The B.G.S.'s part 17

20^th July 2025

 

Hello Kiki. Today Hiroshi and I went out to find another B.G.S. again. This time we went to Nara City of Nara Prefecture and we ended up in a street filled with apartments and a small park was close by.

“I hope no one has spotted any of the B.G.S.’s here Hiroshi” I said. As we were in a city it did make me worry if someone had spotted any of the B.G.S.’s.

“I shouldn’t think so Kyoko,” said Hiroshi “I mean if someone did it would be all over the news by now”.

Hiroshi had a good point Kiki because there hadn’t been any news about weird sightings of glowing, squeaking things at night or whatever.

“As we are in a neighbourhood surrounded by apartments, I reckon the B.G.S.’s maybe hiding between the alleyways” said Hiroshi.

“That wouldn’t surprise me really,” I said “animals always like hiding and roaming between alleyways”.

Hiroshi and I began to search the alleyways. No one was about so I was free to let the red B.G.S. jump about and squeak for its friends. It turned out other B.G.S.’s were hiding between the alleyways; every corner we turned there was a B.G.S. We found ten in total.

“I didn’t expect to find this many B.G.S.’s in the alleyways” said Hiroshi.

“Yes but I’m not complaining,” I said “this will make Professor Largos happy no doubt. Now to get back to the house with this lot”.

Just as Hiroshi was about to press the button on the remote, we heard a crashing noise.

“What was that?” I asked.

“I don’t know, but we better go and see before we go back to Professor Largos’s house” said Hiroshi.

So Hiroshi put the remote back into his back pack, and we ran over to where the crashing noise came from. The noise turned out to be a man placing boxes into a moving van and he dropped one.

“I think that man could use some help there” I said to Hiroshi.

“I agree;” said Hiroshi “he seems to be struggling there”.

There wasn’t any room in our back packs to carry eleven B.G.S.’s so we told them to stay put in an alleyway and keep quiet.

We walked over to the man and asked him if he wanted some help moving the boxes.

“I would hate to ask you kids, but I would like some help please” said the man.

Hiroshi and I started helping the man load his box of things into the moving van. The man’s name was Ryuji Tokoka.

Just then I noticed a photo Mr Ryuji dropped on the ground; it was a photo of a little girl.

“Ah who’s this cute little girl?” I asked, showing Mr Ryuji and Hiroshi the photo.

“Oh that’s my three year old niece Nozomi,” said Mr Ryuji “she my late sister’s daughter. She and her husband died last month and I’m moving in with her husband’s parents to help take care of Nozomi”.

“That’s lovely of you,” I said “Nozomi sounds lucky to have a nice uncle like you”.

“I guess,” said Mr Ryuji “but the truth is this is the only way I could think of making up for my sin of never helping my late sister Sora”.

“What do you mean?” asked Hiroshi.

Mr Ryuji explained that he and his sister Miss Sora were twin brother and sister. But they had been born to the type of parents who loved one child over the other.

“I was pampered and spoiled by my parents, but Sora was neglected by both our parents” said Mr Ryuji.

“Oh I know this type of story;” interrupted Hiroshi “I was neglected by my mum in the past because she didn’t want sons, only daughters. I take it your Miss Sora was neglected because your parents didn’t want daughters?”

“That is exactly right,” said Mr Ryuji “my parents were overjoyed to have the son they always wanted. Therefore I was the only joy and happiness in their eyes whereas Sora was less than a stranger in their eyes. While we grew up I was always given new clothes and new toys and went to private schools. But Sora only got old hand me down clothes and toys and just went to public schools. And nothing she did ever got their attention much; even when she always got the highest scores in school she never got any praise and affection from then. Only I did”.

I looked at Hiroshi; he had a sour look on his face because Miss Sora’s neglect from her parents was the same as his neglect from his parents.

“What happened to Miss Sora in the end?” I asked.

“When we turned eighteen Sora moved out right away;” said Mr Ryuji “ever since we were thirteen she had been saving up money from part time jobs to move out. She hated our parents all her life for how they treated her and she always told me she would move out once she graduated from high school”.

“I don’t blame her for that” said Hiroshi, understanding how Miss Sora felt.

“I never saw or spoke to Sora again after she moved out, mind you that was my fault really because I never kept in touch with her ever since she moved away,” said Mr Ryuji “the truth is I always felt as a kid that Sora hated me because I got all the attention from our parents but she didn’t. Not long after Sora moved out I discovered a diary of hers under her bed. I know I should never look inside someone’s diary without permission but I couldn’t resist looking. When I opened it I noticed the diary held Sora’s feelings of how much she hated our parents for never paying attention to her and how she wished she had been born a boy instead of a girl”.

“I understand;” said Hiroshi “I felt like that too in the past”.

“I felt like a failure as a brother,” said Mr Ryuji “I was her twin brother but I didn’t do much to comfort and help her. Not to mention I didn’t stand up against our parents much. That’s why I didn’t contact her once ever since she moved away; I felt too ashamed to face her over these last ten years”.

“Hey it’s not your fault,” said Hiroshi “the ones at fault are your parents for neglecting their own daughter”.

“I do know that,” said Mr Ryuji “but sometimes I still feel like I failed Sora”.

“So if you never saw or heard from Miss Sora again, then how did you found out about Nozomi?” I said.

“I found out about her last month, which was ten years after Sora moved away” said Mr Ryuji.

Mr Ryuji explained he got a call from the police last month, saying that she had died from the car accident.

“I learnt from the police that my sister got married when she was 24 and had a daughter,” said Mr Ryuji “the police gave me the address of where my sister and her husband lived and I rushed over there at once. Nozomi was staying with her dad’s parents at that time and I met her there”.

“How did your parents feel when they heard of Miss Sora’s death?” I asked.

“They didn’t care much about Sora’s death,” answered Mr Ryuji “they didn’t even shed tears for her death even at her funeral. All they did was say that we were all born to die and that’s it. They didn’t even feel any remorse of their neglect of Sora”.

“Of course they wouldn’t,” said Hiroshi “if they didn’t care about her while she was alive, then they wouldn’t while she’s dead too”. Mr Ryuji’s parents reminded Hiroshi more and more of his neglectful mother.

“What happened with Nozomi after her parent’s funeral?” I asked.

“Seeing my niece made me decide right away that I want to take care of her;” said Mr Ryuji “it made me get that feeling that this could be my chance of making it up to my sister by raising her daughter”.

“Did your parents agree to that?” asked Hiroshi.

“No they didn’t,” said Mr Ryuji “they felt no connection at all to Nozomi. That made me cross because they were treating her like how they treated Sora. So for once in my life I stood up to them. I yelled at them for how they treated Sora and I also yelled how ashamed I felt for never helping her. And so I went against their wishes and agreed to take care of Nozomi”.

“Good for you,” I said “what happened to your parents after that?”

“Oh I broke off with them,” said Mr Ryuji “I’m not talking to them again and I’m not letting them see Nozomi either. I’m not letting them treat Nozomi the same way they treated Sora”.

“I don’t blame you for that,” said Hiroshi “so I take it your brother-in-law’s parent’s agreed to help you look after Nozomi”?”

“Yes they did,” said Mr Ryuji “I found out how nice they were to Sora and treated her just like a daughter. So I asked them for help and they said I could move in with them so we could all raise Nozomi together. To me they are true parents you can count on; they are nicer than my parents were. And I’m happy my sister found a family who loved and cared about her”.

“And Nozomi’s lucky to have an uncle and grandparents who love her and care for her too,” said Hiroshi “and I’m sure Miss Sora up in heaven is happy to know her daughter is happy and well”.

“I do hope so” said Mr Ryuji.

Just then I told Hiroshi that it was time for us to go back home and we leave Mr Ryuji to his packing. So we said goodbye to Mr Ryuji, and went back to where we hid the eleven B.G.S.’s. Then Hiroshi pressed the button on the remote and teleported back to Professor Largos’s house. Once we got back, we told everyone about Mr Ryuji and his family.

“Well I think Mr Ryuji did good breaking up with his selfish parents like that” said Tatsuya.

“I do too,” said Hiroshi “and I’m happy to know that Nozomi will live a happy future with her uncle and grandparents”.

Let me say this to you Kiki. As Hiroshi and I met up with a man whose parents were the neglectful types like Hiroshi’s mum is. I’m wondering if Tatsuya and Kouhei will meet up with someone whose parents are like their parents.  

The B.G.S.'s part 16

16^th July 2025

 

Hi Kiki. Yuko and Kouhei went out to find some B.G.S.’s today. I got the story from them when they returned. They went to Shibata at Miyagi prefecture, at some old lonely street.  

“Hmm this is quite an old street,” said Yuko “most of the buildings here look like they could do with some new coats of paint and fixing up a bit”.

“I agree with you on that,” said Kouhei “well we better get moving on looking for any B.G.S.’s”.

As Yuko and Kouhei were walking down the street, Yuko noticed an old fashion wooden built boarding house.

“Wow you don’t get many boarding houses like this anymore” said Kouhei.

“That’s a nice place,” said Yuko “I wouldn’t mind living here myself”.

“With how this old boarding house is still standing, the owners must take pretty good care of it” said Kouhei.

Just then a middle aged woman with a scarf over her hair came out of the building. She was the landlord and her name was Ms Mayumi Hana.

“Oh hello there, what are you children doing here?” said Ms Hana.

“Please excuse us but we couldn’t resist looking at this building as it looks so nice” said Yuko.

“Oh that’s okay,” said Ms Hana “are you children on some kind of errand?”

“Eh more like a quest really,” said Yuko “you see my little sister lost some toys of hers that look like the one I’m holding now”.

Ms Hana looked at the blue B.G.S. in Yuko’s arms. “Hmm well I haven’t seen anything like that around here,” she said “but you are welcome to look into my lost property shed. I always find lost items around here so I made a lost property shed a few years back to store the items in. I even get people bringing lost items from the park or other places here too”.

So Yuko and Kouhei went into the lost property shed. There were many lost items in there; lost toys, lost gloves and other things. I always find it amazing how much stuff people can lose Kiki. Anyway as soon as Yuko and Kouhei started to look around the shed a cherry-red and a Barbie-pink B.G.S. came out from hiding between some toys.

“Ha we found them rather quickly this time” said Yuko.

“You know what they say; better now than later” said Kouhei.

Yuko and Kouhei picked up the two B.G.S.’s and told them to be quiet and still, and got out of the shed. Ms Hana was happy when Yuko told her they found the toys.

Yuko couldn’t help but continue to look at the boarding house. “I’m amazed how you’ve managed to keep this old wooden building standing,” she said “I mean I’ve heard it can be tricky to keep old wooden buildings standing, especially when wood can start to rot in a few years or so”.

“Ah that’s because the tenants and I work together to keep this place standing,” said Ms Hana “we all love this building too much to ever let it rot away or get torn down”.

“I can see that” said Yuko.

“And to tell you the truth I promised the original landlord I would continue to look after this place,” said Ms Hana “and keeping that promise is something I intend to do for the rest of my life. I owe a great deal to that man after all the help he had giving me”.

“Why did something happen?” asked Kouhei. The way that Ms Hana spoke made him get the feeling that Ms Hana went through something bad during her life.

“Well it’s a bit of a long story and it’s a sad one too” said Ms Hana.

“Kouhei and I don’t mind long stories and we’ve heard lots of sad stories before” said Yuko.

Ms Hana agreed to tell her story. The story was she used to be married to a man named Jirou Kubota. She was divorced now which was why she was a Ms and was now called by her original surname instead of her married surname. Ms Hana and her ex-husband had a daughter together called Akane and they were a happy family at first. But then sometime after Akane turned five years old everything changed; Ms Hana and her ex-husband would yell and fight with each other when ever things went wrong between them.

Yuko recognized this familiar story at once.

“The arguments I had with that man were the type of arguments that seemed to go on forever,” said Ms Hana “and there were times I would throw things at him in anger. But it’s all because of those stupid fights of ours that we lost our daughter in the first place”.

“She ran away?” asked Kouhei.

“Worse, she died from a traffic accident” said Ms Hana.

Ms Hana explained Akane went through a phase of throwing terrible tantrums while at kindergarten and bullied her classmates.

“Oh this means Akane became very upset due to your arguments and took out her frustrations on other children” said Yuko, understanding Akane’s feelings. Yuko never took out her frustrations on other children Kiki, just got upset.

“Yes and the stupid thing is my ex-husband and I never noticed how our daughter felt until it was too late;” said Ms Hana “we got so distracted by our arguments we failed to notice our daughter, never mind her feelings”.

This really was familiar to Yuko because her parents neglected her feelings too.

Ms Hana explained next that one day when Akane was seven years old; she was having another argument with her ex-husband at a park. That made Akane upset and embarrassed because lots of people were listening to the arguing. Akane got so angry that she shouted out she wished her parents would get divorced and then she ran off, crying. But she ended up running into the road and she was hit by a car, and she died from her injuries.

“That’s sad,” said Kouhei “what happened to you and your husband then?”

“Things got no better;” answered Ms Hana “we kept on blaming each other for Akane’s death. I couldn’t take it anymore so I asked for a divorce at once. We divorced not long after Akane’s funeral”.

“I don’t blame you for that,” said Yuko, understanding Ms Hana’s feelings, “but how did you end up living in this boarding house?”

“Well a friend of an old friend of mine introduced me to this building and she suggested that this was the perfect place for me to find my feet after my divorce,” said Ms Hana “and she was right. I made many friends with the tenants who live here now and who lived here before. The original landlord and his wife were kind to me and they always listened to my problems whenever I felt down. To me they were like having new parents around since mine had died quite a long time ago”.

That sounds nice,” said Yuko “I hope you don’t mind me asking but did you ever get married again?”

“No my heart was so broken after losing Akane and from my divorce I became afraid to ever get married again in case I got my heart broken even more,” said Ms Hana “I was also afraid of becoming a mother again because of how I failed as a mother to Akane”.

Yuko and Kouhei understood. “I take it you haven’t seen your ex-husband since the divorce?” asked Kouhei.

“No but I’ve heard that he got married again and he has a new family with his new wife so no doubt that he is happy now” said Ms Hana.

Yuko couldn’t help but feel sorry for Ms Hana. Just then Kouhei looked at his watch and said it was time for him and Yuko to get back home.

“I understand,” said Ms Hana “just tell your sister not to lose her toys again and you children take care of yourselves”.

“You as well Ms Hana” said Kouhei.

Yuko and Kouhei walked to a corner of a house where no one could see them. The Kouhei got the remote out from his backpack and pressed the button. And once Kouhei and Yuko teleported back to Prof Largos house, they told everyone the whole story about Ms Hana.

“Sounds like Ms Hana and her ex-husband were hit by karma” said Shizuyo.

“I agree, especially since they lost Akane due to their errors too late” I said. Everyone agreed.

With how Yuko, Shizuyo and I have met people whose pasts were like ours Kiki, I’m getting the feeling that my friends and I will meet more people who had the same troubled pasts as us.      

The B.G.S.'s part 15

13^th July 2025

 

Hi Kiki. Today it was Shizuyo and Tatsuya’s turn to search for more B.G.S.’s. I got the story from Shizuyo and Tatsuya when they came back from their trip. They got teleported to the port of Akita of the Akita prefecture. It was a surprise for them to see the sea and boats.

“Look at that ocean” said Shizuyo admiring the sea.

“It’s lovely” Tatsuya agreed. They wanted to look at the sea all day, but of course they had to think about the stray B.G.S.’s first.

“I do hope we don’t have to search on any of these boats for the B.G.S.’s,” said Shizuyo “I mean they won’t allow us to just walk on any of the boats to look around, the especially the big ones that carry passengers or cargo”.

“Yes you’re right and we don’t have any money for tickets and such” agreed Tatsuya.

Just then the yellow B.G.S. jumped out of Shizuyo’s arms and was about to jump into the sea, but Tatsuya grabbed it.

“You mustn’t do that,” he said sternly to the B.G.S. “I know you like swimming but the sea is dangerous. You can’t just go swimming in any sea you see unless you know its safe first. And right now the sea isn’t safe because the waves are a bit rough at the moment”. The B.G.S. just squeaked in a sulky way.

This is true Kiki. The B.G.S.’s do like to swim and get this; they can even breathe underwater. My friends and I found that out a couple of weeks ago. We were at the park we always go and Yuko took three B.G.S.’s with her, despite we told her not to do so in case anybody see them. Anyway while we were at the park the B.G.S.’s had a swim in the pond. I couldn’t believe it when I found out they could swim and breathe under water. But then again when it comes to aliens Kiki, I reckon anything is possible.

Back to the story Shizuyo and Tatsuya were just about to walk along the harbour some more, when they ran into a man wearing a smart white captain’s uniform. His name was Kaito Touma and he was a captain of a passenger ship.

“What are you two kids doing here?” asked Captain Touma.

“Oh we are just looking at the boats and the sea sir,” said Tatsuya “but if we’re not allowed here we’ll go at once”.

“Oh no need to leave,” said Captain Touma “anyone is welcome to walk around the harbour. Just as long you don’t try to sneak on board any of the boats”.

“Wouldn’t dream of it sir” said Shizuyo.

Just then Captain Touma noticed the yellow B.G.S. in Shizuyo’s arms. “That’s an interesting toy you have there” he said.

“It’s a toy that my um grandfather made for me” lied Shizuyo.

“Well it’s still very nice,” said Captain Touma “oh speaking of interesting. There have been sights of the sea glowing at night time, but only when the night time sky is clear and the sea is calm”.

“Really?” said Tatsuya “um does anyone know why the sea does that?”

“I’m afraid not,” said Captain Touma “although it is possible that it may be anglerfish”.

“That would make sense because anglerfish have those lights on the top of their heads” said Tatsuya.

“I don’t suppose you kids would like to see the glowing sea happening tonight with me would you?” asked Captain Touma “the sea is going to be calm tonight so we’ll be able to see it happening then”.

“Oh well we would but aren’t you going to be casting off in one of the boats soon sir?” said Tatsuya.

“Not until tomorrow,” answered Captain Touma “so you kids are welcome to look around my ship for the rest of the day. Then tonight we’ll see the strange glowing sea together”.

“Well then let us let my sister and I phone our mum and let her know what’s happening” said Tatsuya.

“Okay you kids do that and then come back here” said Captain Touma.

Shizuyo and Tatsuya quickly left to find a phone booth.

“Tatsuya do you think its B.G.S.’s swimming about in the sea at night time making those glows?” asked Shizuyo.

“Well it could be or it might not,” said Tatsuya “which is why we need to see these glows in the sea thing ourselves tonight. Shizuyo phone Professor Largos and tell him what’s happening. I need to talk to our B.G.S. friend here because I’ve got an idea”.

 

While Shizuyo went off to phone Professor Largos, Tatsuya spoke to the yellow B.G.S.

“Okay B.G.S. listen carefully to want I want to say to you okay?” said Tatsuya. The B.G.S. squeaked yes. “We think there are some friends of yours in the sea,” said Tatsuya “so tonight I need you to look if there are friends of yours in the sea. And if they are your friends guide them to shore, and Shizuyo and I will collect you both in a bit. But make sure nobody sees you or your friends. Do you understand?” The B.G.S. squeaked yes, meaning it understood Tatsuya’s plan.

It wasn’t long till Shizuyo went back to Tatsuya after doing her phone call. “Okay Mr Yashiro said that we can stay and see if those strange glowing things in the sea tonight are B.G.S.’s,” she said “but if they are not we must get back to the house once we are finished. It will be too late then to continue the search tonight”. Tatsuya understood.

So for the rest of the day Captain Touma gave Tatsuya and Shizuyo a tour of his passenger ship. It was quite a big boat and it was very fancy inside. It had a big restaurant, a cinema room, a nurse’s office, a lot of rooms for guests to rest in and plenty of room on deck for walking about. Shizuyo thought it was so lovely walking about on a passenger ship, she wished she could afford a cruise trip.

After the tour Captain Touma had tea with Shizuyo and Tatsuya.

“It must feel nice being a captain of a ship and traveling around on the ocean” said Shizuyo.

“Yes it does, but there are times when it’s troubling because of bad weather and other troubles like that,” said Captain Touma “but I love it all the same. And to tell you children the truth I feel free while I’m out on the ocean”

“Free?” said Tatsuya “what do you been by that?”

Captain Touma looked serious. “I had a very overprotective life as a child,” he said “I was the only child of my family and I had parents who loved me a lot. But my mother’s love was an overprotecting type of love. You see she always judged everything I did as a child and every time I found something that made me happy she always treated it as if it was a bad influence on me. She even did that when I made friends and such. It was like everything I did was bad”.

“I hear you;” said Shizuyo “she sounds like another mum, namely mine”.

“It drove me to hate my mother while I was growing up,” continued Captain Touma “I couldn’t stand her overprotectiveness especially since she never thought about how I felt. Even when I became an adult she was like that”.

“Okay so how did you decide to be a captain of a ship?” asked Shizuyo.

“Well I found a magazine about ships and planes while I was still in high school,” said Captain Touma “and there were some captains and pilots talking about feeling free while they are in the sky or on the ocean. So I decided to become a captain of a ship to be free from my mother; I prefer boats over planes”.

“I take it there’s a chance your mother wasn’t keen on this idea?” asked Shizuyo, who understood the situation.

“You’re right she didn’t,” answered Captain Touma “she jumped to the fact I may die while on a ship and suggested I work in an office like my father did. But I snapped and told her again I wanted to become a captain. I even snapped, telling how much I hated her and how she felt everything in the world was a bad influence on me. So against her wishes I studied to become a ship’s captain, and I became one after working for a couple of years”.

“What happened with your mother after that?” asked Tatsuya.

“Well of course my mother was cross I went against her wishes,” said Captain Touma “and that led to a big argument between my mother and me. After that I broke off with my mother and moved away to pursue my career of being a ship’s captain. And I haven’t spoken to her since”.

“I don’t blame you for doing that” said Shizuyo, who understood everything.

“My father had secretly visited me and tried to get me to make up with my mother,” said Captain Touma “but I refused unless my mother admitted she was wrong. But of course she refused and she still refuses to admit her wrongs”.

“What a stubborn mother” said Tatsuya.

Captain Touma’s story reminded Shizuyo of her past and the overprotectiveness of her parents.

Hours later, night time came. It was a clear night so the sea was calm and the moon was lighting up the night sky. Captain Touma, Shizuyo and Tatsuya were standing on the dock and looking at the sea. Shizuyo had the yellow B.G.S. in her back pack for hiding. The plan was to place the B.G.S. into the sea once the strange glows come.

“The strange glows should appear any moment now” said Captain Touma.

As soon as he said that some glowing colours appeared under the sea. The glows were so deep under the sea no one could see carefully what the colours were.

“Wow look at that” said Tatsuya.

“Incredible isn’t it?” said Captain Touma.

While the captain was distracted, Shizuyo carefully and quickly placed the yellow B.G.S. into the sea. “Go see what’s happening down there” she whispered to it. Then the B.G.S. dived under the sea.

Captain Touma, Shizuyo and Tatsuya kept their eyes on the sea while the strange glows were dancing around under the sea. It was like an underwater light show. Shizuyo was impressed with the light show, but Tatsuya hoped the yellow B.G.S. didn’t forget the plan. About ten minutes later the glows disappeared.

“Well that was certainly interesting,” said Captain Touma “I’m glad I got to see it tonight”.

“Same here,” said Tatsuya “but my sister and I better go. We promised our dad we would come straight home after seeing the strange glows”.

“Of course,” said Captain Touma “well I now need to get my boat ready for tomorrow. I hope you children make it home safely”.

“We will and thank you for today” said Shizuyo.

Once Captain Touma was gone Shizuyo and Tatsuya looked at the sea to look for the yellow B.G.S. A second later the B.G.S. came out of the water along with a dozen B.G.S.’s. There was a coral coloured one, a salmon coloured one, an aqua-green one, a white-brown one and other colours I didn’t know.

“Wow what a catch we’ve found” said Tatsuya.

“Well the sea is a big thing” said Shizuyo.

Shizuyo and Tatsuya got the B.G.S.’s out of the sea. Next Tatsuya got the remote out from his backpack and pressed the button. One they got back to Prof Largos’s house they told me and everyone else the whole story.

I’m starting to realize this Kiki, which I’m sure you’re noticing too, apart from finding B.G.S.’s my friends and I are starting to find dramatic stories from people that we meet on our search for the B.G.S.’s.

The B.G.S.'s part 14

9^th July 2025

 

Hi Kiki today only Hiroshi and I went out to find another B.G.S. because Professor Logan needed the other’s help with taking care of the B.G.S.’s in his house. Hiroshi and I ended up on a rice farm in Takashima. But apart from finding a B.G.S. there, there was something else there for us to discover.

I’ll start at the beginning. It all started after Hiroshi and I arrived at Takashima, in a forest next to the farm lands.

“It’s so beautiful and green here” I said, taking a photo of the area at once.

“How are we going to find a B.G.S. here?” asked Hiroshi “with all the rice fields around there’s no telling where it is. Not to mention it could be hiding in any of the rice storage sheds around here”.

“That is true,” I said “and the farmers won’t like it if we go around poking around at their fields back and forth”.

Just then I had an idea and took out the red B.G.S. from my back pack. My plan was for Hiroshi and I to pretend we were looking for a lost toy and our B.G.S. was to squeak quietly while we looked around for the ‘lost toy’.

“Will they fall for that?” asked Hiroshi, who wasn’t sure with my idea.

“I don’t see why not,” I said “come on let’s just try”.

So Hiroshi and I began our search for a B.G.S. around the rice farm. My plan worked because whenever we came across a farmer, we told him or her about our search for a ‘lost toy’ and they did fall for our lie. So it was easy for us to look around the rice fields to search for a B.G.S. We even looked around the storage sheds where the harvested rice is kept. And the red B.G.S. remembered to squeak quietly through our search. But we had no luck on finding any B.G.S.’s.  

“Oh dear,” I sighed “as we have no luck on finding any of the B.G.S.’s around the fields or in the storage sheds, I fear they may be hiding in someone’s house in the attic or in a garden”.

“I hope that’s not the case” said Hiroshi. We didn’t exactly want to go sneaking around houses or gardens to search for a B.G.S.

Just then as the red B.G.S. squeaked another squeak replied.

“Where did that come from?” I asked. The squeak came again.

“Sounds like it’s coming from that garden over there” said Hiroshi, pointing to a lone house on a hill.

“Oh no, please tell me the B.G.S. isn’t in the garden” I said, worriedly.

I didn’t need to worry in the end because when Hiroshi and I walked towards the lone house, a lime-green B.G.S. and a lemon-yellow B.G.S. came out from a tree that stood just near the house.

“Oh thank goodness” I sighed, picking up the two B.G.S.’s I was relieved that we didn’t need to look into the garden.

Just then an old man, who I later heard was named Osamu Kenzou came out of his house. “Hello is someone out here?” he asked.

“Oh please excuse us if we have disturbed you sir, my friend and I were looking for some toys I lost, but I’ve just found them again” I said.

“Oh no problem, just be careful with your things from now on” said Mr Kenzou.

Suddenly Mr Kenzou fell over onto the ground. Hiroshi and I went over to see if he was okay.

“Ah do excuse me it’s just my legs; they aren’t as strong as the used to be, which is why I end up struggling with walking and standing up most of the time,” said Mr Kenzou “my neighbour usually comes over to help me with the house work and cooking, but her family have come over today to visit her. So I told her I would take care of myself today, while she enjoys her family’s visit. But as you children just saw I feel tired and weak right now and I’ve still haven’t done much housework or fixed some tea for myself”.

Hiroshi and I decided to help Mr Kenzou for a bit before going back to Professor Largos’s house. Of course Mr Kenzou felt it was going to be trouble for Hiroshi and I to help him today. But we assured him that it was going to be okay for a little while. So Hiroshi got to work on hoovering the house and I went into the kitchen to make tea and rice balls for us all. While I waited for the kettle to boil I helped Mr Kenzou get comfortable on a zabuton. Just then I noticed some photos on top of a table. There was a picture of a woman, a picture of a young man, which I assumed was Mr Kenzou when he was younger, a few photos of a boy as a baby, as a little boy and as a high school student, and a picture of Mr Kenzou, the woman and the boy together.

“Are these photos your family members Mr Kenzou?” I asked.

“Yes the woman is my late wife Haruno and the boy is my son Masaru” answered Mr Kenzou.

“Oh does your son visit you sometimes?” I asked.

“No the truth is we haven’t seen or spoken to each other once since my wife died 23 years ago,” answered Mr Kenzou “and the truth is it’s my fault that I haven’t seen my son for a long time”.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

Mr Kenzou told me and Hiroshi about his life while we had tea and rice balls. The story is Mr Kenzou used to be a successful corporate lawyer in the past and he lived in the city of Nagahama at that time.

“I loved my job and I loved my family,” said Mr Kenzou “and I always wanted to keep them well sheltered, well fed and happy. But I ended up being a failure of a father and husband”.

Another part of Mr Kenzou’s story was he was a workaholic; always busy with his job. Because of that he spent little time with his wife and his son.

“Because I was always so busy at my job I ended up breaking millions of promises to my family especially to my son,” said Mr Kenzou “I missed Masaru’s birthdays lots of times, I always missed his sport games like baseball and football, I even missed his school entrance ceremonies and graduation ceremonies. I wasn’t better with Haruno because I barely remembered our wedding anniversaries.  Worst of all I wasn’t even with her much when she became ill because of how busy I always was”.

I recognized this story at once Kiki because it was the same story as mine.

“My relationship with Masaru broke all at once after Haruno died,” said Mr Kenzou “he lost his temper and blew into my face about how I was never there for him or his mother. He even told me that he was never going to trust me again”.

“Oh dear” I said. This really did remind me of myself, especially when I told my parents I wasn’t going to trust them again.

“As soon as my wife’s funeral was over Masaru fell out with me all at once, cut off all contacts with me and moved away to start his own life without me, and I never saw him again after that” said Mr Kenzou.

“And you’ve never seen your son ever since?” asked Hiroshi.

“I’m afraid no,” answered Mr Kenzou “we are completely estranged from each other. My wife always warned when she was alive about how I was never careful with my relationship with my son. I realized too late that she was right; right after Maseru ran away from me. I tried many times to locate Masaru and call him, but I never got any word of him. It’s clear he never wants anything to do with me anymore because I was never there for him. And there is nothing I can do now to try to make up with Masaru. As I said before it was my fault”.

Hiroshi and I started to feel a bit sorry for Mr Kenzou.

“So why and when did you move here to Takashima?” asked Hiroshi.

“Ah I came down with an illness ten years that made me lose strength in my leg muscles,” said Mr Kenzou “because of that I couldn’t really work anymore so I had to retire from my job. I came to live here in Takashima because of a suggestion I got from an old friend of mine. He had a relative who lived in this house before I moved here. My friend showed me pictures of the house in the past and I liked the house when I first saw it. When his relative died there was no one else in the family who wanted to live in the house so it was put up for sale. So when I retired from my job I decided to move here because the countryside is always the best to be when you retire; that’s what I’ve been told before anyway. And I’m glad I moved here because I enjoy the peace and quiet here and I’ve made new friends here”.

“But don’t you miss your old life in Nagahama city sometimes?” asked Hiroshi.

“Well yes,” Mr Kenzou admitted “but I have all of my memories that I think about all the time, which is enough for me. Not to mention I always have Masaru on my mind even though I will never see him again even when I die. But I know we will all be together in heaven someday”.

Hiroshi and I didn’t know what else to say to Mr Kenzou after that because we felt sorry for him.

After finishing tea, Hiroshi and I said goodbye to Mr Kenzou because it was time we got back to Professor Largos’s house. Hiroshi and I hid behind a tree where no one could see us and Hiroshi pressed the button on the remote which teleported us back to Prof Largos’s house. Once we arrived back to the house, we introduced the lime-green and lemon-yellow B.G.S.’s to everyone and told them about Mr Kenzou.

“Wow Mr Kenzou’s story is like yours Kyoko” said Yuko.

“Yes you’re right Yuko” I sighed.

So Kiki the other thing Hiroshi and I discovered at Takashima, apart from the lime-green B.G.S., was a man who was estranged from his son because of his mistake of never being there for Masaru because of his job. Just like my parents who made the same mistakes of never being there for me because of their jobs.    

The B.G.S.'s part 13

5th July 2025

 

Hi Kiki, yesterday my friends and I started going to other cities of Japan to look for more B.G.S’s. It all started yesterday morning right after we had breakfast. Shizuyo, Yuko and I were getting ready for our first trips in our room. We each had a small back pack to carry around with us because we were going to take a B.G.S. each with us. As I already told you before Kiki, the B.G.G.’s are able to find each other by squeaking.

“This is going to be fun” said Yuko. She was looking forward going to places.

“This isn’t a field trip you know Yuko” said Shizuyo.

“I know, but it is still exciting” said Yuko. There was no point arguing with Yuko there.

Just then there was a knock at the door. It was Hiroshi. It was time for us to go. The boys, the girls and I all made our way to Prof Largos’s lab. Prof Largos and Mr Yashiro were waiting for us.

“Get ready children,” said Prof Largos “I have the machine ready to teleport you to other cities”.

Mr Yashiro handed the boys a remote control each that we needed to teleport back to the house. Yuko, Shizuyo and I placed a B.G.S. each into our small back packs. The boys had back packs to carry things in too.        

“Now children remember this;” said Mr Yashiro “don’t lose your remote controls, don’t let anybody see the B.G.S.’s and come straight back here after you’ve found another B.G.S.”.

“Yes sir” my friends and I said altogether.

The teleporter was now ready to teleport us somewhere in Japan. Yuko and Kouhei went onto the platform first and they were teleported to Iya Valley in Tokushima Prefecture. Shizuyo and Tatsuya were next and they went to Niihama City of Ehime Prefecture. Then it was Hiroshi and my turn to go onto the platform and we got teleported to Kiso Valley in Nagano Prefecture.

I will tell you what happened to all of us, one by one Kiki. I learned from Shizuyo, Tatsuya, Yuko and Kouhei of what had happened to them when they came back from the cities.

I’ll start off with Yuko and Kouhei’s day. Yuko was completely awestruck once she and Kouhei was teleported to Iya Valley. Not to mention she found the teleporting thing amazing. Iya Valley is a mountain valley just to let you know Kiki. Yuko and Kouhei were on a hill at the top of the village, and Yuko couldn’t stop admiring the beautiful view. Kouhei had to remind her about their quest on looking for a B.G.S.

“Good thing the teleporter teleported us to this village; it’s a perfect place to look for the B.G.S.s” said Kouhei.

Yuko took out a blue B.G.S. from her back pack. “Okay B.G.S.” she said “we are going to start looking for any of your friends in this village. So remember what Prof Largos said yesterday; you must squeak quietly while we’re looking around the village, okay?” The B.G.S. squeaked yes.

Yuko and Kouhei started to walk through the village. But after only just walking in the village for a few minutes, they heard something that captured their ears. A group of people were talking about some strange squeaking noises they heard in the wood. Kouhei and Yuko went over to the group of people and asked them what noise they were talking about. The people explained they heard the squeaking noises after they crossed the Kazura Rope Bridge of Iya valley. They reckoned there were rats about, so none of them wanted to look because they didn’t like rats.

Kouhei had a funny feeling the squeaks maybe from a B.G.S. So he suggested he and Yuko should go to the Kazura Rope Bridge and Yuko agreed. They asked the group where the bridge was and the people gave them directions to a river where the bridge was. Thanks to the directions they were given, Yuko and Kouhei made it to the river and the bridge.

“Wow look at that bridge and that river” said Yuko, in surprise.

“Since the people said they heard the squeaking noises after crossing the bridge, that means we’ll have the cross the bridge too” said Kouhei.

“Oh dear” sighed Yuko.

Truth is Kiki the thought of crossing the rope bridge sounded scary to Yuko. But thanks to some squeaking of encouragement from the blue B.G.S., Yuko understood she had to if she wanted to find any more B.G.S.’s.

And so Yuko and Kouhei slowly and bravely started to walk across the bridge. Yuko kept on holding to the sides of the rope bridge for balance.

“You alright Yuko?” Kouhei asked.

“I will be once we get to the other side” said Yuko.

“Just continue hanging on Yuko, we’ll be on the other side soon” said Kouhei.

A few minutes later Yuko and Kouhei reached the other side of the bridge safely.   

“Phew, that was nerve wrecking,” sighed Yuko “I’m happy that’s over”.

“I thought that was exciting really” said Kouhei. Truth is he finds anything that looks scary exciting; whether it would be climbing a very tall tree, riding a scary roller-coaster or jumping off a high diving board.

Yuko had a quick look around to check if the coast was clear and it was. Then she took out the blue B.G.S. from her back pack and held it in her arms.

“B.G.S. we need to check around here for any of your friends,” she said “so go ahead and squeak please”.

The blue B.G.S. started to squeak out while Yuko and Kouhei started to walk along the path, taking great care that no one else heard the blue B.G.S.’s squeaking.

“This is nice,” said Yuko, who was enjoying the walk, “I feel like staying here for the rest of the day, walking around this wood and the village again”.

“Yes but Mr Yashiro probably wouldn’t like it if we ended up staying here all day” said Kouhei.

Suddenly Kouhei made Yuko stop walking.

“Shh do you hear that?” he asked.

Yuko perked up her ears and heard some squeaking noises. “I do hear that,” she said “we’re close to the strange noises those people told us about”.

Yuko and Kouhei followed the sounds of the squeaks to some trees a bit far from the path. And there, to Yuko and Hiroshi’s surprise, were five B.G.S.’s playing hide and seek amongst the trees. There was a tan coloured B.G.S., a pine green B.G.S., a raspberry coloured B.G.S., a lilac B.G.S. and a lavender B.G.S. The blue B.G.S. jumped out of Yuko’s arms to join the other five.

“Wow what a find!” gasped Yuko.        

“This makes our task easier” said Kouhei.

Yuko gathered up the B.G.S.’s into her arms and on her shoulders, while Kouhei got out the remote from his backpack and pressed the button. They got teleported back to Prof Largos’s house.

I won’t tell you yet about what happened when Yuko and Kouhei got back Kiki. I want to tell you about what happened to me and the others first.

Shizuyo and Tatsuya ended up at the Besshi copper mine of Niihama, an old mine that produced copper from 1690 to 1973.

“Wow fancy arriving at an old mine” said Tatsuya.

“If Yuko was here she would say it would be like being in an Indiana Jones movie” said Shizuyo.  

“So would Kouhei, he loves those movies” said Tatsuya. He took a good look around the area.

“What are you thinking Tatsuya?” asked Shizuyo.

“Well to be honest;” said Tatsuya “there is a possibility that a B.G.S. is either hiding around this mine, or inside the mine. We better look around here first before going into the mine”.

Shizuyo agreed to Tatsuya’s plan and took out a yellow B.G.S. from her back pack. Then they started to look around the outside area of the mine. The yellow B.G.S. squeaked a lot while in Shizuyo’s arms, hoping another B.G.S. would answer. But there was nothing, not one trace of a B.G.S. around.

“Well then it looks like we will have to go inside the mine” said Tatsuya.

“Wait a minute though,” said Shizuyo, worriedly, “we haven’t got any protection helmets with us. And we can’t just go into an abandoned mine without a helmet, that’s dangerous you know”.

“It may be dangerous but we’ve got no choice here;” said Tatsuya “either we face the danger of going into the mine, or return to Prof Largos’s house without any B.G.S.’s”.

Before Shizuyo said anything the yellow B.G.S. jumped out of Shizuyo’s arms and bounced to the entrance of the mine.

“Ha our friend clearly wants to go into the mine and we should too” said Tatsuya.

Shizuyo saw she was outnumbered and finally agreed to go into the mine. Tatsuya took out his mobile from his back pack to use its light, as the mine was dark inside. Shizuyo took out her mobile for light too and held the yellow B.G.S. in her other arm. Then she and Tatsuya started to walk into the mine.

Tatsuya was impressed with the mine and couldn’t stop admiring it. “This is quite exciting,” he said “kind of makes you wish you got out more in the past hey Shizuyo?”

“Well I could have done if my parents had let me go out” said Shizuyo, reminding Tatsuya of her overprotective parents.

“It’s a shame this mine doesn’t have copper in it anymore” said Tatsuya.

“That’s what happens with mines;” said Shizuyo “you find a mine filled with coal, copper or something else. Then you mine it till there’s nothing left. And once the mine is empty it’s useless. Even if coal or copper mines produce more coal or copper they are still useless now”.

“That is true;” said Tatsuya “the only mines that are valuable now are gold, silver and diamond mines”. 

Shizuyo and Tatsuya continued walking in the mine, but there was still no sign of any B.G.S.’s. “Tatsuya we seem to have been walking for a while and we still haven’t found any B.G.S.’s” said Shizuyo.

“We’ll find some, we just haven’t walked through the whole mine yet” said Tatsuya.

Suddenly Shizuyo stopped walking. “Look over there” she said. She noticed a faint glow coming from down a tunnel.

“Ha looks like we’ve found something at last” said Tatsuya.

Tatsuya and Shizuyo ran towards to where the glow was coming from. Just around a corner, there were three B.G.S.’s jumping around. There was an opal coloured one, a pearl coloured one and a copper coloured one. The yellow B.G.S. jumped out of Shizuyo’s arm and joined the three B.G.S.’s.

“See Shizuyo?” said Tatsuya “I told you we would find them in this mine”.

“Okay, okay you were right,” Shizuyo admitted “but how are we going to get out of this mine without getting lost? We’ve walked a long way in this mine; I fear it’s going to be difficult to find our way out again”.

“Ah no need to worry about that,” said Tatsuya “Prof Largos said his remote control for his teleporter could teleport us back to his lab no matter where we are. Even if we were in a very deep cave or in the deep underground the remote could still teleport us”.

“Really? That’s clever” said Shizuyo.

So Shizuyo and Tatsuya gathered up the four B.G.S.’s, then Tatsuya pressed the button on the remote control and they got back to Prof Largos’s lab.

Now I will tell you about what happened to me and Hiroshi, Kiki. Hiroshi and I ended up at a village called Tsumago in Kiso Valley. I felt like we had been transported to the past like in the 1600’s, because the village was one of those old wooden house built villages.

“This place feels lonely,” said Hiroshi “I wonder why there are people who still live here?”

“Well people do have their own sense of taste of where they want to live,” I said “you get those who like living in a town and city, those who like living in the countryside and village, and there are those who like living near the coats and mountains”.

“Point taken,” said Hiroshi “now the big question is, where or how shall we find the B.G.S’s?”

I took a look of the village and had a think. “Well we could try looking for them in the woods, but it wouldn’t hurt to look for them in the village either” I said.

“Okay so let’s do this then,” said Hiroshi “we’ll look around the village. But we’ll split up so we can cover more grounds”.

I agreed with Hiroshi’s idea so splitting up is what we did. I had the red B.G.S. with me and I carried it around with me while I walked around the village. After walking around the village for about half an hour, I found no trace of any B.G.S.’s. I was afraid there may not be any B.G.S.’s in Tsumago at all.

Just then Hiroshi ran up to me. “Did you find any B.G.S.’s?” I asked him.

“No but I have found a hunch of where there might be some,” said Hiroshi “I overheard some people saying there is a haunted tree in the woods”.

“Haunted tree?” I said “what on earth are you talking about?”

“Well the people said that the tree had been making strange noises, which they thought was just squirrels or birds,” said Hiroshi “but at night time people have seen the tree glow like a lantern”.

“But trees don’t do that” I said.  

“I know, and that’s why I’m suggesting that B.G.S.’s might be in the tree” said Hiroshi.

I agreed with Hiroshi’s suggestion and asked him where the tree was.   

“Well I asked the people and they said it was in the woods outside the village and they said it’s one of the biggest trees in that wood” said Hiroshi.

So Hiroshi and I headed for woods to search for this haunted tree. It took us about half an hour to find the tree we were looking for Kiki because lots of trees in the wood were huge. But then we finally found it. You won’t believe this Kiki but the tree was so tall and big it was like the tree was touching the sky.

“Wow, I’ve never seen a tree this big before” I said.

“Me neither,” said Hiroshi “I think this tree could go up to the heavens if it kept on growing”.

The red B.G.S. started squeaking and some squeaking replied back.

“How do you like that?” said Hiroshi “my idea of the B.G.S.’s being here was right”.

“I wonder how they got themselves in this tree” I said.

“They probably landed on this tree after they fell out of Prof Largos’s spaceship,” said Hiroshi “I can’t imagine the B.G.S.’s climbing up or bouncing up this tree”.

The red B.G.S. squeaked again and the squeaking noises from the tree replied again.

“Do you think the B.G.S.’s are stuck?” I asked Hiroshi.

“I think they might be,” answered Hiroshi “leave this to me Kyoko. I’ll climb up there and get them myself. I’ve climbed up trees loads of times”.

“But you haven’t climbed up trees like this tree before Hiroshi,” I said “you’ll never be able to climb a ginormous tree like this”.

“I can with these” said Hiroshi. He took out a pair of shoes which had spikes on the sides and front from his back pack.

“What are those?” I asked.

“These are special shoes for climbing trees with,” Hiroshi answered “Professor Largos had a feeling we may have to climb trees while looking for the B.G.S.’s here. So he created these shoes with his machine for me. With them I can climb this tree with no trouble at all”.     

I still didn’t like the idea of Hiroshi climbing up the very big tree, but there was no point in arguing to make him change his mind Kiki. Boys are too stubborn. Anyway Hiroshi took off his shoes and placed the spiked shoes on his feet. Then he began to climb the tree. I kept on holding my breath and letting it out again, while Hiroshi climbed and climbed and climbed.

“Have you found any B.G.S.’s yet?!” I called out.

“No not yet!” Hiroshi called back. He went back to climbing, and then he suddenly shouted. “I found them!”

“Are they okay?!” I called out.

“Yes they’re fine, we’re coming down now!” Hiroshi called out.

I prayed for Hiroshi’s safety while he started to climb down the tree. It really frightened me watching Hiroshi do this because he could’ve been seriously hurt or died from climbing up and down the tree. But in the end he got out of the tree safely, to my relief, and he had four B.G.S.’s clinging to him. There was a light-orange one, a hazel-brown one, a maroon-purple one and a magenta one.

“I can’t believe you really climbed up and down this tree without getting hurt” I said.

“Remember what I said, I’ve climbed up and down trees lots and lots of times” said Hiroshi.    

The red B.G.S. started to squeak out and the four B.G.S.’s Hiroshi found joined it. I was happy we found more B.G.S’s.

“Well there doesn’t seem to be any more B.G.S.’s around here, so I think we better get back to Professor Largos’s place” said Hiroshi.

“Good idea, I think we have done enough for one day mainly you Hiroshi” I said.

So Hiroshi got out his remote control from his back pack and pushed the button. Then we got teleported back to the house.

Once we all got back to Professor Largos’s house, we told all of our stories to each other and to Professor Largos and Mr Yashiro.

“Well, well, well, it seems all of you had bits of excitements today” said Mr Yashiro.

“We sure did” said Yuko.

“Well you children go up for a hot bath or shower and we’ll have something to eat afterwards” said Mr Yashiro.

My friends and I were happy to be back at the house because we were tired and hungry after searching for the B.G.S.’s today.

This really was a start of an adventure for my friends and I Kiki, and there’s no doubt there may be more adventures to come.