Akira's eyes shot open as he took in his surroundings.
'Whew, I'm still in Leblanc… What was that dream?'
For some reason, he had an incredibly weird dream. He woke up in a strange prison with piano music playing throughout the room, a long-nosed old man sitting in front of the bars at a desk. Two twin wardens stood guard outside his cell door, one with a baton and the other with a clipboard.
The old man was odd, talking about things like "ruin" and "rehabilitation." Whatever it meant, Akira dismissed it as just a dream, and nothing to be too concerned about. Looking around, he noticed that Sumire was nowhere to be seen.
"Was yesterday just a dream? There's so much weird stuff going on I can barely tell what's real and what isn't anymore..."
Akira changed into more casual clothes, still trying to process what happened yesterday and figure out if he was hallucinating.
As he headed downstairs, he noticed the sign was still flipped to "Closed," Sojiro nowhere to be found. Instead, Sumire was at one of the cafe tables, looking intently at the crossword puzzle sitting there. When Akira's feet touched the bottom floor, Sumire looked up and gave a happy smile, Akira returning it both in happiness to see his friend again and in relief that he wouldn't be scheduled for a visit to the psychiatrist anytime soon.
"Morning, Akira!" Sumire floated over, leaving the crossword. "I was bored waiting for you to wake up, so I decided to check out the cafe. This place is great! Did you know that they have-"
"Akira! Are you coming or what?" Sojiro's voice rang out from the other side of the door.
"Oh yeah, I have orientation today. Do you wanna come with us?"
"Sure!"
Akira left the cafe, Sumire floating through the door. He got into the passenger seat of the car, drawing the seatbelt. He turned around to see Sumire float through the door of the car, settling on the chair. Before Sojiro got in, Akira opened his mouth to tell Sumire to buckle up before remembering she was a ghost, closing it wordlessly.
Sojiro stepped out the remains of his cigarette and got in, starting up the car and driving onto the highway to Shujin. While they were on the ride, Sumire felt oddly restless and even slightly excited, but she couldn't tell why. Soon, they pulled up to the white buildings that made up Shujin Academy, Akira's school for the next school year.
--
Sojiro tapped his fingers on the steering wheel impatiently. Cars were laid out all along the road in front of them. Akira tapped his foot restlessly as Sumire shifted around slightly in her seat, changing positions every now and then. Thanks to the constant silence, Sojiro turned on the radio as some music began playing. Eventually, it switched to the news as the traffic jam continued to stretch in front of them while they waited to move forward another few meters before stopping again.
"The mental shutdown rampage has caused many accidents in the past few months, most recently a subway accident which has significantly delayed the schedules…"
Sojiro turned off the radio with a mix of sadness and frustration on his face, while Sumire looked out the window out of boredom.
"...Another accident? So that's why it's so crowded."
Sojiro sighed deeply, the next words making Sumire freeze.
"In fact, there was a real sad one just last month… It happened before you came here. If I remember right, the girl that passed away was only 15. Her parents have gotta be just…"
If her heart were still beating, it probably would've stopped.
Sojiro shook his head while Sumire processed what he said, the sounds of the engines and honking fading as Sumire's thoughts raced.
'Last month? Before Akira came? A girl around 15 years old? Could it be my accident?'
Akira looked back at Sumire, who was oddly quiet and now wore a thoughtful expression, clearly lost in thought. He processed what Sojiro just said, and the possibility it presented in his mind stunned him.
Sumire seemed to come to the same conclusion, and the two shared a knowing look. Once they got out of the traffic jam, both of them knew they had to discuss the accident to see what they could figure out.
The ride was silent on the way home…
--
The jingle of the bell echoed in the empty cafe, the dark sky contrasting with the soft glow of the lights.
"Jeez, I couldn't even open the store today…" He turned to Akira. "Keep your head down, got it? Any incidents and I'm kicking you to the curb." Sojiro had a hard look while he glared at Akira, who shied away from it.
Suddenly, Sojiro grabbed Akira's hand and slapped a small hard object into his palm. It felt like leather, and when Akira looked at it, it was a small journal.
"Keep a record of your daily activities. I have to report to your probation officer once a month, and just talking to you in the morning and evening while you're in the cafe isn't good enough."
Akira nodded and turned to see Sumire waiting at the far booth, seemingly lost in thought since she was staring vacantly at the coffee beans on the shelf behind the counter. Sojiro's phone buzzed, and his expression significantly softened as he picked up.
"Yeah?"
A pause.
"Don't worry, I'm heading back. Hey! Today isn't a busy day and you know that. Got it. Uh huh."
Sojiro sighed and pocketed his phone, turning towards the door. "I gotta head out. Remember, anything leaves the cafe and the same will happen to you."
As the door shut behind him, Akira turned to Sumire, in the same position she was before Sojiro took the call.
"Sumire?"
She jolted in her seat, thankfully. Akira didn't know how to snap Sumire out of it considering he couldn't touch her.
"Wah! Uh, sorry Akira, did you need something?"
"Are you okay?" Akira slid into the booth seat next to Sumire, hoping no one would walk by and see him talking to what would amount to thin air. Sumire looked in her lap, not responding as she seemed to tear up slightly.
"Yeah…" She was quiet, almost inaudible. Akira turned towards her and tried to give her a reassuring smile.
"Come on. Can you tell me what's on your mind?"
Silence. Sumire fidgeted a bit while Akira leaned in a bit further.
"Sumire? Please, tell me. I think I have an idea of what this is about, but if you're quiet I can't help."
"...accident…"
"Hm?"
"...It's the accident…"
"I figured it was along those lines…" Akira ran his hand through his hair and tried to comfort Sumire. "You think Sojiro was talking about your accident? He didn't mean to hurt you..."
"I know. It's just that there are so many accidents, but why am I the only ghost? Is it some divine punishment? Did I do something wrong? I think and I think and I can't tell if this is supposed to be because I was a failure of a person when I was alive or if something went wrong but-" Akira put a finger to her lips, cutting her off despite his hand not touching her.
"Sumire. It is weird that you're the only ghost we've seen in Tokyo, but you definitely weren't a bad person. Calm down, please. Let's try to figure this out."
Akira pulled out his phone and typed in 'Sumire death', filtering results from within the last month.
No results found.
He scrunched his eyebrows together before furiously typing out a slightly different search.
'Sumire dies'
No results found.
'Sumire killed'
No results found.
'Sumire deceased'
No results found.
'Sumire passes away'
No results found.
'R.I.P. Sumire'
No results found.
Akira drew in a breath, hoping for this last prompt to turn up some information.
'Sumire car accident'
No results found.
He slouched in his seat, letting his phone drop to his side in his hand. He turned to Sumire, one last question on his mind.
"Do you remember your last name?" Sumire shook her head sadly, not knowing anything more than her name and the way she likely died.
Akira shook his head, setting an alarm before pocketing his phone. However, Sumire's comment raised a few questions. Considering Sumire's current state, he had to ask carefully.
"What do you remember?"
"Not much… I only remember a voice that sounded like mine. All I heard was 'Sumire!' before I woke up on the street." Sumire's shoulders sagged. "Whoever it was, I'm pretty sure they were calling to me before I died. They must have cared about me, but… now I'm here. I don't remember them, or anyone who cared or still cares about me. I feel alone and forgotten. I wonder why I'm even here..."
"Then we're both in the same boat."
Sumire looked up, confused. Akira gave her a pained smile before reminiscing. "I told you about my parents, right? They couldn't care for me when I needed it." She nodded slowly, Akira continuing with his story. "When I got out of jail, it was worse. People avoided me like the plague. Everyone refused to get close to me, and all I saw in their eyes when they looked at me was with fear or disdain. Honestly, I'm afraid. I'm afraid I'll be alone again, that just being here and having someone to talk to is just a pipe dream."
"Hey, Akira? I'll still help you, as much as I can. We're both alone, but we can push each other forwards. You help me, and I'll help you." Sumire moved to attempt to put her hand on Akira's, hoping to reassure him, even if it went through him as usual.
Akira's eyes moistened, the pent up emotions in him breaking the dam. "I… thanks, Sumire…"
Sumire floated out of her seat, heading upstairs. "Come on. We have a long day at school tomorrow. I think we both need some rest from this."
"Yeah…" Akira got up, a few tears sitting on the lenses of his glasses. "Let's sleep…"
Akira went upstairs and changed, motioning for Sumire to come up afterwards. After the two took off their glasses and got ready to sleep, Akira pulled out his phone to check his subway route before his eyes landed on the mysterious red-and-black app.
"Hey, Sumire?"
"Mmm…?" Sumire lifted her head from the couch and looked towards him.
"Does this app look familiar to you? We met only a bit after I saw this so you might be connected to it somehow…"
Sumire floated over and examined it carefully, her expression puzzled before she shook her head.
"No, it doesn't. It is creepy though… maybe you should delete it."
Akira dragged it to the bin icon on his screen again. "I tried it before but it came back. If it keeps happening, maybe I'll get it checked out."
"Ok… G'night, Akira." Sumire turned on her side before her eyes shut, her soft breathing once again filling the room.
'She has to have some reason for being a ghost… Why am I the only one who can see her?' Akira's eyes began to close while he thought to himself, 'Is she meant to be like a guardian angel? I barely know who she is, so that can't be it…'
He looked towards Sumire, sleeping soundly while his eyelids grew heavier and heavier.
'I remember a movie I watched on Halloween once… don't ghosts have some unfinished business or something before they move on? It'd be hard for her since she has amnesia… Whoever was calling Sumire before she died, I hope they're okay. She's a nice girl… they must've been devastated at her loss.'
Sleep overtook Akira once more, his eyes shutting as his breathing matched Sumire's.
