from Zombie, but then threw it out somewhere it would never be found, the two laughing.

“Nothing’s going to change. In fact, things will be a whole lot better.”