Hayate as usual, was on a mission given to him by Nagi on a random whim. And as the norm for him is to find trouble whenever he leaves, fate would never disappoint. He decided to cut through the park because that way he thought would avoid possible distractions. But unfortunately for poor Hayate, no matter where he went, his destiny would claim to impede him at every turn. He strolled through the middle of the park, right where he met Lady Nagi all those months ago, that cold Christmas Eve.
"This place always brings back so many memories…" Hayate drowned himself in nostalgia, so much so that he didn't realize the person he collided straight into. Nor did he notice that the person in question wasn't paying attention either.
The two clueless people tumbled downward on the pavement, Hayate landing on top of the victim. Once the second person fully grasped the situation she called out angrily, "Hey! Watch where you're goin'!"
"Sorry!" Hayate apologized as he clumsily attempted rise up. While he moved his arm to gain leverage to push upward, he felt something soft, definitely not as hard as pavement. It didn't quite feel like grass either, it almost felt like a pillow, a really soft one that one could fall asleep on easily...
The other person blushed heavily while cracking her knuckles, "Why you…" She gritted her teeth and pulled her arm back. The next thing Hayate knew, he was face down on the ground again, this time with a foot keeping his head planted to the floor. "So you think because I'm down you can take advantage of me huh?" She called out, anger evident.
Something finally clicked in Hayate's mind, "S-Sakuya-san! I didn't know it was you," out came his muffled reply, "I'm sorry!" Another light bulb just flicked on. When he tried to get up he must have accidentally touched her… With that sudden realization Hayate apologized again, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do that to you!" It was true that Hayate held no impure intentions, but alas, once again he found himself a wonderful victim of circumstance.
"Oh? So if it wasn't me you still would have done that? Pervert," her reply rolled off her tongue naturally, and she then grabbed her fan and proceeded to whack him like she usually would. Hayate then took notice that Sakuya began making it a habit to give him a beating whenever she saw him. He always did something not quite to her liking, and thus he received a hard punishment. Something felt off about the whole situation, and this beating in particular felt oddly different. Once the demon finally removed her foot from his skull, he slinked upward painfully.
"Oww… Painful as usual Sakuya-san," he rubbed his head in a futile attempt to weaken the pain.
"That's what happens when you take advantage of a girl," she pouted, smiling mischievously while moving her hands to her sides in a 'superman' like pose.
Hayate decided he needed to address the issue, "Umm… Sakuya?"
"What is it?" She tilted her head slightly, her dark grey hair moving in rhythm with the motion, settling easily.
"You've been attacking me an awful lot recently… Why?" That seemed as good a place to start as any.
Sakuya stopped to ponder this a moment, come to think of it, she was beating him up pretty frequently nowadays. She concluded it must not be her fault, it must just be coincidence. She answered with another question, "Have I?"
Hayate sighed, "Yes, I think five times in three days counts as a reason for me to be concerned."
"Really? I could have sworn it was only four…"
"Anyway, why are you doing this to me? And why did you hold back on this one?"
Sakuya's heart stopped for a brief moment, she wasn't holding back, was she? She would know, she administered the beating after all, "I wasn't holding back."
Hayate's eyes showed disbelief, "I can tell you did. Whenever I screw up with comedy, your beatings are much worse than this, and even the ones earlier in the week were worse. Why are you suddenly being so much nicer?"
How one can consider that beating he endured as nice will forever remain a mystery. Sakuya paused, and her breathing slowed, trying to formulate a good excuse. "Well, I…" She couldn't think of anything, nothing funny, not even a good joke to get out of it. But telling the truth would definitely not do here, especially when she didn't even know it herself, "Why should I tell you, debt ridden butler?" She closed her eyes, scowled and crossed her arms, much like Nagi would when upset.
Now Hayate knew something was up, he walked closer to her and asked, "What's wrong?"
Sakuya heard his voice more clearly and loudly, indicated how close he came. She could smell his distinct 'poor man's smell,' a mix of different food items, cleaning supplies, and a hint of tiger odor, probably from Tama she could guess. She also smelled a hint of something different, something she couldn't quite place under any category. Sakuya immediately opened her eyes, blushing slightly. She whacked his face with her trusty fan, no warning given, "Don't get so close to me! Whaddya thing you're doin'?"
From the force of the impact Hayate was sent a good distance back, even knocking him to the ground once more. "Ouch…" He rubbed his left cheek where the impact hit the hardest, and when he removed his hand Sakuya could see the crimson trail of blood roll down his check.
She put her hand over her mouth and gasped, she didn't mean to have hit him that hard. "Are you okay?" She gave him a look of genuine concern, her green eyes radiating sincerity, unlike how she acts most of the time.
"Yes, I think so…" He kept rubbing his check where the wound lie. Something felt off to Hayate about Sakuya showing concern like this for his well being, she never cared so much beforehand.
Throwing her selfish pride down, Sakuya moved in aggressively, "Here, let me take a look," she placed her hand on his wounded left cheek, kneeling down at eye level with him. She felt his soft skin and the rupture where the blood flowed from, she felt it run off from her finger and drip down to the pavement. She merely held her hand there for a long time, simply staring at his face, and suddenly he didn't seem so… debt ridden anymore. She became oblivious to her surroundings again, eyes becoming distant.
Once Hayate's face changed to the color of his blood, he spoke up, "Umm… Sakuya?"
The young lady snapped out of her trance, "O-oh! I'm sorry. We should probably do something about that." She blushed and shifted her gaze away from Hayate. When did their faces get so close together? They were only inches apart from one another.
"Ehh, what were you doing just now…?"
Sakuya, too flustered to formulate a natural response, instead sunk her head down and turned her face away. Why did she feel so embarrassed right now? She doesn't act this way toward anyone, and never before had she acted so meekly to the debt ridden butler of all people.
After some time he tried again, "…Sakuya?"
Unable to look at him she replied, "What?"
"Are you okay?"
"Yes. I'm fine," she curled up into herself, but made no effort to move away.
"You don't act like you're fine, why don't you look at me?" In response, she turned her head slightly, enough so that her eyes could gather a quick look. She saw his face, smooth, tilted slightly in confusion, an obvious note of concern visible. The blood mark still fresh on his left cheek, the only blemish she could spot. His blue unkempt hair swung unevenly from side-to-side as the wind blew past, revealing a warm, bright glow from his deep blue eyes. She must have been examining him for a couple moments, because eventually Hayate stood up, and offered his hand to her. "Let's get up off the ground, shall we?" He smiled, closing his eyes.
She accepted the hand and as Hayate hoisted her up, she jumped straight into him, not hesitating. Quickly, she leaned into his face and pressed her lips on top of his, resting her arms on his chest. She did it for one quick moment, taking in his smell, the sweet sensation enveloping her, before quickly pulling away. She placed her arms behind her back, smiling, but also blushing like a lovesick school girl.
Hayate immediately widened his eyes in surprise, taking a step backward in shock, "S-S-Sakuya!" He stuttered, "Why did you do that?"
Her nervousness dissipated, Sakuya stuck her tongue out at him, "Why should I tell you, debt ridden butler!" She then started to run in the other direction, her lips curling into the widest smile she could remember making.
"Hey! Wait up!" He called, starting to chase her, gaining ground quickly.
Sakuya called in a sing-song voice, "Matsuda! ~Kunieda! ~"
With that, the two professional butlers appeared, and knocked Hayate's lights out with two quick taps to the head. Sakuya stopped and came back to examine damages done, "Good job you two."
"It is nothing milady," Matsuda responded loyally.
"He'll probably wake up, and think it all was a dream," she assured herself. Perhaps things can work out better this way. He won't remember what happened, for now at least. She showed him a side of her not meant for anyone else's eyes. Maybe one day she'll make him remember, but not right now. She snickered, a grin forming across her lips again, "I could have so fun with this… But that's enough for today." She waved her hands, "Both of you, take the debt ridden butler back to Nagi's!"
"At once," They mused, and suddenly disappeared with a gust of wind, leaving Sakuya to fall apart on a nearby bench and smile happily.
Author's Note: Scrawled this up pretty quickly on a random whim. Note I have not finished Hayate yet, so I don't know every character to the fullest extent. I kept writing trying to stay as best in character as I could, hope I did a good job on it... Hope you all enjoyed it, not much Sakuya love 'round these parts.