Chapter 12: Reminiscence, What I Should Really Do

**Chapter 12: Reminiscence, What I Should Really Do** (**追憶。私が本当にすべきこと。**, *Tsuioku. Watashi ga hontōni subeki koto.*) is the twelfth chapter of the spin-off manga series of Zombie Land Saga, titled “Zombie Land Saga Side Story: The First Zombie”.

## Synopsis

A huge Sagako endangers the city, and Tae is determined to take revenge for what happened that day.

## Plot

Eikichi arrives when fighting where the huge Sagako is, meeting Keiji dead on a bloodstain. The smell of death. Tae prepares to fight with a piece of rubble from her mansion. Her look expresses revenge and rancor towards such a creature.

The fight between them is intense, and both Tae and Sagako are severely injured as a result. Sagako manages to free herself from Tae by throwing her quite far against a tree, an action that leaves her immobilized and much more injured. The Sagako subsequently disappears, as if it never existed in the first place.

The Busters are now in a park while Anna tends to Tae's wounds. She refuses to go to a hospital because she doesn't consider it necessary because those injuries are nothing to her. The girls, surprised, say that it is not like Tae to fight like this. Hanako also reminds them that they don't have health insurance and are now homeless, which means they'll have to find a place to stay temporarily and recuperate. MJ, on the other hand, is on the bench, looking old and weak. Exclaiming that both his body and soul are Saga, and therefore he is Saga. With no place to stay, with MJ old and “delusional,” Tae injured, and the Busters penniless, they have to find a place to stay.

Eikichi leads the team to his parents' house, where they can rest and eat in peace. Eikichi's parents serve the group a large welcome meal and talk casually about the state of Yuko and the team. Already at night, the Sagako Busters prepare to sleep. Tae highlights the fact that she would have wanted a family that cared for her, since she couldn't have one of her own because of the Sagako, who murdered her parents.

About two decades ago, Tae's parents worked as folklorists and were busy most of the day. Tae's grandmother took care of her until the day she died. She was home alone all day, and she hated it quite a bit. One day, her mother found a strange creature, something that looked like a baby. So, they raised and studied the strange creature in their university labs, turning it into some spooky research. Because of that investigation, Tae was spending even more time alone at home.

On Tae's birthday, her parents come home early to bring her a birthday present. Tae is excited because they remembered that day, and she excitedly asks when they will finish their project so the three of them can spend time together. Tae's gift is a stuffed rabbit that her parents found in a store that reminded them of the child they were raising. That comment that angers Tae, who is already tired of hearing about that strange creature that her parents are raising, explodes in anger against her parents, wanting them to abandon that project and the child. That was Tae's response and the last thing she said to them. Her parents, distraught, returned to the laboratories.

Later that day, several people from the government health department come to her house looking for Tae's parents, who are raising an unidentified organism. Tae manages to hide a photo that her parents have with the child and evades the health workers. When they find nothing, they go to the university where they work. Tae overhears their conversation about the investigation of her parents and, concerned by what she hears, she goes looking for them. Her parents would have been doing experiments with the strange creature.

She finally makes it to the university, but there are already numerous guards trying to take the baby from Mrs. Yamada, who tells them that this creature is just a baby. The health department intervened because they were conducting unauthorized research on unknown creatures. Suddenly, the baby transforms into a huge spider-like giant Sagako, destroying the building and crushing Tae's parents with the rubble.

With no return to the past and with Tae's parents dead, Tae regrets what happened that day. Some time later, Jofuku finds her while she was wandering around the city in dirty and torn clothes. He adopts her as his daughter and trains her to fight the increasing number of curses in Saga. Saga's curse of destruction has changed forms throughout history. One day, Sagako was born, and her parents were responsible for raising her without knowing that she was a creature of a curse. Now it is she who must take responsibility for Sagako and the aftermath of her. This is Tae's redemption.

## Features

### Characters

* Saga Sagako Busters
	+ Tae Yamada
	+ Jofuku
	+ Eikichi Hyodo
	+ Anna Shuri
	+ Hanako Hakase
* Keiji Higashino
* Parents of the Hyodo twins
	+ Yasuko Hyodo
	+ Mr. Hyodo
* Tae Yamada's parents (flashback)
	+ Mr. Yamada
	+ Mrs. Yamada
* Sagako Curses
	+ Giant Spider Sagako

### Locations

* Saga Prefecture
	+ Hyodo Family Home
	+ Yamada Family Home
	+ Saga University
	+ Unnamed offices

## External Link

* Gaiden Chapter 12 Unofficial English Translation

## Trivia

* Magatsuhi is the first Sagako to appear and be born. She raised and studied by Tae's parents in a laboratory.
* Tae is the second Franchouchou character to have her parents be shown in the franchise. With Lily Hoshikawa being the first.