A/N - The beginning of this chapter takes place after chapter 431 from the original story (may contain spoilers). I've deleted this chapter several times after suffering through some formatting problems, so I apologize to those who saw the update for no reason. I truly appreciate everyone's feedback! I hope you all enjoy your holidays!

Chapter 14: Shoulder Weight

'Ahhh...'

He stood in a large open area by himself, an area just minutes away from the festival. He was surrounded by the night's darkness, brightened by fireworks in front of his very eyes. In his hand was held a note that was slipped into his jacket just earlier. It felt warm to his hands for a while, just before it got really cold.

Like the presence of an idol that stood right next to him, before she forever walked away. The fireworks continued to light up without her.

'By the end of the day... we must take different paths.'

He walked the long way home, slowly with his head looking down. His heart ached as he has never felt so lonely before. Was it the right choice to let Ruka go? So she can continue her career as an idol? It was only right for him. She had no reason to throw everything away, for such a cheap person like himself. His mind continued to agree with this decision, beating himself up for every second of regret that he deserves to live with.

Hayate shook his head. He must not be seen like this by the time he gets home. Arriving by midnight, he quietly let himself in, making sure that no one in the house can hear him enter.

"Oh, hey, Hayate-kun."

Hayate yelped, spotting Hinagiku standing in the hallway in front of the entrance. "Uwah! What are you doing here?!"

The pink haired girl sweatdropped. "Uh, I don't know... I live here?" she said sarcastically "I had a slight headache, so I came home early from the festival, while the others stayed at that really tall apartment building. Dr. Kurosu gave me a ride home with her super fast Lamb*ghini!"

Hayate struggled out a laugh. He did not want to talk to anybody for the moment. "Ah, well.. that's nice."

His odd reply made her examine him. She noticed that his smile disappeared so quickly, which was unusual for her. She could tell that something about him was off. She walked towards the entrance so they can hear each other better. "So... how was Ruka-san with her parents?" she asked.

The butler paused for a bit. "It went... fine." He tucked away the note in his hand to his breast pocket. Hinagiku noticed.

Hayate did not speak. He avoided looking into her eyes and stared down at her feet instead. He couldn't hide his pain anymore. He watched her feet slowly step closer to him, just until they were a few steps close to him; two steps of stairs between the entrance and the hallway.

She examined his long face as he looked up. It was as if his eyes were looking right through her. That look of his became very familiar.

"Did something happen... between you two?" she asked slowly. Although she knew that there was an attraction between the two, Hinagiku felt afraid to hear his answer, fearing the last time when she almost confessed her feelings to him, he was already in love with somebody else.

'Could it be that Hayate-kun got dumped again...?' she thought. She knew very well that Ruka was a beautiful girl, and beautiful girls tend to have very high standards in men in her opinion. But looking at Hayate, she could not understand why he wouldn't justify for the idol.

"Hinagiku-san... I let Ruka-san go..."

The pink-haired girl blinked, unsure but at the same time was sure she heard the right words. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"I let her go... It was only right."

She froze when she realized that it wasn't Hayate that was dumped, but the idol Ruka herself. He leaned his head down on Hinagiku's shoulder to her surprise. She instantly turned red, not knowing what to do.

"Forgive my selfishness, Hinagiku-san..." he whispered. "But please, let me stay like this for a while..."

His breath warmed up her shoulder as he spoke, which made the now-red Hinagiku steam out of embarrassment. Before she thought of hitting him with her fists, she felt his tears roll down her shoulder. She was shocked to see him this way.

She slowly wrapped her arms around his back, bringing him closer to a hug. It was then that she realized what Hayate has done to himself. He was alone and made this decision for himself. He's now suffering for it.

She was hugging the boy who she loves so dearly. The boy who was once again heartbroken.

It was sunset after leaving the hospital. She held hands with the boy she can't let go, as he took the lead to them somewhere deep within a part of the city that she couldn't recognize. It was a crowded alley where activities were rather high; food stands making the alley smell wonderful, cafes, and street bands playing music out loud. Because of how crowded it was, Hinagiku stayed closer to Hayate, with her arms locked around one of his. Her nose was kept near his shoulder. The fresh scent on his butler outfit made her smile. He smelled like peppermint.

They arrived at a quiet place to eat, sitting across from one another at a booth by the window as their female server handed them menus. Hinagiku looked around the scenery of the restaurant. It looked very elegant. White cloth laid on every dining table, people in the dining room were dressed quite fashionable, and the glass architecture showed how prestige the restaurant must be.

"This place looks... expensive," she commented.

"Yeah..." Hayate agreed. "But their Y*lp reviews are very positive. I heard they have the best mussels in the city!"

"Mussels? Don't they have anything simple?" she asked as she opened up the menu. "Like a burger...?"

Hayate laughed. "Your tastes are-"

"I know! I know!" she interrupted, blushing, but this time with a smile. "Fine... I'll try those mussels."

Hayate blushed as well. 'That smile...' he thought.

The female server came back to the table. "Ready to order?" she asked.

"I'll have the mussells with french fries, please," Hayate answered.

"And I'll have the curry grilled burger with the onion rings," Hinagiku added.

Hayate sweatdropped. "I thought you wanted to try the mussels?" he asked.

"I do," she said. "I'm just gonna have some of yours."

"Really?" he asked, bluntly staring at her.

"Yeah, really."

The server laughed out loud. "Haha! Your girlfriend is really funny!"

Hayate laughed too. "She quite is funny, but she's not my girlfriend."

It suddenly got so quiet, that they could all hear the sound of someone scratch a record to a halt. Hayate suddenly realized what he just said and looked back at Hinagiku, who quickly turned to look away from him.

"A-ah, well..." the server replied. "I'll assume that that was all you wanted to order. Be right back!" She walked away like lightning.

Hinagiku couldn't look at Hayate. She learned so much about him from the past months. 'When I look at you sometimes...' she thought. 'I still wonder...'

"Hayate-kun."

He frowned. Whenever his name was called this way, he always knew where it could lead.

"Do you... still think of Ruka-san?" she asked. "I know it's been a while, but still... sometimes, I wonder."

Hayate took a pause from that sudden question. "Hinagiku-san, I-"

"And Tennousu-san?" she added. "When she came back to her true form, I thought you two might be..."

She paused, not wanting to say, 'Together again...' as she thought.

"A-Tan..." she heard him mutter. It hurt her to know that he still refers her by that name.

"What about Ayumu-san..." she asked, subconsciously digging for more answers.

He looked to the side window. This wasn't comfortable for him at all.

"You'd turn them all down, wouldn't you?" she asked in a hurt voice. She stared at the butler looking away. "I'm no different, aren't I?"

She stared at who couldn't stare back. She waited for a reply, but nothing came out of him. Hayate didn't know what to say, but when he looked back to her, she was already gone. When he rushed out of the restaurant, wanting to catch up to her, it was too crowded to see where she would go, right from the exit. He stood still by the moving crowd, often glancing at some couples holding hands, still thinking about what she said.

The crowd at the time he left was at its busiest hour, so Hayate came back home a little later than usual at night. He snuck in quietly, making sure he wouldn't wake anyone up at this time of night.

"Oh, hey, Hayate-kun."

He looked out to the hallway, but there was no one in sight. To be greeted by the pink-haired girl every time he arrived home was something he realized he miss. That voice just now was only his imagination.

'You have to watch the series finale of Br**king Bad with me! It's about to start in a couple minutes!' he remembered her rushing to grab him at one time.

He continued to reminisce his moments with her, while he prepared food for the next day in the kitchen.

"Oh, hey, Ayasaki-san."

He ignored that voice. He's getting worried for himself, thinking that his imaginations must be playing with him.

"Really? You're just going to ignore me like that?"

Hayate grunted. "Go away, imaginative voice! I need to carve this chicken before it talks too!" he yelled, heavily focusing his eyes on that chicken as he's about to cut it.

Kayura bluntly stared at him in disbelief, before she pulled yogurt out of the fridge. "What is this butler smoking...?" she mumbled as she walked away.

By the time he finished his kitchen work, Maria came in, with her someone-is-doing-my-job senses tingling. "Hayate-kun, have you been doing my part of the job without asking?" she asked.

"Ah, yeah... gomen, Maria-san," he apologized. "Just wanted to keep my mind busy."

"You didn't set anything on fire this time, have you?"

"Eh? No! Of course not!"

"Well, quite the helper now, aren't you..." she commented, checking the fridge to see everything prepped for tomorrow. She noticed a large bag inside and took a peek. "What's this? Mussels? And a burger?"

Hayate sweat-dropped, remembering that he brought the food that he couldn't eat earlier. "Aha... I got hungry," he said.

The maid raised an eyebrow at him. "Normally, if one was hungry, one would leave no leftovers. Let alone, two entire meals."

He brushed his head nervously before he drank some water. "Ahaha..."

"This looks pretty expensive, too," she said. "Did you take Hina-san on a date that was later ruined?"

Hayate gulped. This maid is a master mind! For the first time in a long time, Hayate could not cover up his lies.

"Wh-wh-wh-what are you talking about?" he stuttered out. "Hinagiku-san would never..."

The maid sighed and pulled out her phone. She opened up the secret photo on her phone and showed it to him.

He spat water out of his mouth, avoided spitting at Maria and turned to his side. Unfortunately, Kayura was still there, eating her yogurt.

"Dude..." she muttered. She bluntly stared at the butler, even when her face and hair got wet. Hayate quickly apologized and wiped her emotionless face clean.

"I don't know what exactly is going between you two," Maria said. "I mean' cmon! I even seen you two kiss! Nagi-san would be furious if she finds out about this!"

"I know..." he said, having his fingers plugged into Kayura's earholes to make sure she won't hear any of his secrets.

"But..." the maid continued. "You two look really good together..." she muttered to his surprise. 'Pretty darn good in bed too...' He noticed her blush for a few seconds before she shook her hand "Hayate-kun, what exactly is going on between you two?!"

He made a long sigh and explained the whole fanfiction to her in a matter of seconds. After hearing the whole story, the maid felt overwhelmed.

"I see..." she said. "Fourteen and a half chapters and you're still not officially together?"

"Um, well, see... our story is not often updated..." he replied.

"And who's fault is that?!" she asked. She stepped closer to the butler and glared at him. "You think that there's some writer out there, delaying your love life like some god?!"

'Yes!' he thought loudly in his head.

"No..." he said to her calmly, hoping she would at least believe this one lie. However, it failed. The maid held her composure to his sight, seeing the depths of seriousness in her eyes.

"If you put enough effort into it, Hayate-kun..." she said. "You can make your own choices, whether your writer or Nagi-san will like it or not. It's your life by the end of the day."

She gave the butler one last glance. "By the way, Hinagiku-san looked very upset when she came home today," she added. "I suggest you tell her how much she really means to you, or else living together would be even more chaotic."

And with that, the maid left with a wink. The butler sighed. He really did have a lot to think. How much exactly did she mean to him? He removed his fingers from Kayura's ear holes before the kitchen as well.

Chiharu later entered the kitchen for a glass of water, yawning out loud. She noticed Kayura sitting still and on her phone.

"Kayura-san... who was talking so loud to wake me up?" Chiharu asked.

"Just Maria-san giving Ayasaki-san recycled relationship advices to win Katsura-san's heart."

Chiharu's tired eyes didn't look surprised. "Ah... okay."

The sun has yet to rise, but the pink-haired girl has already woken up, a little earlier than usual. Hinagiku rubbed her eyes open before she glanced at her clock. It was about three-thirty in the morning. She was not surprised, after having to come home last night and gone to bed right away, not bothering to eat dinner nor interact with anyone.

Her stomach growled, but she continued to let herself starve. She did not care at this point. Her mind was elsewhere, where she was really hurting.

She couldn't think like this forever, she realized. An earlier morning jog could help, as it always has. She got up in the dark and began to dress herself up.

When she came to the entrance, she noticed that her shoes were not placed on the steps, as Hayate would usually place them at around five o' clock. Just the thought of her shoes not being there made her think of him more as she pulled them out of the closet.

She opened up the front door, just when the sun started to rise. She stood still and watched the sun slowly rise over the district. Everything that was dark was gradually brightened with an orange tint. Where the grass looked gray has finally turned green. Where the dark blue sky gradually changed to violet before it turned to orange.

The birds in the trees began to chirp, ready to begin their day just like her.

Hinagiku couldn't help but think of how beautiful the scenery was. But as she continued to watch, she couldn't help but feel her heart sink at the same time.

She regrets asking him all of those questions from the night before. She had never felt so wrong and confused in her life that entire night. 'If I hadn't intruded...' she thought. 'Maybe we could have spent more time together...'

'We could have been just fine as friends...'

'I don't even need him to call me his girlfriend...'

'And maybe, I wouldn't have been so afraid of him since...'

'I really am... an idiot.'

A pair of arms suddenly wrapped around her thin waist, just when she was about to start jogging. She could have panicked, but she didn't. That familiar scent of peppermint soothed her. She could feel his warm breath against the back of her neck, before his head rested on her left shoulder.

She leaned her weight against him and brushed her cheek against his hair. They stayed like this and watched the sunrise together.

Gosh, she really missed this.

'I'm happy if we could just be like this...' she thought.

This was fine for her. She just wants him to be around, just a little longer.

It wasn't until she realized that her nightmares had been a myth all along, when she finally heard his whisper trail up to her ear.

"I love you, Hinagiku-san."

The sun shined so bright that morning, that a maid had to wear her sunglasses after watching the couple go on with their day.