A/N: Very sorry for the long awaited update. Lots of RL events happened, but I did happen to write a lot of material during the time! I appreciate everyone's patience!
Chapter 7: Life Keeps Going Whether We Want It To Or Not
The young maid rubbed the sand out of her eyes as she lazily sat up from her bed. She stared at her clock to see that it was exactly six in the morning. Her sleep timing was perfect as usual. She gets up and change, from her lavender night dress to her usual white and blue maid uniform.
She walked through the hallways of the large and old-fashioned apartment, to notice an unusual amount of dusty footprints. She sighed.
'People these days...' she thought. 'One of the rules here is to always take your shoes off upon entering!'
She grabbed a broom from a nearby closet and and began brushing each footprint off, following the trail it lead to a room, which had its door slid open.
'I found the culprit!' she thought. She jumped in the doorway ready lecture whoever it was.
"Ah-(ha-! Oh my...)" She covered her mouth before she was heard. Maria froze with an awestruck look at what she's seeing.
'Hayate is kissing Hinagiku!' she thought as she watched the two touch lips. 'Does he wanna die?!'
She watched by surprise as Hinagiku suddenly wrapped her arms around him and started kissing him back, pulling his body towards her futon and laying on top of her. Maria blushed at the such scene. 'So bold!' she thought. 'Such passion as well...'
Maria has never kissed in her life, and there she is watching perhaps her only chance of ever kissing a guy slip away. She couldn't help but keep on watching, as this was her first time to see a couple kiss in her very own eyes.
'Sharing a bed again... kissing...' she thought suspiciously. 'Don't tell me they do this every night!' Her head continued to be filled with steamy thoughts as she watches Hinagiku land another kiss to the butler.
'Oh... you lucky girl,' she thought, watching Hinagiku give in to the butler, imagining how it must have felt. 'Although I've known that you've liked him for some time...' Maria gripped her chest. 'I kinda wish I were you right now...'
If there was one thing that Maria wanted to experience, it was her youth. Given the time working with the butler, she's built a bit of imaginations around him.
'I really wish I were you right now... because he's been wanting you for a while as well,' she thought. 'I guess Hayate-kun does have youth in him after all...'
Her train of thoughts were interrupted as she heard the couple in her view laughing together. She then meets eyes with the pink-haired girl looking over Hayate's shoulder.
"M-Maria-san?" she called. Hayate turned around to look at the still maid behind them. He facepalmed himself, forgetting to close the door.
The maid kept her composure, yet had trouble speaking after standing there for the past five minutes.
"Br-br-br-breakfast i-is r-read-d-y," Maria stuttered. "But I s-see that you two already had s-some."
The couple blushed at what she meant. Before either of them could say anything, Maria sprinted away.
'Those two are definitely love birds!' she thought as she ran into to the laundry room. 'If I won't have youth... then I must at least protect theirs!'
Hey eyes suddenly burst into flames as she began laundry duty.
It was then seven in the morning. The sunlight gave the kitchen a full bright atmosphere and was filled with the aroma of crepes being cooked over the pan. Hinagiku enjoyed the smell as she sat by the kitchen counter as Hayate prepared breakfast in front of her.
'This is too good to be true...' she thought. She rested her head on her palms as she watched the butler cook her breakfast. 'A great morning and a great breakfast... both happening because of him.' The warmth that has made it throughout her body was still there. Amazed by how long this sensation can still last, she wondered, 'I'm not dreaming still... right?" She gave herself numerous pinches to her cheek to make sure whether or not she was dreaming.
"Hinagiku-san, how would you like your crepes?" he asked, flipping the crepe on his pan, cooking its other side. "With chocolate syrup or with strawberries?"
He watched her pinch both sides of her cheeks vigorously. Hayate sweatdropped. "Ano... what are you doing?"
"Ah-ah, nothing!" she quickly replied, instantly putting her hands on the table. "I'll have it with chocolate syrup!"
"Haha, of course it would be chocolate," Hayate chuckled. Hinagiku gave him a glare.
"Heyyy! What's that supposed to mean?" she asked.
"It just fits your tastes."
"Oh, my 'boyish' tastes, huh?" She rolled her eyes. "Don't you like chocolate too?"
"I do, but I'll be eating mine with strawberries," he answered.
"I didn't know you like strawberries," she said.
'That's because I never knew how amazing it'd be...' he thought as he glanced at her. 'Until I tasted you...' Still remembering the subtle taste from her lips that has kept him wanting more of that flavor.
He flipped the crepe out and onto a plate, filling it with whip cream before he folded the crepe closed and swizzled chocolate syrup on top, before he set the plate down in front of the pink-haired girl.
"Wow, this looks amazing!" Hinagiku said.
Hayate poured another serving from his batter to his pan and watched her take her first bite. He watched her enjoy the sweet taste of chocolate, along with the creamy filling of whip cream and the salty soft bite of the crepe.
"Hayate-kun, this crepe is delicious!"
He watched her lick her lips surrounded by some of the syrup smeared over. Hayate gulped. He replayed their kissing scene over and over in his head, blushing as he could not stop looking at her lips as she licked them bite after bite.
'Hinagiku-san's lips were so...' he traveled through his trail of thoughts. He can remember her lips as very soft, vibrant, wet, and warm. He could still feel the tingling sensation in his lips, along with the subtle taste of strawberries that he never seemed to get rid of. The kiss wasn't all he had looped in his mind, but also the way she grabbed him that caught him most by surprise.
'Is Hinagiku-san... experienced?' he thought. 'Considering her social status, she is quite popular. Wouldn't she already have done it before...?' Hinagiku was well known as one of the smartest and prettiest girls of Hakuo Academy, who could get along with just about anybody. Hayate recalled her even winning beauty of the year, though she was completely against the idea of 'such a popularity contest.'
"Ne, Hayate-kun..." Hinagiku interrupted his trail of thoughts. "Your crepe is burning."
He snapped back to his surroundings, including the crepe on his pan which is then set on fire.
"Oh! Uwaaahh! Shi-!"
After a couple minutes of panicking and a burnt crepe, Hayate sighed. He damned himself to let the kissing incident distract him since they now traded places. He sat by the counter as he watched the pink-haired girl in front of him making crepes.
"Seriously, Hayate-kun..." Hinagiku said. "You need to pay more attention to the little details happening around you."
"I'm sorry, Hinagiku-san..." he said, now laying his head on the table, for what felt like the hundredth time apologizing to her.
'I wonder if he was also thinking about earlier...' she thought. 'Did he... not like my kiss?' Her eyes widened as she watched the butler lay his head down.
'What if he didn't?!' she thought. She also replayed the scene over and over in her head, remembering how she approached to his lips. 'I give him some really long pecks in return! Those are good, right?'
She processed her thoughts of any doubts Hayate would have. Suddenly, she remembered that night. The night that has never made her feel so cold.
The night when Hayate left her for that woman. Her mind was quickly filled with jealousy and disheartening as she imagined the two together again.
'No, it can't be good! Hayate dated Athena!' she thought. 'With that kind of woman, he must be experienced!' Hinagiku gripped the pan harder. 'How long have they been together? How much did he love her?' She turned red as she pictured his relationship with the beautiful chairman progress. 'How did they kiss...?' she wondered. 'And how many times? And for how long?!' The fact that Hayate had dated such a beauty that prestigious drove her mad.
The blue-haired boy finally sat up from his self-punishment after sniffing something unusually familiar. "What's that smell...?" he asked as he rubbed his eyes. It sure wasn't strawberries.
'Don't tell me they used tongue!' she thought even deeper, completely oblivious to her surroundings.
"Hinagiku-san!"
"Y-y-yes?!" Hinagiku loudly freaked out. She looked back at her pan, which is you guessed it; now on fire.
"Aah! Shi-!"
After another couple minutes panicking and the smoke detector going off this time, Hinagiku and Hayate both sat at the counter now, both letting out a long sigh as they watched someone else cook the crepes for them.
"Seriously, you too..." the lady said. "You both need to be careful in the kitchen!"
"Yes, Maria-san..." Hayate and Hinagiku said in unison, who both shared a disappointed look.
'Youth at this age is a bad thing after all...' the maid thought. 'I guess my time can wait a little longer then!'
The day continued as Nagi and the other girls have woken up to the burnt smell of breakfast. Hayate, Hinagiku and Maria silently agreed to not bring up the event of this morning. Then onto lunch and then the afternoon carried on like usual. In the evening was when Ruka was ready to leave for another tour. Hayate and the girls all said goodbye to her.
Thus, the weekend became busy ever since. Hayate worked long shifts at the cafe while Hinagiku worked on school-related projects. Due to the reputation of Cafe Donguri rising and the lack of skilled employees, Hayate could not spend as much time as he wanted outside of the cafe. The weekend agenda continued on top of the weekday schedule and became overwhelming for everybody.
The student council president sat on her throne at the top of the school tower, exhausted from the amount of work that has accumulated over the week. She sighed as she resumed her work, filing every student council related documents in place.
"Geez... why must I be responsible for all of these," Hinagiku said, "Chiharu and the others should have helped too." She laid her head down on her desk.
She sat all alone in the tower with the orange sunset right out of her balcony, setting the orange atmosphere all over the president's room. As warm as it looked, Hinagiku's body stayed cold. She knew he couldn't come visit again.
'It's been days since I've seen him...' she thought. Not seeing him at the apartment, she had a very different schedule, not even being able to go to class as the student council group needed her within the tower. She pulled out her smartphone and opened her texting app. 'I know he's busy, but...' She heard the door opened and quickly looked up from her phone, excited to see who might visit her.
"Oh, it's just you," she grumbled, before going back to her documents.
The gray-haired girl at the door slumped at her response. "That's mean..." she muttered.
"Sorry, Chiharu-san," Hinagiku replied. "I'm just really exhausted from all this work..." She paused before her next words could slip. 'And I was really hoping it would be him...' she thought, a little saddened that she has not seen the boy since their incident.
"Well, I came here to help you finish these papers," Chiharu said. "You haven't been working as efficient, Hina-san."
"Don't worry, I can finish this by tonight."
"Are you sure? Don't you want some time off to be with Hayate-kun?"
Hinagiku slammed her hands at the desk.
"W-w-w-w-w-what?!" she nervously asked loudly. Chiharu chuckled.
"You're obviously thinking about him," she said. "It's all over your face! I know all about it."
Hinagiku began to sweat. "About what?!" she responded.
"About you sleeping with Haya-!"
Chiharu suddenly had her mouth covered by the student council president's hands. They froze in this position as they heard footsteps come towards the room. Three other student council bodies kicked the door open and entered the room.
"Did you hear that, Miki?" asked the tall girl.
"Yeah, Risa. I totally heard something about Hina sleeping with somebody." Miki replied. "Izumi, what do you think?"
"I just heard Hinagiku likes to sleep higher!" Izumi said. All the other girls in the room sweatdropped.
They watched as Hinagiku covered Chiharu's mouth.
"You're not hiding something from us, are you...?" Miki asked her, while her the two girls next to her stared deep into her soul. Hinagiku began to sweat.
"O-o-of course not!" she said, lying through her smiling face. She turned her head to Chiharu, giving her the that threatnening look on her smiling face."Isn't that right, Chiharu-chan?"
Chiharu gulped at Hinagiku's expression as she was able to read her options from her deadly eyes: 'Option 1: You die if you tell them. Option 2: You will die later nonetheless.'
She trembled as she spoke to the three other girls. "Y-yeah... you guys totally heard something d-d-different."
The three girls continued to look deep in their souls. After a few seconds, they all turned around and walked away.
"Dang, what a bummer..." Risa said, while Chiharu and Hinagiku were able to hear their conversations as they walked away.
"I really thought I heard about Hina-chan kissing that Hayata-kun..." Miki said.
"Really? No way someone cool like Hina-san would kiss that loser..." Risa replied. Hinagiku sweatdropped as she heard that comment.
"I don't even think Hayata-kun likes her!" she heard Izumi said. "I heard he likes women with beautiful round chests who are also frail so they can be embraced with his love and affection!"
Chiharu quickly pulled Hinagiku away from chasing the girls. "Calm down, president!" she said.
"Those little-!" Hinagiku shouted. She slowly stopped trying to escape Chiharu's grip and gave up. Chiharu let her go and watched her walk back to her desk and take a few deep breaths. Her deadly eyes turned to honest as she looked at Chiharu.
"Nii-Chi..." she called. Chiharu blushed at her sister nickname. It would only be rare to be called of that from her best friend.
"Would Hayate and I... look bad as bad couple?"
Chiharu thought for few a seconds. She looked at Hinagiku's sad eyes, along with her blushing face, waiting for her response. She knew exactly what to tell her.
"Yeah, you two would look really bad together," she responded.
"Is that so...?" Hinagiku asked. Chiharu watched her turn her head looking even sadder.
"You're at the top of your game, Hina," Chiharu said. "Hayate is stuck way below the bottom and would only burden you from your bright future. You know very well why he's the Sanzenin butl-"
"I don't care about that!" Hinagiku shouted. "He makes me feel ways I never could before!" She paused for a second. "Without him..." she muttered. "I feel like I won't have a future..."
She suddenly heard snickering from Chiharu. "What's so funny?" she asked her.
"Aww..." Chiharu said. "You know you're so cute when you're confessing girly things, right?"
Hinagiku blushed. "You were just playing along to see how I would react?" she asked.
"Of course... haha, priceless!" Suddenly, Chiharu stopped laughing as she felt killing intent from the pink-haired girl.
"B-b-but I didn't mean what I told you!" Chiharu quickly tried to explain. "I think you and Hayate-kun would look great together!"
Suddenly, the killing intent is gone. Chiharu instead felt overly sized bubbles in bright colorful backgrounds surrounding her and the pink haired girl.
"You really think so?" Hinagiku asked, suddenly from looking angered to being very happy. Chiharu melted at Hinagiku's sudden change from her glare to die-hard puppy eyes.
'What the heck?!' Chiharu thought. 'Since when has the student council president become this adorable?!'
"Let's finish these papers first before I die from your cuteness..."
"Order number two-thirty-three!" the butler now cafe associate shouted into the crowded cafe. "Thank you sir, enjoy your drinks!" Hayate cheerfully said as he gave a customer their order.
"Hayate-kun! Four french vanilla fraps, easy on the whip!" his boss shouted across from the register.
"Yessir!" Hayate replied, quickly walking back to his station. Currently working overtime, Hayate kept focusing on his job until all of the customers got what they wanted.
Several hours later, Hayate sat on the balcony outside of the cafe, exhausted from the amount of work he had done, including just closing the cafe after a long time of cleaning. He sighed as he began to rub his temples. He hated his schedule this week. Work has been gradually busier and more stressful. He made a long sigh, letting some of his inner frustrations out.
'I should call Ojou-sama and let her know I've been working...' he thought as he pulled out his cell phone, which he was unable to when he was too busy working.
'What's this?' he thought. He suddenly felt his heart skip a beat. 'A text from Hinagiku-san...' He opened up the message.
"Hayate-kun!" he heard his name shouted. He looked to the girl who shouted his name, standing by the cafe entrance and holding an apron similar to what he's currently wearing.
"Ready to walk home together again?" Ayumu asked.
"Uh, sure, Nishizawa-san..." he said as he got up and looked back at his message.
I miss you.
