Well it sure has been a while hasn't it? To say life has been most uncooperative is quite the understatement but I'll leave details out. I've been working two jobs so I haven't had much time for anything really. Apologies to Shimowolfie, hella-kun, and everyone else for my completely wrong estimation of when this would be released. I originally wrote this cause there was a lack of new stories for this series but I'm glad to see so many new ones pop up now. Anyway I'm really not that much of a writer so it actually takes me a while to write anything when I can get around to it so I only hope that you enjoy!

Chapter 5: Reminiscence and Reality (There's a chapter title now! XD)

"Something you want to talk to me about?" Hayate asked Ruka curiously.

"Yeah actually, um…" Ruka looked down and began fidgeting with her fingers.

Ngh… for some reason it feels really awkward if I were to ask right now… she thought to herself.

"Ruka-san?" Hayate asked after a brief silence.

"Um… um… how's school?" Ruka asked randomly.

"Eh? It's fine I guess?" Hayate responded, slightly confused.

"No, no, that's not what I meant." Maybe I can make some sort of opening with this …

"I meant to ask what you do when you're at school."

"Um… what I do at school?" Hayate said still confused.

Ruka finally regained her composure. "Yeah, I wanted to know what your life in high school is like."

"You know my doujinshi has a school based setting right?"

Hayate nodded at her. "Y-yeah more or less."

"But I dropped out of high school… so I was hoping you could help me get some ideas about school life."

Hayate paused for a bit before giving a soft smile. "I understand. Then what would you like to know?"

"Hmm…." Ruka crossed her arms and closed her eyes giving deep thought to what she should ask. Hayate was met with a flurry of "Hmms" along with Ruka looking around desperately for some sort of inspiration.

She raised her index finger toward Hayate. "Let's just start with some interesting experiences you've had then!"

"Huh… interesting experiences hmm…" Hayate began to follow the same pattern Ruka had just finished, letting out multiple "Hmms" and grunting noises.

"Can you be more specific?" Hayate asked.

"Just… anything interesting that you've experienced as a student, I guess?"

Interesting experiences huh… Hayate's mind began reminiscing about all the events that had happened while he was at Hakuou.

What about that time I snuck into Hakuou to give Ojou-sama her lunch? That was when I met Katsura-sensei and Hinagiku-san, although Katsura-sensei treated me like an intruder and that meeting with Hinagiku-san is something you can't really forget. She even showed me that amazing view on top of the clock tower.

Well I wasn't exactly a student at that time so I guess I can't really use that.

Then the time I went to get ojou-sama's notebook? Hayate glanced over to Ruka and thought no… there's no way Ruka would believe there were actually ghosts there and I'm pretty sure Hinagiku-san would hit me if I told anyone she was scared there.

Then what about meeting Segawa-san and the others? Hayate's face soon expressed a look of gloom as he remembered all the pranks he's suffered at the hands of the infamous trio. I'd rather not talk about those times actually…

The marathon race? I ended up getting fired because of that and had to go into the Tiger's Den for butlers. I think I would have died if Isumi-san and Hinagiku-san didn't show up to help… although it ended with that stupid ghost priest following me around.

There's also the Hinamatsuri but… Hayate once again glanced over in Ruka's direction. Well she's seen me cross dress multiple times so I doubt it'll surprise her very much. Plus I really don't want to think about that stupid Kotetsu and all the trouble he's caused for me. And I'm sure Hinagiku-san trying to kill me isn't the kind of material Ruka-san is looking for…

As Hayate stood there thinking about all of his experiences, Ruka stood silently as she watched Hayate perform his own emotional slideshow. His expressions would change every so often, providing looks of anguish, happiness, sorrow, practically every emotion the human face could show.

Finally, Ruka approached Hayate "um, Hayate-kun?" she said as she tapped his shoulder.

"Hah!?" Hayate yelled as he snapped back to his senses.

"You don't have to think about it that hard you know…" Ruka said worriedly.

"I'm sorry. It's just that there were so many interesting things I could think of that I didn't know where to begin. It feels like practically every day has been interesting experience!" Hayate said as he rubbed the back of his head smiling at Ruka.

And it was expected of course, given the amount of things Hayate has experienced since becoming a butler like meeting a tiger than can talk, fighting off demons, having to buy underwear for Aika, even encountering an alien and flying in a UFO. There was no way for Hayate to know where to start without Ruka having to recommend him to a psychiatric ward.

Ruka smiled at Hayate "well then this should be a piece of cake!" she said ecstatically.

"Come again?" Hayate said confused.

"Well if it's so interesting then all you really have to do is tell me your daily routine at school right?"

"I see… that actually makes sense!" Hayate said astounded.

"Doesn't it? Well what do you do when you get to school?"

"Hmm we'll first I rush straight to class because I'm usually late waiting for ojou-sama to get up…"

"Yeah well I can tell that much already" Ruka whispered to herself.

Hayate then raised his index finger and said "then I look after ojou-sama as I wait for school to end!"

…

Silence engulfed the room as Ruka stood anxiously waiting for another statement.

They both stood there a moment staring, waiting for any sort of reaction or comment. Finally Ruka broke the silence with a simple obvious question.

"Um… that's it?" she asked with a blank expression.

"Yup… that's pretty much it." Hayate responded plainly.

…

Once again the room was filled with silence as the two of them stood waiting for the other to continue, and once again it was Ruka who brought an end to it.

"How is that anything but not interesting!? What kind of story is that!?" Ruka cried out frantically.

"W-well I guess that story is lacking something…" Hayate responded weakly.

"You think its lacking something?" Ruka asked sarcastically. "Try EVERYTHING!" She let out a heavy sigh "this isn't helping at all…"

"Sorry…" Hayate quickly apologized.

"That can't possibly be the routine you follow can it? No clubs? Activities? ANYTHING?" Ruka grew increasingly frustrated.

Hayate was about to respond but was met with Ruka's hand in front of his face.

"Wait, from what I can tell Nagi doesn't even go to school that often, so what do you do when she isn't there?"

"Ah, well I suppose that's true. On those days I usually try to help out at the Student Council." Hayate laughed weakly.

Ruka's eyes shined as she was finally able to create an opening to what she wanted to ask. "The Student Council? Are you a member there?" Ruka asked despite knowing the answer already.

"No… it's just that I feel that I should help out Hinagiku-san whenever I can."

"just to help out Hina? Why? There are other members of the student council right?"

Ruka gazed at Hayate intensely, hoping to get any sort of information based on his reactions. Hayate looked away slightly "well… some of the members are rather… unreliable" referring of course to the infamous trio. He turned back to Ruka "also, Hinagiku-san has helped me out so many times so I want to help her out as much as I can."

Ruka was taken back a bit by his response. Ever since she's met Hayate, he's always been helping out other people, herself included, so of course she had a hard time believing that anyone could help him out so much.

"Has she really helped you out that much?"

"Yes, more than you can imagine."

At that time Hayate gave a smile unlike any she has seen before. There was no difference in his gesture or facial expression from his usual smiles, but she could somehow sense and feel the gratitude that he had and all she could do was wonder where it came from. Sure she had seen them together plenty of times mostly when they came over to help her, but most of the interactions Ruka had seen between Hayate and Hinagiku usually ended with Hayate getting a few inches taller.

"You should know by now just how kind she can be."

"Huh?" Ruka's thoughts were interrupted by Hayate.

"After all, the very first time you met her she decided to help you out with your manga."

"Well I suppose that's true…" Ruka chuckled "I still thought you were a girl at that time though."

Hayate bowed in apology. "Once again I'm sorry for lying to you that whole time…"

She couldn't help but reminisce about the time Hayate brought Hinagiku over while dressed in her Hakuou uniform. Of course Ruka knew a little about Hinagiku from what she heard from Chiharu, but other than tales of superhuman feats she knew nothing about Hinagiku's personality. However when she asked for criticism on her manga it was Hinagiku who told her what she needed to hear, honest and unbiased opinions, no matter how much they stung. After that Hinagiku continued to guide and support her and she was able to reach where she is today.

"You're making me feel like I need to do something more for her too now…"

Hayate couldn't help but laugh a bit. "You see? That's why I want to help her out as much as I can but…" he paused for a second.

"But?"

"But it seems the only thing I'm able to do is cause more trouble for her or make her angry."

Hayate let out a heavy sigh. "Also, there's something I'll probably never be able to thank her enough for."

Hinagiku laid back in the bath, staring straight at the ceiling. Sigh, I ran away again… why am I so lame? Why can't I just be honest? Am I really just too stubborn to admit my feelings?

Unable to think of an answer she dried off and headed to the changing room. As she changed into her pajamas the door slid open revealing Maria bringing in a batch of fresh towels.

"Oh, Hinagiku-san how was the bath?" Maria asked politely as she arranged the towels.

"Ah it was good thanks." Hinagiku replied spaced out, continuing to look at Maria working.

Maria noticed Hinagiku just standing there "Um… is something wrong?"

Hinagiku's senses snapped back "No, sorry! I just wanted to thank you."

"You already said that though…" Maria said followed by a sweat drop.

Hinagiku waved her hands in front of her. "Oh, no I meant for earlier when Miki and the others were here. Thanks for helping explain the situation; it would've been a pain if it was left to their imaginations."

Maria smiled at her. "Oh you mean that, it was no problem but we should be the ones apologizing for causing you trouble."

"No, no it wasn't that much trouble, but why did you kick him out with no place to stay in the first place?"

Maria sweat dropped once again. "Actually, we gave him 1 million yen to support himself for 3 days… but somehow he managed to lose it all."

Hinagiku responded with a sweat drop of her own "You gave him 1 million yen? You were only kicking him out for 3 days right…?"

Confused, Maria asked "yes, is there something wrong?"

"That sounds more like a paid vacation for a month to be honest…" Hinagiku let out a sigh. "Though should I even be surprised anymore at how fast Hayate-kun can lose money?"

"I know what you mean." They both started laughing.

"Though it all makes sense now" Maria said with a smile.

Hinagiku couldn't help but ask "Sense? What do you mean?"

"Well, after I found out that Hayate had pretty much lost all the money we lent him I decided to go check up on him at Hakuou. When I found him he was going on about helping you out with the student council so I couldn't help but ask if he was in love with you."

"Hah!?" Hinagiku couldn't help but blush slightly.

"Yeah his reaction was so cute I couldn't help but tease him!" Maria gave a sinister smirk.

"Though to be honest, I thought he did. When he got back to the mansion he kept worrying about what to get you for your birthday present. Though now that I learned what happened during those two nights it all makes sense now. He was just trying to repay you for letting him stay over!"

"Y-yeah I suppose that's what it was…" Hinagiku said slightly disappointed.

"Although you should have seen how aggravated Nagi was when she found out he was going to give you a present."

"Aggravated? Why?" Hinagiku asked curiously.

Maria extended her index finger, eyes closed with a huge smile on her face "Well that's because she was worried you would fall in love with Hayate-kun if he gave you a present!"

A thunderous roar could be heard from the back of Hinagiku's mind. Her movement and facial expression became stiff and whatever composure she had at that moment was completely lost.

"I-i-is t-that s-so?" she barely managed to stutter.

Maria began to giggle slightly. "Yeah! Can you believe it? You should have seen how depressed Hayate-kun looked when I told him that that was completely impossible. I mean there's no way someone like you could fall in love with Hayate-kun right?"

Maria turned towards Hinagiku expecting to hear the obvious "of course not!" that surely would come from her, but what she got was completely different. Hinagiku stood there face flushed, with her hand rubbing against the back of her head.

"A-ha…ha…ha…" was the only response Maria got much to her surprise.

Maria's jaw dropped as she covered her open mouth with her palm.

"Don't tell me… you didn't really…" Maria stood still watching the still silent Hinagiku.

During Hina's silence Maria briefly remembered the last time she talked to her alone like this. It was on the train to the Shimoda Hot Springs where Hinagiku asked Maria for advice concerning her friend's love problem. Maria finally connected the dots and put the two together, looking upon Hinagiku with a concerned look.

"Then the person you were talking about on the train to Shimoda really was…"

"Ah! I should go check on Alice!" Hinagiku yelled out as she bolted out of the room.

Hinagiku slowed as she reached to entrance to her room. She put her hand on the door but instead of sliding it open she placed her head on the back of her hand, leaning on the door facing the ground.

Again… I ran away again… she thought to herself.

Should I go back and apologize for running off? I'm sure it'll be fine if Maria-san knew, though I guess she knows now anyway.

Hinagiku shook her head "at the very least I should apologize for just running away" and started to head back to the changing room.

When she arrived back at the changing room she stood in front of the door, pausing for a bit before taking a deep breath and sliding the door open. When she stepped in however, the room was completely empty, no Maria or anyone else.

Maybe she went to her room already? If that's the case I don't want to bother her. She let out a heavy sigh and left the room.

"I guess I'll just apologize tomorrow. For now I'll just grab a drink and head to bed."

"Something you'll never be able to thank her enough for? What do you mean?" Ruka asked with a concerned expression.

Hayate turned towards the window and gazed up at the sky. The stars shined brightly as the half-moon shined light down through the window onto Hayate's face. Ruka stared in fascination at this scene as Hayate began to reminisce about his past. She could have stared at this scene forever had it not been for Hayate breaking it with a deep breath as he turned to Ruka.

"It was during Golden Week. I ran into someone I hadn't seen in 10 years. But 10 years ago I said some things that I shouldn't have, and we parted ways in a terrible way."

Ruka stayed silent, listening to Hayate's story intently.

"10 years ago I got sick and tired of my parents and ran away from home. Of course I was only 6 at the time so I ended up getting lost, and that's when I met her." Hayate looked over to Ruka, who had no intention of interrupting him, and continued.

"I was a complete stranger and yet she offered me a helping hand. She took me in and taught me many things. If it weren't for her that day I probably would have died. I learned pretty much everything I know about being a butler from her. She was my first mistress, and I owed her so much."

Hayate took a deep breath before continuing.

"But then one day I decided to go back home and ran into my parents. They told me they had changed and weren't the people they used to be and I believed them. They took something that I had received as a gift and told me they would deposit it somewhere safe, and I went back to let her know that my parents had changed. When I got back she told me I was a fool for trusting them and they were nothing but trash. I tried to defend them but she wouldn't hear any of it and in the end I ended up telling her that she didn't understand because she didn't have parents."

Hayate closed his eyes and looked to the ceiling, taking another deep breath.

"It was the biggest regret I've ever had in my entire life. While I was staying with her I noticed that she lived in a huge place all by herself. I never asked about her predicament or how she ended up in the situation that she did, but I'll never forget the look she gave me when I said that to her. She chased me out and told me to never come back and I never saw her again after. It wasn't until later that I found out my parents had actually sold the gift to a pawn shop and realized that she was right all along. Since then I've had nightmares replaying that night over and over and I would always wake up in a cold sweat."

"I've always wanted to apologize and make up for what happened but I was never able to find her again. But then 10 years later I finally saw her again. Of course I recognized her immediately, but she pretended not to know me at all. At that time I was so confused and had no idea what to do. If she had forgotten about me and everything that happened then it would be fine to leave her alone right? I didn't want to bring up those memories again."

"Because of my indecisiveness I ended up worrying everyone around me and I wasn't able to concentrate at all. It wasn't until Hinagiku-san confronted me about it that I was able to do anything. "

"Instead of worrying if she hates you or not, you should make sure you know her feelings! Even if she does hate you, you love the things you love right? Just loving someone should be enough to tell them your feelings; you can worry about what will happen after!" Those words echoed in the back of Hayate's mind.

"Hinagiku-san gave me the advice, the courage I needed to face my old friend again. Even though I was supposed to be thanking her for helping ojou-sama, she ended up helping me once again and I was finally able confront my friend again. Because of the push she gave me, I went through a lot of pain but in the end I was finally able to apologize and move forward."

Ruka stood there in awe, speechless because of the story she had just heard.

"So you see, it was thanks to Hinagiku-san that I was able to face my friend restore the friendship that was lost. If she didn't help me take that step forward, I probably would still be regretting it right now. Since then, I haven't had any more nightmares of that night 10 years ago. I'm sure if you ask Hinagiku-san she'll tell you that she didn't really do much, but for me it's probably something that can never be repaid."

"I see… I think I understand now" Ruka finally let out.

"Understand? What do you mean?" Hayate couldn't help but ask.

"Well the reason you try to help Hina out so much is because of what she's done for you right?"

"Well yeah, like I said she's helped me out so much."

"So it's not like you're doing all of that because you're in love with her right?" Ruka finally asked.

"Eh?" Hayate let out slightly taken back by the question.

Love

Ever since he said his farewell to Athena back then, the topic of love hasn't really come across his mind. Whether he was unable to forget his feelings for Athena, or subconsciously avoided the subject altogether was a complete mystery to everyone, including himself. Perhaps he was scared of experiencing the same pain he felt back then, or perhaps he wasn't ready to move on. Whatever the case was, at that moment, Hayate couldn't give Ruka an answer.

"It's strange."

"Huh? What is?"

"It's just that you're the third person who has asked me about how I feel about Hinagiku-san, so I just thought it was strange."

Ruka watched as Hayate remained silent, appearing to be in deep thought.

"Hayate-kun?" Ruka interrupted.

Hayate gave Ruka a kind smile. "Unfortunately, I don't think my current circumstances allow me to be in a relationship. I have to look after ojou-sama, and I have to look after you and everyone else living here as well." Not to mention my debt…

So you're not going to answer the question… Ruka thought to herself.

"But you don't know unless you try right? I mean if a girl were to confess to you what would you do?"

Hayate watched Ruka, as she glared right at him awaiting his answer.

"You may be right" Hayate let out as he turned around heading towards the window, looking up at the night sky.

"But as I am right now, just someone saying that they're in love with me feels absolutely impossible."

Ruka approached Hayate from behind. "I don't think it's as impossible as you think it is."

"After all, I love you."

As Hayate turned around to face her, he immediately felt something warm press upon his lips. As his eyes looked down he saw the idol, her eyes closed, kissing him. The sweetness and rush that he felt was indescribable, sending shivers down his spine. As the idol's lips remained pressed against his, Hayate was unable to see that behind Ruka, were several strands of pink hair quickly disappearing into the corner.

*HUFF* *HUFF*

Hinagiku ran quickly through the corridor, up the stairs straight to the door to her room. She slid it open, immediately entering and shutting it behind her. She slid to the floor with her back against the door.

This isn't a dream right? They were definitely kissing… Her head made a loud thud as it made contact with the door.

"Hinagiku-san?" A small voice came from within her room as Hinagiku saw her closet door slide open, revealing Alice behind it.

"Are you okay?" The little girl asked worriedly.

"Ah I'm sorry did I wake you? Y-yeah everything's fine" Hina tried to smile at her.

Her smile vanished as soon as Alice responded.

"Then why are you crying?"

Hinagiku's eyes widened as she felt something cold slide down her cheek. She touched it with her hand and immediately felt something cold and wet. As she tried to wipe it away, more and more kept flowing out. Finally, unable to face the little girl anymore she went straight to her futon, pulling the blanket over her as she curled up under it.

"I'm sorry, just leave me alone for a while okay?" she barely managed to let out as her shoulders trembled from the sobs. The tears continued to flow, leaving behind stains as the linen underneath her absorbed them.

Alice continued to look on, shocked and worried as she had never seen her roommate in such a state before. As she watched over Hina, she noticed a light appear from Hinagiku's desk originating from Hina's cell phone. A small vibrating noise came from the phone, as the front screen read "You have 1 unread message."

So the last parts of this were really hard to write I just hope I wrote them well enough. Anyway I can't stand leaving Hina in this state at all so you can expect the next chapter pretty soon (I know it doesn't mean much coming from me now huh) especially with the ending of cuties we had to deal with. But like I said I'm not that great of a writer so it takes me a while to actually write it out. Anyway thanks for reading and see you next time!