Love Hina - Volume 1 - Chapter 2.4

CHAPTER 4: STRANGE MAN OR HANDSOME STUD? 

I wore my wooden sandals when I went outside. There were stone steps leading from the Hinata House to the teashop. I clacked my wooden shoes as loudly as I could. If there really was a weirdo out there, I didn’t want to risk any chance encounters. 

The teashop’s shutters were closed. The whole building was wrapped in darkness. There wasn’t much light coming from the Hinata House or the lamppost along the stone steps. 

No one was there. I sighed in relief. I wasn’t about to go searching through the vegetable garden behind the shop. It was dark and I was liable to break my neck. Now I could return, report that I’d seen no one, and just get some sleep. 
 
Just then, a shadowy figure appeared. 
My scream died in my throat. 
A man stood on the stone steps. He was skinny, maybe fifty years old. He had sunken shoulders and slightly bent knees. Despite the warm season, he wore a dirty coat and a plain tee shirt underneath. He looked at me with sad eyes. His face had deep wrinkles. I’m not kidding; he looked like a zombie. 
His fingers and shoes were covered in dirt. Like he’d just crawled out of his grave. 
“Hi,” he said. 
Okay. Zombies? Not big on the casual salutations. Weird. 
“Where did you come from?” I asked. 
He sighed, looking back and forth between the Hinata House and the teashop. “I didn’t know where the entrance was, so I kept circling the area.” 
“Oh. Are you a customer? For the Hinata Inn?” 
The man nodded. 

I finally put two and two together. There was a gap in the vegetable garden that led to the stone steps. He was probably covered with dirt because he’d accidentally stumbled into the garden and lost his way. 

I had almost freaked out, thinking he was a ghost. But seriously, which is scarier—a ghost or a stalker? 
I knocked on the teashop’s door. 
Aunt Haruka said, “Was he there?” 
“He’s a Hinata Inn customer,” I replied. 
The storm shutter opened an inch. Haruka looked suspiciously at the strange man. His eyes were fixed right on her. 
“This is the teashop,” I said. “Not the inn.” 
“Oh.” He chuckled. “I thought it was the entrance to the inn!” 
I nodded. He’d have to be practically blind to get the two confused, but I didn’t feel like arguing. Aunt Haruka slammed the door shut without reply. 
I led him to the inn’s entrance and logged his name (Soujiro Natsuki) into the guest book. He’d made a reservation, but arrived a day early. I called Naru to make sure Room 1 was clean, and then showed him to the north building. 
 
“Are you mocking me?” Motoko demanded. She strode up to where I was sitting in the cafeteria, a tray of food poised precariously on her right hand. 
“What’s wrong?” I asked. “Mister Natsuki is in Room 1, waiting for his breakfast.” 
“I went to deliver it as you’d asked, but the customer was nowhere in sight!” 

“Huh?” I scratched my head. 

“You’re taking advantage of my guilt about making the customers leave, aren’t you?” Motoko said suspiciously. She added, “You’re trying to fool me by making me run errands for imaginary guests, aren’t you? I’ll—” 

Motoko somehow pulled out her replica sword with her left hand and held it over her head. 
 
Fantastic. I cant even get breakfast before the beatings begin. 

“What are you saying?” I swallowed. “Natsuki checked in late last night, I told her. “Narusegawa saw him too. Where’s she? Ask her.” 

Shinobu answered, “She’s cleaning the bath.” 

Oh man. Come on, Motoko. Let’s get to the bottom of this.” 

We went to Room 1. Just before we opened the door, I wondered if maybe I’d just imagined Natsuki. Maybe I d dreamt up a false customer. These days, it was getting harder and harder to tell reality from my weird fantasies. 

I hesitated, so Motoko opened the door instead. 

Strong sunlight streamed in through the blinds. Natsuki was seated in the wicker chair next to the window. The air conditioner was on, but he was sweating something fierce. Had he been sunbathing? 
 
I smiled at Motoko. She relaxed a little and bowed before our guest. “I apologize for the delay. Here is your breakfast.” 

“Thank you. I was really hungry,” Natsuki happily replied. He sat on the cushion at the breakfast table. 

“Were you outside?” she asked, studying him closely. 

“No. I’ve been in here the whole time.” He slurped his miso soup loudly. 

“But—” Motoko said. 

I interrupted her, saying, “Sir, did you know we have yukatas in the closet? They’re much cooler in the summer ...” I stopped in mid-sentence. 
Strangely enough, a yukata had been thrown over the futon—Natsuki had slept in it and then changed into his own clothes this morning. Well, it wasn’t my place to question the odd habits of our guests. After all, he was the only customer we had right now, and I didnt want to run him off too. 
We left. Motoko and I both stood in front of Room 1, staring at the door. 
See? I said, breaking the silence. “Natsuki was right there.” 
“But he lied about going outside.” 
I shrugged. “Maybe he went to the bathroom or something. He doesn’t need to explain himself to us.” 
Motoko shook her head. “There’s something strange about his aura.” 
His aura? What, did he smell bad? 
“Did you not sense it?” she asked me. “It felt the same as the old annex.” 
Natsuki’s sudden appearance last night came instantly to my mind. He didn’t just look tired—he seemed eerie and otherworldly when I met him. Maybe Motoko was right. . . 
There was the sudden sound of rapid footsteps. Suu and Sara ran up to us, laughing. I braced for a full-body tackle, but instead they stopped in front of us and yelled, “The customers are here!” 

Today was the exact opposite of yesterday. Instead of a few guests, there was a mob crowding the Hinata Inn entrance. (Roughly thirty people, maybe more. Some of them couldn’t fit inside the foyer and so they waited on the steps outside.) 

“Wow! This is amazing,” Kitsune said. “Come on!” Still clad only in her underwear, she tried to pull a handsome young man to the front of the line. 

“What are you doing, Kitsune?” I cried. I turned to the customer. “I’m sorry, sir. Please wait your turn. 

Naru and Shinobu split up and took the customers names. Unfortunately, none of these people had a reservation. 

Shinobu looked worried. One customer grinned down at her. “Gosh, I’ve never seen such a cutie before!” he said, grabbing Shinobu’s hand. 

She shrieked. Motoko cut between them and pushed the guy back outside. She turned around and glared at all the customers, but they just locked eyes on her and started drooling. 

Ooooh!” they all said, pulling out their disposable cameras and snapping pictures of her. 

So, the rumor was true,” one customer said. 

“Yep! They’re really hot!” another marveled. 

Do you think they perform special services?” 

“They’re promotion models, they ought to!” 

“Heh heh, oh man!” 

Something was seriously wrong with these guys. Suddenly, I saw my old classmates. They were in disguise, wealing knit caps and dark sunglasses, but they couldn’t fool me. 

Shirai! Haitani! I called. “I told you, there’s no treasure!” 

“We know,” Shirai said. “But we’re here for a different reason.” 

Haitani thrust a flyer at me. “Here, look at this.” 
 
It said: The Inn with Beautiful Girls—Four Days Only! and there were hand-drawn caricatures of Naru and Motoko. 
Who drew this crappy ad for the Hinata Inn? 
If I was a clueless guy that had heard about a bunch of hot babes working for four days only at an inn with special services, I’d zip right on over here, too. Did all these guys come here just for the girls? 
“Why couldn’t you give us a heads-up on this, man?” Haitani asked. “We’re big fans of Naru and Kitsune, you know—” 
“And Haruka, too,” Shirai added. (I think he had a thing for older women.) “Will they scrub our backs? They’ll eat with us, right?” 
“You guys!” I groaned. I had no clue what was going on. “Kitsune!” I called out. 
She was posing in front of the crowd. When she heard me call her name, she sped away, quick as lightning. 
“Somebody, catch her! Naru, get her!” I shouted. 
“What about the customers?” Naru calmly asked. 
“They don’t have reservations, so, we need to make them move along.” 

The crowd didn’t like that very much. I couldn’t blame them. If I d found a cute girl willing to provide special services, I’d jump at the chance, too . . . 
I took a deep breath and addressed the group, “Excuse me, everyone! Please, you must leave!” 
Nobody moved an inch. They kept trying to squeeze through the foyer. 
I raised my voice and implored them, “Please understand, this isn’t really an inn!” 
Its an inn, all right, one of the men said. He was gruff with huge muscles. “If not, how come you guys are dressed like that?” He pointed at Shinobu’s apron and kimono. 
“Please leave,” I insisted. 
The big guy took off my glasses and grabbed me by the hair. “Shut up, you little weasel! Let us stay!” 
I was paralyzed with pain and fear. 
Naru called out, Keitaro!” She rushed forward and tried to yank me away from the man. 
 
“Narusegawa,” I murmured. “Ow ow ow ow, stop it, Nam!” 
The guy clutched my hair, and she clutched my hips, and both of them tugged until I was ready to cry. 
“Let go of Keitaro!” Naru ordered, placing her hand on the guy’s arm. 
He raised his left hand to punch her. I screamed, “Naru, run!” 
BONK! 
The guy that had me by the hair fell over on top of me. I was almost crushed under all that weight. I could just barely make out a guy in a suit. Two other handsome boys stood behind him, ready to back him up. 
Apparently, Suit Guy had kicked Mister Muscles in the back. * 
Judging by their faces, they seemed to be in their early thirties. They had expensive suits and watches. Suit Guy looked foreign. He was really handsome. He dressed like a corporate businessman, but he didn’t wear a tie, and his hair was a little long and wavy. To be honest, I had no clue what such a guy would do for an occupation. 
 
 
“Don’t lay your hands on the lady,” Suit Guy told Mister Muscles. He reached out his hand and helped Naru up. 
Naru blushed. I wondered why her eyes got all big and sparkly. She never shows that face to me. Never. 
“Thank you very much,” Naru said in a soft voice. 
“No problem,” Suit Guy said. He turned to the mob. “What’s all this anyway? You guys are troubling the ladies. They’ve told you they can’t lodge you. If you consider yourselves men, leave! This is a hot springs resort town. You can find rooms someplace else!” 
The crowd readily obeyed. 
I hated Suit Guy instantly. 
He said just the right things at exactly the right time, in a calm and dignified manner. The crowd shuffled out and order was restored. I should have thanked him, but it was all I could do to find my glasses and keep from babbling idiotically. 
Kitsune, Shinobu, even Motoko stared in awe of Suit Guy. Even Suu said, “He’s a stud, ain’t he?” 
Yeah. Regular stud muffin deluxe. Even I had to admit it. 
I always knew that girls never considered me, but to see them respond to Suit Guy like he was God’s gift to the world, well... It made me want to crawl into a hole and pull the hole in after me. 
“Hey, Urashima,” Haitani said. “We can stay, right?” 
“We’re friends, right?” Shirai asked. 
I ignored them. Losers. 
Suit Guy said to his companions, “Well, we should go too, gentlemen.” They started to leave. 
“Wait! You’re our customers!” Kitsune said, rushing up to them. 
Suit Guy smiled. “We heard there were beauties on the staff here, but I never expected anyone so lovely. Unfortunately, we didn’t make reservations, so . . .” 
“Oh, we can take care of that, can’t we, Urashima?” Kitsune asked sweetly, her eyes pinning me to the floor. 
In fact, everyone stared at me. Man, talk about pressure. “The other customers’ reservations—” 
 
“Most of them already left, remember?” Kitsune countered. 
“The next customer will arrive soon,” I said weakly. 
Natsuki only made a reservation for today,” Shinobu offered politely. “The other reservations aren’t until tomorrow!” 
Thanks, Shinobu, I thought. You’re so honest. 
But—” I was running out of counter-arguments. I looked to the other girls for help, but everyone seemed to really want these guys to stay. 
“Let’s put them up for the night, Keitaro,” Suu said. 
“We have plenty of food,” Shinobu encouraged. 
“And we owe them our gratitude,” Motoko reminded. 
Then Naru looked at me with pleading eyes and said, “Isn’t it all right, Keitaro?” 
I gave up. 
 
 
 
Suit Guy’s name was actually Takeshi Kodaira. He told me he ran a small company in Hinata City. He was supposedly a young business owner. His companions were his employees. 

Kitsune’s eyes were glinting like a hunter watching a herd of game. 

I didn’t like these guys, but they were clean cut and polite, I had to admit. I’m not sure Kitsune would be able to seduce them so easily. 

Kodaira complimented Motoko as she guided them to the cafeteria, and then chatted to Naru about her choice of tea. They teased Kitsune about her Osaka accent, and softly patted Shinobu’s head as she served them. 

Aware that they didn’t have a reservation, after their light meal, they just stayed in their rooms and hung out. Suu finally urged them to come out, and then Kitsune and Motoko argued over who would give them the tour. 
 
Watching the girls get so worked up made me uncomfortable. I kinda got distracted, thinking about it. I went around the inn, doing my chores, trying to figure out why these guys in suits bothered me so much. When I went to put the shampoos and soaps in the main bath area, I’d totally forgotten that it was the specified time for employee baths, and I just threw open the door. 

“EEEEEEK!” 

There were four silhouettes in the steam—Naru, Shinobu, Motoko, and Suu. The mist and the towels didn’t completely shroud them from view, either. I could tell they were all in their birthday suits. 

Naru and Motoko’s eyes blazed. Shinobu started to cry. Suu looked like she was ready to jump all over me (in her usual manner of greeting me). I turned around immediately, but the image was burned forever into my brain. Em a guy, okay? I can’t help it. 

Suu ran around Motoko and Naru and then hurtled toward me. “Keitaro, are you gonna join us?” 

She was a spunky kid, that’s for sure. And she was developing nicely. But c’mon, I’m not that sick. I stammered and froze up as she pushed me toward the bath. 

Shinobu had turned red from head to toe. She submerged herself almost completely underwater. 

Motoko used her energy wave to stir the hot bath water up into a whirlpool. Suddenly the water convalesced and came at me in one big giant wave. 
“You pervert!” Naru yelled. 
“I will punish you!” Motoko swore. 
Both girls punched me in the nose, and then the wave carried me back to the baths’ entrance. 
“Get out right now!” Naru yelled. 
The door slid open. Kodaira stuck his head in. “Are we not allowed in yet?” 
Couldn’t they read the sign? I wondered. 
I smiled. The girls would accuse these guys of being perverts too, and then I wouldn’t have to take the brunt of their anger alone. 
 
I waited for the infamous Naru Punch, but instead, Naru calmly said, “Oh, sorry. We’ll be out soon.” 
I couldn’t believe my ears. No Naru Punch? No screaming? No tears? 
Kodaira played it cool, bowing. “Please forgive us. I’m very sorry.” 
Motoko quickly replied, “Well, it wasn’t intentional.” 
“We were the ones taking too much time,” Shinobu said. 
“How about you join us?” Suu said, running toward them. 
But they didn’t freeze up like I had. They simply turned around and headed for the changing room, ignoring Suu completely. 
I was confused. All healthy males would stop dead in their tracks if a naked girl ran toward them. And it was absolutely fitting that they get a Naru Punch or two. 
 
“Come on, Keitaro, get out already!” Motoko yelled. “Idiot!” Naru screamed at me. 
 
I wandered aimlessly around the hallways, my shoulders slumped. I stopped short when I saw Natsuki outside, sitting on the stone steps. His shoulders were even more slumped than mine. You know, he wasn’t that bad of a guy. A little creepy, but . . . 
Natsuki stared at the Hinata teashop. He was looking into the store windows. At first, I thought he was just relaxing in the sun, dozing off, but he didn’t move so much as a millimeter the whole time. 
Even though it was the end of the September, it was still really hot. You’d think he’d want to stay in an air-conditioned room, or at least lie back in the shade. But he just sat there in the sun, looking at the teashop, staring at Aunt Haruka. 
Natsuki must have come to the Hinata Inn at some point in the past, since he was one of the guests that had made a reservation with Grandma Hinata. But he hadn’t said a word (thankfully) about how nostalgic everything was. In fact, he’d said very, very little. 
“What are you doing?” someone suddenly asked me. 
I twirled around, surprised. Kodaira stood behind me. He was alone. He must have taken a hot bath, because under his yukata, he was slightly sweating. 
“Watching over our customer in Room 1,” I explained. 
“Ah, yes. I met him on the inner lawn.” 
“The inner lawn?” I repeated. 
“There’s an annex there, right?” Kodaira asked intently. “Mister Natsuki keeps staring at that teashop. Does he know something?” 
“ ‘Know something?’ ” I tilted my head to the side, clueless. 
“You should be careful of people like that.” Kodaira patted my back and walked away. 
 
 
 
Well, he seemed like a nice guy. For a smoothtalking stud muffin, that is. 
I looked outside the window, but Natsuki was gone. 
 
I thought Natsuki seemed odd, and it wasn’t just because Kodaira hinted at it. I went to go look for Natsuki, and Shinobu told me that she’d seen him head toward the main bath. 
I poked my head into the changing room. Natsuki was there all by himself. I was curious, so I disrobed and joined him in the bath. 
At first he didn’t notice me. He just kept fiddling with the faucet and washing his fingers with lots of soap. He washed his arms, then went back to his fingers. Briefly, I wondered if he had OCD. 
He must be a clean freak, I thought. He was so intense about it. His hands were almost black with dirt. I remembered that he was covered in dirt last night, too, but I thought it was because he’d gotten lost in the garden. 

Suddenly, Natsuki turned around. “Oh,” he said, smiling. “You.” 

“Um . . . I’m staff, sir, but I didn’t have a chance to take a bath earlier. Do you mind me being here? Do you want me to scrub your back?” 
Natsuki waved his hand and politely declined. 
We engaged in some small talk for a while, but then I blurted out, “You were looking at the teashop all day.” 
Natsuki looked surprised, but he nodded. “There’s a young lady there.” 
“You mean Auntie Haruka?” I shivered. (Every time I say “Auntie” I immediately expect to get pummeled afterward.) 
“She looks familiar.” 
“I heard she looks like my grandma. She’d probably get angry about that if I told her, though.” 
 
“Oh, yes,” Natsuki said, nodding. “She does look like the inn mistress. But I think she looks even more like Yoko.” 
I blinked, suddenly remembering that Aunt Yoko was Harukas mom. “Did you know Aunt Yoko?” I asked. 
“A long time ago,” he replied. “And only for a few months.” 
I’d only seen Aunt Yoko in photos, so I was curious about Natsuki’s story. He talked about when Aunt Yoko was a student, forty-some-odd years ago. He said the climate was mild at the Hinata Inn, and sick people used to flock there to recover. As a child, I saw a number of guests come with different ailments, so that made sense. 
“Back when I was a student,” Natsuki said, “I failed the college entrance exams twice.” 
Wow. He’s just like me, I thought. 
“Of course, I didn’t study much, but, I was also pretty sick,” he continued. “My parents were worried about me, so they forced me to come here and relax.” 

According to Natsuki, the annex was used to house long-term visitors and sick patients. It was kinda like an infirmary. Grandma Hinata left Aunt Yoko in charge of the annex and its guests. 

“At first, I really hated being there,” Natsuki said. “The annex looked like something out of a horror movie. Yoko was still a student, and she was too busy to manage everything. 1 wanted to run away. Not just from the annex, but from my third time taking that entrance exam.” 
That hit close to home. 
“One day, I actually tried to escape. I ran to the train station with just the clothes on my back. My feet wouldn’t take me any farther. I stood there, stuck on the platform. I couldn’t think of anywhere to go. There was nothing for me at my house. So I ended up returning to the Hinata Inn. It was midnight by the time 1 got back.” 

He smiled. “A warm meal was waiting for me when I returned to my room. I was surprised. It was like Yoko was expecting me. She brought in a rice pot and quietly served me herself. I couldn’t eat much, but I was happy.” 

Natsuki suddenly laughed. “When I finished, she asked if I was done, and when I said yes, she slapped me. Hard.” He held his cheek and chuckled. 
I could picture Aunt Yoko slapping him the same way I could see Haruka laying into me. 
I waited for him to continue his story, but Natsuki just stepped out of the bath and headed for the changing room. 
I followed him. “What happened to college?” 
“After I stayed here, I got better, studied, and passed. Strange, isn’t it?” 
Once again, someone was calling the Hinata House strange. Maybe it was, but I’d never thought so. 
“Aunt Yoko passed away,” I said gently. 
“Yes.” 
Natsuki’s shoulders slumped again. Briefly, I wondered if he’d actually died ages ago, and really did crawl out of his grave every night, to haunt the Hinata House in search of Aunt Yoko. 
 
 
But that was impossible. I couldn’t see through him. He ate real food. And would a ghost bother to log his name in the guest book? 
Even so, as I watched him go, I thought maybe there was something special about him, and this place. 
 
“Oh, we’ll service you!” Kitsune said, trying to hug Kodaira. 
“Whoa, there!” Kodaira exclaimed. “No need to get so excited!” He didn’t seem troubled, really, but he also didn’t seem all that interested in Kitsune. 
The man had to be a eunuch. 
Motoko happily poured drinks for Kodaira and his employees. (I wondered if hell had frozen over.) 
 
Kodaira smiled. “Wow, a Japanese beauty pouring me a drink. I’ve died and gone to heaven! I hope I don’t get drunk, off the sake, or your loveliness.” 
Motoko blushed and murmured thanks. 
Shinobu brought in a set of dishes. She seemed extra perky. Every time someone said “delicious” or, you 11 make a great cook,” or, “I wish I had a girl like you, she’d smile shyly. Sometimes she looked over at me, but she never said a word. 
Suu and Sara put on strange (and far too revealing, if you asked me) costumes and sang and danced for the guests. 
And Naru . . . She was letting one of Kodaira’s employees read her palm! 
“Oh really?” she cooed. 
“Yeah, it’s true. That’s the life line, and this is the love line.” 
Even I could tell this whole fortune-telling thing was just a ploy, an excuse to touch Naru. Why was she letting him do that? 
He told her, “You will meet a special person soon.” 
I just about gagged. Palm reading was so bogus. 

But no one seemed to care. It was a regular old party at the Hinata Inn, let me tell you. It was like Christmas, a picnic, and Golden Week all rolled into one. The alcohol flowed. The food was delicious. The girls wore pretty kimonos. Oh, what a sight. Just like I’d always dreamed it would be. 

Except no one was paying the slightest attention to me. 

See, in my fantasy, the Hinata House was an inn, and all the girls were fighting to hook up with me. I was a brilliant Todai student, living the sweet life. The girls would say things like, “I always wanted a Todai boyfriend,” or, “Please be my mentor and teach me everything you know,” or, “Do whatever you’d like with me!” 

Instead, I just sat there, watching the girls fawn all over Suit Guy and his lackeys. Every once in a while, I’d mutter things like, “Kitsune, don’t get so close to them,” 

or, “Suu, don’t spread your legs like that!” I sounded like an evil mother-in-law or something. Not that it mattered, since no one listened to me. 

I couldn’t take it anymore. I stood up, grabbed Naru’s arm, and led her out of the room. “Hey!” 
“What? We’re working.” Her smile faded and she glared at me. 
“You call that work?” I said shrilly. 
“What do you mean? It’s not as if we’re giving them a lap dance or anything. And Kodaira isn’t a pervert, unlike some people I might mention.” 
“What?” That had hurt. 
Naru huffed. “We finally have well-mannered customers. We need to give them our best service. And Kodaira’s compliments . . . well, they make me happy. What’s wrong with that?” 
“You know what will happen if you let him keep going,” I said. 
Naru blushed. “They won’t do a thing. It’s harmless flirting. Let’s go back already.” 
“No!” I gripped her arm harder. “Why? You’re eager to get back in there, aren’t ya?” 
 
 
 
Nam tilted her head. “Keitaro. You re the one that asked us to help you run the inn. Now you want us to just quit?” 
“W-well ...” I didn’t know what to say. It’s not like I could order her not to touch those guys. Instead, I said, “Someone has to take care of Natsuki in Room 1.” 
Naru narrowed her eyes. 
Just then, Kodaira poked his head out of the room and chuckled. “Shouldn’t you just let that old guy alone?” He gently snaked his arm around Naru’s waist and led her back inside. 
I could only follow. “What do you mean leave him alone? He’s a valuable customer.” 
“He’s suspicious,” Kodaira fired over his shoulder. 
We sat down, and Kodaira’s employees piped in, “His hands were dirty this afternoon.” 
“He kept staring at the teashop like he was casing the joint.” 
 
Kodaira sighed. “I don’t know. But maybe . . . Do you girls know about the rumor concerning the Rinata Inn?” 
“You mean the treasure?” Motoko asked, irritated. 
“Yes, that,” Kodaira said. “That rumor spread all the way out to our store, and were down by the train station. There are tons of people who believe it.” 
Shinobu looked depressed. I guess she didn’t want to believe that a former inn customer would only come here to steal treasure. 
“That rumor is completely false,” Motoko said flatly. 
Kodaira peered at her. “Really? Too bad. But you know, the people that believe it aren’t the kind of people that will listen to reason. Besides, you guys haven’t checked the annex from top to bottom, have you?” 
“Well, no, but. . .” Naru hesitated. 
He nodded. “Anyway. You should be more careful around that creep. He’s posing as an old customer, but he acts awfully strange.” 
“I don’t think he’s a weirdo,” I jumped in. “When I talked to him in the baths, Natsuki didn’t seem like a calculating person.” 
 
“Oh?” Kodaira swept me with his eyes. “Well, why do you think he was digging around and checking out the buildings?” 
Because he’s a ghost, I thought. But I couldn’t just blurt that out. So, instead, I drank a bottle of sake until it was dry. Pretty soon, I got bored with the party, so I went out into the hallway. 
My vision narrowed. I felt like I’d already got a hangover. I don’t usually get drunk, but I was depressed. 
Why did it have to turn out like this? I couldn’t refuse Grandma Hinata’s request to reopen the inn. And it was my idea to involve the girls. But this just sucked. 
The first batch of customers had run away. The second group monopolized the girls. And worst of all, the girls seemed to enjoy it! 
I wasn’t as talented as Grandma; I couldn’t make this inn famous. I couldn’t even get it to run smoothly. 
 
Whatever magic used to be on these grounds, it was gone now. 
Things always turned out like this. I couldn’t stand it anymore. I stormed off to Room 1. 
Was Natsuki really here to dig up treasurel Did he totally make up all that stuff he’d told me about in the baths? I needed to find out. 
Angry and drunk, I barged my way into Natsuki’s room, but he wasn’t there. 
A used yukata once again lay on top of the futon. I guess he couldn’t dig wearing the robes. He must have been digging this morning too. That’s why he was wearing a ratty old tee shirt. 
WHUMP! 
I dropped to my knees. I couldn’t move my legs. I tried to push myself up, but it was no use. Something was terribly wrong. I’d never been this drunk before. I tried to call for help, but my tongue wouldn’t work. 
My vision got dark. All I could make out was the woven straw of the tatami mat. Then, everything went totally black . . .