"Shall we go then? There is something I'd like to tell you... under this infinitely vast, starlit sky."
If Nagi Sanzen’in’s heart was throbbing with expectation the moment that she’d heard those words – which it must have been considering how she herself had admitted that her feelings for her former butler, Hayate Ayasaki, would never change, her face certainly did not show it at that moment.
She smiled sweetly, sincerely… and yet, quite normally. It wasn’t that she would die of embarrassment if she’d ever let her true feelings rise to the surface. It’s just that her colorful experiences up to this point had made her a little bit more reserved in the way she expressed herself to others.
One might say, that she was indeed the same Nagi that Hayate had left behind on that Christmas Eve exactly two years ago, but a little bit taller, a little bit wiser, and a whole lot more capable than she herself could ever have imagined.
“Is that so?”
She replied while gracefully sliding her hand next to his. He took the clue immediately – and although he too was nervous, he himself had become more stalwart and decisive than before with age.
Their hands intertwined naturally, nonchalantly – as if it were the most natural thing in the world for the two of them.
“Then… let’s go, we have a lot to talk about.”
And so the story ends… at least from our perspective. Of course, their story will still continue – as it should.
But what exactly transpired on that night? Today, Hayate Reflections presents a fan-made scenario, let us continue:
“Your hand is warm… ojou---um… Nagi.”
“Ha…hah!?”
Nagi felt blood rushing up to her cheeks. Even with all her psychological defenses in place. Hayate’s words still managed to catch her off-guard.
“W-where did that come from all of a sudden?”
“Uh… well, I was just thinking about the day that we first met.”
Hayate’s eyes seemed to be searching for some faraway place hidden deep within the recesses of his memories.
“Maria’s scarf felt nice and warm as well on that freezing night, but… it was really the warmth of your smile that kept me going, I think.”
Nagi grew more embarrassed with each word that left Hayate Ayasaki’s mouth.
“H-Ha-Hayate!”
Nagi jerked her hand away from him. She had to – otherwise, she really would have died of embarrassment.
Her voice trembled in that familiar tsundere stutter that Hayate had grown so accustomed to during his tenure as her butler.
“Yes, Nagi?”
“I-Is this what you learned after two years? H-how to say any number of embarrassing lines without reacting?”
Nagi closed one of her eyes and crossed her arms as she peered at him.
“That’s unfair, Nagi… the truth is.”
Hayate scratched his head and smiled sheepishly.
“This is embarrassing for me to you know. After all I…”
“Yes?”
Nagi blinked twice… expecting to finally hear the words that she had wanted him to say to her since forever.
“I missed you.”
Nagi breathed a sigh… out of relief and partially out of disappointment. After all, she had been expecting something more. Still, she reminded herself inwardly that she was different now. Nagi 360 Plus One Elite! 16 year old Nagi! A super, pretty, miss-perfect capable of anything!
“I… missed you too, Hayate. Terribly so.”
Hayate grinned. He bowed a little bit so that his bangs would cover his eyes.
“But…”
“Huh?”
“It’s not like I really missed seeing you. I meant more like I missed being able to talk to you like this… then again, I think this is the first time that we’ve ever been able to talk to each other like this… so I missed…umm... ugh!”
Hayate slapped his face with both hands. The truth is that he wasn’t being totally honest with his words. Not to the girl in front of him nor to himself. Inwardly, he steeled his resolve. He had to say it straight or he might miss this opportunity forever and he would definitely not have that.
“Umm… Hayate? You’re making all kinds of funny faces. I didn’t even know you could distort your pretty, girly face like that.” Nagi giggled.
“Ojou-sama!”
“STOP!”
“Oh… that’s right… I keep forgetting. Anyway, Nagi!”
“Y-yes?”
“It’s… It’s not that I missed you. I mean, how could I miss you? I know you like to hang out at Café Donguri after work. I know you work a part-time job as a Christmas Santa selling cakes at the mall. I also know that you converted the Violet Mansion into a multi-level apartment… and that you have become very good at Lacrosse and… and…”
Nagi’s eyes narrowed into slits.
“Stalker…”
She reached into the pocket of her coat.
“W-wait! Don’t call the police on me, Nagi! I promise I have a very reasonable explanation for everything.”
“Go on… I’m listening.” Of course Nagi’s hand was still in her coat pocket.
“On that night… when you let me go. When you told me to find my own happiness. I wanted to tell you that I didn’t want to leave your side.”
Nagi slowly retracted her hand from her coat pocket with a skeptical look on her face.
“So I didn’t. I kept an eye on you and watched you become the girl… no, the capable young woman that you are now with my own two eyes. I watched you become everything that you declared that you would be and more… Nagi. At times, I had to hold myself back because every time I saw you struggling, every time I saw you in tears, I wanted to come right out and protect you...”
“But I didn’t need your protection anymore…”
“That’s right… you didn't...” The forlorn look on Hayate’s face slowly broke into a smile.
But Nagi was looking beyond that smile. She gazed deep into his crystalline blue eyes. So, so sad; a lost child’s eyes longing for attention, a totally different shade, but so much like her own – because even though their circumstances were different, both understood the pain of loneliness -- the pain of not being needed.
Hayate met her gaze with his own and finally, at that moment, they both understood that the timing was perfect.
“I love you.”
They said it almost but not quite at the same time. It was just a few milliseconds off, perhaps Nagi had said it faster, or perhaps this time, it was Hayate… but the deed had finally been done. The words that would seal the once-broken bond between them had finally been said.
There is no guarantee that this bond will not once again be broken, but one thing is for certain, it can definitely be repaired. Such is the true nature of this bond called "love."
… and of course, the rest is up to your imagination. I trust you have plenty.
See you next week!
If Nagi Sanzen’in’s heart was throbbing with expectation the moment that she’d heard those words – which it must have been considering how she herself had admitted that her feelings for her former butler, Hayate Ayasaki, would never change, her face certainly did not show it at that moment.
She smiled sweetly, sincerely… and yet, quite normally. It wasn’t that she would die of embarrassment if she’d ever let her true feelings rise to the surface. It’s just that her colorful experiences up to this point had made her a little bit more reserved in the way she expressed herself to others.
One might say, that she was indeed the same Nagi that Hayate had left behind on that Christmas Eve exactly two years ago, but a little bit taller, a little bit wiser, and a whole lot more capable than she herself could ever have imagined.
“Is that so?”
She replied while gracefully sliding her hand next to his. He took the clue immediately – and although he too was nervous, he himself had become more stalwart and decisive than before with age.
Their hands intertwined naturally, nonchalantly – as if it were the most natural thing in the world for the two of them.
“Then… let’s go, we have a lot to talk about.”
And so the story ends… at least from our perspective. Of course, their story will still continue – as it should.
But what exactly transpired on that night? Today, Hayate Reflections presents a fan-made scenario, let us continue:
“Your hand is warm… ojou---um… Nagi.”
“Ha…hah!?”
Nagi felt blood rushing up to her cheeks. Even with all her psychological defenses in place. Hayate’s words still managed to catch her off-guard.
“W-where did that come from all of a sudden?”
“Uh… well, I was just thinking about the day that we first met.”
Hayate’s eyes seemed to be searching for some faraway place hidden deep within the recesses of his memories.
“Maria’s scarf felt nice and warm as well on that freezing night, but… it was really the warmth of your smile that kept me going, I think.”
Nagi grew more embarrassed with each word that left Hayate Ayasaki’s mouth.
“H-Ha-Hayate!”
Nagi jerked her hand away from him. She had to – otherwise, she really would have died of embarrassment.
Her voice trembled in that familiar tsundere stutter that Hayate had grown so accustomed to during his tenure as her butler.
“Yes, Nagi?”
“I-Is this what you learned after two years? H-how to say any number of embarrassing lines without reacting?”
Nagi closed one of her eyes and crossed her arms as she peered at him.
“That’s unfair, Nagi… the truth is.”
Hayate scratched his head and smiled sheepishly.
“This is embarrassing for me to you know. After all I…”
“Yes?”
Nagi blinked twice… expecting to finally hear the words that she had wanted him to say to her since forever.
“I missed you.”
Nagi breathed a sigh… out of relief and partially out of disappointment. After all, she had been expecting something more. Still, she reminded herself inwardly that she was different now. Nagi 360 Plus One Elite! 16 year old Nagi! A super, pretty, miss-perfect capable of anything!
“I… missed you too, Hayate. Terribly so.”
Hayate grinned. He bowed a little bit so that his bangs would cover his eyes.
“But…”
“Huh?”
“It’s not like I really missed seeing you. I meant more like I missed being able to talk to you like this… then again, I think this is the first time that we’ve ever been able to talk to each other like this… so I missed…umm... ugh!”
Hayate slapped his face with both hands. The truth is that he wasn’t being totally honest with his words. Not to the girl in front of him nor to himself. Inwardly, he steeled his resolve. He had to say it straight or he might miss this opportunity forever and he would definitely not have that.
“Umm… Hayate? You’re making all kinds of funny faces. I didn’t even know you could distort your pretty, girly face like that.” Nagi giggled.
“Ojou-sama!”
“STOP!”
“Oh… that’s right… I keep forgetting. Anyway, Nagi!”
“Y-yes?”
“It’s… It’s not that I missed you. I mean, how could I miss you? I know you like to hang out at Café Donguri after work. I know you work a part-time job as a Christmas Santa selling cakes at the mall. I also know that you converted the Violet Mansion into a multi-level apartment… and that you have become very good at Lacrosse and… and…”
Nagi’s eyes narrowed into slits.
“Stalker…”
She reached into the pocket of her coat.
“W-wait! Don’t call the police on me, Nagi! I promise I have a very reasonable explanation for everything.”
“Go on… I’m listening.” Of course Nagi’s hand was still in her coat pocket.
“On that night… when you let me go. When you told me to find my own happiness. I wanted to tell you that I didn’t want to leave your side.”
Nagi slowly retracted her hand from her coat pocket with a skeptical look on her face.
“So I didn’t. I kept an eye on you and watched you become the girl… no, the capable young woman that you are now with my own two eyes. I watched you become everything that you declared that you would be and more… Nagi. At times, I had to hold myself back because every time I saw you struggling, every time I saw you in tears, I wanted to come right out and protect you...”
“But I didn’t need your protection anymore…”
“That’s right… you didn't...” The forlorn look on Hayate’s face slowly broke into a smile.
But Nagi was looking beyond that smile. She gazed deep into his crystalline blue eyes. So, so sad; a lost child’s eyes longing for attention, a totally different shade, but so much like her own – because even though their circumstances were different, both understood the pain of loneliness -- the pain of not being needed.
Hayate met her gaze with his own and finally, at that moment, they both understood that the timing was perfect.
“I love you.”
They said it almost but not quite at the same time. It was just a few milliseconds off, perhaps Nagi had said it faster, or perhaps this time, it was Hayate… but the deed had finally been done. The words that would seal the once-broken bond between them had finally been said.
There is no guarantee that this bond will not once again be broken, but one thing is for certain, it can definitely be repaired. Such is the true nature of this bond called "love."
… and of course, the rest is up to your imagination. I trust you have plenty.
See you next week!
Fanart Corner
Well... today's Hayate Reflections was kinda different, but I really felt inspired to do this little scenario, even several other people have actually written their own versions of the ending talk between them. Anyway, this is one of many hypothetical scenarios and to tell you the truth, I'm really glad that the ending -- while leaving things clear enough for any intelligent person to discern, isn't blatant enough in its execution that there's no room for imagination. Hata is a classy writer.
Anyway, this week's fanart features a 16 year-old Nagi meeting a 16 year-old Hayate. Truth be told, that's a scenario that I feel like writing for in a future installment of Hayate Reflections... but we'll see.
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| Jut how did this happen? Let's just say that it was the "Magic of Love." |
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