Chapter 1
Go was kneeled by a shimmering lake. "Mmm how delicious!" He cried, swallowing the mouthful of water he had held in his cupped hand.
"Yes, it seems Leafenia's back to normal." Kei said, looking down at Go with his hands on his hips.
"Yeah it's great!" Hayate agreed. Go and Kei looked up at him surprised. "It's really great!" Hayate continued. Kei cried out in surprise and Go pushed himself into a standing position slowly, as if he was cautious of Hayate. There was no way he was actually cheerful. Hayate turned around, heading for the door out of Leafenia. They followed him with their eyes, all of the while saying "uh" uncertainly.
"He's...he's smiling." Go murmured.
"A big disaster will happen tomorrow." Kei said as the both watched Hayate leave.
Hayate walked out of the portal from Leafenia and stood in a white marble gazebo with a water fountain in the middle. He no longer wore his wind knight attire, but his usual jeans, navy blue long sleeved tee-shirt and his white over coat.
"Hayate!" He looked for the person who had called his name. He spotted Himeno, waving to him happily and laughing. He smiled slightly. Together, they walked from the gazebo towards the mansion.
"How's Leafenia?" Himeno asked, her hand clasped behind her back, looking up at him.
"Everything is all right now." Hayate replied his hands in his overcoat pockets. Himeno looked down with a smile on her face.
"That's great. I'm really glad." She glanced at Hayate out of the corners of her eyes. "Umm. Well um, what.." She began.
"What about them?" Hayate finished for her, referring to Sasame and Takako. He told her how happy they were.
"I see. It's great they told each other how they felt!" She said happily. She looked up at him, her eyes big and sparkling, directing her smile towards him. Hayate blushed and gasped.
"Huh? What?" Himeno asked, confused by his actions. Hayate looked away blushing.
"Nothing. Shin and Hajime said Mawata was going to be making cake." He nervously. He starting walking away. (or rushing)
"Hey! Wait!" Himeon called following him with her puzzled gaze. She jumped forward and grabbed a hold of his arm.
"Uh. Hey what are you doing?" Hayate demanded still blushing. He yanked his arm out of her hands with his hand still snug in his pocket. He shook off only one of her hands; the other was still clutching his elbow. It didn't phase her a bit.
"Come here!" She said, wrapping her hand that had been shook off tightly around his arm and clutching it to her. Her head rested slightly on his arm and she started giggling. Hayate watched the heavens, still blushing. He didn't shake her off this time. "Oh yeah. I've gotten quite good at kandama!" Himeon bragged.
"You still have that thing?" Hayate asked. "You should just throw it away."
"That's horrible! I've been practicing all this time!" Himeno cried.
"Throw it away." Hayate argued.
"Don't wanna!" Himeno retorted.
"Throw it away!" Hayate urged.
"NO!" Himeno cried louder, but still happily, as if it were a joke.
"Okay okay. Keep it!" Hayate laughed. "Though I don't see why you need to keep it."
"Don't you remember? I need it to keep practicing my concentration!" Himeno asked, cocking her head to the side slightly and smiling at him.
"Concentration? I think defeating the Great Tree of Fenril gives proof that your concentration is just fine." Hayate told her. Himeno shrugged then smiled slyly at him.
"Okay, I'll give you that, but I still have to show you I can do the kandama. When you first gave it to me, you got to gloat because I couldn't do it. Now it's time for payback!" Himeno laughed to herself and started to walk inside proudly with her nose in the air.
"Himeno! Stair!" Hayate warned, but too late. She tripped up the stairs, but caught herself before her nose would have hit. Hayate rushed up to her.
"Himeno? Are you okay?" He asked. Himeno jumped up laughing, her hand behind her head embarrassed.
"I'm fine! I'm fine!" She assured, "Just being my normal klutzy self is all!" She laughed.
"Klutzy self? You mean you were being a Tulip Head." Hayate corrected, crossing his arms across his chest and smirking. Himeno immediately stopped laughing and her eyes went icy and started glaring. She clenched her fists at her sides and swung one forward. Hayate lost his smirk and looked a little frightened before teleporting to the top of the stairs. Himeno's fist still continued forward and hit the ground, creating a large crater in the pavement. Hayate gulped, that would have been his stomach. "Calm down Tulip Head, before you cause real damage." He teased again. She turned to him, glaring even icier then before, if that were even possible. Hayate hesitated a moment before turning on his heal and dashing into the Awayuki Mansion. Himeno gave chase.
Ten minutes later, Hayate was hiding in Himeno's father's office. He collapsed into a chair by the fireplace, which was currently warming up the large study comfortably. He breathed in deeply and sighed. Man that girl could run. Himeno's father came in.
"Hayate? What are you doing in here? I thought you would be out with Himeno." He saw Hayate blush and he smiled to himself.
"Actually, I'm hiding from her." Hayate mumbled.
"What for?" He asked. Hayate swallowed and then looked up.
"I called her Tulip Head?" He answered as if asking if his reply was what the older man was looking for.
"Oh I see. Well, you can stay here for as long as you like, but I can tell you, my daughter will find you one way or another. I would just like to ask you that when she does, try to get out of here before she can cause some serious damage." He laughed at the sour expression on Hayate's face.
"You know, I am a Leafe Knight. I could just use my wind powers on her." Hayate mumbled. The rest of the Awayuki family had been informed about what the Pretear was and all about the history of the Leafe Knights.
"You could, but you won't." Kaoru said, setting his laptop on the desk and pulling up a chair. Hayate sighed.
Meanwhile, Himeno was still jogging around the mansion halls looking for the wind knight. 'Where could he be?' She thought. She stopped in the middle of the hall and headed towards her room. He'd come out eventually and when he did, then he would pay. She laughed to herself. Opening the door, she took the scarf she had been wearing and tossed it onto the chair at her desk. He walked over to the window and grabbed the watering can and watered her mother's flowers.
"Hello mom." She whispered. "Sorry I haven't talked to you for awhile, but well, we've all been busy. The Knights all have rooms here if they want to use them and me and my stepsisters and stepmother have been getting along better. It feels more like a family. It's great that Takako and Sasame are together now too. It's happier around here without demon larvae to fight all of the time and I don't feel so lonely anymore. I guess you could say I'm thankful there was a Princess of Disaster. It's because of her I met the Leafe knights and that our family gets along better know." Himeno smiled. She stopped watering the pink flowers and moved to the yellow ones out on her balcony. Even though it was starting to get cold, they were still bright yellow and in full bloom. She smiled happily.
"Can I help Himeno?" Asked Shin. She looked down at him happily.
"Sure you can. Here you go." She said, giving him the watering can. It was practically as big as he was and he had to use both hands to hold it, but a smile was on his face none the less. While Shin was watering the flowers, Mannen, Mawata and Hajime came into her room.
"There you are Shin! You win; you were the last one we found." Mawata called to him.
"Hello Mawata." Himeno greeted.
"Hi Himeno, we've been playing hide and seek." She smiled. The words hide and seek struck a memory in Himeno.
"Speaking of hide and seek, have any of you seen Hayate, he still needs to be taught a lesson to."
"What did he do this time Himeno?" Mannen asked. Himeno's face looks like she bit into a lemon.
"He called me Tulip Head again." Everyone laughed.
"I saw him just a little while ago." Hajime offered. "He was sneaking out of your father's study." Himeno smirked.
"Come on guys, we've got a Wind Knight to find." She led the way as Hajime, Mannen, Shin and Mawata followed her out of her room.
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written by: galaxy guardian co-written by: ilovekyo (editor)