The Lost Souls Of The City
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It was a warm summer’s day. The air was still and the sky was cloudless. In fact, there hadn’t been a drop of rain in weeks. As I looked out of my window, the grass seemed to glow with its own light. It wasn’t long before it started raining again though…
I had just finished eating breakfast when I heard someone knocking on the door. “Come in!” I called out as soon as I saw who it was through the peephole. A girl about ten years old entered carrying two large bags over her shoulder.
She wore an oversized T-shirt that read ‘Lost Souls’ across the front. Her hair was tied up into pigtails which made me think she must be one of those girls you see walking around town wearing their pajamas all day. However, what really caught my attention were her eyes: they glowed like embers!
They reminded me of a pair of fireflies trapped inside some kind of glass jar. What did this mean? Was she going to burn down my house?!
“Hi,” said the little girl cheerfully as she set both bags by the door. “My name is Lulu.” She then turned towards me and smiled shyly. There was something strange about how bright her smile was; almost unnatural.
For a moment, I thought maybe I’d accidentally opened a portal back home or something. But no, we’re definitely not in Japan anymore. This place doesn’t have portals either. Still, if I didn’t know any better, I would’ve sworn that kid was smiling at me for real. Maybe I’m imagining things because she looks so much younger than she actually is…?
Lulu walked past me without saying anything else and headed straight upstairs. After watching her go, I decided to follow her. When I got to the top floor, however, she stopped right outside my bedroom door. She stood there looking up at me expectantly but refused to say another word until I answered her question.
“What do you want?” I asked bluntly.
She tilted her head slightly to the side. “You don’t remember me, huh?”
I shook my head. “No, sorry…”
Her face lit up in excitement. “Oh goody! That means I can finally tell you everything!”
That sounds promising… So why are you standing here waiting for me to open the door?
“Well first off,” she began excitedly while pointing at herself, “my name is Lulu.” Then she pointed directly behind her. “This is my mom, Momma Bear.” And lastly, she gestured downwards. “And these are my sisters, Baby Bear and Little Sister.”
So now that your introductions are done, let’s get moving already!
Momma Bear nodded and stepped aside. With a big grin on her face, she beckoned me forward. Now that I knew where to look, I could clearly make out the shape of a bear sitting on the bed. It resembled a small child except that it was covered from head to toe in fur.
Its arms and legs were also unusually short compared to its body length. Despite being a bear, it couldn’t stand upright because of how low to the ground it sat. Instead, it leaned against the wall next to the bed.
As I approached the bed, I noticed that each of the bears had a different expression painted on their faces. One of them appeared to be laughing while another was crying. All three were staring intently at me with wide eyes. Their expressions immediately changed once they realized that I’d seen through their ruse.
“Whoopsie daisy!” cried Momma Bear. “We forgot to put our human masks on again!”
Baby Bear laughed nervously. “Sorry, Mommy.”
Little Sister giggled. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll try harder tomorrow.”
After apologizing, the trio quickly removed their animal disguises and returned to normal. Once they were done changing clothes, Lulu took a seat beside her mother. Meanwhile, I remained standing.
“Now then,” continued Momma Bear. “Why don’t you come to sit down too, Mr. Kenji?”
I glanced at Lulu. “Are you sure?”
She gave a quick nod. “Yes, please. You should take a load off and relax. My family will keep watch over you.”
Relax? Me? Are you kidding me? I haven’t even unpacked yet!
But before I could voice my concerns, Momma Bear spoke up. “It’s okay, honey. He won’t mind.”
If she says so, then fine. I guess I can trust her judgment. Besides, I need to unpack anyway. I might as well start with my room since I spent most of yesterday setting it up.
With that settled, I plopped myself down on the edge of the bed. The bears watched me curiously as I pulled out my phone and started playing music. As soon as I did, all four of us burst into laughter.
***
The more time passed, the happier everyone seemed to become around me. They kept asking questions like ‘How old are you?’ and ‘Where are you from?’ and other such things. Each one of them wanted to learn about my life story, which made sense considering they hadn’t met anyone new in years.
In fact, none of them ever left this house unless someone came to visit. Apparently, the only people who visited regularly were the maids.
Once we finished talking, Lulu would always give me some food or drink to eat. There wasn’t much variety to choose from, though. For example, there was bread, cheese, milk, and water. But every single item tasted exactly the same. Not that I minded; I just ate whatever she handed me.
By the end of the day, I felt completely exhausted. However, when I went back inside, I found Lulu still awake.
“Hey, sleepyhead,” she said teasingly.
“Yeah, yeah. Go ahead and call me that if you think it makes you feel better,” I replied sarcastically.
“Hahaha! Oh, you’re no fun,” she teased. “Anyway, what brings you home tonight? Did something happen?”
“Nope. Nothing special happened today. Just the usual stuff.”
“Hmm… Well, maybe I shouldn’t have asked,” she mumbled under her breath before continuing. “In any case, I’m glad you didn’t run away.”
“…What do you mean by that?”
Lulu looked up at me with an apologetic smile on her face. “You know, after meeting you, I’ve been thinking a lot lately…”
Huh?! What does that even mean? Is she trying to say that she likes me? Or is she saying that she wants to marry me? Either way, it doesn’t sound very nice.
“Umm… Sorry but I really don’t understand what you’re getting at.”
She sighed deeply and shook her head. “No matter. Forget I mentioned anything. Anyway, why not go get yourself cleaned up for dinner?”
Dinner sounded great right now. After taking a shower, I headed downstairs to find the rest of my family waiting outside the dining hall. When I walked past them, Baby Bear waved his hand excitedly.
“Welcome home, Uncle Ken-chan!” he shouted happily. “Did you see your room already?!”
“Yep. Looks good.”
When I entered the dining area, Lulu smiled warmly at me. She must have sensed how tired I was because she offered to help me set the table. While she did that, I sat next to Little Sister and began eating. It was delicious.
“Mmhmmm! This tastes amazing!” exclaimed Little Brother. “Can I have seconds?”
“Sure thing, bud.”
He wolfed down two bowls full of soup and rice without hesitation. Then, he grabbed the spoon from Lulu and used it himself.
“Wow! That looks awesome!”
“Thanks. Here, let me show you how to use chopsticks properly.”
As Lulu demonstrated proper usage of the utensil, I couldn’t stop laughing.
“Oh man, look at him! Such a little kid.”
“That’s my baby brother for ya. Always hungry,” added Lulu.
Baby Brother nodded enthusiastically. “Yup! And I love Mommy’s cooking too!”
Mommy Bear chuckled lightly while wiping her tears of joy away with a napkin.
I had never seen her laugh like this before. It made me happy to see her smiling again.
After finishing our meal, we gathered around the living room to play cards. We played until late into the night, and once everything was put away, it was finally time for bed. Before leaving, I stopped by the kitchen to thank Lulu one last time.
“Thank you so much, Miss Lulu.”
Her eyes widened slightly upon hearing my name. “Um, sure. No problem.”
Then I turned toward the door and quickly rushed off to my bedroom. Once I closed the door behind me, I leaned against it and took a deep breath.
This place feels different than yesterday. Something changed since then. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I got along well with Lulu. Whatever the reason may be, I can tell that these days will continue to get better.
Tomorrow, I’ll start exploring this mansion. If nothing else happens between now and tomorrow afternoon, I should probably try to make friends with the other three bears first. They might come in handy later.
***
The following morning, I woke up feeling refreshed. The previous evening seemed to have done wonders for my mood. As soon as I opened my eyes, I heard a familiar voice coming through the wall.
“Good morning, Master Ken-chan! How are you doing today?”
It was Lulu, calling out to me. Her cheerful tone immediately brightened my spirits.
“Morning, Lulu. Feeling okay?”
“Of course!” she responded cheerfully. “How about you? You seem pretty energetic today.”
“Well, I guess I am. Thanks for asking though.”
“Not at all. Good luck on your adventure, Master Ken-chan!”
With that, she hung up the phone and left the room. Moments later, I could hear the front door open and close.
While I was lying there listening to her footsteps fade away, I suddenly realized something: I hadn’t told Lulu where exactly I planned to explore yet. Oh no, what if she gets lost or ends up somewhere dangerous?! In order to avoid such a situation, I decided to ask her directly.
“Hey, Lulu, can you wait here for just a sec?”
Once I called out to her, she replied instantly. “Yes, sir!”
“Okay, thanks. So, um, where would you like to go?”
“Hm? Wherever you want, Master Ken-chan!”
Aha! Now things were starting to become clear. With Lulu being able to teleport anywhere inside the mansion, she didn’t need any directions. All I needed to do was choose an interesting location within the confines of the house.
“Alrighty then, let’s go check out the attic.”
“All right, sounds good!”
We climbed upstairs together and found ourselves standing in front of a large wooden door. Unlike the doors downstairs, which were decorated with intricate carvings, this particular door looked plain and simple. There wasn’t even a lock.
Before opening it, I tried using my magic to sense whether anyone was hiding inside. However, there weren’t any magical traces nearby. Judging by that alone, I figured nobody lived up here.
Lifting the heavy lid, we stepped into a dimly lit hallway lined with bookshelves. On both sides, they stretched endlessly back in either direction. At the end of each row stood another bookcase. After walking several meters past them, I noticed a staircase leading upward ahead of us.
“Let’s take the stairs up, shall we?”
“Sure thing, Master Ken-chan!”
Following the sound of my own steps echoing throughout the narrow space, we ascended the long flight of stairs. When we reached the top floor, we came across a small landing area filled with various items scattered haphazardly around.
There was a desk, some chairs, a few lamps, and a huge mirror leaning against the far wall. A single light bulb illuminated most of the room, but not enough to see anything clearly.
As I walked over to inspect the objects strewn everywhere, I spotted a half-open drawer next to the table. Curious, I pulled it out and discovered a stack of papers stuffed inside. My eyes scanned through their contents and landed on a sheet titled ‘Family Tree’.
Huh… This is weird. Why does this exist?
Thinking back to the conversation from earlier that day, I remembered how Lulu mentioned that the family tree belonged to the previous owner. He must’ve been the one who drew it himself. But why did he draw such a detailed map of his entire bloodline?
Did he intend to leave it behind when he died? Or maybe he wanted someone to find it someday? Either way, I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of person had drawn such a meticulous diagram.
After reading through its pages, I finally understood the purpose of the drawing. It was basically a genealogy chart, listing every member of the household down to their respective ages. That explained everything—the old man’s obsession with lineage, why he kept telling me about all those people, and also the strange connection between him and the other bears.
I continued scanning the rest of the documents until I stumbled upon a list containing the names of everyone living under the same roof as the previous master. According to the document, there were four children born to the current head of the household, including myself.
I glanced over the information again and saw that two more kids had passed away before reaching adulthood. One was a boy named Tom, while the other girl’s name escaped me at the moment.
Next to their names were birth dates and places, along with the years they’d moved in. The oldest son was twenty-six, whereas the youngest daughter was only seventeen. As expected, none of the remaining three siblings seemed to be older than thirty.
The last page contained a brief description of each individual. For example, the eldest child was described as a calm young man with a strong will. His sister, on the other hand, was said to have a sharp mind capable of absorbing knowledge without effort. And so forth.
It was obvious that these descriptions were meant to serve as references for future generations since they included details regarding personality traits and skillsets. What really caught my attention though, was the fact that each entry ended with the phrase ‘as of today.’
This means that whenever new members join the family, they’ll get added to this list too. No wonder the guy was obsessed with bloodlines. If he ever dies or decides to move out, he won’t lose track of his descendants any more. In short, this chart served as a sort of family register.
That’s pretty clever.
But still… How could something like this possibly interest a bear? They’re supposed to eat meat, after all.
Well, whatever. Let’s just keep moving forward.
Moving onward, I came across yet another set of shelves crammed full of books. Some were bound in leather, others in paper. Most of them appeared to be written in Japanese, although there were quite a few English titles mixed among them.
Some of the volumes’ spines bore labels indicating their contents: “History”, “Philosophy,” and so forth. Others simply read ‘Mystery’, leaving it up to the reader’s imagination what sorts of stories lay hidden within. There wasn’t much variety in terms of subject matter; almost all of them focused on history, politics, economics, and philosophy.
However, unlike the ones downstairs, these shelves didn’t appear to be arranged alphabetically. Instead, they were organized according to size. Each shelf consisted of rows of tightly packed books stacked together, making it impossible to reach the very bottom unless you climbed atop the nearest chair.
With no idea where else to look, I decided to start searching through random piles of books. After flipping through several dozen of them, however, I realized that I hadn’t found any relevant material. So I gave up and started looking elsewhere instead.
And then I happened to notice an open book lying on top of a nearby desk. Its title was written in large letters on the cover: “A History of Japan”. Intrigued by its appearance, I picked it up and opened it to find that the first chapter dealt exclusively with ancient times. Apparently, this particular volume covered events dating back thousands of years ago.
Interesting… Maybe if I turn to Chapter 2, I might learn some useful stuff.
So I turned the page, only to discover that the next section was labeled “Prehistory.” Huh…?
What the hell?! Are we talking about cavemen here? Really now, bear even interested in prehistoric lifeforms?
Okay fine, I guess that makes sense. Bears aren’t exactly known for being bright creatures. Still, can’t they at least pretend to try?
Anyway, let’s see what happens once I flip past Prehistoric Times.
As soon as I reached the end of the second page, the book suddenly flipped itself shut.
Huh? Why did it do that? Is it trying to tell me something?
“Excuse me…” I called out to the room in general. “Is anyone home?”
No response. Not even from the stuffed animals.
In any case, I suppose it doesn’t hurt to take a peek inside.
I slowly approached the desk and lifted the lid off one of the drawers. Inside, I discovered a number of small objects wrapped in cloths. Amongst them, I spotted a pair of glasses, a silver spoon, and half a loaf of bread. A closer inspection revealed that most of the items belonged to the former owner.
The End