Love Hina - Volume 1 - Chapter 2.1

PART II:

CHAPTER I: THE HINATA HOUSE 
 
when I was little, the Hinata House was called the Hinata Inn. It used to be a little tiny lodge. I played there often as a child. 
Since my family ran a store year-round, they couldn’t take me on trips during summer vacations, so they just sent me to the Hinata Inn. Grandma was the manager. Now, she’s traveling around the world, but back then, she stood at the front counter as if she’d been planted there, welcoming new guests. 
The Hinata Inn’s teashop used to be managed by Grandma’s eldest daughter, Aunt Yoko. (Aunt Yoko was my mom’s older sister.) 

Aunt Yoko’s daughter, my Aunt Haruka, came back to run the teashop after she finished with college. (Technically, Haruka and I are cousins, but because she seemed so much older than me, I started calling her “Auntie” when I was little, and it just sort of stuck.) In my family, older relatives all get nicknamed “Uncle” or “Auntie” and that’s that. 
Of course, every time I called Aunt Haruka “Auntie,” she’d box my ears and tell me to shut up. As a child, I didn’t understand, so I kept repeating the same mistake over and over, until Aunt Haruka just gave up. 
You know, now that I look back, even though I sucked at gym and wasn’t especially strong, I took enough beatings (especially since I’ve agreed to manage the Hinata House, what with Motoko’s sword skills, Suu’s weird inventions, Sara’s full-body tackles, and Naru’s punches) that nowadays, no matter how many deathblows I receive, I still manage to avoid hospitals. I’m tough mostly because Aunt Haruka beat me to a pulp for so many years. 

When Aunt Haruka returned to open the teashop again, Grandma Hinata recorded her into the family registry as her adopted daughter. So, based on the official registry, as the grandson of Grandma Hinata, I technically could call Haruka my aunt. But every time I say “Auntie,” she yanks my cheeks apart or elbows me in the face. 

Boy, I’ve really gotten off track here. My point was, back when the Hinata House used to be called the Hinata Inn, I remember Grandma yelling at me anytime I got near the annex or the pond. 
 
At that time, there were three buildings strictly off limits to me. One was the teashop. The other was the old tower with the dangerous walkway. And finally, the annex itself. It was a small, two-story building with Western-style architecture—stained glass windows, a weathervane, slanted roofs—it was just really unique. It reminded me of the kind of mansions you’d see in movies or read about in novels. In later years, as it got more run down, it looked like a haunted house. But when I was growing up, the annex simply beckoned a young child like me to go exploring. 

One day, I got bored. My four-year-old heart yearned for adventure. I sang the theme song to the TV show Liddo, and marched straight to the annex. Back then, it was just an abandoned building. It wasn’t covered in rubble or mold. When I ventured into the foyer, I recall it being kinda new-looking and rather clean. It looked like somebody actually lived there. 

On the first floor, at the far end of the hallway, a door was slightly ajar. 

I peeked in, but someone from behind me called out, “Stop!” 

Grandma grabbed me by the shoulders and dragged me out. It was a long time ago; I couldn’t remember what it was that I’d seen. 

Grandma Hinata took me to her room on the second floor of the south building and warned me, “Don’t ever go in the annex, because it’s dangerous!” Her eyes burned intensely—more so than if she had been angry. It left a really strong impression on me. 

I distinctly remember calling out for Auntie Haruka, but I don’t know why. Maybe my memories were starting to surface because I’d so recently gone into the annex with Naru—I have a really hard time remembering much from my childhood. 

But beyond that, something else was bothering me. 

I felt like . . . like whenever I was in the annex . . . I wasn’t alone. 

The Hinata House had countless fairy tales attached to it. There’s a legend that if a couple stays overnight in the tower, they’ll get married and live happily ever after. In the main building, there are dozens of secret passageways that connect to unknown places. Plus, Grandma collected occult trinkets as a hobby. So, the whole place had kinda a weird aura to it. 

Plus, the old inn used to host annual events like cherry blossom viewing parties, and stewed sweet potato cookouts. Some of the guests Grandma told me about were pretty strange. And all the girls who resided here now, at the Hinata House, had peculiar quirks and odd histories. 

Of course, the biggest mystery was the annex. Grandma would never give me a straight answer, and Aunt Haruka never wanted to talk about it either. 
Don’t get me wrong. Despite the weird aura, I never thought the Hinata House was a strange place. After all, it’s home.