Author's note: Hi guys, sorry for the long update, though it's given me a lot of time to polish this chapter.

FestusFlare: Sorry, I can't help but be a bully at the moment :P

NoKillPlz: Thank you for your kind words! I hope you are able to see my latest chapters now.

IarIz: I really can't understand what you're trying to say, sorry...

Rhapzody: Glad you enjoyed my torture! (that sounded wrong lol)

Please do leave some reviews for this chapter. I really enjoyed writing this chapter and I hope you guys will enjoy reading it as well!

Chapter 5: Fantasy

"One ninety six, one ninety seven, one ninety eight..."

As he counts every exhausting rep, Hayate continues his set of situps. The butler has finished all of his errands for today and then some for the next morning. Given his night off as his mistress enjoys her night with the girls, Hayate spends his Friday night making sure he stays fit for his job.

"One... ninety nine..." he yelps as he struggles to his last rep.

"Two hundred!"

The blue-haired boy laid back down on the floor. Panting heavily, sweating like a bowl of ramen, Hayate smiles. Working out has been one of his very few ways of relieving himself. It has also helped him get over his recent dream.

He gets up, grabs a towel and his fresh clothes. Before proceeding to the bathroom. Hayate peeks through his door to make sure no one can see him shirtless. Clear. He runs towards the corner before taking another peek around. Clear.'There's the door!' he thought. He makes a full sprint to the bathroom door, only to see it open before he could even reach it. Hayate's bare feet couldn't stop and slid instead. Hayate closed his eyes upon impact.

Crash.

Clothes flew everywhere down to the floor. Slowly opening his eyes, Hayate can smell it again. 'Strawberries...' he thought. His head laid on something warm... and beating fast. Hayate looks up, meeting a pair of golden eyes staring back at him.

"Hi.. Hinagiku...?" Hayate asked as he trembled and blushed in fear, realizing that his head has been pressed against her chest for some time. He watches her slowly raise her left hand. 'Uh-oh, her impossible-to-avoid left hand at almost every end of our episodes!' he thought. He closed his eyes again to embrace another impact.

Five enduring seconds has passed as Hayate continued to shake in fear. Not a hit or a sound was made. Wondering why he hasn't been hit yet, he opened his eyes again to see Hinagiku shaking and looking red as a tomato.

'Hayate's body is... not feminine at all,' Hinagiku thought. This was her first time to see a boy shirtless, yet this boy happens to be the one she loves, laying against her body. She could feel his hard masculine upper torso press against her soft and self-hated body as she continues to stare at his eyes. Their faces are just inches from each other. This was too much for her. She closed her eyes and drifted out of consciousness.

Her hand fell back to the floor. "Eh? Hinagiku-san?" Hayate asked."Hinagiku-san!" Suddenly, he heard footsteps coming behind him. He turned his head quickly to see Alice, looking down at the couple with a blunt look.

"Ah, A-Tan, this isn't..."

"Don't mind me," Alice said, "Just keep pretending to treat her as your lady." She turned and walked towards her room.

She slowly opened her eyes to find herself in her bright lit room. 'How did I get here...' Hinagiku thought as sat up straight, trying to regain her memories of what she has done earlier. She was talking to Ruka and felt even more conscious of her body, then she went back in the bathroom to measure herself to see if she had grown at all. After she was done, she opened the door and...

Hinagiku blushed at what had happened after. 'Why am I always in these love-comedic situations with Hayate?!' she thought. She then heard her door open. She turned head to see a shirtless butler holding a tray of green tea.

Stunned by seeing his well-toned body, Hinagiku couldn't hide her blush. "Ha-Ha-Ha-Haya-ya-ya..." Hinagiku stuttered as the butler walked closer and sat down next to her.

"Thank goodness you're okay..." Hayate said in a worried tone. He set the tray down and got close to her face. Hinagiku froze, surprised to be this close to him like this. "Hinagiku-san, something about crashing into you made me realize..." She looked at him pause. "Well, how would I put it..."

'Is he confessing?' Hinagiku thought. She noticed his blush. 'He is!' Shocked and excited to see him this way, Hinagiku grabbed his widened his eyes at her action.

"Hayate-kun... I have something to confess too!" she said boldly. "I.. I love you!"

Hayate remained to look shocked, "Hi-Hinagiku-san, I never thought you'd think of me this way..." he replied.

"I have," she said. "For a long time, Hayate-kun. I have always loved you..." She smiled at him. She finally did it.

"But Hinagiku-san, I don't feel the same way about you," he said, slowly removing his hands from hers.

Hinagiku's face stunned. "Eh?"

Hayate looked boldly in her eyes. "I love Ruka-san!" he said to her. Hinagiku remained stunned. "Wh..what?" she muttered.

He repeated. "I love Ruka-san! She's awesome, never hits me, and has those gorgeous curves!"

Hinagiku didn't know what to say. 'He liked Ruka all along?' she thought. Tears began to build in her eyes. She felt the way he described Ruka was nothing like her.

"I hate girls with flat chests!" he said loudly. "You'll never grow up to have a sexy body like Ruka-san!"

Tears ran down Hinagiku's face. She's never seen this side of Hayate before. "Why...?" she asked him as she began to sob. "W-why are you being so mean?"

Her closet slid open, revealing a little blond girl jumping out of her bed. "Hinagiku-san," Alice called. "Wake up."

She slowly opened her eyes to find herself in tears and in her dark room. Tears have come down to her throat. Hinagiku quickly sat up and gasped for air.

She looked around her room to see no one around except for the girl in her closet. 'It was... a dream?' she thought. She's never dreamed of something so cruel for a long time. 'I'm thirsty...' The taste of salt from her tears made her throat run dry. She looked at her clock to see that it's midnight. Hinagiku wiped off her tears and headed towards the kitchen.

As Hinagiku walked along the hallway, she couldn't help but replay her nightmare. "I hate girls with flat chests!" She cringed. Thinking that Hayate would reject her in such a way made her heart ache.

"Maybe he and I aren't meant to be..." she heard a voice coming from Ayumu's room. 'That's right. They're having a slumber party,' Hinagiku thought. 'That voice sounded like Ruka... Was she talking about Hayate?' She sneaked closer to the door and pressed her ear against the wall.

"You think maybe he likes someone else?" she heard Ayumu ask.

"Duh! Of course he only likes me," hearing Nagi. Hinagiku sweatdropped.

"You know, he's been staring at Hina-chan quite a lot..." Ruka said. Hinagiku turned red. 'Me...?' she thought.

"I noticed that too!" Ayumu commented. "Like that time in the hallway. She was staring back at him too..."

"Hina would never like Hayate!" Nagi yelled. "Someone that masculine and a chest that flat would never fall in love with him!"

Hinagiku twitched. "Why that little..." she muttered. "Enough about my chest already!"

"Hinagiku-san? Is that you?" she turned her head to the voice at the corner of the hallway.

"Hayate?" she called as he walked towards her. She checked him out; he wore a grey tank top along with a pair of olive training shorts. She sighed of relief, seeing his defined shoulders instead of his entire bare torso. 'Thank goodness he's not shirtless.' she thought.

'Hinagiku-san looks... really damn cute,' Hayate thought. He looked at the pink-haired girl slightly bent over against wall, wearing a really loose cyan tank top, unable to tell whether she wore shorts underneath or not. He watched Hinagiku stand up straight before he could see what was above her loose neckline. He looked away timidly, shaking off his impure thoughts.

She noticed Hayate looking away and got irritated. "Eh? Why are you looking away?!" she asked. 'It better not be about my flat chest!' she thought.

"Well, I..." Hayate paused, unsure of what to say next, "I almost... saw your boobs from here..." he said nervously.

"H-hentai!" she loudly whispered to him, realizing what she was wearing. "It's hot, you know!" she said before blushing for a moment. 'So it was about my chest!' she thought. She noticed Hayate having trouble staring at her. 'Is it really that bad...'

"I told you so many times, Hinagiku-san," Hayate said, "You need to be more modest! If you showed up like this around other guys, they'd be falling for you right away!" He glanced at her one more time, unable to take his eyes off of her. 'What am I saying...' he thought. 'I don't blame her. She really looks good in that tank top...'

Hinagiku covered her mouth, quickly hiding her smile. 'Was that a compliment?' she thought. 'He noticed that I dohave a chest!' She's gotten a little happier for her body.

"Did you hear that?" she then heard Ayumu ask. "Yea, it sounded like someone's outside..." Ruka replied.

'Oh crap,' Hinagiku thought, hearing footsteps coming towards the door. She quickly grabbed Hayate and dragged him towards the kitchen. Nagi peeked her head out of the door to see no one around.

"Meh, it's probably my dumb cat picking his nose or something," Nagi said before shutting the door.

Hayate began to prepare hot green tea with milk while Hinagiku sat at the counter since she just told him that she was thirsty after waking up. It was unusually quiet for the two of them. They can both feel some slight tension, especially for just being the two of them alone in this moonlit kitchen. Hayate decided to speak.

"Um... about earlier," he said while poured the hot contents in the cups, "Sorry for crashing to you. I carried you to your room after you passed out."

Hinagiku blushed. She wondered whether Hayate was carrying her while he was shirtless or not. She decided not to ask about it. Hayate sat down next to her with their cups of hot green tea milk on the counter top.

"So Hayate-kun..." she asked, "What are you doing up this late?"

"I couldn't sleep," he said. Hayate paused for a moment. The reason why he couldn't sleep was because he was still thinking about this morning. He looked at Hinagiku sipping on her milk tea. He wanted to know so bad.

"Hinagiku-san... where were you to be late from this morning?" he asked.

That question caused Hinagiku to take quite a large sip of the milk tea. She coughed out the scorching heat coming down her throat.

"I was..." she paused. She couldn't think of anything at this moment. 'Crap!' she thought. "I was, uh..." She stared down at her cup of milk tea between her hands, blushing and not knowing what to say.

I was embracing you...

Was all she wanted to say. There was no one else around at this time, but Hinagiku felt a huge lump of fear in her throat, scared to have the same result from her nightmare.

'I hate flat chested girls!'

Sudden tears built up in her eyes. Hinagiku realized and quickly got up, but Hayate also got up and grabbed her wrist before she could run away.

"Hinagiku-san, what's wrong?" he asked.

Hayate looked at her while he held her wrist. "Let go!" she yelled, vigorously shaking her arm, but failed to break free from his strong grip. Hayate grabbed her other wrist and faced her as she kept shaking. "Hinagiku-san please! Tell me what's wrong!" he said to her, trying to look into her eyes that are shut with tears.

"No!" she yelled. She can't help but think of what Hayate said to her in her dream. "There's obviously everything wrong with flat-chest women like me!"

Hayate got confused. "What are you talking about?" he asked her.

"Baka! I know you just want women like Ruka or Nishizawa-san! Unlike me, they're nice and have gorgeous curves!" She just wanted someone in the house to suddenly pop out right now, to interrupt their love comedic situation as usual. But this wasn't comedic to her right now; right now is pain. Tears rolled down her face.

Hayate twitched. This lady had no idea what he really wanted.

"Hinagiku-san, there's nothing wrong with flat-chested women like you!" he said to her as he struggled to keep his grip. "Nonetheless, I think you're the prettiest of all girls I've ever seen!" He felt her stop shaking. 'Crap!' Hayate thought. 'Why did I say something so embarrassing?!' Hinagiku's eyes opened up to his, revealing him the two most gorgeous golden eyes he's even seen under the moonlight. Hayate blushed at such a view. His hands unconsciously fell off of her wrists.

"You're... you're lying," she whimpered. Hayate smiled and gently began to wipe the tears off of her face. "No... I'm not." he answered back. He felt the warm tears on her soft face as he delicately wiped them off with his fingers. Hinagiku closed her eyes and smiled, feeling his warm hands rub against her face.

Hayate wiped most of her tears off and slowly let his hands down. Hinagiku suddenly grabbed his left hand before it left her face. With her eyes still closed, she tilted her head against his hand and held it there. 'It feels so nice right now...' Hinagiku thought.

Hayate blushed. Her soft hand holding his against her beautiful face almost had him losing it. "Your hand is so warm, Hayate-kun..." he heard her say in a soft tone. Hayate's mind suddenly melted. Nervously with his hand resting on her face, Hayate gently caressed her cheek with his thumb. He watched her smile as a response. Hayate smiled too. Whatever feelings they were sharing at this moment, felt like they were both in paradise. Hinagiku just wanted to stay like this a little longer. 'I don't need to know how he feels right now,' she thought. 'At least we can be together like this...'

Hayate felt her weight suddenly fall against his hand. Hayate grabbed her before she even fell. Her head against his chest yet close to his face. Hinagiku slowly opened her eyes to his. "I had a long day..." she muttered, "Put me to bed, butler..." She closed her eyes and laid against his chest. Hayate once more blushed and smelled the scent of strawberries again.

"H-hai, milady..." he whispered to her. He picked her up and then carried her to her room. He did not need to ask anymore. He realized that he clearly wasn't dreaming this morning. It was all real. 'It was just too good to believe in,' he thought. He arrives to her room and gently puts her down to her bed. He looked at her one more time, only to see pink hair in the way of her eyes. Hayate's hand slowly reached for her face.

'I hope that one day, you will be the one stroking through my hair while I'm asleep...'

And so he did. As he strokes through her hair, Hayate processed a lot of thoughts going on through his head.

'I like you a lot more than I thought...'

Hinagiku was quite the girl when he first laid eyes on her. No doubt, she was the most beautiful girl to fall out of a tree then into his face. It was only natural to believe that she would never fall for a troublesome guy like him, so he decided just being friends was best for them.

'And quite honestly, you are perhaps my best friend...'

He would often come visit her at the tower just to chat and she would come visit him at his job in the cafe when she has her time off. They would often confirm that they are not a couple when they are both seen together publicly. She would even come to his room late at night just to talk, even if he didn't need her help with his homework.

'Now I'm falling for you... because you've always been there for me...'

Hayate began to think of the consequences in his current state. He's had problems during his childhood, problems as a butler, and now he has an even bigger problem.

Ayasaki Hayate is in love with Katsura Hinagiku.

'I should leave now...' he thought. About to let go of stroking her hair, Hayate suddenly felt Hinagiku's hand on top of his.

He saw her open her beautiful eyes at him and heard her whisper.

"Stay..."

His eyes widened at her gaze at him. Hayate froze. She doesn't want the warmth to go away, and neither does he.

"Hayate-kun, stay..."

And so he did.