A/N: Hey, hey, hey~! So, whose missed me? I decided to take a small break from writing the next chappie to my FMA fic to get this idea out of my head and onto the Internet. I was inspired to write this after reading chapter 265 when Athena told Hayate that she wasn't planning to return with him, deciding rather to let him live his life with Nagi and group. Now I'll admit, it was a little sad that they had to part ways. But at the same time, I was relieved to know that Hayate could move on and find love with another (hint, hint…Nagi). So, in a sudden leap of creativity, I wrote up this chapter to my first multi-fic of HnG to show my love for the coupling. So do enjoy this fic and let me know how I did. Kay?

On a side note, I must warn you that Hayate acts a little OC. But that's only because he's just gone through a massive heartbreak. So it's only natural that some people act out of character when stuff like that happens (and boy, can I name a few people who have. You know who you are). And those of you who don't mind some swearing are good to go in reading this.

quotes from manga

"regular dialogue"

'mental thought'

Chapter 1: Heartbreak

So…this is farewell.

He never knew words like that could hurt so much. He was walking down the cobblestone path, passing the battle-damaged castle (or what was left of it, for the matter). The winds coming from the sea beside him picked up in speed and he fought desperately to keep the tears at bay. But his efforts were quickly becoming futile; single droplets rolled down his left cheek and stained the top part of his white collar. But he could care less.

The love of his life basically told him that she didn't share the same feelings as him anymore. Even after he told her he loved her, the woman of his affections had enough gut to turn around and walk away. She walked away, leaving him behind. But she also took his heart in turn. And he was supposed to hold his composure?

But a small part of him (very much miniscule at the moment as he dwelled on the heart break) understood her reasoning for leaving. Had she decided to return with him to Japan, he would have ultimately dragged her down with the burden of his debt. No longer would the responsibility of caring for him fall on his young Ojou-sama, but his precious A-Tan instead. Considering all that she's went through because of him, including the incident of today, he felt it natural that she'd want to use her newfound freedom to do all the things she couldn't before, which included living a life that was burden free.

So when he saw her literally and emotionally distancing herself from him, he made no move to protest. Rather, he let her take those steps away from him because deep in his heart he knew he was protecting her from him. He could never live with himself if he knew he was the cause of her stress.

Are you going to transfer your debt of 150 million yen to me?

But it still hurt to hear it said to his face. He inwardly cringes when he thinks about the way her voice lowered in that unsettling way, as though mocking him for underestimating the situation at hand. And when her ruby red eyes blazed like that, she usually meant business. It was those very eyes of hers that planted him on the spot and prevented him from running up to her slightly quivering body. But nonetheless, he walked on forward. He managed to hold his head up high (with some difficulty), keep a composed stare before him (even though his eyes were rimmed red and the tight thin lip was more grim-like than anything) and held on to his determination to get back to the hotel where his friends were at (even though he wanted nothing more than to turn around and embrace his goddess for dear life).

So he could honestly say he was fairing well. Well, whatever that meant in this circumstance.

See…? You can't do it, can you?

His memory was betraying him.

Athena's words kept replaying in his head; further driving him to the void of depression he was drowning in. It was unfair to think that he was destined to hurt constantly. He never knew the love of a family; his brother disappearing out of the blue one day and his parents going on the run while they practically handed him over to the yakuza. The one true friend he made in his youth ended up hating him because of what he said and did to her and he let her suffer for all those years. And after he finally reunited with her, she told him that they needed to go their separate ways. No matter where he turned to, he was bound to hurt someone with his existence. To him, it was an evitable thing that he would have to live with for the remainder of his life.

The harsh, cold winds pricked at the exposed skin and caused a rupture of goose bumps in its wake. By now, his tears lessened to residual trails on his flushed cheeks. But he had a feeling he would be seeing more of the salty liquid soon. After all, he was experiencing the worst of heartbreaks since his brother's disappearance. Everything was slowly falling apart around him. His once clear world, filled with laughter and crazy mishaps, dimmed in color and plagued his mind in the sickest of ways by replaying all the negative treatments from his youth up till now.

With each disappointed face or crying expression, his already weak knees would further weaken and it made walking difficult by the minute. He staggered to a nearby wall, placed a hand on it and heaved out his lunch from earlier. He'd gulp in some air after emptying his system only to duck his head down and do it again. The burning sensation ran like acid through his lungs and tiny specks of tears dotted the corners of his lids. He gasped for breathe between takes, gripping at his stomach in hopes that the pain would subside eventually.

He glanced sideways to see the ocean waters crashing on the rocks at shore. The moonlight reflected off the waters, creating glimmering shimmers resembling diamonds on the surface. Any other day, he would have stopped to admire the beautiful sight. But today wasn't such a day. He was hurting. And no amount of sightseeing was going to help him sober up and forget all of A-Tan's saddening, but reasonable, words that night.

He could see the lights of the resort everyone was staying at in the distance. He felt a little relieved to know he was close by. He propped himself upright from the brick wall, wiped his lips across the bottom of his butler uniform sleeve and staggered the rest of the way to his awaiting friends.

Forgiving someone…and being forgiven…that's what binds people together.

Nagi had just got through telling a story to Ayumu when the surprised girl yelled out Hayate's name. She glanced to the side and lo and behold there was her butler. Her emerald eyes traveled to his worn out features, a grim look crossing her own face. She saw the group of girls gather around him, questioning his disappearance. He would nod his head occasionally, but never gave a solid answer. It appeared like he was trying not to let his forced smile falter in front of them. But Nagi knew better than to fall for it.

When the crowd dispersed some, she allowed herself to walk the short distance to her butler/crush. There she stood in front of him, a smile (which was just as forced as Hayate's, for his sake) playing on her lips and eyes tracing the contours of his worn face. Judging from his expression, she didn't want to come out right away with her concern and decided to settle on asking, indirectly, about his situation instead.

"Well, how'd it go Hayate?"

"Eh?" He looked genuinely confused by her question, as though he had been in a daze moments before. She wasn't mad about this. On the contrary, she was worried about what he went through before returning to the resort. Her heart ached at the sight of him felling miserable as he attempted to hide that sadness from her. Both her hands clutched at either side of the dress, but her smile stayed.

"Did you finally settle things?" she asked. Hayate silently looked down at the girl before him, as though contemplating the question at hand and trying to formulate a decent answer that'll stray from his real thoughts.

"Hm?"

Nagi pressed on further when she didn't get an answer right away. She wasn't sure why he was so hesitant to answer her and, to put it bluntly, it was pissing her off. She squeezed harder on the cotton fabric, not sure what to expect from him. He was being unusually quiet tonight and this threw the girl for a loop, on account that she's never had to deal with emotions as raw and deep like his growing up in the Sanzenin estate. Her whole life has been the envy of many unfortunate to possess the wealth and liberties like her. When she felt bad about anything, she'd vent to Maria or Izumi (who popped up in the mansion on random occasions). But she never really learned the skills that went into being patient to hear of their issues, finding it rather easy to write it off as a waste of time. So to have to come down from that fairytale and put other people's problems before her own was still a feat in of itself. But she tried nonetheless.

His lips twitched upward by a fraction and a small tint of pink painted his pale cheeks. If her senses hadn't told her that something was wrong with him, she would have believed that Hayate was simply smiling to himself in his normal 'Hayate manner'. But it was because she knew he was upset that she allowed her lips to curl more upward after seeing a glimpse of the old Hayate coming through the dreadful atmosphere around him. His smile seemed genuine at the time, despite the flicker of emotion that flashed in his baby blues to which she couldn't distinguish.

"Yes."

"…That's good to hear." She hesitantly grabbed his right hand, enveloping it in her own two hands, and offered him what she presumed to be her warmest smile. "That really is good to hear, Hayate." A small part of her hoped that her smile would have the power to melt away the despair etched on his face from moments ago and put his worried heart at ease. But something about her gesture had him flinch and swiftly pull his hand away. A shocked look took the place of the smile and her hands went limp on either side, suddenly becoming clammy and shaky.

It was only after he heard her gasp, that Hayate became aware of what he did. He looked to his hand and then to Nagi's face, his eyes dilating at the sight. His whole hand feels like it was scorched from the wrist down. He remembers holding his A-Tan with those hands some time before. His beloved A-Tan…who didn't love him anymore. But the same girl who he still loved dearly.

'What the hell have I done?'

Both teens, unnoticed by the others who were far off at the other side of the resort, stayed like that for some time, shocked by the turn of events. Nagi felt like the ground melted beneath her feet and glued her to it on the spot; her thin legs seemed like they were weighted down by imaginary shackles that kept her from approaching the boy before her. Hayate's legs shook from his sudden reflex, beads of sweat rolling down his temple. Unshed tears were clouding his vision and he desperately wanted to flee the scene.

'What the hell have I done?'

Nagi took a few baby steps closer to the fear-stricken butler, outstretching her left hand to take a hold of him. Hayate took a small step back with his right foot, clenching his fisted hands tighter until the knuckles shown white. Everything was happening too quickly for him.

'What the hell have I done!'

"…H-Hayate?" Her small hands slowly crept towards his arm, breath coming out shallow and her heart beating wildly against her chest. Unshed tears threatened to spill from her glistening eyes, halting the older boy's breath in that instance.

Her dainty fingers continued edging forward, seeking solace from having some kind of physical contact with him and allowing it to convince her that this whole thing was simply a misunderstanding on her part. Hayate, on the other hand, was trying to will his body to pull away quickly from the hand inching closer to him.

"P-please, Hayate…"

See…? You can't do it, can you?

His imagination started working up on him, twisting Nagi's face into the image of Athena as he pictured her face telling him those painful words back at the destroyed mansion. A smile filled with malice taunted him as it spoke some more.

You can't do it.

Get going.

"Hayate…?" The voice in his head sounded fiercer with each repetition.

Get going.

Every particle in his body was freezing over at her words. And he was drowning again, just like before.

Get going.

He wanted to fall off the face of the earth.

Get going.

He wanted to tear at all the happy laughter that was mocking him.

Get going.

Anger was pulsating through his veins, thoughts of ripping away from everyone and allowing them to hurt like himself entertained his raging mind.

I wish you would disappear from here!

Her delicate fingers hover just a few centimeters from his wrist as she speaks with desperation in her voice.

"…H-Haya-?"

"GET AWAY FROM ME!"

Smack.

That was the sound that rang throughout the silent space around them. Time seemed to slow down as Nagi watched with horror at his hand slapping her own away, his hair falling over his eyes and concealing the rage behind them.

A bracelet with star and heart charms around it fell to the ground with a loud thud. It was a gift from Hayate when she passed her midterm exams. "I'm so proud of you", he mentioned after handing her the white box containing the charm bracelet. His smile stretched to both ears, earning a giggle from the girl. He told her to keep it safe and always carry it around as motivation to try better. And she honestly believed his love was transferred onto the inanimate object- many of her biggest obstacles were overcome when she wore it. It was meant to give her a sense of security whenever she felt vulnerable. But that wasn't the case this time. Now the gift lied on the floor, separated from her grasp and losing all sense of purpose from the largely perplexed girl. And Nagi barely registered the echoing sound from it, too preoccupied with the shock at hand.

She slowly retracted her hand to her chest, feeling a stinging sensation that had her wincing whenever she moved it slightly against the cotton fabric.

"I hate this, damn it…" the butler muttered to himself, head bowed and fists tight on either side. He ground his teeth hard, a habit of his when he thought back to his childhood. Without fair warning, he charged at the defenseless girl and pinned her to the wall behind her with his hands above the sides of her head. Fear shook at the very core of her body, but she made no move to escape him.

"Why the hell should I have to suffer the pain? Why?" His hair still fell over his face. His voice, however, held a tone of malice that was never exhibited by the boy to anyone of his friends. This really scared the young ex-heiress as she stood there with her back pressed painfully hard against the wall.

"Do you know why I feel like this? Huh?" She wasn't sure if he meant it to be a question, but she shook her head anyways.

"I'm hurting because my life is so screwed up and yet everyone else is allowed to smile from the bottom of their hearts and enjoy life to the fullest." Small trails of tears slid down his angled face, overwhelming Nagi at the sight.

"I'm so sorr-"

"Damn it!" He gave the wall beside her a hard punch, tiny pieces of rubble flying in all directions around them. When he pulled his hand away, Nagi dared a side-glance to see the large dent he inflicted and the crack lines barely reaching her head. Her hands became clammy at the thought of Hayate possibly turning his violent frustration out on her. Ragged heaving escaped his lips and Nagi quickly averted her eyes to the floor, too frightened to make eye contact.

She tightly clenched her eyes shut, mentally willing the good-humored Hayate to return and tell her this was all just some sick prank to get back at her for something. But with each angered shake his arms gave, she was slowly beginning to think that such a reality was possible.

"Screw this…" When she thought more hell was to come, she was surprised to hear his body moving away from hers. She looked up with wide eyes to see Hayate making a mad dash towards the woods, never once looking back at her. She was too fixated to move from her spot on the wall, emerald orbs watching his retreating back till it was no more. He disappeared beyond the shrubbery and away from her distressed form. When she was finally left to herself, she let her body slide down the wall in a heap of utter defeat.

She sat there crumpled on the floor, weak-kneed and tear-stained. Her mind went into a haze while she tried to understand all that transpired between them. But all that she could comprehend was that Hayate was very much furious with her for unknown reasons.

'Did I seem to pushy when I tried to embrace him? Is he mad because I made him do all those silly things back at the mansion? Or is it because he's just plain tired of me bossing him around? What could I have possibly done to make him so mad?

She caught sight of the discarded bracelet. It appeared dull and ugly in contrast to the beauty of the location. The priceless gift didn't even reflect the beautiful rays of the moon, enhancing its own beauty, like it usually did. Her heart plummeted to the bottom of her stomach when she thought about this. A fresh wave of tears pooled around her eyes before it came rushing out and onto her dress. She brought her hand up to wipe away at the river, thinking of the animosity etched onto his face. She was struck with a painful thought at that moment when she looked at her reddened hand before her.

Hayate…is it because you hate me?

An immense, aching feeling consumed her fragile body and she no longer denied the floodgates urging her to let it all out.

And that's what she did as tears wracked her entire form and wails of heartbreak left her mouth in the comfort of her own misery.

"Huff, huff….damnit."

He ran as fast as his legs could carry him- the trees and bushes mere blurs that whizzed past him in his desperate haste.

He reached a large oak tree when he doubled over and fell to his knees, hands grasping at the bark and forehead banging continuously against it.

"Damn, damn, damn!" Several leaves showered the boy's head from above and the only sound heard was his own.

"How could I be have been so stupid? And how the hell am I supposed to face her now?"

Ruby red eyes flashed through his mind, along with blonde hair and a kind smile.

He relaxed his hold on the tree, lifting his head to see the moon shining in the ink black sky. It shone on him brightly, as though giving the impression that he couldn't hide from his frustrations under its knowing eyes. He was, virtually, a prisoner to life's curious eye; it was almost a disadvantage when one considers the obstacles hindering him from achieving true happiness.

"How am I supposed to go on without you, A-Tan? You were the reason I tried so hard to make my own way. You gave me reason to believe in myself once again. So how could you suddenly call it quits and leave me like that? Was my apology not enough to persuade you? Should I have tried harder to make you see that my feelings were true? …Did my feelings for you cause you so much heart ache?"

He half-expected Athena to pop up behind him and tell him this was all a joke; that this nonsense she spoke of was all an illusion. But it never happened. An owl's hooting from a tree nearby was the only thing that answered him back.

He remembers the look of hurt on Nagi's face with sickening guilt that made him feel queasy. The way her body trembled under him and the red mark on her hand that was caused by his very own. What made it worse was that she was trying to cheer him up before it all went down. She was the innocent one in the matter. Yet, he threw the blame for his unhappiness onto her. This was the same girl who gave up her rights at the Sanzenin inheritance to alleviate his personal matters, unaware of what they were. And she never did question him about it as she crushed the ruby jewel in front of him- the shards colliding with the floor along with her impending future.

If anything, he should have been grateful for her show of kindness instead of taking advantage of it. But when he thought of the mess he caused Athena, he couldn't help but feel a need to pull away from the younger girl's kindness towards him. He felt that by accepting it, he was ultimately casting Athena aside and all the deeds she's done for him. It felt like betrayal and Hayate didn't tolerate such acts, considering his own parents betrayed him. He, of all people, knew what it felt like to be pushed aside and taken advantaged of. But at the same time, he didn't like the guilty feeling he got from turning away from Nagi.

'I wasn't being fair to either of them. And it's all my fault that I hurt them both.'

He remembers seeing her charm bracelet flying in the air and landing on the ground with a loud thud. It was the gift he got her for passing the midterms with flying colors. His heart swelled with pride when he saw her name amongst the top five highest scores on the bulletin board. So he rushed out of the school, narrowly escaping a herd of raging felines and a clown riding a tricycle, and went into a jewelry store to purchase the bracelet for her. He distinctly remembered her looking at it during one of their outings to buy groceries and he was amazed to see it there still after a good whole month passed by. And he was more than happy when he ran back to the school to present it to her. He wishes he had a camera then because the way she blushed that pretty pink color and the sincere smile she gave him was worth the Kodak moment in one of his many albums framing their times together.

It was a side of Nagi he greatly treasured and would never forget.

But now he was sure that the frightened Nagi from tonight would haunt him for many nights to come. He'd never seen her so shaken up till now, and by him for that matter. It frightened him, at the very least, to see this brave and chipper girl at her most vulnerable, like a deer caught in front of headlights. Even her voice gave way to the fear she was experiencing because of him. He didn't like seeing such an expression on her face at all.

That really is good to hear, Hayate.

A smile formed on his face when he thought of the sincerity behind those words. The lights from the resort could be seen from a distant part of the woods, letting him know that he didn't get too far. Using the tree for support, he lifted himself from the floor and dusted his pants off. The smile disappeared and was replaced with a slight frown as he looked towards the flashing lights ahead.

'I should really go back and apologize to her. It's the least I can do for hurting her feelings and practically scaring her to death like that. And if she wants to give me tons of punishments for them, no matter how embarrassing or ridiculous they may be, I'll gladly accept them if it means putting a smile on her face.'

"…That I promise you, Ojou-sama." he muttered to himself as he made his way towards the vacation home.

It took him about ten minutes to reach the pool area, Nagi nowhere in sight. The bracelet was still lying on the floor, along with the small rubble from the wall being punched at. He gently picked up the jewelry piece, admiring the glittery stars for a second. It caught some dust on it. But other than that, it appeared fine. He swiftly tucked it in his pocket and continued his search for the pre-teen.

He looked in the study and didn't find her. She wasn't in the kitchen or the game room either. Heck, she wasn't even at the library where all her precious manga books were stacked in the many rows of shelves there (and she must have been really upset if she didn't think about stopping there). He asked all the girls there if they knew where she went off to, but none of them knew where she was. They all said they had last seen her at the pool with him. After the numerous shrugs he received from everyone, he let out a loud sigh and went to look elsewhere.

He sprinted towards the main house and turned to his right. When he went into the hall that led to where her room was located, he suddenly came across Maria pacing about. A look of worry contorted her face as she continued her pacing around the hall, the fingernail on her thumb held between her front teeth. He walked up to her, went to her shoulder and lightly tapped at it to get her attention. But because she wasn't expecting anyone from behind, she shrieked and jumped a considerable feet away from him. Hayate was taken back by it himself, but Maria managed to calm down when she saw who it was.

"Oh, Hayate. I really wasn't expecting you to come out of nowhere like that." she said with a smile plastered on her face. The maid walked towards Hayate and gave him a hard smack to the arm.

"Ow! What was that for?" he said as he proceeded to rub at the sore spot, a pout crossing his features.

"That's for scaring me out of the blue." A stern, but slightly humorous tone, was heard in her voice. "You know that I don't tolerate stuff like that."

He scratched at the back of his head, his other hand still rubbing at the now pain-numbing arm. "I'm really sorry about that."

"That's fine. Just don't do it again." She paused for a second and turned curious eyes in his direction, all traces of humor gone. "So what brings you here, Hayate?"

He stopped rubbing at his arm, a flash of hurt emerging in his eyes when he thought about what he was going to ask her. Maria caught sight of the change in mood, but chose not to point it out to him.

"I'm looking for Ojou-sama. Do you happen to know if she went to her room or not?"

Maria brought her hands to her apron and scrunched some of the fabric in her hands, pain marking her own eyes. "As a matter of fact, she did go to her room. But she looked really upset about something. And when I asked her about it, she just ran to her room and said she didn't feel up to dinner for tonight. She also said she wanted to be left alone for the remainder of the day. That was thirty minutes ago when she said that."

"…Oh." His shoulders slumped and dark shadow cast near his eyes. 'I was kind of expecting her to say that.'

Maria held his hand in hers and offered him a sympathetic smile. "If you want, you can try again later. I was planning on coming by later to give her the soup I made. But I'll be more than happy to let you do it instead."

"Miss Maria…"

"I don't know all the details and I can't say that I'm mad at you. But, hopefully, things will all work out for the best if you are to talk with her. Right?"

"Um…well I…"

Maria walked behind him and began shoving him towards to kitchen. "Will you quit your brooding already? Everything is going to be just fine! So lets go prepare dinner for everyone and we'll worry about this whole mess later. Besides, Nagi needs some time to herself to think things over. And I can honestly tell you now, she wouldn't show any mercy to you if you suddenly barged in her room unannounced."

He looked to the floor where his feet were practically sliding across the carpet, many thoughts running through his head. "…I guess you're right."

Maria was right. He'd just try again later. That was what he thought on the way to the kitchen and all through dinner, unaware of what was to come later that night.

A/N: And that concludes the first chappie of this fic. I'm still a little unsure of how this is going to play out. But I've already told myself that I was going to write this, so there's no sense in backing out. But I really do hope that the rest of you enjoyed this and will accompany me through the rest of this experimental piece of fiction. So as I always say (and sorry if I sound like a broken cd player), write a comment telling me how I did. I'll be sure to keep up with the updates on a regular basis so that I don't lose some of you. Believe me, I know what it's like to wait for months on end for something to update only to see that the author puts it on hiatus or plans on not finishing it. I can assure you now that I won't be doing no such thing. You have my word for it.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go raid my kitchen for something baked and smothered in chocolate. Hope that didn't make some of you go into crazy, chocolate craving mode. All I know is I've been craving something sweet for a while. So don't blame me if it happens to you also. XD Anyways, see ya!