Love Hina – Before His-story

Fanfic

Chapter Three – Rukiyo and the Tea House

late June 1988

A Saturday evening

Giving everything in the old place a once over, again, Rukiyo and Hina stand in the middle of the Tea House, Rukiyo dressed in a formal kimono. "So, is there anything I can do for you before you leave?" Hina asks, taking her younger cousin's hand in hers.

Looking around, Rukiyo smiles sadly. "No, you've done more than enough, Hina. I just need to spend time with my husband, get to know my children and grandchildren again." Glancing out the window, she whispers "And make my peace with Haruka. And Keitaro, Kami willing."

"She'll be down in a few minutes. Are you sure you don't want me here?" Hina asks "I don't mind if you need the moral support."

Shaking her head, Rukiyo tells her "No. This I either have to do on my own, or never. Haruka deserved better treatment than I gave her. My own children deserved better. Now, at least, I have a chance to set things right." sighing. To herself, she thinks (And for what I did to Keitaro, though necessary, can there ever be forgiveness for me?)

A tear in her eye, Hina smiles. "You've always had a good heart, Rukiyo. Don't despair over the part you volunteered to play in Keitaro's life. The boy loves you in spite of it, in his own way." Hina looks up at Rukiyo. "Trust yourself, and everything will be alright." Looking out the window, she sees Haruka coming down the stairs, wearing a formal kimono of her own. "Well, here she comes. I'll talk with you later, Rukiyo. Bring your family over next week for dinner. I haven't seen them in ages." Hina walks to the door.

Smiling with genuine gratitude, Rukiyo nods. "Yes. They will be happy to see you again, Hina. We'll be here." Holding back another tear, she watches as Hina goes out the door.

As the pass each other on the stairs, Hina puts her hand out to stop Haruka for a moment. "May I say something before you and Rukiyo perform the ownership ceremony, child?" Surprised, Haruka only nods.

"Rukiyo has run the Tea House ever since your mother died. Listen to what she has to say. There are more responsibilities to running the old place than just serving customers and cleaning up." Hina tells her. "The Tea House and the old inn are more closely tied together than just being on the same grounds. Learn from her." Hina turns and continues up the steps to the inn. "I'll fill in the details after you two are finished."

Haruka, confused, turns and finishes the walk to the Tea House.

Kneeling at the door, she knocks once and waits. The door slides open, Rukiyo kneeling on the other side. "Enter, please, and be welcome." Rukiyo says.

Haruka rises, removing her sandals as she enters the Tea House. Rukiyo slides the door closed behind her and stands.

Rukiyo, moving to the center of the room, bows, and indicates with the palm of her hand a small table. "Please sit and allow me to serve you."

Haruka bows. "I am honored to accept your hospitality." She steps over to the small table and kneels, followed by Rukiyo. As they take their places, Haruka remains silent as she watches Rukiyo prepare the light meal from the serving table beside her.

Weaving an intricate blend reminiscent of a tea ceremony and a coming of age ritual, Rukiyo wordlessly sets everything in place with delicate precision. Finishing, she nods.

Rukiyo takes up her tea and bows. "In sharing this tea, I acknowledge that you, Haruka Urashima, have learned well of the things you need to know, and are now prepared to assume the role of Master of the Hinata Tea House." She sips her tea.

Haruka takes up her tea and returns the bow. "In sharing this tea, I thank you for training me in what I need to know, and hope that my performance as Master of the Hinata Tea House brings honor to your teachings." She sips her tea.

Accepting a plate, Haruka shares a light meal with Rukiyo in silence. At the completion, Rukiyo nods, and the two stand. Moving around the table to each other's left, they exchange places, each symbolically giving up the position to their right of each other as signs of mutual respect, and as owner and customer. Haruka nods.

The two women kneel again, and Haruka serve Rukiyo tea, her first symbolic gesture as the new Master of the Hinata Tea House, in respect of the previous caretaker. They bow and drink together.

Smiling for the first time since Haruka came in, Rukiyo looks at Haruka. "I am certain that you are as pleased to have this done and over with as I am, Haruka." she says, smiling.

Haruka grins. "I've never been big on ceremonies. Granny says I'll either grow into them or not. Sixteen is kinda young to be owner of a tea house, though. Honestly, I had thought this wasn't supposed to happen until I graduated from high school."

Rukiyo hold up her hand. "Ah, be that as it may, you must not think of it that way. You are not the owner of a tea house. You are the Master of the Hinata Tea House. There are more responsibilities to this than what you may believe." Rising, she motions for Haruka to join her. Going to the back office, she takes a key from her sash and, sliding a panel aside, unlocks a hidden cabinet set in the wall.

Haruka is stunned. She had thought that the secret cabinet being opened before her would hold operating funds or business document. To her surprise, she see stack after stack of books, carefully preserved, going far back into the deep enclosure. Rukiyo takes her hand and places it on the lowest shelf. "These are the guest books of Hinata Lodge, going back for hundreds of years. Many great persons have stayed here, as well as many, many more good and decent common people. We have never distinguished between the great and the meek. On many occasions, the Urashima family has allowed those in great need to stay here, either for their own safety, or the safety of the land. When warranted, we have refused to charge for those who could not afford it, saying that it was our honor to be of assistance when the need was great."

Haruka nods silently. She knew some of the history of Hinata, but this was news to her.

Rukiyo indicates some bundled scrolls. "For a time, the Urashima clan guarded Hinata City from marauders and pirates. You know the secret passages and rooms you and Keitaro play in?" she asks.

Haruka nods, confused. "Yes, but we thought no one else knew we were in there. We always thought they were abandoned apartments."

Rukiyo shakes her head. "Those rooms were used to hide and protect people from harm, and to store the great wealth and artifacts of Hinata City in times of peril." Her hand on the large roll of papers, she continues. "These are maps of those passages. It is safe to assume you and Keitaro did not discover all of them, as some are concealed behind secret openings. These show the way."

Haruka, starting to become more and more like the confused sixteen year old girl she is than the calm, mature appearance she tried to project, asks. "But, wh-why is all of this here? Why doesn't Granny keep it safe up at the lodge?"

Rukiyo touches the side of her nose. "That is the first place people would look to find them, if they knew these still existed, or their purpose, Haruka. The Tea House hasn't always been a tea house." Seeing the look on Haruka's face, she smiles. "Long ago, the sentries that were tasked with the main defense of Hinata-sou and the Urashima Clan were stationed from here." Haruka takes a quick intake of breath.

Rukiyo smiles again. "Ah, you didn't know that, did you? Hinata has not always been a lodge for tourists. It was, and still is, the ancestral dwelling of the head of the Urashima Clan. It was a wise and benevolent elder that converted our ancient home into a place of refuge, and eventually a lodge, long before Hina was born. It was, in fact, during the Edo Period, near the beginning of the 17th century, the daimyo, the feudal lord of Hinata, Keichitawa Urashima, first admitted weary travelers fleeing from the repression that began the Sakoku, the Isolation Period." Rukiyo pauses a moment to let Haruka absorb the story of their family.

"Where the Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu [AN: First Shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate] placed the Samurai above all other people, Keichitawa Urashima protected and gave relief to the common people. It was only by his loyalty to the Sei-i Taishōgun, the leaders of the Tokugawa clan, that this was permitted, and Hinata prospered under Keichitawa's wise administration; agriculturists, artisans, merchants and smiths thrived in this area of Japan."

Haruka interjects, "That explains why this was a prime merchant port, until Tokyo overtook it!" Haruka says, sudden understanding causing her to interrupt a story she very much wanted to learn. "Oops," seeing the look on Rukiyo's face "sorry."

Rukiyo smiles and continues, "You are correct, Haruka. After the Sakoku ended, many persons travelled here to relearn lost ways from the specialists here, and the elders of the Urashima clan at that time encouraged those same specialists to travel across the length of Japan, re-introducing lost skills where ever they were needed. Many of the skilled craftsmen and craftswomen found new homes and families far from here, but they were not begrudged, as they served a greater purpose, returning knowledge to people who had lost or forgotten it, helping to revitalize many communities."

Haruka sputters at this. "I-I never realized! I just thought we were a slightly well-to-do family in an off-the-trail township. Why isn't this common knowledge?" she asks, her face reflecting the fact of her youth.

"We as a family do not dwell on past accomplishments. The Urashima's have always tried to live without undo pride, serving in the benefit of those in need, and to look to the future. We do take pride in what we have done, but that does not swell us with false bravado in being who we have been, and are today."

Placing her hands on another stack, Rukiyo continues. "These are the ledgers to the old sealed annex. The Master of the Tea House still has a responsibility to guard that place, and you must be willing to accept it, no questions asked. If you feel unready or unwilling, you may still back out even at this point, and Hina will take over the Tea House."

Haruka, struggling to process all the information she has just received, looks Rukiyo in the eye. "I would have accepted the Tea House before, as an inheritance from my mother. But now, I see that it is more than that." Standing straight, the sixteen year old proudly tells her relative, "I am ready."

Smiling, Rukiyo places her hand on Haruka's young shoulder. "Hina always believed you would accept. So. The sealed annex. You know that you've always been told it is old, run-down, and not worth renovating, isn't that so, child?" she asks.

Haruka nods. Rukiyo goes on, "Well, that is not entirely true. Run-down it may appear, but, as far as we know, the inside is just as it was when our family had it sealed it nearly a hundred years ago. The annex has a powerful magic about it, and these guest books are a testament to it."

Her hand again on the bound journals, Rukiyo goes on, "Each of the couples whose names appear in these books married within days, if not hours, of spending one night in the annex. One night! Even men have been bound to men, and women to women, against their wills. It is not called the Marriage Annex because couples went there AFTER they were married. They got married BECAUSE they spent a night there."

Haruka looks at Rukiyo and shakes her head. "Okay, I can understand the stories about shoguns, daimyos, samurais and all that. But, a magic building? Did Granny make up this story for you to tell me?" she asks, crossing her arms and trying to look older than her sixteen years.

Rukiyo shakes her head. "No, child. The power of the annex is real. In the beginning, its power was used to allow willing, true lovers to be bound together for a lifetime. Not that the couples were always prosperous, mind you, but the love they shared endured."

Still not convinced, the young girl asks sarcastically "Right. So, how did our family get a magical building in the first place?"

Rukiyo tilts her head and eyes the young girl until she squirms under her gaze. "That's better. Now, how it got the power is unsure, but legend says that at one time it was a small, off the trail inn, sitting by itself, long before Hinata-sou was built on the lands around it. Sometime during the feudal era, a wandering monk, known to be a powerful man in exorcising demons, married his true love, a fellow demon hunter, there. Thankful for the bond they had formed, they returned later, and together as husband and wife they used their spiritual powers in a ceremony that lasted five days and five nights to bless the building. Since that time, many lovers, young and old, chose to be joined together, or renew their bonds to one another there. It was said no couple, after staying a night in the inn, ever faltered in the love they had for each other for the rest of their lives."

"Unfortunately, it was inadvertently discovered that the magic was not limited to those who were in love. It was then abused to arrange political marriages against the will of the participants. They would be locked inside at nightfall, and in the morning, whether they shared a room or not, they would be in love with each other, and were married."

Rukiyo holds up several of the books as she looks at Haruka. "But it was not true love, but love forced upon them by the magic of the annex. That is why it has been sealed. The Urashima clan had carefully tended the use of the annex until the fact of its power was discovered and corrupted, about one hundred and seventy years ago. At that time, the Emperor others of the court started sending couples there to end the feuds between warring clans and to arrange politically expedient marriages. An easy solution for the ruling nobles and warring families. But, in many cases, it meant separating a young person from the one they loved, to be swayed by the power of the annex to marry another."

"Many suicides were committed by former lovers when the ones they cared about would no longer even acknowledge them. Such unhappiness could not be allowed. Near the end of the last century, the head of the Urashima clan begged and was granted permission from the Emperor to have the Shinmei priests of Kyoto seal the building. That is because its magic prevented it from being torn down. So, sealed it was, and those seals were applied over a lock placed there by the head of the Urashima clan."

Reaching to the wall beside the cabinet, Rukiyo presses a nearly invisible, non-decrepit panel, and a small opening appears. Inside are several sets of keys, one in particular looking long unused and tied to a wooden ema tag.

"This is the key to the lock of the annex. Only by an Urashima using it can the seals be broken, and the annex reopened. Which must not be allowed to happen. Therefore, you are now the protector of the magic of the annex." Rukiyo closes the panel, showing Haruka once more how to open it. "Guard that key well. The other keys are for the various out-buildings of the Lodge, and some of the concealed rooms beneath Hinata. They are under your control as well."

Seeing the look on Haruka's face, Rukiyo smiles. "Let's make some coffee. I think we could both use a strong cup."

As the sit at the desk a few minutes later, drinking coffee together, Rukiyo continues.

"That is about everything that I need to tell you about the Tea House. More will be revealed by Hina, and by the journals in that cabinet." Pausing a moment, Rukiyo drinks some coffee, her throat suddenly dry. "On a more personal level; I told you earlier that we Urashima's do not pride ourselves on the past, but on what we do now, what effect we have on those around us, remember?" After another sip of coffee, she looks Haruka in the eyes and says, "Take Keitaro, for instance."

Haruka bristles involuntarily, in spite of her new understanding of Rukiyo and her own place in the Urashima family. She had always resented the callous treatment Rukiyo gave Keitaro.

Raising her hand, Rukiyo halts Haruka before she can speak. "I see in your eyes that my mannerisms towards him did not go unnoticed. Understand, what I did was necessary. And entirely of my own free-will." She says, bowing her head to look at the desk. "I was asked to accept that task from Hina soon after Keitaro was born. She sensed in him a rebirth of the warmth and goodness of past leaders of our family. It was necessary to test him young, before he grew old enough to mask his true feelings."

Rukiyo lifts her head and Haruka sees tears in her eyes, along with a genuine but utterly sad smile. "I had to treat Keitaro with disdain and unkindness, to see if he would return the feelings and treatment, or forgive the coldness he received from one he should have expected better from, being a relative. To my delight as an Urashima, but to my personal shame, he always smiled and f-forgave me. He is indeed full of a k-kind, gentle and understanding spirit, as Hina says her father, yours and Keitaro's great-grandfather Keiske, was."

Haruka reaches out as the older woman sobs gently. "Oh, Haruka! I love that boy, too. I grieve now that his memory of me will be of a shallow and unfeeling relative, even if he has forgiven me in his heart."

Haruka tentatively pats Rukiyo on the shoulder until her words sink in. Icieness drips down her back as she asks, "Wh-what do you mean, his memory of you? Can't you just explain it to him?" Haruka picks up a box of tissues from the counter and, with hands trembling as she begins to understand where all this is leading, holds it out to the older woman. "K-Keitaro may have spoken of how you treated him, but he's never held any anger towards you. He ain't like that. Just talk to him. I'm sure he'll . . " she stops as Rukiyo, her head bowed , raises a hand.

After taking a few deep breaths, Rukiyo sits straight and accepts a tissue from Haruka. Her still moist eyes meeting those of the young girl, she sadly states, "Haruka, I fear I do not have time for a full and true accounting of my actions to Keitaro, for the years of emotional mistreatment he endured from me. Haruka, I . . I'm dying."