It's become clear to me that a few elements of the original fic had inaccuracies to the canon of the game. As such, I have decided to reboot the fic and change some things in the story to better reflect this issue. I know this is going to be a hard thing to get used to, but I feel like this is necessary in order to make this story the best it can possibly be.

"Sumire!!!"

That was the last thing she heard and remembered before she woke up in the middle of the road. As she took in her surroundings, she heard an engine approach behind her, turning around to see a car barrelling toward her at a high speed.

"Aah!" The girl put her hands up and shut her eyes as she tried to block the impact of the car. However, she heard the engine pass by as if she was only standing near, but not in front of the car. Opening her eyes, she noticed that the car passed through her as she turned around to see it speeding away from her. She looked down at herself and noticed no damage to her body. In fact, it was completely transparent.

"Watashi wa yūreidesu ka?"

Almost as if to answer her question, she began to float as she passed her hand through the nearby traffic light. Her eyes widened in amazement as she moved freely through the world around her.

As she flew around, she tried to remember what happened that made her a ghost, only to be met with the same word she heard as she woke up in the street.

Sumire.

Was someone calling to her? Was this her name? If it was, then hopefully someone she talks to would be able to recognize her.

"Nē, anata wa watashi ga doko ni iru no ka shitte imasu ka-"

But before she could finish, the person she was trying to talk to walked right past her, she tried asking someone else, only for them to walk right through her this time.

"Sō sō... Gōsuto."

She concluded that if she was going to figure out where she is and what's going on, she'd have to find that out for herself.

--

2 weeks since she woke up, the girl floated around this city, which she learned was Tokyo in Japan. As she floated around in the large area people called the Crossing, she heard a voice call out to her from behind.

"A~tsu, sumimasen!"

She turned around to see a tall boy with frizzy raven hair looking directly at her.

--

Akira exited the subway, not interacting with anyone as he rushed aboveground.

'Dakara watashi wa... Doko ni iku hitsuyō ga arimasu ka?' Akira thought as he pulled out his phone. Tokyo was incredibly different from the countryside where he lived, so for the time being, he probably needed his navigation app to get around. However, there was an odd app on his screen that he didn't remember installing. It was red with a black eye drawn on it, a star replacing the pupil.

Akira tried to delete the app but accidentally tapped on it. When it did nothing, he attempted to tap it again only to look up and notice that the world around him was brought to a halt.

'Kore wa tenokonda itazuradesu ka?'

Out of the corner of his eye, Akira noticed a slight amount of movement in the center of the crossing and turned toward it. A blue flame flickered in the middle of a crowd before erupting into a pillar, somehow not burning the frozen people around him.

Akira was frozen into place as he watched the pillar of flame coalesce into a humanoid figure, wings on its back while wearing a red fiery smile. Suddenly, Akira saw his own face in the face of the figure, before the fire disappeared and the crowds moved on, oblivious to what Akira just saw.

Suddenly, Akira found himself nearly walking into a brown-haired girl with glasses.

"A~tsu, sumimasen!"

The girl turned around and floated away before she suddenly realized she was being addressed. Floating back, she asked, "Matte, anata wa watashi to hanashite imashita ka?"

"Mōshiwakearimasenga, watashi wa koko de atarashīnode, shiraberu hitsuyō ga arimasu- mattekudasai...Anata wa...Ukande imasu ka?"

This girl, whoever she was, continued to look at him in disbelief as she landed in front of him.

"Dono yō ni watashi ni hanashite iru nodesu ka? Kako Ni-shūkan, dare-tomo hanasu koto ga dekimasendeshita."

"Dōshite?" Akira tilted his head. Oddly, no one seemed to have noticed the girl in front of him despite the fact that she floated not too long ago.

Akira's blood ran cold as the girl shrugged and casually said, "...Watashi wa shinde iru hazuda to omoimasu."

"...Anata wa anata ga shinde iru to omoimasu ka? Anata wa yūreidesu ka?"

"Hoka ni nanigadekiruka wakaranainode,-sōda to omoimasu ka?"

Akira noticed someone approach him, walking through the girl in front of him.

'Dakara kanojo wa yūreidesu...' Akira was snapped out of his thoughts by the stranger, wearing a concerned expression, beginning to talk to him.

"Sumimasen, daijōbudesuka? Anata wa jibun jishin to hanashite iru yōdesu."

The stranger had a look of concern in his eyes, a far cry from the looks of disdain and hatred he got from the people at home.

"Īe, nani mo arimasen." Akira waved off the stranger. "Watashi wa tada...Dareka no koto o kangaete imashita."

"Tada...Chūi shite kudasai. Musume ni mo onaji koto ga ietara īnoni..." The stranger trailed off before he shook his head. The man reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a small business card, the name on it reading 'Shinichi Yoshizawa'. "Anata ga dare ka to hanasu hitsuyō ga arunaraba, koko ni anata no renrakusen jōhō ga arimasu. Watashi wa anata ni saikō no wakai otoko ga hoshīdesu."

Akira smiled as he said, "Kimi mo, Yoshizawa-san."

The two waved to each other and the man named Yoshizawa left as Akira turned back to the girl, who seemed to be clutching her head.

"Nē, watashitoisshoni kite kudasai." Akira motioned for her to come with him to a more secluded corner of the square.

--

That man… Why did he look familiar?

As he walked through her, she got a sudden headache (Could ghosts get headaches? The more you know.) She saw the frizzy-haired boy talking to the man, but she didn't hear anything they said due to her headache.

After the man left, the girl looked up to see the boy motion toward her to follow him. They went into a corner where they wouldn't be disturbed as the ringing in her head went away.

"Onamae o oshietekudasai. Kurusu Akiradesu." The boy began to reach out to hold her shoulder, but remembered that she was a ghost and left his hand hanging.

"Watashinonamaeha Sumireda to omoimasu..."

"Anata wa kangaeru?"

Sumire shook her head. "Sore wa mondaida. Jibun ga daredatta no ka, nani o shita no ka, chijin nado, kako no koto wa nani mo oboete imasen. Shikashi, anata ni hanashikaketa bakari no otoko... Kare wa watashi ni arushuno kioku o hikiokoshita to omoimasu... Watashi wa kare kara nanika o omoidashita to chikaimasu! Watashi wa tada... Dō iu wake ka sore o ushinatta..."

Akira held up a business card between two fingers as he smirked, "Watashi wa kare no renrakusen jōhō o motte irunode, anata ga kare ni au hitsuyō ga arunaraba, watashi wa kare to hanasu tame no iiwake o mitsukeru koto ga dekimasu."

Sumire beamed.

Akira had a contemplative expression on his face as he began, "Sate, anata wa anata ga iku koto ga dekiru to anata ga shitte iru ta no basho wa arimasen, watashi wa akiraka ni anata o miru koto ga dekiru yuiitsu no hitodesu, soshite anata ga watashitoisshoni ita toki anata wa anatadesu.. Watashi wa dare ka to issho ni sumu tsumoridesu soshite-" Akira paused as he pulled out his phone with a look of shock. "Īe, okuremasu! Nē, sakura Sōjirō ga doko ni sunde iru no ka shitteru?"

Sumire put a finger on her chin, trying to recall anywhere she heard or saw the name "Sakura."

"Īe, shimasen. Kare ni tsuite nani ka shitte imasu ka?"

"Kare wa ruburan to iu kafe de hataraite iru yōdesu. Doko ka wakarimasu ka?"

Sumire thought for a while as she thought to all the times she flew through areas with coffee, and remembered an odd cafe in Yongen-Jaya that served curry which was called Leblanc.

"Hai, ruburan to iu kafe o oboete imasu… oboete ireba, yongenjaya no rodjiura ni arimasu."

"Arigatō, Sumire, namari. Tōkyō wa watashi no furusato ni kurabete kyodaidesu."

--

Akira got off the train, looking back to see Sumire letting go of the pole. Despite her ghostly state, she somehow didn't get left behind by the train. Akira decided not to question it as Sumire floated by him, guiding him to the cafe. They walked through a bunch of backstreets before they stopped in front of a red door in one of the more secluded back roads.

"Kore wa Leblanc..." Akira stared up at the awning with 'Leblanc Kōhī to karē' written in black letters. "Sumire, doko-"

Akira looked around to see that Sumire was nowhere to be found. As he waited by the door, he saw Sumire float back to where he was.

"Gomen'nasai! Sakura no ie o sagashite imashita. Watashi wa sore o mitsuketa to omoimasu."

"Rīdo o toru, Sumire."

While the two were walking towards the house, Sumire asked Akira about his past. As he explained his situation to her, she clenched her fists in anger.

"Soshite, anata no ryōshin wa anata ni bengoshi o yatou koto ga dekimasu ka?" Sumire gasped. To her knowledge, parents usually supported their kids through thick and thin. Why did Akira's abandon him when he needed them?

"Karera wa tameshimashitaga, nyūshu kanōna mono wa taka sugimashita. Shikashi, saiban wa sore o mondai ni shimasendeshita. Watashi o uttaeta seijika wa subete ni kakawatte iru yōdatta. Iikaereba, saiban wa hotondo tan'naru shōdeshita." Akira shrugged.

Sumire seemed to have an outburst, which Akira almost hushed before realizing that no one would have heard her anyways. "Subete! Anata wa watashi no dōtoku ga nandeatta ka o shiranai kamo shiremasenga, ima watashi wa anata ga tadashī koto o shita koto o anata ni hoshō suru koto ga dekimasu."

A warm smile seemed to creep onto Akira's face for the first time since his arrest. "Tokuni ima, watashi ni kore o sapōto shite kurete arigatō."

They stopped in front of the house Sumire believed Sojiro Sakura lived in. Reading the nameplate, Sumire observed, "Kono meiban ni wa Sakura' to kaka rete imasu. Kore wa kare no ie no yōna monodesu."

Wordlessly, Akira reached out and pressed the doorbell next to the front gate.

Ding*

Dong*

…

"Kare wa koko ni inai nodesu ka?" Akira asked Sumire, who just shrugged in response. To their right, they heard a deliveryman approaching holding a medium-sized package.

"Min'nanoie… konkai wa itsumo Sakura-san ga kafe ni iku… mazuwa mata haitatsu shite koko ni rūpubakku."

As the delivery truck drove off, Akira looked towards Sumire and said, "Somosomo tadashikatta to omoimasu. Modorimashou."

The short walk back was quiet unlike their walk to the Sakura residence. Eventually, Akira found himself standing back in front of the door. Taking a deep breath, he turned the handle as a bell chimed.

--

"OK. Kore de owarida. Ē to..." Akira pushed his box of stuff into the shelf by the stairs. There was some dust still floating in the air from his cleaning attempt in the attic above Leblanc.

After introducing himself to Sojiro Sakura, he was brought up the stairs to a dusty attic with a bed in the corner, being told that this would be his home for the entirety of his probation. With a bit of searching in the closet downstairs, Akira grabbed some cleaning supplies and got to work, Sumire helping to find places to clean Akira wouldn't be able to see otherwise. After 2 hours of cleaning, Akira collapsed on his bed, leaving the cleaning supplies by the stairs. A pair of footsteps grew louder as Sojiro poked his head out from the stairwell.

"Ittai nani? Koko ni wa iroirona oto ga aru to kikimashitaga, sōjide wa naku, denwa de dare ka to hanashite iru dakeda to omoimashita. Basho wa sore hodo waruku wa arimasenga, tonikaku dare to hanashite imashita ka?"

Akira had to make something up. If he said he was talking to a ghost girl he met earlier today he might get thrown into a mental hospital instead of out onto the streets.

"Tada no tomodachi…"

"Yoku nemuru. Ashita wa otto no kōchō ni awanakute wa ikenainode mō yarimasen. Ē to, kodomo-tachi o sanshō shite kudasai."

With a smug smirk, Sojiro went back down the stairs, leaving the cafe with a faint jingle from the bell on the door. Sumire looked at the clock and gasped lightly.

"Kanari osoidesu. Shibaraku sōji o shite iru yōdesu."

Akira nodded and moved towards the bed, but froze and turned towards Sumire.

"...Ē to...Watashitachi wa dono yō ni watashitachi no suimin no torikime o kanri suru tsumoridesu ka...?" Akira had a light blush as he wasn't expecting to have to sleep with someone, let alone the ghost of a girl.

Sumire shrugged and floated to the couch. "Sora kara betsu no mattoresu o mochiageru koto wa dekimasen. Issho ni neru no wa sukoshi muzukashīnode, koko de neru to omoimasu." She took off her glasses and put them on the table, sitting down on the couch.

Akira was trying to process how Sumire's glasses sat on the table while she sat on the couch before shaking it off as some bogus ghost physics that wouldn't make sense to him in the long run. Sumire curled up on the couch as Akira put on his loungewear and got in bed.

"Ē to..." Sumire began. "Sonoaida zutto, dokoni mo ikezu ukande imashita. Fudan wa dekirudake hodō de nete imashita. Sofa dake de sotto yasumu no wa fushigidesu."

Akira grinned as he looked towards Sumire. "O ni-ri tomo takusan no keiken ga arimasu yo ne?"

After a brief pause, Akira thought out loud:

"Masutā wa don'na hitona no kashira."

School. Sumire did think sometimes about what her school life was like. Would they see some of her old friends? Do they still think about her? Did she even have friends back when she was alive? Those questions would have to wait until later. For now, tomorrow would be the beginning of a new life, or rather afterlife, for her.

Akira pulled out his phone to look at the time and set an alarm for tomorrow. He noticed the red app he thought he removed earlier today and scrunched his eyebrows in confusion.

"Matte, tabun sumire wa kore ni tsuite nani ka shitte irudeshou. Tashika ni tsūjō no apuri no yō ni wa mienainode, tameshite mite kudasai..."

Akira's thoughts trailed off as he looked towards Sumire. "Sumire, wakarimasu ka-"

He saw Sumire was fast asleep, her shoulders rising and falling as the soft sound of her breathing barely reached his ears. Akira set his alarm, turned off his phone, and drifted off to sleep.

'Kawaisōna on'nanoko. Kanojo wa osoraku shibaraku yoku nemurenakattadeshou.'

Happy April Fool's. ;)