Author's Notes:
Hello there to all you fellow Hayate the Combat Butler fans! First off, I would like to take this moment to thank all of you for choosing to take your time in reading this story. It certainly might not be perfect, but its a passion project that I had fun writing about. Whether you'd like it or not is definitely up to you of course (please love it, lol).
So, I've placed here a few notes to consider before starting reading:
1. I do not own Hayate the Combat Butler. That is a property which belongs to Mr. Kenjiro Hata. All I really own is this here story as well as the original characters and settings.
2. There will be some changes in this story which differentiates it from the cannon. However, I will try my best in making sure that the personalities of the characters will stay true to the original, since that is as I believe was the key factor that made the majority of us fall in love with the Hayate franchise in the first place. I guess you could say that this makes this story set in a slightly alternate reality of some kind if that's how you'd like to perceive of it as.
3. Influences from other shows and franchises such as Miraculous Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir, Clockwork Planet, and plenty others will be present.
4. This story will also take place somewhere around the year after they moved into the Purple Mansion, so please expect for some growth already being present within some of the characters as they get introduced. Again though, I will stay true to my promise to at least make them stay true as I can with their cannon counterparts.
5. Since I am not well versed in Japanese law, most of what I will write at least in this first chapter will be based on the research I made. However, since I cannot seem to find an up to date source, I will warn to please take most of the "facts" parts with a grain of salt. I do like to apologize in advance though if I were to end up offending anyone with this. I swear that I really did try my best in researching.
6. Any forms of criticism is accepted, so long as they are respectfully written.
Okay, now with all that out of the way, let us now begin with the actual show shall we?
In 3...2...1...
PRINCE VS BUTLER
CHAPTER 1: RIGHT?
It was now morning, and the sun had shone all throughout the Purple Mansion. From there, a certain blue haired boy could be seen sweeping the yard from falling leaves as he merrily hummed a happy tune while doing his chore.
Whilst he was doing that, the door suddenly slid open, revealing a young teenage girl with long pink hair wearing light-casual clothing, perfect for exercising. She sat down by the porch and started putting on the running shoes which were prepared for her.
"Morning Hinagiku." the blue haired boy greeted. "Up for another jog, I see"
Hinagiku smiled and looked at the boy kindly. "You know me so well."
The boy chuckled before continuing. "Alright then, have fun. Oh. And do remember to come back before six, breakfast would be ready by then, you don't want yours to be all cold now do you?"
"Yes sir." replied the girl with a teasing salute.
As she was finished tying up her shoelaces, the pink haired girl then stood up, did a few warm ups, before finally started her jog. But as she was about to make her way through the gate, the girl suddenly stopped, turned around to face the boy and then making a beaming smile while doing so.
"Oh, I almost forgot"., she said. "Good morning Hayate."
And with that the girl went on her way, while Hayate nodded and waved at her with his own genuine smile.
"Mistress. Mistress." Hayate gently called to a certain blond as he carefully shook her body while kneeling down in an attempt to wake her up.
However instead of doing of what he intended, the girl simply grunted, rolling to the direction opposite to him, then covering her head over with her blanket.
"Can it wait till morning." the girl whined.
Hayate gave out a smile as he answered.
"But mistress, it already is morning."
The girl grunted once more while saying:
"Well 5 more minutes then!" she said under the covers.
The butler sighed at his mistress's stubbornness, he then decided to stand up as he walked towards the bedroom's window, opening it as he let the sun's morning rays enter.
This caused Nagi to grunt and cover herself with her sheets even more.
"Come on mistress." Hayate spoke. "I know it's a Saturday but you were the one who kept on saying that you needed to become a bit more productive and industrious in order to achieve your future goals."
"But I wasn't serious!" the heir responded, still hiding her head under her blanket. "I was just caught up by the recent anime I was watching."
"But still mistress-"
"Just leave me be." the girl moaned.
Hayate sighed once more, his patience and tolerance being tested as usual. He looked into where his mistress was, his eyes appearing disappointedly at her.
Suddenly he smiled as an idea came into his mind.
"Mistress." he called once again, causing the young heiress to reveal her head out a bit, at least where she could look at him, despite her eyebrows being furrowed.
"If you don't get up soon, then your breakfast might turn cold." said Hayate. "And I even made your favorite, fluffy eggs, with tomatoes in them, just how you like it."
Nagi however simply returned her head back into her covers.
"Then just make another one when I get up." Nagi huffed.
But instead of frowning or becoming mad, the butler's usual warm smile simply turned into a mischievous grin.
Maria had always did suggested for him to toughen up when it came to dealing with Nagi's hardheadedness, and although he had thought of it as nothing at first, perhaps now was a good time as any to at least consider in testing it out for himself.
"I'm afraid I can't do that mistress." Hayate spoke tauntingly. "As you can see, after getting a raise at the café for my cooking, I've been putting a bit more pride into my skills since recently. And, because of that I can't do as you request of me to. So, it's either you eat you're breakfast cold, or not have breakfast at all."
Hayate then glared directly towards his mistress' orbs, hoping that his bluff was enough to force her to rise off of bed.
Nagi glared at him back and the two stared into each other menacingly, trying to see on whose dominance would weigh more.
Eventually the heir sighed, knowing that her own butler got the better of her this time. She then reluctantly obliged and got up.
Hayate then smiled, satisfied with the results.
He mentally noted to thank Maria for this afterwards, with a light chuckle coming out his chest.
Everyone was now happily enjoying their breakfast, Chiharu quietly sipping her tea, Nagi still a bit fuming over the fact that she had to get up from bed, but still taking some seconds nonetheless, and Hinagiku who had only started for about 15 minutes late after since she came back.
Indeed, these were the tiny moments that in which Hayate had enjoyed most. No kidnappers trying to harm his mistress, no monsters appearing out of nowhere, no sort of life and death scenarios caused by mentally insane maniacs who always tried to make mountains out of molehills simply because of the fact that they could.
Besides having a ghost and a talking white tiger with them, this still was the most "normal" moment he could get, and for that he was grateful.
Just as everyone was laughing and chatting amongst themselves within the pleasant Saturday morning, a familiar figure then came walking from the front yard before stopping by the porch.
Everyone turned their heads towards the figure.
"Clause?" Maria exclaimed.
The man now known as Clause stood there straight with his butler's uniform, and his white mustache. He smiled at all of them warmly before greeting them all with his raspy voice.
"Good morning to you all."
"My… family register?" Hayate asked, surprise at what his superior had requested from him.
While as everyone had finished eating their breakfast, going off to do their own activities and business's, all that were left of the Purple Mansion's residents were the two house servants who had now finished in cleaning the table and were now presently speaking with their unexpected guest.
The elderly man took a sip from his tea that Maria had prepared for him before nodding, confirming that what the blue haired teen heard him say was indeed correct.
"Mmm." the man said in an agreeing tone. He took in another sip of his tea before continuing.
"Yes boy your register."
"W-why would you request for Hayate's family register all of a sudden Clause?" asked Maria who was as surprise as Hayate was.
The aforementioned man turned to her before readjusting his glasses and sighing.
"Well honestly, it's not actually me who needs it."
He then took in a deep breath.
"It's an order from Mikado Sanzenin."
The maid and the butler tensed at the mention of Nagi's grandfather.
Mikado Sanzenin, the current head of the Sanzenin family fortune, although may not seem like much, he was still definitely not the typical kind of person one would desire to run into. Known as one of the riches and most powerful person alive, the elderly man can prove to become a force not to be trifled with whenever one rubs him the wrong way.
And although they hadn't heard from him much than they used to, that still did not mean that they were at ease whenever he becomes the subject matter.
Clause apparently noticed his former co-workers' sudden change in behavior and sighed.
"Don't worry." he started. "I can assure you both that its nothing like that."
In his mind he knew of the history between the Ayakasi and Mikado, in his early days as a butler, and how his mistress's grandfather's initial disliking of him, probably due to his background and upbringing.
It was a rather unfair judgement to say the least, but he himself would be guilty of becoming a hypocrite if he believed that he was entirely innocent.
Indeed, when he first met the blue haired teen, his first impressions of him were that he was probably a thief, an assassin, or something within those lines.
But as time went by and the longer he got to know him, a certain trust begun to develop which allowed him to view Hayate the same way he would view Maria or Himegami, mutual co-workers who served under the Sanzenin family's name.
Granted of course he still had a bit of prejudice towards the jinx stricken boy, but he also now fully accepted him as a fellow butler whom was only trying his best to satisfy the needs of his mistress.
Despite his unprofessionalism.
Clause stared at them before closing his eyes and adjusting his glasses.
"As you see, since your employment could only be described as rather "unorthodox", we really never had the chance to review much about your history. The moment lady Nagi wanted to hire you as her personal butler was also the moment that you became one. There was no interview, no files about your background information, no certificates, it was simply a hop-skip-of a jump, and then suddenly you're an official Sanzenin butler."
Hayate nodded, his cheeks reddening in embarrassment, contrasting his serious look.
"That being said I will admit that you aren't what I expected you to be." Clause continued. "However even still, that still wouldn't say anything regarding your personal employment file. And it apparently now appears that this fact has now taken the notice of master Mikado himself."
"But why would Nagi's grandfather just suddenly take interest regarding Hayate's files?" Maria asked.
The man with the eyewear sighed hesitantly before answering,
"Because of the events that happened last week."
Both Maria's and Hayate's orbs widened, the delivery of their superior's tone meant that something rather serious might have happened to the elderly man, that it would suddenly trigger his desire regarding the blue haired boy's official Sanzenin employment files.
The Sanzenin employment files was a soft wear storage device containing information about every employee who served under the Sanzenins. Since the Sanzenin family was one of the wealthiest and most elite in the entire globe, it would make sense that they were to make some extra precaution when it comes to whom they were hiring.
All the information contained weren't really all that serious, as it only read about basic topics such as their nationality or their place of graduation.
It can only be accessed by the head of the family, and by a few trusted individuals.
"W-what happened last week Clause?" Hayate asked, his voice stuttering due to worry.
The old man took one last drink from his cup before clearing his throat.
"The master got too cocky, too "himself" if I should say, which lead him to the infirmary."
Both the co-workers gasped.
"But not to worry, his very much fine now." he reassured. "Yet still though, such an event had caused him to want to review about those that come too close to him and his fortunes."
The two house servants listened intently.
"As you may already know, Mikado is a dangerous and powerful individual, who could easily rid of anyone that rubs him the wrong way by simply a snap of his fingers. But despite that he still has his own sets of weaknesses. I'm pretty sure that the both of you are well aware of his "interest" regarding young women, am I right?"
He explained the last parts with a blushing face, with Hayate sweat dropping and Maria having a I should have known kind of look, knowing full well of what Clause meant by that.
Once again Clause cleared his throat before he proceeded.
"Now a few months ago the master received a new nurse, according to those whom I asked, this nurse was a fair and beautiful young lady whose smile could literally warm up the room she's in. Though she was kind of clumsy and overly naïve, her innocent and pretty nature had managed to have caught the attention of master Mikado.
They were told to be inseparable, with Mikado treating her more than just an employee. And although there is nothing wrong with that, it was rather strange to hear Mikado acting differently to one of those who served under him.
One day though Mikado was found at his room, at first everyone thought that perhaps he was just too tired considering as he had just returned from a gala that he attended. But one of his maids who usually brought him his lunch became worried and decided to wake him. When he didn't respond she immediately called the others whom in turn called for an ambulance.
Fortunately, they managed to have brought him just in time before anything truly serious could have happen."
Maria and Hayate sighed out of relief.
"When he was checked upon it was discovered that he was poisoned, and when he was asked, he told that the last thing he recalled of consuming were the medicine given to him by his nurse. This was later confirmed when she was discovered to actually be an assassin working for someone who had a grudge on the master when she was found with her boyfriend at a motel."
"Oh my!" Maria exclaimed.
"Oh my, indeed." Clause said nodding. "This was said to have devastated the master as it was the first time in all his years that someone became that close in actually succeeding in killing him."
It was then that he made a choice in checking everyone's files, including mine and yours Ms. Maria. But when he got to Hayate-"
"Empty." Hayate muttered.
He knew that Nagi's grandfather had distrusted him. He could already imagine Mikado smirking the moment he saw his file.
He gulped.
"But fortunately for you boy, I already took in the liberty in filling up your files for you." said Clause professionally.
Hayate looked at him in surprise.
"You did?"
Clause nodded with his eyes close, a tint of red appearing on his face.
"But all I need now is your family register. Which brings us to where we all started. When would you think I could have it?"
Hayate's face beamed as he quickly nodded before answering.
"Immediately. As soon I could get it."
His expression would soon instantly change in that of puzzlement as he placed his index finger under his chin.
"But, how do you even get one, though?"
Maria and Clause immediately became dumbfounded and surprised at the moment he asked that question.
"What! You mean you don't know?!" the maid asked rather shocked.
Hayate, the guy who knew about everything there is to know about daily urban living, the guy who practically had experiences with every job or task imaginable, including firearms and swordsmanship, and the basics of riding a subway, did NOT KNOW in how to get his own family register?
"H-how is that even possible?"
Hayate rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
"Well you see… I've never really had the chance to grab my family register before." he explained. "Whenever I were asked to present it, I would either make a fake one up in order to get hired, or-"
"Or, what?" Clause asked curiously.
"My parents." he answered.
He furrowed his brows as he attempted to remember.
"Whenever it was a job thing, I could easily just make up a fake one, you know, because of my age." he forced a sheepish smile, earning a glare from the other two. "But, whenever it was something like… a school thing, my parents would insistently say that they were to be the ones who have that part handled. In fact, they seem to be rather strict about it as well, to the point of where I never even seen or touched my register, let alone a copy."
Maria tilted her head at Hayate's claim, finding it quite out of character for his parents to do.
Although she had never met them personally, she could already create a mental image about their attitude and how they behaved simply based on all the few details Hayate had told her about them.
She found it quite suspicious that they would come as far as to (as Hayate implied) actually punishing their son if he were to even so lay a finger on his own papers.
"Hayate, not to be accusing of your folks or anything, but… do you ever find it odd on why they would act that way on something so… small?" she asked curiously.
The blue haired butler looked up at the ceiling as he wondered.
"Well of course I did." he answered as if it were already obvious. "But since it was one of the only few things that they would actually do for me, I guess I'd just simply shrugged it off."
Maria glanced at him before facing down to the floor, feeling sympathetic for him, knowing well based on his childhood tales of how he was always pushed around and made a slave by those very people that were supposed to raise him. It disgusted her knowing that there were people out there who would treat their very own child like that.
She then let out a sigh, just so to relieve her of the sudden unwanted stress that came by the thought of such abhorring ponderings.
The maid then shot her red eyes to her friend, now placing her own index finger under her chin.
"I'm not entirely sure." she said. "But I think that its pretty logical if you try getting it at city hall."
"Indeed." Clause nodded while also finally returning back from his state of surprise. The elderly man then adjusted his eyewear before standing up.
"Well, I think I should be going then." he told prior to giving Hayate a stern look., "Be sure to give it to me." he bowed in gratitude of their hospitality before turning around and starting his way.
"Because if you don't, then you're on your own, boy."
The blue haired teen stared at him while frozen, gulping due to worry, knowing that now his job was on the line.
He simply made a nod to him, showing that he understood.
After that, Clause made his way, leaving only the maid and the butler kneeling down on the table.
Not long after their superior had left, the brunette turned towards her fellow employee with a curious look.
"So, when are you going to get your family register?"
The boy just looked at him blankly before returning a smile.
"Straight after I finished all my chores of course."
The blue haired boy placed on his shoes not long after since he had finished preparing the table at the dinning room. He sat at the balcony as he tied his shoelaces. After all was well and done the butler called out;
"Alright! I'm heading out now!"
Maria piqued her head from the kitchen door whilst she replied;
"Ok! See you later then!"
She gave her fellow co-worker a smile for good luck, to which Hayate nodded at as a sign of thankfulness for her thoughtful gesture.
Once Hayate headed on his way, Kayura, who had been sitting at the table while reading a manga, then asked out of curiosity, albeit, along with her usual bored expression of course.
"Hayate's heading to the café already? I thought that his part-time job doesn't start for about another two hours?"
The maid turned her head to her as she explained;
"Oh no, actually he called for a day off earlier. His actually heading to get his family register from city hall."
"Family register?" the green haired girl repeated in confusion. "Why on Earth would he need that?"
Maria then elucidated to her friend the full detail, informing her about Clause, Nagi's grandfather, and how it was actually his first time heading there to request for his document.
"Oh. Is that so huh?"
"Yeah." the brunette girl replied. "In all honesty it kind of surprised me as well. I just hope that he really does get it."
"Oh, I'm confident that he will." Kayura told. "But knowing him though, there's pretty much no doubt that a normal walk to city hall would somehow strangely result in some form of misadventure, if you know what I mean."
"Yeah, unfortunately I do." Maria admitted, plastering a smile along with having a sweat drop from on the side of her head.
After then, Kayura returned to reading her manga while as the maid went back to the kitchen in order to finish cooking.
After saying goodbye, the Ayasaki began on his way. He just so happened to have only managed in exiting the fence when all of a sudden, his phone started ringing.
Naturally the young butler took out his phone in order to see who it was.
It was Ayumu.
With his curiosity now piqued as to why his friend would abruptly decide to dial him, the boy simply pressed the call button and placed his gadget onto his ear.
"Hello, Ayumu?"
"Hayate!" Ayumu cried. "I'm sorry in advance if I called you all of a sudden."
"Oh no. Not at all." Hayate replied.
"Oh. That's a relief." the girl sighed. "Say… if you're not too busy, would you think that you could swing by here at the café, like, right now."
"But Ayu-"
"Oh please! Oh please! Oh please! Hayate! I know that you just requested for a break today, but we REALLY need you heeeere!" her voice cracked, seeming from panic.
"Why's that?"
"A lot of people came by, birthdays, celebrations, hangouts, you name it! I don't know why as you very much know that its not always like this, but for some reason the place just suddenly became more crowded than it usually does!"
"Wait! REALLY!" the blue head asked in astonishment.
"Yes!" stated the girl. "Look I know it sounds unbelievable to hear, but we really need your cooking skills over here at the kitchen! Please! Please Hayate! You're our only hope!"
Hayate closed his eyes in frustration as he sighed due to defeat.
"Ok. I'll be there." He answered. "Just hold on for a few more minutes alright."
"Oh thank you Hayate!" Ayumu cried out in gratitude. "Ok. I'll keep the customers satisfied for as long as I can handle. But…"
She turned around nervously to see the sight of a black-haired young man cooking tirelessly whilst serving at the same time.
"I can't say for certain if Hokuto would say the same thing."
"I'm on my way." And from that, said boy ended the call and sighed heavily once more.
"So, it's going to be one of those days huh?" He sarcastically muttered to himself.
He then checked his phone in order to see the time.
"Yeah, I guess I could still make it." The teenager concluded as he simulated the rest of the day in his head.
After placing back his device into his pocket, the butler was about to start to embark on his way. However, just when he was about to make the first step-
"Hey butler!"
Recognizing that voice, Hayate drooped his eyes in annoyance.
"What now?"
He turned around and was faced with an angry white tiger, Tama, who glared at him rather angrily, while at the same time being accompanied by Shiranui, whom in turn was standing right behind the great beast with a smile around his mouth.
"What is it Tama?" Replied Hayate with folded arms, not even bothering to keep his present irritation hidden, as shown within his tone.
To answer on why Tama was at the Purple Mansion however, was, kind of a really long and truly complex process to explain. Involving a series of events such as Nagi (along with everyone else by that matter) discovering that her beloved 'cat' could actually speak, and surprisingly, she was fine with it. No. Scratch that, in fact she was more than fine with it, she was exhilarated! While as all the others continued being baffled thinking about how such a phenomenon could even be elucidated by science, Nagi on the other hand had loved the idea of a talking Tama. He could still even recall of how his mistress' eyes sparkled like stars that day.
This led for the tiger to sweat furiously all around, leading to him asking her questions that could have 'potentially' resulted in him spending the rest of his days living at the zoo, or worst, a lab, much to the blue haired boy's cringe (does he want to get kicked out?)
Thankfully the blond didn't mind however.
Soon after a few more days went by, his mistress became devastatingly bored while searching for a new inspiration to write for her new manga.
That was, until she had an epiphany.
Immediately when she thought of that, the girl called Clause and told the senior to come pick her up.
With Clause of course obliging.
When she got there, she quickly searched for Tama and asked him if he would like to come live with them.
Tama sleepily said yes.
This idea however didn't achieve itself without some minor cracks in the road. Hinagiku, at first, was against the idea, telling her that it wasn't advisable for a wild animal to live in such a close space. But Hayate informed the pink head that Tama was more human than tiger and thus didn't really required that much space since he could easily get satisfied with a good bed, a television set, and probably a stack of various reads.
The second struggle was with the law, since keeping an apex predator in an area with so many people living near wasn't something that was legal, but that part was easily handled as well.
And so, there they had they're present moment with Tama now being as one of the Purple Mansion's residents. He had a small house that was outside that satisfied all his pleasures without complain (most of the time at least).
When he heard Hayate asked, the tiger immediately pointed his finger (claw?) into an empty space beside him.
"Tell this idiot to stop stealing my magazines!"
"Don't listen to him!" retorted a disembodied voice. "I have done no such thing!"
Oh yeah?"
"Yeah!"
Pretty soon from thin air a brown-haired man then appeared out of nowhere, wearing cloths expected for a priest to wear.
Father, as they called him, was once a ghost who haunted a church infamous for training butlers into honing their skills. However, since said church became destroyed, he now decided to haunt them instead.
Just like with Tama, the rest of the Purple Mansion's residents knew about his occupation of the apartment as well. Originally being frightened, but now treated him as if he was a normal guy.
His discovery was viewed as difficult, if not far more complex of a story to tell than that of the former's however. But it all worked out at the end.
Isumi suggested for them to make Father as the household's official guardian spirit, and suggested for them to build him a small shrine for him at the basement where he most usually resided. This initially came at the protest of Father himself, for despite his perverted tendencies, and immature nature, he was still a Christian at heart, and told them not to erect any for shrines of him. However, Isumi informed him that being given a shrine wasn't always equivalent to being worshipped (at least in a Western sense), and that the offerings that were to be given to him were more out of gratitude rather than actual sacrifice.
It probably took her some hours or more just convince the spirit, but at the end she managed to have made him agree on the offer.
Hayate sighed at the sight of the two circus freaks in front of him, arguing over something that was probably mundane.
He listened to their backlashes and retorts, some of them required swearing, and most were simply downright stupid just to hear.
"Foul beast! Human imitator! Lazy good for nothing cat!"
"Undead loser! Hypocrite spectre! Old idiot!"
Over a while as he stood, Hayate's very patience began to dwindle, a cross appearing on the side of his forehead.
"Alright! Enough already!" The blue haired butler shouted. "Ok. I get it. Fine. I'll help. But first will someone please explain to me on what's going on?"
And from there, the two explained the reasoning for their quarrels to the young teen, Tama telling him of how Father stole some of his magazines, and Father trying to defend himself.
"Ok Tama. I get your point. But would you please care to elucidate on why you are accusing Father for the disappearance of your magazines?"
"Yeah!"
The tiger's fist (paw) clenched in anger as his body shook prior to him opening his mouth once again.
"Well who else can it be?!" Told Tama. "No one else in this household has the same interests in magazines except for this see-through moron!"
"Blatant lies!" Countered the former priest. "And I am not see-through!"
The duo then argued again, with Hayate sighing once more.
"Boy!" Called Father, bringing Hayate to his attention. "Tell this coat rug of how ridiculous his claims are!"
Said boy pondered till eventually he made a conclusion.
He sighed again.
"I'm sorry Father, but I think Tama has a point on this one."
"Haha!" cheered Tama.
"Whose side are you on?!" Father pointed his finger at him.
"In truth. No one." Hayate mumbled while at the same time Tama jeered to the ghost;
"Quit your whining, even the kid agrees that your guilty."
And just like that the two began at it once more.
The blue haired male sighed, clearly irritated by the two. He then checked his phone for the time as he reluctantly made his final decision.
"Alright! Stop this already! Look, if it would help, then maybe perhaps we should all go and check the basement." He looked towards Father. "Is that alright with you?"
Father looked to Hayate before folding his arms and shutting his eyes.
"I suppose that's fair. Alright, ravage the basement, then you will see of how innocent I am."
"We'll see about that." Grumbled Tama.
The group were now at the basement, seeking through every inch and corner they could find while Father just stood there, expectantly, still at the position of folding arms and closed eyes.
"See? What did I tell you. Innocent."
At first, Maria and Kayura were confused on why Hayate had returned so quickly, and Hayate having to inform them that it was simply a minor delay as he needed to help Tama and Father with something.
Kayura simply just sighed, as if she had already predicted such an outcome before returning to her manga.
Hayate searched and searched, but no matter how he tried, he couldn't find Tama's magazines.
"Yeah. Guess you're right."
"Don't side with him!" Cried Tama.
"I'm sorry Tama but Father's right. Your magazines aren't here, and the ones that are, are already his."
The talking white tiger grumbled incoherently.
"Oh, stop being such a sore loser." Father said confidently whilst approaching him. "You do know that it's a sin to accuse thy neighbor? Right? So go ahead and apologize already."
It was then that Tama could no longer bare it, he snapped from completely sentient to a ferocious wild animal, his entire body metamorphosizing from cartoonish to dangerous, he bared his fangs, revealed his claws, then he attacked the specter.
However, unfortunately for him though, Father had already anticipated his move as he floated in midair while smirking gleefully all the while, not even worried on the fact that he had just made upset a fully grown tiger.
Tama tried in all his might to swipe the grin off the other's mouth, but no matter how he tried, the ghost simply just dodged them easily, and even with his few successes, his claws would only pass through him.
Hayate watched the two with a deadpan gaze, wondering if they knew in themselves on how ridiculous they were acting. The boy sighed again as he turned around to check on Father's office table one last time. As he checked and moved some of the items, he accidentally dropped one of the brunette man's dolls off the desk. When he bent down in order to pick them up, his blue eyes then noticed something rather peculiar.
There, hiding under the wooden table, was what appeared like a wooden trap door with its handle showing up.
With his interest piqued, the young man stood and made the effort to push the table slightly.
This caught the attention of the former priest who paused from his joyful bantering and looked to the boy with mortified eyes.
"Wait! No! Don't do that!"
But it was already too late, the teen had now opened the trap door, revealing the stash of magazines with covers showcasing young women wearing rather 'questionable cat costumes.'
Hayate's eyelids droop as a reaction to what he had just found while Tama, Father, and Shiranui's heads popped to see as well. (Shiranui kept his usual innocent face).
"So it was you!" The beast eyed at the spirit.
"I-I'm-I'm sorry!" He then screamed his lungs out while the white tiger roared, attacking the priest once again with the latter now showing panic.
They chased each other like cat and mouse around the room while as Hayate nonchalantly spoke:
"Well, guess I'll be going now."
He took the magazines with him as he left, followed by the little feline. The teen was just about halfway on the flight of stairs up, when he halted and turned to the ghost and the tiger, stopping their fighting in the process.
"Oh. I'll also make sure to inform Hinagiku about your-"
He gestured towards the magazines.
"behavior and taste in reading."
And from then he proceeded on his way and disappeared, leaving the duo shaking nervously in fear.
"-Ms. Over here."
"-Ms. Where's my coffee?"
"-Ms. This isn't the cake we asked for."
"-Ms."
"-Ms."
"-Ms!"
Ayumu was now tired, exhausted, and dizzy with all the customers speaking simultaneously, she struggled as confusion seeped through her head, not knowing on whom to tend first. Just then her ears heard the front bell ringing and saw as Hayate entered the door.
The blue haired young man panted heavily whilst holding his knees.
"Sorry I got late." He apologized between breaths.
Ayumu smiled as she rushed towards him, wanting to give him a hug for showing up, if not for the plates occupying her hands though.
"Thank goodness." Said Ayumu. "But you have to come with me."
Hayate followed suit as the girl lead him to the kitchen. There, his peripheral visions met the manager, who was drained from cooking all the orders.
"Oh great! You're already here!" The man cried as he quickly took off the green apron and handed it to Hayate.
"Do you think you can handle all of this by yourself?"
Hayate stared blankly before he nodded and smirked.
"Of course!" He responded.
After what had seemed like an endless battle of eternal labors going on in what had appeared like an hour, the customers eventually grew satisfied as many of them had now left merrily and happily with the services they had been provided.
By the cashier, Hakuto counted all the yens they had just earned from what had probably been one of the busiest days within Café' Douguri history. He was no doubt overjoyed by the fruits of their hard work.
Some customers still stayed however, chatting with their groupmates and ordering some small drinks and desserts here and there, but in contrast to before though, the environment was a lot more friendlier and homelike, just as a café should be.
From the kitchen door, the blue haired teenager emerged carrying with him a new batch of freshly baked cookies as he headed to place the tray onto the counter.
"Oh thank goodness the worst part is over." Ayumu suddenly sputtered, coming with an exhausted form while she leaned herself on to the counter, her arm resting on the wooden table. She wiped her forehead to relieve herself from the discomfort of a few pouring sweats using her wrist. Hokuto chuckled at his employee's statement.
"I know what you mean." He shared, aware fully well of what she had meant.
He opened his eyes again as he returned his view on the cash he was still counting.
"But on the bright side however, at least we got a lot of money out of it."
He shot his peripheral visions on the butler.
"And it's all thanks to you Hayate, you truly are a lifesaver. I'll be sure to offer you a raise after this."
When he heard that, Hayate turned to the café manager's direction with a confused look before quickly changing to a more bashful one as he smiled nervously while shaking his left hand up near to the front of his face and shaking vigorously.
"Oh. N-no need for that. I'm just really happy to have helped."
The manager let out a slight chuckle as he shook his head playfully.
"Nonsense. Its my duty as your boss to pay you based on your hard work." He pressed one of the buttons and closed the registry. "So, I'll say, take it or leave it."
"His right Hayate." He now turned to the direction of his face to Ayumu who was now beginning to head back into tending with the customers.
"You pretty much earned this."
As he watched her leave, he then shifted back to Hakuto. His cheeks mildly reddened sheepishly as he bowed his head down, grateful to his senior.
"Thank you!"
Hakuto gave him a saluting nod, releasing another minor chortle, before heading his way and disappeared into the kitchen.
The blue haired part-timer then returned back into a proper standing position, a gleeful smile printed on his expression.
"A raise huh?" The boy whispered, particularly to no one but himself, his thoughts running back to the other raises he received prior before working as a Sanzenin butler, back when he was still living under the same roof as his parents, and how they would always somehow manage to take advantage on that part as they basically kept stealing all his hard earned money every single time.
Truly, their despicable behavior disgusted him to no end, with the mere thought of them already being able to tense his body.
The young man then clutched and balled one of his hands into the shape of a fist.
And then…he sighed.
The blue haired boy's form had then returned back to normal once again, calming himself as he shook all those unwanted thoughts away.
He took in another breath of air (this time, a bit deeper than before) as he then released them back into the atmosphere, along with his frustration towards those two useless idiots.
They were no longer a part of his life, and that was what mattered most, and although he might be currently carrying a total amount of 156,804,000 yen as a debt right now, he was, in contrast to popular assumption, quite fine with the idea. In fact, his life had never been this nice since… probably even before he could remember. Sure, of course that it wasn't always all rainbows and sunshine, and certainly far off from being either Heaven or Eden, with rouge robots, unpredictable monsters, unexpected foolish kidnappers, and mentally questionable blond guys who frequently attempted ridding a young teen off the face of the planet just so he could become the Sanzenin heir. Again, it was no paradise, but he wouldn't even think of changing it for the world.
"Hey Hayate."
Or perhaps he spoke too soon.
Immediately recognizing that voice, the young man's eyes instantly drooped.
Risa Asakaze, accompanied with her two compatriots, Misa and Izumi. They stood just right at the other side of the counter. They were known by many as Hakuo's Three Amigas because of the fact that they were nearly inseparable. Though most folks he knew would rather prefer calling them as the 'Three Idiots' since they always caused trouble and other such dumb situations to befall upon any innocent person they took interest with (admittedly he too was one of those persons that liked to secretly refer to them by that).
He took no delight the moment his visions met with theirs, uncaring eyes along with a frowning face.
"Yes, what is it this time."
When he saw all three of them form their iconic mischievous grins, Hayate quickly realized that he was about to enter yet another world of bad luck and jinx.
"Seriously, that's it?" The boy asked in utter shock, eyes widening after just hearing their requests.
"Yes" Izumi nodded sweetly.
"Why? Are their any problems?" Then followed Misa, eyes bored and drooping like always, though one of her eyebrows raised in confusion.
He could think of one exactly, and that was his limited schedule, but he knew the girls all too well at this point to know they definitely wouldn't take any form of refusal for an answer. So he complied, much to his usual unfortunateness.
But what is fortunate however, was that the favor they were requesting didn't require of him wearing any maid's outfit or tricking him into doing something that was absurd. In fact, their request was actually quite simple, too simple, he would confess.
So simple in truth that he was honestly quite puzzled regarding on why they simply couldn't just done it themselves.
And that was why he inquired:
"Mmm…not much really, its just that, wouldn't it be easier if you just head to Wataru's yourselves?"
All three student council members immediately stiffened, blushed, sweat dropped, and averted their gazes from him.
Rubbing the back of her head, Izumi, with a plastered-awkward smile tried to explain their side of the story within the best way she knew she could.
"Yo-you see Hayate-"
After several minutes, the boy then exclaimed:
"Seriously!" Shouted a baffled butler. "And ju-just how did you even manage to have pulled that off?!"
Risa closed her eyes while facing skyward, the red in her cheeks still quite entirely visible.
"That would take us on an entirely long and different story all together. And quite frankly, we don't have the time to elaborate on that."
She tried to make herself sound all mature, however, Hayate could see right through her façade that she was simply embarrassed to discuss about it.
Then Hayate felt that someone was pushing him from the back, and when he turned, he saw the girl with light blue hair behind him.
Seeing their admittedly pathetic display, Hayate sighed, holding no other option.
"Fine." The boy grunted.
All three of the Three Amigas cheered, raising their hands into the air and with Izumi jumping on the balls of her feet.
A sweat drop fell on the young butler's forehead.
The sound of a bell was heard the moment Hayate had entered the D.V.D. rental store.
He turned his head from left to right – casually just in case.
As expected, the shop was nearly empty, particularly mostly due to the fact that the D.V.D.'s prepared had a price that no average person would ever be willing to pay for (not unless one knew how to look).
Yes, it appeared like a bland looking store. Yes, it appeared like there was nothing really special or unique about it. Yes, the store owner was the stereotypical-bored out of life jerk (at times) kind of guy. But just as the sea, beneath the shallow waters which mankind has grown used to, lies an entire world filled with only the most magnificent of treasures.
And what are those treasures one may ask?
Well, they didn't certainly took the form of gold or crystals, they were not relics of the past once owned by some ancient and mighty king of Mu or Lemuria. They weren't magical, they weren't gifts from the gods, they weren't blessed by any powerful religious figures, nor did they ever fell from the sky. But just like with any treasures, they were rare. So rare that one might indeed possess a better chance of finding Megalodon, Bigfoot, or even the Easter Bunny itself.
They were simply just that rare. And though they might not be made from precious stones, they were still -in a sense- gems, or at least though, to all those whom were interested in watching hard to find films that is.
Plus, there were also some good pocket-friendly ones if one were to ever try seeking hard enough. But that's for another time.
As Hayate walked unto the counter, the younger brunette-haired boy gazed his pupils away from the magazine article he was reading in order to tend towards the blue haired boy.
"Oh, Hayate." Said Wataru, the store owner, looking a bit surprise upon seeing his (annoying) -so called- fiancée's butler. "What brings you here?"
Hayate placed a shopping bag onto the counter in front of him. This sparked even more curiosity unto the younger boy, so he gently checked and, what he saw-
-immediately caused his eyes to go droop.
"And they couldn't even show their own faces." Wataru murmured.
The brunette lifted up his head in order to be met with the bluenette's face. "Let me guess, they forced you do to this."
"Yeah." Nervously admitted Hayate, a sweat drop falling from his forehead. "Pretty much."
He glanced from Wataru's direction, all the way to the glass window. There -as he expected- were the Three Hakuo 'Idiots', staring – watching them, each one above the other in order of height. Once they saw the butler -and along with the shop owner- glaring at them, all three girls had immediately panicked to which resulted for them to all fall.
Both males sighed, both in worry of them, and at the suspense of their ridiculous behavior.
Wataru grabbed the shopping bag, and started counting all the D.V.D.'s that were within.
His dark blue eyes then returned to the young man at the other side of his counter.
"You can go now if you like."
Hayate winced, his own eyes blinking as he realized he was spacing out. He shook his head prior to answering back.
"Oh, right. Sorry."
Hayate then made his farewells to the other boy and began in making his way out.
As he done, his orbs drifted to peek at the clock hanging by the wall.
The young man sighed once again – this time more out of gladness, thankful that he still had an entire day ahead of him.
The soft bell rang, signifying his exit. As the Ayasaki was about to start to embark on his journey all the way towards city hall, a familiar figure then suddenly caused for him to halt.
Crouching down on the pavement sidewalk whilst leaning low from the window, was a sight that could have easily made other passerby and pedestrians just – stare.
There he saw Sonia Shalfez, one of his mistress's former killers, and along with being as well the former 'nun' of the Church of Alexandria Mark (before the authentic nun took back both her role and her identity).
What made her quite the attraction was the simple fact that she was dressed like a nun – whilst clearly spying on 'someone.'
She was blushing, that he could spot, and with her narrowed brows, Hayate could tell that she was definitely thinking about something (most probably on how she should approach her crush).
"You know that its free to enter, right?" the pseudo nun jumped, not really anticipating for someone to notice her (despite the obvious fact that everyone was noticing her) during one of her embarrassing of moments.
She yelped, jerked, before then facing towards her caller.
"W-What are you doing here?!"
"I should be the one asking you that question." The bluenette sweat dropped.
The redness of the pseudo nun's face increased exponentially as a reaction.
Sonia then immediately looked away at him.
"N-None of you're business." She huffed whilst turning away from him.
This only made for Hayate to feel even more cringe inside. Cringe for her.
Based upon the story of his life, the butler could already sense that another misfortune would soon take place. So, since not wanting for that to occur again - and since he was in an urgent hurry, the boy 'casually' stepped back.
"W-well, if that's the case, then I should-"
"Just a moment."
"Of course." Hayate thought to himself.
The former mafia's daughter stood up straight again, formally. It sometimes amazed the young butler on just how some of the people in his life were capable of switching from one persona, to the next.
With a stoic face, the girl fixed the position of her reflective eyewear.
"I require for your assistance."
Pausing for just about a moment, it took Hayate a second just for the pseudo nun's statement to sink in.
"W-what?"
A series of rather unfortunate events then took place after that, from aiding Sonia in dealing with a crime syndicate gang, to helping Yukiji search for her money, resulting in him to sneak into a hideout which was harboring a group of thieves, and ultimately raiding it (don't ask how). After then he also had to avoid the advances of Kotetsu, responding to a mother's cries after her son got stuck at a public stall, getting chased by a dog and again by Kotetsu, assisting Chiharu with this, aiding Fumi with that, and other such bad luck scenarios falling after another, leading for the skies above to turn black.
"I apologize again for the inconvenience Hayate." The butler was then suddenly snapped away from his train of thinking, and with a surprised face, craned towards Isumi, who he found gotten herself lost again while he was passing by a playground.
The bluenette man forced in a smile.
"It's alright." Replied Hayate. "Just glad I've found you before anything bad happened."
Although, probably now that he thought about it, that line he just made would have plausibly been the understatement of the century, considering as to whom he was talking with.
"Still though." Continued Isumi, covering her mouth with her yukata, whilst walking right beside the bluenette of a butler. "I do feel really bad. You seem to have been in a hurry earlier before we met. I can't quite help but feel as if I am a burden to you right now."
"Hey, don't say that." Hayate attempted to tell her not to feel guilty. "Its fine. Really. I'm not mad at you, and I'm not blaming you either. As Nagi's butler, its sort of like my responsibility to make sure that no harm must come before her best friend. And, if that includes escorting you home, well, so be it."
Isumi couldn't quite help but smile at the boy's words, for although her crush on him had faded away, her admiration for Hayate remained strong.
As they continued on their walk within the silent streets, with the lampposts and houses guiding up in their travels, something fell from the skies, and the bluenette, whom notice it falling, caught it within his hand before it could land on the road.
It was white, cold, and tiny.
Snow.
Upon seeing that, Hayate locked eyes into the heavens and watched as many more of them came and fall down.
"Its snowing." Said Isumi out of amazement, mesmerized by the stunning display of nature.
The boy with blue pupils stared, his body nearly reminiscent to that of a statue or a mannequin. Gawking at the sight before him, his subconscious took him to a trip down to memory lane.
It was a chilling December evening, and he was out of his luck, more so than usual. His parents abandoned him to pay off their debts, his head was targeted by a few 'generous people' because his father and mother apparently did not mind if their own son's body parts got sold into the Black Market, and even if those 'generous people' were to never find him, he would have died anyway, with no food, no shelter, and only a few coins in his pockets. His fate was sealed, and he would have left the earthly plains right then and there, if not only for his very own misfortune – the very misfortune which had nearly plagued him all his life, the very misfortune that had brought him into such a terrible predicament in the first place – had rescued him that night. And it took the form of one girl offering him a second chance, and another instilling his hope for this forsaken world once more.
Those very people had saved him, especially Nagi, who he would probably forever be in debt to in both a literal and a figurative kind of sense. She made him her butler, and yet he had no complains. Despite having to cook, clean, and do other such daily chores in her service, Hayate had zero issues. Sure, he'd usually got beat up most of the time, and sure his misfortunes would still come and hover over him every now and then, but it was certainly nothing he couldn't handle. If he were to be given one wish, he'd wish for days to forever be like this, at the presence of Nagi, Maria, Hinagiku, Tama, and the other residence of the Purple Mansion. In short, he wouldn't even try to change it for the world.
Would he call of it a miracle? Luck? He honestly didn't care. For in the first time in his entire life, he was happy and content.
As his memories fades away, the two could already spot Isumi's house on proximity.
Like how the Purple Mansion was constructed, Isumi's mansion was designed with a classic-traditional Japanese aesthetic. The main difference though, was that it had a larger land area, giving it more space and ground than in comparison to where he lives.
Upon seeing her home in sight, both Hayate and Isumi speeded their walk until eventually they had reached the front gate.
Isumi knocked at the large wooden door which resulted for one of the Saginomiya's house hold staffs to answer on. She looked at him first with a baffled face before turning and rushing to her young mistress out of concern due to the 14th year old's lateness and health (since it was still snowing).
"Lady Isumi!" The woman cried. She checked every inch and part of the young exorcist's presence, to see if there were any injuries or possible scars, wounds, or bruises in which she could tend.
"I'm fine." Isumi spoken plainly and calm, letting out a breath through her mouth as if she were releasing sudden anxieties.
"I'm glad to hear that mistress." Said the woman. "But, honestly, you really need to learn not to get lost all the time mistress. You had all of us really worried."
"I'm sorry." Isumi apologized, with a blush.
Then a motherly-like smile formed on the woman's lips. "Well, we can discuss about that later mistress. Right now, we need to get you out of this cold. Come inside, dinner has just been set."
Isumi nodded gratefully. But just before she was about to head inside, the exorcist first turned to face her escort.
"Thank you for bringing me home safely Hayate."
The butler nodded in response.
"W-would you by any chance, be interested in coming in? I am certain that you must be very hungry right about now?"
Hayate smiled, but refused the kind offer, he still had a place to get to after all.
He thanked Isumi, and told her politely that he still had a mission to accomplish.
The girl understood and told him one final thank you prior to telling him goodbye.
As the bluenette was about to make his leave, the maid called out to him.
"Thank you for bringing home our mistress." She politely bowed. "Please, sir Hayate. Allow for me to at least fetch you some warm cloths you can borrow. As a token of our appreciation for your help."
To the young boy's ears, that sounded not half bad, however, before he could reply, a sudden voice had abruptly shouted from the insides of the mansion.
And they were calling for his name.
"HAYATE!"
The butler flinched, knowing well that that voice could only belong to one certain person. Isumi's very own brother, Kotetsu.
He made a step backwards.
"Well, as much as I would love to stay and talk further, I do believe that-"
"You're here!"
"I do believe that I must make haste."
He bowed to the both of them prior to embarking on his departure. Effectively avoiding for Kotetsu's advances.
Finally, after an entire day's worth of his usual luck, the young Ayasaki had accomplished in reaching his destination. For others, city hall was simply – well? City hall. Yet, for him, at least for that moment, it was like seeing a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.
For as exaggerating as it may sound to some, the fact that he was still able to make it was enough for him to stand steel for a moment in order to catch his breath whilst relishing on his victory against his luck.
The lights were also still on, so that was definitely a good sign.
As he was about to walk into the building, the sight of a familiar girl with pink hair had made him cease for a second.
"Hinagiku?"
She appeared to have noticed him as she walked, holding with her a box.
"Hayate?"
The Katsura then made her way to him.
"What are you doing here?"
"I was the one that was supposed to ask you that." Said the girl, not quite angry but a bit annoyed.
The boy chuckled uncomfortably, and rubbing his hand behind his head.
"Sorry."
The pinkette gradually smiled.
"I'm here for student council businesses. Apparently setting sharks in the school pool actually did not go as the superintended would have wanted it." Explained Hinagiku. Though her tone seemed to turn to one of frustration after the ending parts.
"Then shouldn't she be the one to handle-"
"Its for the best Hayate." Hinagiku stopped him before he could finish with his sentence. "Besides, who knows on what she would do if she were here."
From that, the young boy gulped. Being after all, fully aware of what Hakuo's superintended was like. In fact, he could already imagine her sending the entirety of Tokyo's city hall into the Antarctic.
"Oh, I see." The butler responded rather nervously.
"Ok. So, what about you. What brings the Sanzenin's best butler out here at such hours?" She somewhat inquired him with a playful tone.
In reaction, the young teen pointed at himself.
"Hmm. Oh right. I'm only here for butler's purposes."
"Butler's purposes?" Hinagiku repeated his words. "So, you mean Nagi ordered you to fetch something here?"
"N-Not necessarily." He awkwardly replied. "Its honestly a bit of a long story, really. I promise that I'll fill you in on the details once I get home. Right now, I believe that you should really get off this weather."
The skies started snowing once more, and a chilling wind blew passed the both of them. Hinakigu shivered due to the cold.
"I could say the same to you." She gestured to his person. "Look at yourself. You're not even wearing a scarf."
"Well, I am wearing my butler's uniform. That should be enough to keep me warm, right?"
The student council president rolled her yellow eyes and took off the scarf she was sporting around her neck.
"Everyone would be glaring daggers at me if I allowed you to come back all sick and frail." She wrapped the scarf on him. "This hopefully should be sufficient enough."
Hayate observed himself, holding his hand on the fabric. Gradually, he smiled.
"Thank you." The adolescent cheerfully nodded.
The Katsura blushed. But smiled back nonetheless.
"Just remember to return it."
And with that, she waved him farewell and departed to wherever next she was heading. Hayate, meanwhile watched her until she was no longer observable. It was then that he made his way into city hall.
Inside the busy interiors of the structure, people of many different backgrounds were all shown buzzling all over.
Hayate had to ask one of the staffs, considering on how humongous the place was. If he never set foot within his mistress' old mansion, he would essentially be mesmerized at the sight he was gazing.
After taking some few turns here and there, the bluenette found himself at the office window where he needed to be. There, he was met with a lady, around probably the same age as that of Yukiji. Though she appeared more professional than the aforementioned green head.
She was a brunette with wavy hair, and a fair skin tone along with plush cheeks (clearly make up), the woman appeared professional yet relaxed in her demeanor as she typed on something within her computer.
When Hayate approached, she stopped whatever it was she was inputting in order to tend to her client.
"Yes?" She smiled gently as she bowed. "How may I help you, sir?"
Hayate wandered his blue pupils, still taking in the place he was in. Since he had never actually stepped into city hall before, the boy was basically a kid being taken to kindergarten for the first time. He was however, cut off from his minor sight seeing once he heard the woman clear up her throat.
Snapping back into focus, the teen shook off his awe, and returned into doing what he was told to do.
He nervously rubbed the back of his head.
"Ah, sorry." He uncomfortably chuckled. "Um…is this where I'm supposed to get my Family register?"
The employee nodded, and began to resume to her screen.
"Name?" She asked.
"Hayate. Hayate Ayasaki."
"Ayasaki…" Murmured the woman, essentially repeating his words.
"Ah. Here it is. Just a moment."
Some time came to pass as the clock stuck by the wall made its familiar ticking sounds. And some words were exchange between the municipal staff and the butler.
"Alright. Here it is sir."
Hayate grabbed and took the envelope in hand. He bowed his head afterwards, and strolled to reach a nearby empty seat. Curious. The boy with the suit decided that perhaps there was no harm in checking.
Right?
Opening the said brown envelope, the young male slowly pulled out the certificate and into his very hands.
Looking at it he felt rather underwhelmed. Expecting for something more 'different'. And yet, when he traced his pupils on the paper, all he could find were rather boring details, most of which he had already known about. He even mentally began asking himself in what he was anticipating for in the first place.
Sighing, the boy chose to simply just put the sheet back inside the envelope, until one particular part of it made him cease.
He then later stood up and walked back to the window from just minutes ago.
"Umm… excuse me, ma'am? Sorry to bother. But, I believe that there's been some sort of mistake."
From the corner of his sight, the woman appeared to have rolled her eyes prior to checking with him. Once more forging a smile.
"Yes sir?"
Hayate presented his family registration and pointed one of his fingers to a particular part of the reading. Clearly gesturing there.
At first, he considered with himself if whether to speak about this 'minor' error was a good idea. But then forced himself to push through anyway. Once more telling himself that there was surely no harm in trying.
Right?
And, for some reason, he chose to brave himself.
"I-It says here that my relationship is that of adoption. Could you ah… please check on that? Please?"
The lady nodded her head with no words of reply. She went back into her computer, typing things in which he cannot observe.
Whilst she done that, Hayate's forehead mysteriously had initiated sweating, and his throat started to gulp.
Rarely would he ever experience such moments, but what he felt right about now was like torture, and it grew for every second that passed.
His heart rate accelerated in its pumping, and his breathing turned slightly heavier.
The fingers on his hand started to twitch. In his mind, he internally prayed for these seconds to be over.
He lightened once the woman spun back to look at him.
"I'm sorry sir. But I checked." Hayate can tell from her tone that what she was about to deliver to him, wasn't one that he would like to listen to. "There doesn't really seem to be any sort of mistake at all. Everything said on your register is real."
His eyes widened, and it was as if the workings of Father Time himself had come to a halt. Everything ceased in moving, the world came to a standstill. Or, perhaps, just his world.
There were no sounds, there were no movements, there were no voices or noises occurring anywhere. No distractions, no ticking clocks. No 3 Amigas, no annoying tigers or spirits, no fake nuns or a drunkard excuse of a teacher. There was merely only one thing that remained-
And that was himself, and the certificate he was holding in his shaking palms.
"N-no. Of course not." He said with a plastered grin, though he knew that the woman could spot through his silly pseudo-optimism. "There has to be some mistake. There has to be. Otherwise, I-"
"That my-"
The woman offered him a sincere sympathetic face.
"I'm sorry sir."
His knees felt like they were about to give in. But he didn't wish to mope nor cry. At least, to where he could easily garner attention.
"Ah. I-I see." He attempted with all his will to keep with such a cheerful persona. Which, fortunately for him, years on working various jobs had allowed Hayate to become a total master when it came to masking his actual emotions. (Sometimes)
"Well, if that's the case then, then I should probably be on my way." Before he walked, he first made for a bow. "Thank you." Prior to departing the area.
Crowded, full of people, that was what he encountered when he first entered the building. Not necessarily anything different from what could only be described as – his life. Full of noises, full of different voices, full of chitchats, chuckles and woes.
Essentially speaking, full of chaos.
And yet, despite all that not changing, despite there still being a hundred people hanging at the hallways, all Hayate could see right as of now…
…was emptiness.
Eyes glued at a sheet of paper, with one part of the document continuing to plague both his mind and soul.
Adopted. That was a word that had always slipped pass his attention only until now.
Adopted. Suddenly, the very spelling of that had shook him deep to his core.
Beneath the snowing skies, the boy sat at a public bench almost motionlessly.
No words, no sounds, just him and his thoughts. His dreading thoughts.
There he was, alone. And there he remained. Unfazed by the chilling cold, and only having a scarf to protect him from the forces of Father Winter. He didn't mind though, no. Because for him, the news and the realization of a childhood pass had stung more deeper than any frostbite that came tingling at his skin.
He was even so aloof that he hadn't even noticed when a looming shade abruptly appeared, and ultimately ceasing the snow from falling on his person.
"Didn't expect for you to still hang around." Playfully said the pinkette who was holding up an umbrella. "You really have a habit of sitting outside in the cold, do you?"
But he didn't respond. Causing the girl to drop her teasing.
"Hey? Hayate? Are you listening?"
He wasn't.
"Hey?"
"It all makes sense now."
He began to mutter.
A childhood past came flashing before his sight. Moments of when a little blue haired boy watched from the sidelines of the hallway from his old school. His classmates, several of them in fact, were all cheerfully laughing along with their parents whom were praising them for their grades. The small boy looked around, trying to see if he could miraculously find his own folks.
He failed.
"It all makes sense…"
Struck with a high fever, the same small boy lied down on his bed, covered in his blanket, with only his head exposed. By the background, a woman was seen counting the winnings of her daily gambling sessions, whilst emerging from the bathroom, was a man who was holding up his phone to his ear. Mentioning things such as "Of course.", or "I guarantee you.", under the diction of a cheap used cars salesman.
"That's why they…"
The boy, now sporting a helmet, rode around town in his bike. Seemingly carrying with him a large backpack that was too large for his size.
He stopped once he reached a certain house. Got off his wheels and waddled his way to the door. He dropped his bag, and fished out a box and a can of soda. He then knocked on the said door.
"Ma'am!" Called the boy. "Your order is here!"
The door swinged open and a middle-aged woman was shown. She took the food from the boy whilst saying, "Oh, why thank you young man. Oh, let me just go fetch my wallet. Wait here for a moment."
And he did. Standing while showing a gentle smile as he done so.
Fortuitously, the sounds of happy chuckles reached his ears. And, being curious, he was eventually compelled to turn around. He saw some children about his age. All circling around one of them. Faces full of awe.
"Wow! You're so lucky."
The boy holding a robot action figure, who was also the center of everyone's attention, puffed his chest proudly at the praises he received.
"How did you get it?"
"Well, my parents bought it for me, duh?"
He frowned upon hearing that. As he couldn't really remember the last since his parents ever bought anything for him. But he pushed that pondering off. They were simply poor and that was that. They didn't have the same luxuries like that of other families. His parents were only doing everything they could so that they can reach ends meat. Yeah. That's right. That was even the reason why he was doing all of this. Working. Sustaining for their needs. That was why he had to earn money.
While as other kids played, he had to make multiple jobs. For them. For his loved ones. Because he knew, that someday, once they had enough savings, his parents wouldn't need to be so busy. That they could finally be like a regular family. That was what they told him, after all. Work hard. Get money. Follow Santa's advice.
He told himself that as he proceeded to watch the kids.
"Hayate!"
Suddenly, he was snapped out of memory lane. And just before he was even aware of it, tears were falling from his eyes, and it was soon followed by some hitch breaths. No sooner than later, he gradually started to cry.
Hinagiku dropped her umbrella and kneeled down to his level.
"Hayate! Hayate! What's wrong?"
"So that's why." He spoke.
She was probably confused. But at the moment, he didn't care. He wanted to cry some more. He wanted to let all the sudden pain in his chest to be let out. He wanted to shout. He wanted to be angry.
He wanted to let the world know his fury. His feelings of hurt.
But, as with many times, he thought better of it.
Instead, he threw all those agonizing emotions and ponderings inside his heart. To keep it in. However, that proved to be quite difficult.
The heaviness in his chest began to weight so much, that it was too much for him.
No sooner, he exploded into tears. Collapsing his face to his palms, and releasing towards the open his wails.
Hayate was known for his strength and endurance. Those who knew him will vouch for that claim. He was strong, courageous, even a giant mech couldn't bring him down so easily. And yet, supposedly, even the most mightiest of oaks will fall due to the pressure brought to them by the howling winds.