A/N: I have said this before and I am ashamed to repeat it, but I shall – sorry for not updating this story twice last week! But I have a better idea. Instead of updating my stories on schedule twice a week, I will publish a chapter as soon as I finish writing it. That guarantees two chapters a week, and sometimes, even more. Win-win, eh? ^_^
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Disclaimer: I do not own Hayate the Combat Butler or its characters.
[Nagi speaks…]
Ignoring that nipping feeling at the back of my head, I reach home as soon as possible.
Grandfather asks me, folding his newspaper,
"What's the hurry, child?"
I halt at the base of the steps and say,
"Thank goodness, you're home! I need you to take Okaasama to the Nobus' place. They have some patient and Yumi's Mom sent me here with the message"
"Sure. I will take her", he hastily goes inside the house.
I remove my shoes outside the house and follow Grandfather into the drawing room. Grandmother looks up when Grandfather says,
"There is a patient at the Chief's house. They have summoned Okaasama. I will take her there"
"Okay. Take care. When will you be back?", Grandmother asks.
Grandfather puts on a woolen robe,
"I am not sure when. I will telephone you if we are going to be late"
"Ah!", I almost jump into the wall behind me when Okaasama suddenly appears in front of me.
Her head shakes a little due to old age and she does too, but with a smile, she says to me,
"I am going to see him. Want me to tell him something?"
"Wh-what are you talking about?", I stutter.
She chuckles to herself,
"I am going to see him. I am going to see Hay…"
"Okaasama", Grandfather says a bit loudly, "Let's go. You have to attend to a patient"
"I am going to see him", she keeps mumbling as Grandfather leads her out of the house.
'She is so weird. And creepy', I shudder and walk to the kitchen. As if being older than the yen was not enough, she is deranged too. But then how come she is the Healing Wizard of the village?
"Auntie?", she looks back over her shoulder on hearing my voice, "What's the deal with Okaasama?"
"Deal?", Auntie smiles and pounds the dough again, "What exactly do you mean?"
I sit down on the tatami mat and shrug,
"You know, all the weird stuff she says. I understand that she is very, very old, but nothing she says makes any sense. Old people are supposed to be wise, aren't they?"
Auntie says mischievously,
"Are you sure about that?"
'She is referring to Grandmother', I smirk, "There are exceptions, of course. But still?"
Auntie bends over to wash her hands in the small drain pit outside the window. She tells me,
"Okaasama has acquired yugen"
"Eugene who?", I ask.
"Yugen, not Eugene", she explains, "She has an awareness of the universe and of all the things in it. The things she says, they never seem to make any sense. But if you listen attentively, you will learn that she is warning you against something, or revealing a secret"
"Warning?"
Auntie smiles sadly,
"She had, in a way, warned us of Daichi's father's death. But, he ignored her words saying that she was just rambling. And…"
She smiles at me again; I know how painful it is for her to speak about her husband's death. She never talks about it. I try to divert her attention,
"Um, Okaasama just said to me that she is going to meet 'him'. And she asked me if I wanted her to tell 'him' something. What did she mean by that?"
"Hm", Auntie broods over it, "I have no idea. Is it the first time she said that to you?"
"Yes. In fact…"
"Mother, is Kenta home yet?", Daichi shouts from the drawing room.
"Save me!", I jump and hide behind Auntie.
[Hayate speaks…]
"He is awake"
I open my eyes to see faces hovering over me. One of them is the old man from earlier. The other two are those of another old man and a pretty lady.
"Oh, you are stronger than I thought"
I twitch on seeing the dark face closer to me than others. My grimace disappears on seeing her warm smile. She looks so very old. I can barely see her face through those wrinkles.
"What happened?", I ask and look at the old man.
"Okaasama", he points to the old lady sitting by my side, "…hit you on the head with a stick into unconsciousness to see if you can wake up again. And it worked"
I gape, one eye twitching,
"I-I was awake already. What did she knock me out for?"
"For this, hotness", she reaches for the buttons of my shirt.
"Hey!", I sit up straight. There is no way I am going to strip for this whacko's entertainment!
The old man says to me,
"She wants to inspect you, that's all. Take off your shirt"
"But…"
"Don't be embarrassed, son. Consider this a medical checkup", the pretty lady says sweetly.
I begin unbuttoning my shirt and scowl when the old hag winks at me. Is she out of her mind?
The room becomes darker and everyone looks at the window. The light is being blocked by gleamy-eyed girls staring in awe at my bare chest and abdomen while I just sweat profusely.
[Nagi speaks…]
"Will you tell me what happened?", Auntie squeaks while I use her as a shield against Daichi.
He threatens me,
"Nagi, come out from behind her and explain yourself. Now"
"Auntie, tell him to stay away!", I exclaim.
"What happened?!", she repeats impatiently.
"Daichi wants me to train with his creepy Master and I don't want that!", I blurt it out.
"Creepy? Nobu-san is a very sweet lady, Nagi", Auntie says.
"She is a ninja! I don't want to train with her. Tell him that!", I dodge Daichi's hand as he tries to reach for me.
"Daichi, if she doesn't want to train, don't force her to", Auntie says and I push her in the front, still holding her shoulders.
"Mother", Daichi says, "She agreed to train. You are helping her break a promise"
I shout at him,
"I agreed to train with you, not with that dangerous beauty queen!"
Daichi shouts back at me,
"Fine! Then our deal is off"
He storms away and the old fear begins to thicken within me again. What if he…
"What deal is he talking about, Nagi?", Auntie asks.
"N-nothing. Daichi!", I run to the drawing room.
[Hayate speaks…]
"Are we done?", I put a hand to my forehead while 'Okaasama' passes her hands over my abs. The two old men sigh in embarrassment. The pretty lady from before is scolding the peeping girls outside the room.
"So strong", Okaasama grins, "No wonder she loves you"
"What? Who are you talking about?", I frown.
The other old man intervenes,
"Don't listen to her, son. She is…"
He points to his head and rolls his eyes. I smile at him,
"Is it okay if I put my shirt back on again now?"
"Yes, I think", he gently pulls Okaasama's wrinkled hands away from my body.
I sit up on the bed and put on my shirt again. Old man 1 asks me,
"How do you feel?"
"Better now"
'And molested', I think to myself.
"Good, very good", he smiles complacently, "Let's sit outside in the fresh air for a while. Come. Come, Nohara-san"
We are sitting on the front porch, facing the big yard through which I was carried inside this house. The two old men are sitting opposite to me with their knees bent.
"Yoohoo!"
I look in the direction of the voice. Okaasama blows me a kiss and a man walks her out of the yard.
'Pervert', I narrow my eyes at her stooped figure.
"Tea, Grandfather?", a girl walks towards us with a tray.
"Yes, thank you", old man 1 takes a cup of tea from the tray, "Where is your Grandpa?"
"He is gone to settle a fight between some people. Shiyon-san came to summon him", the girl extends the tray towards me.
"Uh, no. Thank you", I say.
"Have some tea, boy", old man 2 says, "It will be good for you"
"Here", the girl gives me a polite smile before placing the cup and saucer in front of me.
This is 100% natural Japanese green tea. In Tokyo, you have to pay big bucks for this kind of authentic taste. Mistress loves this tea.
'Mistress', I stop sipping the tea. Where could she be now?
"Now that you're feeling better, I hope you will remember our names", old man 1 grins at me in good humor. He continues, "To you, I am Nobu-san. I am the chief of this village. This is Nohara-san. He is a very good friend of mine, and the former schoolmaster of our village's first school. And this is my granddaughter, my son's only child, Yumi Nobu"
'Nobu, Nohara and Yumi', I bow my head a little, "Nice to meet you".
Nobu-san drinks his tea noisily from the saucer,
"Why don't you tell us about yourself a little? You were saying many things when I first saw you, but it was impossible to comprehend them"
"Sorry about that", I say, "My name is Hayate Ayasaki. I-I came here looking for someone"
"A missing person?", Miss Yumi enquires.
I nod,
"Yes. A very important missing person"
"Hm", Nobu-san says, "That explains your blabber of 'I have to find her, I have to find her'. Who is she?"
Affection and strength courses through my veins again as I smile and tell these kind people,
"She is my Mistress"
"Mistress?", Nohara-san raises a brow.
"I am actually her butler. I mean, I was. No, I mean, I am"
"How do you know your Mistress is here?", Nobu-san asks.
"I don't know if she is", I explain, "I discovered this village by accident and since it is very close to the place where she… from where she went missing, I decided to look for her here"
"How very loyal of you. It's hard to find city people who believe in these old values", Nohara-san smiles sincerely.
'It is not just loyalty. It is love. I am looking for her because I need her, love her'
Miss Yumi asks,
"What does she look like?"
I begin with excitement,
"She is beautiful. She has lush green eyes and, and just perfect features. And her smile makes your heart skip a beat"
"My heart?", Nohara-san puts a hand over his chest when I look at him.
"Well", Nobu-san ignores his friend, "We have many women here with green eyes. You have to be more specific, son"
"First of all, she is not a woman. She is just eighteen", I sound a bit offended, "And secondly, her eyes are different than anyone else's. She is tall, thin. She has a poor sense of direction. She has blonde hair. She…"
"Blonde hair?", Miss Yumi interrupts me.
Nobu-san says,
"We only have one blonde person in this village. And she is Nohara-san's grandson's fiancé. There is no way that she is your Mistress"
"Maybe", Miss Yumi speaks, "Maybe he should see her once and confirm if it is her"
"Nonsense", Nohara-san laughs, "She is Daichi's fiancé, not his Mistress"
"I agree. My Mistress was not engaged to anyone"
This does it. She really is not here.
Tomorrow, before sunrise, I will get out here. Staying here, I will just be wasting more time which I have to utilize to find Miss Nagi. Of course, I am grateful to Nobu-san and his family. But I cannot stay here anymore. I will look for her somewhere else. I will go to the falls again and look for clues. She is definitely not here.
"Ayasaki-kun?", Mrs. Nobu says to me from the door.
I look back at her from the bonfire. She smiles,
"Dinner is ready. Please join us"
"Yeah, I am coming. Thanks", I get up.
'It's so cold here', I wrap the shawl tightly around my shoulders.
"Psst!"
I look around. Mrs. Nobu went inside already. There is no one else in sight.
"Ayasaki-san!"
It's Miss Yumi, whispering my name sharply, poking her head from behind a wall. I walk to her,
"What is it?"
"Your Mistress", she speaks in whispers, "I think I know where she is"
"You do?!", warmth surges through me at her mere mention and I don't feel so cold anymore.
"Yes", Miss Yumi looks around carefully, "I think she is Daichi's fiancé. Daichi would never agree to marry anyone else! I know it in my heart! I knew that something was wrong the moment I…"
"What are you talking about? My Mistress is not engaged to anyone", I tell her. This girl is cuckoo, definitely.
She points a finger at me and says,
"Look here, pretty boy. If you want to find your Mistress, you better come with me where I take you to tomorrow morning, understand? This is your chance at finding her and my chance at getting him back. So, keep your mouth shut about this and do as I say"
"Yumi!", Mrs. Nobu calls from inside the house.
"Tomorrow morning", Yumi whispers sharply before running back inside the house.
What is going on?