I sat on the couch, hugging my knees and crying.

A few minutes later, the house was flooded with alarm clock sounds and jolly children noises.

I heard some adult voices too.

'Kids, prepare for school.'

'Good thing we have two bathrooms. Can you imagine how hard our life would be if we had only one?'

The sound of a stampede was heard. 9 girls climbed down the stairs.

'Kirito! How many times have I told you not to go around with only your underwear on?' a little girl snapped, pointing at me. 'It's annoying and disgusting.'

She had blonde, middle length hair and black eyes. She was wearing a pink, one piece dress and a tiara. This must be Lola.

Two adults came down the stairs.

One was a bald man with brown hair and black eyes. He was wearing a green sweater and brown trousers. My 'father', Lynn Sr Loud.

The other was a woman with middle length, blonde hair and black eyes. My 'mother', Rita Loud. She was wearing a red blouse and brown trousers. Her hips were overdeveloped (disproportionately with the rest of her body) and, as if her face wasn't ugly enough already, she seemed to use too much lipstick. What a freak!

Not that her husband was a great looker, mind you, but even he could have found a better spouse than that.

'Kirito, why haven't you dressed for school yet?' Lynn Sr snapped. 'You'll be late!'

The woman knelt in front of me, placed her palm on my exposed knee (in a totally innocent manner) and caressed my bangs. 'Kirito, have you been... crying? Is there something wrong?'

I looked at her. That full of concern look in her eyes. I could feel her love of me. So much love, yet I received none of it. Because she was not my mother. She was a woman I saw for the first time in my life, a person I knew nothing about.

'No, mom, nothing wrong,' I sobbed and wiped a tear.

'Huh? Kirito, why are you talking with a Japanese accent all of a sudden?' my 'dad' wondered.

'Why did you give me a Japanese name in the first place?' I asked.

'It was your mom's idea,' dad pointed at her. 'She claimed an oriental name would be classy.'

'An oriental name helps you find your orientation on life, MHAHAHAHA,' Luan made a stupid joke and then laughed by herself at it while everyone else rolled their eyes.

My day at Royal Woods middle school was ok. Since my best friend, Clyde, was black and there were only so many black people around, I had no problem recognizing him.

Even though, most of the time, he talked to me about bizarre stuff (such as how awesome my sister is, his visits to a psychiatrist called Dr Lopez, some antiques his parents had bought recently etc), he seemed an okay guy. And it was nice that, at last, I had a male friend. (Eugeo no longer counted, since he had turned out to be an asshole, see Chapter 19 for details.)

Should I talk to him about how I had been transported here only last night? Would he believe me? Probably not. And, even if he did believe me, he'd freak out. I mean, imagine how you would feel if someone told you that all your life, all those years worth of memories, was an alternate reality that had just been created by some unknown force!

In the end, I decided to wait for a while, get to know him some more and maybe I would talk to him about that later.

Ahh, it's nice to return home after an exhausting day at school, even if it is not your real home.

So, let me see if I've got it right so far. On the upper floor, there are eight rooms. The parents' room, Lori's/Leni's room, Luna's/Luan's room, Lynn's/Lucy's room, Lola's/Lana's room, the room I shared with Lisa and two bathrooms.

As I was dragging my backpack on the floor behind me, bored and tired, I could smell something.

Was it Lisa's chemicals? (I haven't mentioned it yet, but she was a scientist, a child prodigy like Seven, except Lisa was even younger!)

No, the odor was coming from Lynn's/Lucy's room. Curious, I decided to enter.

The room was dark. All windows were closed.

Lucy, an 8 year old gothic girl, was sitting on the floor cross legged and chanting something. Around her, there were open bottles, positioned in a circle, odors coming out of them. Her skin was freakishly pale and her black bangs covered her eyes. She was wearing a black, one piece, short dress and long, striped socks.

Lynn was lying on her bed, on her back, knees raised, soles touching the mattress, a bored expression on her face, and was lazily playing a makeshift game, tossing a tennis ball at the wall, then catching it when it bounced back only to toss it again. She had dark, brown hair in a ponytail and black eyes. She was wearing red shorts and an athletic white and red shirt.

'Hey, Kirito,' she said casually, keeping playing her game. Lucy resumed what she was doing without greeting me.

I approached Lynn. 'What is Lucy doing?' I asked.

'Oh, you know,' the brownhead shrugged. 'Her usual, paranormal bullshit.'

Lucy interrupted her ritual and turned to us. 'It is not bullshit,' she protested. 'I'm trying to purify the house. Since last night, I've been feeling the presence of a spirit in this house.'

Since last night? I had been transported to this world last night! Was that a coincidence? Did that spirit have something to do with my misfortune?

I walked over to Lucy.

'Sigh,' she said (instead of actually sighing!) 'Let me guess. You, too, Kirito, believe that what I'm doing is nonsense.'

'Nonono, I believe you,' I said eagerly, extending my arms forward, palms open.

Lynn interrupted her game and gave me a surprised look. 'You can't be serious!'

Ignoring the 13 year old, I kept talking to Lucy: 'Tell me more about that spirit.'

The gothic girl placed her hands on her temples and tried to concentrate. 'I can see... I can see... a white haired person.'

So is that the spirit of an old man? Did he bring me here?

'He's trying to tell you something, Kirito,' Lucy carried on.

'What?' I cried in anticipation.

A few moments of silence. 'Sigh,' Lucy spoke the word again. 'I'm not sure.'

That night, it was raining.

I was lying on my bed, thinking about what Lucy had said. In the bed next to me, Lisa was carefreely sleeping.

Suddenly, a lightning flash illuminated the room for a fraction of a second. During that fraction, I saw a white haired person standing in front of me.

I screamed. I jumped to my feet, terrified. I turned on the lights.

'Kirito!' Lisa snapped. 'What is your problem?'

'I s-saw him,' I stuttered. 'The spirit. Someone else was here!'

The 4 year old rolled her eyes. 'Go back to sleep before I tell mom and dad.'

Lisa went back to sleep and I was left alone, looking at the spot where that white haired person appeared for a moment.

Now that I had clamed down a little, I realized that he was too short for an old man. He looked more like... a boy!